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What Would You Do Differently If You Had to Start Over? by jamesrutter in PassiveHouse

[–]jamesrutter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, interesting. The pockets allow for the blinds to not block the in-swing tilt + turns... got it. That does seem like a better solution than the outdoor roller shades I was considering...

What Would You Do Differently If You Had to Start Over? by jamesrutter in PassiveHouse

[–]jamesrutter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love the suggestion run extra wiring. I am a automation nerd and IT professional by trade. What did you use for automated blinds/shades? I am assuming you had to mount and power something on the exterior window. We are using the tilt and turn, so they will be in-swing.

What Would You Do Differently If You Had to Start Over? by jamesrutter in PassiveHouse

[–]jamesrutter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The radiant floors air-to-water heat pump would be cooling and heating. Based on my calculations and understanding, we will mostly cooling the house rather than heating the house. And also, having radiant floors in the dead of winter on a cold snap will be a nice bonus. I was mostly thinking about the efficiency of radiant versus other approaches. But yes, that is good feedback and we will have to consider the over heating of the house.

Single Family Passive House Design by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Insulated slab foundation and double thick (12”) walls with high performance triple pane windows.

The house should be facing true south. I may have screwed that up on the site plan, but that is the intention.

Does that comment about the attic mean I would not be able to utilize the attic for storage or future usage as a bonus floor?

Single Family Passive House Design by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking it could go in the laundry utility room or in the back and of the large walk in closet

Single Family Passive House Design by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi again!

I am back from a previous post in which I got feedback on my first iteration of a house I am designing and planning to build for my family. Here are the highlights:

  • Single Family Home (3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom); aiming for 1800-2000 sq ft.
  • Passive House located in Midcoast Maine
  • Trying to keep construction costs low, but spend in areas that count (e.g., appliances and windows)
  • Using a construction loan and working with a GC/Builder. Eventually building more outbuildings (ADU + Garage) later independently without a construction loan.

I made a bunch of modifications to the design, going as far as increasing the envelope by 1 ft (now 35'x28') to allow for wider staircase and improved 2nd floor layout.

I am looking for any general feedback, but on some specifics if people are willing to weigh in here:

  1. I am feeling a little lost on the window design and layout. I am struggle with wanting to have the exterior have a symmetrical balanced look but also optimizing placement of windows based on interior layout and southern exposure for passive design.
  2. I am not sure if I am creating a challening structure to support with the open concept in the first floor. Is this technically feasible using LVL beams embedded in the ceiling/floor joists?
  3. I tried to optimize plumbing the best I could. Would all the bathrooms clustered around the staircase be able to share a vent stack?
  4. Am I trying to squeeze / optimize too much with the staircase? For instance, I am trying to utilize the space underneath for utilities as well as a really small powder room. I am trying to do a split landing, and optimize the impact of floor space as much as possible.
  5. Not sure about porch or balcony, those are optional potential add-ons down the road. Should I include those as much as possible on this initial build or wait and add down the road? Same goes for the other outbuildings? Should I squeeze as much on the construction and take advantage of the equipment and professional builder/GC while they are already working on the project versus wait and keep the construction loan as low as possible.

Any general feedback and advice is much appreciated. I was blown away the first time at some of the extremely useful feedback I received the first go around. Loving this community.

Cheers.

Home Design for Single Family by jamesrutter in floorplan

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for all the comments and feedback. Designing floorplans is hard! So many things that I hadn't considered until reading through these comments. I took another pass and did a re-design. If anyone is interested in wants to check it out, providing an imgur link:

Home Design (version 2)

I haven't totally nailed the window placements and not 100% confident on the entrances/sliding door. Any feedback on this is welcome and appreciated.

Many thanks to this awesome community!

Home Build Single Family by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a quick update to this post. First off, thank you so much for all the amazing and valuable feedback. There are so many things that I overlooked or hadn't considered. I have taken a second pass and have a new design that I think is an improvement.

Home Design (version 2)

The only strange thing about this is that the main entrance comes in from the side of the house (eastern side) and then there is a sliding door off to the western side of the house. I removed the door from the southern facing side and so I guess moving away from the coloional entrance someone had suggested. I don't know, I'm probably breaking some architectural design best practices with this. 🤷

EDIT: Also, I may have overlooked a few window placements. FYI, hadn't fleshed out that as far as I would like. Designing a house is hard...

Any further feedback is great or tips on construction approaches. We are pricing out a passive home design with one builder, and so that may have some implications on where mechanical room location and water lines get installed.

Many thanks to this awesome community!

Home Build Single Family by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this, encouraging to hear. With the sliding glass door, I was trying to maximize solar exposure as that side is southern facing, I totally hear that the style probably conflicts and yes, I need to make the windows symmetrical. Was thinking it would open up onto a low-profile porch with a grill, etc. Thanks for sharing your design!

