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Feedback please...

m5askqu5
10 years ago

We're planning on building a Morton-style home (Barndominium/steel home). Attached is the main level, also will have a full walkout basement (two beds, one bath, family room finished, half unfinished). We have four young kids. Would like to build our "forever home" and be able to retire here. I know the halls are 4' wide. Thinking ahead to when we're rolling around, will be easier to accommodate the rest of the house, or hoping so.

The garage is off to the right. It goes most of the length of that wall (mud/bath/bed). Will have full slab/lean-to roof on the front and partial on the back. Nook will be under the lean-to along with the back porch (along the living room wall). The walkout would be under the master bed side. Will have a wood stove in the corner of the living room.

Any and all tips, no matter how miniscule are welcome! Thanks...

Comments (9)

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    Now, you need to draw it with real walls. Walls have a thickness, and not including their thickness in your drawings might mess up your overall design/spacing (you might not have 4' halls any more).

    You'll want a wider door into your master

    And, while the space seems ample for master bath, you'll want to actually place fixtures in the space to determine if it will, in fact, be ample.

    I, personally, would want the fridge closer to the table, and the stove where the fridge is. That might pose a problem for stove venting though, so something to keep in mind (but if nothing is above this floor, you should be able to vent up without issue).

    I'd switch the "ownership" of the 2 closets in the lower right corner--top closet to the right corner bedroom and bottom closet to the hall bedroom. Why? So, there is less crowding of the bed when trying to access that closet. I see it likely that the bed will go in the same direction as the bedroom. Lower right bedroom with bed on bottom wall facing "up". Would be best access to have the closet doors at the foot of the bed. In the middle bedroom, that isn't an issue, since there will be plenty of room between foot of bed and closet.

    10ft rooms are too narrow once you get real wall dimensions in there.

    I love my 4x4 corner built pantry, I think you will find it quite useful. Good job making the door swing out on it.

    What will be in the mudroom? Wash facilities? I'd want doors on that space to enclose it.

    Where will HVAC chases go?

  • mushcreek
    10 years ago

    I started out in much the same fashion. I strongly recommend getting Sketch-Up (it's free) and figure out how to use it. You'll save a LOT of paper, and it's easier to move things around without re-drawing. As Kirkhall pointed out, walls have thickness. Interior walls are 4-1/2" thick, and your exterior walls should be at least 6" thick. If this will be a forever home, put a lot of thought into insulation. I would find it hard to build a well-insulated home with walls less than 6-8" thick.

    Across the front of the house, you have 6 interior walls, and 2 exterior walls. That adds up to at least 39" of space lost.

    You also don't have nearly enough run for the basement stairs. There has to be a landing at the bottom, too.

  • jimandanne_mi
    10 years ago

    The Nook, as your main dining area, needs to be larger. Also, although 2' is the minimum for each person to have space at the island, in reality more space is a lot better. If you need seating for 4 people, I'd put one of them at the nook end of the island.

    Anne

  • m5askqu5
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks. Yes, I need to have it drawn up professionally...just starting out with where we'd like things and if the flow would work with four kids. I'll have to work on it more and make larger bedrooms. We can go to a 36' deep home easily instead of 32'. They like increments of 4' and 36' is a "standard" depth which ends up costing us less.

    Will add doors to the laundry/mud. I didn't think about the noise from the machine. I was going for an open feel. Pocket doors?

    How many feet do I need for the staircase? 12?

    The nook is a lot larger than a lot of the nooks I saw on plans. I like the pic I'll link, was going off that, building my plans from it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: [Nook[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/warmington-north-traditional-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~98747)

  • dekeoboe
    10 years ago

    We can go to a 36' deep home easily instead of 32'. They like increments of 4' and 36' is a "standard" depth which ends up costing us less.

    That would be the outside dimension correct? Even at 36' you aren't going to be able to fit what you have drawn due to the width of the outer walls, never mind the interior walls.

    Edit: Wow, I think I needed more caffeine because I sure couldn't add this morning.

    This post was edited by dekeoboe on Sun, Mar 9, 14 at 17:30

  • m5askqu5
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, outside dimensions. So if I add 8" to the front and back exterior walls (16" total) and 4" for each interior wall (two on the master side), I'm getting a total of 24" I need to add. Why wouldn't 4' accommodate this? It's the same on the other side (mud room) of the house, correct?

    I do understand the halls won't be 4' unless I increase the depth of the entire home. Thanks for your help.

  • niteshadepromises
    10 years ago

    You might try putting this into a free home design software to see where you are losing space by not accurately drawing wall width. I used Sweet Home 3d when I started out.

    It will add up where you have your cluster of rooms at the front of the home, about 4 feet gone from your 58'.

  • mushcreek
    10 years ago

    Very roughly- If the basement is 8', and your floor joists are 12", the total rise for the stairs is 108". Figure 7-1/2" per stair, that comes to over 14 steps- figure 15. If each step is a minimum 10-1/2" wide, that comes to about 13'. Plus, your stairs end at a basement wall, which means you have to have a 3' landing, since you have to turn left or right. That puts you at about 16'! You could put a landing part way down, and then turn 90 degrees and have a few more steps, but you have to maintain 6' 8" minimum clearance under the floor joists. Building codes are pretty specific when it comes to stairs, and they have to be calculated carefully. Stairs are a pain to fit in. Mine turn 180 degrees, and use up about 7 X 8'. I couldn't have anything over them except a small closet with a raised floor.

  • m5askqu5
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks MushCreek!