istockhouseplans

Water Heater Update

2012-01-03T14:34:00.000-08:00

Back in December of '09 we reviewed a couple of water heaters that we thought were pretty stylish. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has created a chart which looks at operating efficiencies and lifetime costs for nine different types of water heaters. We promoted two types of water heaters, one being the high-eff. electric storage, the other being a heat-pump water heater (HPWH). We were impressed by both. The ACEEE study shows the HPWH to be the most efficient unit as well as having the lowest lifetime operating cost. (N.B. that ACEEE lists $190 as annual operating cost while Ruud lists their unit as costing $234 per year. Comparisons made with the average of $212/yr). In fact, compared to a standard electric water heater, the HPWH has a payback period of a little over three and a half years. Even the high-eff. electric has a 3 year payback period over the standard electric tank. After that, though, the HPWH will be ten times cheaper to operate than the high-eff. over the standard electric tank. (Payback period calculated by taking difference of installed costs and dividing by the difference in yearly energy costs.)

Note that if you currently use an oil-fired boiler, you almost can't afford to NOT switch to a new water heater. Even a minimum efficiency electric heater will have a 4 year payback period. If gas is available in your area and you prefer it in case of an electric outage, payback period is about 3 years for a conventional gas heater. Even a HPWH will pay back in 4 years. (Payback period calculated by taking installed cost and dividing by the difference in yearly energy costs.)

Of note is that some state and federal tax credits will offset the cost of a high-efficiency water heater even further making your payback almost immediate. The federal 30% tax credit for energy efficient improvements brings the payback period of a HPWH to less than two years (20 months) compared to a standard electric tank heater.

Istockhouseplans doesn't always designate a space for a water heater within the house (and attached garages in our designs are rare). Therefore we are pleased to see that the HPWH is a high contender for cost and efficiency. These types of units can be put in crawlspaces, basements, and even outside in a milder climate. For colder climates a little attached shed on the side or back of the house would suffice fine. As always, check with your local codes, etc, etc.

Heat Load Calculator

2011-12-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

A while back we posted a series on the mechanics of calculating the heat load of your home. At the end we promised to offer up an Excel file that is set up for you to do your own calculations without getting a headache or hand cramp

The calculator comes pre-filled with info from our Houston 2448. Everything in light yellow can be modified. The file or the rest of the cells are not locked. This should be considered open-source, AKA modify at your own risk. If you enter any values into white cells, you may destroy formulas. There are also no fail safes or error checking in here. Double check your work.

There are 7 components listed: slab, floor, walls above and below grade, windows, doors, and roof. Each of these has inputs for area and R-value. Note that windows should be input as U-value. When inputting wall area, don't take windows or doors into account. They are automatically deducted from the wall area in the calculations. Outside design temperature can be modified for the first four items; remaining values are derived from those.

All the work is shown on the following columns. The UA value, Δt and Btu/hr values are shown. Indoor temp can be changed to your desired setpoint. To the right is a little table with all sorts of nerdy calculations in it. Percent of load tells you which component is losing the most heat. Cost/hr tells you how much it costs. In the example you can see that more than half the heat loss in this house is through the walls. Of course! There is only R-15 in the walls! You can also see that increasing to R-21 doesn't do much for that factor. Increase the walls to R-30 and you can get that component down to about 1/3 of the heat load. Still high. Note that the rest of the load percentages change as you change the area or R-value of an item.

Lower down on the page is a place to take leakiness of the house into account. Input your target or measured ACH50 as well as volume of the home. You should only change the HC if you know what you're doing.

The final input is for number of bedrooms or potential bedrooms. This little calc will determine internal gains from humans. It takes the number of bedrooms and adds 1 person per ASHRAE standards. If there will only be two people living in your 3000sf house, enter one bedroom for kicks.

Total peak heating load is given near the bottom of the sheet. The final table gives an idea of how much of what types of heat is needed to keep the house comfortable. A forced air unit size and efficiency can be entered. As you can see, even this is WAY too big for the house. Even 2 1kW cadet heaters will do fine. In this case we would recommend a 500W heater in each of the bedrooms and bathrooms with a 1kW in the great room. Still a bit much but at least reasonable. Perhaps a mini-split heat pump would do for efficiency as well as adding some cooling if you are in the South.

This calculator should be used for entertainment purposes only. No guarantees about the results or performance of this tool are made or implied. If you break it, you bought it. If you find errors, please feel free to let us know. If somebody who knows javascript is bored, we would be thrilled to turn this into an online tool.

Massive Influx of Plans

2011-12-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

In what might be described as an heroic maneuver, we at Istockhouseplans just cleared out a bunch of backlog and loaded more than a handful of plans. The final damage? Seven in one blow! Listed below is the latest additions to the lineup:

The Wilsada A 1416A joins her brother the Wilsada 1416. This tiny house duo are each a whopping 200sf. The bed is in its own nook, the rest of the space being open save for a bathroom. Therein is the difference. Wilsada has a narrow 4x6 bath while the A is a slightly more spacious 5x5. Otherwise the plans are very similar with their multitude of windows.

The Cottage in the Grove C2042 was a joint project with our builder friend last year. We finally got around to creating the artwork and writing the text for this one. This was a narrow 1356sf house that has the most charm of any of our offerings yet. Two suites each with bathrooms and a large open downstairs space.

The Houston A 2448A steps in with a slightly larger footprint than his predecessor. The numbering belies his true width of 25'. Other than an even 1200sf, not much changed from the prior version. The roof line was modified to maintain the 16' roof plane.

Three Edgewoods were finally put on display. A few years ago we spent alot of time with the original version creating several spin offs for our builder friend. The Edgewood C C2552C and The Edgewood D C2552D offer variations on the 25'-28' wide 3 bed 2 bath story-and-a-half theme. Rounding out the triad is the The Edgewood D2 C2552D-2 mashup. Not only is it a lot of width, it's also a lot of characters in the numerical coding!

Finally is a brand new plan inspired from a century ago. The Arleta 2850 adds a third true single story full size plan to our lineup (right behind the Houstons). At only 1353sf, this little charmer is guaranteed to be a winner in the new downsized home movement. Three beds, two baths, lots of closets, and both material and energy efficiency just enforce her future position in the marketplace. We're very excited about this one and hope to see it built soon.

Check out our full catalog for all plans.

Our Technological Toolbelt

2011-12-08T12:27:00.001-08:00

Contractors carry a toolbelt (or drive a truck) full of useful tools for building a house. We at Istockhouseplans wear a little different utility apparel. Ours is less physical and a little more electronic. In fact it weighs hardly anything at all (which makes us quite portable without an F-350).

The most important tool we use is AutoCAD LT. Without a digital drafting tool, we would be relegated to the physical tools of our forebears, that of a pencil and triangle. Though be not deceived. We have a great respect for those that still practice this dying art. AutoCAD can be a little spendy for the weekend warrior. The LT version is slowly approaching $1000 in price while the full version can be $4000 or more.

If you're just looking for a cheap tool that can still get the job done, we recommend A9CAD. This free tool has all of the functionality we need except for colortables. If we didn't have to print pretty pictures, we'd probably be using it.

DoubleCAD is another free product that has much more functionality, about as much as AutoCAD itself. The look and feel is a little different. DraftSight is another program we've found that almost perfectly replicates AutoCAD. It does tend to have a bit of a lag though.

Sometimes we'll play with 3-D imaging. Rather than pay the several thousand dollars to get the full version of AutoCAD, we've found the ever popular SketchUp from Google. Sketchup is clean, intuitive, and (like AutoCAD) has several different ways to do the same thing. We've found the basic version to be enough for our needs though we sometimes crunch the numbers to see if we could afford the $500 upgrade to Pro. Pro allows more functions including creating your own Dynamic Components. This means you don't have to create a 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, etc. You just create a joist and then before you insert, drop down menus allow you to choose width, height and length.

When you order a paper plan from us, we send the file to the printshop as pre-printed PDF sheets. They print the PDF sheets, bind them, and your plans are born. There are several ways to create a PDF. We've tried a few and the best one we've found is CutePDF. This application installs like a printer in your computer system. When you're ready to create a PDF from any program, go to print, and then select CutePDF as your printer. A myriad of paper sizes are available.

The images of our plans that are posted on the website are created through a two-step process. Unfortunately the quality of jpg and png that AutoCAD spits out are unacceptable. We've found that we get much better quality from a pdf. So we'll print the pdf (as mentioned above) and then open it up and export a jpg or png from the image.

Sometimes we'll further manipulate these images to get the size and contrast we want. For this we use Irfanview. Irfanview is another free program that does a bang-up job of manipulating image files. We have used it to crop images, manipulate size and resolution, glue images together and much more.

Our images are then uploaded to Picasa Web Albums by Google. The images on our website are referenced from Picasa as static images. You can link to your images so that they are clickable or not, have a border or not, and control the size that the viewer sees.

Our blog is hosted by Blogger, another Google company. The decision to use Blogger was merely one of convenience. Rather than have several different log-ins for several different web portals, we decided to keep everything with Google that we could.

To continue the Google theme (maybe we oughta buy stock?) we use Checkout for our shopping cart, Analytics to get a look at our pageview trends, Docs to create release letters, and Maps for our mapplet.

Our website was created with Google Page Creator. We were very pleased with the look we had built. A couple of years ago Google decided to close out Page Creator in favor of a program called Sites. Our website was converted to the new look and looked just awful. So we downloaded our coding from Page Creator and had it hosted privately. This has worked well but it means that when a change needs to be made that we have to manually log in and make the coding change ourselves. A small price to pay for having that much control.

Our website is now hosted on Go Daddy. We switched to GoDaddy several years ago after reviewing their pricing structure. They really are one of the lowest price options out there. The few times we've needed their customer service we had no problems. Full disclosure: Istockhouseplans will get a little kickback if you click on and purchase products through any of the following links. If you want to get $5.99 domains, $1.99/mo web hosting, or SSL certificates, at least check them out.

(All other programs listed are of our own free will and we get no benefits whatsoever).

Energy Efficient Wall Systems

2011-12-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

You may remember our post a couple of years ago promoting Fat Walls. In their 11/11 monthly newsletter, Energy Design Update recently reported on 15 different wall assemblies modeled through TRNSYS software. The walls were simulated in the climates typical to Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Phoenix. Of the 15 walls, three tied in first place for an overall value of R-43. One of these walls fills a 2x6 cavity with closed cell polyurethane spray foam for a rather high price tag. The second wall involves 10" thick SIPS. The third wall is our option number four from the previously mentioned post with 2" more of foam. That is, a 2x6 wall with blow-in and 4" of outboard XPS foam. As we mentioned back when we wrote the initial post, this makes window detailing a bit of a bear. Attachment issues come into play as well. The advantage of this system is the standard wall framing and no loss of floor space inside the house.

A reasonable compromise might be 3" of foam. This allows the use of true 2x4 for bucking out windows while allowing 1/2" air space. Half inch furring strips can then be used over the foam for attachment as well as a rainscreen.

They also modeled a similar wall as our top choice, double 2x4, total 8" thick with 2" of outboard foam. Our results? R-40 with U-0.20 windows. Their results were R-38 with U-0.25 windows. As you should know, U-0.20 windows are slightly better than U-0.25 resulting in a slightly higher total wall R-value.

So apparently we know what we're doing!

New Tiny House Plan

2011-11-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

We at Istockhouseplans have been busy developing a cadre of tiny house plans. Not every one makes the cut to be web-worthy. Most of them do however become inspiration for other plans. We are proud to introduce our latest plan, the Wilsada 1416.

Several things inspired this plan. One was simple lines. The plan is a simple box with one tip out and three ridges. Generous light also came into play. A sliding glass door provides entry on one side while a bank of windows opens up a view on another side. The third was tiny bathrooms. We first introduced a complete wet room in the Carver cabin series. We continue the idea in the Wilsada. Finally, we have been recently enamored with the idea of sleeping nooks. Rather than a formal bedroom, the Wilsada contains a very cozy bed nook. Visualize curtains over the opening and a little bookcase at the foot. And of course it's elevated allowing for storage underneath.

A kitchenette, sitting porch, and vaulted ceiling complete the look. Despite our generally craftsman motifs, we could easily see this one decked in white beadboard. Somewhat of an East Coast beach theme. Probably not appropriate for a mountain retreat. Or maybe that's just the kind of irony that you go for.

IKEA Loves Small Homes

2011-11-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

If you've received your copy of the 2012 IKEA catalog, you may have noticed a theme. We at Istockhouseplans were thrilled to read the phrase on the front: "A HOME DOESN'T NEED TO BE BIG, JUST SMART." Bravo IKEA, bravo!

The first couple of pages immediately show some ideas that the IKEA design team put together. They created a space for 6 friends to live in within 430 square feet. The solution consists of curtained bunkbeds at the edge with a large table in the middle. All other space is communal.

Their second challenge was a 75 square foot kitchen. IKEA was able to get an island and plenty of storage in the small space. Other layouts are shown starting on page 112. If these still aren't inspiration enough, you can go to IKEA's website and use their kitchen design software.

The next challenge was a 118 square foot living-slash-bedroom-slash-playroom. The central feature is a loft bed for the grown-ups. Another variation is shown in a 107 square foot living room that is essentially a showcase room for a chaise lounge.

The final design involves a 29 square foot bathroom - with laundry space and a spa tub. There must be some smoke and mirrors here because no good ol' 'Merican spa tub would be less than 29sf itself, right?

To see videos showcasing all of these ideas, visit IKEA-USA.com/smallspaces.

The coup de grace of all of this for us was the new Lillangen single bowl sink. One of our favorite things is to make secondary rooms (powder baths especially) as small as possible. Building code dictates some minimum sizes needed around fixtures. At some point to get smaller, the fixtures need to shrink. We can specify a smaller sink only to have the contractor turn it down because of cost. (Why are smaller appliances, fixtures, and doodads so much more expensive anyway?) IKEA's previously mentioned sink is less than 11" in depth with a side faucet (faucet sold separately). Price for the ceramic, $49.99. Price for faucets starting at $39.99. Less than $100 to reduce the size of the house, or give that space to another use.

Of course this is all good news for our line of tiny homes. If you try to design a tiny home as a mini-McMansion you will fail. But with IKEA and a little ingenuity you can make anything happen.

*Full disclosure: IKEA has no idea I wrote this blog post.

Calculating Even More Heat Load

2011-10-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to the third and final installment of calculating heat load. In Part I we looked at the envelope of the home. In Part II we looked at air infiltration and how it works. In this part we will look at internal loads and finally deciding what heat source to add to a home.

We realized that we should have been giving a real world example from the start. In light of that, let's do some quick review using our plan The Belmont #3232. If you recall the equations:

Afloor x Ufloor x ΔTfloor = Btu/hr floor
Awall x Uwall x ΔTwall = Btu/hr wall
Aceil x Uceil x ΔTceil = Btu/hr ceil
Awindows x Uwindows x ΔTwindows = Btu/hr windows
Adoor x Udoor x ΔTdoor = Btu/hr door

This translates to:

Floors: (32x32) x (1/38) x 25°F = 673.68 (1024sf insulated floor, R-38 in joists)
Walls: (32x18x4 - 339.33) x (1/21*.8) x 45°F = 5262.51 (four walls minus windows, 32'L x 18'H, R-21 with framing factor)
Ceiling: (32x32) x (1/49*.8) x 25°F = 522.45 (1024sf ceiling, R-49 with framing factor due to edge pinch)
Windows: 339.33 x 0.30 x 45°F = 4580.96
Doors: 40 x 0.20 x 45°F = 360

We've taken a few liberties but not much. The end result won't be too drastic. As you can see, walls will have the highest heat load followed closely by windows. This is because the wall area is large; for windows the R-value is poor. Envelope load comes to a grand total of 11399.6 btu/hr.

For air infiltration, recall the formula ΔT x ACHnat x Volume x HC = BTU/hr. Our ΔT=45°F, volume is 18432 (32x32x18), HC = 0.022, and we'll assume ACHnat to be based off of a blower door test of 5.0ACH, ergo .25.

45°F x .25 x 18432 x 0.022 = 4561.92

Again, not small. Add up all the bold numbers and this gives a base load of 15961.52. See, now you're a back of envelope engineer!

Now for the good news! You will have several internal loads that will help to heat your house, that is, they will make this number smaller. The biggest source is the occupants. General convention assumes that there will be 2 people in the master bedroom and one person for each of the other bedrooms. The Belmont is a 4 bedroom home but practically we could assume four occupants living upstairs. Occupants put out anywhere from 200 to 300 btu/hr of heat load. We are preferential towards 275 btu/hr. For four people, this is a reduction of 1100 btu/hr. You can also figure in incandescent lights, the kitchen oven, hair dryers and other such pieces. These don't make a huge difference unless your heat load is so low that you are in PassivHaus range.

Our final result for heating this home in this scenario is 14861.52 btu/hr. Now what? Now we need a heat source. Our first choice might be the typical forced air gas furnace. A quick look at manufacturer catalogs will reveal that 40,000 btu/hr is the smallest one available. Even at a low 90% efficiency this will put out 36,000 btu/hr. But if you have an attached garage, you can always place the furnace there and lose about 40% of your heat bringing the load down to about 25,700 btu/hr. Let's not.

Another option might be electric wall heaters. Each 1kW wall heater = 3412 btu/hr. This calculates to needing 5 heaters. Reviewing this plan shows that there are up to 10 rooms that would need heat. Perhaps several 500W units would be more applicable. Don't forget to install them on an interior wall.

Another choice is a ductless heat pump. You are limited to a max of 4 heads per unit. More heads requires another unit which doubles the price. Or you could get a splitter for some of the heads and share the heat load between rooms. To outfit the Belmont 3232 you would need one head for the dining/parlor, one split head for the office/bath, another for the master and bath, one more for the auxiliary bedrooms. The kitchen, utility room and bathroom would need a 500W electric heat source.

Another option might be radiant heat. In floor hydronic heat puts out 18-25 btu/sf. Assuming 20btu, you could cover 743sf of the floor with tubing. But how do you cover 743sf in a 2000sf house? If you stick to just the walk areas you could make it happen. But unless you are doing an onsite DIY approach, this option can be super expensive.

The final choice would be to increase some insulation in the walls, try for better windows (U-0.025 is reasonable) and tighten the home to 2.0 ACH or less. Resulting calculations reduces to 10519 btu/hr. Then install an HRV in the utility room to cycle fresh air and attach a small heating unit to it.

Any other ideas?

In the very near future we'll refine our simple spreadsheet calculator and make it available for your use. The calculator does most of the math for you but we made this guide available so you'd know what's going on in the background. Happy calculating!

Calculating More Heat Load

2011-10-18T09:28:00.001-07:00

Last week we looked at how to calculate your heat load based on the envelope of your home. This week we'll take a look at air infiltration and the effect it can have on your home. The caveat should be given that the tighter you make your home, the more you should be concerned about vapor barriers, retarders, and other management. Indoor air quality also becomes a concern. We won't address these issues in this post.

