Finally did it!

[Dimitri]

Well it was difficult but I managed to do it! I got a 4 bedroom home down to 600sq ft.  

Input/Suggestions ??

Edit: the Door on the bedroom with the door hitting the table its on the wrong hinge and should be inwards like the other rooms but it was annoying to get it to look the right way so I gave up.  

Dimitri

[Amanda_931]

When I was in high school, my bedroom was maybe 7 x 9.  It had a teensy closet, but built-in bookshelves and a desk.  And, amazingly, windows on two different walls.

Pocket doors or bifold doors might help.  Although the former would make construction a bit more complicated.

I've seen pictures of upscale cabins with sliding barn doors in front of rooms (taking space from the hall, not the room).  Nice looking.  Might be easier than a pocket door to build.

[Freeholdfarm]

Okay -- we'll try this!  If it comes through, I'll add some explanations!

Kathleen (who is NOT a Google Sketch-up expert!)

Ha!  It worked!!!

Okay -- this house is exactly six hundred square feet.  The main part of the house is eighteen feet by thirty feet (proportions don't show up well on this screen capture, but it's thirty feet across from left to right).  The bump out is six feet by ten feet.  The extra is a porch (where the guy is standing).

There are two bedrooms on each side of the house; all are quite small but have room for a bed over drawers, and a small closet.  In between the master bedroom (which extends into the bump out) and the other bedroom on that side, is the bathroom (I drew it in the paper sketch with a sawdust toilet, as I'm not sure there's room for a regular one, but you could take a few more inches out of the master bedroom if you have to have a regular toilet).  The large center room holds the kitchen/dining area at the back -- the refrig-looking thing on the right is actually an upright freezer, and next to it is a stack, apartment size washer and dryer.  There is (barely) room for the dining table in the middle of the kitchen.  The rest of the room is for the living room.  I would put coat pegs on the wall next to the front door, and some way to heat the place -- a Monitor heater, or a small wood stove would be my preference.  But you could do electric baseboard heaters or a radiant floor, too.

[scottb]

I would divide up bathroom since there is just one. sink toilet in one small room and just shower in another small room. someone can shower and the toilet is accessible

[MountainDon]

Amazing whay you've done with the space.

With 4 bedrooms I think scottb has a good idea on splitting the bathroom into a sink/toilet and a shower room. The shower sorta like what you find in a campground, with a small area for clothes and then the shower stall. Shower not a tub unless you need a tub like for little ones.

Also where's the furnace, water heater, electrical panel?

Re: Amanda's suggestion; pocket doors are good in concept but I find them a nuisance in actual use. I'd much rather use a bi-fold. I have a couple, one into the utility room (water/dryer/storage and the other into the indoor pet room (closet like indoor space for dogs with doggie door to outside run. Great around here in the heat of the summer.)

a couple other thoughts here in pictorial form....

[n74tg]

Does bedroom 1 have a window.  It looks like there is one there, but it opens into the master bedroom.

You could also put the bdrm3 door to where it faces the bdrm2 door.  Then it will leave a longer, uninterrupted wall in the dining area; better for decorating (wife will appeciate that).

Have you got a family situation that requires 4 bedrooms, or is this just an academic exercise.  Another way to put this maybe is, that many people living in 600 sq ft with only one bathroom is gonna require an awful lot of understanding and flexibility on everybody's part.  If your family has that, it's extraordinary.

Good luck with it.

[Dimitri]

Amanda_931,

I was thinking about putting sliding doors like Star Trek so there would be no wasted space where doors need to open. Neat idea about the built in bookshelves.

Freeholdfarm,

Nice flook plan!

scottb,

I've thought about that but I'd really like the idea of a whole single bath.

