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Calm

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Rather than just playing games, I was thinking of spending my time usefully by collecting ideas for when we decide to build a house. My drawing is horrible and I was thinking it would be much more fun using an app. But looking at them, too many choices and most have to pay to look at features like more than one floor. It would be nice to be able to pick a wall and then type in measurements rather than having to be precise with drawing it as well. 
 

Anyone have any suggestions?  Doesn’t have to be free if I know I am getting something useful.

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Remember that it is much easier to move a wall on paper ( or on computer ) than after it is built. 😁

I usually do several rough sketches on paper to make sure I have considered possible layouts. I have seen a couple of computer programs that let you see what things will look like in 3 D . I am too OLD school to use them LOL ( also I'm too cheap... I mean careful. ) 

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32 minutes ago, strappinglad said:

Remember that it is much easier to move a wall on paper ( or on computer ) than after it is built. 😁

That is why I figure smart to start now to live with the ideas for awhile and then to present to an architect to put into reality. The people who built this home had grandiose plans and had to cut them way down and rather than starting from scratch or with the basic idea, pretty much just rotated the side of the house to the back of it and lost the center...this ended up putting the best window in the house in the walk in closet rather than in the grand entry so you could see mountains coming down the stairs. Which cut the closet in half since half was window and makes it weird to use at night, plus the blinds are always closed so no grand view at all.  And the guest bathroom is right in the middle of things so no removing wall to turn tiny sitting room and small family area into large and bright family room (who wants to hear grunts and such or get less pleasant whiffs in the midst of a party or dinner).

Guest bathroom is getting stuck back in mud room off garage so no more tearing through the house in desperation to make it in time and lots of privacy for the moment of relief. 
 

Plus Covid has taught me smart to have a sink by the door we use most for washing hands. 

Edited by Calm
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1 hour ago, Calm said:

Rather than just playing games, I was thinking of spending my time usefully by collecting ideas for when we decide to build a house. My drawing is horrible and I was thinking it would be much more fun using an app. But looking at them, too many choices and most have to pay to look at features like more than one floor. It would be nice to be able to pick a wall and then type in measurements rather than having to be precise with drawing it as well. 
 

Anyone have any suggestions?  Doesn’t have to be free if I know I am getting something useful.

I'm looking to build an a frame in a few years when I move, there are kits and plans out there you can look at.  Not sure what your needs are family size wise but it's an option, if you like a frames and plan on having land/space to build it on. 

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35 minutes ago, strappinglad said:

Remember that it is much easier to move a wall on paper ( or on computer ) than after it is built. 😁

I usually do several rough sketches on paper to make sure I have considered possible layouts. I have seen a couple of computer programs that let you see what things will look like in 3 D . I am too OLD school to use them LOL ( also I'm too cheap... I mean careful. ) 

Are you in construction?  If so, quick hint please...does it matter of stairs are in middle of house or along an outer wall. Seem like most I know put them in middle of house. 

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41 minutes ago, poptart said:

I'm looking to build an a frame in a few years when I move, there are kits and plans out there you can look at.  Not sure what your needs are family size wise but it's an option, if you like a frames and plan on having land/space to build it on. 

No, we need something a bit different due to my daughter likely living with us till we die, so we want an upstairs or walk out basement depending on land that is her space with small kitchenette and laundry area to make it easier for her to be responsible for herself and two master bedrooms on the main floor with shared master bath, plus a study and an exercise room in addition to kitchen with pantry and family room. My husband got to the current house first when moving and claimed the master bedroom, with me thinking we would rotate every five years. Ha!

 So I basically live in my smallish bedroom which instantly clutters because I refuse to give up the half wall of playhouse nook for a bigger closet. Even if my grand kids are too big for it now (I really enjoyed laying on the bed and having them playing dolls in it), the next family should be able to enjoy it. And the closet is great for a kid or two, even if too small for dumping all my stuff in. And no way after twenty years in a master bedroom and bath is he willing to downsize or make two bedrooms into a suite.  He doesn’t even have a bathtub and he keeps every surface covered rather than putting stuff away so I don’t get it. Probably comes from the tiny bedroom in the basement that was just a bed and drawers he had before we got married.  I had the ‘master bedroom’ in Canada but it was an older house, so no walk in closet. I got spoiled in Kansas where it was so nice to have a massive bedroom that was always clean because I could shut the door to the closet when it was untidy.
 