Air infiltration is not something that can be assumed or calculated. Just as a nail can't be driven by estimation, it needs a tool. The most common tool used is a blower door. This is a device that attaches into your front door frame and accepts a large industrial fan. After closing all other doors and windows, the fan is turned on (generally pointing out) until it is removing 50 cubic feet per minute (CFM) from your home. Some places in the world aim for 25 CFM. For a visual, imagine 4 regulation basketballs. This is 1 cubic foot. So turning the blower door on to 50 CFM means that you are throwing 200 basketballs out your front door every minute (or more than 3 every second!)

Why in the world would you do this? A couple of reasons. First, this is a great opportunity to walk around your house with a smoke stick and see where air is leaking in. These are places that need to be plugged. Get your caulk, foam, whatever and fill it up.

Second, since there is diagnostic equipment hooked to the blower door, a technician can determine how much air will blow through your home on a windy day. The result is a standardized answer that can be used for comparison. Generally it is in the range of 0-20 air changes per hour (ACH). This means that with the blower door running, the volume of air in your home could be changed out 20 times an hour. Every 3 minutes you're getting new air. This air is coming from outside, the attic, the crawlspace, and the attached garage.

Most newer homes fall around 6 ACH50. Older homes will be much higher. It takes some determination to lower a new home from 6 ACH50. No one accidentally builds a tight home. With some simple effort we have seen homes approach 4 ACH50. A bit more effort and change in building methods results in 2 ACH50 which is very good. The lowest we've ever seen is 0.22 ACH50. This was a home built to PassivHaus standards.

So why does this matter for energy calculations? Warm air can be blown out of your home and replaced with cool winter air through leaks. We need to calculate for this for the furnace to be able to keep up. Otherwise your home will get cooler and cooler until it equalizes with the outdoors. This could occur with a 3000sf leaky home and a 40kBTU furnace. Bad news.

Less talking, more computing. This is one single formula that has a lot of lead up. There are four numbers in the formula. The first is our friend ΔT. The second is the result of your blower door test in ACH50. We need natural ACH so divide by 20. The third is the volume of your heated area. The fourth is the convective heat transfer co-efficient (HC). This number has a general range around 0.018 to 0.022:

ΔT x ACHnat x Volume x HC = BTU/hr

Example: A 1500sf house has a blower door result of 3.5ACH50. Assume HC to be 0.022 (Marine Cold). What is the heat loss through infiltration?

Answer: ΔT from last week is still 45°F. ACHnat = ACH50/20 which is 3.5/20 = 0.175. Volume is approximately 1500sf x 9' (ceilings) = 13500cf. HC is stated. So the formula is 45 x 0.175 x 13500 x 0.022 = 2339 BTU/hr. Note that we gave a tightness that is half of typical. Were it 7 ACH50 this load would double! Don't think air tightness matters? It's the biggest factor in heat load.

Add this to your envelope load and come back next week for part three, Interior Loads!

Calculating Heat Load

2011-10-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

How many times have you looked at a house plan or a house and wondered how much heat it was going to use per year, or need at peak times? There are several good programs out there that will allow you to do this with a few mouse clicks. Maybe you don't have access to such a program and want to make an educated guess. There are several simple calculations that you can do to figure out the answer.

What we are figuring out is the amount of heat that is lost from the house in several ways. One way is by conduction through the envelope. Another way is by convection through leaks in the house. Most factors are known but several need to be looked up. Once you know those values for your area, you can use them again and again.

Let's establish those values. First you will need to establish your highest desired indoor temperature. During winter this might be 62°F or 65°F or 68°F. We'll use 65°F for this guide. Next you'll want to establish the coldest outdoor temperature that might be experienced. For the walls this might be 20°F or 0°F or -20°F if you're in Alaska. We'll assume 20°F for this guide.

Beware however that your crawlspace and attic will have different cold temperatures. If your insulation is in the ceiling plane instead of the roof plane, your attic will enjoy the comfort of being enclosed even though it won't be insulated. Therefore in 20°F weather the attic may register at 40°F. The same situation is present in the crawl space, especially if it's vented and any walls adjacent to a garage. We'll use 40°F for these three locations.

Using these temperatures establish a difference of temperature known as ΔT (delta-T). This is simply subtracting the coldest outside temperature from the desired indoor temperature. Using our established values the walls, windows, and exterior doors will have a ΔT of 45°F and the crawl space and attic will have a ΔT of 25°F.

Next you'll need to gather the areas of each of the parts of your building envelope. This includes floors, walls, ceilings, windows, and doors. Rather than figure the exact wall area, imagine there are no windows or doors. Then when you do the window and door areas, you can subtract them from the wall area to get a more accurate reading with less calculation. If you want to be especially precise, you can note the amount of wall against the garage, second floor walls against first floor attics, etc. We'll skip that precision.

The other thing you'll need to gather is the U-value of those components. U-value is the inverse of R-value. U-value should also take into account the whole assembly and not just the insulation itself. An R-21 batt does not equal an R-21 wall. A typical R-21 wall will end up at about R-16, that is, a U-value of 1/16 or .0625. A simple true R-value conversion can be had by multiplying your insulation R-value by a factor depending on quality. For a standard average build, assume 75% of your insulation value. For good construction (24" o.c. R-30 wall for example) assume 80%. If you're using exterior foam, figure your percentage value and then add the foam. For instance, an average R-21 wall works out to about R-16 but adding 1-1/2" of XPS foam adds R-7.5 for a total of R-23.5, U-value of .0426. More precision is better but don't go crazy.

Let's put it all together:

The general equation for each element is area x u-value x ΔT. You should write down the following:

Afloor x Ufloor x ΔTfloor = Btu/hr floor
Awall x Uwall x ΔTwall = Btu/hr wall
Aceil x Uceil x ΔTceil = Btu/hr ceil
Awindows x Uwindows x ΔTwindows = Btu/hr windows
Adoor x Udoor x ΔTdoor = Btu/hr door

Now add all of these together to get your envelope load. Simple!

Next week: Infiltration!

Istockhouseplans Gets Greener

2011-09-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

As more and more companies are beginning to do a life cycle analysis of their products, Istockhouseplans feels that this is a worthwhile study to pursue. Generally we will send you a half dozen sets of plans. Most of those will go to the permitting jurisdiction for approval; some of those you will give out to subs to do their work. What's left is a few sets around the jobsite that get muddy, or a couple extra sets that get stuck under the seat of your F-350. We've compiled this list of how you can safely, humanely, and environmentally end the life of those plans.

Recycle them in the paper bin. Duh.
Ship them back to us for proper disposal.
Shred them for landscaping mulch.
Shred them for attic insulation.
Shred them for party confetti.
Sweep up your wood dust and roll it up into a set of plans. Smash the ends in and leave a few next to the woodstove or outdoor fireplace for the new homeowner to burn.
If you have a nice set leftover, present them to the homeowner. Possibly even in a frame. Or take the time to mount them over the fireplace yourself. Build the frame out of scrap wood from the site.
If a set gets too muddy to use, wrinkle it up good, re-flatten it and set it in front of an exterior door for a shoe mat.
Cut strips to use if you run out of drywall tape.
Separate the sheets and fold them into origami for the children who are pressing their faces into your cyclone fence.
Let your kids color the elevations.
Use the backs as large blank sheets for your kids to color on.
Make holiday cards for your subs/supers/suppliers using the elevations or details as the front picture.

Other ideas? Please feel free to share in the comments. Want to employ some of these ideas yourself? Visit our plan catalog and purchase your own set.

Lumber Sizes

2011-09-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that a 2x4 isn't really 2"x4"? What's with that? Fact is that the piece of wood started at 2"x4" but is called "rough sawn", that is it has unfinished faces. The stick is then sent through a planer to smooth the faces and reduce serious splinter casualties. About 1/4" is shaved off of each of the four faces resulting in a lesser dimension than you would expect. Besides, who would want to say "one-and-a-half by three-and-a-half"? Mind the twist at 2x8 and beyond...

Now pay attention as we mention dimension convention:

1x:

1x2 = .75" x 1.5"
1x3 = .75" x 2.5"
1x4 = .75" x 3.5"
1x6 = .75" x 5.5"

2x:

2x2 = 1.5" x 1.5"
2x3 = 1.5" x 2.5"
2x4 = 1.5" x 3.5"
2x6 = 1.5" x 5.5"
2x8 = 1.5" x 7.25"
2x10 = 1.5" x 9.25"
2x12 = 1.5" x 11.25"
2x14 = 1.5" x 13.25"

3x: (for those odd structural plates that engineers like to call out)

3x4 = 2.5" x 3.5"
3x6 = 2.5" x 5.5"

4x:

4x4 = 3.5" x 3.5"
4x6 = 3.5" x 5.5"
4x8 = 3.5" x 7.25"
4x10 = 3.5" x 9.25"
4x12 = 3.5" x 11.25"
4x14 = 3.5" x 13.25"

6x and beyond follows typical pattern as above.

And while we're at it, how about some typical engineered wood sizes.

I-joists are created by standing a piece of OSB or plywood upright and capping it with a 2x flange. The result looks like a capital serif 'I' hence the name.

I-joist flange widths (varies by manufacturer):

1-3/4"
2"
2-5/16"
3-1/2"

I-joist heights (total height):

9-1/2"
11-7/8"
14"
16"
18"
20"
22"
24"

Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) beams are created by gluing several sheets of 7/8" thick plywood together. Installation is by standing them on edge so that the profile looks similar to |||

LVL widths:

1-3/4" (2 layers)
2-5/8" (3 layers)
3-1/2" (4 layers)
5-1/4" (6 layers)
7" (8 layers)

LVL heights:

Any height possible though generally intended to match I-joist material. Can match dimensional as well.

Glu-lam beams are created by gluing and compressing several layers of post milled dimensional lumber together. The whole beam is then planed again to create an even surface. For this reason, glu-lam beams are slightly narrower than dimensional lumber. Heights are always in multiples of 1-1/2" due to the size of the plies. Due to general engineering practice the height should always exceed the width though rare exceptions always exist.

Glu-lam widths:

3-1/8"
5-1/8"
6-3/4"
8-3/4"
10-3/4"

Glu-lam heights:

6"
7.5"
9"
10.5"
12"
13.5"
15"
16.5"
18"
19.5"
21"
etc...

Glu-lams can be used as posts as well. A 3-1/8"x6" glu-lam post is sturdier than a 4"x6".

Free Plans part 4

2011-08-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

As we wrap up August and the month of free, we offer one more plan for your enjoyment. Last week we promised two new plans but the dog ate part of our homework. So we're left with one final flagship plan to introduce.

The Ramapo is 12' long and 8' deep covering 96sf. It sports a single shed roof with clerestory windows on the tall wall. This was originally designed as a bunkhouse for a rural property. It's big enough to get a bed and bathroomette and closet in. Or loft the bed and increase the floor space.

This may be the last of the free blitzkrieg for a while but it won't be the last of the free plans forever. There are a few variants on the current plans that we would like to add, plus some new ideas. In the meantime we need to attend to some other business. If you have a particular idea that you would like to see, post it here or send it to us and we'd be happy to give it a go.

Free Plans part 3

2011-08-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

More free than you can shake a stud at! The third of our free plans, the Watson 88 has been released into the public. The Watson is a simple 8'x8' building that anybody could build in a week. We've kept the 2x3 wall studs but 2x4 would be perfectly appropriate at this point. Some gridded windows and a small front porch create an appeal that's hard to pass up. The uses for this building are as vast as your imagination. At this size we're bordering on the edge of playhouse and small house. Istockhouseplans has two more basic sizes to offer and... oh shoot, there's only one Tuesday left in August. I guess our back to school special includes our flagship free plan.

We better get cracking. In the meantime download the plans, build the shed, and give us your feedback. Maybe we should have a contest with the most innovative use of materials in one of our sheds...

Free Plans part 2

2011-08-16T11:32:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we introduced you to our new free plans. We've added another to our portfolio and are thrilled to share with you.

Following the theme of defunct stops on the Springwater Trolley line in Portland, the Kendall 84 is named for the stop that was at 82nd Avenue. This is similar to the Bell 66 we launched prior except that this is in a more expected straight line format rather than an L shape. More like a backhoe loader, if you will. In fact that gives us another idea for decorating the structure. Lose the porch, slope the roof from left to right and add some extra wood to the front and back. Paint it all yellow and be the dirt digger you always wanted to be, all from the comfort of your 5-point office chair with lumbar support.

As long as our hosting provider doesn't freeze up again, we hope to release one more each for the remaining Tuesdays in August. Expect two more free plans from us and then more sporadically through the rest of the year.

Built this? Link to your picture in the comments and share with us!

Free Plans!

2011-08-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

We may be a day late but if you are a dollar short you are no longer up a creek. Istockhouseplans is proud to introduce our first free plan. Now granted you probably couldn't live in it but it does at least provide some quiet space for you to work, read, meditate, or pursue a hobby. Named for a defunct station on the old Springwater Railroad Line, the Bell 66 is small and could be a ticket booth as well. Post office? Dry goods? Vault? Almost too many options.

Plans can be downloaded directly from our website in 11x17 pdf format. Full wall framing details are included. Some cut lists and guides should help even the most ham-handed builder to at least kludge together a reasonable facsimile in a weekend or two. You may notice on the plans that the wall studs are 2x3 @ 24" o.c. The obvious reason should be in order to increase the usable space as much as possible. If you were really creative you could use 2x2 framing. Our suggestion would be to tack a 2x2 onto a 2x4 for the corners. Maybe you could even consider 1" plywood edge screwed to each other but then you lose insulation and effective window installation.

"Are these plans really free? What's the catch? Will you harvest my IP data and spam me?" We may look at your IP data but our only motive is to encourage you to visit our site and see what other great stuff we have to offer as well. We also plan on releasing some other small free plans over the next several months. Something you'd like to see in the 100sf and less range? Let us know and we'll do something with it!

Built this? Link to your picture in the comments and share with us!

Addition vs. Addition

2011-07-19T11:26:00.001-07:00

Spy vs. Spy with a twist! The English language is such that two phrases that sound very similar can mean very different things. In this post we will be exploring the differences and similarities of the phrases "A New Addition to Your Home" vs. "A New Addition to Your House".

I think most folks understand that a house is a structure and a home is the entity that dwells in and among the house including the occupants, behaviors, and the structure itself. We've recently experienced a new addition to our home (which explains our radio silence for the past month).

A new addition to your house is:

Noisy
Costly
Invasive
Bulky
Sleep depriving
Time consuming
May include some screaming in the process
Requires lots of planning
Requires several professionals
Requires a permit and/or license
A lovely thing five years later
Can pay you back when you move to the next stage of life.

Whereas an addition to your home is:

Noisy
Costly
Invasive
Bulky
Sleep depriving
Time consuming
May include some screaming in the process
Requires lots of planning
Requires several professionals
Strangely, DOES NOT require a permit and/or license
A lovely thing five years later
Can pay you back when you move to the next stage of life.

Further, an addition to your home may necessitate an addition to your house but not vice versa. We have already taken pains to design an addition to our house should we feel we need it. However the cost of the addition to our home may delay costs available for the addition of our house. Nonetheless the addition to our home will receive all the necessary attention for the payback when we move to the next stage of life.

Welcome Summer!

2011-06-21T12:39:00.001-07:00

Happy summer! On this first day of post-Spring we are pleased to announce that sun is in the forecast for the next several days. To welcome the sun (and since it has lightened our moods considerably) we are offering a sale that lasts through Labor Day. Any purchase of $250 or more can get 20% off by using the code 'summer11'. Shipping is still free and so is this blog. We will be winding down the designs a bit for the next few months while we take advantage of the lack of rain to focus on our spin-off, Dragonfly Trailers. Eager to use our hammers we've been working on building a small travel trailer. With any luck it will be ready in time for summer camping.

Visit Istockhouseplans to review our plans and pick your favorite. Kind of like a puppy.

Beneath the Maple Tree

2011-06-07T15:39:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since Istockhouseplans has released a new plan. Part of that is not feeling that what comes up is good enough for inclusion. Then there's the whole bit about keeping with our new model of smaller homes. To fill the void, we've let inspiration take hold. A railroad building at Union Station in Portland, Oregon gave us inspiration for a multi-use building. The structure is about 16x24', two stories and bricked out. We thought this would make a great garage model and ran with it. The Maple Garage G201 was born. The building is 16x24 of garage (or shop) below. The upstairs is 384sf of office, studio, or apartment. The bathroom is only a half bath and the kitchen only denotes a sink. However you are not strictly limited to what our drawings represent. Were you to want to use the upstairs as a true living quarters, the bathroom could increase a touch and the kitchen be further decked in appliances. The stairs are on the outside of the building which allows for true separation of uses. Got a piece of land to squat? Consider planting a Maple and grow from there!

Net Zero 100%

2011-05-24T07:41:00.001-07:00

Meritage Homes, one of the nation's biggest builders has committed to building Net Zero Homes as their new building model. In some communities this is mostly true. They'll build about 75% better than code and give the homeowner the option to solarize the home to net zero. But this is not a complaint. For a large production builder to have found a net zero sweet spot raises the bar pretty high. So high in fact that many builders will either have to follow suit or get out.

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/News/Headlines/Net-Zero-for-the-Masses

How about you? Think you're good enough to net zero or will you keep playing with your old deflated ball? Need some help? Contact Istockhouseplans for plans that can help you achieve Net Zero Energy Use.

Tiny Housing Advantages

2011-05-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of laziness (or perhaps minimalism) we thought we'd share this blog post with you. It epitomizes everything we feel about why small homes are the way to go.

Tiny Housing Advantages

Builder vs. Homeowner

2011-05-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

In our final installment we bring you the Builder vs. the Homeowner. Oh sure, we could bring in building officials, subcontractors, neighbors, bankers, etc. But this series of three neatly sums up what we work with the most. Hopefully the point has not been taken that everyone's an imbecile. Rather you should understand that communication is the key to a successful home build where everyone is happy.

That or everyone learning to design and build their own homes (cf . http://www.homehumor.com/introduction.shtml).

Homeowner: "We'd like to have you build a house for us. You come highly recommended and we've seen some of your other stuff. We have a pretty specific list of things we would like for trim, cabinets, etc. Other than that we'll leave it to you."

Builder: "I generally build to three different packages of trim. If you'd like something else we can discuss that. Do you have plans?"

H: "Well we had a designer draw up these..."

B: (perusing plans) "Hmmm... You could save a lot of money if you installed slider windows instead of double-hungs. And the roof will be cheaper if you drop it to a 5:12 pitch. And what's this note? 24" o.c. studs? Can't do that, the house will fall down. Besides, it costs more."

H: "Wait, it costs more to install less wood?"

B: "Oh sure, there's all sorts of other things you have to do instead. And I can't insulate the attic 'cuz your shingles will fail. It's alright if the furnace is in a cold attic."

H: "Well, you're the professional..."

What then happens is that the homeowner moves into a house that they're never truly happy with. They notice the little things. And they live there for 5 years and then do a complete remodel.

