I think this is the Creepiest looking new house I have seen.
The combination of Victorian Gothic Features, and a block well above the road level, don’t go very well together.
When I saw it my first thought was ‘The Adams Family House’!
Over the journey I have
To all of you blog followers . . . . . and especially those who have bought a anewhouse Guide……
It makes me feel that what I’m doing is worthwhile.
A guest post by Adrian Savi
In my over 10 years of experience as an architect, I have seen more and more people thinking about doing an architect’s, an engineer’s or a trades mans’s work.
It might be a whole house, a house addition, or just changing the bathroom tiles and they are doing it for two main reasons:
I am not saying that you can’t do most things, but for a whole house you will need professionals.
For instance you will need a sign off from a registered professional for the following parts of a build.
But you may be thinking “Who is going to do a better job for you than you?”. . . Am I right?
Before you set off on your project remember that those professionals have had lots of training and experience so:
Thank you for reading and please leave any comments or question.
Good luck with the house
Adrian.
Adrian Savi is an architect from Romania. As well as working full-time as a freelance architect for clients in the United States, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway he blogs on design and architecture . The house in the picture is from his Portfolio at www.saviadrian.daportfolio.com
I saw this house number a couple of weeks ago.
Wondered what that white backing to the numbers was.
Got a bit closer and the photo below is what I saw
Looks suspiciously like asbestos cement!
Sometimes I think that you people need to provide a certificate of sanity before being allowed to do DIY work!
When you are planning a custom home costs can quickly run away with the initial budget!
Just watch a few episodes of ‘Grand Designs’ and you will see people with costs out of control!
If you are planning a custom home here are a few thoughts.
What do you think adds to the cost?
Is this overflowing post box telling a thief that they are unlikely to be disturbed?
It used to be easier when I was young as we knew our neighbours and we could ask someone to check the mailbox.
Otherwise we could get a family member to call round every 2-3 days.
These day people seem more mobile and may not live in the same state, or in my case, the same country as relatives.
Working long hours and driving everywhere many people don’t really know their next door neighbour!
Rather than get the cheapest and smallest post box when you move in perhaps you should think about a box Big Enough for several days post (and Junk Mail)
I thought most people didn’t like spiders!
I know a few people who are scared of them!
So why are spiders, and spiders webs such a common motif on the outside of houses, and in gardens?T
These three examples are only the most recent of many ‘Spiders’ I have seen on and around houses in Melbourne!
Lots of people say you can’t get a sustainable house from a standard builder . . . . but I disagree!
Here is how I would look to get most sustainable performance from this layout.
The best Orientation will be with the house facing East.
That means the Family Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen will all face North and be able to look out onto a garden.
The Bedrooms, Bathrooms, and Laundry will all face South and act as a ‘Buffer Zone‘.
If your block faces East you will be able to get similar performance by asking the builder to ‘Hand’ the floor plan (build it as a mirror image)
In order to keep the Summer sun out of the house, while letting the winter sun in, I would look to provide approximately 1m of Shading to the north facing windows.
This could be either by having the house built with eaves or building a pergola after you move in.
Windows that face East, and especially those that face West, can be a real problem as they get too much sun in summer and hardly any in Winter.
The window in Bedroom 3 would be best relocated to the other external wall.
The Family Room window at the end of the house would be better deleted altogether. There will still be plenty of window area and with one less window the layout will actually be more flexible!
Although the Master Bedroom windows will face East the application of a reflective film, after you move in, will prevent the room overheating in summer.
Both bedroom windows would be best with a sill at least 1m from the floor level. This will give adequate light but the Smaller Window, and more solid wall will result in better thermal performance.
The Laundry door in this design is a patio door. By changing to a solid wall with window and conventional door you will significantly reduce the heat transfer.
Making alterations like these to a builder’s standard design allowed me to increase the energy rating of my last home by the equivalent of 1.5 Stars!
Have you thought about about concrete for your sleeper wall?
As well as plain concrete it’s possible to have a wide variety of other finishes, and colours.
Here is an interesting ‘Stacked Stone’ appearance wall I saw the other week.
Some of the other options include ‘Exposed Aggregate’ and ‘Split Stone’ and even ‘Wood Grain’.
Just do a ‘GOOGLE Images‘ Search for “Concrete Sleeper Retaining Walls” and you should find a range of styles.
An advantage of concrete sleepers is they don’t rot, which means a quality lasting finish with no maintenance!
Prices start at around $25 for a 2.00m x 200mm panel, rising to $50 for some of the more attractive finishes.
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