Saturday, November 2, 2019
A thought for a second floor
I love this idea for a second floor. The only real issue is the eyebrow window. What an expense. My other issue is the wood. I do like the idea of doing all the interior spaces with wood panels...basically just 1/4 inch hardwood veneer plywood. But I could never live with the wood. As I often say, I love wood, but the ambers and browns in a room just suck up the light. I even wonder at natural wood trim. Of course, if you have lovely hardwoods, figured woods etc., it is a shame to cover them, but I always default to Paint in white or pastels when possible.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
A NEW PARADIGM
Do not think that we come up with these ideas out of the blue. Just say that we see a good idea and we pass it on. I am just lucky enough to be readying myself to do this for myself and can apply new ideas.
The "paradigm" or new way of thinking is a replacement for some commonly applied ideas.
1. It has been the practice of framers to frame the studs at 16 inches on center.
2. It is usual to build one of every pair of walls on a corner with a single stud at the left or right, and the matching stud on the next wall will be either tripled(three studs nailed together) or others, it is common to do two studs sandwiching pieces of a third stud together in the middle(I suppose that is what sandwiched means, but best to explain). This tripling meant that there would be a nailing surface on both sides of the inside corner to attach interior wall sheets to at the corner.
3. The third idea is to build headers for doors and windows(especially if they are in load bearing walls) with a double 2x10 or 2x6 etc. with a slab of plywood in between to make a total of 3 1/2 inches thick to match the width of a 2x4.
The New Paradigm:
1. First the studs of a wall have very little insulating value. So, the fewer the studs, the fewer breaks in the insulation and the fewer contacts of interior wall to stud connected directly to the exterior wall to transfer cold. It is now believed that using 24 inches on center will do this, and the wall should be just as strong. I, for one, will be using 2x6 framing rather than 2x4 so pretty strong.
2. The new idea is to make all your corners with a single end stud on each end. On the outside lap of the two studs that meet at the corner at the inside wall flat against the wall. Then a piece of 1x lumber or a wide strip of plywood or CDX etc., is attached on the inside of the overlapped end stud to face the room. This becomes the nailing surface for the interior wall sheets. This leaves plenty of wall cavity in the last pair of studs to fill with insulation and retain the structure. Only the edge of one stud faces the room, so there is little to transfer the cold. This means that the entire cavity behind the corner can be filled with insulation.
.
3. The idea does not change in the basics for the headers. You will still make the doubled 2x stock header with the sheet of ply in between(if you like), but since you are using 2x6 framing there will be room on the inside for rigid foam insulation or if you prefer, other insulation. If you feel as I do, that you may need nailing surface, just make up some of the 5.5 inches of cavity with another piece of plywood on the inside of the cavity and screwed through the foam and into the outside 2x header. You could also use an adhesive that is compatible with the foam to glue the entire sandwich together instead of nailing through the foam.
These are all fixes that are supposed to help create a "net zero" house. Well, these are good tips, but I absolutely do not approve of a net zero house. When I was growing up, it was required that the air inside the house must be completely changed every 8 hours.
Reconciling our desire for energy efficiency with the ability to actually breath inside your house is difficult. There are exchangers to warm up cold outside air so it can come into the house, allowing for combustion of gas, wood and other fuels...also breathing...and to help with moisture inside. However, working off grid, this might be too expensive for most, and it is a little high tech for the typical off gridder. Also using electricity for this is a no go. I do not know if they do consume electric, but it would be a no go for me.
In my case I get around the fresh air thing by using fairly inefficient stained glass on some windows, with only a simple exterior plexi covering to shield the lead from harsh weather. Also, I do little to close the gap under the exterior doors. I can always put a bean-filled draft blocker down if necessary. Still, it is often necessary to leave a window open. You could also do a tiny vent pipe that leads from outdoors directly to the intake of any heating device. It was rare to hear of CO or CO2 poisoning in the 60s.
Also, I should be stressed that wood fires are a renewable resource. At least that is true of responsibly harvested wood. Wood is harvested burned and new trees grow in its place. New growth ties up CO2 as it grows.
The "paradigm" or new way of thinking is a replacement for some commonly applied ideas.
