Category: Design

Thinking Of Copying Plans?

If you go around a display Home the builder’s representative will usually give you a brochure with a floor plan.

If you look on the net you can often download their plans, or you can even copy them from a newspaper article.

How hard would it be to get a different builder to build your new house using the same floor plan and save money?

You could even combine the front of one floor plan with the back of another so it wasn’t an exact copy.

The best advice I can give you is DON’T.

Why Not?

Some of the reasons are:

  • Most builders spend large sums of money developing their designs and guard their copyright jealously. If you get caught you could be up for thousands of dollars for breach of copyright. Tens of thousands if you go to court.
  • A court won’t only consider the whole plan, they can still find in the builders favour if substantial amount is the same.
  • Most reputable builders know the risks of breach of copyright and being made a co-defendant in a legal case and won’t want to build your house.
  • If you find a builder who will build to the plan he is unlikely to be reputable. Do you really want your house built by a dodgy builder?
  • If you copy a standard layout it will still cost several hundred dollars to get all the remaining plans drawn up to a level where you can get building permits and approvals.

Here are some of the ways people have been caught:

  • They asked the builder for a price on the house on a particular block. When the builder didn’t get the job they checked on the design of the house as it was built.
  • The contractors laying the concrete base recognised the layout as the big builder was a major customer of theirs.
  • The frame fabricators recognised the layout as the big builder was a major customer of theirs.

Buying a set of plans can cost from a few hundred dollars if you use a standard plan,

if you use an architect it could be thousands.

Here are a couple of websites that are worth a look.

http://www.ozehouseplans.com.au/
http://www.homebuildersaustralia.com.au/house-plans.html

 

For other posts see House Design

Accessible Design


Accessible design is making a house suitable to be lived in or visited by a disabled person.

If you don’t think this is important remember that one in five Australians has a disability.

So for instance:

  • You might be fine now but what if you or a family member has an accident?
  • How will you manage when you get older if you are in the same house?
  • If a friend or relative becomes disabled will they be able to visit you?

Also for those thinking about starting a family remember . . . a wheelchair friendly house is also a pushchair friendly house.

Ideas To Incorporate Into Your Design

Here are some of the things to think about:

  • A level site.
  • Driveways and garages wide enough to get a wheelchair next to the car.
  • Ramps rather than steps. Usually at a slope of no more than 1 in 14.
  • Doors at least 800mm wide, internal and external.
  • Corridors at least 1200mm wide.
  • Toilet doors opening outwards.
  • Reinforced walls next to toilets to allow fitting of grab rails.
  • Walk in large showers.
  • Aim for  1000mm space between furniture in all rooms.

Building these things into a new house is a lot cheaper than having to change the house some years down the track.

If you think this is just common sense its interesting to see how often designers and builders get this wrong.

I recently visited a retirement village where all the houses were built on stumps with a minimum of two steps to get up to the front door.

Some even had three steps.!

For similar posts about house design see Plans

Much more information on what to look for in the
Guide to Choosing a New House

 

Shading Northern Windows

In a post about Passive Solar I talked about shading North facing windows.

That doesn’t mean installing roller shutters, or blinds that pull down over the window.

Shutters and blinds tend to make the rooms very gloomy and depressing, and with good design are unnecessary.

The best methods of shading North facing windows are:

• Overhanging eaves
• A well designed veranda
• A pergola

How Much Shade?

For areas North of Brisbane its better to have  enough shade to keep the sun out of the house as much as possible.

For areas from Brisbane and South the keys are:

  • Keep direct sun off the window during the summer months of; December January and February.
  • Allow full sun to shine on all of the window in June July and August.

Dimensions

Keeping the summer sun out for areas South of Brisbane can generally be achieved by making sure the eaves overhang is 45% of the height (H) the shade is above the bottom of the glass.

The eaves, or other method of achieving shade, should also extend horizontally along the wall window 45% of H to either side of the window.

To minimise shading of the window in winter the shading needs to be around 20% of H above the top of the glass.

West and East Facing Windows

West and East facing windows are almost impossible to effectively shade in summer and get minimal benefit from winter sun.

Information on dealing with these windows can be found at: West and East Windows

 

For more Green Ideas see Sustainability

 

Building On Pipeline Easements (Or Close To)

Previous posts have talked about Sewer and Drain Easements but you build close to or over a pipe on an easement?

Permission

You must get permission from the owner of the easement to build on the easement.

Some easement owners won’t permit any building.

However some will allow certain works after a fee is paid.

This fee can amount to several thousand dollars particularly if you want to build right over the sewer.

Costs

The minimum costs are likely to be a CCTV survey of the pipe which could cost over a thousand dollars.

Additional costs may include either exposing the pipe and encasing the whole line in concrete, or re-routing the pipe and paying for the cost of establishing a new easement.

Getting the Design Right.

When building close to a buried pipeline, whether the building is in the easement, or close to it, the designer needs to ensure no loads are placed  on the pipe.

