Cookiecutter Home Design - Suggestion and Recommendations

buckethat on 02/01/2024 - 23:53
Last edited 03/01/2024 - 00:48

Inspired by Custom Home Design - Suggestion and Recommendations

Original post had some really interesting feedback and insights. Would love to hear your thoughts on mine with a few differences.

  • Cookiecutter floorplan from a volume builder
  • No structural changes allowed (already signed off, and very limited options to begin with)
  • Land is slightly odd-shaped and small, this floorplan I think, maximises my land
  • Had the option to turn lounge into a guest bedroom but opted against it cause I wanted the house to feel very open as you walk in, as opposed to a very long corridoor. Figured I could convert this to a bedroom at a later date relatively easily if needed.
  • Front of house is north facing.
  • Unfortunately cannot make the garage bigger, not available as an option.

Can't really change much now since its all been signed off, any changes I make will have to be done through PCV which has an added cost per item. If it's siginificant enough I'll definitely consider doing it.

Floorplan here https://imgur.com/a/Kpu2lGF

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Stewardo on 03/01/2024 - 00:14

    The air will be very fresco, south facing in Melbourne might need a pizza forno

    • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 00:39

      Ok noted - alfresco wont be useful for 9 months out of 12 till I can afford an outdoor heater then haha

  • Euphemistic on 03/01/2024 - 08:00

    What’s with all the walk in cupboards? Just seems wasted space that could be used to make the main room bigger.

    See if you can get the shelving in the pantry to 3 walls and make sure they’re not too deep. Deep shelves means things end up hiding in the back

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 03/01/2024 - 08:55
      +2

      walk in robes

      As a kid I was always like oh damnnnn these guys got walk in robes? This place fancyyyyyyyy.

      • Euphemistic on 03/01/2024 - 09:27

        It’s great in a huge room, but impractical in a smaller room and where the walk in bit is just a space to stand.

        This plan looks to me like they’ve just tried to add some wow factor to suck people in without really thinking about layout and space.

        • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 11:25

          Never really thought about that to be honest - I agree its most likely just a wow factor to suck people in, but perhaps not the most efficient use of space. That opening to the WIR does give a bit of a perception that the room is bigger though, cause it 'extends' into another area even tho it doesn't really.

          They dont have built in robes for this design, but might be worth asking if I could just delete it as a whole and get some credit.That'll give the a fair bit of extra length to each room as well.

  • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 09:17

    As Euphemistic points out, what's with all the walk in robes. I'd get rid of all the walk in everythings, with the exception of the WIR in the MASTER SUITE. Definitely get rid of the WIRs in all the other bedrooms.

    As well as getting rid of the WIRs I'd get rid of the WIP - the walk in pantry. In fact I'd go even further and with no downstairs bedroom and two upstairs toilets I'd get rid of the downstairs toilet and have a big open kitchen. Or maybe look at moving the downstairs toilet into the laundry.

    Lots of bedrooms upstairs, so potentially the bathroom is busy and there's nowhere to wash your hands after you use the upstairs toilet. Maybe one of those cisterns that has a wash basin in the top of it?

    As with the previous plan I'd move the door into the garage away from the back wall of the garage so that the whole width of that wall could be used for storage. I'd look at easier access between the garage and the house for getting large things into the house by going through the garage. I'd make sure the garage was wired for two EVs. Because that's what is going to be parked there in the life of a house being built today. And I'd remember that garages aren't going to be petrol and oil smelly places when they have EVs in them, so it should be thought of as an extension of the house.

    The previous house had an 820 wide front door. This one is better with a 1020 front door. I'd go all the way and open up the entrance with double doors that used the whole width there. Though maybe that wouldn't be necessary if you had wider access through from the garage.

    Its a bit worrying about the quality of this plan, and the concern for detail on the part of those supplying it, that it repeatedly refers to "plumping stacks". Surely someone should have noticed, and taken the trouble to fix that they are plumbing stacks.

    • Euphemistic on 03/01/2024 - 09:28

      Lots of bedrooms upstairs, so potentially the bathroom is busy and there's nowhere to wash your hands after you use the upstairs toilet. Maybe one of those cisterns that has a wash basin in the top of it?

      A toilet room without a wash basin is just dumb.

      • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 11:13
        -1

        Mmmm , bacteria soup.

        • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 14:46

          Can't speak to the cleanliness of it, washing your hand then having it go into the cistern but I lived with one of these years ago in Japan. They're pretty commonplace in Japan and to be honest, it was amazing. At least for a quick pee.. call me a monkey but a quick water rinse is all I do. Although when I unload the dumptruck, I often go to the main bathroom to properly wash with soap.

          • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 14:48
            -1

            @buckethat: Unless you are air drying hands , then whatever method is used to dry your hands in the smallest room in the house is just sitting there incubating. You'd be better off with a pump bottle of hand sanitiser

    • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 11:40

      I'd get rid of the downstairs toilet and have a big open kitchen

      No way! Guests would have to run upstairs to use the toilet? Thats super impractical.

      Or maybe look at moving the downstairs toilet into the laundry.

      Unfortunately can't make any major structural change, but something similar was suggested by another user.. might be something we look into waaay in the future after we live in the property.

      Maybe one of those cisterns that has a wash basin in the top of it

      To me this was by far the weirdest thing about my floorplan, no idea why they thought a standalone toilet would work without a basin. First thing I will be doing is getting one of those basin integrated cistern. Unfortunately the only one that seems to be readily available here in Aus is the horrific looking Caroma.

      plumping stacks

      Lmao good pickup, weird that the one in the powder room is correct but the other two are plump.. Mate of mine built with a much more premium builder and they had some pretty aggregious errors in theirs too, they even sent the incorrect house plan in the initial tender. Fortunately everything turned out just fine so hopefully mine will be the case too.

      • ihbh on 03/01/2024 - 13:09

        No way! Guests would have to run upstairs to use the toilet? Thats super impractical.

        Also, some people go bare feet upstairs so don't want guests running up in a mad rush with their shoes on.

      • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 14:50

        Just a minor sbelling error

  • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 09:55

    Swing upstairs master suite ensuite WC door outwards, not inwards. There's barely room to stand up and open the door. Ditto or similar for door on other upstairs WC. At least in the latter case it is possible to move the door out further from the toilet, so a parent could be in the room with a child who needs help or supervision.

    • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 11:33

      Or, better still, reduce the depth of the upstairs master suite WIR, and put the other WC in that space backing up to the ensuite WC. There's enough room if you swing the door on the ensuite WC outwards instead of inwards instead of outwards. Having the two toilets back to back would simplify the upstairs plumbing. And it would free up the space being used by the existing upstairs WC where it is to expand the activity room.

      The alternative to using the space currently used by the upstairs WC to expand the activity room would be to use it to expand bedrooms 3 and 4. You'd expand bedroom 3 out into the area occupied by the WC, and move its door to facing the bathroom door. Then instead of having them back to back, put WIR 3 and 4 side by side, each having half the length of the wall between the two bedrooms. That would substantially expand the size of both bedrooms, because the dogleg access to them is wasted space.

    • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 11:44

      Thats a really good point.. will ask about this.

  • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 09:59
    -1

    The plan has a gas meter. Naughty. We're supposed to be getting rid of gas. Victoria has started the move by requiring new houses to not use gas at all. A new house in any state shouldn't use it.

    • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 11:09
      -1

      Your last sentence is rubbish, and should only apply to major cities and it's natural gas.(Regions have different challenges / economies) .We should be building climate appropriate houses first & foremost. Gas is not a boogey man.It's an interim necessity.(sadly all forms of govt f'd up, by not converting our coal fired power stations to gas 25 years ago) I can understand the 'push' but it's more about govts wanting to do less gas work/maintenance infrastructure to sub divisions and flogging more gas to rich corporate raiders like America. They just skim the cream and flog it to developing countries and it gets burnt anyway..

      Electricity prices aren't ever going down, so having everything on electricity is just what the greedy energy industry wants. And the alarmist crap about the dangers of gas in households is overblown imported dross. A properly ventilated home using fit for purpose gas equipment will have bugger all issues. As for the claims around gas cookers & asthma, there's no way of separating all the other factors, like pollution,pollen and bushfire smoke.It's c on perpetuated by a few pseudo charities with their nose in the 'tax free charity' trough. They have been doing the rounds for years, and seem to have hypnotised the ABC

      • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 11:42

        Whether you like gas or I like gas is irrelevant. Governments have decided that as a way to meet their commitment to reducing CO2 emissions, the use of gas for domestic purposes will be phased out. Victoria is merely the first to ban it being designed and built into new houses. This is the wrong time to be designing and building it into a new house anywhere. Because some time in the life of that house someone will just have to pay for the gas appliances to be removed and replaced. Building a house now with gas infrastructure built in would be as silly as not designed a house now with the electrical infrastructure to charge EVs in the garage.