1. It has been the practice of framers to frame the studs at 16 inches on center.
2. It is usual to build one of every pair of walls on a corner with a single stud at the left or right, and the matching stud on the next wall will be either tripled(three studs nailed together) or others, it is common to do two studs sandwiching pieces of a third stud together in the middle(I suppose that is what sandwiched means, but best to explain). This tripling meant that there would be a nailing surface on both sides of the inside corner to attach interior wall sheets to at the corner.
3. The third idea is to build headers for doors and windows(especially if they are in load bearing walls) with a double 2x10 or 2x6 etc. with a slab of plywood in between to make a total of 3 1/2 inches thick to match the width of a 2x4.
The New Paradigm:
1. First the studs of a wall have very little insulating value. So, the fewer the studs, the fewer breaks in the insulation and the fewer contacts of interior wall to stud connected directly to the exterior wall to transfer cold. It is now believed that using 24 inches on center will do this, and the wall should be just as strong. I, for one, will be using 2x6 framing rather than 2x4 so pretty strong.
2. The new idea is to make all your corners with a single end stud on each end. On the outside lap of the two studs that meet at the corner at the inside wall flat against the wall. Then a piece of 1x lumber or a wide strip of plywood or CDX etc., is attached on the inside of the overlapped end stud to face the room. This becomes the nailing surface for the interior wall sheets. This leaves plenty of wall cavity in the last pair of studs to fill with insulation and retain the structure. Only the edge of one stud faces the room, so there is little to transfer the cold. This means that the entire cavity behind the corner can be filled with insulation.
.
3. The idea does not change in the basics for the headers. You will still make the doubled 2x stock header with the sheet of ply in between(if you like), but since you are using 2x6 framing there will be room on the inside for rigid foam insulation or if you prefer, other insulation. If you feel as I do, that you may need nailing surface, just make up some of the 5.5 inches of cavity with another piece of plywood on the inside of the cavity and screwed through the foam and into the outside 2x header. You could also use an adhesive that is compatible with the foam to glue the entire sandwich together instead of nailing through the foam.
These are all fixes that are supposed to help create a "net zero" house. Well, these are good tips, but I absolutely do not approve of a net zero house. When I was growing up, it was required that the air inside the house must be completely changed every 8 hours.
Reconciling our desire for energy efficiency with the ability to actually breath inside your house is difficult. There are exchangers to warm up cold outside air so it can come into the house, allowing for combustion of gas, wood and other fuels...also breathing...and to help with moisture inside. However, working off grid, this might be too expensive for most, and it is a little high tech for the typical off gridder. Also using electricity for this is a no go. I do not know if they do consume electric, but it would be a no go for me.
In my case I get around the fresh air thing by using fairly inefficient stained glass on some windows, with only a simple exterior plexi covering to shield the lead from harsh weather. Also, I do little to close the gap under the exterior doors. I can always put a bean-filled draft blocker down if necessary. Still, it is often necessary to leave a window open. You could also do a tiny vent pipe that leads from outdoors directly to the intake of any heating device. It was rare to hear of CO or CO2 poisoning in the 60s.
Also, I should be stressed that wood fires are a renewable resource. At least that is true of responsibly harvested wood. Wood is harvested burned and new trees grow in its place. New growth ties up CO2 as it grows.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Lofts and cathedral ceilings.
I have to admit that I have two lofts and a section of cathedral ceiling in my tiny house. I like the effect, and when you are living in a house that is only 7 feet wide, It might be oppressive to have normal ceilings closing in on you. But even in this space that is so easy to heat, I notice that without ceiling fans(the one thing I will never have in a house...EVER) the floors get chilly, and much heat is wasted in spaces where you just don't live!
Drama is wonderful in a house and beautifully soaring vaulted ceilings with decorative beam work are pretty impressive. But why would anyone with a practical bone in their body build one?
Heat rises, you have spent tons of cash building an envelope that can only be partially used, storage is limited...it just makes no sense.
Lets assume that all these preppers have a point, and society has broken down. How long will it be before you run out of fuel to heat a space like that. It will be a struggle to live, let alone the resources you will be wasting on that space.
