House Build 2023

[East30]

Here were the 3 options on front doors. the windows above are open to the vault in the great room and the sills and top caps will blend in as much as possible they won't be so garish.

Single 42" wide, single with side lights, 2x36 wide all 8' tall.

I have double doors in the front of my newer home. Absolutely love them. Especially for moving furniture in, and the aesthetics from the road on a larger build. It's in northern Minnesota, and don't notice any colder floors than a single door.

 

[drumminj]

and the aesthetics from the road on a larger build.

We did a single door with two sidelights which has a similar effect. But we get the better door seal/thermal performance vs double/french doors.

That said, we do have french doors out back to our screened porch, so obviously I understand the desire for the double-door

 

[EddieWalker]

Here were the 3 options on front doors. the windows above are open to the vault in the great room and the sills and top caps will blend in as much as possible they won't be so garish.

Single 42" wide, single with side lights, 2x36 wide all 8' tall.

View attachment 802029

Of the three door options, in my home, I'm going with the 42 inch front door. I've never been in a house with glass on the side of a front door that I liked. To me, it's a 90's fashion thing that isn't done very much anymore.

You mentioned that those windows over the front door wont be so "garish", but in your pictures, they are overpowering and very, VERY busy.

Home design, colors, and materials are just like clothing fashion, but instead of changing every year, they seem to change every decade. There are things that become popular and everyone does it, then it goes away and we all wonder what everyone was thinking. Glass tile seems to be the thing that nobody is doing anymore, but they for awhile, it was everywhere. Right now, the trend in tile is white subway, and fake marble. I think it's important to be sure to do what you really like, and run away from all the latest trends.

If it was me, and I was building your house, I would think seriously about the window in the gable on the left of the house, and those three windows above the front door. You have changed the porch and it's not so overpowering, but I think it still needs attention. What does it look like without the open gable and just extending the existing roof down over the porch area? Or maybe a maybe just a smaller gable porch that just covers the front door area?

You have one of the best floor plans that I've seen. Before you build, be sure the exterior is just as good.

 

[JJT]

Pay the premium for the underground electrical feed, you'll be happy you did.

I'm a big fan of double front doors. Ours rarely gets used but when you need to move something big and bulky they make life easy. They also look better than a single with sidelights.

I ran 400a underground service to a stand alone meter, then ran separate feeds from there to the house, garage and shop.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Pay the premium for the underground electrical feed, you'll be happy you did.

I'm a big fan of double front doors. Ours rarely gets used but when you need to move something big and bulky they make life easy. They also look better than a single with sidelights.

I ran 400a underground service to a stand alone meter, then ran separate feeds from there to the house, garage and shop.

Maybe you just worded this different than some of the others commented but this makes good sense. I'll ask the engineer about this option when I talk to them.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Of the three door options, in my home, I'm going with the 42 inch front door. I've never been in a house with glass on the side of a front door that I liked. To me, it's a 90's fashion thing that isn't done very much anymore.

You mentioned that those windows over the front door wont be so "garish", but in your pictures, they are overpowering and very, VERY busy.

Home design, colors, and materials are just like clothing fashion, but instead of changing every year, they seem to change every decade. There are things that become popular and everyone does it, then it goes away and we all wonder what everyone was thinking. Glass tile seems to be the thing that nobody is doing anymore, but they for awhile, it was everywhere. Right now, the trend in tile is white subway, and fake marble. I think it's important to be sure to do what you really like, and run away from all the latest trends.

If it was me, and I was building your house, I would think seriously about the window in the gable on the left of the house, and those three windows above the front door. You have changed the porch and it's not so overpowering, but I think it still needs attention. What does it look like without the open gable and just extending the existing roof down over the porch area? Or maybe a maybe just a smaller gable porch that just covers the front door area?

You have one of the best floor plans that I've seen. Before you build, be sure the exterior is just as good.

The windows in the front are my wife's call. The roof was changed to make the vault in the great room possible. So the roof can't just follow down or it would not allow the vault inside the house. She wanted it to run that direction, it was running E-W with the run of the base roof but she wanted it rotated so you walk in under the tallest part. Originally she wanted the middle gable to be totally glass. This is a much better option in my opinion.

The window on the left gable is functional for the room behind it. It's the only window in that room.

I understand what you are saying and I probably would have done it a bit different if it was just me. But I want her to be happy and have a say in it also. All that and I will add, we are driving this by what we think is what we are going to like the best and not letting trends factor in. I'm sure we will look back and see several things we would do differently if we had it to do over but I think the big parts are going to be just fine.

 

[civilian]

We ran our electric underground. About 1200 ft frm the road. Separate access from the drive. Drive is about 1800 ft long. Over head would be 20 or 30 ft access width, underground, 10 ft. Because of the distance from the road, transformer was set at house area. Actually it is set about 30 ft from the storage workshop building, with the meter panel there, like Eddie's picture above. That meter panel has 2 breakers, each 200 amps, 1 for house and garage, the other for the workshop/storage building. House is another 200 ft from that meter panel. Jon

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Here we go! Closed the loan yesterday.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I'm working on the house pad today.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Pad is ready and the driveway has been excavated and 1 lift has been added. Got a lot of rain yesterday so it may be a few days to get the 2nd lift on it. Hopefully 2 lifts will do it.