Alternate ending!

H: "Well thanks for your opinions, we'll call you." (we know what that line means)

Future homeowner interviews several other builders and finds one who is happy to build a home for the owners, the way they want. Double hung windows, knotty pine trim, and walls with studs 24" o.c. Builder also recommends a heat pump and the homeowners never look back.

Hey homeowner! If you approach a builder about building a house, please remember one thing. It's your house! Don't let anybody change your mind about what you want. The remodel 5 years down the road costs more than implementing all the things you want the first time around. Istockhouseplans hopes your dream home gets built the way you like the first time around.

Designer vs. Homeowner

2011-04-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

One day, sitting in the office playing solitaire, we were rudely interrupted by the phone ringing. On the other end is a potential client who absolutely loves one of our plans and would like us to make a few minor modifications. Since they live 15 minutes away, we are willing to take a look. Generally we don't offer this service for out of towners because of the distance gap. Strangely, communication gaps grow exponentially to distance gaps. But being close by means we can meet in person and see the hand gestures that generally accommodate limited similar vocabularies.

We offer to meet the potential client at a local coffee shop, buy them a drink, and go over their ideas.

When we arrive we are hesitantly surprised to meet the client (a couple) and a mother of one of them. Also in attendance is a friend or college roommate, or maybe it was a friend's college roommate. In any event, they are the interior designer.

Things look stickier than raw honey already.

Also in attendance is a 3" notebook that appears to be full of photos, design ideas, and several copies of our plan with different colors of ink all across them. After introductions are made, the first plan comes out.

"We thought about taking this one, removing the windows from the obvious locations, and putting in weirdly sized windows where they don't make sense. Over here, we'd like to remove this entire bearing wall and not have any posts in the way. The idea on this one was to expand the second floor by 800sf without touching the first floor. How much can we cantilever?"

The mother-in-law chimes in about her room. We end up arguing with the interior designer who knows nothing about shear and load-bearing. Finally we say we'll make some adjustments and see how it goes. Everybody leaves pretty sure that the job is not going to happen. We're out about $12.

An open letter to potential homeowners:

Dear potential homeowner;

Thank you for choosing an Istockhouseplans design. We are pleased that we could design a plan that meets your exacting eye for beauty and function. However, if you would like some changes to the plan, we suggest a quiet meeting with just you and us so that we can figure out your basic needs. If we end up spending more time modifying the plan than we did designing and drawing it, you're probably better off having a custom home designed from the start. Please consider a design from scratch that uses one of our plans as inspiration. We tend to be very strict about the homes we design and sell. If your plan ends up being a 3 story neo-modern with a 4 car attached garage, we can recommend a couple of other designers that could help you out. Having us design that style of house is akin to getting a taco at McDonald's. It won't be what you expect and we will struggle to make it happen.

Thank you

Istockhouseplans

Designer vs. Builder

2011-04-05T13:02:00.001-07:00

"In this corner coming in at a lean 180 pounds and sporting a 3-button mouse is... The Designer! His house plans have sold nationwide but he has a beef so he has called his opponent into the ring."

"And in this corner weighing in at 205 and wielding a framing nailer is... The Builder! He has built houses nationwide and accepts the challenge by the designer."

"Let's get ready to rumble!"

Opponents? Maybe and maybe not. Let's look in a little closer...

Designer: "I very specifically drew out the dimensions for this tipout and you ignored it completely."

Builder: "Are you crazy? Have you ever tried to build something like that? It was too much work."

D: "How will you set this house apart and make it look good?"

B: "I thought that was your job."

D: "I did my job and you ignored it."

B: "Too much time for the payout. Maybe I'll paint the house light brown with dark brown trim."

Designer then tries to whip Builder with the mouse. Builder fires a few nails into the mouse and renders it ineffective. Both contestants leave the ring.

A draw? No, a lack of communication. In our experience we have found that designers and builders rarely (want to) discuss plans beyond the price tag. Those that have discussed plans are usually wanting to strip the house down to a bare square. The designer does the work because he is getting paid, but often against his values because he is being asked to design the wow factor out of the house.

Or perhaps it is a technical issue. The designer specifies to start joist layout at a particular point in order to avoid plumbing issues. The builder spaces evenly from the corner because it's easy and then gets mad at the designer for putting the toilet right there. "But I specified the second joist to be 10" away from the corner, not 16". "That messes up the plywood, besides it's not typical practice."

What to do? How about encourage open discussion? Every plan we sell, we ask the builder if we can discuss some of the points of it and why we did certain things. Sometimes a few bits and pieces are dependent on a single item. If that single item gets changed, the rest of the dynamic crumbles. So we want to alert the builder to such issues. No, not all plans are designed the same. It doesn't matter how many years you've been building.

What would really be ideal is for the builder to invite the designer out the job site. This accomplishes two things. First, the builder better understands what the designer had in mind. Second, the designer gets exposure to the job site and sees and learns how certain elements are put together and how particular builders tend to approach problems. The designer might also be able to suggest an immediate solution if something nosedives. Understandably, the designer should be in the office to conduct business. But if builders can be mobile, why not designers? With a laptop, car charger, and a cell phone, the designer could conduct business from on the road. Camp out at a jobsite for a few days, take orders and process them via wireless, offer solutions with realtime speed. Then off to another jobsite, bouncing around the lower east side for a few weeks before taking some time to support builders on the middle west side. Hit the northern burbs, then the next county, and get a good circuit going. You might even be the next preacher of the Gospel of harmony!

At Istockhouseplans we are happy to offer this service for free. And we know about a lot more than just design. We can help with onsite solutions for energy efficiency and building durability. And as a program ally of Energy Trust of Oregon we can assist with getting your details right to get the biggest incentive possible.

Instant Gratification

2011-03-22T10:01:00.001-07:00

So you want to build energy efficient, durable, comfortable homes but don't want to commit to a program? Energy Trust of Oregon just released their Best Practices Pocket Guide to the general public. This is a pdf file that outlines many of the strategies that promote energy efficiency. Simple to read, simple to use, and filled with detailed drawings. Print it out and keep it in your back pocket or store it on your i-Device for jobsite reference. This tool is useful for designers, architects, framers, insulators, drywallers, plumbers, electricians, and anyone else who may touch the house. Real estate agents could even learn a thing or two.

Istockhouseplans is an Energy Trust of Oregon approved program ally and has access to all these details and more. If you are looking for an efficient house to be built in Oregon, contact us or look through our catalog. All of our plans sold in Oregon include relevant details to meet Energy Trust's standards.

Get your copy at http://energytrust.org/trade-ally/programs/new-homes/resources/. Scroll down to Best Practice Pocket Guide and click the link.

Energy Trust of Oregon is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Oregonians benefit from saving energy and tapping renewable resources. Their services, cash incentives and solutions have helped customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas save nearly $600 million in energy costs. Their work helps keep energy costs as low as possible and builds a sustainable energy future.

Luck of the Irish...

2011-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

...Is about the only thing that allowed this post to go out today.

Here's a wee little number that might get your knickers straightened out. Istockhouseplans finally released the flagship of flagships to our stock plan pile. We mentioned a while ago that this monster was coming out and this represents the last of the behemoths. Everything else we release from now on should be around 1500sf or smaller.

The Goose Hollow 3242 is larger than the motherland and comes with a neat twist. Instead of the expected 2,688sf based on dimensions, it comes in at 2,332sf. The footprint is virtually square. But like a doughnut, there's a hole in the middle and it goes clear through. We had this great idea for a courtyard home that would fit on a standard (nay even substandard lots). At 32' wide it could fit in 42' of urban space. Several iterations were tried but most became unwieldly. This time around we took some prior inspiration and mingled it with our holy idea. What results is a large house with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and lots of conditioned space - plus a neat little outdoor space.

There's not much more to say other than to ask you to check the plan out online. Give us your thoughts on this pierced plan.

Can You Spot the Difference?

2011-03-01T11:42:00.000-08:00

There are a strain of tiny trailer builders who attempt to create a dwelling that looks very much like a house. Jay Shafer at Tumbleweed Tiny Houses is probably the most famous progenitor of this style. His tiny trailer houses are employed most commonly as travel trailers and ADUs among other uses. So we thought, what would it take to convert one of our full size plans to a travel trailer?

So there's some artistic license and maybe we didn't quite nail it but it was fun to convert one of our 800sf ADUs to an 84sf trailer. Full dimensions are 7x12' with a 6' plate height. Total height is around 11' from the ground to the peak of the roof. 2x3 wall construction allows for a cross-wise elevated bed in the back with a closet or low couch underneath. One wall would contain a small counter and kitchenette. Not quite the same layout as the Tumbleweed XS-House, but also about 21" less in height.

Check Dragonfly Trailers for progress of builds.

Timing is Everything

2011-02-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

Just last week we laid own our intentions to follow a dream of building tiny trailers. This week came the opportunity to bring the plan to fruition! We entered into the Dockers Wear the Pants Project. We could have a chance to win $100,000 to get our plan off the ground. This would be enough to rent some warehouse space, purchase trailers and materials, and get some rolling stock created. The mind is just swirling with ideas!

Vote for our entry daily at http://apps.facebook.com/dockerswearthepants/entries/14591

Century Post!

2011-02-09T15:10:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to us for our 100th post. Our first post was in June 2007, 3 years, 7 and one half months ago. At the time we wondered how we might fill up bandwidth with meaningful discussions. Maybe it hasn't been 100% quality but we're still looking for that sweet spot anyway.

So what do we have to say for ourselves? Well first of all receipts have been low. We attribute this to the economy. Second, we have found a groove regarding small homes and intend to stick with it. We have one more large home design that is almost done. We will release that beast and then focus most of our drafting efforts towards 1500sf homes and under. All the charm with 1/3 less fat. And finally we have decided to branch out and use our hands for additional uses.

With T-squares in one hand and hammers in the other, we will begin designing and building tiny travel trailers for sale. We have become so obsessed with tiny living spaces that we just have to try some out. Possibilities include vardos, teardrops, canned hams, etc. Maximum size is about 7'x12'. We considered mimicking Tumbleweed Tiny Homes but want less house-y looking for now. We want you to be able to tow one of these behind your station wagon and park it in the garage, not have it sitting on a parking pad behind your F-350.

The goal is to begin building by March 1st and have it ready for camping by June 1st. We'll post updates as we go so that the tiny travel trailer community can share in whatever ideas we have to offer. If you are interested in being the owner of our first 4'x8' ledge vardo prototype, contact us and we'll customize it for you. Amenities include sleeping for 2, tiny pullout table, 12V wiring and stationary 120V hookup, and fully insulated to R-10. We plan on a craftsman sort of aesthetic but if you get in early enough you can have a say in paint colors or take delivery (and a price reduction) of a primed trailer ready for your artistic eye.

Happy trailers and here's hoping we get hitched soon!

Making Decisions Under Pressure

2011-01-25T11:20:00.001-08:00

In our last major post we discussed how improperly sized and installed HVAC equipment can result in a quicker failure than normal. We left you hanging with the question of how to equalize the pressure in your rooms so that they don't turn into a big wood and gypsum balloon. If you recall:

More air goes into a master suite than out;
This is a result of no escape paths;
Air backs up into the furnace;
The furnace gives up and dies during a cold snap.

So how do you equalize this pressure? The most common way is with a 1" door undercut. Most homeowners find these unsightly, on top of which they are sized before carpet is installed. Once carpet goes in place all of the 1" is used up and no other outlets are given. Some might say to let the pressure leak to the outside. To this we say "bad builder, no burgers for you". If your pressure is leaking to the outside, where is the furnace's makeup air coming from? Outside! Let's try a different approach.

In order to equalize the air pressure, we need the same amount of air going out of a room as is coming in. The idea is that warm enters a room and forces the cooler air out which goes to the furnace, gets warmed, and the cycle goes again. If air is to leave a room, we need a space for it to happen. There are four common ways to make this happen.

1. Door undercuts have been discussed. These are generally not aesthetically pleasing.

2. High/low relief vents. This entails cutting a hole high up in the wall of the room between studs. Between the same studs a hole is cut near the floor in a hallway or other common area. This allows air pressure to move freely. Grills over both cuts give a more expected appearance. This approach may not give complete privacy as sound can travel a little between both spaces.

3. Jumper ducts in the ceiling. These are leftover pieces of flex duct used to create a connection between bedroom and hallway in the ceiling. It is similar to the high/low vent but less obtrusive and slightly more private.

4. Dedicated return. This is a connection in the ceiling of a room right into the main return for the furnace. This allows for the most direct air balancing and the most privacy. Depending on the distance to the furnace it may be noisy. Further is better.

Bear in mind that these measures are only necessary in larger rooms that can be closed off from the main living area. Smaller bedrooms and bathrooms don't gain enough positive pressure. Great rooms and dining rooms are generally connected to the majority of the living area. A media room or bonus room that is separated by a door and has more than one supply may benefit.

If you want to give it a down and dirty test, close all doors in the house and fire up the blower. Then slowly open each door. If it presents any resistance then some sort of relief is needed. If you want to be even more savvy, get hold of a Duct Blaster and someone who can run one. This will give you an accurate test of where your problems will be. Then whip out your slide rule and estimate a size for pressure relief.

If your house is especially tight, you will definitely want to install a heat recovery ventilator. This system brings fresh outside air into the furnace while tempering it with the heat from outgoing stale air. In some cases this can be your blower with an in-line heat source providing comfort.

Istockhouseplans recommends doing away with ducted systems altogether. For better comfort consider a ductless heat pump, radiant floor heat, or electric soft heat. Or do away with heat sources completely and join the PassivHaus movement.

Lengthy Topic

2011-01-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

Today's little bonus post is brought to you by the American Wood Council and their span calculator at
http://www.awc.org/calculators/span/calc/timbercalcstyle.asp

Don't get to excited, this is not a full structural calculator. It is, however, a great alternative to checking span tables and they have an iPhone version, handy for field specification. Mind the deflection.

Happy designing,

Istockhouseplans

Does your equipment blow or suck?

2011-01-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

Happy twenty-'leven from Istockhouseplans to all of our friends out there in cyberland. We hope your holiday was interesting and thoughtful. A quick note about our year-end report: despite the down economy, our books show that we made twice as much in 2010 as we did in 2009. Thanks to everyone who made that possible, and here's a toast to all of you that your books did and will do the same for 2011.

Now, to the topic at hand. A strange thing happened over the holidays. The building that we work from is heated with a forced air gas system, commonly known as a gas furnace. It was recently insulated and air-sealed. Somebody kicked a heat register shut and the tighter house acted differently. In this case something happened. Before, nothing would have happened. This lead us to a little investigation.

First off, a house is a closed system but not entirely. It is impacted by the outside environment to some degree. The more a house is insulated and air-sealed, the more you reduce the impact from and to the outside environment. This means you get more reaction within the house when something changes. What changed in this case was air pressure. By shutting a heat register, suddenly more blown air is directed to other registers. In a tight house, this air is supposed to balance by going into the return register, through the furnace where it is warmed, and back through the registers.

Now imagine that air that is blown into a bedroom can't return to the furnace. That is, it is blown in but there is no way for it to get out. This might be the case where there is carpet and the door is shut leaving a paper-thin space between the bottom of the door and the floor. A little air will get out but now the system will be imbalanced. Kind of like filling a balloon. More air goes in, but none comes out.

But the air has to go somewhere. With a balloon, it will stretch the environment. Unfortunately drywall is not as pliable as rubber. So the air goes where it can, that is through tiny cracks. At some point the room reaches critical mass for pressure. This is when things start to happen.

Much like a pipe that has been corked off, the air stops flowing through the duct. It might back up and force more air through another register up or down the line. If it is a dedicated duct run with no other outlets, it will back up into the furnace. So what you have is two pressurized environments doing battle. Try this: grab a straw and a loved one. Each of you put one end of the straw in your mouths. Now both blow as hard as you can. Cheeks will turn red, eyes will bulge, and finally someone will get a mouthful of the other one's air. This is called system failure.

In the case of your furnace you could simply blow a duct. However with today's tighter duct runs, the weak spot becomes the furnace, most notably the blower fan. So the fan has back pressure causing two forces to exert their will upon it. At some point the fan gives in and stops blowing. The furnace still warms but the forced-air part has been taken out of the equation. This tends to happen on the coldest day of the year on a Saturday night.

Granted, one single room is probably not going to have major adverse effects on the HVAC system. But imagine an 1800sf three bedroom house. The furnace is likely to be oversized (60kBtu) and the master bedroom might have two heat registers due to it's size (~200sf) as well as a heat register in the master bath and maybe one in the master closet. The door is closed and there is no appropriate 1" undercut. In fact, you would need about a 4" undercut. Air gets backed up in the room. Your head hurts. Then the furnace quits. You thought it was just the end of the cycle but it doesn't turn back on and the temperature continues to drop. At first you assume a power outage but the VCR clock is still blinking '12:00'. The next day it's even colder in the house so you call the HVAC tech. He says he'll be out there sometime between 9a and Friday.

The bugger is that your house was built last year.

Before buying a new house, ask if the system was properly sized. There are a slew of manuals and related software out there for professionals to use. As a builder, always ask your HVAC tech how they arrived at the necessity to install an 80kBtu furnace. Also ask how they are going to mitigate zonal pressure relief. If they stare at you or stutter or write it off, hire someone else.

In the meantime, Istockhouseplans recommends not using forced air systems. We push for hydronic floor heat, so called 'soft' heat (electric baseboard) and mini-split heat pumps. All of these systems take less space and use less or no air. They can also be sized more appropriately than a furnace can.

Don't forget to check your filters and consider cleaning your ductwork. Oh, and if your head hurts in your bedroom, simply try opening the door. Stay tuned for next time when we'll look at some more zonal pressure relief options.

Some comments on Real Estate Agents

2010-12-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

First off, we want to say that we appreciate realtors very much for the upstream job they do in selling our plans. Granted, they don't sell our plans directly, but they do sell the building that the contractor created from our plans. But there are some things that we'll never understand. Most likely this can just be chalked up to personality types, life direction, etc. Sort of like we will never understand the Chinese culture. If you are a realtor, we invite you to respond with intelligent answers in an attempt for open communication.

1. Why does all of your marketing material have your face on it? Why do we care what you look like? Some of you are not very attractive, even with glamor shots and Photoshop^TM. Maybe you say it's because your face is your image and it's how people remember you. We think you guys all look the same. Same with insurance agents and lawyers. But the contractors who build our plans don't advertise with their face. As building designers, we don't advertise our face (we know better!). Plumbers don't, electricians don't, and the guy who lays the carpet doesn't. So why do you? Is this the way it's always been done? We'll bet if you used something other than your face, you might get noticed as being unique. Just a thought. Maybe an icon of a house with some zoom lines around it that says "I make quick sales". That's what we really want anyway, not your face on a lawn sign.

