Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 03, 2009 8:59 am Hey everyone,
Just curious on your opinions or experiences with building a double story house? Good and bad? We are finding it a bit difficult to fit our master bedroom into the open plan layout of our floor plan and thought maybe adding another story might be the answer. Let me know your thoughts. Leah Re: Single story versus double story.. 3Mar 03, 2009 9:08 am The goods:
- Bigger sized rooms downstairs and upstairs - Choice of having living areas downstairs n upstairs - Lesser footprint means lesser slab requirements - You get a bigger backyard/landscaping area caz half your house if above the 1st floor - Privacy upstairs .. noise remains downstairs when people over The bads: - You have to use stairs to access the 2 floors (obviously!) - Extra care needed if you have elders/kids around the stairs - Structural modifications upstairs are limited to the pillars/structures below - More cost to paint/bag/render the outsides of the house perimeter Ok.. i think i'll let others add to this list --- I don't have a signature - just this sentence saying that I don't have one - that'll do! Re: Single story versus double story.. 5Mar 03, 2009 9:21 am Leah... Thanks joles. I did have a go searching for any existing threads but im not up to speed on the search engine yet! I'll have another go! If all you're having trouble with is the master bedroom, take a look at this as an example of how you can just put the master suite upstairs http://www.wisdomhomes.com.au/home_deta ... oductID=43 It's a shame you're not in Sydney so you can't see how it works for yourself! Going full double storey instead of the above design is beneficial because you end up with a shorter house, which means more yard space. Stevep79 & Principessa Finished building Wisdom Homes Impression 33mkII in The Ponds, Sydney http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com Re: Single story versus double story.. 6Mar 03, 2009 9:27 am https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... ble+storey
https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.p ... ble+single I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Single story versus double story.. 8Mar 03, 2009 11:33 am Good about Double:
Views that can be obtained from a two storey house. Bad about Double: Privacy can also be limited as people from a distance can see the second level whereas single is generally hid behind 6ft fence hence more privacy. Built 36sq Plantation "Retreat" on 4460m2 at Spring Mountain, Qld In Living and landscaping.. >>> ... http://retreatspring.blogspot.com Re: Single story versus double story.. 9Mar 03, 2009 11:58 am Yep there are heaps of threads on this.
My take, single all the way. I cant stand stairs Re: Single story versus double story.. 10Mar 03, 2009 12:52 pm Quote: Privacy can also be limited as people from a distance can see the second level whereas single is generally hid behind 6ft fence hence more privacy. Also, if neighbours around you are building double storys too, they can see into your back / side yard. Re: Single story versus double story.. 11Mar 03, 2009 2:57 pm I guess it really depends on what you want in a house. We have just built a double storey, I love it. I love how there are no bedrooms downstairs, that the play room is upstairs with all the toys. It's nice to have downstairs clean and tidy all the time. Yep my kids play and are allowed to play anywhere (apart from the Lounge) but they clean up after themselves too and they prefer upstairs as the room is huge.
One thing I love is that the Laundry is not stuck between two bedrooms. If I had a single then it would have to be near the kitchen or garage or something. I love alot of single storey plans too but I would have to have doors added to close off area i.e hall going into kids area. I feel our backyard size is great compared to what alot of people have in new Estates. Jo being an exception to that comment. Our whole street will be double storeys. We only have one neighbour at the moment and the only window that overlooks our backyard is an ensuite window. We will have to wait and see what gets built on the other side but it doesn't bother me too much. Happy at Home Re: Single story versus double story.. 12Mar 03, 2009 3:04 pm Thanks for that interesting reply, H2B.
Where I live it is all single storys, probably because land is flat and relatively cheap, also many first home owners. May I ask: if your laundry is not near the bedrooms or the kitchen or the garage - where is it? Re: Single story versus double story.. 13Mar 03, 2009 3:30 pm My laundry is downstairs, all our bedrooms are up. I can set my machine to come on at 5am and it doesn't wake anyone. At our old house it backed onto my daughters room and would wake her.
