On Building a house

[Annie G]

Boo that the other house fell through!

[Scarlett]

I thnk we picked a house plan.

 

Feedback welcome.

 

https://www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/home-plan-26347

Edited December 9, 2017 by Scarlett

[LMD]

Congratulations Scarlett! How exciting!

 

That house plan is a little too complex for my personal tastes, I like a simple flow through the house. I presume that bathroom 2 is the guest bathroom? I would have expected it to be slightly bigger and have a shower.

We needed a laundry/mudroom with a door to the outside as we line dry, and a bigger pantry!

 

But we're in very different stages and places so my wants/needs are likely very different to yours!

[KungFuPanda]

Build it for 2/3 of what you can afford and expect the number to creep up to the full amount.

[Annie G]

It's pretty! I'm not sure I would spend the money to put the second entrance into the living room.  Without the door you have more usable space. (I'm talking about the door that is the left if you're looking at the fireplace).   Eliminating that door would also save money by not needing a sidewalk to the entrance or a set of stairs to there. 

 

What is the little window at the top of the 3rd bedroom?  

 

[KungFuPanda]

Still . . . LOADS of houses are standing and fine. It must not be impossible. Also houses are complex. Something will need to be fixed down the line. Just plan for that and you won’t freak when it happens.

[StephanieZ]

Totally not my business, but I *love* looking at house plans . . . 

 

I love the look of the plan you cited. It has a craftsman feel that I love. :) 

 

However, I don't like the MBR so close to the common areas and so close to the other bedrooms. I've got kids your kids' ages, and I want my BR as far as possible away from theirs. Both for my/dh's privacy and for theirs (not having to hear them come/go/play video games/watch Netflix/etc.) 

 

I'm also not a fan of an entrance straight into the main room.

 

SO, I searched on that site for the same style as yours (Arcadian) and similar sizes, and this one popped up as looking good. Anyway, it's just a thought. If you detail your preferences, I'll be happy to spend more time browsing floor plans, lol. 

 

https://www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/home-plan-26265 

 

Oh, one other thing, if you can swing 2 1/2 baths, I'd do that, as my kids are PIGS and having to send guests to THEIR disgusting bathrooms means I'd have to clean it . . . frequently . . . I already do that when we're having overnight houseguests just because I don't want the mortification of having someone wander into their moldy/scummy/disgustingness accidentally, even though we have tons of other (clean!) bathrooms. 

 

 

[Frances]

I really like the way it looks from the outside, and I don't like most new houses.

[barnwife]

And Dh says it is very cost effective.

 

The pole barn talk is a red flag.  Unless you live in an area where that is common and your husband has worked on pole barn houses with these same subs, then that is a terrible idea.  There are alternative building methods that you CAN find subs experienced in, SIP's, ICF's, log cabins, timber frame etc.  Even those are never worth it in my opinion.  I've never heard of a pole barn house that wasn't a bachelor farmer DIY project. 

 

The weakness of engineering types is that they know what is possible better than what is practical, and appreciate their own creativity and intelligence much more than the grunts who are doing the work will appreciate the reasons that their job is now much harder.  If Dh has built houses of the type with the subs that are available to work on this house, that's another story.  If Dh has experience in building, in that he is an engineer who does engineering for buildings, that's not a qualification for being a GC.  The engineering for the vast majority of houses comes off a couple pages of tables. 

[Scarlett]

Ty for all the thoughts.

Not doing pole barn now.

I don’t like entrance straight into living space. Iï¸ think that can be modified

I don’t like the master bedroom sharing a wall with kids bedroom. Dh assures me soundproofing can make this a non issue.

The door to the left of fireplace will be removed.

Half bath will be built into laundry room.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Scarlett

[Scarlett]

The lot is narrow and deep. That has a lot to do with the plan we chose.

