Builder Meetings
Posted on | December 9, 2008 | 3 Comments
So this week, we’re finally going to start meeting with builders to find out the cost of actually building the house. I met with Monica last week to get working copies of the building plans. We’re very excited to see where this leads us. I think it may actually be a very good time to consider building a house. Construction and material costs seem to be falling as do interest rates. This should all be countered by the falling value of our home when we go to sell it, but we might still come out on top.
We’ve taken the drawings to a level that will hopefully allow us to get a quote within +/- 10% of the actual building cost. I’m meeting with Black Diamond Builders tomorrow, and plan to meet with at least two or three others as well. The goal here is to get the builders to quote the house as-drawn, so that we’re comparing apples with apples when looking at their pricing. We’ll also ask them to make suggestions but to indicate these ideas outside of the scope of the quote.
Now for a little peek at a siding option and window placement we’re considering. Monica created this little flyover so we could see how the house might look with a siding option and a bit more asymmetry in the window placement, something we felt was missing. What do you think?
House textures we like
Posted on | November 23, 2008 | No Comments
These are some textures we photographed to give our architect some idea of what we’re looking for.
I think it’s the fact that most of these have more than one texture or material. The last is our favourite. Even though it’s just two woods separated by metal flashing, it’s enough to add the contrast we’re presently missing.
The first few are here because of the sweet copper roofs.
A more compact and energy efficient two story option
Posted on | November 18, 2008 | No Comments
Well, after our little freak out about the state of the housing market and the second thoughts we were having, we asked Monica to “fill in” the second floor loft space. Doing this and bringing the house down in size and scope to fit a more standard two story has made a project that is more in line with our core belief that it is possible to comfortably live in a smaller house than we have now.
In reality, it’s all about creating a living space we want to be in, and still have enough room for storage. This house is substantially smaller than where we live now and has no basement. Creative storage (such as window seat storage) will go a long way to making this place really work for us.
One thing we’re not really there yet on is the exterior finish. We know we want raw cedar shingles, but I don’t think we want this many of them. Needs contrast. Monica agrees and is working on some ideas. I’m also not sure if I’m feeling the varyingly-pitched roof. Would like to see it become more consistent. At the same time, I have concerns about the house simply being too symmetrical, that’s likely just the designer in me.
Really interested in hearing your comments and thoughts. Let us know what you think.
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- Front corner view
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- Rear View
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- Side View, this is how we'll be approaching the house
The Latest Two Story Option
Posted on | November 4, 2008 | 2 Comments
Well, we think the most recent design really nails it. After our discussions with Monica about the problems we foresaw with the beautiful but overdone three story house, we asked her to “fill in” the loft space on the second floor. This house is much more in line with our original goals of having a house without a centimetre of wasted space. Highly energy efficient, and still artfully built with a few tasty details.
Ground Floor of 2 Story Layout
Second Floor of 2 story layout
Some of the highlights of this plan include:
- Back entrance
- Covered wood storage in the back
- Open concept kitchen, dining and great room
- An away room with pocket doors so it doubles as a guest room
- 9 foot ceiling in great room for some visual space differentiation
- Steps up into the girls room
- back jut out room on second floor with space for our treadmill (very important)
Yes, this plan does put the girls together and this isn’t necessarily the best thing, but the room is big enough that they will have their own space and we could split it down the middle somehow. We’re not really concerned about this.
What do you think?
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