Rough front exterior picture of home.

I also meant to note that we want the house to be ADA-ish. That is why we have the wide hallway and 3 foot doors most everywhere.

This post was edited by ReinitoDePiedra on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 11:43

I would eliminate the door at the front of the garage and add a window or re-center the two windows. Is it really necessary? It ruins the appearance of the front of the house in my opinion.

I would also consider only having a single sink in the second bathroom. Who will be using that room? I think people often put two sinks in a second bath because it seems the thing to do, but in functional use the second sink is rarely/never used. I would prefer extra counter space. Growing up I shared a single sink with a longish counter area with one of my sisters. It functioned well--even during our teen years.

What's the small little closet you see as you come in the front door? If it isn't vitally important, it would be nice to increase the size of the bedroom #3 closet.

I would swap the coat closet and BR2 closet, and make the bedroom closet a bit bigger. The way it is now, the front and bedroom doors block access to the closets. I'd also put a standard door on the coat closet instead of bi-fold.

I'm no expert on ADA, but I wonder if the door to the master bedroom allows wheelchair access (hard to tell without dimensions). In the same vein, closet access directly into the room might be easier than turning the sharp corner.

What is the size of the house? It appears that the three car garage is oversized for the size of the house.

Placing the HW and HVAC units in the attic is very inefficient.

Thank you for the replies!

rrah,

The door at the front of the garage is there because we spend a lot of time outside and going in and out of the garage and the back of the house will be at the edge of a downward slope into a valley so the front of the house is where the garden and orchard will be and we didn't want to walk around the house to get in the garage. We could go in and out of the large garage doors on the side, but we don't like to leave our garage doors open because we have a tremendous amount of snakes in this area and many of them are poisonous and it is no fun when they get in the garage. We had thought we could paint the door the same color as the siding so that it would not stand out at the front. We also thought we could put it on the short wall at the front where the garage sticks out farther than the main house. What would you think about those two options?

My wife and I and any guests will be using the spare bathroom.

annkh,

We had been thinking we would use the small little closet that is next to the refrigerator for excess storage (Broom closet, extra pantry space, coats, etc. anything we might need to put in there).

Both spare bedroom closets and the entry closet are 6 feet long.

All hall space is 4 feet wide and all doors are 3 feet wide except the one little closet door you mentioned.

I am sorry the dimensions are all blurry. As a pdf the image is clear but the website doesn't allow pdf so I had to convert it to jpg and all the dimensions got blurred.

dekeoboe,

The total footprint of the structure is 4050 sqft. Living space is 1675 sqft, garage is 960 sqft, and covered porches are 1415 sqft.

We had not originally planned to have the HVAC and water heater in the attic, but our friend who is a general contractor in FL recommended it.

Thanks again!

Your coat closet and your left-hand bedroom closet have the same problem. They both open in such a way that they'll "knock against" the nearest door. Fortunately, this is a super-easy fix: Flip the two closets, and you'll fix both problems.

Why are you including a door to close off the children's bedroom hallway? I think it'll just get in the way. If you're really sold on this, I'd consider a pocket door, which can disappear.

I agree with the above poster who says lose one sink in the kids' bathroom. Drawer storage and counterspace will be more appreciated, and the kids never use the sinks at the same time anyway.

The master bedroom door would be better coming from the living room. As it's drawn now, you walk in and immediately must turn. And if you enter from the living room, you can place a window straight ahead for a nice sight line.

I'd widen the master closet by 1-2', which would allow you to have either shelves or hanging space on BOTH SIDES of the closet -- this would double your storage space.

Pocket doors are great for doors that are almost always left open -- but they're not right for a bathroom. Also, I'd flip the bathroom, placing the shower to the "inside" of the house. Why? Because windows in showers are expensive and often end up causing maintenance issues anyway, whereas if you move the sink to the shower's current spot, you could easily work in a window.

I like the layout of the kitchen and dining areas, but they look rather minimal in size. Since you don't have a great deal of storage in the kitchen, I'd like to see a pantry somewhere. Note that the dining room is a hallway to the bedroom, the utility room and the back yard -- you'll be forced to have a small table, and you'll always be walking around it.

Finally, I agree that the garage is overkill for a house this size. I don't like the garage door opening towards the front -- it is odd to have two doors opening towards the front (no matter what color you paint them).