 

We aren’t doing a pole barn, but my dh has done A LOT of building in his life and was a GC Type long before engineering type.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Scarlett

[Scarlett]

Oh, and I do have good news - we are under contract with a place we like even better than the one we lost two weeks ago, still in the same amazing location and needing less work. The bank won’t let us do two loans concurrently so when this one closes in January we will put in for the land we want then. I hate waiting on that part but at least the awesome, Benny friendly house in the meantime is exciting :)

 

I really do like those home plans Scarlett. If you could modify them for the hallways to reach to an exterior wall so you could get a window or porthole in each that would make them pretty much perfect.

 

Great news!

[Catwoman]

I just looked at the plans, Scarlett, and I think the house is so pretty!!! I love the style and the layout looks fine to me, especially with the modifications you mentioned.

 

Congratulations!!! :hurray:

[Scarlett]

Congratulations Scarlett! How exciting!

 

That house plan is a little too complex for my personal tastes, I like a simple flow through the house. I presume that bathroom 2 is the guest bathroom? I would have expected it to be slightly bigger and have a shower.

We needed a laundry/mudroom with a door to the outside as we line dry, and a bigger pantry!

 

But we're in very different stages and places so my wants/needs are likely very different to yours!

The kids bathroom is not big but I really don't mind that. They are almost 17 and almost 18.....they won't be with us for many more years.

 

I

 

The laundry room is not far to the outside but I don't line dry.....I do however want a toilet in that room...it is very close to the MBR and can be my back up for when my Dh is taking too long in our bathroom.. Plus it can be a nice powder room for guests.

 

I am interested in what you mean by the plan being too complex. I thought it was pretty straightforward.

[Scarlett]

Totally not my business, but I *love* looking at house plans . . .

 

I love the look of the plan you cited. It has a craftsman feel that I love. :)

 

However, I don't like the MBR so close to the common areas and so close to the other bedrooms. I've got kids your kids' ages, and I want my BR as far as possible away from theirs. Both for my/dh's privacy and for theirs (not having to hear them come/go/play video games/watch Netflix/etc.)

 

I'm also not a fan of an entrance straight into the main room.

 

SO, I searched on that site for the same style as yours (Arcadian) and similar sizes, and this one popped up as looking good. Anyway, it's just a thought. If you detail your preferences, I'll be happy to spend more time browsing floor plans, lol.

 

https://www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/home-plan-26265

 

Oh, one other thing, if you can swing 2 1/2 baths, I'd do that, as my kids are PIGS and having to send guests to THEIR disgusting bathrooms means I'd have to clean it . . . frequently . . . I already do that when we're having overnight houseguests just because I don't want the mortification of having someone wander into their moldy/scummy/disgustingness accidentally, even though we have tons of other (clean!) bathrooms.

I loved the plan you linked....I agree my choice would be for the master suite to be more seperate from everything else... But our lot is narrow and we need a plan to accomdate that.

[Scarlett]

Oh and one odd thing Dh insist on....he doesn't want his closet to open into the bathroom. So his will be the one marks 'hers' and the door will open into the bedroom.

 

Also neither of us, but especially Dh, likes the dormer, so it will just be gone. As well as the window above the front bedroom.

[MrsRobinson]

Ty for all the thoughts.

Not doing pole barn now.

I don’t like entrance straight into living space. Iï¸ think that can be modified

I don’t like the master bedroom sharing a wall with kids bedroom. Dh assures me soundproofing can make this a non issue.

The door to the left of fireplace will be removed.

Half bath will be built into laundry room.

I love looking at house plans too! I think its great! Love the style.

 

I know what you mean about walking right into the living room but this living room is pretty big so I actually don't mind it in this case. What I don't like is the sight line from the front door right to the kitchen sink. But my kids are little and there are ALWAYS dirty dishes in and around the sink, despite my efforts. So you may be fine with it.

 

If I was building a house, I'd want a pantry the size of the office closet you've got in this plan. Sounds like that space might be used for a 1/2 bath? I like the 1/2 bath idea for sure.