Eight foot ceilings are fine for a normal sized house. The tiny house with its limited floor space and tendency toward claustrophobia OK, but use the space you are paying for in all other houses.
Drama is wonderful in a house and beautifully soaring vaulted ceilings with decorative beam work are pretty impressive. But why would anyone with a practical bone in their body build one?
Heat rises, you have spent tons of cash building an envelope that can only be partially used, storage is limited...it just makes no sense.
Lets assume that all these preppers have a point, and society has broken down. How long will it be before you run out of fuel to heat a space like that. It will be a struggle to live, let alone the resources you will be wasting on that space.
Eight foot ceilings are fine for a normal sized house. The tiny house with its limited floor space and tendency toward claustrophobia OK, but use the space you are paying for in all other houses.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
The foundation
The first big hurdle in the planning of the house is what type of foundation to settle on. There are many options as I already stated, but I think I have settled.
I have decided to do posts with a footing under each, but first to consider is how to cover the foundation posts to exclude cold air(as much as possible) from the underside of the house. I will have to put on a skirt. It will be pressure treated plywood. I do not plan to use pressure treated plywood for structural support. But the skirt will last a long time in pressure treated. The skirt must be seamless from the sill of the house to below ground level. This may be a problem if I put posts directly under the walls of the house. There would always be some concrete footing protruding from the plane of the sills, as there has to be good pressure from the weight of the building on the center of the post. So, there is one option to get around the bulge.
If I make the posts(piers) in three or four rows at about 6 inches(just a random number) inside the finished perimeter of the house, then lay three or four beams on top of the three or four rows of posts to the finished length of the house perimeter(rim joists), and the rim joists and floor joists beyond the side beams to the finished width of the house and the ends of the building on the very ends of the beams, then there will be downward pressure of the house's weight from the outside walls that will sort of lever the center of the house upward a bit. Basically I will be building like the old garrison houses where the upper story protruded a few inches and the levering up of the middle made the center of the house less bouncy. Did I explain that well. I will ponder a way to explain better.
Lets just say as a "for instance" that I put a row of posts to a total of 25 feet, a little shorter than the house. Then place heavy beams on top of the posts to a total of 26 feet which is my final length of the house.
The three rows of posts will be a total of 17 feet apart on the width of the house which will eventually be 18 feet total width of the house.
The rim joists at the gable ends will be flush with the ends of the beams, and in the other direction the floor joists will rest across the three beams, protruding 3 or more inches over the beams and the rim joists on the ends of the floor joists will total the 18 foot width of the house. The side rim joists will be almost floating beyond the beams below. The weight of the building would be on the floor joists.
Now, the gable ends are supported by the beams below,
The side walls may have a wooden post scabbed onto the side of the posts and support the floating wall a bit more than just the leverage. This would also become nailing surfaces for the skirt.
Whew.
This may need refining, for instance, I may bring the concrete posts just up to ground level and from there up to the beams use 6x6 or larger pressure treated to support the beams.
In every instance there must be a separation between the top of the concrete and the wooden components. In this instance, the bracket sunk into the concrete does that job.
You could also run the concrete foundation all the way up to the beams, but I am trying to save money, and I believe that the 6x6 post will be cheaper than buying longer Sonotube and filling with concrete.
What is not shown here is a series of diagonal braces that must be put on every 6x6 post bolted from the base of the post to the beam and in the other direction into the rim joist. There are metal strips that can be used for this, but it is common to use short mitered lengths of 6x6.
All instances of use of metal in the foundation assumes that there have been steps taken to assure that moisture will not affect the metal(good drainage and or ventilation in the summer). A door can be put into the skirt and or vent grills(covered in winter).
Diagonal bracing is absolutely necessary because the wind or earth tremors, etc. can easily push the house to the side, and you could find your house sitting on the ground next to your foundation.(Timmmberrrr)
I have decided to do posts with a footing under each, but first to consider is how to cover the foundation posts to exclude cold air(as much as possible) from the underside of the house. I will have to put on a skirt. It will be pressure treated plywood. I do not plan to use pressure treated plywood for structural support. But the skirt will last a long time in pressure treated. The skirt must be seamless from the sill of the house to below ground level. This may be a problem if I put posts directly under the walls of the house. There would always be some concrete footing protruding from the plane of the sills, as there has to be good pressure from the weight of the building on the center of the post. So, there is one option to get around the bulge.