An additional 30 years of collecting stuff hasn’t helped. I am now trying to purge...why save bulk office stuff when we never use envelopes, thumb tacks (no more bulletin boards) or writing paper or even many pens or pencils anymore?  Books I couldn’t convince my kids to read (sigh, they wanted to choose all their own books) and now grandkids aren’t too interested in.
 

I have hundreds of books to read to my grandkids or for them to read I started collecting in college because my grand parents had three books for kids, one collection of classics and Reader Digest versions for the three weeks we spent with them during summer (no kids’ TV, it was only on when they wanted to watch, family room was only place for them to sit, so I get it).  It was Soooooo...... boring.  Problem is, my grandkids live five minutes away, so never here long enough to read and they get lots of books from the library. Plus reading to them...Spot books every time.  For variety Skippy Jon Jones (which I hear is banned, but I never did it with an accent and the ones I have don’t have much culture in them, not sure if they picked up any cultural undertones with those, funny that I just looked at it as a cat that wanted to be a dog and saw that as living one’s dream rather than a stereotyped Mexican dog, seems obvious once it is pointed out). 
 

The same book syndrome drives me insane. My daughter was the same way. My son let me choose, but too poor to have many books at the time. We read the Oz books, Narnia, Lloyd Akexander and some other great ones to him though. But what can I say about my grandkids, they got hooked on my voices. So I have some gorgeous picture books and award winning chapter books just sitting there with fond memories of when I read them to myself. Now it is time to find them good homes. 

Edited by Calm
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10 hours ago, Calm said:

No, we need something a bit different due to my daughter likely living with us till we die, so we want an upstairs or walk out basement depending on land that is her space with small kitchenette and laundry area to make it easier for her to be responsible for herself and two master bedrooms on the main floor with shared master bath, plus a study and an exercise room in addition to kitchen with pantry and family room. My husband got to the current house first when moving and claimed the master bedroom, with me thinking we would rotate every five years. Ha!

 So I basically live in my smallish bedroom which instantly clutters because I refuse to give up the half wall of playhouse nook for a bigger closet. Even if my grand kids are too big for it now (I really enjoyed laying on the bed and having them playing dolls in it), the next family should be able to enjoy it. And the closet is great for a kid or two, even if too small for dumping all my stuff in. And no way after twenty years in a master bedroom and bath is he willing to downsize or make two bedrooms into a suite.  He doesn’t even have a bathtub and he keeps every surface covered rather than putting stuff away so I don’t get it. Probably comes from the tiny bedroom in the basement that was just a bed and drawers he had before we got married.  I had the ‘master bedroom’ in Canada but it was an older house, so no walk in closet. I got spoiled in Kansas where it was so nice to have a massive bedroom that was always clean because I could shut the door to the closet when it was untidy.
 

An additional 30 years of collecting stuff hasn’t helped. I am now trying to purge...why save bulk office stuff when we never use envelopes, thumb tacks (no more bulletin boards) or writing paper or even many pens or pencils anymore?  Books I couldn’t convince my kids to read (sigh, they wanted to choose all their own books) and now grandkids aren’t too interested in.
 

I have hundreds of books to read to my grandkids or for them to read I started collecting in college because my grand parents had three books for kids, one collection of classics and Reader Digest versions for the three weeks we spent with them during summer (no kids’ TV, it was only on when they wanted to watch, family room was only place for them to sit, so I get it).  It was Soooooo...... boring.  Problem is, my grandkids live five minutes away, so never here long enough to read and they get lots of books from the library. Plus reading to them...Spot books every time.  For variety Skippy Jon Jones (which I hear is banned, but I never did it with an accent and the ones I have don’t have much culture in them, not sure if they picked up any cultural undertones with those, funny that I just looked at it as a cat that wanted to be a dog and saw that as living one’s dream rather than a stereotyped Mexican dog, seems obvious once it is pointed out). 
 