 

One other thing... It seems like a long walk from the garage to the kitchen... thinking of bringing in the groceries every.single.week. But I get the narrow lot thing means a long walk from one point of the house to another is inevitable.

 

Just kidding... I thought of something else. When we were house hunting, one of the houses we looked at had a very similar layout to your living room. Walk in at the left corner, fireplace on the right wall, door to the left of the fireplace to a porch. I LOVED it!!! The living room was so cozy and beautiful but I also felt like I was being invited outdoors. They had comfy cushy wicker seats and a little table out there. If you are still going to wrap the porch around the side of the house, I'd keep the side door. Do you do much entertaining? That would be another place for people to mingle.

[LMD]

The kids bathroom is not big but I really don't mind that. They are almost 17 and almost 18.....they won't be with us for many more years.

 

I

 

The laundry room is not far to the outside but I don't line dry.....I do however want a toilet in that room...it is very close to the MBR and can be my back up for when my Dh is taking too long in our bathroom.. Plus it can be a nice powder room for guests.

 

I am interested in what you mean by the plan being too complex. I thought it was pretty straightforward.

Sounds like it will work well for you!

If you see our plans, you'd see what I mean about complex lol (that lol is because ours are ridiculously simple!)

The pockets of hallways that only go to certain rooms gave me a maze impression - but that happens to me in a lot of lovely houses! Definitely more my issue/preference than anything objective. I'll see if I can attach ours...

[LMD]

This is similar to ours (we modified it slightly but this is the base)

 

https://www.kitome.com.au/designs/gable-series/silverdale-gable-series/

[Laura Corin]

If the main entrance is into the great room, where will you store outer clothing?

 

For me the varied roofs are a bit busy.

[Annie G]

I'm with your dh about the closet being in the bathroom. I know lots of people like that but I'm not one of them. 

 

I store more than clothing in my closet so it seems weird to go through the bathroom to get my passport from the lockbox or embroidery floss for a project. 

 

 

Eliminating the dormer will save some bucks. Good call since neither of you are wild about it.

[hellen]

In the kitchen, I would switch the location of the pantry and fridge. Having the fridge in its current spot could interfere with the dishwasher.

 

I'm also concerned with the lack of a coat closet.

[MrsRobinson]

 

I'm also concerned with the lack of a coat closet.

There is a linen closet in the hall bath and another outside the bath near the entry. I'd just use that as a coat closet. I wouldn't need 2 linen closets there.

[Scarlett]

This is similar to ours (we modified it slightly but this is the base)

 

https://www.kitome.com.au/designs/gable-series/silverdale-gable-series/

 

 

Ok, I see your point now....compared to yours mine is very complex.  But it looks like you are getting a lot out of that 1700 sf plan!  I like it.

[Scarlett]

In the kitchen, I would switch the location of the pantry and fridge. Having the fridge in its current spot could interfere with the dishwasher.

 

I'm also concerned with the lack of a coat closet.

 

 

Hmm....I see your point about the fridge and dishwasher .....But I think Iike the fridge where it is because of that short wall that keeps the fridge from sticking out.

[Scarlett]

I think we have solved the lack of entrance and coat closet problem.  From the left corner of the plan (by the front door) five feet to the right, we will pull that wall down onto a portion of the porch by about 5 feet....creating a 5 X 5 entrance that will allow for a coat closet.  That will solve the other problem....dh did not like the entrance door being so close to the hall way door and he was trying to move it up toward the center of the bathroom which I do NOT want to look straight into the bathroom.

 

Also, We are going to extend the laundry room into that office closet and make the laundry room a combination laundry room/half bath.  Then we will take a bit of the storage room to give the office a small closet at the north end of the plan.  The storage room can be extended to the left of the plan to keep it a decent size.  

 

So many things to think of and it is difficult to keep dh from doing things just because he can....lol...I want to be practical and cost effective.

[LMD]

Ok, I see your point now....compared to yours mine is very complex. But it looks like you are getting a lot out of that 1700 sf plan! I like it.

