22' X32' in Massachusetts

[littledog]

I have been holding off on posting my project until I had something to post.  I couldn't have gotten this far without everyone on this awesome site.  This site has showed me that I could definitely build a house.  So just to start out with here are my plans.  I started by buying the 20X30 1 1/2 storey plans and adjusted from there.  I drew the new plans myself.  As you may see the plans are for 20X30 but I changed my final plan to be 22X32 because we are using double 2X4 walls and they suck up a lot of space.  I am putting in a radiant floor heating system with tankless water heaters and there will be a woodstove.  I will post more on the site and other stuff later.  I just wanted to put up my plans.  I love this site.  I just hope my home comes out as nicely as the ones I have seen on this site.  Thanks Aaron.  The photos came out a little small when I posted them.  Sorry.  I will post them on my blogspot page.  http://jonescornerroad.blogspot.com  Give me a minute to download all that to the blog.  Thanks again for checking this out.  Aaron

[littledog]

I posted the photos on my blogspot.  You have to click on the picture in order to get an upclose look.  Also one of the pics is upside-down.  :-/ But hopefully you can get the idea.  I will post more pics on our progress.  

[MountainDon]

The photos came out a little small when I posted them.

That's strange. When I copy the bottom tag from photobucket (the IMG tag) here's what comes out...



Maybe Glenn has some idea of what's going on??  :-/  

[Preston]

Congratulations Aaron!  I'm sure your house will turn out wonderful!  What type of Radiant flooring are you planning on doing?  I'm wondering because we're debating on using an Electric Radiant Floor system for our heat.  Also are you using Electric or Gas Tankless Water Heaters?  We're using an Electric one!  Your layout looks extensive and very well thought out.  If you are even half as organized as your plans are, you'll be just fine!

[MountainDon]

Came back later for a better look over. This'll be an interesting project to see develop. Best of luck!

[glenn-k]

I dunno, Don -- what do you think?

[MountainDon]

I don't know... but I see your resized the image in my post and re-located it so it wouldn't overflow the screen.  

[MountainDon]

Ah! ?

In littledogs original message posting the image file name in the IMg tag line is
th_Sharp_Printer_20070829_074722_005.jpg

BUT the IMG tag line I copied from his referenced photobucket site comes without the   th_ as in "thumbnail"
like this   Sharp_Printer_20070829_074722_005.jpg

And the images in his blog are not prefixed with the   th_

Something funny going on there.  :-/

I shouldn't get so involved....  

[littledog]

Thanks for all the input.  My web skills are pretty low, so that probably explains why things are coming out a little wierd.  Also I was doing that on lunch break so I kinda just threw things together.  We actually have the foundation poured I just didn't want to overload everyone with a ton of info and pictures.  As soon as I get some time I will post the pics.  We are hoping to install the radiant flooring in the slab next week.  As soon as the floor is backfilled and we can get the basement plumbing installed.  I am going through a radiant company called the Radiant Floor Company, go figure.  I am using 7/8" PEX tubing.  It will be a closed system.  Code won't let me do an open system.  So I will be using 2 Tekagi propane tankless hot water heaters.  One will be for the radiant system and one for domestic hot water.  We also bought a used Vermont Castings Intrepid II.  So with all that heat and double walls we should sweat through the winter.  I can't wait to get framing.  Alot of planning and we finally have a foundation.  It will be really nice to just get moving.  But If I have learned anything from this, it is that you can't rush, you just have to be patient.  Anyway I will keep you all posted on our progress.  I will post the most current pictures next.  Aaron.

[Homegrown_Tomatoes]

Aaron, I am very interested in watching your project come together.  Radiant floors are really nice to walk barefoot on in mid-winter... they're the norm in Korea, and I always loved sitting or walking around on the warm floors there in winter.  Traditionally, theirs were heated with a large boiler (literally an open kettle of boiling water with a fire underneath).  The boiler was located in a room without a floor at one end of the house and then as the water heated, it pushed it's way through a system of pipes under the floor and eventually back to the boiling pot once it began to cool.  The only problem is that it took a while to warm up!  My husband's aunt and uncle still live in a house with that system. The newer ones there are made with tankless water heaters, and the hot water circulates through the floor before going to the outlet... it sometimes creates a problem if you feel like a hot bath in the middle of the summer, because there's no way to turn on the hot water without heating the house too.  My in-laws have a switch you have to switch on for hot water and then wait a few minutes... of course, as soon as you switch it on, the floors start heating up.  Not a perfect system, but still nice in the bitter cold of a Korean winter.  I have no idea how the ones here work but am looking forward to your project for that reason.  We are talking about building one into a little house for my in-laws for when they retire... of course, we'd live in it in the mean time.

