Building the forever house what am I missing?

[Jordan Selsor]

House will be a story an a half. With master on the first and 2 bedrooms on the half story. House will be 42x30' with 8' concrete front porch across the entire front and a 12x7' mudroom off the kitchen. Gonna sit down with the architect tomorrow and start preliminary drawing.. So far here are all our ideas. Any other suggestions??????
9ft foundation pour 10" thick with walk out
Vault under front porch
9ft ceilings on first floor
Hope to stone the front
Rest will be vinyl but a bat an board style
Metal roof
mudroom off the kitchen with stall shower, John an laundry.
Not doing a garage initially. Plan is to build a big red pole barn and attach to the 12x7' mudroom with a breezeway
Gas fireplace upstairs
Flu for a wood stove in the basement

Anything you all have done or wish you had done on your homes? You guys always have good ideas

Jordan

 

[Bill]

What kind of heat? In my experience a boiler system is the best. Doesn't dry the air out so much in the winter.

Septic system? If so be sure to put in a gray water system.

Durability, skip the linoleum in the bathrooms and kitchen and go with tile.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Sounds great Jordan. You've got many bases covered. One thing that I love about our house is the passive solar design; south facing orientation with many big windows. In the winter, if the sun is out, no matter the temp. we do not have to have any heat on from 11 AM to about 3 or 4 or so. Two other things I love about our house that we added...an outdoor shower, and a masonry heater in the breezeway. Like you are planning, we have a breezeway that attaches our house to the garage. In the breezeway we had a mason build us a large masonry heater with a pizza oven....heats just about the entire house with just 2 fires a day. Love it. Also, great for family pizza night, bread, casseroles, etc. Whatever we want to heat we just throw in the pizza oven. More efficient than a wood stove. And the outdoor shower....man, love that too. After a morning of logging in July I don't necessarily want to take a shower in the house, but I do want to get the first layer of grime off. We use it all summer.

Good luck man. Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

 

[sandbur]

Sounds great Jordan. You've got many bases covered. One thing that I love about our house is the passive solar design; south facing orientation with many big windows. In the winter, if the sun is out, no matter the temp. we do not have to have any heat on from 11 AM to about 3 or 4 or so. Two other things I love about our house that we added...an outdoor shower, and a masonry heater in the breezeway. Like you are planning, we have a breezeway that attaches our house to the garage. In the breezeway we had a mason build us a large masonry heater with a pizza oven....heats just about the entire house with just 2 fires a day. Love it. Also, great for family pizza night, bread, casseroles, etc. Whatever we want to heat we just throw in the pizza oven. More efficient than a wood stove. And the outdoor shower....man, love that too. After a morning of logging in July I don't necessarily want to take a shower in the house, but I do want to get the first layer of grime off. We use it all summer.

Good luck man. Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

Please explain what an outdoor shower is?

No freezer up problems where you live with water lines?

 

[sandbur]

Add at least 3 foot doors and preferably 4 foot doors in all locations. Keep everything you need on one floor and only one step at most for access to the house. Yup, I am thinking of wheel chair access in the future.

Make the outside of the house as low maintenance as you can. Not cedar or wood siding.

 

[McLovin]

Put a hand held in the mud room shower with a 6' hose for the dogs (if you have them).
Pot filler above the stove comes in handy for boiling corn and noodles.
If you have a wall or walls that you know you're going to hang mounts on have your electrician mount his boxes 1/2" further out then put 1/2" plywood on the entire wall before you sheetrock. No more searching for studs.
Run a water line underground to the barn with a yard hydrant at or in the barn.
If there's a basement have the excavator pile the extra dirt where you want to have a backstop for shooting.
If you like to watch movies I'd wire up a really nice surround system with speakers everywhere.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Great ideas guys! Keep them coming!

What kind of heat? In my experience a boiler system is the best. Doesn't dry the air out so much in the winter.

Septic system? If so be sure to put in a gray water system.

Durability, skip the linoleum in the bathrooms and kitchen and go with tile.