To avoid placing any load on the pipe the base of any foundation should be below the zone of influence of the pipe.

This zone of influence starts at the base of the pipe and rises at a slope of 1 in 1 to ground level.

In the diagram above

  • Foundation A is unacceptable The base is inside the zone of influence.
  • Foundation B is acceptable Even though it is the same horizontal distance from the pipe as Foundations A because the base is outside the zone of influence.

The base of the foundation is the lowest point of the foundation, that is the bottom of the slab, In the case of piers the base of the piers.

Building Over the Pipe

Some water authorities do allow building right over a pipe. in that case the base of foundations on both sides of the pipe needs to be outside the zone of influence.

Any beam or slab over the pipe needs to be designed to span between the foundations.

 

To better understand what you can build see

Restrictions in the Blocks section

 

Passive Solar – What Does It Mean?

Do you want a house that is filled with natural light in the summer without overheating, and minimises your heating bills in winter? ……….If you do, then a passive solar house is what you need.

Here are some of the things you consider.

Get The Winter Sun Into The House

From Wikimedia Commons

This means having most of the main living rooms facing North with lots of windows.

It also means making sure the Windows aren’t shaded by fences, trees etc.

Maximising Thermal Mass

This means having dense absorbent materials like concrete  and brick inside the house.

  • In winter the thermal mass heats up during the day and releases the heat during the evening.
  • During summer if you open the house in the evening/night the thermal mass cools and helps keep the house cool the next sunny day.

Ideas for increasing thermal mass include:

  1. Have the house on a concrete slab rather than stumps.
  2. Have tiles or a slate floor especially in front of the north facing windows.
  3. Brick feature walls and or brick fireplaces.

Keeping the Summer Sun Out

  • Minimising West and East facing windows. These windows are the worst for heating up the house with the low morning and evening sun.   (In winter they hardly get any benefit from the sun)
  • Shading North Facing Windows.
    Typically the shading will be in the region of 1 m from the outside wall. It can be either deep eves, a veranda, or a pergola.

Minimise Heat Transfer

That’s transfer of heat from outside to inside in Summer days, and inside to outside in Winter.

To minimise heat transfer:

  • Provide good insulation to walls and ceilings.
  • Have small windows on the South Side.
  • Closing curtains at night in winter.

The first house we built in Australia was built according to these principles. Although we lived in it for 10 years we never felt the need to fit air conditioning. We didn’t require awnings on the windows or wanted to shut the curtains on hot days.

The above advice applies to Australia and other Southern Hemisphere Countries such as New Zealand and South Africa. If you live in the Northern hemisphere you need to have the Large windows on the south side of the house.

What Passive Solar ideas have Worked for you?

For more Green Ideas see Sustainability

 

Separate Toilets?

Most house plans show a toilet in the master bathroom but a separate toilet in the other bathroom……………. Why?

Maybe it’s because you don’t want visitors to see the bathroom, but where are they going to wash their hands?

Is it because you want somewhere quiet to go and read?

In England the only time people generally had a separate toilet was downstairs when the main bathroom with a toilet was upstairs.

I used to hang my college certificates in the downstairs toilet in one house. . . . That’s because I think you should never be in a dignified position when you are reviewing your achievements.

To make your house more accessible for a disabled visitor, or even old or injured family members, it’s easier for the toilet to be in the bathroom.

To get an idea go and look how a disabled toilet is organised in your local shopping centre.

I suppose if you have a big family queuing for the bathroom it might be a problem but then I would have though the best thing would be, rather than have a bathroom and a toilet to have two shower rooms each having a washbasin and a toilet.

With the shower rooms being smaller than a bathroom they probably wouldn’t take up much more space than a bathroom plus toilet.

Perhaps in one room you could have a half bath rather than a shower tray so you could still be able to give small children and babies a bath.

Must have a separate toilet

If you really want a separate toilet, as many people do, here are a couple of reasons why you might think of opening the door outwards rather than inwards as is typical.

    • You can make the toilet area a bit smaller which can help fit it in.
    • If someone passes out they will most likely fall forward against the door. If the door opens inwards how would you get them out?

One question I haven’t resolved is how should you decorate a separate toilet and should you install magazine rack?

After all reading on the toilet is the only time most of us men do any multi-tasking.

 

N.B I hope you liked the photo of the Avocado Bathroom. . . it was very trendy when we were re-modelling our first home

For other posts about House layouts see Plans

For Toilets see Plumbing

More plumbing information and 24 pages of Check Lists in the ‘Selection / Pre-Start Guide’

 

Room Height

Rooms with higher ceilings always seem lighter and more spacious.

They can feel cooler in summer as the heat rises above your head, not so good in winter though!

They are better for fitting ceiling fans, probably the cheapest form of mechanical cooling. (see this link:  Ceiling Fans)

There is more choice of light fittings for tall rooms.

Most builders will normally provide a 2.4m ceiling height as standard.  However there are a lot of people who are willing to pay extra for a 2.55m, 2.7m, or even 3m ceilings.

