Accessing Your Nether Regions

If you build on a crawl space type of foundation then you're going to be required to provide access to that space for future maintenance and dead opposum removal.  Most crawl spaces are required to have a minimum clearance of 18" from grade to the bottom of the framing members.  This is not exactly a pleasant distance to crawl around in but it is at least workable.

What's in your crawl space?  Well not much.  But there is access to plumbing, mechanical (if you don't care about energy efficiency), and some electrical.  There's also dirt, dust, spiders and possibly dead animals.  Maybe there's a drain down there.  It's possible to go years and years without ever having to go down there.  But at some point a visit may be required.

Let's say your waste drain springs a leak.  The waste drain doesn't exactly have crystal clear water in it.  This will require a technician to crawl down into the space with tools and equipment to fix the problem and remove any extras that shouldn't be under your house.  They likely will be up and down several times.  So where is the most likely spot for the crawl access to be?

Believe it or not we often see other designers and architects place this crucial portal in the master bedroom closet.

Really?  Can you see the disgust on our faces?

Not only that but apparently this practice is so ingrained in some designers (and builders even) that they will place the access here regardless of convenience.  If the carpeted master closet is in the far corner of the house this means that dirty nasty crawl space detritus will be making it's way through most of the house starting with your wife's blouses.

We at Istockhouseplans believe that there is a better option.  Our first choice is to place the access in a hall closet preferably where the floor is hardwood.  However an even better choice would be to place the access outside of the house completely.  In some parts of the country this is more common than others.  Placing the crawl access on the outside of the foundation has several advantages:

• Dirty crawl space objects will never enter your house
• The repairman won't have to worry about your wife's clean white laundry
• Most important, the crawl space hatch can't leak warm air out of your house

Of course energy efficiency is important to us.  Based on common practice we often place the crawl space access inside the house in the most convenient spot.  However we thoroughly recommend that it be placed on an outside foundation wall.  If you would like some assistance with details or placement, please feel free to contact us or sound off in the comments below.

From Paper to Sticks

We were recently invited to an open house for a custom design we did.  Actually, we didn't design so much as we did draft.  The homeowners were very gracious but also very particular about what they wanted in a home.  The result was a 2200sf plus beautiful one story home.  Neighbors in the development quipped that they wished they had seen this plan in the builder's catalog.  Even the builder himself was impressed with the final product.  The development consists primarily of mid-priced builder specials with the customary 2 car garage, 2 story, 3 bed plus bonus, 2.5 bath.  Our home was a little more subtle.  We went for 3 car garage (partial tandem), 1 story (with nice steep roof for aesthetics), 3 bed plus office, and 2 bath.

While this is not a home that we would normally put in our catalog we were pleased with the results.  So were the homeowners.  Throughout the process we kept telling them that this will be THEIR home.  The builder or subs will not be living in it for the next 10-50 years.  THEY will.  So don't get pushed around and be sure to get what you want.  The homeowners kept a set of final plans, a 3-ring binder, and the builder on speed dial for the whole time.  Every day they were on site checking progress.  This was more out of excitement and available time than anything but scrutiny was also prevalent.  When something was not done per plans a query was put out and it was quickly made right.  Though our client probably did not read this previous post beforehand, they took it to heart.

The bad news of the whole deal?  The washer and dryer were moved on-site and now partially obscure a passage.  The good news?  The homeowners were in by Christmas and the builder's crew got the week off.

Gained Some Girth, Have You?

Of all of our plans there are a few that stand out as stellar.  Maybe they don't have gorgeous granite countertops or three car garages.  Maybe they're not opulent McMansions.  But they do sell well.  The Montavilla 2532 has been our second best selling plan.  But it's not the plan itself that is always sold, it sometimes is the idea.  We've several times been asked to add two more feet into the width of the plan.  This is a great idea as it helps give some space to the garage and staircase.

In response to this we have released a cousin to the Montavilla called the Villamont (see what we did there?)  The Villamont and Villamont A are both 27' wide versions of the Montavilla plans.  We could have called these the Montavilla C and D but they are unique enough in their own right to get top billing.  Both plans add 306 more square feet as well to round out at 1674 square feet.

This is a great example of an Istockhouseplans offering adapting to customers' needs.  If you have any other changes you'd like to see in our plans, leave us a note in the comments or contact us directly.

ADU, Do You?