MountainDon,

That extra space would probably be turned into a door in my plan, would like a extra door that I could exit in a emergacy etc. As for the shower "Campground style" I prefer a bath, mainly because its more functional as it can double as a tub and a shower. The furnace, water heater, electrical panels and the like would be in the full basement (entry way from a hatch hidden in the masterbedroom which has a safety latch which opens both ways and can be locked open, and maybe would end up adding a stair case and door to the outside) which I'm not counting as sq ft and I might put the Washer/Dryer instead of a one above the other set up downstairs to make it easyer to do laundry and put a closet there next to the door instead. I'd never build a house without a full basement because thats what my grandfather says to do so I lisen to him! About the special hinges yes would probably weld myself up a soild metal frame for the door and graft it in the inside of the framing of the house and the door will probably be opening inwards to the house, agian Bobvilla Home design picks what way its shown you can't do that.

n74tg,

I didn't put windows in the rooms yet, would have bigger sized windows all over the house, becuase I like windows, what your seeing is the headboard of the beds, which "snap to grid" and only way to show no wasted space on the top of the beds was to put it looking like its in the wall, which it very well might be if I put a indent into the walls for more room.

Also personally I'd like 3 kids, and you'd be surprised it isn't that hard to live in a place with one washroom and 5 people, trust me I have lived in apartments which are about the same size (execpt normally they got bigger bedrooms and less bedrooms) all my life and I've got 2 brothers (so 3 kids in total plus parents) and there never really has been a problem with it. You learn to deal with it and adapt

Dimitri

[glenn kangiser]

3 kids aren't that hard to get either, Dimitri. :-/

[Dimitri]

3 kids aren't that hard to get either, Dimitri. :-/

Humm, I'm confused by this statement.  

Dimitri

[glenn kangiser]

Just a weird attempt at humor. :-/

Sometimes they show up when you are not ready.  Sometimes they don't show up when you want them to.  In 20 years you will be able to look back and see how it worked out for you-- no real answers until it's done.

[Dimitri]

Glenn,

I see, well I tell my dates I want 2, but many adults I know say if you plan for "X" number you'll end up with "X+1" so I've been keeping that in mind when designing homes.  

I got many years to go before starting a family though seeing as I'm only 19. Not going to rush into it.  8-)

Dimitri

[glenn kangiser]

Another thing to keep in mind is that I have an uncle who is younger than me.  My mom's brother was born after I was.  Sometimes the factory isn't always out of business when you think it is.  Just almost out of business. :-?

[PEG688]

Hinges for outswinging doors should come with NRP hinges , Non Removable Hinge at least one of the three.



Link : http://www.statefarm.com/learning/be_safe/home/burglary/learning_besafe_athm_burg_hing.asp

 Door Hinges and Home Security
Door Hinges on Exterior Swinging Doors

Although most people don't give a second thought to the security options available in door hinges, there are door hinges available that can provide better security.

In some parts of the country, it is common to see doors swing out. When the door swings outward, the hinge pins are typically exposed on the outside of the house.

This could allow an intruder to tap the hinge pins up and out, and lift the door off its hinges, removing the door without unlocking it.

There are several door hinge designs available that make it more difficult to remove the hinge pins.



Non-Removable Pins
On these hinges, the pins are held in place by a setscrew. If the door is in the open position, the setscrew is exposed and can be retracted, and the hinge pins removed. If the door is closed, the setscrew cannot be accessed.


You could use a metal bulkhead by Bilco , http://www.bilco.com/home.asp?country=93

 

They make precast stairs to fit as well,

[MountainDon]

Thanks PEG, I knew about the riveted (crimped) pins but I don't like them. I had heard of the normally non removable when door closed, but didn't know how they did it. I think I like the NRP over the safety stud type myself.

I'll them in mind as my cabin will have one outward opening door as an emergency exit. Of course nothing will stop an outlaw hell bent on gaining access out in the boonies.  

