Barndominium/Shop or "real" House?

[MossRoad]

My Mom is 85 and she uses two sets of stairs regularly, carries laundry up and down both flights still. I can see for some however it is a big issue.

Yep. My mother in law is 83. She was an active bicycle rider, belonged to a local club, and would do 60 mile rides up to Lake Michigan and back. Usually put in over 100 miles a week. She also did water skiing, and cross-country in winter. Then she needed a liver transplant, and her stamina and strength went to crap. That was about 14 years ago. Last year I built her a 1st floor laundry because she can't do stairs anymore. Unexpected things happen, so wide hallways and stairs (and elevators like you know) should be put into the plans if you're planning on staying there forever.

 

[MossRoad]

Well been busting my ass this weekend working on a stick frame version of my ICF house design. Still a few sheets to go. I also did design this version with a full basement under the living room as opposed to a crawl space there. Knowing what I know from previous estimates, I figure that adds probably close to $10k to the foundation.

It's unlikely I can afford to build this, but I will go through the effort of getting it quoted so I feel like I exhausted all options before choosing the Barndominium.

I surely cannot afford to build a house and a shop, so it's one or the other for now...

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I think I see your refrigerator up against a wall. If it opens to the left with the counter on the right, it won't be able to open past 90 degrees, and you won't be able to pull out any vegetable drawers and such.

 

[ETD66SS]

I think I see your refrigerator up against a wall. If it opens to the left with the counter on the right, it won't be able to open past 90 degrees, and you won't be able to pull out any vegetable drawers and such.

Yep, had that in my last house too. It's always a pain to leave enough room for that.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep, had that in my last house too. It's always a pain to leave enough room for that.

I've seen 3 remodels in the last year where that happened. Two of them you couldn't even open the door 90 degrees, because the door was so thick. It would only open about 75 degrees, making it impossible to access the under shelf drawers, the internal cold water dispenser, and the ice bucket. You really have to look at the fridge before designing a space for it.

 

[ETD66SS]

Trying to finalize my foundation plan. Been referencing the 2018 residential code: IRC 2018

I tweaked my footer more in-line with what the code states for a 1 story home in my soil conditions. I had a 24" x 12" footer, it is now 18" x 8".

I am wondering about wall thickness transitions. I have 9ft walls in the basement, code seems to dictate those should be 10" thick. For the porch and the garage I have the walls 8" thick. I don't care so much about the porch because it is covered with a concrete cap. However, for the garage the top of the garage slab sits below the elevation of the garage foundation walls 2", so the thicker those walls are, the more of a step of concrete I have around the inside perimeter of the garge floor. 8" wall, 2X6 sill plus 5/8" drywall = 1-7/8" step. If I can go down to 6" thick walls for the garage and porch there would be no noticeable step around the perimeter. I am referencing some architectural drawings of my brothers house and all the walls are 10" thick. So he has a 3-1/8" step around the perimeter and his garage foundation walls are 8" above his garage slab.

Wondering if it is a pain in the ass ($$$) for concrete contractors to have varying wall thicknesses and I should just have them all at 10" thick?

 

[ovrszd]

I had a very good concrete guy. Known him all his life. I completely turned him loose.

I would "assume" they would rather pour them all the same thickness. But I have no knowledge or experience to base that on.

Thanks again for excellent drawings.

 

[MossRoad]

Trying to finalize my foundation plan. Been referencing the 2018 residential code: IRC 2018

I tweaked my footer more in-line with what the code states for a 1 story home in my soil conditions. I had a 24" x 12" footer, it is now 18" x 8".

I am wondering about wall thickness transitions. I have 9ft walls in the basement, code seems to dictate those should be 10" thick. For the porch and the garage I have the walls 8" thick. I don't care so much about the porch because it is covered with a concrete cap. However, for the garage the top of the garage slab sits below the elevation of the garage foundation walls 2", so the thicker those walls are, the more of a step of concrete I have around the inside perimeter of the garge floor. 8" wall, 2X6 sill plus 5/8" drywall = 1-7/8" step. If I can go down to 6" thick walls for the garage and porch there would be no noticeable step around the perimeter. I am referencing some architectural drawings of my brothers house and all the walls are 10" thick. So he has a 3-1/8" step around the perimeter and his garage foundation walls are 8" above his garage slab.

Wondering if it is a pain in the ass ($$$) for concrete contractors to have varying wall thicknesses and I should just have them all at 10" thick?

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When I did mine, I kept them all the same width, just because I made my own forms, and it was easier to do the math for one thickness. For your own knowledge, add up the number of yards it would take to do it at both thicknesses and see how much you'd actually save. Every penny counts on some projects. A good concrete person would have no trouble with varying thicknesses, though.

 

[ETD66SS]

Working on section views, and am on to the A-Frame living room. I don't want to do knee walls because I think the windows look better on the outside non-truncated. I laid out a dude sitting in a chair 1ft from the wall. I'm 6ft tall and I guess the 8X6 decorative beams could be an issue? Maybe not so much for walking but getting in and out of a chair.

Anyone have experience with an A-Frame house or cabin?

 

[ovrszd]

That could definitely be questionable. No personal experience here.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I've built all these structures. I like ICF the best. I have built maybe a dozen ICF homes. I got my parents in one. Just built my brother one. If that says anything. Everyone that gets in an ICF home loves it. But, general public won't get away from 2x4's. They just won't do it. Even after the hurricane hit Florida, one house was standing in the area, it was ICF. But they build back with wood. Heating and cooling are a big part of having a house. ICF offers drastic savings, but they won't do it.