Browse Forums Building A New House Re: House west facing 3Nov 24, 2012 4:50 pm Yup i would just double glaze the front, upgrade the insulation. Also is there an option for you to use like a hebel type product and render - hebel has much better thermal properties than brick... even if you don't want the whole house to be rendered and just the front??? Sleven Moved into our Atlantique MkII 36 by Carlisle Homes Re: House west facing 4Nov 24, 2012 4:54 pm Looked at you house plan and it looks lovely. Due to you stating you have nice view have you though about a patio at the back of the house (above living zone 2 and outdoor zone) instead of a roof ? No idea what the cost would be. Re: House west facing 5Nov 24, 2012 4:59 pm Some questions and comments/suggestions…. Questions… Where are you building? Are you locked into this builder/design? Bed1 is not a big master, how much time do you really think you’ll be in there admiring the view? Comments/Suggestions…. IF you want to keep bed1 at the front, shield the front windows of bed1 by building a roofed veranda off the front of bed1. IF you want to move bed1 to the rear (east end) it requires a bit of work to flip the u/s layout including the direction of the stairs – probably. You may also want to consider flipping the design so that outdoor zone is in the NE corner, not the SE. This will put beds 2, 3 & 4 on the north side of the house. This design has other issues such as having nothing between beds 2, 3 & 4. It’s a better idea to have wardrobes stacked between rooms to act as sound barriers. It’s preferable to have bed1’s WIR close to the ensuite, not across the other side of the room from it. Overall, I’d keep looking for a design that suits you block/outlook better than this one does. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: House west facing 6Nov 24, 2012 5:01 pm sleven Yup i would just double glaze the front, upgrade the insulation. Also is there an option for you to use like a hebel type product and render - hebel has much better thermal properties than brick... even if you don't want the whole house to be rendered and just the front??? I'm building in Southeast brisbane, in underwood. Not locked in at the design, we're thinking of extending the master room at this stage as it is a tad smaller to our liking. So double glazing, is that something applied afterwards? because i think the builder doesn't do glazing. or is it a new window + frame all together? how much would it roughly be for 2 windows (2400 wide and 1500 wide)? standard wall insulation is only R1.5, maybe i can get them to add the western wall? Re: House west facing 7Nov 24, 2012 5:24 pm PB, what happened to the Plantation Homes option? ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: House west facing 8Nov 24, 2012 5:31 pm Maybe talk to an architect or even a glass retailer for recommendations? Double glazing is kinda mostly for stopping heat in the air outside from being transmitted in, or vice versa. For keeping radiant heat out you want a glass that's appropriately coated or designed for reflecting that heat away. Awnings, verandahs & external blinds can also be used; the idea is for the sunlight to be blocked before it hits anything that's directly connected to the inside of your house. Facing west ain't a problem, in fact you can make it work for you with the right shade design & the right glass. Re: House west facing 9Nov 24, 2012 5:39 pm Re: House west facing 10Nov 24, 2012 6:40 pm We had a house facing west with the bedroom at the front. We prefer either west or east facing blocks. see http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=826 To keep the suns heat out we just put reflective tint on those windows. This works much better than double glazing at keeping radient heat out although double glazing help keep heat out from the air temperature. Probably the most effective solution is double glazing with Low E glass. Another thing to be aware of is your garage is going to get hot which is a pain if you use it as a workshop. I insulated our garage door to keep the temp down. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: House west facing 11Nov 25, 2012 10:28 am bashworth We had a house facing west with the bedroom at the front. We prefer either west or east facing blocks. see http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=826 To keep the suns heat out we just put reflective tint on those windows. This works much better than double glazing at keeping radient heat out although double glazing help keep heat out from the air temperature. Probably the most effective solution is double glazing with Low E glass. Another thing to be aware of is your garage is going to get hot which is a pain if you use it as a workshop. I insulated our garage door to keep the temp down. Thanks for that, yes i read it in your small pdf book Here's another upper level design..maybe this will save a few $$ not worrying about west facing insulation.. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: House west facing 12Nov 25, 2012 11:05 am 3 bedrooms u/s, I'd want the w/c outside of the bathroom, esp. with a family - just a thought... ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: House west facing 13Nov 25, 2012 11:21 am PAB_34 3 bedrooms u/s, I'd want the w/c outside of the bathroom, esp. with a family - just a thought... Good point, either have to sacrifice the walk in linen or don't have a bath tub both are big compromise! Or i could build a new sliding cupboard in leisure room for storage.. Re: House west facing 14Nov 25, 2012 5:08 pm poohbear Good point, either have to sacrifice the walk in linen or don't have a bath tub both are big compromise! Or i could build a new sliding cupboard in leisure room for storage.. Don’t delete the bath – totally limits your resale in the future. Having the WIL away from the bathroom could be a problem but bed1 entry door cutting of access to the WIR is a problem. The more I look at the alternate u/s plan the more issues it has. If you’re prepared to look at the stairs with a change in direction in the layout above, I’d give the PH plan another look with a couple of changes. Did you consider deleting the theatre room and making the study bigger (possibly a study/guestroom). Reconfigure the laundry and powder-room area and you could also add a shower in the p’room. Extra space will let you move the kitchen and WIP a couple of meters to the front to gain meters in the rear living area. The PH u/s layout is quite good with all but one bed window facing either north or east. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: House west facing 16Nov 25, 2012 9:11 pm PAB_34 poohbear Good point, either have to sacrifice the walk in linen or don't have a bath tub both are big compromise! Or i could build a new sliding cupboard in leisure room for storage.. Don’t delete the bath – totally limits your resale in the future. Having the WIL away from the bathroom could be a problem but bed1 entry door cutting of access to the WIR is a problem. The more I look at the alternate u/s plan the more issues it has. If you’re prepared to look at the stairs with a change in direction in the layout above, I’d give the PH plan another look with a couple of changes. Did you consider deleting the theatre room and making the study bigger (possibly a study/guestroom). Reconfigure the laundry and powder-room area and you could also add a shower in the p’room. Extra space will let you move the kitchen and WIP a couple of meters to the front to gain meters in the rear living area. The PH u/s layout is quite good with all but one bed window facing either north or east. Sure, i didn't think deleting the bath was a good idea. I did consiter PH - madison's: removing the theatre all together, making study a bit bigger, and moving everything forward to make dining bigger. Below's the PH madison with masterroom at rear option (borrowed from another member here) which i think its great. The reasons against this is mainly : 1. the staircase, because we really like the straight staircase. 2. it is the breakthrough series which do not include all the standard inclusions PH offer, i guess you pay for what you get! 3. the living is a tad small at 3800*3480 Re: House west facing 17Nov 27, 2012 11:40 pm Re: House west facing 18Nov 28, 2012 7:45 am I like this version, the concept of the layout is really good but you could fix/improve a couple of things. The robe on bed 4 does not work, it stuffs up the roof below as you have created a valley up against the robe wall. If you can remove the WIR for bed3 (and shower, but I’ll get to that) and have bed3 and bed4 across the back with wardrobes stacked in between that will eliminate the above issue. This will mean re-jigging the bathroom and bed2 closer to the front of the house. If you move the door to bed 1 close to bed1 and use the area between the services stacks as linen, this will free up the area where the linen is now and you should be able to get the bathroom/WC/bed2 to work in this area without taking any room away from Bed1 WIR. I would prefer to sketch the above but won’t be able to do this till later tonight if you want. PM me to let me know. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: House west facing 19Nov 28, 2012 6:41 pm PAB_34 I like this version, the concept of the layout is really good but you could fix/improve a couple of things. The robe on bed 4 does not work, it stuffs up the roof below as you have created a valley up against the robe wall. If you can remove the WIR for bed3 (and shower, but I’ll get to that) and have bed3 and bed4 across the back with wardrobes stacked in between that will eliminate the above issue. This will mean re-jigging the bathroom and bed2 closer to the front of the house. If you move the door to bed 1 close to bed1 and use the area between the services stacks as linen, this will free up the area where the linen is now and you should be able to get the bathroom/WC/bed2 to work in this area without taking any room away from Bed1 WIR. I would prefer to sketch the above but won’t be able to do this till later tonight if you want. PM me to let me know. Thanks for your opinion, how can you sketch it? i just did it on paper (to scale) and cut and add a bit of line with paint. Re: BED 4, i could extend the robe on the side rather than the rear? The others i think is quite reasonable, just have to rejuggle. my wife just tried to make bed 3 a WIR but i guess that's optional.. Re: House west facing 20Nov 29, 2012 4:34 pm Solar orientation has an important role to play in planning your home, however it should not be the first and last rule. If you have views to protect to the west (as is often the case here in Perth) it comes down to design. What you want to do is delay the sun getting into your bedroom as long as possible. 3 options I can think of are: 1. Create a awning over the glazed area. give it enough depth that it protects all the glazed area until late in the afternoon in summer. A lourved system would be ideal as you can also have it so you let in the sun in winter and warm up the room, this is probably the most cost effective solution 2. Create a roof'ed balcony in front of the master bedroom. While this can visually more appealing, it is more costly and as the disadvantage of blocking winter sun as well. 3. Use double glazing. Depending on where you are this can be very expensive, but ultimately still worth it. Also looking at your original plan, I noticed your main outdoor living area seems to be on the south side. You would be better served having it on the North side and maximising the winter sun into that living area. (ensure you have good sized eaves to protect the same area in summer). Also don't located the Alfresco on the North side, its ideal location is the East side It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 19987 The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 18198 Hi All It has been a few weeks since my last update. The build has been progressing well. No major issues to report. The scaffolding was dropped today, gyprock will be… 96 356952 |