Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 06, 2011 4:16 pm Hi guys, I'm new to the building world and after purchasing my ~650sqm 20m (wide) x 32m (depth) block of land, I've decided to build my own home. The block is completely flat with P-class soil (those of you who know about this will know what I mean). I've had recommendations for a 350mm thick waffle slab. Anyways, after doing alot of research I've come up with a draft of my plans. I've done them in Chief architect, have a look at the plans and 3d images below of my proposed house. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback, positive and negative! Much cheaper to make a change now than during construction. I have not gone to a professional designer/draftsman or surveyor yet, this is still conceptual. I plan to start that process next weekend. First floor 2D plan: http://postimage.org/image/ilr9yfqix/ Second floor 2D plan: http://postimage.org/image/3r2ok9gy1/ Second floor imposed onto 1st floor 2d plan (first floor is the red outline): http://postimage.org/image/z88u7ijgp/ Entrance to downstairs kitchen/living (glass bifolds in the middle of the photo): http://postimage.org/image/66zwkd9mx/ Kitchen: http://postimage.org/image/kh9gvupzd/ Photo from kitchen island bench: http://postimage.org/image/di00a8fex/ Photo from meals: http://postimage.org/image/wumb2rfnt/ Upstairs living: http://postimage.org/image/qopg9rb49/ Upstairs inside balcony (overlooking glass bifolds / kitchen / downstairs living area): http://postimage.org/image/6stgu7u2x/ master bedroom (with rear walk in robe, ensuite to the left, balcony to the right): http://postimage.org/image/5b3f4wzyh/ Master bedroom ensuite: http://postimage.org/image/n8sqmgoi1/ Master bedroom balcony: http://postimage.org/image/axzs2e2h5/ General bath room: http://postimage.org/image/n8sqmgoi1/ I have lots more photos if anyone wants to see different parts of the house. Love to hear your thoughts on it. Things which are not confirmed yet: Colour schemes, window placements, exterior textures/colours, furniture arrangements, furniture types (these are just generic from the program). Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 2Nov 06, 2011 5:05 pm Wow amazing fantastic Mustbe close to 60sq? You seem to be building right on your boundaries, I assume council are OK with that? We have min 1.5 for a 2 storey house. I think for the size of the home the laundry is very small, I assume this is the very top end of the market so I think a much larger laundry and maybe a shower in the downstairs powder would be a minimum, however if this is your forever home, then do what you want I think you have to many stairs Cant wait to watch, where are you building? Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 3Nov 06, 2011 7:01 pm gogo65 Wow amazing fantastic Mustbe close to 60sq? You seem to be building right on your boundaries, I assume council are OK with that? We have min 1.5 for a 2 storey house. I think for the size of the home the laundry is very small, I assume this is the very top end of the market so I think a much larger laundry and maybe a shower in the downstairs powder would be a minimum, however if this is your forever home, then do what you want I think you have to many stairs Cant wait to watch, where are you building? Thanks for the positive feedback! I've calculated about 50 sq with the garage.. I haven't worked out how to spit out a specific square meter measurement from the program. The only requirement from the council afaik (I spoke to them over the phone), is a 2 meter set back off the street side (it is a corner block). The garage can go to the boundary since my neighbour has a .5m gap between the boundary and his house. I have a 20.5m wide block, which leaves me with about 18.5m to build on. In any case, I can just shrink the width of it by moving the whole right hand side of the house inward, it wouldn't really worry me too much. Your point about the laundry is valid and was going through my mind when I was drafting this. However, the way I see it the laundry is not the selling point for the house. There is enough room to do the washing, I mean people these days install European laundries in their garage. I may tweak this as time goes on. I haven't calculated the riser/lengths of the stairs correctly, I'll leave this to the designers (they have to figure out something with the money I give them). This is my forever home, I don't like downstairs bathrooms (but that's just me!). People can go upstairs to have a shower I am building in Truganina. Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 4Nov 06, 2011 7:38 pm You have done a great job to create the plans and all the 3D graphics. I agree with Gogo about the laundry but you are obviously happy with it so ignore us!! I think for such a big house with lots of rooms that it lacks storage. I would be putting a walk in linen upstairs. Is that linen next to the stairs? It seems an odd shape?? I would consider moving the front door back a little so you have an entry area (undercover) outside or will it have some type of veradah? It is obviously not going to be a cheap build so I think at this stage it really just needs a professionals help to get all those finishing touches just right! All the best!! Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 5Nov 06, 2011 7:47 pm rocketship You have done a great job to create the plans and all the 3D graphics. I agree with Gogo about the laundry but you are obviously happy with it so ignore us!! I think for such a big house with lots of rooms that it lacks storage. I would be putting a walk in linen upstairs. Is that linen next to the stairs? It seems an odd shape?? I would consider moving the front door back a little so you have an entry area (undercover) outside or will it have some type of veradah? It is obviously not going to be a cheap build so I think at this stage it really just needs a professionals help to get all those finishing touches just right! All the best!! Thanks for the feedback! I've taken gogo's advice and tweaked the laundry/toilet to give more laundry space (see link: http://postimage.org/image/ch7szmm5n/) There is room for cupboard and bench top now as well as front load washer/drier and double sink. You have made a good point about storage. I have storage underneath the stairwell on level 1. On level 2, I have a walk linen near the stairs which I've widened now (see link: http://postimage.org/image/fft1132jl/). Apart from that, I have built in robes in every bedroom and a walk in robe in the master. Plenty of storage space in the general bathroom. I'm unsure how much storage I need as I currently do not have a family but eventually I'll have one in this house. I have recessed the front door in, thanks for the suggestion. Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 6Nov 06, 2011 7:57 pm You are so lucky too have such generous boundary rules. I was just looking again at the plans and agree with rocketship about storage, but once the professionals start playing they will come up with fantastic ideas about use of space. We are having media cupboards in our theatre that are accessed from the study, it was an idea we picked up on homeone, means easy access to the back of all your amps and stuff, you could easily do something like that with your understair storage. just a thought As for laundry, if your happy with it that's all that matters, I just like room to do ironing, folding etc Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 7Nov 06, 2011 8:05 pm OH you posted the same time as me powl The laundry looks better, you could also grab a tiny bit of room by using 720 doors instead of 820 doors on the powder and laundry. Re: Building my new house - please give me feedback on my pl 8Nov 06, 2011 8:19 pm gogo65 OH you posted the same time as me powl The laundry looks better, you could also grab a tiny bit of room by using 720 doors instead of 820 doors on the powder and laundry. Excellent idea about the home theatre and use of underneath the stairs for all the electronic equipment! I would've never come up with that, that's definately going in there. I'll shrink the cupboard, ironings a good point, that'll have to be done on a portable ironing board 6 55311 Really tight at the top of the stairs- how to get furniture into those rooms? Study books - does anyone really use them these days? Large storage closet would be more functional. 2 6882 |