2. I understand that not anyone can get a realtors license. You've got to have patience, a study guide, and $500 to take the test. So why on the test do they not mention anything about house styles? I swear, every other house listed in our local paper is a 'bungalow'. I know for a fact that there are not that many bungalows in the state. Is a bungalow sexy or something? Or is it just a cop-out because other housing styles aren't known? We've seen tudor, craftsman, prairie, ranch and victorian all listed as bungalow. Another one that crops up is 'old Portland style'. What!? Which style? This one really is a cop-out. It's used a lot on prairie cubes and bungalows where the word bungalow has been already overused. If I may suggest, could you research housing styles and figure out more than five?

3. Why did we receive junk mail and solicitations AFTER we bought our current abode? Did you think that we would be so impressed by a circular with your face on it that we would immediately want to buy another home? Like we could afford that? Instead, the timing of your mailer was so backwards that we looked at it, made fun of the timing, and then recycled it without another thought. No, I don't know who it was, you all look the same. It would be understandable if Istockhouseplans chose to leave catalogs on construction sites. Builders tend to build more than 1 house every 3-5 years.

4. Maybe the general public can't tell, but some of your fliers for houses are less than spectacular. The fliers themselves sometimes use gaudy colors or err on the other side of no bling at all. AT ALL. We do want to see more than a list of 'amenities' in 10 pt font and 4 1"x1" photos of the house. But we don't want to see what looks like a beginner's guide to every option in Print Shop^TM. A simple left margin graphic, 3 colors, and appropriate font size are a good place to start. And make the price tag big enough that it can be seen through the 'take one' flier box, in the rain, from the car, at the curb. We are not pleased with having to open the door in a downpour to grab a flier (or 110 degree temps for those in SoCal). The mere act of touching a flier will not increase the chances of buying a house. Folks who are driving through a neighborhood they haven't been through before do not want to write down an address to look up when they get home. They'll forget. Or they will merely go the next house with a post and shingle and look at the flier through the glass. If they feel they can afford it, they'll risk the elements to grab a flier.

5. Photographs. This should be 'nuff said. First, include them. When a flier says 'Too new for photos', this is immediately understood as laziness. "But I just have to get signs and an RMLS listing up today!" Good, go get some photos first. Years ago we saw a website of a realtor who was making fun of other realtors for their photos. If you can be seen in the bathroom mirror as you run by to take a photo, it's worth a retake. If the neighbor's trashy car is visible through living room windows, it's worth a retake. Second, please stage your photos. This does not need to be spendy. Clutter in the house MUST GO. Make your client clean up, get a storage space, or explain to them their house will take 6 months to sell. Being able to spot a box of 'toys' in a master bedroom photo will make us ask for new carpet. Just in case. No, steam cleaning won't be enough, thank you. And lighting is a must. Invest in some shop lights on a stand and use them for INDIRECT lighting. Perhaps you could consider a fish eye lens. Nothing dramatic, but have you ever tried to photograph a small bedroom or bathroom? It's almost impossible to see the whole thing. A subtle fish-eye style lens with 120+ degree views could help. A lot.

Now we understand that home designers giving sales advice to realtors is similar to realtors telling us how to design houses. So be it. Consider this to be some helpful advice and tips from our years of experience in the housing industry. Feel free to leave comments. If you'd like to discuss more, email us. Without your face.

You're fired!

2010-11-30T10:28:00.001-08:00

In searching for some material on fireblocking, we ran across this thread on the DIY Chatroom. Indispensible material. This is generally the bane of do-it-yourselfers and code officials alike.

http://www.diychatroom.com/f98/how-fireblock-framing-37190/

Istockhouseplans is currently working on trying to fireblock a double 2x4 common wall with raised heel trusses. We'd like to rock the wall all the way up and then hang the trusses but are unsure that the hanger would achieve strength through two layers of 5/8" type X drywall. A more viable option would be to nail a 2x4 ledger through the sheetrock into the walls studs. This would require 1.5" + 5/8" + 5/8" + 1" embedment = 3.75" nails. While 18d nails might not be common, this is going to require a bunch of hand driven 20d nails. Those won't exactly fit into a power nailer. The other option is multiple 2x16 blocking between trusses. Not really an option though. Maybe stacking 2 pieces of 4x8 would do it? Does anybody have input?

Water, water everywhere

2010-11-16T08:22:00.001-08:00

What would life be without good old H-2-O? Dead, that's what. If a little water is good, more should be better, right? If you've been around the block even once you know that the standard answer to this formulaic question should be 'no'.

And of course it's no! Especially when we consider your house, your biggest investment, your protection from the elements, prying eyes, and the marauding huns. Why do builders let water pile up on a wood subfloor, leave their materials in the rain and mud, and install insulation and drywall over wet wood? How would they feel if their truck was built this way?

Building in the rain. In some parts of the country, this is a fact of life that is unavoidable. If it takes 3 months to frame a house, you are guaranteed a few rainy days. Since no one (not even weathermen) can accurately predict the weather beyond the next day, it is impossible to completely frame a house dry. Arizona, sure. Not in the Pacific Northwest though. But there are steps that can be taken to keep things as dry as possible. First, don't plan to build in January. Second, invest a few dollars in cheap insurance. If you are building an elevated wood floor (that is, a crawlspace not a slab), make your last step include a giant paint roller with a long handle and a discounted bucket of 5 gallon paint, color unimportant. This will protect your wood floor from standing water. Walls go up, roof goes up, and then sheathing as soon as possible. If there will be any amount of lag time getting the finish roof on, again paint the roof deck. The problem here is that there are always spaces between roofing panels and water will leak through. The worst spot is the peak, especially if a ridge vent is planned. This gives a beautiful 6" wide by 20' long space for rain to come right in. If you have a butterfly roof, don't build in the rain as this would make a funnel.

Finally, I don't care how tight your schedule is, buy a $13 moisture meter from Harbor Freight and don't do anything else until the moisture content is below 19%. Since the aforementioned tool has an accuracy rating of +/-2% for wood, go for 17%. Why 19%? Most mold and fungus will not thrive below that and most insects will move out. It wall also allow better equilibrium in the wood resulting in less drywall cracks and creaking of the home. Further, it will reduce the amount of moisture trapped in the walls. Even further, some codes require this.

Storing your materials. Too often we go to construction sites and see a pile of 2x6 sticks sitting in the mud getting rained on. Double you tee eff. How is this okay? What part of this makes you feel good? If you were a pig or a toad, maybe, Spend a few bucks for some pallets to keep your wood off the ground, then get some tarps or used billboard vinyls. "Why would I spend hundreds on this?" Hundreds? No, less than that. Did you even click the link? A 10'x30' used vinyl is $60. And you spend less than a hundred on this to get your moisture content down and save thousands on a callback. Please don't be that short-sighted.

Think of it this way; the less moisture the wood takes into the house, the less time you need to wait for it to dry out.

Protecting your product. Your product is the house and it's only worth the amount of trouble free time it will stand. If moisture gets into the wall, the value ends. Your goal is to manage the moisture that gets into the wall. Not to keep moisture out of the wall, but to manage it. It will get in. From the outside. Unless you are installing double welded steel siding, wind and thermal will drive moisture behind the siding. At this point you have two options. The first is to pretend it doesn't happen. The second is to manage it.

So you've decided to manage your water issue. The first step is admitting you have a problem so you're already on the way. The second step is called a rainscreen. There are several off the shelf products that can achieve this concept. You can also use scrap plywood on site to create 2-3" battens and manage the water. The idea is that the water that gets behind the wall then drains in a wide enough plane to not get stuck via capillary action and then drain out a screen at a bottom. Water that freely drains is no longer available to stick around via surface tension and find crevices and cracks in your construction and seep into the wall. Water in the wall can wet insulation, rendering it useless. It can also harbor mold, mildew, and insects, hazarding your house and it's occupants' health. If you have any lick and stick fake stone veneer, this is tantamount as the stuff is like a sponge. It will readily take in water and hold it. When the sun comes out, it will be driven back and then be held against your sheathing or building paper. Compounds in the mortar then eat away at the paper and the moisture is free to roam about your wood sheathing.

Getting it right. Contact Istockhouseplans for CAD details about how to handle this moisture. We can spec out a rainscreen for you and make sure your final product is the best possible.

Hey baby, what's your... sign?

2010-11-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

One of our local builders that we team up with, Cutting Edge Homes, is in the process of building some of our latest drawings. Clackamas County is showcasing his homes for energy efficiency and has invited commissioners, legislators, and the general public. The idea is to show off some energy efficiency measures and help folks understand what they should expect in new homes. In this case is improved air sealing, improved insulation, tankless hot water heaters, and one unit with ducts inside the conditioned space.

We thought the event made perfect sense to flash a little leg, as it were. After all, SOMEbody had to design the energy efficiency into these things and make sure they were going to exceed code. So we had some lawn signs made up and stabbed them into the dirt on the jobsite. You can see that our design prowess is not just limited to buildings, but advertising as well. Perhaps.

The event will be November 10th at 3p at 14848 SE Arista Dr. Milwaukie, OR. Come out and see what things are happening and to introduce yourself.

Go Green, Go Small

2010-10-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) released a report today on an evaluation of waste prevention practices using life cycle analysis. The report focused on 30 different measures and the impact they could have on our environment over a 70 year span. We thought some of these measures might fare favorably. Such include advanced framing, using salvaged materials, drywall clips, and other such resource efficient methods. Of all the measures focused on though, the winners were smaller homes and multi-family living. This would make sense since the measures we favored would tend to have more of a point of use impact whereas the clear winners would have more of a lifetime impact. You can read the full report on ODEQ's website.

In this case, smaller home means 1149sf, half the size of the national average. Istockhouseplans finds this rather exciting since our average designed house size is tending that direction. We noted last December that average house size has peaked and is on the slide. While not all the chips are falling immediately into the tiny house movement, it's encouraging to see the push this direction. We hope that large home builders will be able to reduce their house sizes by using some of the techniques that the tiny house design community has put forth. We will continue to work on our plans adding more 700sf and smaller plans as time allows.

Tiny+

2010-10-19T14:00:00.001-07:00

Istockhouseplans seems to be creating a middle ground of homes in our arsenal. We have composed quite a little group of tiny homes, by our definition 600sf and less. With such homes as the Albina and Albina A encroaching above that mark we are having to redefine what a tiny home really is. Both of these examples are under 600sf but have non-legal loft space of 300sf. One could define a tiny home on square footage alone. Part of the problem here is when a tiny home gets a modification that increases it's size past the cutoff point. Does it then suddenly become a standard sized single family home? We would like our classifications to make sense but also be flexible without being unruly. So perhaps we increase our benchmark but it becomes a game of chasing one's tail. At some point a tiny home may be around 1000sf. Do we then bring all the related models up to the standard set on account of the largest revision?

In the meantime we have increased our tiny home definition to 700sf if only to accommodate our latest design. The Durham A is based off of the standard Durham, but with an attached 10x12 addition. This brings this little 1 bed 1 bath accessory dwelling up to 696sf. Why do you think we upped our maximum size? We liked the original of this little beast but were inspired to increase it after playing with some LEGO bricks. In fact, the picture on set 5477 looks similar to what we ended up building. Our drawn plans have a little more precision than the plastic brick model.

Speaking of which, if you would like to commission a LEGO model of any of our homes that you are building, contact us and we'll talk about details.

I Build House Plans

2010-10-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Well, not us specifically, but one of our house plans was recently purchased and is undergoing a bid process. Samanns Construction is building the Lombard 1558-2 in Ambler, PA. His website, http://www.203locustst.com is currently soliciting bids for every part of the construction process. If you are able to conduct business in Ambler (north a bit of Philly), contact them to submit your bid.

Only two things disappoint us about this build. The first is that they removed the bay windows, especially the inset bay in the dining room. While we can understand the desire for an easy square build, it feels like the character is being removed. Second, that they offer carpet in the basement as an upgrade. This is almost always a sure-fire way to get mold unless you are meticulous about your specifications. We bid you a sincere good luck.

Thanks for purchasing from Istockhouseplans and we look forward to seeing the final product!

Historic Fail

2010-09-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

If you've seen Istockhouseplans' portfolio lately, you may have noticed a pattern. We're pretty crazy about historic styles. Large wood, texture, built-ins, house bling, etc. all play a part in the way we design. But our design only covers part of the scenario. We can design all we want, but the final product is left to the builder. We can spec out materials and such but the fact is that the permitting jurisdiction only cares about structural and code issues. As well they should. Historic review boards will care about such matters. In fact, we were recently privileged to sit in on and testify in front of a historic review board for a private commission we are working on.

While the historic review board was amenable to both historic-ish styles and the builder's pocketbook, we were a little disappointed that they didn't even discuss certain issues. Some of these we think are crucial to distinguish between a true classic and a blatant reproduction. While we mentioned some key issues a few years ago, we think that there are three that should always occur on a reproduction or historic remodel:

Windows. Look at an old house. Where are the windows located? They are generally inside the wall. Now look at most new homes and answer the same question? The windows on the outside of the wall. A little 2-3" nudge makes a huge difference. So how do you install a new flange window inside the wall? One way is to frame your openings 3" larger each direction and then install a 2x4 subframe inside the 2x6 frame. The window then gets mounted to the subframe and floats inside the wall a few inches. Cut down on all the extra wood by integrating the 2x4 subframe as part of the structural load path. Another option is to purchase tip-in style retrofit windows. Cost may be a factor in this case.

Siding. Have you ever wondered why a substandard recladding of an old home looks so disappointing? Think texture and relief. First, old homes did not have one type of siding. Two are minimum. Even if both styles are lap and the difference is 4" vs. 8" reveal, it can make a house pop. The biggest problem in our opinion is the relief of fiber cement lap siding. How thick is the bottom edge of yesteryear's lap siding? Darn near 1/2". Now look at the specs of Hardi-plank. How thick? 5/16", barely more than 1/4". the stuff might as well be flat. That tiny little edge looks puny, like trying to do 5/4x6" bargeboards. Hey Mr. Hardie! Have you ever considered putting a lip on the edge of that stuff to give it a stronger look? If we ever get to build, we will not use that stuff. Who cares if it lasts 100 years. That's 100 years of puny looking disappointment. "What will you use then, tough guy?" What indeed. Glad you asked. Wood. Wood lap siding with a 1/2"+ edge to it that makes the house look like it has been around forever. Prime 6 sides and paint the visible sides. Lots of work, yes, but the result is amazing and the durability just as good as Hardi.

Roofing. It used to be (back when I was a boy!) that the roof color was complementary to the color scheme of the house. Light grays, browns, even red, blue and green asphalt shingles gave interest to the color scheme below. Now it seems that most new homes are similar to the Model T. "Your roof can be any color you want, so long as it's black. Because I bought 3000 squares and I have to get rid of it..." Why are new roofs black anyway? Is it because there's some aesthetic about a sharp contrast to one of the 3 shades of camel that new homes are colored? We think it looks like a thick heavy black cap that smashes the house down and makes it look foreboding. It also invites heat to be absorbed into the attic. If you're building new historic or renovating, please don't use black.

If anybody out there can answer our concerns, we would love to hear. Add a comment to this blog and set us straight.

I curse you... thinner!

2010-09-07T14:18:00.001-07:00

As if taken by some inexplicable force, Istockhouseplans has become more and more obsessed with smaller and smaller homes. Our latest release is sure to boggle the mind.

The Cascadia 1052 was contrived after looking at a typical 15' skinny house the wrong way. The massing portion appeared to be only 10' wide and seemed reasonable. "What the hey, let's see if it will work!" It, um, did. Sort of. We made a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom home in 1009sf and 10' wide. It's kind of like a shotgun house except it's 2 stories. So it's more like a single barrel shotgun with a massive sniper scope. Give it a look and tell us what you think. If the reaction is generally positive, maybe we'll try another iteration. If the consensus involves torches and pitchforks, we'll drop the price. If there's no reaction whatsoever, we'll go out for beers.

Speaking of which, the first person to build these plans gets a free 6-pack, on us.

May We Suggest?

2010-08-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

From time to time Istockhouseplans receives questions about our plans. Some feel that we are too light with our information, not including enough detail. If this sounds like you it's quite possible that you have worked with an architect in the past. Architects are quite notorious about detail. As we noted earlier, we are not those architects. A colleague said something very true the other day. The quote mostly follows, "My plans are more of a suggestion. It's up to the builder to take care of the details." While this may sound arrogant or lazy, we see real value in this statement.

We have tried filling detail into plans only to have it ignored. A good example is stairs. If you are site-building stairs, there are at least three ways to build the carcass, at least three ways to attach the treads and risers, and at least three ways to attach a finish material. Right there are 27 ways to build stairs. We see no need to include every possible detail. You as a builder are going to build stairs the way you have always built stairs. If the situation messes up your usual way of doing things, you'll figure out a way on your own based on your own experience.

The same goes for detailing exterior trim. This is why our houses look fairly plain. All of our homes are drawn with typical 6" lap siding except for the occasional board and batten or shingle pattern. Don't like it? Change it, we don't care. If you want to throw T1-11 all over it, feel free (but for heaven's sake, don't tell us, send pictures or advertise it as our plan!) Don't like the kitchen layout? Fine with us, talk to an NKBA professional. Porch too small/big/unattractive? Have a beer, peruse a magazine, and design your dream porch suitable to your region. It's all in your hands.

Or put it this way: Our house plans are like a cooking recipe. Add more meat, change the veggies, and spice it up a notch. Throw in your own special ingredient, change the heat, or create a redux to simplify the whole thing. (FYI, cooking is a side hobby in the office kitchen).

We feel it is our job to create some space layout, flow, and basic structural capacity. But the rest we leave to you. If we feel something is important to a particular look, we might detail it out. Send us an email and we can give some more suggestions.

Travelogue

2010-08-17T12:08:00.001-07:00

For Istockhouseplans, it's fun to know that you've made an impact. In our last post we shared a great kudos email we received that encouraged us to keep it up. It got us to thinking, where all have we been? So we pulled up prior invoices and found as many sites as possible. While not quite everything is available, we added as much as we could to a Google map to see where we've been built. So far:

2 countries,
9 states,
1 province.

From the frigid north to the humid south and sea to shining sea our plans have inspired their own building. If you'd like to see the map for yourself, check out our mapplet on the website. Most pins are in the general area that the house was built since we don't always know the exact address. You might note other plan names and wonder why they're not for sale on the main site. Most of the time it was a custom design that we have kept proprietary to the commission. Other times it may be that we haven't finished the plan for national sale yet.

If you have built one of our plans and you're not on the map, or you would like to give us a more specific location, we'll gladly move the pin to get a more exact representation. To those of you who have built our plans, thanks for your support. For those of you only browsing, consider those that have gone before you. We hope to fill every state some day with at least one pushpin. Be that pushpin!

Why we do what we do

2010-08-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

We recently sold a plan and wanted to share the kudos we received. As we've mentioned before, we don't market plans to the masses. This isn't about rolling over to make a buck. This is about holding to a standard and doing it well. We got some new wind under our wings, coal in our tender, lead in our pencils.

