Questions about lofts and stairs

[Thoughts-from-Jules]

Ok Here we go, I have been hard at work again.  This is by far my dream home.  I have had a similar floor plan in my binder for years, but I always assumed it was too expensive to build.  Anyway I made it smaller and more compact than the original but it still will live big I think.  I even got the woodstove more central both side to side and lengthwise. . 

This house is smaller than the last two by about 150 sq ft.  It is 1093 on the first story, and 814 on the 2nd story.  For a total of 1907 (approx).  Not including porches (which will have to be built later as we can afford them.)





The kids bedrooms are a little smaller but 2 will get their own rooms and only one bedroom will have to be shared, and maybe none if we went with 4 bedrooms upstairs instead of the family room.  I think it is good for kids to share a room though, so we may have to rotate with the boys having to share a room etc.  Our daugher lucks out, she always gets her own room......so lucky she is the only girl!

Check out the huge pantry I will get under the stairs since that wall is in the kitchen.  I think the water heater will also have to be under there too but we shall see. 

Oh and his and hers closets will be nice too.  Have I mentioned I LOVE wrap around porches?  There is one off the dining corner of the house.  As well as a nice private deck for DH and I to unwind after a long day on a porch swing.

One area of question is the space between the dining and living, I thought about a half wall there but I left it open with a post there......we will have to do some kind of beams in a few places to support the upper story.  Anyway that is a good start.

[considerations]

Have I mentioned I LOVE wrap around porches?

Me too! 

[poppy]

Julie, since you are planning a family sized house you might find some good ideas from this link.

http://www.notsobighouse.com/

There is a series of books written by an architect who believes houses got too big.

She doesn't exactly design small or inexpensive houses, but there are some general ideas that might be helpful.  I have her first book and it was interesting reading.

I wouldn't recommend buying any of the books; you can probably find them at the library or review them at a bookstore.

[Thoughts-from-Jules]

I will check those out if I can find them at the library, otherwise I will try the interlibrary loan program to get it.

It is hard to balance that desire for a spaceous and comfortable feeling home with a tight budget, it also is important that what sq ftage we do have in our home is usable and functional as well.  Since we are paying for it I want it to be neccesary too. 

We'd like to be able to start looking for bargains on lumber, windows, doors etc for our home as we find sales.  We want to have alot of the building materials stocked up before we build on a schedule and have to buy new because we are in a rush.  Dh works on commercial job sites and it is unbelievable how much usable materials get tossed into the dumpster.  So we are hoping for some materials from that source, and also the windows....maybe DH can check around with the contractors he works with to see if they want to part with any extra materials (windows that were the wrong size for their project, cabinets that got pulled from a nice home for a remodel etc.)  We live in a town that produces lumber so we might be able to purchase by the unit direct when the time comes.

DH has been a little more hesitant about building a home because he fears it will still be too expensive, he told me he thinks it will still cost $80 sq ft to build ourselves.  Do you think he is right?  I was looking on some other threads and it seemed like I ran accross a price estimate to the dry-in stage to be around $13 per sq ft.  (I can't remember if they had full foundations or peir/post).  Would it really cost $65+ per square foot to finish the home?

We go middle of the road on things like flooring, cabinets (we did Kraftmaid here oak with recessed veneer panels so lower in their priceline).  We'd be doing most all the work ourselves except maybe the most techincal.  My cousin is an electrician, so he might at least be able to make us a skematic to go by for wiring and we will pay him for that portion.  We do plumbing, excavation, foundation all ourselves with a work party with friends and family for the bigger jobs like roofing, siding etc.

I am just trying to get a feel for how feasible it is.  We are both really handy and have built numerous things and remodeled our current home down to the studs and floor joists and built it back up while living in it!!!  So it isn't the experience part that is scaring us (well a little, those 2 story walls look so high!), it is the $ side.

[poppy]

I would be really bummed if I spent much more than $20 a sf for my cabin.

I don't know the market where you are, but here in the midwest one can buy new housing for $100 a sf all day long.  And that's houses made from all new materials by builders who have high labor costs and even make a profit.

If you can't build a house for under $50 a sf, something is wrong, I think. 

[Thoughts-from-Jules]

That is good news!  Seems like I had it all priced out, I called around and got prices for the larger items and looked up the rest on Home Depot and Lowes etc on the rest.  Seems like I added it up to $60,000 (I am sure I forgot things like brackets, tie downs, screws and nails, adhesives, etc which all add up) for a roughly 1800 sq ft house or approx $33 sq ft.  That was with higher end flooring and cabinets.  So with the things I am sure I forgot and hoping to find some deals on certain supplies I think we should be able to fit within that $50 or less per sqr ft.  That way we will have the option of hiring out a few things we don't enjoy doing as much (like sheetrocking) We live in a rural area and I wouldn't say the cost of living is high by any means.  It's is just we live on one income, since I am a SAHM.

I figure if we allow a 30% overage and can still afford to build we should be in the ballpark.  We worked really hard to get debt free this past year and the only kind of debt we are ok with is house debt so we have to be really careful not to overextend ourselves on building cost and having to finance too much house.  We are building it ourselves partly to give us the option to be able to work less and enjoy more family time instead of needing to work ever spare minute to make enough to get by like before we got out of debt.

[Freeholdfarm]

Julie, here is the link to the tiny house I mentioned above.  http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2009/06/cottage-stone-step_26.html

It does have a low loft that's used for sleeping.  I honestly think it's awfully small for the size their family is, but hey, people all over the world have less! 

I really like that last plan you posted.  It looks like it would work very well -- and leaving the wall open between the living and dining areas would allow the heat to circulate better.  It does add some cost to add corners to your foundation, but since you guys will be doing all that yourselves, I don't think it would be enough to be worth worrying about if it really adds livability.

Kathleen

[Thoughts-from-Jules]

Ya I wouldn't make it in 300 sq ft.  Dh and I with 4 kids lived in our 26' RV during the week days while he worked on the Enterprise, OR.   I definately had a hard time in the winter when they couldn't go outside as much!  I need some space and so do they!