Browse Forums General Discussion 1 May 18, 2010 6:10 pm Hi all, I discovered this forum a couple of months ago when we decided to start planning our dream house build. I've been lurking & reading many of your informative posts - I think I've read every hundreds of threads so far - almost every single one in the owner builders forum! This place is a goldmine of support & information. I don't have anything useful to contribute myself just yet, but am hoping to get some advice from wiser minds. We are planning on demolishing our current run-down place in inner-west Melbourne - block size is 12.1m x 40m. Volume builders don't really fit on our land & haven't got a plan which fits exactly what we want so we are contemplating owner/builder (or maybe a boutique mob). My brother is a builder so can help with many aspects. Anyway, I have attached my latest rough drawing hoping for some ideas. It has been drawn to scale - each major square is 1m. The garage with rear access is existing & will remain in place for the moment. Setback at 5m is same as current house & should be ok as neighbours are similar. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Master is downstairs with a bedroom opposite for when babies arrive (we plan on having 2 in a few years time). Then when they get older they can sleep upstairs - upstairs rooms are deliberately not directly above master for noise reasons! Is there anything obvious that we have missed that seems crazy to everyone else? Do you think we could do this for under $500k with the following dream ideas? - wanting to put in double glazed windows throughout (main back room to have large bi-fold/sliding glass) - main back family/meals room to have 4m high ceilings - polished concrete floors (carpet in bedrooms & upstairs) - outside walls - not sure yet - maybe rendered brick / Hebel / Masterwall type material (want a good thermal rating) - outside fibreglass pool (it is the size it is so we can put an EndlessPools Fastlane machine into it to create a lap pool (http://endlesspoolsaustralia.com.au/main/page_products_fastlane.html) - pool to have a motorised hard retractable cover - spa bath in ensuite Or are we dreaming too high for our budget? Thanks for any feedback, Mark. Re: Proposed house plan critique 2May 18, 2010 6:25 pm One thing I thought of when I quickly looked at it, you might get it cheaper if you flip the top floor so both bathrooms are together on top of each other, then they just have to worry about one area on 2 floors for waterproffing etc, and that way you also keep all the bathroom noises in the same place so to speak. If I was to win Lotto, I would build with a different builder, now to win lotto Re: Proposed house plan critique 3May 18, 2010 7:50 pm hi mark! great idea, knock down rebuild - very good way to make a lotta money!!! as for feedback, here's my thoughts... upstairs: I'd try to put the bathroom closer to the bedrooms, and I'd try to have a separate entry to WC, rather than having to go thru the bathroom. downstairs: I think that front left room (spare) is like a study, so perhaps a WIR is not necessary, BIR may work better, of course, I love WIR's, so there's no harm in it staying either! - I'd mix up the WIL, WC and laundry a bit... perhaps have access to the WIL from the laundry, not from the hallway, and the WC should be entered from the little alcove, rather than the hall. Too many doors in your hallway can look cumbersome... - I'd move the ensuite to the outer wall (with the window) and put the WIR master where you have put the ensuite, which doesn't need a window. - Is that a computer room (behind the living room?) - if it is, great idea... great looking home overall, great feel to it... I'd def say you'd get this for well under $500K! good luck! A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Proposed house plan critique 5May 18, 2010 11:00 pm Thanks for the replies & ideas - a few things for us to think about. Chrisf Don't forget to account for wall thickness in your plans. I think 30cm for exterior and 15cm for interior is close to normal, but best check these figures.. Thanks, I had forgotten about that actually! The plan is about version 20 - the original ones had underground home theatres, 25m lap pools & all sorts of craziness - we decided to pare it back to affordable & practical versions. Along the way it seems I neglected the walls - originally I over-sized rooms to compensate; will have to re-do that. Annietom great idea, knock down rebuild - very good way to make a lotta money!!! Not sure how we're going to make money - it's going to cost us a packet! If we sub-divided & built 2 townhouses side-by-side we certainly would make a few hundred K - a few other people nearby have done very well from doing that. But we want a long term family home & keeping a largish backyard. If life changes & we have to sell later I'm sure we wont have over capitilised (given comparable property prices - inner Melbourne market truly is out of control). Annietom I'd mix up the WIL, WC and laundry a bit... perhaps have access to the WIL from the laundry....