Another plan to critique

stonecutter1309 · Mar 11, 2008 4:01 pm

Hey everyone - since we should be getting close to soil test in about a month - we've been discussing our plan with our builder. We've made a few changes and I'd love to get a critique from everyone.

Apologies for everything being written backwards - we flipped the original plan

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee276/amanda_simple_savings/Houseplan2008_03_11.gif

We lengthened the garage, entry, home office & master suite by 1.5m so that we could have plenty of garage storage and a decent home office for me (as I will be working from home mostly once kids come along)

The Home Theatre is more likely to be a PS3, fooz ball table room rather than a full theatre.
Family & Dining rooms will be filled with a huge 12 seater dining table .
Leisure Room is where we'll have our major family relaxation area with TV.

Upstairs, Bed 2 will be our Guest Room - so we thought it doesn't need to be as large as #3 & 4 which will be for the kids (hopefully 2 of them!) We alos added a bath to the ensuite.

In a few years time we plan on building an additional verandah out the back to shade from the western sun. We'll wait and see how deep we want to make it - at least 2m, maybe 3m depending on whether we need more outdoor entertaining space.

Paula · Mar 11, 2008 4:12 pm

Looks nice, maybe a sliding door from leisure room to alfresco, to tie in with one from dining.

Love the WIR in master.

Wait till cabinfever gets hold of it

stonecutter1309 · Mar 11, 2008 4:19 pm

Thanks Paula!

I think the current plan is to put the BBQ up against the wall to the Leisure Room - we removed the window there after someone mentioned cracking a window with heat from the barbie!

I'm off to belly dancing :z:

- look forward to reading some more comments when I get back.

Michelle · Mar 11, 2008 4:26 pm

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haywgl · Mar 11, 2008 4:40 pm

Michelle!!

Have fun at bellydancing Stonecutter!!

Nice plan - great size study

oznow · Mar 11, 2008 5:23 pm

Hi, by just looking at the plan and dont know the exact dimension, my concern is the toilet in the second floor. It might be better you add some space so that the vanity is not so close the toilet suit. in my case i just use "wall" vanity.

the design looks good. another a nice big house.

stonecutter1309 · Mar 11, 2008 8:15 pm

oznow

Hi, by just looking at the plan and dont know the exact dimension, my concern is the toilet in the second floor. It might be better you add some space so that the vanity is not so close the toilet suit. in my case i just use "wall" vanity.

Yeah - we wanted to add a small vanity so that you could wash your hands without having to turn on another light in the bathroom. The builder said it would be smaller than shown on the plan - so you'd still have enough room to open the door & get in without trouble. Might have to wait until we get the technical specs to see the proper dimensions.

What do you mean by "wall vanity"? Is it recessed into the wall?

Michelle & haywgl - thanks! This is my first term - it is a lot more difficult that booty-shaking Beyonce-style! Great workout for the abs

ahuang · Mar 11, 2008 9:42 pm

You design looks quite good, just like to add my 2c:

1. The ensuite is right above the HT, be careful with the ceiling as there might be some sewer pipes there and your builder might put a bulkhead somewhere, thus reducing the ceiling height or design. Might want to clarify with your builder.

2. Bed 4 finishes half way through the garage, which means your builder will need to put a steel beam across the garage to support the weight (unless the bed 4 walls are in timber, not brick). My understanding is, builders charge a lot for steel beams. May be you can ask your builder what's the difference in price by extending Bed 4 to the same size as garage. Not sure, if the price diff is small, might go with bigger room, as long as you are not over your floor ratio limit.

3. be careful with the place where your balcony joins the ground floor roof line (is it flat? or the roof line ends under the balcony?). If the roof wasn't done properly, the chance of leaking can be quite high. We had a very bad experience with our bay window leaking which damaged 27 doors + wall + ceiling, hope this doesn't happen to you.

4. why there's a cut at the lower right hand side of home office? Unless there's a special reason, won't it be better to make it a full rectangle?

5.one option for the upstair bath+ toile is to move the vanity outside of both rooms and make it a joined vanity with 2 bowls. you can better utilise the small square in front of both room and you can get more space in both toilet and bath.

vpande · Mar 11, 2008 9:56 pm

Pantry in the kitchen has an inaccessible space. can get frustrating trying to remove something stored there. corner pantry and an appliance cabinet could increase the 'usable' kitchen space along the wall where you have the pantry.
just my 2 c

oznow · Mar 11, 2008 9:59 pm

My mistake, it should be wall "basin". i chose kohler wall basin with towell ring built in. $350 from tradelink.

brittany · Mar 11, 2008 10:32 pm

Looks great - only things I'd do if it were me to live in it were a bigger shower in my ensuite and a door from garage into entry rather than straight into the dining room.

