Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 05, 2013 1:38 am Hi everyone, great site. I have been lurking in this site for two weeks and time for my first post. My partner and I are building our first home in Wright, Canberra and just got our floorplan back from a draftsman. He did include things that we need,ie. two masters with ensuite and 3 bedrooms upstairs as we've got some view to our east&north. However, the plan itself seems a bit odd to look at, and to it doesnt seem like the most economical way to achieve our goal in terms of building complexity. Any advice for what I should change in the plan before meeting up with the draftsman again? [img][IMG]http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a516/aguan28/floorplan_zps03f6f71c.jpg[/img][/img] Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 3Oct 05, 2013 8:59 am I think overall it is good, just the upstairs sitting and staircase could do with a tweak. It seems weird that when you get upstairs as you walk off the stairs you are kind of tucked away in the corner and hidden around behind the back of the stairs. If it was reversed you would come out in the sitting are and have a void (sort of) linking the upstairs and downstairs spaces. As the upstairs and downstairs are currently very separate, but you might prefer that too. And the upstairs sitting is quite small. I assume the two master bed scenario is because you may have parents living with you, if so, some large family space upstairs might come in handy. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 4Oct 05, 2013 2:57 pm I would try and fit a washbasin in the downstairs powder room. You could either put in a corner wall-mount sink or there are small corner vanities. Bedrooms 1 and 2 seem small for rooms that have ensuites. Is fridge space wide enough for a modern 2-door fridge? Consider getting plumbing put in for the firdge. Are you better including the toilet as part of the main bathroom? Might be a better utilisation of the space. Vanity in main bathroom is quite small. Would it be better to have the balcony off the upstairs sitting room??? Build thread: here Land Nov 12, Contract 6/07/13, Consent 15/08/13, Start 20/09/13, Slab 25/09/13, Frame 4/10/13, Brick 21/10/13, Roof 2/11/13, Lock-up 17/12/13, Handover 3/3/14 Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 5Oct 05, 2013 4:21 pm It seems that the plan is not that good. The way everything arranged seems odd somehow especially the kitchen next to entrance. If the entrance is north facing, it would be more odd to put kitchen on that side. Also, many of the floor space is wasted as either corridors or "sitting area" upstairs. If you add those together, you have 2 more living rooms already. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 6Oct 05, 2013 9:27 pm Thank you guys with all the inputs, I think the design itself does get restrained from the site we have, an odd shape corner block instead of a traditional rectangular one. I'll attach the design in context of site so maybe you guys can have a better idea of what Im dealing with... But like it's been said by everyone, a lack of articulation IMO as well. Being an new imigrant, I am not sure what the norm is in australia for house design in terms of placement of the components(living, kitchen,dining,bathrooms etc). We don't want to stray too far from it as we might have to sell the house down the track. [img][IMG]http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a516/aguan28/floorplan2_zps3cf5776f.jpg[/img][/img] Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 7Oct 06, 2013 1:09 am If I am you, I will try to find a custom builder instead of draftsman. As many have been saying, most of the times draftsman cannot come out with sensible plans. I think yours is an example. Frankly speaking, there is nothing wrong with the shape of the block or the shape of the house. It's just the way different areas are arranged. You can ask your draftsman for another design to see if anything improve. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 8Oct 06, 2013 9:56 am My understanding is that a draftsman will pretty much only draw what you tell them - perhaps what you need is an architect? <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=62083">viewtopic.php?t=62083</a><!-- l --> Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 9Oct 06, 2013 12:35 pm We realize its not really realistic to keep most of the bedrooms upstairs. So, after staying up last night, here is what I got for a 153sqm downstairs using Home Suite 8.0. Now we only have a master and a rumpus with 55sqm upstairs which we havn't got time to do. Kinda clumsy with the style but hope you get an ideal. Any improvement over the original? More ideals please!! [img][IMG]http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a516/aguan28/floor4_zps6134004b.jpg[/img][/img] Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 10Oct 06, 2013 12:38 pm AKB My understanding is that a draftsman will pretty much only draw what you tell them - perhaps what you need is an architect? Yes AKB, I think you are right, but since we are already paying the draftsman, I think it might be worth the while to have another go with him at this stage. I think I might be able to assist him with some scratch I came up last night.. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 12Oct 06, 2013 3:16 pm You can look for building designers or custom builders which offer concept design service. I have been going through this as well and I have chosen a custom builder. It is better to get the right design at the start than thinking of changes later. If your piece of land have slope etc.. you better be careful as braou said, I was amazed at the number of poor service from draftsman who lack design skill out there. Getting a better building designer / custom builder to have a concept design done first might be more expensive at first, but it will save you a lot more down the track. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 13Oct 06, 2013 5:14 pm do you have any solar setbacks on the block? im also in wright if you check out the display house on dot builder st, might be able to find a design you like that fits your block, at this place i got a design that was custom fitted to my block and at this stage i didnt have to pay any money, could have walkd away Aug 12 - First Plan Sept 12 - Final Plan Dec 12 - 5% Dec 12 - Council submission Feb 13 - Colours July 13 - Slab July 13 - Frame Sept 13 - Bricks Sept 13 - Roof Oct 13 - Wiring Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 14Oct 06, 2013 6:47 pm aguan28 However, the plan itself seems a bit odd to look at, and to it doesnt seem like the most economical way to achieve our goal in terms of building complexity. I think the first is fine. I've been noticing more and more strange plans on real estate websites so I often talk to the screen WHY did they do THAT? So yours aint too bad. If the kitchen in the front bothers you swap it with the dining. The thing which is wrong to me is the lack of a basin in the powder room so guests have to wander around searching. IMO your revised version is worse. How do you ventilate an internal downstairs bathroom? What is bedroom 2 for? If you have guests they have to walk a maze past bathrooms and bedrooms before reaching the living area. Why do you need two similarly sized bathrooms in addition to a tiny ensuite downstairs? You talked about your goal in your original post. What is your goal? How many bedrooms do you need? Do you entertain around the kitchen or prefer a formal living room or do you want a media room, in other words what sort of living spaces do you need? Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 15Oct 06, 2013 11:25 pm turk182 do you have any solar setbacks on the block? im also in wright if you check out the display house on dot builder st, might be able to find a design you like that fits your block, at this place i got a design that was custom fitted to my block and at this stage i didnt have to pay any money, could have walkd away Yeah, mine is a odd shape corner block so solar setback does effect the design a lot. I did go to some of the display homes, didn't see anything that will fit my block well and I think they all ask for a fee ranging from 700-4000 dollars before having a designer to look at our site... Anyway, good to know someone who is also building with the stringent codes in Wright Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 16Oct 06, 2013 11:50 pm JazzyJess aguan28 However, the plan itself seems a bit odd to look at, and to it doesnt seem like the most economical way to achieve our goal in terms of building complexity. I think the first is fine. I've been noticing more and more strange plans on real estate websites so I often talk to the screen WHY did they do THAT? So yours aint too bad. If the kitchen in the front bothers you swap it with the dining. The thing which is wrong to me is the lack of a basin in the powder room so guests have to wander around searching. IMO your revised version is worse. How do you ventilate an internal downstairs bathroom? What is bedroom 2 for? If you have guests they have to walk a maze past bathrooms and bedrooms before reaching the living area. Why do you need two similarly sized bathrooms in addition to a tiny ensuite downstairs? You talked about your goal in your original post. What is your goal? How many bedrooms do you need? Do you entertain around the kitchen or prefer a formal living room or do you want a media room, in other words what sort of living spaces do you need? Just realize that I put two seperate baths downstairs.. YOu really get me thinking here JazzyJess. I didnt think of ventilation for the middle bathroom at all! I guess professional does think things more thoroughly than me I need four well seperate bedrooms with two masters, as my parents will come staying with us. The other two rooms are for our future kids, and with one of them having the potential to be converted into a study, hence the Bed2. As for the living space, we are more leaning towards a media room with projector and wifey does prefer a bigger kithchen for her inventions. Our site is really badly shaped and in order to cope with the setback rules and having the components we need, I really have to just move things around to see all the possiblities.. Maybe the extra bathroom space can be added into the outdoor space for a proper alfresco we love. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 17Oct 07, 2013 8:04 pm Although the original design does feel a bit clunky, it does have one thing going for it. Most of the living areas face north. For most of Australia, Canberra included, it's a good idea to to site living areas to the northern side of the house, & place a large proportion of glazing on this side too. This results in passive heating in winter (ie. free heating by the sun, reducing energy bills & making for a comfortable house). The windows need shading (with eaves), to prevent summer sunshine from entering the house. For summer it's also important to have cross-ventilation, ie windows to funnel prevalent cooling breezes through the house.
Not just an aspect of this plan, but the siting of the house on the block has a couple of other pluses. The garage on the western corner will help block afternoon sunshine, keeping the house cooler in summer. Having the east facing back/side yard is good too. I'd have the kitchen on that side, & a covered alfresco area, which will shade morning sunshine in summer. Re: Need some opions on my floorplan 18Oct 07, 2013 8:29 pm The first design seems fine to me - although I can see PP's point about the guest toilet needing a basin as there isn't ready access to hand washing there, Very small tweak needed for that. The upstairs sitting area seems fine to me - handy area to use for a computer desk or something like that. Kitchen window at front of house is unusual but cant see any reason why it shouldn't be so - or take window out if it bothers you and have a skylight there or nothing, many kitchens don't have windows and plenty of direct light from adjacent family room windows Both main bedrooms are not large - but are as large as many floor plans I have seen, certainly not unusually small. Somebody mentioned not liking the box window in the living room - very easy to bring wall out level ad just have a standard window if you want to, very minor tweak to do that. 2 6454 Hi VK, Think it's worth investing time in an Owner Builder course to equip you with basic knowledge on Australian Building Industry and its regulations. Also, I suggest… 11 23823 Caesarstone, quantum zero, Q Stone zero, porcelain. All the manufacturers are pivoting into zero silica materials. Google any of those and have a look. Some are still… 1 869 |