☺ thanks.

[Ottakee]

I love the looks of the plan but are you in a cold/snow/ice area?  If so, make sure the roof is done RIGHT as all of those angles are ripe for ice dams which then cause leaks inside and cost $$$$.  I have the same concerns about a coat closet but once again we are in a snow area on a hobby farm so we have boots x 2 for everyone (snow and barn) and coats x 2 for everyone and extras for mud/rain, etc. that my 5 foot closet and 5 ft hanging are and in the garage hanging area are all full.

[Scarlett]

I love the looks of the plan but are you in a cold/snow/ice area? If so, make sure the roof is done RIGHT as all of those angles are ripe for ice dams which then cause leaks inside and cost $$$$. I have the same concerns about a coat closet but once again we are in a snow area on a hobby farm so we have boots x 2 for everyone (snow and barn) and coats x 2 for everyone and extras for mud/rain, etc. that my 5 foot closet and 5 ft hanging are and in the garage hanging area are all full.

No we are not in an icy snowy area. I ink the family will all come on through the garage...,even the ones who don't park in the garage.

[MaeFlowers]

I love looking at house plans!

 

I like the plan you picked out. My only concern is where the master bedroom lies. You are up agaisnt the kitchen so you will hear drawers and cabinets closing, etc. Plus, you're up agaisnt the 2nd br. Given that the master bath is about the same size, I would try to flip them.

[Scarlett]

I love looking at house plans!

 

I like the plan you picked out. My only concern is where the master bedroom lies. You are up agaisnt the kitchen so you will hear drawers and cabinets closing, etc. Plus, you're up agaisnt the 2nd br. Given that the master bath is about the same size, I would try to flip them.

Dh says he will sound proof the master bedroom. He promises he can make it so we don't hear the teens.

 

I really don't want to flip the bedroom and bath.

[Ottakee]

Dh says he will sound proof the master bedroom. He promises he can make it so we don't hear the teens.

 

I really don't want to flip the bedroom and bath.

I noticed that too ;-). They won't want to hear you either.

[Scarlett]

I noticed that too ;-). They won't want to hear you either.

Tell me about it. We currently share a wall with ds17. We can hear every word he says when talking in his sleep. Which means......we are very very quiet.

[Ottakee]

If you do forced air system you might want to watch how the duct work is run so that you and the bedroom next to it don't share the same run......those things carry sound way too well

[Scarlett]

If you do forced air system you might want to watch how the duct work is run so that you and the bedroom next to it don't share the same run......those things carry sound way too well

Yes...Dh knows about this too. Our last house before the one we live in now...wow....we could hear full conversations between our kids across the house...with our bathroom and a hallway in between.

[Scarlett]

:rofl: that’s definitely no fun!

Ha unfortunately we discovered this when we first moved here and ds was 12. Let's just say ds was very angry. And so we offered to him if we were too loud he could knock on our wall. I think he did that once or twice.....we learned to be quiet.

[Scarlett]

I love the looks of the plan but are you in a cold/snow/ice area?  If so, make sure the roof is done RIGHT as all of those angles are ripe for ice dams which then cause leaks inside and cost $$$$.  I have the same concerns about a coat closet but once again we are in a snow area on a hobby farm so we have boots x 2 for everyone (snow and barn) and coats x 2 for everyone and extras for mud/rain, etc. that my 5 foot closet and 5 ft hanging are and in the garage hanging area are all full.

 

 

Ok, your post got me to thinking about a place to hang coats for the family who comes in the back.  The office door opens to the right....dh says we can change it to open up to the left and that will leave a space to hang coat hooks on the wall to the left when you immediately walk in the room.

 

You guys are great helping me think these things through.

