20'x34' 2-story in North Central Arkansas

[Taylor]

Hi everyone. I have been reading this forum for a good 6 months, probably read almost all the owner-builder projects and they are great. I have 3 acres in outside of Mountain Home, AR that I plan on building a 20'x34' 2 story on sometime hopefully in the next year, still need to order the plans. It will all be paid out of pocket and we have no inspector to inspect any thing other than a septic and well and I will be doing everything my self and some help from the wife with the heavy stuff. I have a 33' travel trailer on it now and I built a 12x16 shed.

Here are the floor plans that I made with BHG Home Designer 6.0 have came up with for the house, it will just be me and my wife living in it full time. Let me know if you see any wrong with what I have, on the 2nd floor I made the hall closet bigger to run HVAC through which I plan to put the furnace under the stairs.







I plan on building this on a crawlspace which will be concrete block with rock veneer on it. I have a question about my crawlspace, I plan on putting a thick plastic down with gravel on top in the crawlspace, I was wondering if I have to put vents in it or not. I will post some pictures of the land and stuff.

Thanks

Taylor

[glenn kangiser]

to the forum, Taylor.  There has been talk of both vented and unvented crawlspaces.  Hopefully other members will pop in here and tell you what they have done.

[Redoverfarm]

  Taylor . Personally I have a manuel vent.  Might change them to automatic for a matter of convience.  I have a 4' crawlspace under 2/3 of my cabin.

[Taylor]

Thanks for the welcome. I guess I could put 2 vents on each of the 20' sides, would that be enough? I don't know the advantage and disadvantages of the vents.  I was thinking of putting a trap door under the stairs to access the crawlspace instead of on the outside. I plan on having a 32-40' crawlspace.

Thanks

Taylor

[Sassy]

   Looks like a good plan to me    The only thing I would change would be access to that closet you have at the top of the stairs - I'd want the access through th bathroom - if that is possible...  A woman never has enough closet space    But you may have other plans for it...  It's always nice to be able to get stuff when your in the bathroom or bedroom...  I know you already have a closet in the bedroom - do you have a linen closet in the bathroom?  Just a thought...  otherwise it looks like you've made good use of the space, in my humble opinion 

[Taylor]

Thanks for the feedback Sassy. I was planning to have a good size vanity in the master bath for storage about 5' long with dual sinks. I was planning to use the closet up stairs to store blankets and stuff and maybe I was think of putting a laundry shoot in there since it is over the laundry room, but not sure about it.


Thanks

Taylor

[Sassy]

that sounds good    Glenn asked me "why in the world would they need a closet in the bathroom?"   

[southernsis]

Welcome Taylor,
I don't live too far from you, Evening Shade. I like your plan, very functional.  How far out of Mountain Home are you building? At least you have a Lowes there. The only thing we have close is a Home Depot that should close their door. Nobody in that store knows anything. Have fun building.

[Taylor]

Thank you Southernsis for the welcome. I live about 6 miles out of Mountain Home, about a mile from Gassville. Yeah be have the largest Lowes when it was built and have a home depot across the street.

I put a lot of thought in the plan to get the most out of it. I tried a lot of different size foot prints and nothing came close to being as functional as that one. I don't think I have seen any floor plans like this one.

Taylor

[apaknad]

hi taylor,

welcome. that is a place i am very serious about building in(love the ozarks). i have been looking for land in the mountain home area because of the good fishing in the. if i am there in the spring i would be happy to lend you a hand.

[Taylor]

Yeah the fishing is pretty good, even better if you got a boat, still hoping for one of those. Land is pretty expensive around here, there was 6 acre lots down the road selling for $50,000 needing well and septic. Thanks for the offer, I hope to be building in the spring.

Taylor

[Taylor]

Here is a picture of my trailer and shed that is a couple months old. I plan on building the house about 5-10' in front of the trailer. I only really have one neighbor which you can kinda see in the picture, behind and to the other side of me is farm land and across the road is woods.



Out the back:



Out the back at sunset:



Out to the north at sunset:



Out the front of the trailer:



I still have a good about of brush to clean out, hope to finish it this fall.


Taylor

[zion-diy]

Hey Southernsis, guess you've been to the Batesville HD. never have I seen so many that know so little. :-)
                                     Alex

[John Raabe]

Taylor:

Nice site and a good floor plan layout. I would work on the window layout and get more light into some of the rooms. The 2 bathrooms should have an opening window and I'd put at least a 5' wide window in front of the kitchen table.

[Taylor]

I was planing on putting some windows in the bathrooms, I just haven't decided on what size to put in there yet. I am not to big on windows, they are going to have blinds and curtains over them that are probably never opened, or that is how it has been in my other homes, lol. I really like stuff to be symmetrical, and that is why I have the windows like they are, kinda of a greek revival look. But thanks for the input

Taylor

[MountainDon]

I have some thoughts...