Since carrying groceries into the house (and garbage out), it's better to have the kitchen /food storage area by the garage door.

I suggest you get a second opinion on the HVAC and water heater going into the attic. Just imagine the damage they can do if they leak. Also, many people here would suggest going with an on-demand water heater instead of a tank (which is what I think you're talking about, if you're putting it in the attic).

Overall, your plan has some positives, but I've seen better ranch plans. I think you can do better.

This post was edited by MrsPete on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 21:47

I probably should have given more information up front. It will just be my wife and I living in the house with 2 small dogs and a cat. We will be in south east Alabama as I had said so there may be some things done differently in building down here then where others live. We are close to Florida and close to Hurricane possibilities and tornadoes. We want the whole house to fit under a symmetrical hipped roof. These types of roofs stand up better to the high winds, plus they are cheaper to build and cheaper to maintain and have less places to fail or take damage or leak. Also we lived in a house almost exactly like this (minus the garage) for four years and we very much enjoyed the floor plan. That is why we are looking at creating the same one for our forever home.

It was said that there are better floor plans out there. I was wondering where you might find one that had a simple roof like this and an open lay out? If you could direct me, I would appreciate it. I have not been able to find any that don't have multiple roof lines and that have the guest rooms separated from the master.

The garage does need to be smaller. We want to keep the size of the house down since there is just two of us. I had thrown a big garage on the end because I like big garages, but you are right that it should be smaller. It will be the same depth as the rest of the house and the walk door will now be on the side of the garage for better curb appeal although we don't need curb appeal because we are building in the middle of our 120 acre wooded property.

I suppose when I wrote this I was actually thinking people would give me ideas of ways to better make use of space, but most the recommendations have done the opposite. That would be okay if the house was very large, but not when it is small (I know the dimensions were not clear in the picture, but I did say the halls were 4 feet wide and all doors but one was 3 feet wide so it would be relatively easy to interpolate the general size of the house from those measurements.

Pocket doors save space. Having the closet doors behind another door saves space. If you were to flip the closets as suggested you would lose 12 feet of usable wall space. So for us, they don't have the same problem, but rather they have the same solution. We would rather have usable wall space than easier access to closets. The master doorway being where it is also saves us space. It allows us to put a wood stove (the dashed lines next to the master door and master closet) in the corner where it can be better seen and positioned to radiate to the whole living, dinning and kitchen area.

The door to the hall provides for energy efficiency and guest privacy. The only people staying in those rooms will be guests and being able to close that door allows them to separate themselves from the rest of the house while still being able to use the bathroom. When it is just the two of us as is the usual, we can leave the door closed so that we only have to heat and cool the main area that we are using.

By having the HVAC in the attic we can have shorter lines to the vents and have two returns, one in the hall and one in the main area by the master, allowing us to more efficiently cool the house even if the door to the hall is closed. When we don't want to cool beyond the hall door we can close the vents in those rooms and close the doors and limit the flow of cold air and return air to and from that area. When we are just using the wood stove the door keeps the heat in the main area if that is where we want it. Concerns of the HVAC leaking are the same as if it were on the first floor over a basement. If it were to leak it would damage the ceiling below it in either case. In the attic it is set on its side in a metal pan that will collect any leaks and has an auto shut off switch if too much water were to build up.

Having the water heater in the attic saves space and would be similar case with the HVAC if it were to leak over a basement as I mentioned earlier. We will not have a tankless water heater. We will have a propane tank water heater because we prefer the faster supply of hot water to the faucet when you turn it on. With a tankless you have to wait longer for hot water at the faucet. We also prefer the consistency of temperature from a tank when hot water is being used at multiple sources. Tankless water heaters can have significant temperature changes when two faucets are drawing hot water at the same time. Also, even though a tankless water heater only heats the water when you are using hot water, it requires much more energy to provide that hot water than it does to just keep hot water hot in a tank. Probably around three times as much energy, and propane is very quick to reheat water in a tank. The up front cost of tankless is more and it ends up using about the same amount of energy so there is potential depending on how you use it that you could spend more money up front and more money over the long run. If you were to save money on energy it would not make up for the up front costs. I lived in a home for 6 years with a propane tank water heater and I lived in a home for 4 years with a propane tankless water heater and I watch my my energy consumption very closely.

The master closet is a hurricane and tornado shelter so it would be expensive to widen and we are frugal people with not much need of a large closet.