I'm still researching on heating systems Bill. By boiler system you mean heat pump? Whatever system I use I want to ensure that I can hook wood stove in basement up to the duct work.

Yes on the septic system Bill. I'm not sure grey water systems are allowed in Jeff county Mo but I will look into it. Tks

As far as linoleum. I will prolly use a commercial grade for the mudroom and kids bathroom and tile the master bath. We have some stuff at work that has help of very well that I would like to use

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Sounds great Jordan. You've got many bases covered. One thing that I love about our house is the passive solar design; south facing orientation with many big windows. In the winter, if the sun is out, no matter the temp. we do not have to have any heat on from 11 AM to about 3 or 4 or so. Two other things I love about our house that we added...an outdoor shower, and a masonry heater in the breezeway. Like you are planning, we have a breezeway that attaches our house to the garage. In the breezeway we had a mason build us a large masonry heater with a pizza oven....heats just about the entire house with just 2 fires a day. Love it. Also, great for family pizza night, bread, casseroles, etc. Whatever we want to heat we just throw in the pizza oven. More efficient than a wood stove. And the outdoor shower....man, love that too. After a morning of logging in July I don't necessarily want to take a shower in the house, but I do want to get the first layer of grime off. We use it all summer.

Good luck man. Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

Sounds like an awesome set up!!!! I may have to steal some of your ideas. It's my goal to build the Breezeway and pole barn myself next summer

 

[Turkey Creek]

Plenty of outdoor outlets, good lighting on the exterior, mud room with closet, plenty of kitchen cabinets (pantry is even better if you have room), GOOD QUALITY windows with thought put into how you will open them (hand crank, slider), cement board siding, covered porch and a fire pit area.

Lots of good ideas already listed above.

 

[Reagan]

There is a thread at the other site on this topic. There are some good ideas there too.


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[Jordan Selsor]

There is a thread at the other site on this topic. There are some good ideas there too.


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Yep that's what gave me the idea. I know theirs are some very thorough thinkers over here and wanted to see what this bunch had to say

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As an electrician of 34 yrs., I'd advise putting 1 or 2 ( preferable ) pieces of 1 1/2" or 2" PVC pipe from the ceiling of your basement ( assuming that's where your panel will be )up to the attic for future wire pulling purposes. I've put those in a few houses I've wired for people and they ALWAYS get used at some point. They save time, fishing walls and ceilings, and $$$ for labor later on. They make getting additional wires from the panel up to the attic for added lights, receptacles, fans, or more computer, phone, or TV lines to be pulled like a breeze. 2 pipes is better because 120 / 240 volt lines must be kept separate from phone, computer, or fire alarm wires.

Put a hard-wired fire alarm system in that has battery back-up for your smoke detectors. Your local codes may already require that.

Put a 40 circuit, 200 amp panel in. If you don't use all the circuits at first, you'll have extra spaces for future additions. That ALWAYS happens !!!

Look at your plans and try to figure where your furniture, appliances, TV, or any other electrical device may be situated - and plan on locating receptacles at those locations so you don't have to string extension cords or change the room lay-outs for lack of outlets at the desired spots. ( Think night-light in a hallway, lamp at a phone table in an entrance, future or present computer locations, etc. )

Consider all the new LED light fixtures - indoor and outdoor - that are available. Under-cabinet LED counter lights are a wife's best friend in the kitchen counter area. Any LED fixture is a big $$$ saver - now and later - lower kilowatt usage on the bill !!

If you are planning on having a post light in front of your house, or a pole-barn, shed, detached garage - run a 2" PVC conduit ( 1" for post light ) from your basement underground to that location and put a 90 degree fitting on the conduit so it turns up and comes out of the ground where you want it. Cap the pipe so no water or other debris can get in it and mark it with red duct tape or flagging so it won't get hit by mower, kids, quads, etc. The conduit must be 18" below grade or 24" if it will be driven over ( driveway ). This will save you backhoe trenching later and more $$$ out of pocket. Your lot will be dug up and in need of finish grading already, so why not take advantage. Then if you have to install a separate panel in your pole barn or detached garage, the chase will already be there for the sub-feed panel to be fed from the house panel. Having a 90 degree stub sticking up gives you the location of the end of the conduit in case you have to extend the conduit or re-position it for use. PVC pipe is cheap compared to trenching later after you have grass growing, trees planted, flowers, etc. Some folks go with direct burial lines, but if you have any rocks or stones in your soil - I'd NEVER go direct burial lines then. Too much chance of frost heaving damage to the wires.