If I make the posts(piers) in three or four rows at about 6 inches(just a random number) inside the finished perimeter of the house, then lay three or four beams on top of the three or four rows of posts to the finished length of the house perimeter(rim joists), and the rim joists and floor joists beyond the side beams to the finished width of the house and the ends of the building on the very ends of the beams, then there will be downward pressure of the house's weight from the outside walls that will sort of lever the center of the house upward a bit. Basically I will be building like the old garrison houses where the upper story protruded a few inches and the levering up of the middle made the center of the house less bouncy. Did I explain that well. I will ponder a way to explain better.
In this image, the rim joist labeled overhangs the beam(coming forward toward you) by several inches.
The three rows of posts will be a total of 17 feet apart on the width of the house which will eventually be 18 feet total width of the house.
The rim joists at the gable ends will be flush with the ends of the beams, and in the other direction the floor joists will rest across the three beams, protruding 3 or more inches over the beams and the rim joists on the ends of the floor joists will total the 18 foot width of the house. The side rim joists will be almost floating beyond the beams below. The weight of the building would be on the floor joists.
Now, the gable ends are supported by the beams below,
The side walls may have a wooden post scabbed onto the side of the posts and support the floating wall a bit more than just the leverage. This would also become nailing surfaces for the skirt.
Whew.
In every instance there must be a separation between the top of the concrete and the wooden components. In this instance, the bracket sunk into the concrete does that job.
You could also run the concrete foundation all the way up to the beams, but I am trying to save money, and I believe that the 6x6 post will be cheaper than buying longer Sonotube and filling with concrete.
What is not shown here is a series of diagonal braces that must be put on every 6x6 post bolted from the base of the post to the beam and in the other direction into the rim joist. There are metal strips that can be used for this, but it is common to use short mitered lengths of 6x6.
All instances of use of metal in the foundation assumes that there have been steps taken to assure that moisture will not affect the metal(good drainage and or ventilation in the summer). A door can be put into the skirt and or vent grills(covered in winter).
Diagonal bracing is absolutely necessary because the wind or earth tremors, etc. can easily push the house to the side, and you could find your house sitting on the ground next to your foundation.(Timmmberrrr)
oil lamps
I have taken the plunge into Solar Electric. I have a small system with
two batteries and an inverter. I will cove the solar later.
In the meantime, I have lived for some time with candles and battery operated
puck style lights at three for 7 dollars at Home Depot.
I have a fabulous oil lamp from the mid 19th century, but I have had little luck finding
a burner for it.
Good for special events on the dining table perhaps. but I just got a nice and very
early lamp and have succeeded in finding the rest of the parts. lo and behold...
with lots of problems leading up to it, I have a working lamp.
This is from somewhere between the mid 1850s and 1864.
Plenty of light and less eye strain.
windows
In order to realize my dreams of matching the watercolor below,
I have realized that buying a customized gang of windows(five no less), I will need a much larger budget. Also, by the time I cut into my 12 foot wide wall, there is not going to be much left to support my roof. So, I looked at my options at Home Depot. The American Craftsman line that they carry will do fine for me. The white is just what I want, so I do not see how I can make a better choice in this situation. They have horizontal glider windows that come in a number of sizes. I looked the sample over in the store, and I fell for that size. They are available at 36 wide by 48 high. Two of them with a couple of 2x6s between will give me some of this effect. If I become desperate, I can add a stationary single window in the center. Not quite the same, but I can live with that.
The rough opening on these is half an inch additional, vertical and horizontal. and at 170 dollars, I can squeeze that out of the budget. 680 for all is not bad. So, both south facing rooms on the first floor can have a set of these windows.
Ideally I might get custom casement windows ganged in the pattern in the picture...but I just don't see that happening.
I love stained glass. It amazes me how much new windows cost for a little extruded PVC and glass. I can, however get antique stained glass panels from churches or homes and build a frame for the house to hinge mount the stained glass for half of the cost of a window, new, and when I am done, I have a work of art to look at in my house.