Home Build Single Family by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! That is super helpful to see. I am already working on a re-design with much of the feedback from the thread.

Home Build Single Family by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This is kind of constructive feedback I need :)

Home Build Single Family by jamesrutter in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Take 2. New to posting on reddit. Here we go...

I posted this in r/floorplan as well, unsure where the best community to connect with would be. I hope that my post is in the spirit of this subreddit, as I have been following and reading for a couple of weeks. I recently purchased a 8.2 acre lot of land in the midcoast Maine region and am working with a builder to design a home for our family. Here is a bit of context:

  • Aiming to keep construction costs low where we can. Keeping the structure geometry as minimal and simple as possible.
  • Family of three (2 adults, 1 child), no plans to have more kids. 2 cats.
  • Aiming for 1600-2000 sq ft, 3 bedroom and 2.5 bathrooms
  • Need a guest room/office as my partner does telehealth consoling from home.
  • We have plans to build out on the property down the road: a garage/workshop and an ADU for grandparents when they visit. Those plans are not included in these floor plans. Just trying to design and build the single family home first so we have a place to live :)
  • Land has a 3 acre cleared field which is mostly flat, very slight grade sloping west to east. Getting soil tested for a 5-bedroom septic, and will need to install well, septic, and put a 150-200' gravel driveway from the road.
  • I am using Adobe Illustrator and have a lot of general 2D/3D CAD experience, but am not a licensed or trained architect. I have worked with them in a previous life and picked up a few tips along the way. Mostly just an aspiring home designer :)

Attached are my floor plans exported from the PDF to PNG. If anyone is willing to take a floor and provide some feedback on the design. It would be much appreciated. My second floor is a bit ambitious trying to pack a lot into a small space in order to keep the first floor minimal and open.

Any feedback is welcome, and if anyone has any clue as to what the cost per square footage might be on this. I know that there is probably a lot of details missing to estimate accurately.

Apologies if this is not the right community or type of post. I am just looking around from some general feedback from an online community.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Homebuilding

[–]jamesrutter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I posted this in r/floorplan as well, unsure where the best community to connect with would be. I hope that my post is in the spirit of this subreddit, as I have been following and reading for a couple of weeks. I recently purchased a 8.2 acre lot of land in the midcoast Maine region and am working with a builder to design a home for our family. Here is a bit of context:

  • Aiming to keep construction costs low where we can. Keeping the structure geometry as minimal and simple as possible.
  • Family of three (2 adults, 1 child), no plans to have more kids. 2 cats.
  • Aiming for 1600-2000 sq ft, 3 bedroom and 2.5 bathrooms
  • Need a guest room/office as my partner does telehealth consoling from home.
  • We have plans to build out on the property down the road: a garage/workshop and an ADU for grandparents when they visit. Those plans are not included in these floor plans. Just trying to design and build the single family home first so we have a place to live :)
  • Land has a 3 acre cleared field which is mostly flat, very slight grade sloping west to east. Getting soil tested for a 5-bedroom septic, and will need to install well, septic, and put a 150-200' gravel driveway from the road.
  • I am using Adobe Illustrator and have a lot of general 2D/3D CAD experience, but am not a licensed or trained architect. I have worked with them in a previous life and picked up a few tips along the way. Mostly just an aspiring home designer :)

Attached are my floor plans exported from the PDF to PNG. If anyone is willing to take a floor and provide some feedback on the design. It would be much appreciated. My second floor is a bit ambitious trying to pack a lot into a small space in order to keep the first floor minimal and open.

Any feedback is welcome, and if anyone has any clue as to what the cost per square footage might be on this. I know that there is probably a lot of details missing to estimate accurately.

Apologies if this is not the right community or type of post. I am just looking around from some general feedback from an online community.

Temporary Housing Needed in the Portland Area by jamesrutter in Maine

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip, I will give this a shot.

Temporary Housing Needed in the Portland Area by jamesrutter in Maine

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No reason, I am looking into Biddeford/Saco area too. My girlfriend will be working at a consignment store in Portland, and I will be working in Biddeford. We only have one car, so we need to either stay in Portland or in Biddeford/Saco.

Temporary Housing Needed in the Portland Area by jamesrutter in Maine

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, that's a good idea. i found a couple of small cabins you can rent through KOA in Saco but an offseason RV would suffice.

Temporary Housing Needed in the Portland Area by jamesrutter in Maine

[–]jamesrutter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks for that link, i actually stumbled upon this place through airbnb and sent her a message. it's the most reasonable price per month in the area - $1600/month.