The same book syndrome drives me insane. My daughter was the same way. My son let me choose, but too poor to have many books at the time. We read the Oz books, Narnia, Lloyd Akexander and some other great ones to him though. But what can I say about my grandkids, they got hooked on my voices. So I have some gorgeous picture books and award winning chapter books just sitting there with fond memories of when I read them to myself. Now it is time to find them good homes. 

Not sure what your situation is but having your kids around is a good thing.  Moms side has their kids stick around, moms sister has like, 4 great grand kids who all live on Maui plus everyone else.  Seems to be a foreign concept here but the flip side is none of em ever end up in the horrible nursing homes you see here.  Would think with the bad times coming people here would figure that out, guess not.

Anyway, yeah I'm going to be in a spot where I don't have to worry too much, that and I'm curious how taxes are going to get.  Malpractice here is getting out of hand, wages aren't going up and i'm sick of the drama the booming population is causing.  I hear Utah is starting to have similar headaches CO is having, sad.  Other thing is, a-frames are so comfy and cute, I'm a bookworm myself so I can relate.  I pick up used Easton press books whenever I see one that's not too expensive.  Debating treating myself once I get my RN, either buy the easton press editions of Tolkeins books or one of those huge book sets thats like, an old fashioned liberal arts education.  Leaning more towards the former. 

Looking more so on the outskirts of Anchorage, main thing is seeing how bad the crime gets up there.  Buddy was telling me when they had that Tsunami warning a few years ago within an hour people were trying to break into the Wasilla Fred Meyer and Walmart.  Scares me when I see how bad it's getting here now, Alaska is getting more people but nothing like here.  Remote workers getting their wages cut a bit may curtail a lot of the moving we're seeing now.  Guess we'll see.

 

 

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11 hours ago, Calm said:

does it matter of stairs are in middle of house or along an outer wall.

It depends on the width of the house and the roof orientation. A narrow house requires a wall stairs , otherwise one loses too much floor space to walkways around the staircase. 

A couple of suggestions: make the stairs wide enough so that if you ever need to put in a stairlift chair there will be still room to walk up.

                                     : try to make the entries so that they can be sealed off. It helps when it is cold to keep the heat in the house. ( bias because of where I live. )

                                     : build to the best energy efficient standards you can.

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12 hours ago, Calm said:

Are you in construction?  If so, quick hint please...does it matter of stairs are in middle of house or along an outer wall. Seem like most I know put them in middle of house. 

I am in construction. I have built many sets of stairs. Put them wherever you want just make sure you have room for a proper 7 inch rise 10 -11 inch run with Headroom at the top and any hallways they may cross. 

Actually the rise can be anywhere between 7 and 8  inches. If you go with a 10 inch run you can have 11 inch treads, they will have a 1 inch overhang. This is fairly typical. There will be rules for your handrail height and for your turn around at any Landings. 

Typical minimum width is 36in finish. Handrail height is 42in on decks and platforms. 34 in hand grabs on the actual steps. Your local city Zoning and construction Department should have a book with the rules.

Edited by rodheadlee
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As  I get older, I am more aware of the difficulties surrounding movement and access in a home. Also, a close relative has MS and I was sketching the floorplan for a new home for her. Wider hallways, bathroom access, kitchen cupboard utilization , etc, now enter into the design. One can't put the main floor 5 steps up either. 

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45 minutes ago, strappinglad said:

As  I get older, I am more aware of the difficulties surrounding movement and access in a home. Also, a close relative has MS and I was sketching the floorplan for a new home for her. Wider hallways, bathroom access, kitchen cupboard utilization , etc, now enter into the design. One can't put the main floor 5 steps up either. 

