New Home Construction Design Plans

We are preparing to construct a new home for our family of four. We have two small children. I have looked through the numerous books and/or design and planning sites and have a pretty good idea as to what type of home that we want (a farmhouse). My question is this: For those of you who have been involved in the construction of your own homes, what things can you not live without that you included in your new home and what things do you wish that you would have done differently or included? Thank you for you input.

Just built our house a year ago. Here is a list of things that we put in our house that I'm pleased with.
1. Slate flooring throughout kitchen and hallways
2. Real hardwood floors (no, they aren't cold)
3. Big porches to sit on in the summer (front and back)
4. A huge shop for my husband
5. Double sinks in the master bath
6. Garden tub in the master bath
7. A bonus room above the garage with a kitchenette, laundry area and bathroom.
8. 3 car garage

What I wish we would have done.
1. Wired the kitchen for cable or satellite TV
2. Added electrical outlets in the walk in closets
3.Besides canned lights in the ceilings of the front and back porches, I would add a simple outdoor light beside each outside door. Without these when we turn on the porch light we are burning 4 bulbs needlessly. To leave the house and leave on a simple porch light we can not do that since we didn't install any.

That's about it, all other stuff I'm really happy with. I'm glad I don't have carpet. I'm so happy with the slate floors. Oh! and most of our closet doors we put the type that you just pull open, which have a ball at the top. These are really convenient.
I hope all this helped.

2006-10-26 13:23:09 by way_surreal

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i want to know technical information on wood fireplaces concerning
construction and measurement of different parts which are best
for effeciency and safty

Open fireplaces highly in-efficient. You'd be lucky to get 10% and all your far away rooms will be cold. Masonry heaters are good but very expensive to have built the correct way. Wood buring stoves and fireplace inserts have good efficiencym often near 70%.

I had a wood stove professionally installed for under $2200.00 that heats my entire1780 sq ft. ranch to 75+ degrees very easily. I use about 1 cubic ft of wood per day on average in cleveland ohio(weekends about 2 cu.ft since I'm home).

2006-08-22 02:29:28 by IBRAHIM E

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How can I go about finding a reputable builder in my area? I've done searches for home builders in the Chicagoland area, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. Is it better to design your own home, or does that cost more than using a pre-existing floor plan? Also, is there any way to find pricing for new construction homes? I need to know what price range some of these homes are in to know if it's a possibility.
Any help is welcomed, I feel like I'm up against a wall here. Thanks!!!

Contact your local Association of Home Builders (NAHB) group and get suggestions for builders. Here is a link to the Great Chicago Association http://www.hbagc.com/ which includes a list of builder members.

Visit the National Association of Home Builders website for lots of general information about the building process, including information on floor plans, modular homes, cost of building etc. Here is their link http://www.nahb.org/default.aspx

Many builders will give you a "ballpark" price per square foot for new construction in your local area, but bear in mind that without having complete specifications, it really is just a ballpark. The type of finishes chosen can greatly change the cost of building, so it is difficult to nail down a typical cost. Using this figure though, you can usually determine if the size of house you want to build is likely within your budget.

2007-01-17 11:44:46 by KBGood

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We've got four weeks from the time we take ownership to when we move in. Here's my current plan of attack, would love any suggestions. I have three small kids, so I want to get as much done in advance as possible. 1) wiring (internet, sound, phones) updated, 2) minor construction (just moving a built-in), 3) test hanging the artwork (so we can make holes in the wall while we figure it out). 4) Then, bring in folks to clean the vents/chimneys, 5) then rug cleaners, 6) then a cleaning crew for all the rest (appliances, floors, etc). Once that's done last step is 7) a fresh coat of paint on all the walls, and then we move in.

I really want this to smell and feel like our home. I'm not worried about it from a design perspective, our "stuff" will help it look like our place (as will some color changes on the walls).

Any advice?

Lets see....clean any grout you have......oil soap your kitchen cabinets if they are wood.....wax any hardwood flooring....clean window screens and sills....ummmm...clean light fixtures and buy new matching bulbs......you have a very good list brewing....you sure a month will be enough time?

2007-11-11 03:18:01 by honoreway

This is the beginning of a paper for school, I am to describe what influenced me to pursue the career I am pursuing and since starting school if I am still confident that I chose the right career. This is a rough rough draft, just looking for some opinions so far (I feel like it has no rhythm as of now...)

The beats of hammers on a piece of wood and the crack of a bat to a ball are two sounds that will always take me back to my childhood. My father was a sales representative for a lumber company by day, and the founder of a baseball organization by night. It was almost inevitable that I grow up with a passion for one of the two. The baseball fields never did much for me. Unless there was a wooded area nearby, there was not much to explore and no place to wander. Empty half built houses, on the other hand, were full of imaginary wonders. When I was very young, I would create worlds inside these houses and with each new house that my father was overseeing, there was a new adventure as well. As I got older, I became more curious about the structure itself. I wanted to know everything. I wanted to know how it was being built, what was holding the roof up, how the staircase was installed. Fortunately, I had formed a relationship with some of the workers over the years, and a lot of them took the time to answer my questions and explain things to me. My inquisitiveness about the structure itself soon turned into wanting to know more about the interior. How would the family use this space? Why the architect designed specific rooms to be adjacent to certain other rooms and why some rooms were spaced further apart. When not at the construction sites, studying the blueprints my father would bring home with him became another favorite thing to do. I started becoming familiar with floor plans and eventually began trying to draw my own (though, with only graph paper and little knowledge of drafting, they were never to scale and only understood by me.)

Now that I am school and learning the ins and outs of the design field, I am even more confident that I have chosen the right path. I struggled for a long time to choose one of my many passions to pursue as a career. I went back and forth for a very long time between Creative Writing, Photography, and Interior Design. I was very confused and put off returning to school for a long time because of my indecision. One day I realized, my poetry is always inspired by one of three things: architecture, humanity, and nature. My photography is also the same way, I do not find joy in posing people for portraits but leave me alone in a city for a day and I will return with a camera full of photos of people on the streets surrounded by beautiful architecture and natural wonders. Architecture, Humanity, and Nature. How could I possibly combine the three things that inspire me the most into one daily profession? Design is important to every aspect of our lives. A home’s functionality defines how the people in it live. By choosing sustainable products to use within the design, I can help protect our planet. Architecture, humanity, and nature are all closely interconnected and effect each other in intimate ways. As a designer, I can influence how they effect one another.

With 30 years of experience in interior design, I found your essay to be beautifully written from an intensely personal perspective inclusive of the childhood origins which inspired you to pursue this field of study. Further, the struggle between fields is a common one and your explanation of how they all integrate within the field of design for you is an interesting perception. The only advice I would offer is to make the paragraphs a bit shorter for ease of reading. A job well done and a wonderful answer to a question we ask while making hiring decisions, so you will serve yourself well to maintain and add to this as you complete your studies, Good luck!

2010-01-19 10:35:42 by Bry