Both Bill and I wanted this window, but in the end it went for too much money. At the time $200 seemed like too much...then I found out how much a new window costs.
Just one last comment. Always use standard sized windows. You are building from scratch. You can choose anything. If you were retrofitting, you would have to follow the old openings but you can use the less expensive standard sizes that are very likely already in the store and ready for pick up.
Just one last comment. Always use standard sized windows. You are building from scratch. You can choose anything. If you were retrofitting, you would have to follow the old openings but you can use the less expensive standard sizes that are very likely already in the store and ready for pick up.
Why two story or story and a half.
One of the biggest expenses you will have in building a house is the foundation. Building 600 square feet on the ground is quite a bit of foundation. Poured foundation costs would be through the roof and probably more than I would spend on the entire house. Cutting that figure almost in half is a giant savings. If you are doing posts with a concrete footings, it cuts down dramatically on the time you will spend with a Post Hole Digger or a shovel, and on the number of bags of concrete you will have to mix.
Also, with a second story, you get to use your heat twice. In the old days it was not considered necessary to pipe heat up to the second floor, just a grate in the floor works very well as heat rises. I think that we should revive this practice.
As stated earlier, it is better to cut down on the square footage of building skin exposed to the elements, A story and a half, with only a 3 or 4 foot upper side wall cuts down dramatically on the exposed skin of the building. The roof is half the size of one on a sprawling building and heat is conserved.
Also, with a second story, you get to use your heat twice. In the old days it was not considered necessary to pipe heat up to the second floor, just a grate in the floor works very well as heat rises. I think that we should revive this practice.
As stated earlier, it is better to cut down on the square footage of building skin exposed to the elements, A story and a half, with only a 3 or 4 foot upper side wall cuts down dramatically on the exposed skin of the building. The roof is half the size of one on a sprawling building and heat is conserved.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Well I Can Dream Can't I
When you are first planning a house or just one room, it is a good idea, now that we have these tools, to keep a diary of ideas you have taken a particular shine to. Some will be possible, Some will not. But even if they are out of your reach financially or beyond your skill level, you will eventually develop a style and preserve some ideas that you will kick yourself for forgetting when you see it again after you have committed yourself to a design. In my present design, I will not have a basement. Under stairs space could easily be wasted. In this case I have been dreaming of a reading nook under the stairs. The problem is that there will be minimal lighting.
So, perhaps this will be a better choice. On the other hand, we are talking about central New Hampshire here, and heating with wood which tends to have chilly corners and recesses. It might be tempting fate to have a blind recess with a big window in it and frigid winter temperatures at night.
I suspect that I will have few visitors, but when I do, this type of nook might be wonderful for overflow sleeping accommodations.
I love the staircase in the photo before this, but it is a bit colonial for this space. High end turned spindles will be very pricey. The Craftsman style above might be just the thing. It is easy to do with a scroll saw and a drill, and would look great in white paint. I suggest that you look at the interior of Henry Higgins' mother's house in "My Fair Lady" or to rent a copy of the "French Lieutenant's Woman" for a glimpse of the room at the end of the movie in all white to give you an idea of the look that I usually favor. Don't get me wrong. I love color and wood, but in a house in the far north where lighting may be minimal as this will be a bit "Off Grid", can leave a space very dark. Amber yellow. gold, orange and brown can really take the light out of a space. White or very light colors just seem logical to reflect light. Don't let your HYPER MALE neighbors deter you. You must be practical first. The tendency to fill houses with wood tones is not very bright...if you will forgive the pun.
I just redid a dark and dark painted guest room for a friend, in fern green with white woodwork, white shutters and white curtains. It transformed a dark room into a light and elegant space.
This is not far from the size of the rooms in my planned house. I love a library. I have donated my entire, rather eclectic, book collection to a local library. I suppose it is time to rebuild my collection. My reading has shifted from non fiction to classic literature, local history and classic novels that I am ready to re-read or read for the first time. Having this space would be wonderful, but remember that book shelves greatly diminish space available. A foot off all walls in a room is a lot of space. That is 46 square feet in a 12 by 12 room.
