Basement Design Essentials for New Construction?
Brian
4 years ago
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GN Builders L.L.C
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Floor plan design review for new construction
Comments (16)I think this house is ill suited for such a long narrow lot. It does nothing to work with the landscape. I have a problem when the foyer/hallway is larger than the dining room and some of the other rooms. The pantry is only 4' wide which means there is no way you can fit a freezer in the space. At a minimum the freezer takes up 25" which means the walkway in front of the freezer would only be 23" wide. The stairway sticking out into the foyer/hallway is just not good. The storage closet in the gym is only 4' wide with a door that's only 2' wide. Why is there a double door from the garage into the mudroom? Is that such an important room that it needs double doors? Doors that will also let in fumes from the garage? The mudroom leads through the kitchen area. It can be better. Why does the gym have double doors entering it? Is it that special a place? Also ho will you turn the lights on if both doors are opened? Going up the stairs and then seeing closets at the landing doesn't have a sense of arriving at the next spot. Why not have the staircase landing on an outside wall so it can have a window in the landing? And then when you arrive upstairs, what do you see? A linen closet. The upstairs hallway will be dark. Moving the stairs to an outside wall and adding the stairwell window will help somewhat. The laundry room is only 5' wide which means you can't have tall shelves on the opposite wall from the washer/dryer. A full sized washer/dryer sticks out into a room 29" which only leaves you 31" of space to walk and pull laundry out. Barely enough room if you don't have to bend over. As others noted, why is a storage closet getting prime real estate on a corner where instead the master bedroom could be? Instead of the master having cross breezes and light from two sides, it only has windows on one wall. With double doors into the bedroom, how will you turn on the lights? Same with walking into the master bathroom. The 2 upstairs bathrooms seem to have 30" between tub and vanity. It's doable but it will look and feel very tight. What's the idea with the desks in closets in the upstairs bedrooms?...See MoreNew construction Bath designs
Comments (4)Really is a personal preference. Some people like consistency or to at least be complimentary, some like every bath to be different and to have its own "character". Many especially will say a powder room - which is generally used by guests - can be different (dramatic, glam, etc, whatever you are going for) or a place to go a bit wild (have you always wanted some zebra print wallpaper - maybe this is the place.) We recently did a new build and our three full baths share design elements, but I wanted the whole house to have a consistent feeling. I have spent a lot of years in houses with varying cabinetry and bath colours/styles and the like (due to renovations done at different times by previous owners, or us) and while kind of "interesting" I wanted some more consistency as I was going for something a little more serene and for me that meant shared design elements & choices throughout. But we have not yet finished our basement and when we add a bath down there, well the whole basement will be a different design and style, so we plan for that one to be quite different in a more dramatic way :)...See MoreHow to design a new construction home for low taxes
Comments (32)As others have said, how property taxes are figured varies greatly from state to state, and in some places county to county. You are best off figuring out with the tax assessor how they figure taxes on new construction to begin with. In our area for instance property taxes are intended to align with the resale value. As houses sell, the assessed value of these houses and their neighbors is adjusted to reflect the market value. For new houses, they estimate a market value based off of a series of factors and calculations. Ground floor square footage is assigned a per square foot value based on the construction type; second floors and finished basements are assigned a value half that of the first floor. Finished attics are assigned 1/4 of the value of the first floor. Features like extra plumbing fixtures, fireplaces, patios, and porches add value. Then an architectural factor is applied to the house based on it's condition (would be an A if brand new) and it's general quality of materials. Lastly the value is multiplied by a location factor based on neighboring sales and construction costs and added to the value of the land. So as you see, this is a very complex and location specific method for determining taxes. There's really no way for certain to know what construction decisions could decrease taxes without talking to you assessor's office. oh, I will note that when my parents built, they were as vague as possible about their interior finishes in the set of drawings that they submitted to the county as possible in an attempt to keep the assessed value down....See MoreConstructing a storm/"safe" room in basement of new build - advice?
Comments (43)I put one in my basement in WI. Same thing, just chose a corner then poured 2 extra concrete walls while they formed the rest of the basement walls. Steel door + frame with a mortise strike and deadbolt, it's overkill but my door is fire and hurricane rated. I chose to do nothing for the ceiling (open to wood trusses) because it's only 8'6" x 12' I put 1 hvac supply vent in there to better climate control it, the floor is heated (because the rest of the basement had it anyway), and I added a small floor drain in the center. Added an alarm system control panel in there, and a landline (since IT rack is in there too). Room is on its own circuit. IT rack has HUGE ups (uninterrupted power supply) batteries to keep my internet/cameras up in a power outage, but it also powers backup lights in the safe room and can charge phones I use mine for my IT rack location and gun safe. Once I get to it, I plan to turn the entire room into a "gun safe room" in itself, then I'll have a cabinet in there with emergency supply stuff should the family ever need to sit in there. Eventually I'll hang a cheap TV in there if I come across a free one, to display house cameras. I too was torn between the "do I make this into a big functional room or just do a large closet" but decided on the latter since it would be used much more as a gun room than we would ever need to sit and wait out tornadoes as a family pics before floor was poured: If I designed it again, I might have just chose a location closer to my staircase/exit...See MoreMolly D. Zone4B
4 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
4 years agoWestCoast Hopeful
4 years agokriii
4 years agoWestCoast Hopeful
4 years agoworthy
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoB Carey
4 years agorocketjcat
4 years agoSummit Studio Architects
4 years agochocolatebunny123
4 years ago
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