So you're building your dream house...and....

I ended up with vinyl siding, then we were going to side our house in wood from the property. Soon we were finding that neighbors were replacing wood with vinyl, because of all the woodpeckers, porcupine etc in the area. The wood was getting ruined. Ha.

smart!! (lucky!!)

We used Hardiplank (the woodpeckers have 'tried' and failed (so far) even the carpenter bees keep trying. Hardiplank was new to the area. I wrote the company (was looking for hardiplank roofing - the 'slate' --) I got a call from Australia and they said no slate look Hardiplank roofing east of some line or another because of the temps and the changing seasons... not sure exactly what the deal was but not suitable. I don't know where they are with that roofing here in the USA. Well, within a year or two all the new houses here in this area being built with Hardiplank siding. So that did take some worry off of me because it was a contant battle to convince my spouse to try new things. I ended up 'winning' with the SIP because I told him I wanted to build with the Hay bales or metal instead of wood. ..... he figured the SIP was the lesser of the two (three) evils. (gotta know how to 'work' him!!)

terry, I love the victorian farmhouse look. I told my DH and he said he had no idea the 2 could go together! He was picturing all the expensive angles and decorations on a victorian...adding into the cost. But with the farmhouse part it can be kept more simple.

missingrosie---I don't know of anyone building a house who would install the cream plate covers. Definately not what I'd want either.

leave it up to a builder (aka - a man!!) and you'd get that beige color!
Something else I'd do is a jack and jill bathroom. I have seen just one in a southern living dream home years ago - but I liked the idea and the utility. I'd put the closets in there too.

And I'd make the walls between the foyer and the rest of the house 'deeper' so that it can be a wall on on side and a shelf unit on the other.

I'd try to do that wherever I can so that short walls double as closets or shelves to hold electronics etc as well as be 'visual' room dividers.

And if possible I'd not build a wall to the ceiling but leave the space on top of the 'wall' for pottery or other art work and also to help with heat and air circulation.

Our six children are grown and left us with a large house that we need to sell as soon as the real estate market goes back up. We are thinking of hiring a contractor to build a house for us on at least a 3/4 to 1 acre lot. My dad and my brother have both done this. My dad has even built apartment houses through a contractor in Bullhead City AZ. Both of them have had at least one bad experience with a contractor and have had to sue the contractor. What do you look for in a contractor? Is it usual for them to leave things like drywall or anything that is a necessity? We were thinking on building a little 3 bedroom 2 bath and no stairs this time. (We are headed towards our sixties and don't want the hassle of walking up and down.) I found this thread to be especially informational.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Chuck

Chuck
I can sound like a broken record singing the praises of SIPs but you ought to look into it. This type of building as been around for many years.. we have national buildings using this type of construction. Very energy efficient. Low dust inside. No interior walls needed if you don't want because everything is built on the walls. And, the walls are flat - no nail pops when the SIP comes with the facing. We didn't do it but you can get the ceilings clad in wood - we added tongue and groove wood separately (wasn't available when we did it) My computer containing the building process went south -- and I overwrote the memory cards but you can find info on the NET. The house goes up quickly! We had no contractor problems. No structural problems. The house is VERY tight and so you will need an air exchanger - there is no infiltration like sometimes you can feel breezes at the window sills or even at the sockets...etc. these houses don't have that --all wire channels are 'burned into the foam' for the wires and then back -foamed. I think that it is a universal problem with builders liking the building process but not so much the 'finishing' process. I guess it is little bitty stuff - nit picky stuff (to them) (not us) and it isn't high dollar but can cost in their labor time. But I would not consider installing sheet rock as finishing work. ...maybe fixing cracks, straightening corners, and repairing nail pops I would. You can check better business bureau for contractor info. I am sure they have a society that they join --you can see if they are members, You can ask for references and GO SEE houses that they have built and completed. Also only pay for the work coming up ...don't pay alot ahead.. per your contract you pay in stages as the work is getting done. And, in your contract before the FINAL payment you get a signed letter from the subs that they have been paid. Your contractor should collect this for you. Anyway, on the NET you can find info on how to choose, look for, evaluate a contractor. Good Luck