[StephanieZ]

Random tip . . . Fridges are really deep. "Counter depth" fridges are still deep-ish but are MUCH more expensive for the storage space you get. So, in general, if you can plan for a "full depth" fridge, that's better. Cool trick is that you can simply build cabinets extra deep, so you can use a regular depth fridge and then have extra deep counters on the "run" that is on the fridge wall. Now, that'll be tricky if you have a range on the same run as the fridge . . . So, if you wanted to do this (use a regular depth fridge and build deeper cabinets, which MASSIVELY increase storage space, FYI), you could swap the pantry and fridge locations, and then on the run that currently has the pantry (and now would have the fridge), you can build those base cabinets 30" deep and the upper cabinets can either be kept at the standard 12" deep, or even better, build them to 15 or even 18" deep. I did this on the one small cabinet run that is adjacent to our fridge and the increase in cabinet storage space is incredible in those drawers on the base cabinet (30" deep). I kept the upper cabinet the standard that our cabinet shop uses (13" deep, but more like 12" deep inside as ours are "inset" cabinet doors instead of the more common "overlay"). You can still reach the upper cabinet just fine (we use it 20 times a day, as it houses our cups). So, anywho, just a thought. (I spent approximately 47,000,000 hours designing my kitchen, lol, so I'm sorta' tuned in to these details.)

 

If you don't move the fridge, be very careful about the fridge being next to that wall . . . As the (awesome) french door fridges that are popular now really need clearance on both sides for the doors to open properly. Really study fridges before you finalize your layout. (What I did was build a custom cabinet surround around my fridge, so there's cabinets above (OMG, huge super deep cabinets that store so much huge weird crap) and then just wood walls/trim on the sides. Must be done carefully that the fridge doors extend PAST the cabinet sides/surround or, in the case of a wall, the doors must extend PAST the wall -- so that the wall is only as deep as the body of the fridge, not the doors. People often add a "filler" 12-15" full height cabinet such as a pull out pantry (awesome possum, IMHO) between a wall and the fridge to solve this problem, FYI. (And, those pull out pantries are $$$$, FYI, so consider cabinet costs when changing things.) Also, consider where somebody will be standing when they are "browsing" in the fridge and the amount those doors will swing and block the aisle. I have my fridge on the back/seating side of our island, and I allowed about 5 feet between the front of the fridge and the edge of the island overhang/seating area. That's just enough to comfortably allow somebody to be using the fridge while someone else is seated. The plan, as drawn, looks just a little tight. That pantry is very small (36" wide, 24" deep, from my guess), so be sure that's the size you want, as once you lose 6" on each side for the walls, that's barely 2 feet wide . . . If you moved it over to where the fridge is, you can use an existing wall as the left wall, so you'd lose less space to wall construction, and maybe you could squeeze in 36" wide and 30" deep? 

 

I personally like having my DW on the right side of my sink, but if you don't mind having it on the left side, that'd probably make more sense to allow the unloading dishes to be more easily moved to where you store them . . . because as is, the DW is sort of at the far end of everything and so you'd surely have to carry those dishes pretty far . . . I love the fact that nearly all my regular dishes are stored within arm's reach of my DW. Alternatively, if you want to keep the DW on to the right of the sink (which, honestly, I would, too), then see if your island can have enough space to make "dish drawers" in a lower cabinet close by. 

 

There's a site that used to be called gardenweb (and is now a subunit of houzz), that has a "kitchen design forum" that is sort of like the WTM boards for kitchen design. The people there are insanely smart about these things and can/will totally help you re-draw your kitchen if you post it there. Super awesome helpful. 

 

 

Anyhow, I don't regret a minute of the 277,213,233 minutes I spent designing my kitchen, because it really did turn out great, and you spend so much time in there that every detail really matters, IMHO. You've got a good amount of space and can likely get a great final design if you do some tweaking. That ability to tweak is, IMHO, the one thing about self-building that sort of makes it worth the trouble, lol.