It can be very hot and humid in AL and there are lots of insects and critters so we do not keep our garbage in the garage. We compost all vegetable, and fruit waste as well as replant it. Any meat or non compostable food products are kept in a container in the freezer until trash day and other trash products are put in the garbage next to the sink. Once a week on trash day I take the trash to the large can and the county comes to get it.

Also, walking 20 feet from the garage door to the refrigerator is insignificant to us.

Our kitchen table is only 4 feet by 6 feet at its largest. The island is 4 feet by 6 feet just to give you an idea of spacing, so it should not interfere with getting to the utility room or bedroom when it is fully open, but it is normally only 4 feet by 4 feet when it is just us.

In the spare bath we will keep both sinks but expand the vanity to 6 feet wide vs 5 feet wide and make the linen closet 2 feet wide vs 3 feet wide. We think that would be a better use of space. We like to have two sinks in the spare bath because the people using it are our guests. Whether it is just a husband and wife visiting or a family, we generally all tend to got to bed at the same time and the two sinks get used at the same time every time.

I think I covered most things and our reasons for doing them. I appreciate everyone's input and anyone's future input.

This post was edited by ReinitoDePiedra on Mon, Dec 8, 14 at 14:38

I take it then you plan on having a conditioned attic, since that is where the HVAC and water heater will be?

As far as ADA-ish, I take it you mean able to navigate if you need a walker as I am not seeing the 5 ft turning radius that would be needed for a wheelchair to navigate the master bedroom and closet or hall bathroom.

I love the garage size! You will find ways to use the space. It is not heated or cooled. The garage size does not greatly increase the price of the house since it does not need to be finished. I also am fine with the door to the front from the garage. Just find a way for the front door to be more prominent : )
lafdr

dekeoboe,

Yes, we plan to have a conditioned attic, and yes, our idea on ADA-ish was not to have an ADA certified home, but to have enough room to use a walker or a small wheel chair to maneuver at low speeds. Our intent is not to use a large bodied wheel chair or motorized scooter. We thought the current spacing would meet our needs. The entry to the master bedroom is 4'x4' with 3' wide doors. Do you think the spacing is sufficient for what I mentioned?

lafdr,

Thanks! We had been thinking the same thing. We could always make use of the space and we thought we could emphasize the front door and de-emphasize the garage door. For now though, we have decided to reduce the foot print of the house. We eliminated the covered porch and now just have a covered walk way around the house since we seldom have used porches in our previous houses and we shrunk the garage to the same depth as the house and made two vehicle entrances to the garage from the front of the house and one vehicle entrance on the back left corner. And put a walk door on the side and left the walk door on the back. This will give us a small 3 car garage. We could fit a full size truck or tractor if needed across the back and two smaller cars in the front. Or we can use the back for a work area. The money we save we will use towards building a dedicated shop/garage later.

I see you've thought through these topics, but I can't agree with some of your conclusions. I'll offer the following food for thought:

- Where to find other house plans of this type? I googled "simple ranch house plans" and lots popped up. I looked at a couple, and found plenty of open floor plans.

- I agree that you can always find something to fill a larger garage, but do you NEED that much space /that much clutter in your life? Remember, you're paying for it. Storage is considerably cheaper in a shed.

- Yes, moving the closets away from behind the door DOES take away wall space; however, it also opens you up to the problem of the doors banging against one another (which is annoying and marks up the doors), and such a closet is less convenient to use. Admittedly, this is a trade-off, but I think most people opt for the non-conflicting doors.

- Again, I see why you want the master door in that spot, but the trade-off is lack of privacy.

- The hall won't help you much with energy efficiency because it's your casual entrance in /out of the house. If you want to be able to "close off" the guest rooms (and that is a reasonable thing to do), I'd say flip them to the other side of the house.

- I think you should get a couple opinions on putting the HVAC and hot water heater in the attic. You're opening yourself to the possibility of a flood, and that -- if it happened -- would wipe out all the other savings. And more.

- I see now that the closet walls are built extra-thick. Hurricanes aren't something we think about in my area. Keep in mind that if you have clothes hanging on two walls, you will have VERY LITTLE space for the two of you in that closet. And you'll be right next to the door, which is the weakest point in your safe room. You're also going to want to store bottled water and other emergency things in your safe room -- have you considered those things in your closet planning?