Or something. Anyway, here's the email we received:

"My husband and I are building the home ourselves next summer on a beautiful coulee in North Dakota. If you are ever in the state - stop by. I spent days searching for a house plan that was economical to build, timeless and beautiful. Glad we found it!"

Thanks! That about sums up our entire business philosophy, mentioned in our very first blog post. Check out Istockhouseplans for a catalog full of plans that fit this description.

Tiny Housing and Where to Stick it.

2010-08-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

As you may know, we have been more and more interested in designing tiny houses. Michael Janzen at the Tiny House Blog recently posted a good article detailing how to find land to build your tiny house. Though many places have restrictions, there are more that do not. Michael is from California and writes from that perspective. Istockhouseplans gave an Oregon perspective. The main points of the article are:

1. Avoid building codes

2. Camp on your land

3. Alternate Zoning

4. Trailer Park

5. Build an Ecovillage

6. Move to the countryside

7. Camp in a friend's backyard

8. Hide in plain sight

9. Seek a variance

Our reply and additional information for Oregon:

Oh boy Michael, I think this is a big can of worms. Pardon, in advance, the long post that I feel is coming. I am familiar with Oregon Building Codes (based off of IRC) and many of the greater Portland area municipalities’ zoning codes. I write from this perspective.

States that have building codes truly are protecting folks. The code and inspections ensures that the house is being built safely. Moreover, room size minimums are to be sure that unscrupulous builders do not create 1000sf 5 bedroom (3 of which are 6′x5′ without a closet) homes akin to tenement housing. This is accountability and guides consumer expectations. I do realize that consumers have been conditioned to expect a small bedroom to be 10′x11′ and the previous example would probably not sell.

The codes also are in place to protect firefighters in rescue situations. I recently was privileged to listen in to the Oregon State Code Board and their revisions to our next code update. Most of their structural concerns were with firefighter safety. A floor over a basement collapsed last year due to structural inadequacy, causing the death of a couple firefighters. Windows are important too. You may be able to squeeze out of a 2′x2′ opening, but if you are unconscious, you will appreciate having a 5.7sf opening that a firefighter can get into, pack and all.

Oregon has minimum room sizes (70sf) and ceiling heights (7′ +/-) but these can be ignored if you are building the house yourself (contractor’s license not required) and will be living in it for at least two years (not selling it right away). The Carver series of homes on my website plays with this notion. All three homes are less than 300sf. Two have ‘legal’ rooms and the third ignores that standard.

I don’t believe that any jurisdiction in Oregon regulates minimum house size. These restrictions are generally put in place by upper scale housing developments with HOAs. You probably don’t want to live there anyways. Accessory structures are allowed without a permit in most zoned areas if they are 120sf and less. Oregon has increased this maximum to 200sf.

Camping on your land near municipalities is generally allowed but carries a rule of no more than 30 days in any 6 month period and cannot be closer than 3 miles to an established city (Clackamas County, some rural zones). I understand the idea is to keep transients from mucking up areas. Oregon apparently does not like it’s transients.

Your idea regarding multi-family is a great idea. Some of the zones around Portland allow for separated structures, but some require attached units. City of Portland has a minimum amount of units to be built on a piece of land. For instance, a 100′x100′ parcel in R-2 zoning requires a minimum of 4 units. They must all be built at the same time or within a couple years of each other.

Variances can be sought around here, but require several things. The first is that you must get approval from a percentage of neighboring properties within a certain radius. The second is that you must prove a hardship in order to apply for the variance. Most of the time, the use must not preclude the base zone use. For instance, trying to get a house built in an EFU (exclusive farm use) zone has several restrictions. The land is considered high quality and reserved for crops.

Setting up as an ADU is generally encouraged by the City of Portland and most other jurisdictions. Portland has even reduced their fees to create an ADU. Clackamas County will only allow one kitchen on a piece of property.

I like the idea of hiding in plain sight. I was recently looking at a piece of land that was 30′x1300′. This was a county owned property that was being auctioned off at a starting bid of $1048. It was zoned for farm use only, but allowed buildings that were incidental to farm use. My thought was to use the land as my own personal garden and orchard. I would build a 198sf (avoid permits) cute (neighbor appeal) ‘processing shed’ (incidental to farm use) and use that as a tiny cabin. My family of four would spend weekends there. In the fall, we truly would use the bed platforms to process bushels of apples.

My best option for a permanent home would be to purchase one of these substandard county parcels through auction that was zoned for housing. These parcels are considered substandard because they won’t fit a 40′ wide home and are therefore sold for 4 digits as opposed to 5 or 6. Many rural properties around here want a 10′ side setback. With the previous 30′ wide property (were it zoned residential), that would allow for a 10′ wide home, plenty wide enough for me to work with (and allows for the minimum 7′ wide rooms). In fact, cantilevers are allowed that would allow some rooms to be wider than 9′ inside.

Problem is that while I would spend $1000 for the land, I would end up spending $5000 or more for a well and $10,000 for a permit. I would install a composting toilet and avoid the septic cost. I do the building myself and after all costs are considered, I’m in a permanent legal place of 600sf for around $40k. This is acceptable to me but I know that others will be wanting to do the whole package for under $10k.

My other option was to enact the camping clause, drag a 28′ trailer to the site, and build a tiny home on it. Maybe even with pallets!

I hope this helps some of your readers who live in other parts of the country to explore their local codes and see what they can pull off.

Putting our designs where our thoughts are

2010-07-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Our last post explored some skinny homes that, while cute, may not be your idea of full time living comfort. As a sort of compromise, we present to you our version of a skinnier home. While we currently have a typical 15' wide home in our catalog, we pushed the envelope a little and came up with 12' wide. The Fremont 1260-3 is actually a triplex that can fit on a standard 50x100' lot if your zoning allows.

This delightful little creation has actually been on our books for a year and a half. We'd get frustrated with the little gem, then have new vigor, only to repeat the cycle over and over. Even still we are trying to work out one more detail area. But it is available for sale should you like to maximize the potential rent on your lot.

Each unit is 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and 1181 square feet. We even managed to add a single car garage to each unit. We tried to give some character with a tipout on either side and ended up creating a bit of a nightmare roof line. After chasing our tails on that for a while, we tamed the beast and made it less Escherish.

This was a bit of an experiment in skinniness and our first attempt. We are researching some other design ideas and working on another skinny mini. Hopefully it will see the light of 2010. If you are interested in skinny homes for skinny lots, contact Istockhouseplans for a custom job. We are interested in some challenges for homes that are less than 15' wide.

Anorexic Architecture

2010-06-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Our current fascination with tiny homes started with one dimension only. Several years ago we were patrolling the web for skinny homes. Not just skinny homes, but the skinniest homes in the world. Our thought was in trying to cram as many homes as possible onto a 50x100' wide lot, assuming zoning allowed. Given that 5' setbacks are typical, we figured there would be a 40' wide footprint. Most folks would say 2 attached 20' wides would be typical. We are currently working on a 3-16' wide building. But you could easily do 4-10' wide houses. Crazy? Consider that building code requires a minimum 7' wide room in homes and you could cram 5-8' wide homes onto that lot.

But history has brought about some even skinnier homes. Boston, MA and Alameda, CA have their 10' wide homes. In Alexandria, VA is a skinny house that was built to close off an alley. The home is 7x25' and two stories tall. In the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle, WA is a house that, while 15' at the front, is 4.5' in the rear.

The most notorious of all skinny homes was the so-called Richardson Spite House at the corner of 82nd St. and the newly punched through Lexington Avenue. Built to spite his neighbor for an insultingly low offer for his 5' sliver of land, each of the two houses built contained 8 suites each which rented for $500 per year.

While we don't recommend building strange homes to spite your neighbors, we are interested in designing homes for lots that seem unbuildable. If you own a piece of property that seems too difficult to build on, contact istockhouseplans and we'd be happy to design a home for you. We appreciate the challenge of taking the zoning and building codes to their limits. Don't be fooled by our stock skinny offering. We can make this thing look like a wide mouth bass.

What's the difference between an architect?

2010-06-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

In Oregon there exists a secret society that has all but trademarked a common word and all it's iterations. The only way you can claim to be an architect, do architectural drawings, or practice architecture is to be a 4-year schooled and trained, passed the exam, and certified professional. The idea is to protect the public from folks who do the same thing but are not board certified architects.

I suppose this is rather smart as it would be akin to separating attorneys from legal professionals. However it seems the public is not so trained in the difference. To the general public, anyone who designs a house is an architect. Time and again we have been referred to as architects, asked if we do architectural work, or had our work referred to as architecture. While we are flattered, please be aware that we are not trained or certified as architects per se. However, the State of Oregon cannot keep other individuals from drawing houses and submitting them for permits. (Nevada, however, can and does).

So to be clear, we are not architects. What are we then? We have always referred to ourselves as design professionals. What's the difference? We have training and experience, but we are not certified by a board. We are limited to designing homes of a particular size, but this has been a threshold higher than we care to reach. The main difference is that we cost way less.

If you are looking for a custom designed 8,000sf house, please contract the services of an architect. If you are looking for a cute little stock plan for an 1800sf home, look no further than Istockhouseplans. We have a diverse portfolio of homes and would be happy to help you with your next project.

Dream it, Design it, Build it, Pallet!

2010-06-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

We at Istockhouseplans have been a bit busy this last month exploring a new outlet. While designing standard homes is a lot of fun, we yearn to trade in our mouse and T-square for a hammer and framing square. For a long time we have been following Michael Janzen's Tiny Free House blog. Michael is attempting to (and succeeding at) building a tiny free house out of found materials. The main structure of the 96sf home is made out of pallets. Intriguing! And very sensible. After all, most pallets are already built with rigidity and rough handling in mind. He expanded this idea to a blog called the Tiny Pa llet House. Then there's John in Nova Scotia who has built several outbuildings and a fence out of pallets. We've even seen a pallet fence in our own neighborhood.

Enter our food co-op. The co-op runs a garden that is in need of a shed. Initially we stepped up to help with it. The sheer number of other interested folks made us shy away because after all, no one else would understand or be willing to embark on a pallet shed. After a few weeks, the call was put out again as no one had actually done anything other than raise their hands. So we called dibs on the project and immediately started designing for pallet use.

The shed is to be about 8'x8' and not terribly tall. It was designed to use 20 standard 40"x48" size pallets. There would be 2 courses of pallets 48" wide and 40" tall. This results in a plate line of 80" tall, good for doors. The pallets on the front would be relieved of about 14" of material each, leaving space for a 28" window. This 14" would then stack on top of and tie into the front wall making it about 8' when plates are considered. The plan was then to tie 6 pallets together to create the shed roof. The roof includes a 24" overhang on the back side to hide garbage cans. The whole thing would rest on some reclaimed cedar fence boards on top of a packed gravel floor.

Pallet shed floor plan, rear wall, and front wall.

Pallet shed side view, roof plan

The door works well as it is about a 3' gap left after 48" of pallets is put in the 7.5' +/- space between the sides of the front and back pallets. The pallets on the roof are tied together with some 2x4x8 inside the pallets and some 2x6 on the outside for trim. Corrugated clear roof panels keep the rain out. We were going to plywood the sides but reclaimed fence board could be used as vertical batts between pallet boards, or lapped as desired.

What actually happened is something a little different. There were a handful of free pallet ads on Craigslist. By the time we showed up, there was nothing left of anything close to 40"x48" pallets. So we surveyed a few sites and found some great 8'x6'-4" ish sized ones. Perfect! This was better than tying four smaller pallets together. There was even one that was 7'-4"x6'-4" which means it would fit right between the front and rear pallets without cutting and maintain the 8'x8' footprint. We loaded them onto (mind you, not INTO) the truck and drove to the site where we started prepping the panels to tie together. Unfortunately we couldn't do much else since gravel had not arrived for the floor.

Since the whole project is being attempted for the princely sum of no money down, no payments ever, we are looking for free gravel on Craigslist. Hopefully we will be done within a month. As progress is made, we will keep you posted and throw up a few pictures.

Release the Houses!

2010-05-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

In a flurry of activity and a flood of ink, we finished drafting up not one, not two, not five, but three new houseplans. All are live on our site as I type. "And what are these new, beautiful works of art" you may ask? Without further ado (okay, let's have some drum roll...)

The Richmond B. A longstanding gap has been filled. The Richmond A and C were separated by a void that is now filled. The C had been used to denote the Colonial version while the B had been reserved for the pronounced bay window version. The Richmond B is a reworking of the Richmond, but down to 18' wide and a full 24" deep bay in the dining room. Heck, the dining room IS the bay window. Due to the skinnying factor, minor modifications were made in the kitchen, flex room, and upstairs bedrooms. The upstairs auxiliary bath is no longer directly accessible from the hall but is now a private shared bath for the two bedrooms. The master suite dropped in size as well. Square footage went from 1606 down to 1470. All part of our master plan for minimalization. In fact, 2010 may be the year of all sub-1500sf plans.

The second plan to be released is the Hamblet. No, not a Shakespearean spelling error. The Hamblet is named for a short 5 block street in Northeast Portland, Oregon that is filled with at least a dozen examples of classic homes. We think the Hamblet would fit right in. The only problem we foresee is that the Hamblet is a mere 1374 square feet. Hamblet Street would be prone to double that. With 3 beds, bath and a half, formal dining and living, we think it would still appeal to the aesthetic.

Finally, in an odd turn of events, the Carver B entered the scene. First off, please be aware that if you have a building code in your jurisdiction, the Carver B version may not be for you. We attempted to take all the glory of the Carver and Carver A and make it into a 2 bedroom house - a 300sf 2 bedroom house. To accomplish this we had to ignore the 70sf bedroom rule. The "master" (sarcastic air quotes) bedroom is a whopping 63sf. Yes, you can shoehorn a queen bed in there. Maybe a highboy with 1' deep drawers underneath. The second "bedroom" is a 36sf (including closet) bunk room. There is enough space to walk in, turn around, get undressed, and climb into bed. On top of all that (quite literally) is a 70sf loft that can sleep another two folks adequately. We imagine the Carver B to be a bunkhouse where outdoor activities are more likely.

For all these plans and more, visit our website, drop us an email, or stalk us as we're out and about.

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

We here at Istockhouseplans believe that every day is Earth Day. That's why we design energy efficiency into all of our plans. And to make up for our length of silence, we'll be releasing several new plans with our next update. Our average square footage has been slowly reducing since our inception. Smaller square footage means less material use which means less of an impact on the earth. All of the plans we'll be releasing are under 1500sf and one of them is only 300sf.

What are YOU doing for Earth Day?

Advanced Placement

2010-03-30T14:52:00.000-07:00

Energy Trust of Oregon in their never ending quest for energy efficiency in that great state recently introduced their new incentive path for homes. Called Advanced Performance, this path breaks the bar in many ways. Most of us are used to designing and building 2x6 walls. This is going to be a bit of a challenge now. And we're not going to get to do post and beam floors anymore. Here are the specs:

Framed floors: R-38 joisted (P&B results in leaky floors and/or saggy insulation)
Slab floors: R-15 full slab with perimeter break
Walls: U-0.025. This means R-40 assembly, not just R-40 insulation. Either thicker walls or better insulation is required
Windows: 15% of floor area, U-0.22 weighted average
Doors: R-5
Ceiling: U-0.016. Like the walls, this means R-60 assembly, not insulation
Heating: 8.5 HSPF/13 SEER or better ductless inverter driven heat pump
Ventilation: HRV/ERV with 70% sensible recovery efficiency
Tightness: 2.5 ACH50 or better
Lighting: 90% CFL
Incentive: $4,000 plus state and federal tax credits

This isn't your Father's energy efficiency path. This is some serious action going on. We at Istockhouseplans are rather excited about this path and would love to help your home achieve it. If you'd like to build any of our plans to this standard, we would be happy to modify it for free. That's right. As a program ally of Energy Trust of Oregon, we'd be so excited to see a home like this get built that we'll do what we can to make it happen. Contact us if you'd like to learn more.

Windows 2.0

2010-03-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Ever noticed a new house that tries to look old? Some look terribly fake. Some do a great job. But none of them quite grab the look. Driving around town, it's not hard to spot the infill lots that have brand new period houses on them. We can even tell the difference between a well preserved old house, a well remodeled old home, and a brand new "old" home. Why? What's the difference? The eyes always give it away. In this case, the windows. Windows are a big part of a home and they can have a big effect on the way the home looks.

What is the big difference between old and new home windows? Crappy white vinyl frames? Not necessarily as old windows are often painted white. Grids? Not all old windows had grids and newer windows have some passable grids. We tend to think it's depth. Ever look at an old window? It's part of the framing. Now look at a new window. It's tacked to the outside of the framing like a 'Post No Bills' sign. Am I right? Tell me I'm wrong.

The big difference is in the way window production has changed over the years. When the aluminum flange window arrived on the scene, it made window installation quicker and more forgiving. A non-square opening no longer had to be shimmed to accept an inset window. Now the window could be squared on top of the sheathing and interior trim would cover the other side of the error.

Even though the look has been lost to mass production processes, it's not too hard to bring the look back. The first option is with new inset windows. Sometimes touted as replacement windows, these wood or wood clad panes set inside the framing the way their ancestors used to. There is a price to be paid for these windows though as they are not economically on par with their face flange cousins.

The second option is to use the cheaper face flange windows but spend another 5 minutes on each opening. First, frame your opening to 3" larger than required. Then use a smaller 2x framing member to sub frame your main opening. If you are framing 2x6 walls, line it with 2x4. If you are framing double 2x4 walls, use a piece that is wide enough to cover your interior stud, your gap, and then a little. A 10" double 2x4 wall would require a 2x8 sub frame. Your flange window then mounts to this sub frame and voila! Your windows have the appearance of being integral to the framing instead of slapped on top. A little 5/4 trim around the edges and it's a work of art.

Another benefit to this approach is that your water management just got a lot easier. As long as you have a sloped sill on the outside and a planned drainage path, you're good for the long haul. The water above the window opening gets kicked out by a piece of Z flashing at the head trim.

C'mon, my grandma could do this!

Istockhouseplans is committed to quality design and we hope you'll extend this to your building. Contact us with any questions during your build process and we'll be happy to give you free consultation.

Free Green at Last, Free Green at Last!

2010-03-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

Apologies for being absent for the last month. We were busy working on our entry for the FreeGreen Who's Next? design contest. The contest has 2 profiles, one for yuppies and one for retirees. We chose the yuppies and designed a house that could grow with them. Our design utilizes a 2 bed 1 bath home in 1000sf. There is an approximately 400sf finished attic that is ready for partitions (more bedrooms?). The most exciting feature of the home is the rear deck. It's built on a foundation that can support a future 336sf addition. Simply pull up the deck and build the house!

Competition is hot and heavy with 247 entries. Early voting shows us nowhere near winning but it is early. We're amazed by the number of houses that don't look like houses. If you think Istockhouseplans has got what it takes, show us your support by voting.

Thanks and we'll see you soon!

From Russia with... lumber?