 

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kitchens 

 

 

 

[Scarlett]

Random tip . . . Fridges are really deep. "Counter depth" fridges are still deep-ish but are MUCH more expensive for the storage space you get. So, in general, if you can plan for a "full depth" fridge, that's better. Cool trick is that you can simply build cabinets extra deep, so you can use a regular depth fridge and then have extra deep counters on the "run" that is on the fridge wall. Now, that'll be tricky if you have a range on the same run as the fridge . . . So, if you wanted to do this (use a regular depth fridge and build deeper cabinets, which MASSIVELY increase storage space, FYI), you could swap the pantry and fridge locations, and then on the run that currently has the pantry (and now would have the fridge), you can build those base cabinets 30" deep and the upper cabinets can either be kept at the standard 12" deep, or even better, build them to 15 or even 18" deep. I did this on the one small cabinet run that is adjacent to our fridge and the increase in cabinet storage space is incredible in those drawers on the base cabinet (30" deep). I kept the upper cabinet the standard that our cabinet shop uses (13" deep, but more like 12" deep inside as ours are "inset" cabinet doors instead of the more common "overlay"). You can still reach the upper cabinet just fine (we use it 20 times a day, as it houses our cups). So, anywho, just a thought. (I spent approximately 47,000,000 hours designing my kitchen, lol, so I'm sorta' tuned in to these details.)

 

If you don't move the fridge, be very careful about the fridge being next to that wall . . . As the (awesome) french door fridges that are popular now really need clearance on both sides for the doors to open properly. Really study fridges before you finalize your layout. (What I did was build a custom cabinet surround around my fridge, so there's cabinets above (OMG, huge super deep cabinets that store so much huge weird crap) and then just wood walls/trim on the sides. Must be done carefully that the fridge doors extend PAST the cabinet sides/surround or, in the case of a wall, the doors must extend PAST the wall -- so that the wall is only as deep as the body of the fridge, not the doors. People often add a "filler" 12-15" full height cabinet such as a pull out pantry (awesome possum, IMHO) between a wall and the fridge to solve this problem, FYI. (And, those pull out pantries are $$$$, FYI, so consider cabinet costs when changing things.) Also, consider where somebody will be standing when they are "browsing" in the fridge and the amount those doors will swing and block the aisle. I have my fridge on the back/seating side of our island, and I allowed about 5 feet between the front of the fridge and the edge of the island overhang/seating area. That's just enough to comfortably allow somebody to be using the fridge while someone else is seated. The plan, as drawn, looks just a little tight. That pantry is very small (36" wide, 24" deep, from my guess), so be sure that's the size you want, as once you lose 6" on each side for the walls, that's barely 2 feet wide . . . If you moved it over to where the fridge is, you can use an existing wall as the left wall, so you'd lose less space to wall construction, and maybe you could squeeze in 36" wide and 30" deep? 

 

I personally like having my DW on the right side of my sink, but if you don't mind having it on the left side, that'd probably make more sense to allow the unloading dishes to be more easily moved to where you store them . . . because as is, the DW is sort of at the far end of everything and so you'd surely have to carry those dishes pretty far . . . I love the fact that nearly all my regular dishes are stored within arm's reach of my DW. Alternatively, if you want to keep the DW on to the right of the sink (which, honestly, I would, too), then see if your island can have enough space to make "dish drawers" in a lower cabinet close by. 

 

There's a site that used to be called gardenweb (and is now a subunit of houzz), that has a "kitchen design forum" that is sort of like the WTM boards for kitchen design. The people there are insanely smart about these things and can/will totally help you re-draw your kitchen if you post it there. Super awesome helpful. 

 

 

Anyhow, I don't regret a minute of the 277,213,233 minutes I spent designing my kitchen, because it really did turn out great, and you spend so much time in there that every detail really matters, IMHO. You've got a good amount of space and can likely get a great final design if you do some tweaking. That ability to tweak is, IMHO, the one thing about self-building that sort of makes it worth the trouble, lol.

 

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/kitchens 

 

 

Your post is full of details.  I will have to read it over about 10 times to fully absorb all of it. And then read it to dh.  Thank you.

[prairiewindmomma]

Stephanie's advice about refrigerator placement is spot on.  It's something we're wrestling with with our remodel.