Tir, I think when they get real fancy and ornate, they're more of a Queen Anne. I know on the outside of this house when they had this crap vinyl siding put on, the company that did it knocked off and covered up stuff. I know there's crown molding around the porch that's covered with aluminum. I also know though that parts of it are it are rotted. When our carpenter was fixing this front piece on the lowest gable in front, he hollered for me to come around to him. I was shocked to see a board that had the "teeth" knocked off. The vinyl siding/windows people knocked the teeth off. I'm still in shock that somebody would could be so dumb. The problem is that way back then, they made the crown and the dentil so darned high. Tall. Like 4". The most we've been able to find has been 3". Our carpenter did find the dentil molding, it's not wood, but until we can find wood, it will certainly do. Oh and with both of those, the carpenter thinks that the dentil was knocked off everywhere it would have been, and the crown molding is covered up. But is it rotted? I really really really hate this vinyl siding. If I could rip it off and be secure in knowing there's no rot in the original wood, it would be off tomorrow. When the former owners replaced the windows with these awful vinyl things, in the process, they allowed the company to remove 2 stained glass windows and a leaded window. Those 3 were all stationary windows and would not have the need to be replaced. You can't find those in Lowe's or Home Depot. I don't get a lot of things that other former owners did here either. I'm just glad they didn't ruin her too much. We have 2 sets of neighbors that have lived on either side since the early 70's, but none can remember how the front, the porch, was exactly. Or the balcony up above. The way the vinyl is on it, it doesn't make sense. Our town is too little and they don't keep records like the bigger towns do. The only thing I was able to get was a paper filled out (can't remember what it's called) when the house was sold in the 50's. There was a barn in the backyard...lol A lot of things I feel left to do with this house, especially siding and windows, we'd have to win the lottery or something. We just can't afford to replace all these windows with wood. Or the siding.

Oh hi terryr, yes, I remember conversing with you at length about your gem in another forum somewhere about old houses :) I love your place!

on the vinyl replacement windows (btw, thanks, you've got me drooling at the idea of a total reno job on a histoic home again hahahaha) i was thinking we'd have to replace almost everything in an old house and I'd want new windows but DH says you don't replace an old houses windows with vinyl. Instead he'd want (forget the terms he used) storm window panes to go over them (was it inside or out???) that would be solid glass and they'd have those clips like on full length mirrors to hold them in place. my thinking is you'd still have old windows you'd have to repaint inside that and now you also can't open windows????? are you suggesting you must go with the expensive all wood framed window replacements???

Just happened on this thread. Interesting subject.
I have always wondered why, with all the compacted, high density housing resulting in 2 or more stories -- why don't builders include a laundry shoot? .. or a dumbwaiter, is that what they called the little pulley, elevator thingy?

Is it what they call them. "Dumb" because they don't speak! LOL I would love a dumb waiter. Save me the trouble of toting things upstairs and down or waiting for DH to come home.

We were thinking, at one point, to have one of those electric chair thingys on the stairs installed. The kind you sit on and it goes up or down for you?

I was trying to figure out how to put a can shoot in for soda and beer cans. A PVC pipe in the closet, drop the can down into a container in the basement for collection. (we have 10 cent deposit here)

But then, DH switched to bottles, because he brews his own and I stopped drinking soda, so we never did put in the shoot.

Aguane,

I wonder the same all the time. DH said best to leave a cavity for an elevator if you'd want one later or you can always add the chairrail amigo someday----if you've made the stairwalls sheetrock and not a big open banister (we want the former). I also wonder WHY when living is UPstairs with most or all of the bedrooms then is the laundry on the first floor or worse *gasp* all the way in a basement?!

I think it is because leaks were common. Basements frequently flood and so what's a little more. Plus many moons ago having housestaff was common and the work areas for the staff were often not part of the living quarters - I think that habit sort of stuck and so the working parts of the house were not as integrated into the living quarters - Laundry rooms frequently in basements. I remember as a kid clothes would also dry in the basement near the furnace --so it was easier to have the washing equipt. there.

I'd like a chute next to my bed... land me in the toilet (well ON the toilet) so that I don't have to stumble in the pitch dark. I am sooooooo tired of walking face first into a wall and getting stuck in some corner..not being able to find the door opening.. getting stuck in the drapes.... coming out of the bathroom and not being able to find the doorway.... crashing into everything..feeling my way around like a sleepwalker...all so that I would not disturb the spouse and also trying to avoid light because that would really wake me up.

missingrosie, excellant theories!

The storm windows can go on only on the stationary windows...windows that don't open, if you'd prefer. Yes, on the outside. They do come off, although it wouldn't be an easy job on the 2nd story windows, which you'd probably only need up here, in the colder regions. You'd only need to take all of them off when you want to change the color on the wood, and I wouldn't think you'd do that too often. The way they're made, you don't get moisture or anything like that in them. And yes, they replaced the original windows and removed the pulley's, so putting it as my carpenter did, "they ruined the windows". We'd have to buy all new wood replacement windows. I'd do my homework first and see if I can find out what kind of windows they had. Did they have the mullions or were they plain?

