Just got our plans! Question about changing stair pattern on 20*34 two story

[mwhutch]

We have been planning our new house for 5 years, and in that time changed our mind 100 times on what we want. We have finally decided on what seems to be the perfect combination of simplicity and functionality. We purchased the two story universal plans and just wanted to make a few changes if possible. Could anyone look at my changes and let me know what they think? We raise a large portion of our food so we wanted a larger pantry, but didn't want to give up at least a half bath on the main floor. If I have figured correctly there should be just enough ceiling height under the stairs to house a toilet(ceilings are 8 feet), am I correct? My other question is can I change these stairs to an L shape and not have to move the bedrooms upstairs? Do I need to add a support post( we will use engineered I joists)? My last question is that I have seen others put their woodstove in the corner of the stairs, is that ok here where I have placed it? Also we plan to build either a slab or a block crawlspace, depending on what different graders have to say about the site. I would really appreciate any input anyone has to anything that is wrong or overlooked. Thanks so much!
-Marcy

[mwhutch]

Another question for you all, can you print from BHG home designer in 8.5/11 then take it somewhere to enlarge to 11*17 or do I need to export files and take them to be printed?
Thanks again.

[Don_P]

I haven't looked hard and am not a plumber, have you thought through the venting on that bathroom? I'd check with the printer and file type, ours locally uses the digital file.

[mwhutch]

Okay so the vent pipe and pipe size determine the distance the vent can be for the toilet and sink. Do you think we could run a vent line up through the interior wall to the roof? I guess I need to ask a plumber. 

My husband is a land surveyor and has access to a plotter and a large copier at work, but he doesn't think their programs will open this type of file. I imagine if a local print shop can print an original we will be set! Thank you!

[John Raabe]

1. Printing from the BHG program. Set the file to print at 1/4" scale (to match the plans) and it will print as many sheets as needed on your standard paper. Cut, align and tape these into the 11x17 format and use as your master.

2. You do need to vent the toilet, sink and washer waste stack. Check with a plumber as to the location. You may have a wall available on the upper floor that is within range. This would depend on how your layout up there works out.

3. You will double the floor joists on either side and frame an opening in the upper floor to provide a minimum of 6'-8" headroom above the slope of the stair as it comes up.

[tristan]

out house is basically just like your plans show except we added 4 feet in length and an 8 foot shed addition on the side of the first floor.  We did turn the stairs into an "L" and put the stove in the crook of the stairs.  here's a link to the build thread at the end are some photos of the stairwell.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=12273.new#new

Note that to get the headroom required by code we had to bump out the wall a little above the first flight of stairs.  I was hoping to avoid this by cheating a little on the cod ein regards to headroom but I'm pretty tal (6'4") and even at the code minimum i am close to whacking my head!  We put a post there to support the corner but I'm not sure if it was needed or not.  The post will also make our railing nice and sturdy though.   

[mwhutch]

Thanks so much! I knew that I had seen similar set ups on other builds, but when I went looking for them couldn't find them. Your build looks great. Just seems like a good place to heat the whole house. Let us know how it works!

[John Raabe]

Thanks for that helpful post Tristan. Your photo pretty much shows that stairway solution.