2010-02-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

From the country who brought you the 9-segment LCD display, the motorcycle boat, and a 13-story wooden house, we present to you another fine idea from the former Soviet jewel.

If you can name the model of the car in the video, we'll give you 300 rubles off your next purchase.

Haitian Dirtbags

2010-01-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

For the past week plus we've watched the nation of Haiti fall apart after an earthquake. Reading stories and seeing the images makes us very disappointed that we can't just up and go to help. But what would we do? We have no medical experience. We could help distribute supplies, I suppose. But since our passion is architecture, our thoughts leaned that way. Many people have lost their homes to the 7.0 rumbler. Even the presidential palace is destroyed (as in structurally unsound, not rubble on the ground).

Why did the homes fail? Mostly because of the poor building practices. A good number of homes are concrete with less than adequate mix and not necessarily any rebar. Concrete has the distinction of being inflexible. If you stress it, concrete does not bend, it cracks and breaks. Bad for homes.

So we gave some thought to how we could help the residents of Port-au-Prince. We thought about buying them some rebar, but shipping costs would be a bit high. We thought about designing some prefab homes ala Michael Janzen, but he's got a great product already and lumber is not exactly plentiful on the island.

So then we ran across some blog entries on earthbag homes. What is that, pray tell? Take a bag, fill it with dirt, stack, repeat. Easy. You can check out a Haitian Dirtbag home here that withstood the quake just fine. The owner of this home, Father Theo, cares for orphans in Haiti and runs a blog here. Their other concrete buildings sustained some minor damage. Think this might be a fluke? Check out some earthbag testing here.

"So what?" you might say. "This all looks fine. Are you going to go to Haiti and build earthbag homes?" Not quite. But we believe Father Theo is on to something. Earthbag homes use local materials, can be built in a day, are sturdy, insulative, and cheap. We would like to lobby with Habitat for Humanity to consider rebuilding Port-au-Prince with earthbag homes to avoid any future apocalyptic aftermaths. Once we get that okay, we will begin donating a portion of our plan sales towards buying bags, barbed wire, and any other necessities to rehabilitate Haiti.

You can voice your opinion too by clicking here. Please write and tell them that you think earthbag homes would be the most sustainable housing stock for Haitian revival. May Haiti thrive.

Putting our Watts where our Mouth is

2010-01-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

For a couple of years now Istockhouseplans has been talking all about energy efficiency and how you should be including it in the homes you build. We've talked about stud spacing, floor joist spacing, truss spacing, thicker walls, advanced framing, and modular design. We've given you plenty of advice (solicited and un-) about what we think the world should be like.

But unlike the doctor who discourages you from smoking and then asks for a light, we can back up our claims. As part of our partnership with Energy Trust of Oregon, we are having our plans energy modeled. We'll start with a base code score and then suggest a few improvements that would be the most suitable regarding energy efficiency and your wallet. If you decide you want to get a lot more creative in your build (R-30 walls?), we can run a preliminary score for you to see how much better your home would be.

We'll spend the next few months updating our portfolio with these numbers and then give you the results. While we don't expect usage numbers in the teens (70's-80's is average), we do expect that you'll be able to give your buyers a more complete picture of their new home. Just another service that Istockhouseplans offers.

Twenty-Six Point Two

2009-12-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

Give up? Maybe you should check out this water heater and see what it means. Fuel usage? Cost? Size? Some strange puzzle based on the bizarre and random thinkings of the post author?

The Marathon hot water heater by Rheem is one of the most efficient tank heaters on the market. We appreciate that it comes as an electric unit. Since electric heat is practically 100% efficient, it makes sense that an electric tank water heater should be up there. The biggest problem with tanks is their standby losses. Leave home for a week and the tank will happily use your utilities to keep the water warm for you the whole time. With efficiencies as high as 94% it is touted that water in the Marathon will stay hot for up to 2 weeks. Awe. Some.

Another interesting player in the game is the Ruud heat pump water heater. Quite a mouthful. This unit combines both technologies into one device and claims an efficiency of 200%. This really shouldn't surprise you if you understand how heat pumps work. Some of the best heat pumps are currently 350% efficient. This water heater works like a refrigerator in reverse. Rather than spit out heat, it grabs it from the air and heats the water with it. We think it would make perfect sense to install one of these next to a fridge and let them work in tandem. Your fridge might appreciate the heat transfer.

We do not own stock in, get money from, or have beers with the representatives of either of these companies. We just think their products are ubercool and we would install them in our own homes. The only thing stopping us is the money that we would get from you buying one of our plans. Of course, istockhouseplans would be happy to specify any water heater you like including a black rubber bladder sitting in the sun. It's your house after all.

Where Energy Efficiency Counts

2009-12-08T10:45:00.000-08:00

Think you know how to save energy? Test yourself. Are the following measures efficient? (Is the payback period or energy savings worth the cost?):

Yearly furnace tune-ups: Y N
Properly sized furnace: Y N
Sealing basement ducts: Y N
Underfloor insulation: Y N
Caulking & weatherstripping: Y N
Window replacement: Y N
Tankless gas water heaters: Y N
Attic cooling: Y N

Did you answer no to any of the questions?

You get 1 point for every 'no' and zero points for every 'yes'. We were a little blown away too. Michael Blasnik with the Department of Energy has found that these measures on average are worthless and merely feel good. You can read his article to get a complete explanation of why these measures don't add up as well as a few more.

We at istockhouseplans were a little disappointed to see real world results on the tankless gas heater. Maybe electric is still okay? We've been promoting these in our homes and not setting aside a specific space for a tank water heater. Most of our homes do have enough space to put a water heater tank, either in a large closet, under stairs, or in the laundry room. Next time we'll review a couple of tank heaters that we've found to be very efficient.

Also check out our istock4kids page where we've put two more puzzles to delight and entertain.

Small Bonus Post

2009-12-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

Found this in The Daily Oregonian from Portland, Oregon:

"I think there are two significant movements in the country," Chapin says. "One is that bigger is better; that's been the prevailing notion for the last 50 years. Another movement says small is beautiful.

"I think the first movement is moving toward its sunset, and the second is more on the rise."

Small Houses go Big-time

Small Homes in the News

2009-11-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

Istockhouseplans is proud to announce the release of two new plans, the Carver and the Carver A. Both plans cover 18' wide by 22' deep including the porch. Both plans are just under 300sf with a sleeping loft of almost 100sf. These are some intentional entries into the small house plan market and we are proud to showcase them.

We at istockhouseplans aren't the only ones who think small is the new big. We've found some great articles that tout small and some just lambast bombast. Click the links for further reads. Unfortunately, some publishers require a login to access the full article and we just aren't allowed to copy and paste it. Maybe you're already signed up with them and we brought this to your attention.

Fine Homebuilding.

Wall Street Journal. Be sure to check out the interactive graphics.

Los Angeles Times photo story.

San Francisco Chronicle. Some interesting comments.

You can see the rest of our tiny homes as well.

Open Contest at FreeGreen

2009-11-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

The folks at FreeGreen are holding a design contest open to anyone. The premise is that they are looking for new talent to enter the marketplace. Contrary to most other contests, entries are not anonymous. Even if you don't win, you still get exposure on their website which is huge. The winning entries get to have their plans available for sale on the website.

Of course we are entering. Did you have to ask? Since the posting of the plan on their website is optional and also not proprietary, this will be another plan that we can add to our portfolio. This home (given the FreeGreen mission) is going to be designed to be a clear energy saver. That means the faint of heart should stay away. We are aiming for an R-50 or greater shell all around. The hope is that the energy use of the home can get to a point where only 2kWh or less of solar panels can be used to take care of the designed electricity load.

Think you can compete with istockhouseplans? Join the fun!

New Website Part the Second

2009-10-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

You may not notice any change to our website, which is now up and running. A couple of weeks ago we told you about the issues we had when Google changed their webpage host from Page Creator to Sites. Most of the problems were resolved but we do have to go through every page now and fix the error that shows (or rather doesn't show) pricing. We may just remove this as it is redundant to the information in the checkout box. So you should be able to use the page mostly as before.

The biggest benefit is that by being hosted on GoDaddy, we have a direct URL and no more forwarding. The drawback is the advertising bar at the top of every page. To eliminate it, download Mozilla Firefox web browser and the AdBlock Plus Add-On. We have found it to be excellent at removing 99.99% of all web ads.

We will have some tiny house plans up by the end of the year. We are also dabbling with the idea of designing, building, and selling small mobile houses similar to Tumbleweed Homes. These will be one of a kind and based on the trailer that is available. As with our plan sets, we will not charge for local delivery.

New Website

2009-10-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sort of... not really. We had given warnings that Google would be moving hosting of our pages from their Pages protocol to the new (and less improved) Sites protocol. The migration finally took place and our site looks awful. Well, awful compared to how it was. That, and the functionality has been engineered out of it. So now you can look at an aesthetic eyesore of a website from which you can't buy plans. Great marketing, eh?

We will be desperately trying to revive the page with as much of our intermediate web savvy as we can. In the meantime, you might want to see how the Japanese build a house in a day...

Countdown to Eternity

2009-09-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon faithful blog followers! We want to let you know about some changes at the old istockhouseplans homestead. For a while we changed our checkout system to Paypal, but their inability to offer coupons sent us back to Google Checkout. With Google Checkout you can confidently purchase house plans from us knowing that we will never, ever see your credit card number. Now, whether or not you trust Google is a different story. We have also implemented a shopping cart feature which is one of the reasons we went with Paypal for a while. Sort of annoying to order a whole load of plans one at a time.

This calls for a celebration! In order to move some inventory by the end of the year, we are offering a coupon code for 50% off your order. Yes, half off everything in the store, right down to the fixtures and CFL lightbulbs. (Okay, no lightbulbs, apparently we aren't closing our doors). After you fill your cart up with all sorts of goodies, enter coupon code '2009' to take advantage of this offer.

Why buy from us? Three reasons: Our plans are simple to build; our plans are beautiful and functional; our plans are designed for energy efficiency.

After the end of the year, the rest of our coupons will still be available. (Hint: sort our blog posts by the 'coupon' label to see what else we might have). Of course if there are any questions or complaints, go ahead and email us and we'll try to give you the best customer service experience we possibly can.

Tiny Houses

2009-09-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

Much like Don Ho, Jay Shafer likes to share about things tiny. Istockhouseplans recently had a chance to attend a Tumbleweed House Workshop and to meet Jay personally. Jay's desire to live in a 100sf home for the past decade led him to start drawing up and offering plans to the public. His homes range from 65 to 500+ square feet. Smaller homes from 65sf to 140sf are built on trailers and considered mobile homes. Jay did not start out as an architect or builder. His degree is in art which gives a very fresh right-brained look at the design and building process.

Our left brains have been inspired by meeting Jay and getting a feel for his process. While we have already added some tiny homes to our portfolio, expect to see more in the future. This is a big wave and we hope to steer some of it, not just ride it. For those of you who are not comfortable with tiny houses, consider them as well thought out, amenity rich accessory dwelling units, or whatever it is that you might call them. Just don't call them shacks or shanties.

What do you think, gentle reader? Could you live in a tiny house full time? Why or why not?

Time to School You

2009-09-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

With the start of school rapidly approaching, istockhouseplans wanted to be able to reach out to a larger audience than we previously had. We unveil to you our kids section, aimed at grade school students. The page currently has some fun activities. We plan to add educational sections shortly to teach kids about how houses are built. Yes, you can probably find these resources elsewhere, but we will go so far as to explain advanced framing techniques to kids. At some point we'd like to create short videos explaining building science.

But for now you can download and print some activity sheets for your kids in pdf. There is also a website treasure hunt that will grow with time. If your kids have questions about the design and building processes of houses, let us know and we will be happy to answer them. We may even post the answers on a Kids FAQ.

Welcome back to school!

Habitat for Learning

2009-08-18T11:21:00.001-07:00

We recently had the chance to spend a day on a Habitat for Humanity build site volunteering our time in exchange for seeing some framing up close and personal. We were hoping to get some light framing experience in. Unfortunately the framing was already done. Fortunately the insulation and sheetrock had not been installed so we could get a good look at stuff. In a former life, the foreman had built LEED homes in Wyoming. He incorporated some of that mentality into these homes and the result is an easy build with great results.

We hope that right away you will notice the two-stud corner. Great for eliminating cold pockets. Also shown is a raised-heel truss which allows full insulation to the edge of the roof. Hopefully full blocking will be added before the ceiling is covered.

This project looks it will employ an airtight drywall approach. The interior walls have been set 1" away from the exterior walls so that drywall may pass behind and be continuous. No air leaks here or extra backing required.

Finally, an oddball built-up header. While we laud the use of standard 2x6 lumber and OSB scraps to make a substantial header, this will make for a thermal bridge. If all 3 pieces of 2x6 are needed, we would recommend 2x6,2x6,1" foam,2x6. This would allow for bearing, insulation, and a sturdy surface from whence to hang curtain rods from.

There are several more Habitat projects in our area and we hope to get in on some framing action in the next month or two. In the meantime we will continue to expand our portfolio of small homes. Visit istockhouseplans and see our latest plans, or add this blog into your RSS feed.

Shrimp, stroke, iron, roof

2009-08-04T07:47:00.000-07:00

What do these things have in common? They all have a butterfly variety. However, which one can cause extensive damage to your home? Please assume your current neighbor does not play Ina-Gadda-da-Vida at '11' all day long.

The butterfly roof is a nightmare waiting to happen. For those of you not in the know (and we take a chance by giving you the wrong type of armament) butterfly roofs take the idea of a roof and turn it upside down. That is, the peak is really a valley in the middle of your house, and the edges are on the high side. This has the general idea of draining all the water into the center of your house. Oh sure, there are roof membranes and back-up plans and a plan C in case all else fails. But I would like to put forth to you this: Would you try to race your car at 150mph on the freeway at 3am because you have high-speed impact bumpers, a five point harness, airbags all 'round, and a million dollar insurance policy? Why invite disaster?

Now there are some of the neo-modern movement who would argue aesthetics with me. "Mies van der Rohe would love it!" Well good for Rohe. If Rohe jumped off a bridge, would you? Okay, sorry about the motherly retort.

Now, if you live in an area of no rainfall, such as Los Angeles then please, by all means, knock yourself out. But if you have transplanted yourself to the rainy northern parts of the country such as Canada, please consider for a moment your rain and snow situation.

Flat roofs? Same deal. If your drain backs up against your parapet and your scuppers are misinstalled, grab a towel and take a dip. ("What'd he say?")

In the interest of durability and creating a home that will last for you, Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner, Istockhouseplans has taken great pains to ensure that even Laurel and Hardy could build you the best house possible.

Don your Helmets

2009-07-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Istockhouseplans has received lots of compliments on the look of our web page. We want to say thank you to everyone who has given us kudos. If we haven't heard from you on that note, we'll assume you're introverted and have meant to. We'll thank you in advance.

To that end, we want to warn you about an upcoming change. We have been hosting our sites on Google's Page Creator utility. Unfortunately, Google is discontinuing that utility in favor of another one called Sites. Now who are we to balk at free web design AND hosting AND porting? But we have read some news that some links and features have become unavailable with the transition. In the next few weeks we expect our site to make it's final transition and we want to apologize in advance for any hiccups that may occur. While we expect everything to work fine, there could possibly be some problems. If you need information, please send us an email at info@istockhouseplans.com.

We're also in the process of updating our checkout feature to a more user friendly Paypal shopping cart. Now you can enjoy secure shopping, no hard-selling, and the protection that comes with Paypal. As always, shipping is still free. If you are interested in purchasing a plan and see an old Google checkout button, please let us know so that we can convert it to the new Paypal version. If you are interested in multiple plans, remember we do offer a discount. Email us with what you are looking for and we will put together a package price for you. Since we are going to Paypal, all of our old coupon codes may not be working. We will update as soon as they do.

Creston the Next Wave

2009-07-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

We first mentioned our Creston plan in September of 2007 as part our courtyard housing entry. Then we promised to release it soon in October. Finally in January 2008 we made it a New Year's resolution to release the plan. Obviously we have little regard for resolutions. Here we are a year and a half later mentioning it again. It would begin to be a psychological nightmare were it not for...

The release of the Creston!

We finally sat our behinds back down and finished the darned thing up. You can see the plan here and order it at the bottom of the page. The Creston is a 3 bed, 2.5 bath home on two levels with 1500sf. When we started designing the home, there was a path 8 energy efficiency in Oregon's building code that allowed 2x4 wall construction. The caveat was that house size was limited to 1500sf and windows were limited to 12% of the heated floor area. You also needed to install R-49 insulation in the attic. Well our release took so long that path 8 was written out of the code. So our house is essentially a moot point. The other self-imposed restriction was based on the City of Portland, Oregon's minimum R-5 zone lot width of 36', resulting in a 26' wide plan.

Since the walls are of 2x4 construction, the house should follow code in most of the country. In the Northwest where R-21 walls are required, you can either bump them up on site or install R-15 batts with an inch of polyisocyanurate rigid foam on the outside, or an inch and a half of EPS foam. You could also fill the walls with r-6+ per inch spray foam.

The other drawback to the plan is the lack of front facing windows. We were going for a certain look, after all. We have another sketched version with an extra window on each level and we may release that one very shortly as the 'A' with a different facade. In any event we're finally happy to have it available to the public.

Check out the plan and give us your feedback. Remember, we're here for you!

Too Small?

2009-06-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the blog at www.ninetinyfeet.com, we decided to set out with our own version of a micro house. If you didn't already follow this blog, ninetinyfeet seeks to create a shelter no bigger than the area taken by an adult laying down, 9sf. We would argue that while a chalk outline might encompass 9sf, this makes for slightly uncomfortable sleeping; more akin to an old-school coffin. The Japanese have a saying similar to, "Awake, half a mat; asleep, one mat". A mat (or tatami) is approximately three feet by six, or 36.8x71.6", or 17.8sf. This is about the size of a twin mattress. Maybe ninetinyfeet should rethink their goal, though the shelters sure do stretch the mind.

In a similar interest, we considered the queen size mattress. Picnicking on a blanket no larger than 60x75", ninetinyfeet inspired us to think about living in a 40sf minus shed. The first thing that came to mind was one tatami to sleep on, a 30" kitchen unit, and a small humanure toilet. Then we figured if ninetinyfeet could loft some of his space that we would do the same. We lofted a single bed (30x75") leaving 6'-4" of headroom. The 30" kitchen unit and the humanure toilet cover one wall leaving 24sf of floor. A permanent ladder on the opposite wall lets you reach the bed loft. The toilet can be covered by a bench seat for sitting, with a fold down or slide over or fold-down-slide-over table.

Now before you get too concerned, we are not going to start designing and selling these as our primary plans. This was an experiment to get us to think outside the box. The walls are 2x3 @ 24" o.c., filled with insulation and then covered with 1" of rigid foam. There is a 28" porch on the front. The house (?) has been more or less value engineered. If we wanted to get crazy and consider portability, we could make the porch roof hinge down, the porch floor hinge up, and everything travel in less than 8' wide and 12' tall.

