Initial draft plans

[BMcN]

Hello guys, I am new here and was looking for some feedback on my plans for a self build.

 

In the plans shown there is a hip roof on the garage.  This will be removed to allow a 4th bedroom in the space above the garage. 

 

Thanks for any comments.

Edited September 29, 2017 by BMcN

[Redoctober]

Hi and welcome. What part of Scotland are you in? What is it about your plans you are seeking feedback on? Looks OK to me but then that's not saying a lot sadly!

Perhaps you could expand on the type of finish you are looking to achieve and by that I mean insulation wise etc.

Anyway, good luck with the project and I'm sure others more knowledgeable than I will be along soon. Just try and hold on tight!

PW.

[ProDave]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

In many parts of Scotland, a hipped roof does not fit in with the local vernacular, and a gable end to the garage roof gives much more scope to make a proper extra bedroom from it.

 

We can't possibly pass comment on the design without knowing which way is north?

[RichS]

The master bedroom faces North on the elevation

[BMcN]

2 hours ago, Redoctober said:

Hi and welcome. What part of Scotland are you in? What is it about your plans you are seeking feedback on? Looks OK to me but then that's not saying a lot sadly!

Perhaps you could expand on the type of finish you are looking to achieve and by that I mean insulation wise etc.

Anyway, good luck with the project and I'm sure others more knowledgeable than I will be along soon. Just try and hold on tight!

PW.

 

Hello,  I am from Dumfries and Galloway, wet and windy West coast.

 

Any general comments from people who have been through the process to be honest.  I am quite happy with the interior layout overall, once the 4th bed is added upstairs.  Maybe utilise under stairs for a shoe/jacket cupboard.

 

Insulation, nothing decided yet.  The kit will be home made.  Probably looking at 150mm PIR in the kit, maybe same in the floor and then wool in the loft/attic spaces.

 

27 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

In many parts of Scotland, a hipped roof does not fit in with the local vernacular, and a gable end to the garage roof gives much more scope to make a proper extra bedroom from it.

 

We can't possibly pass comment on the design without knowing which way is north?

 

 

The 'front' of the house is the North elevation, so the view out the kitchen, family room and lounge are all due north.

 

Yes the hip roof will be changed to a normal gable, giving a long 1.5 storey coombed bedroom.

 

 

I have some concerns about the cladding.  Mainly due to the amount of trims needed around each window, adding to the cost.  Also, is it possible to finish it half way up a wall?  Do you get render stop beads big enough to come out past the cladding?

 

 

[ProDave]

13 minutes ago, RichS said:

The master bedroom faces North on the elevation

Thanks I missed that.

 

Unless there is a VERY good reason why the garage is where it is, the whole layout wants to be mirror imaged top to bottom as drawn.  At the moment you have a cold dark living room and a (wasted) lovely sunny garage.

 

I would go to great pains to put the garage anywhere other than where it is at the moment. Quite possibly to the extent of not having one if that really was the only place it could go.

[BMcN]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Thanks I missed that.

 

Unless there is a VERY good reason why the garage is where it is, the whole layout wants to be mirror imaged top to bottom as drawn.  At the moment you have a cold dark living room and a (wasted) lovely sunny garage.

 

I would go to great pains to put the garage anywhere other than where it is at the moment. Quite possibly to the extent of not having one if that really was the only place it could go.

Basically there are very nice views North, hence why all the main rooms of the house face that way.  I take your point regarding the sun, however there are not many options (except as you said, removing the the garage).

[AliG]

I think you've done an excellent job on the interior layout.

 

A few minor suggestions,

.

1. The space between walking into the en suite is a bit narrow. It might be better with the WC and sink swapped around.

 

2. As drawn the space to get into the walk in wardrobe is also very narrow. Personally I aim for never walking through a width of less than 1m if possible.

 

3. As mentioned you might want a hall cupboard. I would maybe make the wall end before the last stair to give you a wider hall. also remove the wall jutting out into the kitchen at the other side of the stairs. You could make the cupboard at the utility room a hall cupboard, the distance from the bottom of the stairs to the utility is the same to both doors at the moment and you have a lot of conflicting doors there at the moment.

 

4. If you made the garage very slightly wider and made the door wide it would turn into a double for little extra cost. Obviously depends on how much space you have.

 

People have mentioned the orientation. A view is nice, but I currently have an east facing kitchen and hate how dark it is after 12. Can you see the view from the ground floor?

 

If you don't want to rearrange the whole ground floor I would maybe consider swapping around the living room and study so at least you have a roomy can sit in at a different time of day and get some sun.

[ProDave]

10 hours ago, BMcN said:

Basically there are very nice views North, hence why all the main rooms of the house face that way.  I take your point regarding the sun, however there are not many options (except as you said, removing the the garage).

Without seeing the plot layout I can't comment but my initial thought would be the garage om the east side of the house, or offset so at least some more of the south wall of the house gets some sun.

 

Our last house was like that, best view to north but wanted the sun, so made the main living space double aspect with windows to north and south.  That is what you want to be aiming for.  A compromise might be windows to north and west so at least it gets afternoon sun.  Just combining the lounge and the downstairs bedroom / study would achieve a living room that gets the view and afternoon sun (bigger window to the south?) and would adding the extra upstairs bedroom mean you could dispense with a downstairs bedroom?

[BMcN]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.  Yes the view can be seen from the ground floor.

 

The downstairs bedroom could be excluded yes, the problem is see is that it would leave a huge lounge.  I also envisage that we will spend the majority of our time in the kitchen/family and see the lounge as a more formal room.

 

The garage to the east doesnt really work that well as the driveway will approach from the west side.  

 

I will have a play around with flipping the downstairs layout, putting the kitchen family room the western side.

[bassanclan]

I like the openness, but have you considered the fire/building regs of a kitchen open to the stairs?

Perhaps something to investigate, I don't know exactly the consequences.

 

Bed 4 could be a "second master" with ensuite

[ragg987]

33 minutes ago, bassanclan said:

I like the openness, but have you considered the fire/building regs of a kitchen open to the stairs?

We have an open plan kitchen to stairs not too dissimilar to this. Not a peep from BC, we ensured we showed heat and smoke detectors in the area.

 

I agree about avoiding your primary habitable orientation facing North or East. If you have the space maybe have a detached garage? This would raise build cost a bit.

[Jml]

Need protected stairs if have three storeys or two storeys plus rooms in the roof space.

 

We currently have east facing lounge at front of house which is very dark for most of the day, so are moving it to the west facing rear of the house in new extension.