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jeff2013_gw

House Elevations for Review

jeff2013
10 years ago

I have finally had the chance of posting the first set of the elevations and the complete floor plans (with master bath and windows) from the architect for review. As always, thank you for your assistance!

Attached is the North Elevation (front side street).

Comments (21)

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    West Elevation (west side street)

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    South Elevation (back neighbor side)

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    East Elevation (east neighbor side)

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    And 3D view of the house.

    The roof picthes are 5:12 for the upper main roof and the garage and 3:12 for the front porch.

    It looks like 3:12 for the the back patio and the roof over the great room too. I will check with the architect.

  • zone4newby
    10 years ago

    I like the window placement, but I'd want a simpler roof. Could you have a series of gables instead of the conglomeration of hipped roofs?

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Zone4newby,

    I am glad that you like the windows. I was a little bit concerned abou the 3 big windows on the west side of the dining room (which we are going to used as a playroom for our kids on a daily basis and only as formal dining occasionally) and then windows around all the four walls of the game room. I like the natural lights, ventilation, and possible views. I am just concerned about the summer heat.

    Regarding the roofs, I was too concerned it was complicated and expensive. I even did some simplified gable roof sketch myself in my earlier post. As I have no knowledge about roofs, I don't think it is a good idea for me to repost my ugly design here.

    I was told the standard hip design is very typical and roofers are very familiar with the its construction. He also said if we do a gable end design we are going to end up with more vertical wall area (meaning more materials and extra cost there).

    Thank you for your inputs!

  • carolyn53562
    10 years ago

    I love your elevations. Are you in the Midwest because hip roofs like you have on your house are very popular in the Midwest, especially the Madison, Wisconsin, area where I live. I will confess that my house if similar to your house. How deep will your roof overhangs be? With a low pitch hip roof you will want to make sure that your overhangs are large enough--I'm guessing your overhangs are 2'-3', which should look nice. I'm wondering why your roof pitch is different for different parts of your house--mixed roof pitches don't always look good. Good luck.

  • carolyn53562
    10 years ago

    I love your elevations. Are you in the Midwest because hip roofs like you have on your house are very popular in the Midwest, especially the Madison, Wisconsin, area where I live. I will confess that my house if similar to your house. How deep will your roof overhangs be? With a low pitch hip roof you will want to make sure that your overhangs are large enough--I'm guessing your overhangs are 2'-3', which should look nice. I'm wondering why your roof pitch is different for different parts of your house--mixed roof pitches don't always look good. Good luck.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    10 years ago

    Is there only one window on the 2nd floor on the east elevation? (Sorry if it's a dumb question as I haven't been following your build closely.)

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Carolyn, Good to learn that the hip roofs are popular in your area and our house is similar to yours. I will ask the architect about the size of the roof overhangs and make sure we get it right for the flat roofs. As for the varying pitches, I asked hime before and he told me that the main reason is to make room for second floor windows. I am not sure how tight it is if we insisting on the same 5:12 pitch through the whole house. I will follow up with him again on the issue.

    Annie, Yes. The plans shows only one small window on the 2nd floor of the east elevation. My guess is that the east is only 14ft to the neighbor with a 2nd story house. We might have any view or there maybe some privacy issues. Furniture is another consideration too. I will ask the architect if it would be better if we put windows to two walls of those two bedrooms.

    I am very happy to receive feedbacks from you and everyone else here. This is a perfect time as I am about to finalize our plans and let the architect finish up the construction documents. Even though the architect email me the documents with "final floor plans" in the the file name. I know for sure that I have a few things to change.

    I am attaching the floor plans for review and some areas of concerns are as follows

    1. Kitchen / Laundary/ Powder room area
    Remove one side of mudroom cubbies and the desk. I am working on the kitchen layout and have will some revisions to make there.

    2. Staircase
    Remove winder tread and work on the riser/tread sizes for a more comfortable walk.

    3. Masterbath
    There are some doors/closet area we would like to remove to make it less cramped.

    4. Bathroom for bedroom #1
    Again, issues with doors inside and lack of a door at the entrance.

    Thanks! Jf

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    This is the revised plan for the kitchen area that I am still working on. I like the simplied garage entry hall and the increased space in laundry better. I am just not sure about the placement of the different items inside the kitchen.

  • dadereni
    10 years ago

    There is not much room around your round table to get in and out of chairs near the windows.

    The long, narrow island creates pinch points less than 3' wide which I think would be problematic if two people wanted to walk past one another. I would study making your square island longer and eliminating the narrow one. What would you be using that work surface for, or the one next to the refrigerator?

    Do you know what you'll be storing in the various cabinets?