[MountainDon]

The VC Intrepid is a great wood stove.  

[littledog]

So here are a few pictures of the site.  We did a lot of clearing ourselves, my wife and I, and then the Excavator took over.

We bought 3 acres in a town called Conway, MA.  We've lived here for about seven years.  The site was an old sand quarry.  Great drainage, no topsoil.  Can't have everything.

Last of the Stumps coming out.

Beginnings of the site excavation.  The house is going in about halfway up the hill.

Driveway and culvert going in.


Driveway going in.  It is ending up to be around 300ft.  Pretty long, and expensive.  But I really wanted the house in the hill.  

Rough layer of gravel and fabric for the driveway.  And my son enjoying every minute of digging in the dirt.



The foundation went in last week.  They waterproofed it on Monday.  Next week we will be backfilling and installing the radiant and slab.  Then we can get started framing.  I will be working with a local contractor and a small crew including myself.  I am subing out the plumbing and electrical.  I will be assisting the electrician because he is a friend of mine.  We'll see how much I will be "allowed" to do with the plumber.  Massachusetts seems pretty tight when it comes to codes.  The inspector and I get along though so I think we'll do fine.  That's us up to today.  I will post more photos and info as things progress.  Untill then much luck to everyone.  Aaron.

[glenn-k]

Thanks for the pix, Aaron.

Nice site.

My drive was about 1500 feet long but I made it myself with my John Deere Trackhoe/loader, Bobcat and 12 foot wide scraper towed behind the Deere when the hoe was off.  Gigantic boulders and small ones too along the way, but finally got it made.  That was about 5 years ago.

[littledog]

Time for us is a huge factor.  I have been attempting to not disrupt our schedules as much as possible.  Impossible I know, but the sooner I can have a shell and running water the better.  So alot of my budget has gone into the excavation and the rest will go to pay people to get me to a place where I can comfortably carry the rest of the project.  Thanks for the interest.  

[Preston]

Beautiful spot for a home  

[littledog]

I posted the beginning of my project on the old forum.  It has the same title as this post.  Also I have a blog http://jonescornerroad.blogspot.com  Here are some pics of where we are so far.  We have backfilled around the foundation and the floor.  We installed insulation over the floor and installed radiant tubing for the floor.  We have the deck framed and the four main walls up.  I am waiting patiently for the concrete folks to pour the floor, but we are getting our first big snow storm.  I hope to be picking up the main beams for the next floor.  I am putting in an 8X10 main beam with two 8X8 posts.  Here are some pics.
















I hope that isn't too many pics.  When I was first planning this project I couldn't get enough photos.  Its like if I can't actually work on the house then I can read about all the wonderful projects on this site.  So am just trying to give the same thing to someone else.  Plus I am thrilled and proud to be working on this dream.  Thanks for looking.  Aaron.

[Sassy]

Aaron, you've made great progress    The area looks beautiful, with all the trees.  You know we all like pictures 

[mldrenen]

excellent progress!  i live about an hour south of conway, but i'm up in your area frequently during the warmer months.  you must be so thrilled to have found such a beautiful piece of property, and to be finally living your dream.  i'm really looking forward to seeing your house progress.

[TheWire]

Looks good.  I have a question though,  where are the windows?  Are you planning on framing those later?

[glenn kangiser]

I found the rest and put them together for you, Aaron -- thanks for posting the new pix.

[mvk]

Hi Aaron
Your place looks nice, are you still working on it or stopped for winter. I'm about 100 miles east and a little bit north in
NH. Haven't seen this much snow for awhile. I'm planning a house about your size and had a couple of questions for you.

I like radiant heat and am thinking of a masonry stove. they aren't cheap even if you do it your self and I think it would take about 30 working days for me to do it. At one time I thought that I would install radiant floors and build a out door wood fired stove that heated a big tank of water. I have a friend that has one and heats several buildings on his farm with it but they aren't cheap either though if he keeps that water warm he doesn't use much fuel. Any way I can't do that anymore.

I was wondering why you chose both radiant floors and the type of burner (on demand). what will you use for the other floors and what flooring you will use. Also would you mind sharing what it will cost. I would like to know any other info you care to share about it such as who sized it etc.

And I would like to know why you went with double wall construction I know that the short answer is you probably wanted more insulation but did you do heat load calculations. I would like to see any details of how you plan to build that. Are you working from any particular idea or plan, what type of insulation, whats your plan for vapor and air barriers etc. I would have built a double wall house if I would have built back when I first tried to 15 years ago now I'm leaning towards foam sheathing on the exterior.

Thanks Mike