2 story universal plan

[jthatcher]

I ordered the builder's cottage plans from john when I thought that my kids were off to college and I would be single again.. but that didn't happen.. a new wife this summer with two great daughters..  i guess i need a little more space!   so.. I have been looking at the 2 story universal plan..  i can hardly imagine having 3 bathrooms after having only one the past 6 years, but, with 3 women in the house, we just might need three baths.  I would enjoy hearing from others who have begun building, using the plans..  

two questions for now..

a)   as I look over the sketch on this site, I don't see a place for a chimney..  is it typical for the chimney to run up the outside fo the house?  when I used to live in new england, the thought was to always run the chimney on the inside to cut down on creosote ( from wood stoves and such)  buildup caused from the warm air hitting the cold chimney..  
 b)  I want the house to have a "mild" victorian look.. not a whole lot of decoration, but certainly a wrap around porch with some tasteful trim that might have been used for a country home in the second half of the 19th century.   I like the idea of using plywood for sheathing then running horizontal 1x with 3/4 inch blue foam between and cover it with board and batten siding.. any thoughts on this method?    thanks!  I look forward to hearing about the experiences of others.

[StinkerBell]

I will be adding a woodstove to our plans.

I have seen many style variets of ventless gas burning fireplaces. Isthat what your looking for? or a traditional Fireplace?

[Daddymem]

In Mass.  you can run the pipe outside....but the insulation required to do so makes it not worth it.  At least that was what I was told when standing in your shoes back when we were planning on building the "Uni".  Check local codes to be sure.

[glenn-k]

In a snow area it is probably better to work it out so it goes out the top center -it won't get ripped off by sliding snow.

3 women and 3 baths.  What about you --- do you have a tree that needs water? :-/

[jthatcher]

thanks for the comments from this morning.. some of you guys are up pretty early!   I do envisioin a full basement  and two flues.. one for conventional heat and one for a wood stove.  
  yes glenn, three women.. that will be an adjustment !  so I guess I just need to dedicate some of the space in the plan to a chimney.. of course, that is part of the beauty of the design.. flexible space..

[Jimmy_Cason]

a)   as I look over the sketch on this site, I don't see a place for a chimney..  is it typical for the chimney to run up the outside fo the house?  when I used to live in new england, the thought was to always run the chimney on the inside to cut down on creosote ( from wood stoves and such)  buildup caused from the warm air hitting the cold chimney..  
 b)  I want the house to have a "mild" victorian look.. not a whole lot of decoration, but certainly a wrap around porch with some tasteful trim that might have been used for a country home in the second half of the 19th century.  

Here are a few googled pics of a two story farm house. They both have a chimney in the center of the house.
The second picture is from a model railroad.

[jraabe]

The traditional masonry chimney will be best if you are planning two flues. A triple wall or insulated stainless steel prefab chimney is easier to install but has only one flue, of course.

Determine the flue area you will need for each appliance (8x8 is common for wood stoves but my mason did 12x12 for easy cleaning) and, from this information, size the chimney with its brick or block facing. You will want to find an area where this can run straight through the house. The center is traditional but building a cricket to shed snow is not difficult. The peak of the chimney needs to be 2' above the roof peak (another reason to center it on the ridge).

You will also have to have a 12" deep footing with rebar running each way under the chimney. This can be just dug out and poured with the basement slab if you wish. If you are in an earthquake area the chimney itself may need to be reinforced. Check with the Bldg Dept or a local mason.

PS - Jimmy, I like that blue farmhouse!

[jthatcher]

thanks for the pics!  and for your reply, John, regarding the chimney.. do you have any thoughts on the sheathing idea?   I would like to use plywood for the rigidity factor, but i really prefer not to use t1 -11 with battens, electing instead to use actual pine planking  nailed into the horizontal 1x with 2 foot spacing.  i thought that the gap between theh 1x would not be a bad thing, but why not use if for a little extra insulation.. and at the same time  keep it from space that bees or other little living things might find and consider a delightful place to make a home of their own!   I imagine that the house wrap would go on just before the board and batten siding ?

[jraabe]

Sounds like you are considering a rain screen. Here is a recent thread on the topic. http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1141958187/2#2

And here's a tip for a simpler rain screen... you really don't need to have spacers for most climates. http://www.countryplans.com/bbs/messages/6370.html

[Amanda_931]

I ran into an otherwise forgettable (certainly not favorite-able) rant on how horrible wood heat was.  From somebody who really should have known better--in Grist magazine online IIRC.  The big reason for hating it was that fireplaces backed out of the house, so you lost all that heat to the outside.  Not to mention that it didn't really heat the house at all, it just made air flow through, and I believe that incomplete burning causing pollution including carbon monoxide was mentioned.

True that a badly designed fireplace with a stone backing outside of the house wastes heat.  (look up Rumford fireplaces for pretty good ones--Ken Kern liked them) True that you may not be able to live a central heating lifestyle when the only available heat is from a (badly designed) fireplace.  

And seems like I read somewhere that the jury was still out on bringing air into the fireplace itself from the outside.

But masonry heaters are a different story--priced all over the place, by the way.  Some of the wood stoves are wonderful (but check with your insurance agent before you decide on this option--they tend to like masonry heaters better)

As is the heated cob bench--and it has very few store-bought parts.

And, by the way, houses in the south are reputed to use an upstairs fireplace in the summer mostly to cause a draft/ventilation through the house--there you might want an end fireplace.

End of rant!