Here at Istockhouseplans we have been pleased to be consulted for several local Accessory Dwelling Unit (AKA ADU, granny flat, lane housing) projects.  Most, but not all, of these projects involve the homeowner creating an ADU space to move into so that they can rent out their house.  We would expect the other way around.  We've designed a 12x24 garage conversion, are working on turning a bonus room into an ADU, and are drafting up plans for an addition and ADU.  Most of our work is in the Great Northwest but the ADU projects are very specific to Portland.  Portland has very graciously extended two huge benefits to ADU builders.  The first is square footage requirements.  Used to be that you could build an ADU to 30% of the house square footage, max 800sf.  Now that has increased to 75% of the house, still 800sf.  This means smaller 1000sf homes don't have to try to work living space into 300sf, they can shoot for 750sf.  But really, 300sf is still doable.

The second benefit is the temporary elimination of systems development charges on a permit when building an ADU.  In some cases this fee can be thousands and thousands of dollars.  But in order to try to encourage higher density (and avoid sprawl) the fees are reduced or in most cases eliminated for a while.  The one caveat with all ADU spaces is that the property owner must live either in the house or the ADU.  Not allowed to rent out both.  Not that that stops folks from doing so.

If you've been considering an ADU on your property, let us know if we can help.  We already have a host of plans that could be used for an ADU as well as garage options with living space.  Of course every property is different.  If nothing works for you let us know.  We are eager to design small and beautiful.

Hi, my name is Adus and I'm a blogger

Hi Adus.  If you've been following our blog for any length of time you may have noticed that the posts just aren't the quality they used to be.  Or that the posts just aren't there at all.  Due to the amount of contract work that has been happening, we've decided to take a blogging hiatus until the new year.  It's been six weeks since out last post and it may be 6 weeks until any more happen.  So we're just checking in to let you know we're not dead (yet).  We've been exploring some other design ideas, outlets, and creativities.  Hopefully we'll have some substance to post soon but in the meantime consider this a buildup and renewal.

Enjoy your holiday season.

Past Premonitional Post

If you've been around this blog for a while or read through our archives, you may remember this little plug:

http://istockhouseplans.blogspot.com/2009/12/twenty-six-point-two.html

What we didn't know is that less then three years later one of our very own would be running in a real Marathon.  Brian finished the Portland Marathon on October 7th with a steady time of 5 hours, 25 minutes, and 37 seconds.  In doing so he also raised several hundred dollars for charity.  We applaud Brian for his dedication to training and hard work to see the task through to the finish.  These are the kind of people that Istockhouseplans would like to have working for them.

Now back to work.

Energy Star

Another month of silence.  Hmm... too much work?

There are a few new stock plans in the hopper that need to be finished, many ideas that need to be started but the amount of custom work we've been receiving has been incredible.  We've designed plans across the board for clients who come to us because of word of mouth.  It's all been about who we know.

And recently we were approached by Energy Star to draw energy efficient home design details for their upcoming release.  Once those are done and released to the public we'll direct you to the new details.  For those home designers that follow this blog, we hope those details will be useful in your designs.

Maybe once people stop bugging us for custom work we'll get on those stock plans, eh?

Space Saving Ideas

Apologies for the month of silence.  We've been on vacation a little a getting more business than we've ever been used to.  Totally.  Awesome.

But this caught our eye.  There are some ideas that are a little vain but for the most part here are some practical and ingenious ways to use space in your home.  We especially love, love, love the stair landing with the trapdoor.  The fact that under the staircase is open is even better as it would make a small space feel larger.  Plus it's available for any use you can dream of.

The sawhorse dining table is rather cool too.

Open + storage + wainscoting = win!

Tiny House, Big Problem

A bit late on posting this, but we backdated it so it looks good.

A homeless Veteran in California used his wits, resources and possibly past training to create basic survival needs for himself.  He built a tiny home in a California wildlife sanctuary and lived there comfortably for a year before the Sheriff's department finally discovered it.  Now receiving three hots and a cot, we applaud Mr. Downs for his ability to live lightly and live off the grid.

Not so much applause for what else was found there though.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/07/camouflaged-residence-discovered-in-california-park/

Istockhouseplans does not condone illegal activities of any kind, including but not limited to building without a permit on public land.  If you'd like some help in designing or building a tiny house, see our catalog or contact us for more details.