I'm looking at that back door... the one to the deck and thinking I'd prefer to have it hinged opposite to what you have. My rationale is that way it could be opened fully against the wall. In warm weather you could then have an outside opening screened door for the ventilation when desired. Just my thought.

The front door could be opened full against the wall as it is. We like to be able to have a screened door, or a full glass exterior door for the extra daylight they pass through to the interior.

I ditto John's thoughts on windows. The bathrooms should have windows (obscure glass if privacy will be an issue). Even the laundry room should have a window, IMO. Good windows will eliminate the need for turning a light every time the room is entered. On the main floor I'd prefer a 5 or 6 foot wide window by the table. With the one sofa facing that end wall, to me at least the end wall begs to have a 5 or 6 foot window centered, rather than two 3 foot windows off to the side. Unless that's where the TV is planned to be situated.

Unless one is using a refrigerated air conditioning system for much of the year, or it's too cold for open windows, all, or most windows should be opening, IMO. Both K and myself like windows for the both the sunshine and open feeling they provide. Yes, a window is a "heat hole", but using quality frames, at least dual panes, triple in the colder climates, Low-E glass, maybe argon filled, and so on is better than going for bargain windows.

The upstairs bathroom would be an ideal place to use a good skylight; once again that would eliminate the need for a light during the day. I don't like skylights in bedrooms though; too hard to make it dark for daytime sleeping if necessary. A skylight over the stairwell could work though.

[MountainDon]

... and speaking of windows... what type of opening window are you considering? I really like a good casement type for their terrific sealing ability. If mounted in opposite opening pairs you can catch breezes with them. They are pricier though. We like sliders over single/double hung by maybe 60/40.

[Taylor]

On the open window thing, I live next to hay fields and they like to put chicken liter on it in the spring and fall, so having the windows open isn't really an option and I just like having nice cool a/c. I am going to be hanging my TV on the wall across from the couch, so that is why I got the two windows. I plan to go with double hung windows, just for the price and they probably won't get used much. I see what you mean about the back door, and I think I might chance it. The reason I have it opening the way I do, so that when I am carrying stuff to the grill, it is easier to get the door open and through it.

Thank you for your thoughts

Taylor

[cordwood]

 I would definitely vent the crawl space!!! We have had a few houses here in Ar. some with and some without, Block without vents sweats like crazy when it's humid and mold grows on it REAL FAST!
And for windows if you did want something other than double hung you would most likely have to order them as Ar. seems to know only one kind of window Also I would shy away from the wood frame windows, We have family members here that have some of the high end manufacturers wood windows that stick BAD in the summer and have to stuff rags around them to stop drafts in the winter. And remember the North wind is the biggest energy draw we have around here so plan your windows and doors accordingly.
I live about 30 miles due South of you (as the crow flies) So if you need a hand erecting walls or setting trusses or rafters feel free to give me a shout I'd be glad to help when I can.

[NM_Shooter]

Hey!  My home town.  I graduated MHHS in '80, my brother followed in '87.  Good to see more hillbillies on this forum.  Are you locally grown or an import?

Your pictures made me homesick.  I don't get back often enough.  Definitely great fishing!  I love lakes that have water that you can actually see through, vs. the lakes here that look like runny pudding 

I spent my youth trying to figure out a way to get out of there.  Now I am trying to figure out a way to get back! 

[travcojim]

Springdale Arkansas here, we are going to be building on 40 acres we own out in Kingston, about 45 miles away,  Land is paid for and has a well, that could be drilled a little deeper, but all the important things are there, power, water and even phone line buried somewhere.  We are going to try and build little by little so we can keep costs low and hopefully have it paid for when its finished, that is why we were thinking two of the little house plans,one of them stretched out to maybe 30 feet if possible,  We have one daughter so we thought of building two so she would have the smaller one for her room and bathroom, she is 15 now so in the future she could turn it into her own place.  But connect it with a small boardwalk and have the cottage cabin look.
  Glad to see others from Arkansas popping up here.  Great site.

[Taylor]

Thanks cordwood I might take you up on that offer if I run into any snags.

NM_Shooter: I have lived in the area since I was about 2 when we moved here in 1986 so I would say I am local. Yeah the fishing in real good, just wish it wouldn't have rained so much this year so I could have enjoyed the lakes more

travcojim: I thought about building 2-3 smaller buildings and connect them with a board walk but didn't like the thought of having to go outside in the rain or when it was cold to get to the other parts of the house, but I was looking at putting living and kitchen in one and master in an other.

I am thinking of modifying my plans to have just single story made of multiple 16' wide building attached, since I have a bum knee which will probably only get worse with age.

Thanks

Taylor   

[Taylor]

I have changed my plans for now. I already have a 12x16 shed and thinking of adding a 14x24 addition on the side. I would be able to get it down a lot sooner. I could always add on to it latter if I need more space. This is just a rough thought I had. Let me know what you think.

[glenn kangiser]

That should work.  It would be a bit like Johns Enchilada plans.

http://www.jshow.com/y2k/listings/43.html