In the coming months, look for some tiny homes from istockhouseplans. We are playing around with some plans sized at around 300sf-400sf, all compliant with the IRC building code. You can call us crazy, just don't call us late for dinner.

Extra, extra, read all about it!

2009-06-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

As if our blog wasn't enough, we've now teamed up with www.free-press-release.com to release general noteworthy news items. Whenever press releases are sent out, we will link to them from our blog in lieu of our general istockhouseplans update. You can read our first press release here.

Parlez tu Deutschish?

2009-06-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

We at istockhouseplans wish to be as accommodating as possible. After all, you are our guest. To that end, we have added language tools to our site. Can't read English? (irony realized). Simply scroll to the bottom and click on the flag of your country or language of origin. Since we have had interest in our plans from several different countries, we figured we would not be so haughty as to assume that everyone can speak a modicum of English. So we humbly submit to you our page, available in seven common languages. Missed you? Please feel free to visit Google's translation page to see what we're talking about.

Elsewise we're creating some more tiny houses. Inspired by the Small House Movement, we are adding more house plans in the less than 600sf range, even aiming for 300sf and less. Cramming everything you need in a small space isn't so hard; it's the lipstick factor. Our larger house plans look great because there's so much to work with. The smaller ones will end up looking like playhouses due to scaled down elements. 4x4 porch posts with wrap are just too large. 8' ceilings tend to take things out of proportion. Egress windows overpower the cute appearance.

Since it's been a while since we posted new plans, we're sure you're looking forward to something. Stay tuned.

Radiant Floor Heat

2009-05-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

It was a year ago that we promoted the Warmboard floor system as our choice of heating in homes. We have gotten comments about how expensive that floor system can be. Correct, materials and labor do make it an expensive alternative. Consider that you are removing a $4000-$5000 furnace and ductwork system. Also consider that the floor panels themselves act as the structural floor sheathing. For a 2000sf house you are saving another $1000 by not buying a couple loads of 3/4" T&G plywood. You will probably have to install a second water heater, or a larger water heater, as well as a manifold to handle your different zones.

Also consider this: If your home needs a 60,000 BTU furnace, would you install a 100,000 BTU just to be safe? No! Never! This is poor use of resources and your money. Likewise, would you install a larger radiant floor system than you need? Why? Radiant hydronic floor heat generates about 18-25 BTU/sf of floor. If your home needs 40,000 BTU to stay warm, then you would need to lay 2200sf of 18 BTU/sf system.

But many homes of 2200sf in size only need 30,000 BTU of heat (average NW home). If they are built well, air sealed well, and insulated better, that can be reduced to 20,000 BTU or less. Now do the math. You need 20,000 BTU and your system is 20 BTU/sf. Now you only need 1000sf of panels. This is less than half the floor area. Would you still lay the whole floor, just because? Why? This is akin to doubling your furnace size. Instead, save your money and lay the radiant system only where you need it. Do you need it in bedroom and linen closets? Probably not. Pantry? No. Kitchen? Probably not. The appliances in there create enough residual heat, unless you spend a lot of time cooking barefoot and want warm toes. Hallways and the laundry room could avoid it as well. Bathrooms don't need it under the fixtures. This could remove about 400sf. You could remove more by avoiding areas where furniture would permanently sit.

Since the panels are 4x8x1-1/8", they will fit seamlessly with standard 1-1/8" panels. In our previous example, we could cover half the floor with standard sheathing. Another consideration? With 1-1/8" floor sheathing, your floor joists could span 24" o.c. thereby saving you on framing materials.

And savings is what istockhouseplans is all about.

Recession Buster

2009-05-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

Are we at bottom yet? Rock bottom? Sandy bottom? Crab grazing bottom? Let's pretend we are and istockhouseplans will help you jumpstart the economy. For a limited time (probably through the end of the year, your mileage may vary) we want to offer deep discounts on our best plans (all of them). When making an order through our website, use coupon code 'bottom' to receive 40% off any order of $500 or more. As always, there is no shipping charge.

Are we crazy? We've been called worse.

Heat Science 101

2009-04-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

Most of the time we assume to know everything. Sometimes folks can say it better than we can. Back Woods Home magazine has an excellent article series on energy science. Why plagiarize when we can just send you there?

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago111.html

Follow the Blue Star

2009-04-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

All this prior talk about energy efficiency and well built homes made us decide to do something about it. So we went ahead and partnered with Energy Star for our home designs. All of our stock plans can be simply modified to meet Northwest and National Energy Star guidelines. What does this mean? This means that our qualified plans will carry the Energy Star logo. If your home is built with the details we show, you can achieve an Energy Star label for the home. When you order a plan, please let us know that this is your intention and we will contact you about how you want to achieve the standard. We will work these details into the plan before we send it to you.

For the national scale, this can probably best be achieved by using 2x6 walls (as most of our plans are) or 2x4 with exterior rigid foam, R-38 raised heel trusses, R-30 floors and U=0.35 windows among other things. For the Northwest, we are familiar with the four BOP paths, the most common of which is the envelope upgrade. Hawaii has its own set of rules.

Now your homes can be more energy efficient when you purchase plans from istockhouseplans. Come see our catalog today.

Golden Post

2009-03-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hey how about that, we've hit 50 posts! Since June 26, 2007 we've been telling you all about our wacky ideas for building better houses. Can you believe we've been talking about 24" o.c. framing or adding exterior foam lo these 2 years now? Crazy! Ducts in the house? Ludicrous!

Not so crazy actually. All across the country, more and more builders are waking up and realizing that they are building the worst houses they possibly can without going to jail. This is called a code home. Much of this change comes from consumers realizing that there are better homes out there and that they don't have to settle for the Cheap Charlie, Get 'Em Up by Friday contractor 'specials'. Much of it has to do with the terrible housing market right now that has forced builders to either step up or go out of business. If Centex and Pulte are having issues, how are you doing Joe Q. Builder?

Just waking up? About to go out of business? Contact Istockhouseplans today and let us help you gain an edge. A razor sharp, honed, hair-splitting edge.

His or HERS?

2009-03-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

You may remember back in November that we mentioned our new partnership with Energy Trust of Oregon. This relationship allows us to have access to CAD details and other resources that will help any home you buy from us to be energy efficient and durable.

A new feature that we can offer due to this partnership is a HERS score or an Energy Performance Score (EPS). The HERS score is available nationally as an index of how well your home is built compared to the same home built to code. The EPS is available in Oregon only (for the time being) as a tool to show total consumption of your home compared to total consumption of other homes.

The difference? Both a 5000sf and a 1500sf house can have a HERS score of 80. This means that they are both built 20% better than code. For the Oregon EPS though, the 5000sf home is more likely to have a score of 170 whereas the 1500sf will be closer to 50. You can easily see that the 5000sf home uses more than 3x the energy (and costs over 3x to heat) than the 1500sf. This makes perfect sense given that the 5000sf home is more than 3x larger than the 1500sf home.

The upshot? If you order a plan through our website, we will work with you to create a HERS score if you wish for no extra charge. This will include giving you a preliminary score after a brief consultation on what options you would like to include in your home, customized for the area you will be building in. If you are interested in getting a final HERS certificate for the home, you will need to find a provider local to your area.

As usual, all of our plans on the istockhouseplans website are designed to be easy to build with material usage taken into consideration. Even if you aren't looking for a score of any sort, rest assured that our plans will be energy and material efficient on their own merits.

Fat Walls

2009-02-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to our previous post regarding Passive Houses, we would like to explore some options for making a wall more insulated. Code allows for the wall to be less insulated than the rest of the home. While a roof is R38 (all figures are for the Northwest) and floors are R30, walls are only required to be R21. This is 33% worse than floors and only half as good as roofs. On top of this, walls have all these nasty holes called 'windows' that reduce the actual value down to R13 at best. This makes the walls a full 2/3 worse than the roof.

"Well that's okay, because heat rises, right?"

No. No, and no. Hotter air rises above colder air but heat moves any direction from hot to cold. Ideally a house should be equally insulated on all planes. This means we need to get walls up to the R30 to R40 range.

First option: Standard wall of actual R13 plus 4" of XPS rigid foam board gets you to R33. Not bad, but 4" of foam really messes with window openings and requires some extra detailing.

Second option: Advanced frame 2x6 wall with actual value of R18 plus 2" of same foam gets up to R28. Not bad, but not enough.

Third option: Add U=0.20 windows (R5) to this wall and start touching R30.

As you can see, there's not much left to do except...

Fourth option: Increase wall to 2x8 advanced framing (R24 actual) with 2" foam to get R34.

Our current favorite option: Two separate 2x4 walls with a 1" air gap in the middle and 2" of XPS foam on the outside, U=0.20 windows. This gets up to an R40 and is easy to frame. One wall is built to standard advanced framing, then the second wall is built with a minimum of lumber. All it has to do is hold gypsum in place. The gap at windows and doors is bridged with plywood gussets. This means the window openings will have to be 1/2" bigger on each side. Every extra inch of gap you'd like to add will increase the insulation value by another R3-R4.

"But I'm going to lose floor space in the house!"

Really? How much will you really lose? A standard 40x40' house with a 20x20' garage in the corner has 160' of perimeter. Two and one-half extra inches of wall reduces your floor space by 33sf. We're talking powder room or walk-in closet. And besides, if you're more worried about the little amount of floor space over an energy efficient home, we'd like to have a talk about priorities.

Besides, Passive House promotes 12". We're just advocating little steps.

If you'd like to hear more about these systems, drop us a line or visit istockhouseplans website.

Passive House

2009-02-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

Last post we discussed some interesting ways to increase the R-value of your walls while still maintaining normal and acceptable building practices. But let's say you want to take it a step further. Welcome the Passive House, a remarkable building process started in Germany and quickly becoming a popular method of building homes. Passive houses require no heating source but are generally required to have one per code.

"Wait, no heating source? No furnace, no baseboard heaters, no heat pump, no radiators?" Yup. I mean, nope, none of that. The homes are built so tight and insulated so well that they get heated every time you use a hair dryer or brew coffee. In fact you could keep the home heated all winter with a few well placed candles.

"But if the house is built tight and you're burning candles, won't you die of carbon monoxide inhalation? Shouldn't the house breathe?" Oh for the love of Pete, if your house 'breathed' you would be making monay selling tickets to an authentic haunted house. Houses don't need to breathe. The occupants inside need to breathe and yes you need to cycle fresh air through.

Performance issues first. R-values need to be 44 or better. This does not mean using R-44 insulation. This means the average value of your whole wall, including energy sucking R-3 windows, needs to be accounted for. Floors and ceilings need to achieve the same values. Currently these values are in the R-10 range for walls (using R-21 insulation), and R-30 for floors and ceilings assuming no penetrations. So the solution for floors and ceilings is simple, increase the value to R-49 in both and call it good. The walls are a little more difficult. How would you achieve an R-50 wall? One method is to use 9.5" I-joists for studs and fill the cavities with either spray foam or high-density blow-in. This gets you to R-38, and then add 3" of EPS rigid foam board to the outside. Typical windows are as good as R-3 (U=0.32), but R-7 (U=0.14) windows can be used.

Typical houses leak at a rate of 10 or so air changes per hour when you suck out 50 CFM of air. An Energy Star home cannot exceed 7 and 2 or 3 is generally considered darned good. But the Passive House must not exceed 0.6 ACH at CFM50.

"Oh the cost! This would be a fortune!". How much do you think it really is? Since R-5 windows are about the limit available in the U.S., you are looking at roughly an $8000 increase for a modest 2000sf home (foam is cheap). Not terrible, but here's the kicker. You can skip the HVAC system, so there's a $4000 savings. Instead you'll install a small HRV system to provide fresh air to the home without it adversely affecting temperature. Add about $2000. You'll also want to provide a couple of small cadet heaters so add another $1000. So you're in it for $7000 extra. But when you sell the house, market it well and you'll gain an extra $20,000 over similar homes. Why? Because the heating/cooling bills will be reduced from $200/mo to less than $50/mo. The extra $20k will finance at $120/mo. Math says that your buyers will save a few bucks a month or break even. That assumes that energy costs will stay stable. If you believe this, I've got a barn to sell you. So consider that this becomes a hedge against future energy costs and your buyer breaks even and gets a more comfortable home.

If you'd like your next house to be aggresively passive, we would be happy to detail it for you.

What a stud!

2009-01-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

What makes the Northwest unique? Green trees, pristine beaches, and live volcanoes? Yes, but what makes building homes in the Northwest unique? Give up? It's the size of stud used. Throughout the rest of the country builders rely on the trusty 2x4. But here in the Northwest the energy code has demanded that the 2x6 become the weapon of choice. So what do we do with the 2x6? We space them 16" apart and fill the cavities with R-21 insulation. Every where else they do the same thing but max out with R-15 high density batts. Crazy! While Portland, OR uses R-21 for it's 4600 heating degree days, Minneapolis allows R-15 for it's whopping 8000+ heating degree days. Seems insane to me.

Now, let's say you want more insulation. You could use the 2x6 stud, but keep in mind your wall will still be 33% - 50% less insulated than your floors or ceiling. (That's okay, heat rises, right? Okay smart guy, if that's the case, why insulate your floor? 'Heat' does NOT rise). Digressing, you can see that your walls are seriously hampered compared to your hat and socks. How do you feel about 2x8 walls with R-25? Not well, I suppose. But what about 2x6 walls at R-21 with (wait for it) 2" of EPS rigid foam insulation? Suddenly you've come close to R-30 for your wall. Not bad, eh? And if you're still stuck on 2x4 studs with R-15, 3" of EPS rigid foam will bring you to a more comfortable R-27. Besides that, exterior foam makes a great thermal break between your studs and the outside world.

Since Istockhouseplans is a Northwest company, we've been used to the idea of specifying 2x6 studs on all of our plans. If you are a builder anywhere else, please don't let that stop you from using our plans. Simply use our blueprints and replace the studs with 2x4. Though our drawings show 6" thick walls, our details specify that either 2x4 or 2x6 are acceptable. If it's really a breaking point with your jurisdiction, let us know and we'd be happy to redraw the plans at no extra charge. That's our service to you.

Are you up to code?

2009-01-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

Have you heard this question before? Water cooler, permit office, job site? What does up to code mean? Does it mean your home complies with code? Good. But what does code really mean? Have you ever tried to build a home below code? Have you gotten away with it? Has it come back to bite you?

Enough of the inquisition. A code home (if your jurisdiction has a code) is the MINIMUM home you can legally build. In other words, if you built a home any less than code, you could go to jail. So a code home is the worst home you can build without getting into legal trouble with the state. Is that how you're defining your company, by building the worst homes possible?

If you couldn't tell that we were in a housing slump, good for you. If you're out there trying to market your homes for 30% less than list price without success, let me tell you why. It's because your home is the worst home legally allowed. Meanwhile Joe Toolbelt has upped his ante and is putting energy efficiency features into his homes and they're selling. What's that mean, bamboo floors and low VOC paints? No, that means 24" o.c. studs, increased insulation values, a quality heat pump or 95% furnace and a myriad of other features that make your house use 30% less energy than before. "Won't that cost extra?". No, no, and no. You've made it obvious that there is a learning curve, but you've also shown me that you've broken that before. The 1992 code shattered all your ideals, but you got the hang of it. Now I'm telling you to do it again.

If you are a GC, get energy efficiency figured out, then talk to your subs. I'll bet your subs would frame in a monkey suit right now if it guaranteed they would get your framing job. Tell them how you want your house built, and tell them that you have no qualms about dropping them midway through the project if they're not doing it right. Are you a sub? Figure out the energy efficiency for your trade and market yourself for the same price as before.

If you can figure out new technology like pneumatic nailers and factory-built trusses, surely you can do better than 80% furnaces and batt insulation. Need help? Come to istockhouseplans and get our energy efficiency details with every plan.

Your Current Home

2008-12-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

How efficient is your current home? If you're Al Gore, not very. If you live in a yurt, you win. Most of us are using more energy than we need to and don't even realize it. We were getting ready to post a page on energy efficiency measures you can do on your own home right now, but then Bruce Harley came out with a book titled "Cut Your Energy Bills Now: 150 Smart Ways to Save Money and Make Your Home Comfortable and Green". Trumped we were. So instead of coming up with our own small list, we prefer to defer to one of the masters of energy efficiency and recommend his book. By following a couple of his suggestions, you could more than pay for the book in a couple months or less.

We'll be taking the rest of the year off for holiday. Enjoy your holiday season and we'll see you again next year.

Your friends at istockhouseplans.

In Cahoots

2008-12-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

Happy December. We're all fat off of turkey leftovers and thinking about taking another nap. But before the tryptophan kicks in again we thought we should impart some news to you. The Energy Trust of Oregon recently launched their Architectural Design Professionals Program Ally, um, program. Guess who got in the front door? Yeah baby, we are now certified designers of energy efficient homes. Okay, maybe we're not certified anything (or much) but istockhouseplans now has the support backing us to make sure that the next home you buy from us will have the details guaranteed to make it an energy sipper; unlike us with mashed potatoes and eggnog. If you are thinking of building to ENERGY STAR or LEED standards, we can help.

That's only the half of it though. We've done our part to make your next home downright awesome, but you've still got to find a builder who can and will comply with our written demands. Not quite as easy a task, mind you. We can send you down a gravy train path of enlightenment though. Go to the Energy Trust's website and use their handy dandy search page to find a qualified contractor in your area. This search (and our details) are only available for homes to be built in Oregon, however.

To get these (mostly) exclusive details, visit istockhouseplans or email us for details. Now please excuse us. I think the stuffing is calling.

Small, Efficient and Beautiful

2008-11-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

As if we needed to justify our reason for designing smaller homes, read Energy Source Builder #52 August 1997. Some of the tips included are:

Sharing spaces (do you really need an office AND media room AND guest bedroom?)
Remove formal spaces (that vestigial living room is not much more than a furniture museum)
Build furniture into rooms (probably should only be reserved for the Master Craftsman)
Provide ample storage (you don't need more square footage to live in, just more to store your consumerism)
Enhance trim and detail (turn that dinger into a zinger)
Bring the outdoors in (covered decks and porches cost a fraction of the house)

The article continues on to give calculations for figuring the perceptual space of a house. In theory, a home with more interior walls, lower ceilings and less outdoor spaces would feel smaller. While this concept can be agreed upon, we're not so sure about this idea. Given this theory, a single story geodesic dome with a 500sf footprint could easily double in perceived square footage based on vertical volume and design of the dome. Our preferred method for calculating perceived space is as follows:

Calculate square footage of the home;
Calculate square footage of anything sitting on your floor;
Double the second number;
Subtract it from the first number.

You may notice that the more crowded your home is, the smaller it feels. Want to increase your perceived square footage? Give away half of your stuff.

Some builders might argue that smaller houses use more materials per square foot, and therefore cost more per square foot to build. Sure, they're right. But will those builders be paying the utility bills that are based on volume after the home is occupied? You can bet not! Quite appropriately the builders are only concerned with making as much money as possible and small homes do not allow as big a profit.

