Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Floor plan feedback 2Feb 21, 2020 2:42 pm A couple of stand out issues with your floor plan. The double hallway is a big waste of space and does not work, also the activity room / study has awkward entries. Maybe a kids bedroom at the front with the activity room centred between both bedrooms and bathroom. Maybe the front entry should be double width and then you narrow down to single hallway allowing larger rooms. Also laundry entry of living is a bit strange IMO, I feel this floor plan needs a relook. I have come across a great instagram page called house.floorplans that has heaps of floorpan & facade inspiration. Good luck Re: Floor plan feedback 3Feb 21, 2020 5:45 pm What do you plan for the space between fridge and pantry? I think the butlers pantry looks like an add on the ends up with a wasted corner. Agree about the double hallway, the whole plan seems to be wasting space. Maybe swap bed 4 and laundry and have the laundry off that area? Also my big pet hate is sliding glass doors in laundries, they were from the 80’s and again wasteful, have a standard glass door, and run the bench all the way to the wall, no silly gaps between glass and washing machine that become a wet moist dust trap...yuck!! Re: Floor plan feedback 7Feb 21, 2020 7:36 pm Thankyou all this is very helpful i'm not precious about it haha Have fairly substantially altered the plans and given it back to them to consider the below options..(obviously not to scale) https://ibb.co/hYcc6BP https://ibb.co/G5rVqjr this should be much better for orientation -:) Re: Floor plan feedback 8Feb 21, 2020 8:42 pm Just one thing and it seems the same in every plan. Your ensuite is tiny. You have double shower heads and only enough room for one person in the ensuite. You have 2 WIR so I'd take some of the smaller one and add it to the ensuite. Make the vanity long enough for two basins and you will then have some space in the ensuite Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Floor plan feedback 9Feb 22, 2020 1:14 pm Thanks so much for everyone’s feedback feeling much better. This has been extremely helpful. We have been in contact with builder and they are making the changes on this, still going back and forth but feeling much much better about this . I don’t have accurate measurements etc at this stage. https://ibb.co/RCHBsnj Re: Floor plan feedback 10Feb 24, 2020 2:00 pm [ltr]am awaiting their draft to see how it looks to scale then consider changes from there. [/ltr] [ltr]Think that the alfresco will be only half the width of back,need to consider where this goes in relation to pool and surrounds. [/ltr] Re: Floor plan feedback 11Feb 24, 2020 2:24 pm https://ibb.co/DfBpJ21 this was an earlier floorplan the blue is potentially where the alfresco could go - then its about which direction for pool... Re: Floor plan feedback 13Feb 25, 2020 8:18 am -Try to get your walls aligned just right of the Meals and Living area, at the moment it feels like a jaggered maze in that area -Garage is quite tight at 5700mm deep. You won't be able to get around which means you will have to pull the car out every time. -Second hallway is a waste. Give all that space to Bed 2 / bath / Bed 3 and activity. -Bed 1 is tight for a Master Bed. I recon your WIR can reduce, plus the second WIR is a waste. Also If you plan on putting a TV up against a wall let's say the wall backing onto the Ensuite you have a 720 cavity slider there, that means the TV will need to shift right which is right in the main entry of the master suite. You will effect the flow of the room if you don't mount it on the wall and decide to use a TV cabinet. -The left hand side of the kitchen bar/island is too tight. min 1000mm will suffice, especially if you plan on moving the slider door in that location. -Butlers pantry is way too big. Pull it up a little inline with the kitchen island. -Laundry door should be hidden away -Ensuite toilet is off center to the window opening. This will look terrible when complete. -Family room is already tight if your planning on putting a linen. Goodluck. ![]() Re: Floor plan feedback 14Feb 25, 2020 8:34 am You may be looking at the wrong version - this is latest (my bad attempt) https://ibb.co/RCHBsnj I'm waiting for a better draft to come back. On this version we got rid of second hallway, the dimensions of rooms aren't correct either. My Wife will def use up that WIR space i'm happy to have mine seperate! No TV in bedroom, that's on purpose - there will be 3 of them in other rooms of house. The pantry/kitchen laundry dimensions def. will be looked at more, as laundry will have toilet in there it will need to be bigger. I think the ensuite toilet there is ok as hidden from doorway? Re: Floor plan feedback 15Feb 25, 2020 8:44 am ![]() You may be looking at the wrong version - this is latest (my bad attempt) https://ibb.co/RCHBsnj I'm waiting for a better draft to come back. On this version we got rid of second hallway, the dimensions of rooms aren't correct either. My Wife will def use up that WIR space i'm happy to have mine seperate! No TV in bedroom, that's on purpose - there will be 3 of them in other rooms of house. The pantry/kitchen laundry dimensions def. will be looked at more, as laundry will have toilet in there it will need to be bigger. I think the ensuite toilet there is ok as hidden from doorway? My bad, I looked at the first pic you provided. Your revised plan is way better, I love it. Feels more like it's all in order now. Well done. In regards to the Ensuite toilet, in my opinion it should move left to center of the Ensuite window. (might need to reduce