- Today you're perfectly capable of toting groceries from the garage to the kitchen, but the fact that you're planning wide hallways tells me that you're concerned about aging. Will it always be easy for you to carry grocery bags? There's a reason garages and kitchens seem to be placed close together.

- Your kitchen table may be small, but picture it with people seated around it (or with chairs not pushed in, which is always true at my house). Even a small table will block easy access to the doorways that sprout out of this center-of-the-house dining room. And consider mobility: What if you were using a walker? Would you still have space enough to maneuver past a table in this small area?

This post was edited by MrsPete on Mon, Dec 8, 14 at 15:20

MrsPete,

I think google's definition of simple is different than mine. lol.

Thanks for the reply and food for thought. I will take time to ponder these ideas/suggestions and get second opinions.

We have already shrunk the garage down to an over sized 2 door or an undersized 3 door. We are building on 120 acres in the country so we have equipment that needs somewhere to rest that the average person does not have and we park our cars in the garage. That is why we are going with a greater than standard 2 car garage. But we are looking at just building a separate garage now for most of our equipment, that will keep the stow away critters out of the garage attached to the house. We had looked at putting the garage on the other side of the house and having it enter to the house via the utility room but I didn't want to lose the master bathroom window. We like every room to have a window so we don't have to turn on lights.

You seem to have a better grasp on the dinning room because you use yours regularly. Ours is a dust collector. From the edge of the kitchen counter to the edge of the utility wall is 10 feet. From the edge of the island to the edge of the utility wall is 13.5 feet and from the back wall to the master door is 16 feet.

Simple is a subjective word.

I do agree with plenty of windows; every room looks better with lovely natural light pouring in from two directions.

Even if you're not using your dining room, the table can still be an obstacle. I suggest "staging" these dimensions and doorways in your current home -- use cardboard boxes, tape, existing furniture, whatever -- to SEE the spacing and decide whether it'll work for you.

The entry to the master bedroom is 4'x4' with 3' wide doors. Do you think the spacing is sufficient for what I mentioned?

You could try setting up some boxes, chairs, etc to simulate an area the size you are thinking about and see how easy it is to maneuver through it. Also, consider how you will get your furniture into the master bedroom through that area.

We had looked at putting the garage on the other side of the house and having it enter to the house via the utility room but I didn't want to lose the master bathroom window. We like every room to have a window so we don't have to turn on lights.

Why would you have to loose the window in the master bathroom? Just push the garage back so that it starts where the utility room starts.

Took the staging advice and here are a couple pictures with changes. You probably wont notice much different in the main house and the dimensions still probably wont show up, but they can be read right now prior to me uploading the picture. We added 1.5 feet to the width of the dinning room and 6 inches to the depth. We added 1 foot to the depth of the utility room. We added 12 square feet to both spare rooms and 14 square feet to the master bedroom. Changed the vanity/linen closet layout in the master bath to have more space and added length to the double vanity in the spare bath so it is now 6.5 feet. Had started to make the garage a lot smaller but we have equipment that wouldn't fit and it is cheaper to make this garage bigger than to build another building so had to keep it large, but changed the layout of it and it is 20 square feet smaller than before. The garage walk door is now on the side of house instead of the front. We also made the porches smaller because we thought the deep porches would steel a lot of light and this will save us money. The master closet and entry ended up working for what we have/need.

We still have to adjust (and remove/add) the windows to line up with the column placement, and to allow our furniture placement inside. With the current master bath configuration I think we could go back to a regular door, but there is still a pocket door depicted at the moment.

I know it is not fixing every problem that everyone saw with it, but we are feeling better about it. We are building for our needs since we don't plan on moving again unless old age demands it, but at some point in the future someone will have to sell it, so it would be good if others would find the place somewhat pleasing. But, we are on 120 acres in south AL and not in the hamptons so we need to keep the home in a price range that people in this area would find value in.

For now the HVAC will stay in the conditioned attic, but we are looking into SIPS to hopefully make the whole house more efficient and reduce the load on the HVAC. We are debating water heater positioning. There is now enough space to put it in the utility room, so we may put it there. That would make any maintenance on it easier and reduce the flooding hazard some had spoken of.

The total foot print of house has shrunk from 4050 to 3275 sqft.
Living space 1795 sqft
Garage 940
Porch 640

Left side of house will face south.

Here is the front of the house.