Another library with fewer bookcases and a more open look would help the space to feel larger. (But oh, how I love all that woodwork in the previous photo.) Notice the small windows. This might be a solution for my desire to have wall space and light. Outside, you can make false shutters to make it look like there are full sized windows to balance the design of the building. You could just set a rectangular frame in the siding and paint them a slightly different color. Cream on white would do it. Gray on white would mimic glass.
Again, space gets sucked up with window seats and book cases, but would it not be wonderful? Curl up with Robert Louis Stevenson on a cold, snowy but bright winter day, a snifter of Calvados or a cup of tea and a cat or a puppy on your lap! No cats you fool, your furniture will be destroyed!!! Perhaps I could add another two feet to the dimensions of the house?!
I would paint the hot air register though.
You cannot have outdoor declawed cats in the far north as the first passing coyote would have a meal of a cat with no defenses.
As far as the kitchen is concerned, I found a rather wonderful photo of a kitchen in France. the entire room is beyond my means (no matter how I moon over the picture) but the left hand wall has a series of cupboards that I love. I have seen video of this same room with those cabinets face on. Unfortunately this photo just acts as a reminder of cabinet trim that I like...also the colors.
Here is a close up view. I love the pendants at the top and the bracket supports under the upper cabinets, making it look a bit like a Welsh cupboard, or in this case a French one.
Here is a different version. They were eventually painted an historic yellow.
The First Order of Business
The first order of business is to decide what to build. Square footage will dictate how much of an area to clear for building, but the style and shape will dictate the intended approach to the house,, where windows and doors will be best and a host of other issues relating to the style of house.
Most of my friends and I love Cape Cod houses.
The beauty of the Cape Cod is unparalleled in a country sort of way. They are also very energy efficient. The closer to square and low a building, the less surface area there is in the building and therefore there is less heat loss. But in my case there is a basic drawback. In order to build one accurately, there is a lot of wasted space in the middle with a central chimney, and there is a central front entry hall with rooms leading to each side to eat up space.
I feel that I can compromise without that loss of space and still keep the surface area pretty small.
I have always loved Greek Revival houses as they appear in rural areas. High style is not practical for a country house. The same floor plans appear in Gothic Revival houses as they are roughly contemporary styles to each other.
The floor plan and general arrangement of the exterior facades recurs too, all the way up into the first decades of the 20th century. Scale and decoration changes dramatically, but the same general plan.
This similarity gives you a larger search to find the floor plan on the Internet.
Basically the house is rectangular. On the narrow side of the rectangle, there is a gable roofline. In classic Greek houses the pitch will be rather low, and in Gothic rather high. In country styles, it will be roughly 12:12 on top of a stub wall to raise the upstairs ceilings a couple of feet.
Across this end façade(generally used as the front) there will be a door and two windows evenly spaced and the door to one side. This sort of breaks up the symmetry that I like, but as you see in the house above, they helped that by making very tall windows.
Inside you generally enter the house facing the foot of the stairs. The main living space is two rooms, one behind the other to the side of the stair-hall. Behind the staircase and adjoining hall, there is a narrow room that fills the space to the back of the house(often later added on to through this small room by means of an ell of some kind).
In my case, I plan to eliminate the hall beside the stairs, and make the narrow back room even smaller(narrower) to install an outer wall kitchen between the back of the stairs and the back wall. This will be open to the back main room with perhaps a decorative arch, and perhaps a wall of screens, or drapes to hide the kitchen if desired.
The first (front) main room will be living room. The back space will be the dining room with the kitchen open to it.(this is because the kitchen will be basically only as deep as the width of the stairs enough room for the kitchen counter and basically you will be standing in the dining room to prepare meals in the kitchen).
Upstairs, the stairs will rise to a landing and turn to face the middle of the house. Either the entire upstairs can be one room, or there can be a tiny room(Bath?) just in front of you as you stand on the stairs, and a room to the right and one to the left. These two rooms will have one or two windows in the gable ends of the house.
The downstairs living spaces generally have windows all along the three sides of the house. In my case, I plan to save energy by eliminating the two windows in the front gable beside the door, and the three windows generally at the opposite gable end. I plan to put a large window or bank of windows on the long wall in each room. This plan will save energy and provide solar gain, being on the south side in my case.
