1960 house extension - please help review architect plan
makatu86
10 months ago
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OnePlan
10 months agoRelated Discussions
Please help review our Prelim layout / house plan
Comments (15)A couple of reason I was asking.....First, never stop designing at the exterior walls. Think of the site and house as one. That's why it's important to have a drawing that connects the house to the site. It gives the complete picture. And second, while I can see the motives for a rear loading garage, it not only makes for a "tacked on" look to that part of the house, it creates that poor master bedroom entry. And interestingly, the back wall of the garage (which faces the front) doesn't look all that great!! Not to mention that the form of the "garage wing" looks entirely different than the house. If a side load hides all the doors anyway, what the point then for a rear load?? And you get a much better geometry to work with in the master bedroom. Finally, I generally don't like to come into a house and be looking at a wall. If the sight line goes clear through the house it not only connect the house to the site better, it makes it seem BIGGER. I while back I threw in some examples into an idea book for some one else to illustrate what I'm talking about. Look at how all those houses are drawn with the floor plan on the site. You need to do the same thing. Also, look at how in all of those houses we're looking through the house from the front door to site features beyond. And coincidentially, look at the modern farmhouse example there. That garage is detached but the roof forms play off of the house, it not something totally different like your house is. If it helps look at this thread http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3285825/what-makes-a-house-have-good-design?n=39 and read my post there 23 post down. Pay attention to #9, 28,44,52,61 and 62. But good luck with your project. Exciting times for sure!!!...See MorePlease review our house plan
Comments (30)OK, hopefully better photos here. Yes, we will be asking about the kitchen over in that forum. We have decided to go ahead and finish the room over the garage. There is a vaulted ceiling through the great room (with large windows over the doors) extending through the covered deck which we have changed to be the screened porch. This will enable us to leave the glass doors open in good weather. The former screened porch on the plans will become an open deck. Question about the size of the vault. Right now the pitch is 12:12 and the top of the vault is almost 20'. If we change the pitch slightly to 12:10 or so, would this look really odd? I am concerned that the roof looks too large and the vault is too high. We will have 9' ceilings everywhere else, including the basement. Also, what is your opinion on needing a stairway from the porch to the ground outside? If we do that, we would probably eliminate the one on the back of the garage. Thanks to all....See MorePlease review my new colonial home plan
Comments (51)Overall impression: It's a decent house. Specifics I'd consider: - It doesn't seem to be a Colonial -- more like a Southern Porch house. A Colonial is more likely to have a small stoop over the front door rather than a house-wide porch. The good news is that a stoop is going to to considerably less expensive than a wide front porch, and you're unlikely to ever USE the front porch anyway. Examples of Colonials with a stoop: - Your foyer is large ... I'd lose the bump-out. You have plenty of space for people to enter /stand by the stairs as they take off their coats. - Your downstairs circulation looks good. - Your rooms are large. I live in a 1970s ranch, and my rooms are roughly the same. The positive is that they're comfortable for a growing family. The negative is that you need lots of furniture, and making a change (painting a room or changing the carpet) is expensive. I'm looking forward to downsizing, but my kids are out of the house. - You have three eating spaces here: dining room, kitchen island, breakfast room. Probably a space outside too. Is this in keeping with your lifestyle? Do you really need all these eating areas, or have you just put them in because "it's what nice houses have"? - Same question about the gathering-spaces on the first floor ... you have a large living room AND a large family room AND an office. How do you anticipate using each of these spaces? For most families, a "happy medium" is a large space where a group can gather coupled with a smaller space that can be closed off for visual /acoustical privacy. This combination allows the family to be together AND it allows for one person to separate to work, read a book, watch a ballgame alone, listen to music, etc. You seem to have two large spaces and one very small "away room". - This is a small thing, but you don't want those short wing-walls dividing the breakfast room from the family room. They'll just be in the way. You can differentiate the spaces at the ceiling. - The office/bedroom is a great size for an office ... not so great to ALSO accommodate your arthritic guest. Note, too, that your guest will have to walk out of the room /around a closet to reach the bathroom ... at the very least, move the closet towards the front of the house to position the guest closet to the bathroom. How deep is that pantry closet? It's probably 18-24", whereas a shower needs to be at least 30" deep. - What I would do with these three public gathering spaces: Make the living room into a living room /office /bedroom /divide it off with doors on both sides /use it as the "away space". Keep the family room "as is". Lose the current office /bedroom ... and, instead, use that space for a larger bathroom /mudroom /definitely keep the pantry. - Consider built-ins on each side of the fireplace ... you need storage in the family room. - No, no, no to the winder steps ... these pie shaped steps are dangerous. Instead, go with a solid, square landing. - Consider your backyard access. You have one door, which will be hard to reach because the breakfast table will sit smack-dab in front of it. - The mudroom is small but adequate ... though, being in the the middle of the house, it will be a dark /uninviting welcome home. - What size is the garage? Most people here will say that 24x24 is a good size. Straighten out the family room and the garage so the roofline and the side wall will be simple /economical. Upstairs ... - I like that you have the laundry positioned near the bedrooms. So many saved steps. - The kids' bedrooms are fairly large, but their closets are minimal. - All of the bedrooms should have windows on the sides ... natural light from two directions improves every room. - The poor kid in Bedroom 3 will hear the washer /dryer going thump-thump-thump and the shower running. Ideally you'd place closets between the kids' bedrooms as a sound barrier. Note that the kid in Bedroom 3 will knock the bedroom door against the closet door /will ruin both doors. - Divided bathrooms don't really work out so well. With two bedrooms, I'm assuming you have two kids ... two can certainly share one bathroom. I'd lose the duplicate sinks ... drawer storage near the sink is vastly superior to multiple sinks. - Why such a large master bedroom? - Double doors leading into bedrooms don't work out so well. Consider that you need two hands to open the doors ... and consider where your light switches will be (hint, behind the door)....See MoreHouse plan review please?
Comments (38)Hi spammie, I read your comments this morning on the plane but decided to wait till I was back in FL to respond. I’m interested in your comment that it seems cramped, since as shown (without large walkout lower level) this is basically a 1400 sq. ft. one-bedroom house – and I’m interested in making it smaller! It's not the size but how the rooms are laid out. The one that really feels tight is the living room. I just can't see more than a few people at a time there. Your dining room Powder room: The entry is 8’ wide with a drop/landing zone to the right (on the diagram) so I’m thinking the powder room won’t be the focus when you come in although changing the front door swing would help; not sure where else to put it that doesn’t open directly into a room. Yes it is probably the only place. Flip the door swing. The stairs from the lake will lead to the lower level walkout before turning & heading up to the main level, so I’d be surprised if anybody would bypass the lower level bathroom & go all the way upstairs to get to the powder room. You have everyone coming back from the lake and two people have to go NOW. Of course that would be a problem even in my house. However you're assuming everyone will come into the house from the ground floor and not climb the outside stairs. I never assume anything because when I assume, my assumptions are usually wrong. LOL. Living room: Yes, there will be large windows & yes as shown seems too small for enough furniture for more than 5 people. I just flipped the furniture in my mockup to look towards the view. Notice now how it's encroaching into your "hallway"? This is the problem there. Your living room needs to be larger. Mudroom/laundry room/storage: When we build garage it will be the mudroom and yes, when coming up the stairs you’d see the door. We plan tall storage cabinets along one wall of laundry room + tall pantry cabinet(s) in kitchen. When I come up a stairs, I like to see something that wants me to climb further. While your landing will be lovely, your entrance to the main floor will not be if all you're seeing is a door. Kitchen: We haven’t started kitchen design details yet so yes, it will need work & L-shape is under consideration. I’d appreciate your thoughts on why that would work better! See my very rough idea although I can also see the sink staying on the perimeter. A U shaped kitchen means you'll have two corner cabinets or two dead corner cabinets. Corners are just not as efficient, even when you do like I did for my one corner and make it corner drawers. I personally would rather have a longer island with storage drawers in the island than wasted corners. Bedroom closet: We’re considering built-in wardrobes as shown along right wall. The problem with that is now you've basically eliminated windows on two walls. Yes I realize that is not the pretty view but even high windows are better for letting in light and cross ventilation. One other thought. Are you and Hubby on the same wake/sleep schedule? If not, will the bathroom and closets opening/closing be a problem? Also what happens when one of you need to use the facilities in the middle of the night, goes into the bathroom and turns on the light? Two other things. I'm not a fan of walking into a bedroom on the side of the bed and I'm not a fan of one partner having to walk clear around the bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom....See MoreUser
10 months agoJonathan
10 months agoUser
10 months agomakatu86
10 months agoBespoke Glazing Design
9 months ago
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