Helyn · Mar 11, 2008 11:00 pm

However, Brittany, the garage door as is does provide easy access to kitchen when bringing in shopping.

Its a very spacious design Stonecutter.

My only comment, if I have understood plan correctly, is that cooktop is directly under the kitchen window and someone on here previously mentioned that this is illegal, it does seem a safety risk if you have blinds or curtains.

Michelle · Mar 11, 2008 11:04 pm

Helyn…have another look, that looks like a servery, where the cook top is.
Not a window. That’s another room adjoining the kitchen.

Helyn · Mar 11, 2008 11:08 pm

It looks to me like the sink is on the servery counter and the cooktop is on the bench in front of the window (ie the left side wall)??
Anyway, you wouldn't have a cooktop on a servery, wouldn't that be dangerous too?

Michelle · Mar 11, 2008 11:15 pm

My mistake Helyn….your right! :oops:

Helyn · Mar 11, 2008 11:20 pm

Michelle

My mistake Helyn….your right! :oops:

Well, I am occasionally :lol:

Paula · Mar 12, 2008 8:42 am

Quote:

is that cooktop is directly under the kitchen window and someone on here previously mentioned that this is illegal, it does seem a safety risk if you have blinds or curtains.

Could this be a window splashback like in thre display homes?

Quote:

. why there's a cut at the lower right hand side of home office? Unless there's a special reason, won't it be better to make it a full rectangle?

It is done so the front facade looks good, and is not just a box. Is this correct? i think it would look better than a box.

Quote:

I think the current plan is to put the BBQ up against the wall to the Leisure Room - we removed the window there after someone mentioned cracking a window with heat from the barbie!

great idea!

Quote:

5.one option for the upstair bath+ toile is to move the vanity outside of both rooms and make it a joined vanity with 2 bowls. you can better utilise the small square in front of both room and you can get more space in both toilet and bath.

I think its fine as is.

Quote:

and a door from garage into entry rather than straight into the dining room.

Entry is fine. that is a very big room you will be entering into, so it wont be as if you will have to be moving through furniture.

I guess its easy for everyone to tell you what you should or shouldnt have, but at the end of the day its your choice.

Well done.

Helyn · Mar 12, 2008 9:53 am

Quote:

Could this be a window splashback like in thre display homes?

Yes, after I went to bed last night, I did realise this "window" could be glass bricks or something like that, not a "real" window, in which case there will not be a problem with the cooktop position.

PhoenixStar · Mar 12, 2008 10:29 am

Hi Stonecutter...
you've done a great job with the house....
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Here is my 2 bits worth:

Love the size of your WIR!!!! Can't wait to see what you do with that!!!

Your entry seems spacious and i think that the design definitely "flows" from the moment you enter the home.

All your corners and angles are 90 degrees on the house...one thing that stands out for me is the angle of the large sliding door to the "outdoor leisure area". Personally i'd like to have that on the 45 degree angle to keep in with the rest of the house.

If you really wanted to...you could alter the angle of the kitchen bench slightly to match the angle of that sliding door wall.

The upstairs toilet...maybe lengthen that area so that the basin is not so close to the toilet itself? It seems like a bit of a waste of space there? You could make the bathroom and toilet doors more or less line up and give you plenty of space to "go" and then wash up afterwards???

The door to BR3 has a bit of wasted space behind it? Unless you have designed it that way for a reason? I see that BR2 and BR3 doors are aligned, but I would bring it back to the corner of the room to maximise space in that room?

Also regarding the layout of the ensuite: The door seems to be in the way? Would you consider a cavity slider? That way the door does not hide the bath...alternatively the room could be re-arranged to maximise the space.
Perhaps move the door to the corner of the room?

Sorry if you don't like my "feedback"...
I'm just looking at what i would change if it was my place. Pls don't hate me!!!

stonecutter1309 · Mar 12, 2008 10:58 am

Thanks everyone! All excellent ideas!

We took a standard plan from a project builder - so we're able to change things - just that every change costs money!

The cooktop you get as standard is a freestanding 900mm gas stove/oven unit and has a window behind. Not sure if we'll keep the window or just have wall & splashback. I like the idea of a window as you get some natural light in the kitchen. The displays we've seen this in have a frosted window with no curtains. I'll have to go back through the previous threads to find the bit on whether it is legal or not to double check.

Allan - Paula was spot on - the cut out in the Home Office and Master are to make the facade more interesting on both the front and the side of the house. For Bed 4 - we have to have some setback of the upper storey - but I think they already provide the steel beam as the standard is to have brick for that wall. Though I think we may have linea cladding instead for a different look.

Phoenix - excellent idea for lengthening the WC so there's room for all of the bits.