Browse Forums General Discussion Floor Plan Judgement 7Nov 11, 2016 9:14 am Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Floor Plan Judgement 12Nov 13, 2016 3:54 pm Just a few more thoughts, some of which are competing ideas, & not well thought out. It's good that you've built close to your W boundary, as the neighbouring block may shade your W windows. What is the lay of the land like. Do you have W & E neighbours, are they 1 or 2 story? What's the lay of the land like, will it help shade from the W? You won't be overshadowed from the N will you? Generally I'd try to minimize W windows, or even eliminate them if possible. Bedroom 2 has a W window. This is the worst place for bedrooms, due to evening heat. Better to place garages, bathroom & the laundry here. Would you be happy to move the minor bedrooms to the front of the house? the mater could be in the NW corner, with a N window, the ensuite with a W window. The ensuite would be closer to your other wet areas, shortening plumbing runs, saving building costs, & water. Not sure if the bathroom would then need to be moved, as I can't see the plan now. Other ideas. I'm not mad about rooms with no external windows, particularly wet areas. Showers would be the worst, but toilets & laundries wouldn't be far behind. My parents European laundry has no ventilation, & even though they try to keep everything in there dry it still smells a little mouldy. If you extend the NW roof, you could move the laundry beside the bathroom, to the W wall, so it has a window. ATM the bathroom wouldn't have access, but you could re-jig it, & maybe have access to the laundry through the bathroom. Moving the laundry will give more room to the lounge, maybe you could now have a small entrance hallway, if you feel so inclined, with just a little re-jigging. Good place for umbrellas, jackets, boots. As others have mentioned, unless you're total minimalists, without kids, don't forget to have adequate storage. So I said I wasn't a fan of Aussie style roofs, with their many, many, teeny, tiny triangles. Very bad for solar PV installations. Are you thinking about getting solar PV? Even though the feed-in tariff (FIT) is so low, economically, it's still a good idea to get a solar PV system. But as the FIT has decreased the optimum PV system size has decreased. Generally you want to get a system size that will cover your daytime usage. For the average family that's about a 3kW system. At this stage, as it's best to cover your own usage, it's best to have panels facing E & W, as you'll produce electricity over a longer period. W panels are particularly useful, as they will limit the power imported for running afternoon AC's, whether for heating & cooling. As battery systems become more common things will probably change. Back to the idea where maximum production is more important than the length of time panels produce power. In this case N facing panels will be optimum. So if you change your roof design, opting for a simple hip roof to the north, you'll have a very good roof for solar PV. A reasonably large NNE face, for maximum production, & a large WNW face, for afternoon production. Even if you're not considering solar PV now, it's worth planning for a future installation. What are you choosing for your heating/cooling sources? Although reverse cycle AC is not great for the environment when cooling, it's a great heat source. It's very efficient for heating, 3-5 times more efficient than other electrical heat sources. It can also be run off solar PV. As gas prices rise, RC AC becomes a better heat source, both for the environment, & for your wallet. Generally, split systems are more efficient than ducted, & smaller systems are more efficient than larger systems. Lastly, window furnishings. As I mentioned, windows are a large source of heat loss (& gain in summer), due to the very insulation properties of glass. Obviously, what you require is dependent on your climate, you may even require double glazing. Cellular (honeycomb) blinds are very good insulators, compared to other blinds. If you prefer curtains, something heavy will insulate well. But don't forget the pelmets, which greatly reduce heat loss from convection currents. Ok, all done. Good luck with the build Re: Floor Plan Judgement 13Nov 14, 2016 8:54 am Thanks everyone so far for the comments, I will try my best to take the advice on board as there are a few things I had not considered. This forum is proving to be a great platform for building ideas! To address the passive heating, we are using a mid-tone tiled floor as we are closer to Brisbane than Sydney (we are building in Northern NSW - Ballina, near Byron Bay). We don't want to generate too much thermal mass as we may well cook. Aircons are planned for the lounge and dining/family areas but I predict it will be used mostly in the east facing lounge, especially mid morning. We have two small children, 6 years and 18 months. There are currently no houses or units next to our block, as it's not even got title yet. So it's going to be a lucky dip as to what we get next to us. Both blocks beside us are designated as possible duplex developments. It's unlikely we will have our backyard overshadowed by a structure as the covenants require setbacks of at least 4m from the rear boundary and the building envelope restrictions ensure solar access to adjoining lots. Won't stop trees being planted next door though... The laundry will have an exhaust fan and we will run this periodically to reduce any moisture buildup. I have looked at the your home government website quite a lot and the solar access issue is at the top of my mind with this build, as well as overall home size being smaller along with our mortgage. We want to have money to live life with while we are still young! Presently it's killing us. I feel so passionately about living with a smaller physical, financial and environmental footprint however when you see a really small home, it's clear we still have a very spacious home. The local council requires a home (excluding garage) to be a minimum of 140sqm. Well if you take our garage off, the home is around 150sqm, so we just get over the line. So many design principles pulling at each other have made it very hard to design this home at this size and still maintain a feeling of spaciousness. All the suggestions are great, especially the large entrance hall. Our current home has a very nice entry under a portico but this was quickly minimised in the new design to save costs and enable a more efficient layout. I'll have another close look at this plan and hopefully I can squeeze some improvements that have been suggested in and lose a few more brain cells in the process! Re: Floor Plan Judgement 14Nov 14, 2016 11:22 am As a parent myself, with two young kids, having those bedrooms directly opening out onto the main living area could definitely be a problem - especially in a couple of years time, noise constraints might mean that you effectively can't use that area - especially the kitchen - while the kids are asleep (or, probably more significantly, supposed to be going to sleep). It would also mean that the TV would also possibly be best positioned away from those bedrooms (in the lounge room in that plan) - would that work for you? I'd strongly suggest that you consider some separation between those bedrooms and at least the kitchen, if not that whole living area. You haven't mentioned how long you imagine living in this house, so I'll assume it's for at least a decade. Have you considered how you'd live as a family when the kids are teenagers? Is the plan to 'nudge' them out of their bedrooms and into the living areas? Bedroom sizes can be a key part of this 'behavioural suggestion' - how did you arrive at the bedroom sizes in your plan? Even with encouragement to be more often in the common areas, teenagers often do require some separation and privacy - do you think that this plan would be sufficient for that? What about when *you* might want to be away from *them* for a bit? As a family, I repeat what's been said above - you'll definitely want some more storage space. Also, the lighting in the laundry will be an issue, especially with it also being the corridor to the bathroom, quite apart from ventilation issues. A skylight, perhaps? i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17494 Hi, Seeking volume or semi-custom builder in victoria(east), which have existing double story wide floor plans. Seeking 18-20m wide homes with depth of 12-15m long. Or… 0 25346 Hi there! Absolutely agree on the wasted space. We have no desire for the master to be that oversized, but it occurred when we increased the depth of the garage. We have… 4 12646 |