That is why the master bedrooms and all the rooms we would use are on the main floor rather than mine upstairs like I prefer.  Husband's planning for later and if our daughter is living with us, we can likely stay later than we would on our own (assuming my health doesn't get better, but hers does).  I will probably put a hideaway for me upstairs to use initially, unless I have to choose between an extra room and a exercise pool (really hoping we can afford that).  We will probably build the entrance with an option for a ramp later on.

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A  few hints

1. Make the outside dimensions a multiple of 4 ft. If you have a choice go 32 feet or 36 feet not 33.5 feet. 

2. carpet and lino comes in 12  ft. widths so try to make the rooms  work with that .Don't make a room 12 ft. 4 in. You are paying for the part that is wasted.

3. Try to keep the shape without a lot of corners and odd rooflines. Every corner past 4 costs thousands more. 

4. There are economies of scale. A 1200 sqft. house with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen and 2 baths will cost almost the same as a 1500 sqft. house with the same setup. If the last 300 sqft are just elbow room , they might cost $50/sqft. vrs. $ 200 / sqft. Mind you the Taxes will go up . Now if those 300 sqft. are for a pool or a theatre room ,this does not hold. 

Disclaimer: I have built a few homes. I am not a contractor ! See a professional before attempting to self medicate !!!

 

 

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18 hours ago, Calm said:

That is why I figure smart to start now to live with the ideas for awhile and then to present to an architect to put into reality.
 

Once Ray and I made the decision that we really preferred to build our own retirement home so that we could have all the features we wanted, I started in earnest to go through my favorite magazines (like Country Living, etc) and cut out pictures of design elements that I really liked... I kept a notebook and organized them into areas like kitchen, den, fireplace, etc etc.  I looked at wall coverings, accessories, furniture styles, etc.  When we retired and moved here to the Oregon coast, we hired an architect.  When we met with him, I got out my notebook and discussed what we envisioned and wanted... for instance, we wanted the main living area to be on one main floor so no stairs to climb, extra wide doorways/halls to accommodate wheel chairs etc.... and things like guest rooms/bath, my art studio, and laundry room downstairs... Our lot was sloped and we were going with a "daylight basement" design, i,e, the main floor was street level, and second floor was downstairs, not upstairs...  all of our previous work/planning paid off, and we did get our "dream home"...  my notebook was essential in choosing/making decisions on all manner of details... we were able to incorporate numerous little special  features...  anything you can do now to prepare will be beneficial...

GG

Edited by Garden Girl
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34 minutes ago, Garden Girl said:

Once Ray and I made the decision that we really preferred to build our own retirement home so that we could have all the features we wanted, I started in earnest to go through my favorite magazines (like Country Living, etc) and cut out pictures of design elements that I really liked... I kept a notebook and organized them into areas like kitchen, den, fireplace, etc etc.  I looked at wall coverings, accessories, furniture styles, etc.  When we retired and moved here to the Oregon coast, we hired an architect.  When we met with him, I got out my notebook and discussed what we envisioned and wanted... for instance, we wanted the main living area to be on one main floor so no stairs to climb, extra wide doorways/halls to accommodate wheel chairs etc.... and things like guest rooms/bath, my art studio, and laundry room downstairs... Our lot was sloped and we were going with a "daylight basement" design, i,e, the main floor was street level, and second floor was downstairs, not upstairs...  all of our previous work/planning paid off, and we did get our "dream home"...  my notebook was essential in choosing/making decisions on all manner of details... we were able to incorporate numerous little special  features...  anything you can do now to prepare will be beneficial...

GG

You had mentioned this to me awhile back and so I started to take notes on what I wanted as I find stuff that annoys me around this house. Probably will start collecting photos now we are just waiting until the dog has passed (allergies mean I don’t want to start with dog hair in house plus she has a habit of peeing on carpets when ticked off or lazy and we mean to have more carpet due to noise and foot problems even if harder to keep clean). I have notes from last move when thinking of renovation I need to go through to see if still want it as 20 years later my taste had changed (less drama, more comfort).  
 