the basin though) Anyway that's my advice ![]() Re: Floor plan feedback 16Feb 25, 2020 11:38 am Here's my 2c worth... Does the toilet need to be a separate room within the laundry? If so, I would put it at the far end where the toilet is shown, and have the basin on the wall opposite the toilet and a cavity slider to access. You will then be able to use both walls in the laundry for cabinetry. If not, I would make the whole room a wet room/change room and only one large sink to double for laundry and hand washing. I believe one of the seasons of the Block the contestants had a laundry/powder room and that seemed to work. Maybe a wall without door to screen off the toilet itself from the rest of the room. I would prefer to put the fridge on the other end of that bench/cupboard wall at the end of the island - how will the doors of your fridge open with a wall/door on one side? In the ensuite I would put the back of the toilet on the same wall as the vanity to give better access. What will you do/put in that corner and how would you get to it? I prefer the minor bedrooms to be able to access a bathroom without going into the main thoroughfares - basically bed 3 and 4 have to go past the front door and down the entry hall to get to the bathroom. I would be playing with this a bit more to have at least 2 of the bedrooms with easy access to the bathroom, even if the front room is a separate access just from next to the front door (like a formal lounge or study), with bed 2 and 3 having doors towards the bathroom. Good luck! Re: Floor plan feedback 17Feb 25, 2020 3:16 pm ![]() Here's my 2c worth... Does the toilet need to be a separate room within the laundry? If so, I would put it at the far end where the toilet is shown, and have the basin on the wall opposite the toilet and a cavity slider to access. You will then be able to use both walls in the laundry for cabinetry. If not, I would make the whole room a wet room/change room and only one large sink to double for laundry and hand washing. I believe one of the seasons of the Block the contestants had a laundry/powder room and that seemed to work. Maybe a wall without door to screen off the toilet itself from the rest of the room. I would prefer to put the fridge on the other end of that bench/cupboard wall at the end of the island - how will the doors of your fridge open with a wall/door on one side? In the ensuite I would put the back of the toilet on the same wall as the vanity to give better access. What will you do/put in that corner and how would you get to it? I prefer the minor bedrooms to be able to access a bathroom without going into the main thoroughfares - basically bed 3 and 4 have to go past the front door and down the entry hall to get to the bathroom. I would be playing with this a bit more to have at least 2 of the bedrooms with easy access to the bathroom, even if the front room is a separate access just from next to the front door (like a formal lounge or study), with bed 2 and 3 having doors towards the bathroom. Good luck! Thats a really good idea with toilet we will do that divide - makes sense. Kitchen layout hasnt even been discussed as yet - this is def a work in progress just getting the general location of these rooms/ Also another good idea re: ensuite we will do that for sure. yes we have some playing around to do with that access from those bedrooms - want to have good access without copromising on the space from either of the bedrooms or the bathroom.. Re: Floor plan feedback 18Feb 26, 2020 10:44 pm I'm just looking at the basics, not how rooms will work with your lifestyle. Basics. Orientation & Passive Design. Get it right & your home will be comfortable, with lower energy bills. https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design Study this website, if you haven't already. North facing living areas, ideal, good! North facing covered alfresco, BAD, BAD, BAD!!! You want northern living areas for the northern light you receive year round, & the passive solar heating you receive in winter - that is, free heating from sunlight. To get this free heating (which is very substantial on a sunny winters day), you actually need the sunlight to enter your home in winter. An appropriate length northern eave will allow this (between 0.4m-1.2m depending on your location & whether you're shading windows or glazed doors). A covered alfresco will not, shading your windows in winter. Your first plans rotated the alfresco, down the western side of the build, a better idea. Or just have an uncovered deck to the north, & use horizonal awnings, or a pergola etc. No 2. on the bad list, a west facing master! Generally, west facing bedrooms are a very bad idea. Western windows are hard to shade (eaves are ineffective once the sun is lower in the sky), & the sun strikes them in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day. Not long after the sun has gone down you have to try to sleep in a stifling hot room. I'd relocate the master to the eastern side, probably at the front, if it's a quiet street. Locate rarely used rooms to the west. You've done that with the garage, very good! Main bathroom, laundry, a rarely used guest bedroom if you have one, possibly activity room, study, theatre room (if it's only sparsely glazed. Some of the plans have plumbing everywhere. Try to keep these together, reducing plumbing runs. This will reduce build costs, & time to get hot water out of your taps. Now's also the time to think how you're going to power the home, & heat & cool it. Roof design should take into account solar PV. I'd be planning on installing solar PV as the build concludes (the builder