(etc) Some great ideas there - I have struggled with the layout of that part of the house. We know what rooms we want & what we don't need, but putting it together is far more tricky than I expected! Annietom I'd move the ensuite to the outer wall (with the window) and put the WIR master where you have put the ensuite, which doesn't need a window. Can't do that unfortunately - the outer WIR wall is on the boundary. With only 12.1m width to play with it makes things tricky. I don't want to build too much on the boundary as we want to leave open the option of enclosing the pool & want to keep the peace with the neighbours as well. RoadkillNZ One thing I thought of when I quickly looked at it, you might get it cheaper if you flip the top floor so both bathrooms are together on top of each other, then they just have to worry about one area on 2 floors for waterproffing etc, and that way you also keep all the bathroom noises in the same place so to speak. I can see how it would make running the conduits easier, especially for sewerage - but other than that why is this considered a good idea? How does the waterproofing aspect make it any cheaper? Surely they have to waterproof both rooms regardless of where they are? Thanks again - will play with all these great ideas. The other main thing we are struggling with is the facade & a touch of inside pizzaz - alot of owner builders have talked about getting a draughtsperson to convert a floorplan into workable building CAD drawings, etc. But how does one get a decent facade, proper window placement, etc without emplying an expen$ive architect? Re: Proposed house plan critique 6May 18, 2010 11:36 pm suprok, there looks like not enough space for a rainwater tank or roof-top solar power panels. Have you thought about them ? A hot water tank would be really tight, so you're counting on instaneous hot water, aren't you ? Also about positioning, where will a heating or cooling air-con system sit ? Re: Proposed house plan critique 7May 19, 2010 9:53 am Great plan and ideas guys it will all come together nicely. Yes dont forget about internal and external walls on your plan they are usually 90mm for internal and 240mm for external over the whole plan it can add up to a bit. Budde Design 3D Architecural Visualizations, Architectural Rendering, Artist Impressions, 2D & 3D floor plans http://www.buddedesign.com nathan@buddedesign.com Re: Proposed house plan critique 8May 19, 2010 10:26 am Also look at utilising your space under the stairs for more storage-great for vacuum cleaners etc Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: Proposed house plan critique 9May 19, 2010 10:46 am [/quote]The other main thing we are struggling with is the facade & a touch of inside pizzaz - alot of owner builders have talked about getting a draughtsperson to convert a floorplan into workable building CAD drawings, etc. But how does one get a decent facade, proper window placement, etc without emplying an expen$ive architect?[/quote] Do you have an idea what you want with the facade any pictures or have you seen a house you like? You wouldnt need working drawings to get your quotes from the builders you would just need a fully demensioned concept floor plan with detail Budde Design 3D Architecural Visualizations, Architectural Rendering, Artist Impressions, 2D & 3D floor plans http://www.buddedesign.com nathan@buddedesign.com Re: Proposed house plan critique 10Aug 30, 2012 11:10 am I'm probably way to late, but just in case... as a mother of a 10 year old and an 8 year old, I wouldn't buy or build a house which didn't have both kids' bedrooms on the same floor as the master bedroom (until they are a bit older). If you're planning on 2 kids within 2 or 3 years, you'd be putting a 3 year old upstairs. At that age they often either call out or come to their parents room during the night - meaning either you're running up stairs to them (if you can even hear them calling out or vomiting in their beds - sorry to be gross but you have to be able to hear things like this from your bed) or they are stumbling downstairs to come to you when they are scared or sick or lonely or thirsty etc. Either way a nightmare. I wouldn't do it until they are at least 10 years. Do you really want to accommodate the window? What is on the outside of the window? Do you want to be able to see your towels from outside? I would blank the window from… 2 8410 i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17286 5 10494 |