Ideas for building a house?

Playing golf at Mar a Lago?

 

Use a Buckminster Fuller drawing

 

Might as well just move into an Airstream.

 

Your Rossi shrine room needs to be at least 12x20

 

Extra tall garage ceilings, two cars deep, dual overhead doors with space between so it's a nice wide space. Install lift over one back spot and storage mezzanine over the other.
All basement mechanicals in one space (I'm fighting this fight right now in our 110+ year old house)
Fire sprinkler system
Deep porch to watch the storms roll in
Pot filler at stove
If it's a forever home, 1st floor bedroom and laundry.
Access from garage directly to basement shop area - extra wide doors
Hallways wider than the standard 36" - 42"

 

If it is a until you assume room temp home, make sure you plan for senior in-law care. Attached, detached or other.

 

I was under the gun to get my house built back in the early 1990's. Broke ground 9/30/91 and moved in 2/2/92...and it snowed in November that year! Anyways, to save time I used Advanced Concrete Systems precast concrete basement walls, 10 feet tall. After excavation and screeting the gravel, the walls were in in one day. Next day the basement floor was poured and the next day the first floor deck was started. Cost about 2 grand more compared to 8' block walls but worth every penny. Not a single problem in nearly 30 years.

I should probably add that the house wasn't "finished". There wasn't so much gooberment regulations back then. No hardwood floors, no trim, few doors hung and we did dishes in the tub the first week! You know what? We all survived.

 

Ha! Speaking of which, I got a pinch flat on the rear sidewall, after only about 5 miles. Ended my day.

 

did you pour the floor with a high psi type mix or do anything special? I take it the precast sections had their own footers/reinforcement?

 

Location of property (Way North or Way South?) = Will affect house orientation and selection of windows. Screened porch needed? etc....


Idea of topography = water management

 

The walls were made of about 3" of fiberglass reinforced conctrete with blue board on the inside. Every 2 feet there is a precast concrete stud with a firing strip facing. The 10 foot sections are hoisted into position, bolted together and a seem sealer applied. The walls are held in place by three factors. The concrete floor on the interior, the first floor deck and a small amount of backfill on the exterior. Once all three are in place it is rock solid. I also applied parging to the exterior, ACS said I didn't need to do that but I did anyways. It was cheap and easy to do and it was the only opportunity I was going to get. I don't recall what I used for the basement floor but I'd be surprised if it was more than the standard 3000 psi stuff.

 

If this is going to be the "forever" home, and live there till you die, you may want to consider the wheelchair width doors, and ramps instead of stairs.

 

Going through a build now. Broke ground a year ago in May. I would never do it again. It's been an absolute nightmare. 1st builder quit. Now in litigation over thousands in construction defects. No one in construction gives a shit. The name of the game for most everyone is get in, get done, get on to the next one to make more $$$$. Its been eye opening and exhausting. Craftsmanship is dead. Not all are bad but lots are. I've had to call out so much shit that was done incorrectly it would make your head spin. Everything from excavation for foundation didn't have any slope to the low point drain, rain drains backfilled broken resulting in 6" of standing water in crawl to foundation was poured without a single vent on the front of the house to woodstove vent installer trying to use two different brands of pipe that don't play together and just saying fuck it and screwing it together in an attempt to make it work and everything in between. People damage shit and no one takes ownership etc.... I could write a damn book.

My 3 must haves were 3 car oversize garage because unsure when I can build a shop. I put a garage door at the back of one of the bays. A wood burning stove and a seat in the shower. It's single level. All ADA width hallways and doors.

One thing we designed in the house that we had seen that we liked was the master closet goes directly to the laundry room. Only have to walk through one door to do laundry.

Oh added plumbing in the garage for a dog wash station that I will build once we get occupancy.

 

Yep a frickin nightmare.
My final place will be a finished big ass metal building, that looks like just a metal building from the road.

 

Yup. If I ever forget this experience and do it again it's going to be the same. Big ass metal shop with living quarters at ground level. I will do it all.

 

Your think that would make it simple, but I worked in one and it still had stuff going on. Plumber put things in the wrong spot including where it was in the slab
Bunch of issues. .

 

Sounds like to me you did a piss poor job finding a qualified contractor. We built 5 years ago.....great experience. I literally got into it twice with my GC on two things.

Other than that....it was normal construction stuff. Told me 6 months, it took 9. That was to be expected.

After moving in, really only 3 or 4 things I wish I could go back and change....3 of them were my fault, 1 of them was the GC/Sub's fault.

 

that sucks. Its hard to do without a decent team of subs.

 

This.

I built 7 years ago and it was awesome. I had never built before and GC’d everything.

I plan on doing it again in 2-3 years when the boy goes off to college.

 

Only one piece of advice I have for ya, ‘foo:

When you open the first box of nails, don’t throw away the ones that have the head on the wrong side. Those are for the other side of the house.