Hello, great site by the way, i would like to intriduce myself and tell a little.
my name is Jeff and i am an Architectural designer, i design homes in my free time, and am real interested in natural building materials and alternative construction.
i have been saving scrap lumber for a number of years, i got a great deal on some pre-engineered wd. I-beams 12" wide and 20' long., free 3/4" engineered plywood (2 1/2 bundles) the top 5 or 6 sheets as well as the few bottom ones are not usable due to this plywood sitting on the job site in weather for over a year!!!!!
i also get quite a few product samples, sterling kitchen sink, some light samples, i am allowed to keep all samples.
i guess i have a small house in kit form stored in 2 barns. my hope is to one day put it all together on some secluded land that i own.
any ideas of what kind of home to build with 60 12"x20' wd. I-beams and 60-80 6"x20' wd. I-beams?
i am thinking crawl space, and am trying to avoid a 2-story, as i would do all the bldg. myself.
i still need a few hundred cmu block, roofing materials, sheetrock, elec./plumb. and brick or siding materials.
here is what i was thinking.
A few thoughts for you! The rooms are nice sized.
Have you read a pattern language?
I like the idea of having a separate dressing area in the master bath. Just a thought though and maybe it's because I'm a nurse but how many times do you plan on scrubbing that door handle in the bath? ;) For some reason, a few of us seem to be fixated on bathrooms.
Another usability thing I see that may not be true for everyone. I would prefer to have a counter space next to the fridge but I also like the idea of a pantry somewhere.
Good luck with your project!
I am a salvage guy myself, so as one salvage guy to another I can only say GO FOR IT! I usually wind up with enough material to make a good start on something then I have to buy the rest like a normal consumer. Weekend before last I picked up a trailer load of 2X8's and a few 2X10's (16'-20') at an auction for $40.00. A few are twisted but the majority are usable. I am designing a 16' X 20' deck and will be able to use most all of it. With material on hand I can get up to the ceiling but from there on I will have to pony up at the lumber yard. Unless of course I go back to next month's auction and get lucky with some rafter framing material. ;)
LOL - only a nurse would think about scrubbing the door handles! ;D I read that to DH & he said "whaaat?" He'd never even thought about doing such a thing - didn't realize I wash them. The dressing area in the master bath is a nice idea but probably just us women would long over a space like that ::) ...
The flloor plan does look like it would live well, except I, too, would like counter space next to the fridge, but then, it is close enough, really, just on the other side of the pantry.
I worked for a hospital that didn't have sinks in the bathrooms in patient rooms. Can you imagine what was transmitted there?
That was the point in case anyone else might have a difficult time understanding what I was getting at!
The big question on counter space next to pantry or fridge may be--what do you bring home from the store--or the garden? Lots of dried and canned goods? No problem, set them on the counter and put them away. Lots of vegetables, fresh meat, frozen stuff, bottled drinks? There might be room for a small island to place those things en route to the fridge. I have a folding table that would work well for that purpose. Heavy and solid, with brakes on the wheels, but easy enough to get out of the way when necessary. Mind you I haven't had enough room to try it out yet. It might work in that kind of design though.
Making the place easy to keep clean and easy to keep things put away is a good part of the effort of actually doing it.
Two of the cats, bless their little hearts, if any, have decided that my "dresser" is theirs--it has doors instead of drawers. And they need to keep everything of mine out of it. I know how to keep them from doing this, but unfortunately, it involves at least two more actions in putting anything away or taking anything out. Every time.
Of course travel trailers aren't really intended to have full-time cats.
Ah, a womans interior design ideas are better than cash in pocket ;D, and i wasn't sure what you were talking about about the bath door, are you refering to cleaning them?? myself being a male, do not take things like that into consideration, that's why i am allways open to criticism.
thanks
Jeff
I was referring to washing your hands after going to the bathroom. Think of all the germs on that bathroom handle when you open the door to get to the sink to brush your teeth! ;)
Not samples here, but scraps.
Sometime last year in San Francisco, there was a $2000 house made from all scrap materials--as an experiment, and only temporary.
Might give the scroungers among us some ideas.
http://www.scraphouse.org/Gallery
I usually get $100's to $1000's of dollars worth of scrap each year. If I can't use it on the house I use it on the shop or out buildings.
I tried getting scraps from a construction site not long ago. On a dead end street, about 6 new houses are going up and my wife called for me while I was at work. They told her they recycle everything. So much for free lumber.
Jared