Some plan collection websites have a page dedicated to small houses. Istockhouseplans entire webpage is dedicated to smaller homes.

Small Living, Big Impact

2008-11-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

After long wait, please welcome the Albina to our lineup of houseplans. The Albina is a mere 16' wide and 32' deep. There is a large living area, small kitchen, small bathroom and one bedroom all within 512sf. But best of all is the 300sf loft. We see this as a great area to play games, put the kids, or store your consumerism. Designed as an accessory dwelling unit or weekend cabin, we would give you kudos if it were your main home. Not big enough for your primary residence? Try the new and improved Albina A! Now with 48 more square feet! Sure to meet all your needs! Is it a dining room? Sleeping nook? Office? Yes, yes, and yes.

As if you needed more incentive to build small, consider also that you could cram four of these gems onto a 50x100 city lot in most jurisdictions. If you buy three Albinas, we'll throw in the fourth one for free. Just like a tire sale. So come on down to Big Al's and see us today!

Are you a Master Craftsman?

2008-10-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Joe Builder, how would you define the quality of your work? Above average? Awesome! But it is statistically impossible for everybody to be above average. Better than most? It is also statistically impossible for everyone to be better than most everybody else. But I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt if you'll just answer a few questions:

1. What sort of measurement tolerance out of plane are you comfortable with?
A. Huh?
B. As long as it all comes together
C. As long as my eyeball doesn't notice
D. I am familiar with a crowbar and sledgehammer
E. Absolutely none! I don't know why it takes me a year to build...

2. What do you do with bowed studs?
A. Never seen one
B. Give 'em a kick
C. Crown 'em to the outside
D. Shims and a plane
E. I only use #1 grade lumber everywhere

3. How many dumpsters does it take to clear your site after a home is finished?
A. As many as it takes!
B. 3 or more
C. 1-2
D. I sort all of my waste for recycling
E. My purchase orders have a 0% overage estimate

Scoring: 1 point for each A answer, 2 points for each B, etc.

How did you do?

3-7 points: Please, for the environment's sake, STOP BUILDING!
8-10 points: You are the norm and could learn some things for a better bottom line.
11-14: Nice work buddy, our hat's off to you.
15: We bow to your craftsmanship but worry about your mental health.

Why does this matter? Because you could be saving money, energy, time, and materials by learning to build more energy efficient. Our details are a good start. Talk to your local utility or bookmark www.buildingscience.com to learn about more efficient building techniques. Especially now, your bottom line matters. Email us if you'd like to learn more.

Technically speaking...

2008-10-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

We are not much for designing websites. When it comes to designing house plans we can go at it all day long. Thankfully our website is based on a template. But we got a bug the other day and started seeing what we could do to improve the site. Several cool features:

Google search our site right from our homepage;

Add our site to your favorite social bookmarking network;

As previously mentioned we have a survey and a sitemap available.

We are also dinking around with our hosting, have added a favicon and some other behind the scenes nonsense. If the site is down here and there, please be patient and try again soon. We are redirecting some links and the internet will need to catch up.

Of course if you see anything else that just don't look right, let us know and we'll get right on it.

Hope to see you soon.

What's your R-value?

2008-09-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

You've just bought 200 rolls of pink insulation at your local big box hardware store. You look at the bag and see R-21. You're in a crunch so you jam the insulation into the walls, give it a quick once-over and have your inspection. Your inspector approves so you jam on and get the sheetrock installed. The question is, what is the R-value of your wall? R-21? Think again.

R-21 refers to the insulative factor of the fiberglass. This fiberglass only exists between your studs and plates. Standard framing of 16" o.c. with full headers results in up to 25% of the face of your building being wood alone. "Okay", you say, "So 75% of my wall is insulated, right?". Well don't forget about your windows and doors. Those can account for up to 15% of your walls. So only 60% of your walls is actually pink fiberglass. Then we must consider how well you installed. First of all, did you staple the kraft paper to the edge of the studs, or just inside the opening? "I stapled it inside, otherwise it interferes with the sheetrock." How about gaps between pieces of insulation or within cavities. "Just a little bit here and there, definitely not more than 3% of the wall." How did you handle wiring and plumbing or electrical boxes? "Um, shoved it in behind... why do you ask?"

Thanks for your curiosity. Let's do a little bit of math to answer your question. First off we must understand what a U-value is. It is simply the mathematical inverse of R-value, that is: U=1/R. If you pull out your calculator, you'll see that the U-value of R-21 insulation is about 0.05. For your reference, wood has an R-value of about 1.25 per inch so a 5.5" stud will have and R-value of 6.88 and a U-value of 0.15. Your windows are probably U=0.40 (which equates to R-2.5). To figure out the R-value of your entire wall, multiply the percentage of a given area by it's U-value, then add all the figures together and finally take the mathematical inverse. In this case, our equation would be:

1 / ((60% x 0.05) + (25% x 0.15) + (15% x 0.40)). This is your insulation, wood, and windows.

1 / (0.03 + .0375 + 0.06) = 1 / 0.1275 = R-7.84.

"7.84? Are you sure that's right?". Well, we rounded for convenience but it's close. Without rounding we get R-8. Oh wait, we didn't consider that you left a 3% gap in your insulation job. That little 3% void area reduces your insulation value from R-21 to R-11. Oops. So recalculating with a U-value of 0.067 instead of 0.05 drops your (unrounded) R-value of that wall down to 6.62. Not good.

"Well I gave it my best shot, that's the way it is. Besides that's how most builders do it."

You're right, that is how most builders do it. Way to blend into the crowd and not differentiate yourself. There's a green wave of consumer awareness breaking and anyone not on board will get washed away.

If you're interested in how to fix this, read on.

First problem is the framing. You really should be spacing your studs at 24" o.c., using two stud or modified three stud corners, and only putting headers where necessary. These steps can reduce your lumber from 25% of a wall to 15%. That's a 40% reduction in your lumber bill. Still think building green is more expensive?

Second problem is the pink insulation. It can never be perfectly installed (although it can get close). A better alternative is blown-in batts (AKA BIBS), spray cellulose, or spray foam. Yes spray foam is expensive but the BIBS system is comparable in cost, fills all the voids, and offers better insulation overall (R-23 vs. R-21).

Third problem is the windows. Quite frankly a U-value of 0.40 is not that great. Better to use U-0.32 or less.

Given these three factors your new equation will be:

1 / ((70% x 0.05) + (15% x 0.15) + (15% x 0.32)) =

1 / (0.03 + 0.02 + 0.05) = R-10

Better, but you'll notice it's still not R-21. That's the whole point. We want to let you know that despite all your best efforts, a 2x6 wall will still only reach half of what is perceived as it's potential value. If you really want good walls, consider sheathing the outside of the framing with rigid foam insulation, building a double wall, or using SIPS. Some SIPS manufacturer's claim comparable R-values of 50, though this is in comparison to the perceived R-21 value of walls. Still this results in a true R-value of R-20 or more compared to your stick frame wall of R-10.

Caveat Emptor.

New linkages, transaxles, piston rings...

2008-09-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Istockhouseplans now offers you three more links for convenience!

First is this blog which can be found at either istockhouseplans.blogspot.com or blog.istockhouseplans.com. Either one brings you here.

Second is our new survey. Check out our site and tell us how you really feel.

Finally is our tinyurl. If the istockhouseplans moniker is a bit too confusing to remember with all the other sites out there, then use the famous tinyurl! You can reach our site at tinyurl.com/houseplans.

Street of Dreams 2008

2008-08-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

The street of dreams was almost cul-de-sacked this year. First, with the housing market, nobody was interested in building huge spec homes, then no reasonable lots were found. It all came together though. Six builders claimed lots at Altamont on Mt. Scott in Portland. This is substantially down from previous years. In 2005 there were 13 homes. House size was also reduced much to our appreciation. The Cherith Brook home was 11,000 sf (a quarter acre of heated area). Aside from that the other five homes ranged from 4400 to 6500sf. Sarah Susanka would still not approve.

Last year the Salish Moon home stood out as substantially different in design and feel. This year none of the homes was incredibly different in design. Most had the same recipe: Walk in the front door. To the left is the den and to the right is the dining. The kitchen is open to the great room. All bedrooms have their own bathroom and there are two other extra full or half bathrooms. The more gables the better, and hipped roofs are king. The only feature on any home that stood out to us was the Sonoma with its sunken courtyard. It was a breezy chilly night but the courtyard was at least 10 degrees warmer due to its being a full 10 feet below grade and sheltered by the house on three sides.

Are the homes green? Define green. Efficient use of space? Probably not. Low VOC paints, wheatboard cabinets and renewable floors? Probably. Tightly air-sealed and ventilated well? Only time and utility bills will tell. For a truly green home, check out our catalog.

Where's all those new plans you promised?

2008-08-12T07:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings once again from your friends at istockhouseplans. The question has been asked and we are guilty as charged. Over the past year we made some promises that we haven't kept. Yet. We won't say we're never going to release some of our plans, we just haven't done it. Yet. Part of it is the busyness of our day jobs and normal lives. Part of it is that the slowness of the market is discouraging us from putting much effort towards the new plans. You'd think we'd be trying to ramp up to get as much business as possible right now. But couple that with the prior point of day jobs and you'll see that istockhouseplans could fail miserably and we'd all still be okay. So there's no HUGE driving factor to get those new plans done.

That being said, we do not have a lax business approach. We are still very much interested in continuing to design plans and fulfill your orders. We still want to help you build the best house that you can. We still want to get those several plans done.

Alot of it has to do with desiring to design green houses and we are learning much right now about that. True, while our earlier designs were pretty spectacular as far as greenability goes, we want to continue to make our plans better. Our lead designer is the sort that won't do much of anything until they think they know close to everything. On the other hand, once they get moving, they are unstoppable. So we are learning about greening our plans even more and once we feel like we have a new holistic approach we'll start banging them out like they used to do in the good old days.

In the meantime, if you have some design ideas or need a particular house, drop us a line and we'll work with you on that. We are not above drawing someone else's designs.

Advanced Framing Techniques: 32" O.C. Trusses

2008-07-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

"Alright, just who are you anyway going around and messing with the way I've been doing things for all these years? My houses still stand up with no callbacks and no mold."

Good for you! We applaud your building skills. We aren't trying to tell you what to do, just trying to save you some money. And if you can remove some of those non-structural elements, you can save money. If you can remove every third stud, you can save your home-buyers some money on heating bills by filling that extra space with insulation. You'd be surprised how much it can save.

So now we want to mess with the spacing of your trusses. I know, I know, you've been spacing them at 24" o.c. ever since trusses became popular. Ever consider 32" o.c.? Not only will that save you money in trusses, but you'll be able to get a bit more insulation in your house's hat. If you're still into rolling out batts, you can line up two 16" wide rolls side by side. Although our preference lies in spray-foam insulation. We'll address that at a later time.

True, your truss manufacturer may balk at 32" o.c. and want to beef up your trusses, but challenge him on it. Honestly, it's not the number of sticks that make your house stronger, it's the connections from roof to foundation and how much plywood is tacked on. Ever consider SIPS that have NO STUDS yet outperform stick-built walls and roofs in strength? So what's wrong with 32" o.c. trusses? "I'll need to do 2x6 T&G car decking" Sorry to burst your bubble, but 5/8" plywood is all that's necessary which is what you're using on your roofs already. (Your particular jurisdiction's code may require 3/4").

We're istockhouseplans. We're here to rock your boat.

Flashers unite!

2008-07-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

How many of you think that you can flash properly? Do you layer properly? Do you make sure potentially exposed parts get sealed off? Does anyone really know what's going on behind your exterior? Check out this video and learn to be a great flasher!

How To Properly Flash a Window

Expert carpenter, Carl Hagstrom, shows how to properly flash a window.

2008-07-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who purchased plans in the first half of this year. As you may remember, stockhouseplans.com donated 100% of all purchases to a group who were going down to Mexico to build a community center. The trip was a smashing success. The city of Morelia, Mexico donated land to the NOE center to build a larger more comprehensive facility.

"The purpose of the NOE Center is to foster godly character, a
positive self-concept, academic excellence, creative expression, recreational
skills, and social responsibility in the young people of Mexico, to encourage
them to become active citizens with a vision for their community. There are
currently over four hundred students enrolled in various programs like English,
homework help, computer, art, music, sports, recreation, Bible club, youth group
and discipleship. NOE accepts students age nine through nineteen, most of whom
live in the surrounding poor to middle class neighborhoods."

The group visited the property and cleared endless bags of trash, dozens of shoes, tires, and bottles and prepared it for a slab to be poured. The slab will support a basketball court with a building eventually being built around it. This new center will be able to help many more Mexican young people to find direction in life and pursue a goal.

Our generous donating may be over but we are still selling plans. We are starting to go through our catalog and fine-tune some of our beauties to be even more efficient builds. Expect to see wall framing plans and suggested duct plans for those interested in using furnaces and the like. We'll keep you posted as plans become updated.

Hasta la vista.

Advanced Framing Techniques, Floor Joists

2008-06-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

Dr. Istockhouseplans continues his thoughts on 24" o.c. framing, floor joist style.

"Dr., why would I space my floor joists at 24" o.c.? Won't the floor bounce more?"

Floor bounce is based on several factors, not just spacing of the joists. Your span is the first factor. Obviously a 16' span will have more bounce than a 12' span. Second is the spacing of the joists. You have voiced your concern about 24" o.c. spacing versus the more conventional 16" o.c. spacing. Third factor is joist size. 2x12 joists will have less bounce over the same span than 2x10 joists will. Fourth is the subfloor material which makes a difference as well. A 1-1/8" thick subfloor feels less bouncy than 3/4" pwd. Tongue and groove pwd helps. Finally, how you attach the floor to the joists impacts the feel of the floor. Nails have less resistance than gluing and screwing the plywood down. By gluing and screwing you actually create one cohesive floor system that moves together.

So why don't we answer your question thusly: no. More accurately, we need to know what else you intend to do with the floor. Are you using 2x12 joists? You should be able to get a 14' span without a problem. Gluing and screwing the plywood may not increase your span-ability but it will make your floor feel stiffer. If this is a second floor then the gypsum board that you apply to the ceiling on the first floor will also help stiffen the joists.

The type of joist you use will have the biggest impact on how you can design the house. There is solid sawn (i.e. 2x12) engineered (I-joists) and open-web floor trusses. Of the three the open-web floor trusses give you the greatest span. They cost more, but the big advantage is that your subcontractors don't need to drill holes through every joist. The open webs facilitate easier running of wiring, piping, and even duct-work thereby saving you money in labor. You also may be able to span up to 20' with a 12" tall member. I-joists are also able to span slightly farther than solid-sawn and also come with knockouts for utilities.

Why would you want to go to 24" o.c. spacing? On the first floor over a foundation the concept is the same as studs. With further spacing of joists there is more room for insulation and less thermal bridging to an unfinished basement or crawl space. You also use less lumber. For the space between a first and second floor there may not be a huge advantage except using less lumber. However I highly recommend using the open-web floor trusses between floors so that ductwork can be run any direction. By using these (@24" o.c.) you can span up to 20' or more thereby reducing the need for bearing walls. It really is a beautiful thing.

Istockhouseplans is proud to present you with a load of plans with details that will facilitate green building. Feel free to browse our catalog and contact us with any questions.

Advanced Framing Techniques, Studs

2008-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Dr. Istockhouseplans answers your questions about studs.

"Dr., I'm not comfortable placing my studs at 24" o.c. Won't the wall fall down?"

No, as a matter of fact, it won't. Satisfying the seismic and wind requirements is the job of the sheathing, not the studs. The studs take the direct downward weight of the house and give you something to attach your sheathing to. The sheathing needs to be able to withstand the wind and movement. If you think about a SIPS panel, how many studs are there inside? None. How much sheathing is there? On every wall. 24" o.c. spacing also allows for more insulation inside the walls.

"But doesn't 24" o.c. studs cause wavy walls?"

Again, no. Wavy walls are caused by you not allowing 1/8"* between your sheathing panels. When you butt that OSB right up against each other, where does it go when it gets wet and expands? Out to the sides? No, the panels push against each other and buckle at every 4' increment. This causes the wavy look. Space your sheathing panels per manufacturer's recommendation. Scroll down to read item #1 on extremehowto.com. (*please read the sheathing for the proper spacing).

"What about my drywall, won't it break if someone pushes on it?"

If you are installing drywall horizontally against the studs you shouldn't have any problem at all. If it concerns you then you can bump up to 5/8" sheetrock instead of 1/2" but keep in mind that the code allows 1/2" gyp on a 24" o.c. wall.

"But all my savings from the studs will be eaten up by having to buy 5/8" sheetrock. What's the point?

The point is that even if the wall costs you the same (which if it is then your drywaller is upcharging you quite a bit - shop around), you have built a better wall which will differentiate yourself from all the other builders out there. Your wall will be more insulated and save your homebuyer in energy bills. Saving energy is good for the environment. Saving the environment makes you look like a hero.

"I don't think the code will let me build a wall like that."

Please stop the excuses. We wouldn't be encouraging you to do something illegal. If you have an IRC code book handy, open up to 602.3.1 (page 123) and reference table 602.3(5) (page 127). You'll note that a 2x6 wall with studs spaced 24" o.c. is allowed to support a second story, ceiling, and roof AND be 10' tall. How about that? Granted, a 3 story home will need 16" o.c. spacing on the first floor, but you can still use 24" o.c. spacing for floors two and three. Also note how interior non-bearing walls may be built with 2x3 studs at 24" o.c. Understandably this is not a good idea for walls with doors in them unless you do fat trim work or build your own frames.

"I still don't think it's a good idea."

Well that's your issue. We can't make you do anything, only educate you as much as possible. If you don't want to then be prepared to be left in the dust by builders whose homes sell quicker and cost them less to build. But don't say we didn't warn you. If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us. Stay tuned next time for floor issues.

Renewable Heat

2008-05-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

We'll get to your green building complaints shortly, for now we want to include endorsements for two more methods of heating your home. You already know that we're big on the radiant heating by Warmboard. But we also have taken a shine to Cadet wall heaters. We've never liked these heaters, but a recent review of the website has shown that they are innovative and green. They've popped back up on our A-list. Big bonus! Since electric heaters don't use gas (a slow-renewable resource) they are gentler on the environment; especially if you've opted for fully renewable wind or solar power.

Our second plug is for the mini-duct system by Spacepak. Able to use heat-pumps, this high-pressure system uses 2" diameter flexducts instead of bulky 8" square ducts. These ducts are small enough to be run through walls and joists without compromising the integrity or design of the house. Especially suited for remodeling older ductless homes, we are pleased to endorse this system for our reproduction homes. No bulky chases eating into closets or rooms, no dropped ceiling in the hall, and no lost heat from poor insulation since they sit inside the heated envelope.

Come to istockhouseplans and see what sort of homes are designed for these systems. (Hint: they work for ALL homes)