Architectural Designs

Floor Plans for my new house?

We are getting ready to begin drawing up the plans for our new house. I do not want to use predrawn house plans because the houses here in Romania are so unique I plan on useing their style. However I need ideas and tips on creating my own plans things someone might not consider unless they have already built or are building. Here are some of the things I already know. about 2,000 sq feet 2 floors tile and marble through the entire house concrete building materals 2 upstairs balconys We have mild summers and cold winters here. I need ideas please We plan on having the underfloor heating for the cold winters and we don't wear shoes inside. As well as breezeways since air cond is not needed here. When we are closer to building our company's architect and builder will finalize my plans but I wanted to do as much on my own as possible.

Public Comments

1. You may not want to use the plans per se but seeing many plans should give you ideas of what layout you want and may an elevation, go to builder.com, they have hundreds of plans to give you good ideas.
2. Electrical outlets are good things to have all over the place. So are light switches at every door - for BOTH sides of the door. Remember to take local weather conditions into account when deciding on the slope of the roof - heavy snowfall on a flat roof can lead to collapse, and in hot weather breezeways are good things if you don't have air conditioning. When you design your stairway, remember that you may wind up hauling very large and heavy furniture up those stairs, so don't make them too narrow or too steep or you'll wind up regretting it! All that tile and marble may be beautiful, but it'll be awfully cold in the middle of January. If you can, try to have under-floor heating put in while you're building. It's the most efficient way of heating your house, and the most comfortable if you happen to be wandering around barefoot. Hire an architect and/or engineer to either help you draw up the plans or to look them over and suggest improvements. They will not only be able to spot things that most people don't think of, but they'll be familiar with local building codes and builders and therefore be able to warn you before you make a costly mistake.
3. You might look at purchasing a book written by Susan Susanka called "The Not So Big House" She's an architect that has a lot of experience in the this field. I've read it, and found it very useful in designing my own house. It's full of ideas and photos showing how certain design moves and the use of quality materials can be utilized to create a comfortable home that doesn't have a lot of wasted space.
4. You will need to draw your plot boundaries and make sure that the house you are planning fits on the lot, taking into consideration all setbacks and any natural contours or land peculiarites that might be involved ( does the land slope steeply?). Next write down each room or space you want to have included, and give each space a rough dimension. Now you can manipulate the space so it flows well, for example you might want to enter the kitchen from the garage, so the kitchen and the garage aer close to each other. Put the stairs in a convenient central position, etc. This is designing from the inside out, you might not be left with the greatest elevations this way! Use small pieces of cardboard and move them around on gridded paper, using whatever scale you find easiest to work with. Now that you have thought about the sizes and how the pieces of the puzzle go together, its time to design from the outside in. Draw or sketch your ideas of the elevations. At least the front elevation and one side elevation. This will impact the floor plans, so change the floor plans to match the elevations. Keep going back and forth until you are happy. There are many people online that offer affordable house plan drafting, such as www.houseplanarchitect.com and www.homeplandrafting.com, they can give you professional advice and make your plans into complete construction documents.