Small House plan.

[Dimitri]

I was wondering what is your opinion of this and how much you figure it would cost to build.

Its a good size of 300 square feet, dont need anything bigger really (well atleast as comfort and living space goes before having kids).  

I made it the sizes I made it so I could sort of make a "long" house after having kids etc by extending the back (the right side of the picture) and adding rooms. The kitchen is at the front just because it gives me the most space between the counters and the oven and fridge by orianting the washroom that way which means I cant have the front door near the living room without getting crammed up.  

AC, Hot water heater, heating unit would be hidden in the attic. All 3 would be sized so it could work for a house double the size. As there is no reason to buy them 2 times.  

After college in a couple of years I'm seriously considering building it.  8-)

Dimitri

[MountainDon]

I like, but my first thought was... is that a regular size bathtub? Personally I'd go for a shower stall only and forego the tub and the space it occupies. That's only my personal opinion for something small. I'm planning a 14 x 26 cabin myself and am seriously thinking of going in the direction of a bathroom.shower one piece unit as in my RV. It's worked for years for us there and seems like it'll do for the future.

[Dimitri]

Thats a full sized tub. It takes up space I realize it but once I have kids and expand the house I'm gonna be kicking myself for not putting in a normal tub and just a shower. So I figured best put in a bathtub

Dimitri

[Amanda_931]

My house in Nashville had a heat pump, part of which was in the attic.  Entrance via a rectangular vent between two studs in the gable.  One climbed an extension ladder to get up there.

God only knows how it was originally installed.  But when the part up top needed replacing, nobody would do it (and the only people who bid on it stole one of my ladders too! :'( ).  I didn't blame them, but it was the air conditioning for the house and I was really angry about the ladder.

I've got about the same opinion on the water heater.  Even though I'm seriously considering--insulated for hot, not the cold--tanks (only--not pumps or a heater, those would be on a porch or in the kitchen) in a loft to give me flowing, not pressurized, water.  With a standard tank type you can see problems much sooner if it is in front of you all the time, moving a used one is no fun at all, they must weigh twice what the new ones do.

Gas-powered demand heater in the attic?  Not for me.

On the other hand, I'd eliminate the inside dryer in favor of a clothesline especially since counter space will be at a premium.

There are kind of rare and expensive four-foot tubs.  Check the used tub people.

Oh, yes, and two doors to the outside.  Either that or an easily used fire escape from the bedroom area.

[Dimitri]

Amanda,

The attic would be full sized so you could walk comfortably in it, I hate thouse crawl space sized attics myself.

As for a gas heater, actually I'm thinking about putting in a Radiant In-Floor water heating system, lived in a house with that once, was never cold no matter how cold it got in Thunderbay heats way better then a air system.  

Dimitri

[Amanda_931]

Problem wasn't the size of the attic.  It was access.   One could probably have put a loft bedroom up there with no problem.

Radiant heating still needs a heater that will inevitably leak or otherwise fail, sometime.   Being able to spot the problem before the whole ceiling needs to be replaced sounds like a good idea to me.

[Dimitri]

Oh I see Amanda, guess maybe putting it in the basement would be a better idea. Thanks for the tip!  

Dimitri

[Bruce]

Some of your priorities become obvious by things like gunsafe and workbench consumming precious floorspace. By my way of thinking, that would make a great bachelor pad.

Perhaps a low-boy water heater in place of the dishwasher would keep supply and consumption points together and minimize plumbing. As my kids are leaving home, I'm finding less value in the dishwasher - wash the dishes and put them away immediately after use rather than storing enough dirty dishes till the machine is full.

The table can be moved when needed to make the floorspace available for other temporary activities, but a built-in breakfast nook (permanent counter space and a couple of barstools) might be a more convenient workspace for meal prep.

A pocket door for the John (or is that the Glenn   ) would consume less floor space.

You've got plenty of window space by the workbench, I like that. Maybe more window space near the bed than I would have planned. Which way is the equator and is winter heating or summer cooling a higher priority?

Would relocating the gunsafe closer to the bed have any value? Perhaps two small gunsafes - pistol safe/ nightstand combination and the long-gun safe built into an interoir wall.

