Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 14, 2014 10:21 pm Hi, my spouse and I will be building NOR and before we finalise our plans, we would like to seek advice/opinions from the experts here. Essentially, we are happy with the plans however the only worry we have is that when we enter the house, the first thing we will see (straight ahead) is the kitchen island. We will be placing quality range hood here but was just wondering if anyone on here has seen any such layout before. **I would love to upload the plan but seem to not be able to upload it and I am guessing it's because I am a new member** Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 2Oct 15, 2014 6:54 am I think there're instructions around here on how to add images? I don't think this forum is able to have pictures or attachments directly stored; I believe you have to put the picture somewhere else that it can be viewed, and then you add links into your post. So put it on Picasa or Photobucket or similar, then from wherever you get it you'll be able to get the URL (something like http:\\website.com\pikkyname.jpg), and you put that URL in between tags [ img ] and [ /img ] (without the spaces). Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 3Oct 15, 2014 8:25 am here is a great link on how to post photo's (its done by me so it should be easy to read!!) viewtopic.php?f=13&t=73871 Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 4Oct 15, 2014 8:27 am you can upload photos onto photobucket then paste the link in this thread Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 5Oct 15, 2014 8:27 am 1. first sign up to http://photobucket.com/ its' free 2. upload your photo's 3. click on the photo you want to post it should look like this Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 4. on the right hand side of the photo is this box Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 5. left click on the IMG 6. it should highlight yellow and say copied 7. on your H1 post right click and paste your photo will come up once you have posted the post Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 7Oct 15, 2014 10:50 am It's different, which i like. Suggestions: Make the smallest bedroom bigger You will need more linen storage Maybe orient the Alfredo to the right side to get views over the yard Be sure you really want a separate dining room, especially without a meals area. Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 8Oct 15, 2014 12:00 pm i dont think i would change much in the way of structure but i would change the room use. 1. turn dinning into the theatre 2. living to be used as dining 3. remove wall/door of theatre room and use theatre room as living 4. reduce size of bed 4 as the master should be the biggest bedroom 5. flip the tv recess and turn into extra storage Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 9Oct 15, 2014 12:01 pm Adding to the above comment on dining ... check that those dimensions work, 3.4m sounds kind of tight for a dining room? The table's going to be, what, about 2m ... 700mm sounds a little cramped on either side, allowing room for people to get past etc? It's not that you won't fit; but it might feel very closed in? Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 11Oct 15, 2014 12:13 pm also the theatre were i have place it is a great size for the theatre. theatres are best when they are longer (so hubby tells me) Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 12Oct 15, 2014 12:21 pm My suggestions: 1.Make bed 4 smaller and bed 3 larger (biggest room should be main) 2. Agree with turning the dining into the home theatre and the new lounge - i think it would flow better this way and look bigger because its much more open. 3. i would make the laundry shorter and have no wall / entry right next to the kitchen - so essentially you could walk in a complete circle right around the kitchen. Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 13Oct 15, 2014 1:12 pm I would suggest slicing some space off Bed 4 and adding it to Bed 1. Bed 1 is the master and for resale value alone should be the largest bedroom in the house Dale - Building Newbie Proserpine, QLD Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 14Oct 15, 2014 1:38 pm Hi everyone, thank you once again for your inputs. Truly appreciate it! It is amazing how no one actually said anything negative about the position of the kitchen island - could that be a plus point? The reason Bedroom 4 and Master Suite is at the opposite end of each other is because we prefer to have the Alfresco in the middle. My spouse is a smoker (and only smokes outside of the house) so that Alfresco is basically a quick exit from the Master Suite. We built the same layout (ie Master Suite next to Alfresco) at our Caversham house and loved it so that is why we are sticking with it again this time. Truth be told, I am happy with the way the Living area is positioned because we like to integrate the Alfresco into the Living area. Further, the wall along the 32m is north facing therefore am not too sure if we want to have the Theatre/Living there as it might get too hot during the day. I am contemplating if I should just convert the space where the kitchen is, into a Dining area, push back the Kitchen and have the Scullery/Laundry towards the back of the wall at 32m (ie between Master Suite and Garage). Does that sound feasible to you guys? Besides, that area is north facing and knowing me, the Scullery/Laundry would be the least utilised space so it does not matter if it gets too hot during summer. Thoughts please. Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 15Oct 15, 2014 1:40 pm dalemengel I would suggest slicing some space off Bed 4 and adding it to Bed 1. Bed 1 is the master and for resale value alone should be the largest bedroom in the house Thank you Dalemengel. I will definitely have the plans amended to reflect this. Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 16Oct 15, 2014 2:06 pm Which way is north? For most climates it is advisable to locate living areas to the north. With adequate glazing winter sunshine will warm the house, while eaves will block summer northerly sun. Take local breezes into account. Lots of advice on house design here, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation edit: I missed your most recent post, re. N direction, I'll send another. Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 17Oct 15, 2014 3:02 pm if you are going to push the kitchen back and make the kitchen a dining room then i suggest making the following changes so the master isnt off the dining room 1. swapping were the master bedroom is with bed 4 2. then make bed 4 into the theatre and the theatre to bed 4 Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 18Oct 15, 2014 3:08 pm MMad, sunshine from the N is not the major problem for summer heat (unless it's reflected off footpaths etc). This is because the summer sun is higher in the sky. So appropriate length eaves will shade the house in summer, while admitting sunshine in winter, when the sun is lower in the sky. W sunshine (& to some degree E sun) is the main concern in summer. This is because the sun is lower in the sky so eaves become less effective. So I'd advise having a majority of your living areas on the northern side of the house, & moving your garage to the southern side. The central alfresco area will help shade the house from hot westerly summer sunshine, though it may be too hot out there to use it in the evenings. I'd also reconsider the large W facing window in the master bed, it could get very hot in there on summer evenings. Usually it's recommended that you minimise W facing windows, & where posible position the bathrooms, laundry & infrequently used rooms to the W, to block afternoon summer heat. This may not be totally possible, as it faces your backyard, so awnings shutters & trees may help with shading issues. There's more info here, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-desi ... gn-climate Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 19Oct 15, 2014 3:55 pm dannislade if you are going to push the kitchen back and make the kitchen a dining room then i suggest making the following changes so the master isnt off the dining room 1. swapping were the master bedroom is with bed 4 2. then make bed 4 into the theatre and the theatre to bed 4 Hi Dannislade, why haven't I thought of that?! Great idea Dannislade but in having said that, would the Theatre room be too hot looking at the fact that it will be north facing? Re: Advice / Opinions regarding house plan 20Oct 15, 2014 4:00 pm ddarroch MMad, sunshine from the N is not the major problem for summer heat (unless it's reflected off footpaths etc). This is because the summer sun is higher in the sky. So appropriate length eaves will shade the house in summer, while admitting sunshine in winter, when the sun is lower in the sky. W sunshine (& to some degree E sun) is the main concern in summer. This is because the sun is lower in the sky so eaves become less effective. So I'd advise having a majority of your living areas on the northern side of the house, & moving your garage to the southern side. The central alfresco area will help shade the house from hot westerly summer sunshine, though it may be too hot out there to use it in the evenings. I'd also reconsider the large W facing window in the master bed, it could get very hot in there on summer evenings. Usually it's recommended that you minimise W facing windows, & where posible position the bathrooms, laundry & infrequently used rooms to the W, to block afternoon summer heat. This may not be totally possible, as it faces your backyard, so awnings shutters & trees may help with shading issues. There's more info here, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-desi ... gn-climate Hi Ddarroch, the things is, we went to 2 separate builders and they both have advised us against having living areas facing north. Coincidentally, both builders drew plans with the bedrooms as shown on the plan. The first builder even had the Alfreso where the Dining is to be ie between the Garage and Master Suite. i would not be signing anything on the day read your contract about when builder submits final invoice generally, have to meet builder within 7 days of receiving final… 1 5255 Hi All, Recently we have signed a contract with Burbank and we are not aware that they have just DORSET, SURREY, HAMPSHIRE, KENT, PILBARA and REDGUM bricks from PGH are… 0 3835 Thank you @. Tried to play with the facade models but the exact colour is not matching up. 2 3899 |