Wood stove in basement - EXCELLENT idea !! Heat rises naturally, so once your floors and walls are warmed up, house stays toasty much easier. I have that set-up in my house and we put it in my sister & BIL's house when they built. Saves us all a TON on heat bills in winter !!! Our gas bill is LOW - only used for hot water and cooking. Furnace is rarely used.

Go with 6" exterior walls. Better insulation value keeps heat in ( winter ) and AC cool air in ( summer ).

Breezeway is a great idea. If breezeway is a definite " go " - then you can access your garage or pole-barn THAT way in the ceiling for electrical lines to the garage. Pizza oven is a COOL idea !!! Good luck with the house and all of the project !!! Keep us posted.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

^^^^ Tk U bowsnbucks for your very detailed response! I will def do several of the things you mentioned! Several don't cost much at all and will save allot of time. Again Tks

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Please explain what an outdoor shower is?

No freezer up problems where you live with water lines?

Hey sandbur....they are common at beach houses out on Cape Cod, which we visit quite often. We plumbed new copper through the wall of
the house from our washer and dryer room. We plumbed it in so that it has a slight downward pitch to the outside. In the fall we simply close
the shutoff valves on the inside of the house and drain the water from the exterior lines much like you would a faucet for a hose.

It was my wife's idea, but I'm telling you it's one of the best things we did. Something about taking an outside shower after a hard day's work!
I can bring my beer in with me and set it on the ground. No neighbors, so we don't even need a privacy shelter (though we might add one someday).

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Neat idea Natty. I use the hose half the time after a long day on the grass route. A shower like that would be Cadillac!!!!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Neat idea Natty. I use the hose half the time after a long day on the grass route. A shower like that would be Cadillac!!!!

We love it. And with a 9 and 5 year old, it comes in handy. As nasty ay they get playing outside, we just have them shower outside before they come in. The hand wand is great for hosing your arms and head down if that's all it takes. Unless it's raining out, we really don't shower inside during the summer.

Go for it!

 

[Turkey Creek]

A helpful tip is dont put in sidewalks and anymore drive way than necessary until after a few months of living there. You would be surprised how many people trails and two tracks develop over time. Then you can decide which paths and tails to rock or pave. It can be a bit muddy at times, but you will be surprised about where you actually travel outside.

A whole house fan can be nice when it is great weather outside, but not enough breeze to circulate through the house.

 

[Jim Timber]

I hate half stories. You don't save much on materials, and you compromise a lot of otherwise good floor space. Then you bump out with dormers and have a low pitch roof to deal with on top of two additional runs of flashing.

There's no up-side to them IMO, unless you have to use it to cheat a height restriction, and even then I still don't like them.

 

[tooln]

I'd rather have an attached garage with mud room between it and the kitchen. Then later a pole barn with a walk in cooler/cut wrap room and enough room for all the toys & equipment.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

Hey sandbur....they are common at beach houses out on Cape Cod, which we visit quite often. We plumbed new copper through the wall of
the house from our washer and dryer room. We plumbed it in so that it has a slight downward pitch to the outside. In the fall we simply close
the shutoff valves on the inside of the house and drain the water from the exterior lines much like you would a faucet for a hose.

It was my wife's idea, but I'm telling you it's one of the best things we did. Something about taking an outside shower after a hard day's work!
I can bring my beer in with me and set it on the ground. No neighbors, so we don't even need a privacy shelter (though we might add one someday).


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i love the outdoor showers! when i lived on the east end of long island which is all sand...they were very useful for keeping sand intrusion into the dwelling minimal. not to mention a cold beer, sunset over the beach...nice way to wind down a long summer day on the dunes/beach.