can install conduits etc. ahead of the PV install). Possibly plan for future battery installation (though they're still too expensive). Plan how you'll heat & cool the home, heat hot water, how you'll cook. I'd advocate an all-electric home. Split system reverse cycle AC to heat & cool. Efficient heat pump hot water. Induction cooktop. No gas, which is now expensive for heating. No gas connection, no gas bill, no daily service charge! This will save you money, & is great for the environment. Sorry, heading off-topic, but it's important to plan this all quite early in the process. Re: Floor plan feedback 19Feb 27, 2020 12:53 pm ![]() I'm just looking at the basics, not how rooms will work with your lifestyle. Basics. Orientation & Passive Design. Get it right & your home will be comfortable, with lower energy bills. https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design Study this website, if you haven't already. North facing living areas, ideal, good! North facing covered alfresco, BAD, BAD, BAD!!! You want northern living areas for the northern light you receive year round, & the passive solar heating you receive in winter - that is, free heating from sunlight. To get this free heating (which is very substantial on a sunny winters day), you actually need the sunlight to enter your home in winter. An appropriate length northern eave will allow this (between 0.4m-1.2m depending on your location & whether you're shading windows or glazed doors). A covered alfresco will not, shading your windows in winter. Your first plans rotated the alfresco, down the western side of the build, a better idea. Or just have an uncovered deck to the north, & use horizonal awnings, or a pergola etc. No 2. on the bad list, a west facing master! Generally, west facing bedrooms are a very bad idea. Western windows are hard to shade (eaves are ineffective once the sun is lower in the sky), & the sun strikes them in the afternoon, the hottest time of the day. Not long after the sun has gone down you have to try to sleep in a stifling hot room. I'd relocate the master to the eastern side, probably at the front, if it's a quiet street. Locate rarely used rooms to the west. You've done that with the garage, very good! Main bathroom, laundry, a rarely used guest bedroom if you have one, possibly activity room, study, theatre room (if it's only sparsely glazed. Some of the plans have plumbing everywhere. Try to keep these together, reducing plumbing runs. This will reduce build costs, & time to get hot water out of your taps. Now's also the time to think how you're going to power the home, & heat & cool it. Roof design should take into account solar PV. I'd be planning on installing solar PV as the build concludes (the builder can install conduits etc. ahead of the PV install). Possibly plan for future battery installation (though they're still too expensive). Plan how you'll heat & cool the home, heat hot water, how you'll cook. I'd advocate an all-electric home. Split system reverse cycle AC to heat & cool. Efficient heat pump hot water. Induction cooktop. No gas, which is now expensive for heating. No gas connection, no gas bill, no daily service charge! This will save you money, & is great for the environment. Sorry, heading off-topic, but it's important to plan this all quite early in the process. Thanks so much for your feedback. I was considering this - firstly when you state "(between 0.4m-1.2m depending on your location" - what would this be in Newcastle NSW? The Alfresco idea is on most designs however given our orientation i am questioning whether we do some kind of awning that is adjustable perhaps, the concern is how this looks/integrates into design of the home nicely. Also the cost is likely to be more than the alfresco done at the time of the build. I think louvre/adjustable would be best. We are pretty set on master bed on the opposite side to the rest of rooms away from kids and will just get good glazing and potentially larger eaves. We will get solar at some point - already discussed with a technician and will look at the budget closer to build. We want gas for cooking but not heating. Re: Floor plan feedback 20Feb 28, 2020 8:13 am Eaves are quite ineffective to the west, as the sun is low in the sky in this direction. Some window treatments (like low-e) are somewhat effective, though external shading is better. But personally, I'd never consider locating the master to the west. If you have it at the SE corner it can be separated from the minor bedrooms by the ensuite & possibly main bathroom. You can determine the appropriate eave length by knowing your latitude & the dimensions of the window. Read this, https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/shading I'd recommend going to Aldi & getting a $60 induction cooker to try it (some pots may not be compatible). Most people rave about them. You will save a lot of money, & help the environment if you don't connect gas. The ACT is already considering not putting gas into new developments. I can see has being phased out, so wouldn't be installing it in a new build. having built in different rural locations may i suggest that the house should suit the location and needs to be different from homes in town..eg if you will be working… 9 27618 This is a very tight fit, I'm not sure if you'll be able to achieve what you've described. Would you consider accessing the separate toilet from the laundry? If so maybe… 1 35063 ![]() we need accurate dimensions as well as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms needed etc to make specific suggestions but, based on estimated rooms sizes, it could be… 1 10218 |