Dimitri, I didn't even think of a basement for the furnace, etc. Goes to show I've been living on a slab for too long. Back home we had a basement under out 832 sq ft home. It was semi useful to me. Furnace, laundry, power panels, etc were all down there, and I used a portion for a workshop, another area for a darkroom nad lots of storage. But it was an older home and needed the drainage problem addressed. Snow melt and heavy rains drained through the wall to floor joint into the basement.

Having a dry basement would be nice, though I notice that my sisters new house up there in Manitoba uses a sump pump. Basement makes some remodeling work easier thru the wood floor instead of a slab, that's for sure.

I think I'd put the landry in the basement and choose an exterior entrance over having to lift a floor hatch. Just my thoughts.

And three kids can be achieved all too easily  

[Jens]

three kids?  It took us to four before we figured out that it doesn't happen from shaking hands!

[Dimitri]

 glenn kangiser,

That is also true but I figure if that does happen my older kids would be out of the house so 3 bedrooms will still be enough.  

PEG688,

I like that metal bulkhead! And the pre-formed stairs are neat too!

MountainDon,

Shouldn't have a problem with flooding in the spring I'm going to have the walls of the basement go 2-3 feet up so it will be alittle more water resistant then most homes that the cement walls go only to the grounds level.

The basement will most likly have both a hatch for quick trips down and a outside enterance for safety and ease of putting things down there.

If I built a house with anything other then a full basement my grandfather would just about disown me he hates them so much.  

hobbiest,

Yes its easy to get a girl pregant, but I hope to not have too many kids.

Dimitri

[MountainDon]

Shouldn't have a problem with flooding in the spring I'm going to have the walls of the basement go 2-3 feet

I didn't make my old problem clear. The joint between the bottom of the wall and the concrete basement floor is where the water entered. That can be avoided by installing proper french drains outside during construction as well as proper waterproofing on the outside of the walls. Once it's seeping inside like my old home was it's much more expensive to remedy.

I haven't had a basement for so long I just don't miss it anymore.

[Dimitri]

I didn't make my old problem clear. The joint between the bottom of the wall and the concrete basement floor is where the water entered.

That is interesting, never heard of that, most of the flooding I've seen was comming from the cement wall/starting of the above ground wall. Thanks for the tip on the drains though!

Dimitri

[glenn kangiser]

Think of the basement as a boat, Dimitri.  Think of the surface of the ground as the top of a lake.  Water can try to get in anywhere below the surface, especially at the bottom.  I have a few places to deal with it at the underground complex.  I'm putting French drains around the shop floor -6 feet down at the back wall.  They were running pretty full during the last rain, and the back of the shop is guttered.  Gophers - moles etc, along with subsurface runoff make the water head down to underground storage - It could be on the way to a well, stream,  aquifer, or your basement.

[Dimitri]

Glenn,

Thanks for the explination

Dimitri

[glenn kangiser]

My pleasure, Dimitri.

Drain downhill to daylight is the best if available.  If not a sump and pump could do.  There are tons of ways of waterproofing - probably not 100% foolproof.  There is a special plastic with little finger sized thimbles all over it and geotextile fabric on the outside.  The walls can  be sealed with a tarlike substance then the other stuff put over it with gravel outside for a drainage plane to get the water to the bottom without going through the walls -- then you still have to get rid of it by drain to daylight or a pump.

[Freeholdfarm]

Dimitri, if you have more than three children, you can put bunk beds in each of the children's bedrooms -- that will give you space for six children!  (And triple bunks will give you room for as many as nine, LOL!   )

Kathleen

[Dimitri]

Glenn,

I'll be looking into what you posted more later thanks

Kathleen,

6 or 9 kids would be too much.  

Dimitri

[Freeholdfarm]

 

Kathleen  

[tjm73]

Don't know where you might want to build this, but International Building Codes (used in most areas it seems) state....

Every dwelling must have at least one room not less than 120 sq/ft.

All other rooms must be at least 70 sq/ft, but kitchens can be as small as 50 square feet.

No habitable room can have a measurement of less than 7 feet horizontal.


Something to think about.