I have always loved a watercolor painting by Swedish artist Carl Larson. He painted a room with a bank of windows along one wall that had plants on the sills. I may never be able to afford a whole bank of windows, but perhaps three in each room would be possible.
I rather hate the idea of losing the two windows beside the door, so perhaps I will relent if good windows can be afforded. I also like the idea of solid wall space for that wall for display.
Most of my friends and I love Cape Cod houses.
The beauty of the Cape Cod is unparalleled in a country sort of way. They are also very energy efficient. The closer to square and low a building, the less surface area there is in the building and therefore there is less heat loss. But in my case there is a basic drawback. In order to build one accurately, there is a lot of wasted space in the middle with a central chimney, and there is a central front entry hall with rooms leading to each side to eat up space.
I feel that I can compromise without that loss of space and still keep the surface area pretty small.
I have always loved Greek Revival houses as they appear in rural areas. High style is not practical for a country house. The same floor plans appear in Gothic Revival houses as they are roughly contemporary styles to each other.
The floor plan and general arrangement of the exterior facades recurs too, all the way up into the first decades of the 20th century. Scale and decoration changes dramatically, but the same general plan.
This is a larger version of my Greek plan
Basically the house is rectangular. On the narrow side of the rectangle, there is a gable roofline. In classic Greek houses the pitch will be rather low, and in Gothic rather high. In country styles, it will be roughly 12:12 on top of a stub wall to raise the upstairs ceilings a couple of feet.
Across this end façade(generally used as the front) there will be a door and two windows evenly spaced and the door to one side. This sort of breaks up the symmetry that I like, but as you see in the house above, they helped that by making very tall windows.
Inside you generally enter the house facing the foot of the stairs. The main living space is two rooms, one behind the other to the side of the stair-hall. Behind the staircase and adjoining hall, there is a narrow room that fills the space to the back of the house(often later added on to through this small room by means of an ell of some kind).
In my case, I plan to eliminate the hall beside the stairs, and make the narrow back room even smaller(narrower) to install an outer wall kitchen between the back of the stairs and the back wall. This will be open to the back main room with perhaps a decorative arch, and perhaps a wall of screens, or drapes to hide the kitchen if desired.
And another large version in New England
Upstairs, the stairs will rise to a landing and turn to face the middle of the house. Either the entire upstairs can be one room, or there can be a tiny room(Bath?) just in front of you as you stand on the stairs, and a room to the right and one to the left. These two rooms will have one or two windows in the gable ends of the house.
The downstairs living spaces generally have windows all along the three sides of the house. In my case, I plan to save energy by eliminating the two windows in the front gable beside the door, and the three windows generally at the opposite gable end. I plan to put a large window or bank of windows on the long wall in each room. This plan will save energy and provide solar gain, being on the south side in my case.
I have always loved a watercolor painting by Swedish artist Carl Larson. He painted a room with a bank of windows along one wall that had plants on the sills. I may never be able to afford a whole bank of windows, but perhaps three in each room would be possible.
I rather hate the idea of losing the two windows beside the door, so perhaps I will relent if good windows can be afforded. I also like the idea of solid wall space for that wall for display.
This might be a good place for window seats to sit and read in as well.
The gable end bedrooms upstairs would allow one to use one room as a library, guest room or den and the other for a bedroom. One would get morning sun to wake you, and the other, evening sun to extend the daylight...you choose which is best for you. I could do a dormer in each room, but they break the skin of the house and so become an energy waster, and add to the expense of the build.
Also, every break in the seamless character of a roof makes it vulnerable to failure. Valleys, dormers, ells all compromise the seal of the roof....if not at first then as it ages. I simply do not understand all the jogs and angles and additions to a house that seems the norm in modern construction and design. yes, I love a Queen Anne house with all the turrets and dormers and jog, but they are endlessly difficult to maintain. Leaks are always creeping up. A simple outer skin to a house, like a Cape Cod or a simple single shed roof or gable roof will be easy to install and easy to maintain through the life of the house
If you need to add space in your house, add an ell at right angles to a wall and drop the roofline down to below the overhang of the main roof, either the gable end or a side overhang. Alternatively, cover new space with a continuation of the old roof so that it is seamless and does not form an angle that will require a valley. Obviously this is a recommendation, but take it seriously, don't test my logic by finding out ten years down the road that your roof is leaking. You do not want to have to tear off a whole or part of a roof that still has twenty years of life in it, and may not be still available so you have a terrible looking patch with non matching roofing.