Relocate the fridge and laundry a little to the right and shuffle the filing cabinet under a counter to the right of the stove/oven. A window in the front door might prevent accidently opening it into the cook at the stove - might make a nasty burn.

Would you want counter space on both sides of the sink?

Storage under and over the bed?

The second door is a good idea and deck space adds usefull living area when the weather allows.

[glenn-k]

A pocket door for the John (or is that the Glenn   ) would consume less floor space.

I see you've been doing your homework, Bruce.

[Dimitri]

Thanks for the reply Bruce really thought out. It is more of a batchlor pad, I drew up some floor plans to expand the house to 849sq. feet and into a 4 bedroom house once I get married. (See https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/Dimitrios2/NiceHouseExtention.jpg )  

Actually reason I didn't put more window space near the bed is because of the shelving and file cabinet which would block it off anyways. But I wouldnt run any pipes or cabling there so when I did expand the house I would be able to add a window there.

The dishwasher is needed, because well I dont want to wash dishes.   There would be counter space ontop of the dishwasher. The single sink is only a single sink because I dont need 2 to wash dishes and its only real use is to wash food.

The 2 gunsafes would be a interesting idea but I dont own anything but a single rifle as of now and handguns would be in a long while as untill I am pretty secure with my finaces I rather not spend money on toys.  8-)

The door for the washroom is just put there because thats what Bob Vila home design has, I'll probably put in a sliding door that would hide in the wall when open instead.

The fridge is wrong I wanted one to open the other way but agian limiations of the program should have mirrored it.  

Under the bed I wouldnt want to put anything because that would be where the entrance to the full basement would be, my grandfather told me never to build a house without a full basement so I'm going to lisen to him as he has build homes before.

Dimitri

[Bruce]

Dimitri,

We're thinking along similar lines as far as house evolution is concerned - but you have a noticable head start on me. My plans haven't stabilized yet, but the current iteration of phase 1 is built up from John's 14 foot wide units. One 14x16 with a full loft attached with a hip roof to a 14x18 or 20. Bathroom, closet, and laundry area under the loft which allows a 7 foot ceiling. A bumpout windowseat in the laundry area makes a nice reading nook. Oversized kitchen in the 14x18 is the "living area" with stairs to the loft. Gable end of the 14x18 would lead into the Phase 2 great-room of maybe 16x20. In phase 3, the other end of the 16x20 would lead into a mirror image of the 14x16 & 14x18 which would be the MBR with the loft as storage.

The Phase 1 loft would be the bedroom early on and converted to a craft room later on. The low headroom under the loft combined with 12 foot studs gives plenty of headroom in the loft.

Maybe I should post a diagram. All my notes are on physical graph paper (old shcool stuff)

I'd love to have a basement, but they're pretty rare in this part of Texas because the expansive soil eats them for breakfast

[Dimitri]

Bruce,

I've always wanted to build my own house, and recently I've been thinking to make a smaller and smaller house and when I saw this website it made me want to get working at a even smaller house hense the 300 square feet and then the extention.  

Your house would probably end up looking better then mine, I'm not really too artistic or into fancy designs, the expansion will hopefully look better when I get a womens touch invovled.  

Dimitri

[cedarglen]

We had a 280 sq ft 14x20 cabin for a while before it burnt down in a forest fire. I posted pictures below to give you a feel for the space. It was built in 1926 on a pier and post foundation on the side of the hill, under the house was dirt floored storage (no pictures) the living space was the main floor and the attic was converted into a full length 7' tall sleeping loft. It was all we needed (family of four) for weekend getaways.  We just got our plans approved to rebuild. We are building John's 2 story universal as a 20x32. If you want to see the rest of the pictures copy and paste the url into your web browser.




http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/inside2.jpg
http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/inside3.jpg
http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/inside4.jpg
http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/inside5.jpg
http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/upstairs1.jpg
http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/bath1.jpg
http://www.watchspot.net/ebay2006/bath2.jpg

[Dimitri]

Cedarglen,

Looks like a nice place out in the middle of no where I like it!

Dimitri