Getting Sketchy

A while back we mentioned some of the tools in our technological toolbelt.  One of these is SketchUp by Google.  Recently we have been going gung ho with this tidy little program and creating some masterpieces.  We took our Arleta A 2850A and gave it a little treatment of realism.  It's hard to get across the beautiful images in our head in two black and white dimensions or with myriads of text.  Crown molding, craftsman window trim and wainscot look so much better in three colored dimensions.  We'll be giving more of our plans this treatment in the future and doing walk-throughs as well.  But in the meantime as you wait with bated breath, here are some sneak previews:

Bird's eye view

Welcoming entry

Decked out parlor

Stay tuned for more!

Lagging Behind

We at Istockhouseplans want to heartily apologize for not posting our usual update last week.  Some employment changes have affected the way we run our business.  The good news is that we are now able to upload more plans to more national vendors.  We are also able to take on revisions to our plans should you have a desire to have those changes made.  Though the website may say otherwise for a few days, we will make those revisions and not force you to find another local designer.  We should also be able to create more stock plans in general.  If you are interested in seeing something in particular, leave a note in the comments below, or send us an email.  We'll be happy to make your idea become a reality!

And the coup de grace is that we're working on our first plan book of sorts.  This will be an exclusive electronic offering of an original collection not otherwise available.  Look for updates in the coming months.

Use it UP!

Where do you suppose the most wasted space in your home is?  Probably from about 4' up the wall and higher.  No, really.  Look around your room right now.  I'll bet that furniture goes about 4' up the wall and then maybe there's some pictures above that.  But if you look around that same room, you've probably got bits and bobs and some mess on the floor.  Consider a child's bedroom.  Taking up floor space is a bed, dresser, closet, and numerous toys on the floor including LEGO that you will step on at 2am during a bed check.

Perhaps the most obvious way to go up is with cabinets or shelving.  Your kitchen should be a natural example of this.  Why do we not do this in other rooms of the house?  The dining room is a perfect place to install a small bank of floor cabinets with some wall cabinets above.  Add some tile, trim and glass doors.  Congratulations, you just installed a buffet.  The family room or great room or media room or whatever you want to call it is another place where a tall wardrobe, or open cabinets or shelves might free up some floor space.  Toys go low, media goes in the middle, decor and display goes high, extra pillows or blankets can be stashed behind solid doors.

Or what about a kids room?  Captain's beds have a bed over desk combo that can save floor space by elevating.  Bunk beds are another great option for rooms with more than one kid.  You may run into some arguing over who gets to be on top.  But what if you have 9' or greater or sloped ceilings?  This is a great opportunity to try out a technique that we've drawn but not yet implemented.  First, the closet (including walls) needs to be have a footprint of at least 40"x78".  Build it with a ceiling about 78" tall.  You're not going to use much space above the clothes rod anyway.  Next, build a rail around the top and install a ladder to climb up.  There should be enough room for a twin size mattress to fit up there.  * May not be suitable for younger children or anyone subject to random tripping.  If you're quite crafty you could work a dresser into one side of the closet without encroaching too much into the rod space.

Or consider a reverse captain's bed layout.  Enclose a space about 78"x60" or more and about 4' tall.  In this space goes a bed and basic nighttime necessities.  Call it the cave.  Above this remains a platform large enough for a desk, dressing area, LEGO layout, or mini Pro Wrestling ring.

Could this be affected in a master bedroom as well?  Sure, why not!  Most master bedrooms are laid out with an idea to be conservative, elegant, and grown-up.  But who says grown-ups can't have fun?  Elevate that bed with a walk-in closet below!  Or enclose the bed and include a home office above.  Oh sure it won't be for everyone.  There'll be complaints of, "how do I change the sheets without falling or knocking my head?"  You just do.  Or you choose a more normal layout.  But for those with stars in their eyes, go for it!

This post was inspired by a house we worked on with 13' ceilings.  It's not our plan, we were just pitching in with a friend's overload of drafting.  If you consider 6'-4" of head height with perhaps a 2x8 floor in the middle you reach 13'-4".  While it's not possible to get two legal stories in that space, it is possible to create a small loft in one side or corner and double up the floor space.

Istockhouseplans will be exploring this concept for some future small house plans.  If you currently are using vertical space in your house or apartment, we'd love to hear about it in the comments.