The dimensions of the house are modest. I have not quite settled, but have a good idea of them I want inside dimensions to be about 16 by 24. I had a living room that size and always loved the space. That may be fine just building the house 16x24, or if the framing seems to take up too much space, perhaps 17x25 or 18x26 to end up with the same space as I planned inside.
This should give me just enough space for the furniture I have and keep it small to be affordable and easy to keep clean and repaired.
I do not have a penny to my name, so all this will be on the tiniest budget. Small and simple will make it possible to build myself, the only thing that will allow me to accomplish this.
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
My Friend's Adventure in Building
My friend Robert is planning a new home in New Hampshire. As he has no computer, I will let him take over the administration of the blog for a time. I may still post to it, as he is planning to spread this over a long time, He can relate his adventure in building to you. I am of course all the way in my terribly unfinished house, with little opportunity to use the computer, so I guess this is the best of all worlds.
So, welcome Bob to the world of blogging and building.
Thanks. I am planning to build here in New Hampshire so I can have a comfortable retirement home. I already have a Tiny House, that is how I met Bill with a common interest before he went away to start over.
I have always wanted a small house, but it is a little difficult to live in the tiny space I constructed. I really do not mind the lack of space, but I miss all my possessions. I got rid of most everything when I retired, but I have retained many of my best things that are sitting in storage here, not far from Conway.
I have purchased a piece of land that has a couple of sites to use for housing. One site is not too far from the road, is easy to get in and out of and as it is already cleared and rather "park-like" will be fine for my Tiny House. It will be a fine guest house when I am finished with my new venture.
The other end of the property, on the high ground of a topographically diverse lot will need a great amount of work to site the house. This is fine, as I will have to do a lot of saving up and preparatory work...basically finishing old projects...before I can build. That is in addition to the fact that I have very little money. The tiny house consumed a lot of my ready funds, and now I will have to accomplish all this on my meager retirement income. It will not help that I am paying roughly 40% of my income for the land.
I look at this as an opportunity to... Do it right... Slow and steady will be the watchword. I hope that you will not get bored with my project as it will be at least two to three years before I finish. Meanwhile, I must move and finish my current screen house in order to use it to store the furniture I have in storage. That will free up some money to devote to the new project.
At the same time, I hope that doing this project so slowly and with so little money might inspire others to do the same. You can do a great deal with just your two hands to drive a project forward.
So, welcome Bob to the world of blogging and building.
Thanks. I am planning to build here in New Hampshire so I can have a comfortable retirement home. I already have a Tiny House, that is how I met Bill with a common interest before he went away to start over.
I have always wanted a small house, but it is a little difficult to live in the tiny space I constructed. I really do not mind the lack of space, but I miss all my possessions. I got rid of most everything when I retired, but I have retained many of my best things that are sitting in storage here, not far from Conway.
I have purchased a piece of land that has a couple of sites to use for housing. One site is not too far from the road, is easy to get in and out of and as it is already cleared and rather "park-like" will be fine for my Tiny House. It will be a fine guest house when I am finished with my new venture.
The other end of the property, on the high ground of a topographically diverse lot will need a great amount of work to site the house. This is fine, as I will have to do a lot of saving up and preparatory work...basically finishing old projects...before I can build. That is in addition to the fact that I have very little money. The tiny house consumed a lot of my ready funds, and now I will have to accomplish all this on my meager retirement income. It will not help that I am paying roughly 40% of my income for the land.
I look at this as an opportunity to... Do it right... Slow and steady will be the watchword. I hope that you will not get bored with my project as it will be at least two to three years before I finish. Meanwhile, I must move and finish my current screen house in order to use it to store the furniture I have in storage. That will free up some money to devote to the new project.
At the same time, I hope that doing this project so slowly and with so little money might inspire others to do the same. You can do a great deal with just your two hands to drive a project forward.
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