        It will increase the value of the house to be able to say it doesn't use gas. That it doesn't have to be converted to all-electric, it was designed and built that way.

        • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 11:53
          -1

          Easy, run a power feed to the kitchen (not installed at meter) . (same principle as your EV charge)

          I'm not surprised you welcome "the gas is bad" mantra, that's the plan. ( Enjoy that pup!)
          Meanwhile we sell (gift) squillions of cubic metres of the stuff to be used in the same way, and worse,elsewhere.And at the detriment to our smooth affordable,sustainable transition. It's not a matter of liking or not liking anything, it's about real motives and logical orderly,long term sustainable policies.

          It's all inconsequential deck chair shuffling for the plebs,anyway.

          • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 13:17

            @Protractor:

            Meanwhile we sell (gift) squillions of cubic metres of the stuff to be used in the same way, and worse,elsewhere

            As you point out, the gas still gets burned, it just gets burned in another country where it doesn't get counted in our country's CO2 emissions. Like our coal.

            Norway was smart. Get all your oil out of the ground faster than everyone else causing global warming, sell it off, invest your earnings, then when your oil has run out use it to build hydro power and give everyone in the country an EV, and portray yourself as the most environmentally responsible country on earth.

            • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 14:36
              -1

              @GordonD: Not 'smart' ,just absolution by parasitism.
              This is why humans will take a shitload of other species with us, when we shrivel up and fry in our own guano

  • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 11:00

    Start the whole journey using solar passive principles. You're welcome.

    Warm House Cool House (book) is a good start.
    Don't forget cross ventilation, avoid west glass ,( or double glaze it),& have windows higher up when possible, and max out north glass.
    You need to keep as much sun off the west of your house walls as possible.
    Even the basic shape of the house has impacts to post design tweaking.
    If roof is tiled and you can swap to corrugated, do that, in a light colour with anticon and max ceiling batts etc.
    Grow a vine on the west facing porch to eliminate low but still hot summer sun
    I would seriously consider doing lots of homework, get a few preferred layouts and get a one off meeting with an expert in the field (architect etc) to tweak the design you prefer.(if you have time) Money well spent

  • ihbh on 03/01/2024 - 13:07

    Did you think of moving the Meals wall out to be flush with Living and extend the Alfresco and leave half of it uncovered?

    • GordonD on 03/01/2024 - 13:19

      Whether or not it would or wouldn't be a good idea, I believe the OP isn't allowed any structural changes. I suspect that moving an outside wall would count as a structural change.

    • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 14:33

      No tbh haven't thought of that, it would be nice to have a bigger meals area but yeah like GordonD said, can't make major structural changes.

      Not sure I love having half covered alfresco either tbh. I do plan on decking the alfresco in the future, and to have the deck extend beyond the roof line by probably at least metre in each direction if not more.

      Dining area is 4m x 2.8m as is.. I'm thinking that should be adequate. Had a look at a few 6-8 seater and the width is usually around 90cm, which leaves about 90cm on each side which while not super roomy should be sufficient.

      • Protractor on 03/01/2024 - 14:44

        Who needs silly stuff holding the 2nd storey up when you can lay down, while eating Froot Loops for brekky

  • pacer4000 on 03/01/2024 - 13:48

    Plumping (hehe) stack in the corner of the living room will be annoying when arranging furniture, I would ask if it can be moved to be within the laundry. Not sure if that would work with the bathroom above.

    • buckethat on 03/01/2024 - 14:37
      +1

      Yeah bit of an awkward spot! Might ask but like you said, not sure what they could do given the bathroom above. Might be able to move it into the laundry on the same wall as the WM in that corner, but with the sliding door there, not sure if that will work.

      If not - this wall will be where the TV goes which I plan on wall mounting. So if we get a built-in cabinet, I guess it'll just have the part notched out otherwise we'll get a smaller standalone TV cabinet anyway.

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