    This post was edited by dadereni on Mon, Jul 22, 13 at 21:59

  • zone4newby
    10 years ago

    I don't know about how things need to be for the roof to work correctly, but I think it would look better if the porch roof under the three square windows on the front met the house in a straight line, or you did something to make the big angle look right.

    I'm in the midwest too-- I know builders know how to make hipped roofs, but I've also paid $$$ to reroof a house with a complicated roofline, and that the more valleys you've got, the more likely it is that you'll end up with leaks.

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Dadereni,

    1. Yes. The space is a little bit tight in the breakfast area. The 48" table with 6 seats maybe downsized to 42" / 5 sheats (we are a family of 4, will be 5 soon). I will also make the seating arrangement to easy people out of their chairs near the windows.

    2. Second island. I have cut the length of the narrow island to make about 48 clearance to the breakfast area (with 42 round table) and 42 inches to the other side. See my revised drawing.

    That work surface is planned to be used as a serving area for gatherings and for kids eating/doing homework as a table. It maybe used as counter space for cooking but I think it is a little bit too far from everything else.

    Good question regarding all the work surfaces, and cabinest usage for different areas. I would think more about that.

    I am open to the idea of eliminating the narrow island and would try different confiurations. At this point, I would like to keep the kitchen within the area defined by the support beams (identified by double dashed lines in the drawing) to maintain the general structure of the design.

    3. Do you have any comments on the elevations and roofs? Are they acceptable? I remember you gave me some good suggestions on studying the 3D model of the house early in the process.

    Attached is a revised drawing of the kitchen area.

    I really appreciate your thoughts!

    JF

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Zone4newby,

    Thank you for your comments regarding the roofs. That big angle on the front elevation DOES look off symmtry (sorry for the typo Z4N). And the two different picthes toward the end do not match well to me. I will ask the architect to see if he can fix it.

    I am building in TX and I do see a lot of hip roofs in our area. I agree that complicated roof structure is not only more expensive to build but also bringing a lot of potential leakage problems. My current house had a leaking roof soon after I moved in. The installer did not do it right at the joints of two gable roofs.

    By all means, I would like to make sure there is no defficiency in the design or poor workmanship during installation to have that happen in our new house.

    This post was edited by jeff2013 on Tue, Jul 23, 13 at 20:28

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Close-up View of the Kitchen area

  • _sophiewheeler
    10 years ago

    Not that I'm obsessed with symmetry, but this isn't a pleasing assymetry. The negative space and positive spaces don't work together. It's not balanced. The fenestration is haphazard. As is the roof. Actually, the roof is even worse. It's a nightmare of unbalanced planes all hipped because that's the only thing that your architect can think to do.

    The interior space still doesn't work. You still have that silly second island that doesn't add functionality at all. That's symptomatic of the whole design. There's a lot of square footage where you don't need it rather than where you do. It lacks logical flow from the exterior to the interior and from the formal to the casual. This isn't a budget build either. Not even close.

    Are you absolutely sure that this guy is a real architect? Not a student or a "home designer"?

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    HollySprings,

    Thank you for your comments. I think you made some good points here even though I do not understand much about house design myself.

    Again, he is an architect as I already told you before. I can email you his name, registration number and you can check out his website, previous designs (mostly commerical buildings), and credentials yourself. But that is not the point.

    I do need a house design which is to

    First, Meet our needs (and sometimes desires) of living in the house. Function over form. Structurally sound. Low maintainence, etc. The list goes on and on.

    Second, Be within our budget. Otherwise, it is not buildable or we would live house poor.

    Third, Have nice appearance and good feels and looks. It is part of our needs/tastes/desires toward beauty in nature.

    If everybody (except me) thinks the house is of poor design to such a degree that it is not functioning well, does not within budget, and looks ugly, I would be dumb to let the project continue.

    Apparently I am not seeing it that way myself at this moment. You (and some other nice ppl on this and the kitchen forum) raised serious questions about the architect. Should I panic? Probably not. Am I a little worried? You bet.

    JF

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I need more critical reviews on the roofs and elevations. Will it work? Any defficiency? Possible ways to fix the problems? I need help from pros here on this part as I have no knowlege there.

    Floor plans are important too. But that part I feel comfortable that myself, with help of many GW posters, would be able to address the many areas of the concerns in the design, especially kitchen and master bathroom.

    I am still hopeful things would work out OK.

    Thanks!

    Jf

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    I'm sure that this is a really dumb question: But what's the reason for these hills and valleys of the roof? Are there different lofts and angles/high ceilings inside?

  • jeff2013
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No Soccer Mom,
    Thank you for following my tread. Yes. The design would allow vaulted/high ceiling in the great room and dining.

    It is a very good question. Some other ppl raised the issue too. I am going to open another thread to explain more about the design and seek people's opionions on the elevations and roofs to see if they make sense.

    JF

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