[Squiddles]

My DH is like yours and could personally build the entire house himself... as far as skill and knowledge go. But we specifically chose not to have him be the GC on our current home build because of his poor financial planning skills. Honestly, he's horrible with money. He doesn't budget good, and he spends lots on very unnecessary things (while at the time claiming they are very necessary)

In our case I could see the budget getting blown etc... but if you are better at that part than us I'd say you're gonna be ok [emoji1362]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Squiddles]

My DH is like yours and could personally build the entire house himself... as far as skill and knowledge go. But we specifically chose not to have him be the GC on our current home build because of his poor financial planning skills. Honestly, he's horrible with money. He doesn't budget good, and he spends lots on very unnecessary things (while at the time claiming they are very necessary)

In our case I could see the budget getting blown etc... but if you are better at that part than us I'd say you're gonna be ok [emoji1362]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

also, because we have to stay under a strict dollar figure the only things we are being particular about are the structural things that can't be changed later, like ceiling heights. The finish is just going to be builder grade because we hope to update finishes later in life... deciding on nicer finishes now would put us over budget.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KungFuPanda]

I think the house is great, but I would get the closets out of the master bath. Maybe use them as a buffer between the master br and that bedroom sharing it’s wall?

[Scarlett]

My DH is like yours and could personally build the entire house himself... as far as skill and knowledge go. But we specifically chose not to have him be the GC on our current home build because of his poor financial planning skills. Honestly, he's horrible with money. He doesn't budget good, and he spends lots on very unnecessary things (while at the time claiming they are very necessary)

In our case I could see the budget getting blown etc... but if you are better at that part than us I'd say you're gonna be ok [emoji1362]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Honestly I am very worried about that part.  But dh insists that we will have a plan and that we will stay on budget....and I can be closely involved in that part because I am learning Excel!  :)

[Scarlett]

also, because we have to stay under a strict dollar figure the only things we are being particular about are the structural things that can't be changed later, like ceiling heights. The finish is just going to be builder grade because we hope to update finishes later in life... deciding on nicer finishes now would put us over budget.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

 

This is our plan too.  

[Scarlett]

I think the house is great, but I would get the closets out of the master bath. Maybe use them as a buffer between the master br and that bedroom sharing it’s wall?

 

 

Dh doesn't want his closet in the bathroom. I like it.  So he will move his closet door (the one marked 'hers' in the plan) to come from the bedroom.

 

 

Soundproofing the master completly.

[Scarlett]

So.  My parents had the lot surveyed.  Wow 71 feet wide looks very narrow when you see the stakes with that red flag on top.  But dh assures me the plan we picked out will work.  It is 40' wide. 

 

He suggested  I stop looking at plans. :)  

 

I couldn't resist doing another search for houses 40 to 42 feet wide.....There is nothing else on that one big site that I found that I like better than the one I already picked out.

 

So.  I guess I will quit looking.

 

 

[Scarlett]

So. Dh has done the elevation calculations and it will be expensive to build on, but we still think it is doable.

 

The lot is one lot over from my parents ( a house and shop in between us and them). It is also an ideal location for all of us...puts me 2 minutes to my job and Dh 15 minutes closer....and ds will be about 30 minutes from the college he will be going to this fall.

 

And I think my parents will gift us the lot. We need to get that detail worked out.....I think being so close to them as they age will be mostly wonderful.

 

So much to think about. My head is spinning. Gotta get this house on the market and find a place to live for 6 months.

[shawthorne44]

That is wonderful news!

 

[Scarlett]

I thnk we picked a house plan.

 

Feedback welcome.

 

https://www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/home-plan-26347

Quoting myself to include the house plan.

 

Dh wants a change in the kitchen. He wants a single level bar with only a prep sink in it. And he wants the dishwashing sink and dishwasher to be on the back wall. He has a thing about not wanting the clean up area to be near where people eat. I think I am ok with this. A single level bar is more practical.......