Will probably go with less open shelving and more artwork to cut down on dusting. Collections (rocks, fun mechanical stuff, kaleidoscopes, books) will be in glass covered shelving.  Furniture will be set up so can use roombi to keep floors clean instead of it getting stuck all the time.  Lots of overhead light so fewer dark spots or needed floor lamps.  Big closet in front hall for coats and storage of flags, flashlights, hats and gloves as well as seating place for removing shoes  (will provide cheap slippers for visitors).
 

We have had several floods and issues with furnace and other stuff due to the homeowner being a ‘handyman’, so I have picked up some wishes there...prefer water heater and furnace separated to avoid potential carbon monoxide poisoning, basement more for storage on metal shelving units so as not to have to replace carpets and stuff is safe from most flooding (backed up septic tanks, broken water heater, and hole in foundation from fireplace that never was plus hose left running equals about 5 floods, two major ones).

Edited by Calm
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4 hours ago, strappinglad said:

A  few hints

1. Make the outside dimensions a multiple of 4 ft. If you have a choice go 32 feet or 36 feet not 33.5 feet. 

2. carpet and lino comes in 12  ft. widths so try to make the rooms  work with that .Don't make a room 12 ft. 4 in. You are paying for the part that is wasted.

3. Try to keep the shape without a lot of corners and odd rooflines. Every corner past 4 costs thousands more. 

4. There are economies of scale. A 1200 sqft. house with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen and 2 baths will cost almost the same as a 1500 sqft. house with the same setup. If the last 300 sqft are just elbow room , they might cost $50/sqft. vrs. $ 200 / sqft. Mind you the Taxes will go up . Now if those 300 sqft. are for a pool or a theatre room ,this does not hold. 

Disclaimer: I have built a few homes. I am not a contractor ! See a professional before attempting to self medicate !!!

 

 

That's all true but if you build the box it will look like a box. A few extra corners and some offsets give the roof/house a little bit of character.

Edited by rodheadlee
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52 minutes ago, rodheadlee said:

A few extra corners and some offsets give the roof/house a little bit of character.

Correct but a couple of extra corners is onething, a whole bunch of roof gables and valleys that will cost a fortune to build and repair over the years is another. I am of the opinion that you should put your money on the inside and make the outside as low maintanance as possible.

for example  ; https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=hJmSKLbU&id=52F84EB54A72D828BED47EFB0D7C994B842C182A&thid=OIP.hJmSKLbUgXtEw088vECnigHaEJ&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fcdn.pixabay.com%2fphoto%2f2014%2f08%2f03%2f23%2f41%2fhouse-409451_640.jpg&exph=358&expw=640&q=house+pictures+images&simid=608008992544850810&ck=574F55120857DF285F44090FA9393866&selectedIndex=32&qpvt=house+pictures+images&FORM=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0

Edited by strappinglad
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12 minutes ago, strappinglad said:

Correct but a couple of extra corners is onething, a whole bunch of roof gables and valleys that will cost a fortune to build and repair over the years is another. I am of the opinion that you should put your money on the inside and make the outside as low maintanance as possible.

Yeah, we might do a U shape at most, but more likely dress it up with a nice exterior like a porch and lots of trees and other landscaping.  We have had boxes for our two houses and after my husband gets done, they look great. 

Edited by Calm
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1 hour ago, strappinglad said:

Correct but a couple of extra corners is onething, a whole bunch of roof gables and valleys that will cost a fortune to build and repair over the years is another. I am of the opinion that you should put your money on the inside and make the outside as low maintanance as possible.

for example  ; https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=hJmSKLbU&id=52F84EB54A72D828BED47EFB0D7C994B842C182A&thid=OIP.hJmSKLbUgXtEw088vECnigHaEJ&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fcdn.pixabay.com%2fphoto%2f2014%2f08%2f03%2f23%2f41%2fhouse-409451_640.jpg&exph=358&expw=640&q=house+pictures+images&simid=608008992544850810&ck=574F55120857DF285F44090FA9393866&selectedIndex=32&qpvt=house+pictures+images&FORM=IRPRST&ajaxhist=0

Yeah those houses are fine looking. 

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