Home Building Resources

Reply to: I think this is a pretty good overview of sequencing, perhaps going through it would help you see what you need in more detail? http://www.home-building-answers.com/step-by-step-home-building.html

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Reply to: Yes, whatever you calculate the total construction costs to be, add 15-20% for contingencies, because they happen. And don't forget to research and include in the total costs all of the permits, fees and licenses which your local jurisdiction may charge. Unfortunately, there are no "lists" that I have ever seen when it comes to the site selection, design and construction of a custom home. There are some generally common sequences: --Site exploration and selection --Exploration and selection of house design, fixtures and equipment, and preparation of necessary construction documents --Bidding and award of construction contract (do your due diligence on the many types of construction contracts and select the one in your best interest) --Construction (this always takes longer than anyone expects) --Close out, substantial completion, occupancy and close out actions (touch up and fix up stuff) One common approach to stipulate in your construction contract is for progress payments to be made upon a release of contractor's liens for the work for each progress payment (meaning all applicable sub contractors have been paid by the general cntractor, and to withhold 10% of each progress payment, to be paid in a final lump sum after all close out actions are completed by the builder. Will you be using an architect or other design professional?

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Reply to: "Other than the ones on Houzz, are there any other ARG projects that can be viewed?" Go here: https://www.houzz.com/user/architectrunnerguy or call Doug @ (302) 727-5411

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Reply to: Here's my first concept sketch. Really didn't go anywhere. Don't know why. I'd love to see some of the other architects current work and their design process. That's always interesting. I posted a little of that here (scroll down): https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5637469/architectrunnerguy-does-it-again#n=31 Small freehand drawings at 1/16" scale. And when I need a "straight" line I just use the edge of my scale. A computer drawing may show what I know but a sketch will show what I'm thinking. And good suggestion Mark. When you get older and are deciding what to do, you might consider becoming an architect!

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Reply to: We built our "last" house and we finished 2 years ago. We are on a small (9100 sq ft) lot in a small city so we had to build up. We added an elevator, just in case. Our house is not "small" but it is right sized to us. (2870 square feet total) What we did is we put the square footage where we will use it the most. So our kitchen/dining area (note no dining room) and living room take up the most space and it also all opens to our lanai. We did this because we are in our "entertaining" years (or were before the virus...sigh) Our whole living dining area is set up for easy buffet setup and for easy cleanup. We technically have 3/4 bedrooms but that's not how we use them. Our master of course with a relatively small master bathroom and two closets. DH's office could technically be a bedroom which is also downstairs. Upstairs is my studio (I'm an artist) and it has a pull out queen sofa for those once a year times we have guests needing more than one bedroom. And our guest room which most of the year doubles as our exercise room. Build a house where the main rooms get south light and make use of passive solar heating/cooling of the house. Our house is a U shape and my living room/dining room, all bedrooms and DH's office all face south. In summer this is absolutely the best even here in FL. We can sit out on our lanai all day long and the sun never penetrates the space. In winter, the sun comes flooding into the rooms because the angle of the sun is lower. We've put minimal windows on any west facing exposure. Make sure all bedrooms and public rooms have windows on at least two walls for lots of natural light. As we age, we tend to need more, not less light. Have a door from your master bedroom out of the house as a safety measure in an emergency. Levers instead of knobs on all doors. Comfort height toilets. Make sure the house has a good flow and is easy to navigate. Wider hallways. 42" minimum. Have the laundry closer to your bedroom where most laundry is generated. As mentioned walk in showers are better. My mother had a 4" step into her shower and eventually because she had Parkinson's, that step might as well have been Mt. Everest. In the kitchen think all drawers for lower cabinets instead of roll outs or just doors. Almost everyone suggested in our kitchen we put our prep sink in the island and our cleanup sink along the perimeter. But I watched my Mom with her walker. She was able to stand and prep, but there would have been no way for her to move food from an island to her cooktop across an aisle. For that reason, I put my cleanup sink in the island and my prep sink along the perimeter. So my order is fridge to prep sink to cooktop or oven which is on the other side of the cooktop. We couldn't get away with no steps into the house as we're in a flood zone. However we made sure in our garage if the time ever came, we could easily add either a lift or a ramp to get up the steps into the house. Make sure there are no changes in floor levels. We do have tile and wood, but the both are level to one another. Double the amount of storage you think you need. Here is a link to our finished house and I believe it has a link to the floor plans too. Please note that these pics are old already and much has been added to the house since then. (note because of all the comments, you'll have to click on the link under the original post that says see more comments to see all the photos) cpartist's finished house cpartist's finished kitchen cpartist's gardens

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Reply to: 1) Really think through lighting, switches, and air vent placement. Mock up furniture placement options in every room - make sure you aren't going want place a couch right where it blocks vent or where it is hard to get to a switch. Make sure you won't be sitting/standing in the dark, with air blowing straight at your face, etc. Make sure switches/lights/vents end up where you would find them most handy. 2) Make sure you have good cross breezes in as many rooms/areas as possible. 3) Take note of which directions different rooms face and plan for that sunlight. A west facing room will heat up in the afternoon. Maybe plan for insulating/shading windows there. An east facing room will get brightest in the morning. Maybe don't pick that for bedrooms if you like to sleep in. Etc. 4) Place the kitchen range and the dryer on exterior walls where they can vent straight out the wall. Short, straight vents work way better. 5) STORAGE. Whatever storage you think you need, double it. A closet or cupboards in every hall and nook. A pantry. A storage area in the garage. Generous bedroom closets and cupboards there too. Laundry room storage. Linen closet. Mudroom storage. Seriously, go nuts. 6) Mock up all planned hallway/walkway widths (using 3D objects like boxes or furniture, not tape on the floor) and make sure you will able to move easily and comfortably through the space. Because floor plans show walls and cabinets and furniture, but not people, it is tempting to skimp on the space for people in favor of fitting in more stuff. People looking at floor plans always underestimate how much space humans need just to move around . Mock it up. Make that hallway/walkway size real to you.

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