(rosie- go browse the nightlight section in a big box store if you have one-- they have a bunch of kinds--I got two teeny ones that use LEDs and are pretty dim, but might make the diff between hitting the wall or not. LOL)

Sally - Do you mean a CHUTE with night lights? (smile) Seriously, you are right - I need to do something. I am half asleep and honestly trying to hold on to sleep..so the 'no light' helps with that...but then... I find I get stuck in that stupid corner and I am not awake enough to figure it out. It is a bit unnerving. Half between sleep and awake. I sort of wonder if I am 100% sleeping and just dreaming that I am stuck...then when in the bathroom there is that moment of "OH NO!" AM I DREAMING THAT I AM IN THE BATHROM AND AM I REALLY STILL IN BED!!!???!!! And if I am in bed..............uh oh...

LOL !
I hate going into pitch black bathroom and wondering if the lid and/ or seat is up or down
So maybe my dream house has glow in the dark bath fixtures!

I wonder how much the replacement light bulbs would be and --who would change them?
Or maybe there would be glowing phosphorsus in the chemistry of the "thorn"?
edit: to say I mean "throne"... freudian slip LOL.

This message was edited Jul 11, 2009 8:09 PM

Off topic but I just bought replacement bulb for the bug 'zapper' ----WOW - It would be cheaper if I hired someone to 'swat' for me 24 hours/day. ...or paid someone to hypnotize the bugs so that they would feel be compelled to fling themselves into the electric grid...

So that leads me to another 'dream' component of the house.... a fine electric grid that repels the deer and other types of annoying critters.

We have the LED night lights. They glow green and we've had them at least 6 years and have never needed to replace them. They're good for many more years. I think they make blue ones, too.

I like the chute that drops you (gently) on the toidy. That'd be great.

better still if the chute would 'shoot' you back up and tuck you into the bed all snug and warm.

Well I want a spice rack. I hate rummaging in a too deep cupboard looking for them.

Edit, I mean a spice CUPBOARD. Already have a rack :)

Tir - I have a spice drawer (I made it into one anyway) and it is great..as you cook you just look down into it!! and there you have all the jars of spice and room for lots more too.

Also when you plan your cabinets --those that end up being fairly deep if not wide..be sure you have a shelf that pulls out so you can see or access stored items without having to reach all the way in. Really is helpful.

I just found this thread and I really like some of the ideas. DH and I keep a list of ideas for our "Someday" house. We like the idea of building with cast earth and incorporating passive solar in the design but the SIPs sound a lot easier to work with. We could even have a large cast earth wall as an interior wall to act as a thermal mass to moderate temperatures and build the shell with SIPs.

One of the things on my list is a sunroom for plants. Another is a big pantry. Ideally, we could build on a slope and have the pantry set into the slope so it's underground but still on the same level as the kitchen so I don't have to carry groceries up and down stairs. It would be nice to have a large cool place to store food that isn't as cold as a refrigerator. Our current house gets very warm in the kitchen in the summer so we have to keep things like potatoes and onions and chocolate in the crawl space of the fridge.

I'm short so pull down shelves like these would be nice: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10842

As a kid I always wanted a bathroom like gillibean described. I hated cleaning the bathroom then and still don't care for it. We are halfway through replacing the hated linoleum in the bathrooms but we didn't install floor drains because it's too much extra work. We're saving up for the someday house and only making the improvement we really want in the current one.

missingrosie, good idea on the pull out shelves! however, with the creative ways DH likes to cook I don't think a drawer would suffice for his spices, he'd need a whole cabinet lol!

katlin, you are so knowledgeable! I'm glad you've checked in to share your ideas and links. Yes, I'm determined to start a folder of custom home ideas so that when the time is right I don't have to do all the legwork then with regrets later.

I have a pull out drawer with my spices in it. I have little baskets to organize savory and sweet and use a felt pen to mark the lid what they are. Easy to find. I like it.

Oh that sounds smart. I can see the advantage, bottles of spice not toppling out. Good one!

Chick - that is exactly what I did too. Marked the tops. And I organized my the same way too. Only thing is I mess them up from time to time. Also, I keep honey in there and lots of other things and still have room. It is a big drawer - made for pots or pot covers I guess. I love it.

Yup, me too. Great minds think alike. (I mess them up too, but with the marks on the top, they are easier to find)

Told DH this suggestion. We both thought it was awesome!