What I meant was, alot of single storey house plans have three bedrooms, bathroom, toilet and laundry together in one part of the house either in a back corner or running down the side of the house. I would prefer the laundry not to be included in that area, put it on the other side of the house near the garage or kitchen........make sense? For me and my family the new house works well and is perfect. In our old house I was able to shut off the kids rooms, bathroom and toilet, great for when I am up but they are asleep as it came off the family room. I think you have this too don't you Helyn? Our part of the street is all flat but the covenant is that all house must be doubles. I had the Illoura by PD (with quite a few changes) picked for our house but then we bought this block and had to go double. We didn't want to compromise on the size of our backyard for the kids so this is where we ended up. Our block is 800sqm which I don't think is big but in terms of what is being offered in other Estates in Melbourne it is. We didn't want to move any further out than where we are now. Happy at Home Re: Single story versus double story.. 14Mar 03, 2009 3:31 pm I would prefer a double storey to create more space. I have a single storey now but I have been dreaming of a 2 storey. I want downstairs to be just the living room and the kitchen and all the bedrooms upstairs. Re: Single story versus double story.. 15Mar 03, 2009 3:33 pm Put it this way.
Double storey houses only exist due to small blocks. How often when you go out to areas with big blocks, we're talking 2000m2 plus here do you see double storey? If you have to space go single. Re: Single story versus double story.. 16Mar 03, 2009 3:34 pm techincally wise two storey are a pain to retro fit.... so if you intend to build get all the cabling or cunduits in place while you build ..other then that don't have much negetive to saw about 2 storey homes. my folks in sydney have had two.. great places esp with the bed rooms upstairs and "living" spaces downstairs Kodiak Data Cabling onFaceBook Consult*, Design and Installation Data, TV, Home Theatre/ AV Cabling, Multi Room Audio, IP CCTV and Door Intercoms Ask for a Quote. *DIY DATA Cabling Is Ilegal Re: Single story versus double story.. 17Mar 03, 2009 3:36 pm ok180 Put it this way. Double storey houses only exist due to small blocks. How often when you go out to areas with big blocks, we're talking 2000m2 plus here do you see double storey? If you have to space go single. Totally correct. You can blame the small blocks on the Govt. Pugs techincally wise two storey are a pain to retro fit.... so if you intend to build get all the cabling or cunduits in place while you build ..other then that don't have much negetive to saw about 2 storey homes. my folks in sydney have had two.. great places esp with the bed rooms upstairs and "living" spaces downstairs Yep, you just need to plan ahead and get all that in before plastering. We ran Cat5 cable through the whole house and added extra power points, stairwell lighting, HT speaker, projector cables and the alarm system point and cables for the sensors. Happy at Home Re: Single story versus double story.. 18Mar 03, 2009 3:52 pm Thanks everyone for all your imput!
We have a long narrow block and I want an open plan living/kitchen at the back of the house, and doing this makes our hallway ridiculously long! So I thought by having a loft or second story with the master bedroom upstairs we could shrink the length of the house a bit and still have that open space. It seems the worst thing that you can all come up with is the stairs! We dont plan to have kids in this house so the stairs are not really an issue. We will probably use the property as a rental when we evenually move to something bigger so I dont think it will be too much of a problem. Re: Single story versus double story.. 20Mar 03, 2009 4:07 pm I think the stairs could be difficult.
Friend of mine built a 3 level house and had broke his foot, wakes up every day thinking "how will i get up all those stairs again today". Also lugging furniture up would be hard, vacuum up the stairs, laundry down and up the stairs every day. Answering the front door when your tucked up in bed at 9pm only for wrong address or Austar I don't think stairs are for me, and especially with two little ones. We bought land in Tallawong Schofields NSW size 30m X 12.5m and planning to get double story house build around 350 sqm. We are thinking about having premium inclusions… 0 4086 Hello All 🙂 We are planning to start our journey of construction our first home. We zeroed down on Metricon and henley homes based on design suitable for our lot and… 0 8181 Hi, We have a single story MacDonald Jones house, on a waffle pod slab with steel frame. Are we able to build a second story extension? Other info is we are 900mm from… 0 8462 |