So what are the issues?

  • According to the Building Code of Australia (BCA) there are certain minimum height regulations.
  • For most Habitable Rooms (for definition see this link:  Habitable Room) – The minimum height is 2.4m
  • For the kitchen (which is also a habitable room) 2.1m is the minimum allowed. Considering how much time we spend in the kitchen I think it’s strange that this should be considered different to other habitable room.
  • For Non-Habitable Room – For example bathroom, laundry, hallway, garage, cellar, storeroom then the minimum height is 2.1m.
  • You do get some dispensation for attics where you are allowed to have a bedroom with a sloping roof as long as 2/3rds of the floor area has a ceiling height of 2.2m. However you are not allowed to include in any floor area calculation any area with a ceiling height of 1.5m.
  • It can add significantly to your budget when you are Choosing a House or going through the Selection / Pre-Start.  For every 300mm that you want to increase the ceiling height for a typical house you can expect to pay in the order of $8,000-$10,000 in 2020 prices. That covers the cost of extra courses of brickwork additional frame cost, and dry lining.
  • It can affect the Outside appearance of the house. (See this link: Outside Appearance for more information)
  • Although you can fit a ceiling fan in a room with a ceiling height of 2.4m the fan blades will then be at a height of 2.1m, so you will need to be careful about waving your arms in the air! See the following link for more information: Ceiling Fans

Some builders quote ceiling heights in brick courses so the post on Brick Dimensions explains how to compare brick courses with ceiling height

 

See Guide to Choosing a House . . . for help picking your new house.

Or the ‘Selection / Pre-Start Guide’ for assistance with all the details

 

Buying Plans From The Internet

These days there are a vast number of house plans available of the Internet.

There are very many high quality companies that provide plans on the net.

However as with all internet based service you need to be careful.

Climate

There are many variations of climate across Australia to what is suitable foe Tasmania may be totally unsuitable for Darwin.

This may be even more pronounced for plans that come from other countries.

Building Standards

Building standards are again something that varies widely from state to state and between countries

Materials

Different countries have differing construction methods. . . . there is no advantage in saving on plans if its going to cost extra to get a material which need to be specially imported..

Dimensions

The Big trap here is buying plans from the USA which use feet and inches, something the modern tradesman may no longer understand.

Overall

I would be very reluctant to use an overseas plan provider for my house and then be faced with delays due to ensuring compliance with local standards.

If you find a plan on the internet that you really like you will need to be sure that the company that can provide you with:

 1. A full set of drawings, with dimensions in metric units, including:

        • A block plan based on survey information, that you will need to organise.
        • Floor Plan
        • Foundation plan these will need to be signed off by an engineer based on the soil investigation.
        • Exterior elevations.
        • Interior details of kitchen, bathrooms and laundry.
        • Roof plans showing adequate information for a truss manufacturer and builder to construct the roof.

2. A full specification and material list.

3. The ability to modify drawings to meet your exact requirements.

Some plan providers can provide additional drawings for plumbing, electrical and heating.  Alternatively it might be easier to get these services directly through the builder you select.
Generally the process will be:

  1. Find a design you like on the internet from a company that will provide all the above services.
  2. Pay an initial deposit to get a copy of the plans.
  3. Make modifications to the plan to meet your requirements.
  4. Receive final plans and specification of a standard you can use for planning, energy rating, and building approval and for use in a contract with a builder.

Soil Heave – Protecting the Slab After Construction

Once the house is completed it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be concerned about the foundations.

This is particularly the case if your house is Built on Clay as there is a risk of ‘Slab Heave’.

This is the result of moisture getting into the clay under the slab causing the clay to swell pushing the slab upwards.

Protection Against  Soil Heave

In South Australia there is a requirement for a 1m path around the building if there is a risk of ‘Soil Heave’,

That is good practice whichever state you live in.

The diagram below shows a suitable detail to protect the ground under your slab.

The key issues are:

  • Paving falls away from external walls for at least 1m with a minimum fall of 1:20 (50mm of fall in 1m)
  • Where the water will not continue to flow away from the edge of the path an Aggi Drain in a trench backfilled with granular material should be provided.
  • Although the requirement for an aggi drain is not as critical where the ground slopes away from the slab, it is nevertheless good practice to have one.

Got Problems?

Generally there aren’t easy fixes for foundation problems, and the cures aren’t DIY jobs

You really need to get an expert involved like Geotech Built 

 

Also see Agricultural Drains

Somewhere to Store Your Bins

Thirty or more years ago storing garbage bins didn’t used to be a problem.

There was only one bin and block were big so finding somewhere to leave the bin wasn’t a problem.

Now we can have at least three bins and blocks are getting smaller.

When you are looking at house plans it pays to think about where you are going to store the bins.

Getting Them To The Kerb

As well as storage think about how to get them to the kerb for collection.

You don’t want to be pulling them through the house.

Best is if you can take them through a side gate, otherwise make sure its easy to take them through the garage.

 

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