House size
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Originally Posted by PandaBear
Definitely no 1 car garage, 2 at least. Attached is better than detached, nobody wants to walk outside between the car and the kitchen.
A lot of square footage are wasted between walkway, stairway, hallway to nowhere. My 1450 feels bigger than many 1700 because it is efficiently laid out with no walkway waste, but it is also low in storage.
That's what I was thinking. Who wants to carry groceries from a detached garage in the middle of winter? Or walk back and forth to it in general.
Though I'd probably take a 2-car detached instead of a 1-car attached, because I hate parking cars outside no matter how junky they are.
A 2-car attached (or detached) doesn't have to be huge. Just need to stuff two cars in there. Put the lawn mowers and similar in a shed or something.
Plenty of impressive-sounding sq.ft. houses have vaulted ceilings and things that look nice but aren't practical. A big foyer is nice, and it's a good place to put muddy shoes and a table with some flowers on it, but no one is going to put a couch or bed there.
Be sure to take a look at modular/pre-fab homes. They might save a good bit of money, and someone would have a hard time guessing it's pre-fab unless they saw it being built. Oh, OP already mentioned modular.
Definitely no 1 car garage, 2 at least. Attached is better than detached, nobody wants to walk outside between the car and the kitchen.
A lot of square footage are wasted between walkway, stairway, hallway to nowhere. My 1450 feels bigger than many 1700 because it is efficiently laid out with no walkway waste, but it is also low in storage.
That's what I was thinking. Who wants to carry groceries from a detached garage in the middle of winter? Or walk back and forth to it in general.
Though I'd probably take a 2-car detached instead of a 1-car attached, because I hate parking cars outside no matter how junky they are.
A 2-car attached (or detached) doesn't have to be huge. Just need to stuff two cars in there. Put the lawn mowers and similar in a shed or something.
Plenty of impressive-sounding sq.ft. houses have vaulted ceilings and things that look nice but aren't practical. A big foyer is nice, and it's a good place to put muddy shoes and a table with some flowers on it, but no one is going to put a couch or bed there.
Be sure to take a look at modular/pre-fab homes. They might save a good bit of money, and someone would have a hard time guessing it's pre-fab unless they saw it being built. Oh, OP already mentioned modular.
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Definitely no 1 car garage, 2 at least. Attached is better than detached, nobody wants to walk outside between the car and the kitchen.
This. This times a million. My parents have a 2 car detached, roughly 20ft behind and slightly offset to the left of the house. Kind of like this amazing hand drawn picture.
I never got to enjoy the luxury of an attached garage till I bought my own house. I will never go back to a detached for my daily drivers. Not having to walk through rain or snow is AMAZING!
Definitely no 1 car garage, 2 at least. Attached is better than detached, nobody wants to walk outside between the car and the kitchen.
This. This times a million. My parents have a 2 car detached, roughly 20ft behind and slightly offset to the left of the house. Kind of like this amazing hand drawn picture.
I never got to enjoy the luxury of an attached garage till I bought my own house. I will never go back to a detached for my daily drivers. Not having to walk through rain or snow is AMAZING!
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted by PandaBear
Definitely no 1 car garage, 2 at least. Attached is better than detached, nobody wants to walk outside between the car and the kitchen.
A lot of square footage are wasted between walkway, stairway, hallway to nowhere. My 1450 feels bigger than many 1700 because it is efficiently laid out with no walkway waste, but it is also low in storage.
Agree on 2-car but not on attached. Attached has downsides too, including the fact that you're wasting a lot of living space within the envelope of the house as garage. Totally agree that a well laid out house of x size might be better/more usable than another larger one of y size, but that's specific to the design.
Originally Posted by DejaVue
That's what I was thinking. Who wants to carry groceries from a detached garage in the middle of winter? Or walk back and forth to it in general.
Though I'd probably take a 2-car detached instead of a 1-car attached, because I hate parking cars outside no matter how junky they are.
A 2-car attached (or detached) doesn't have to be huge. Just need to stuff two cars in there. Put the lawn mowers and similar in a shed or something.
I keep my alternate cars in my garages, not my daily use ones. Funny, I've never noticed more than the slightest inkling of hassle when getting kids and groceries in or out in the winter or inclement weather. It's like the sales pitch for those horrible automatic opening tailgates. They make a pitch to someone running in a parking lot in the rain, carrying groceries with three kids. Ok well this scenario is rare if not fiction (and those auto closers are so slow they're beyond annoying too).
Somehow you got to your car, not necessarily covered and attached to work, the store, etc. a few more feet won't hurt anyone. And when on wins retired and too old to go safely, they generally stock up when conditions allow and NOT go out when conditions prevent.
Regarding a shed or not, two sides to this. Especially if attached, a shed for OPE is critical. I've never been in an attached garage that doesn't stink badly or gasoline and automobiles. Add OPE in the mix and it's worse. So toxic odors literally attached to a house, permeating through walls and seals? No thanks.
But if clean slate, there's the opportunity for a three car garage, so that the typical two car family can park, and then have a spare bay for bikes, projects, etc.
Originally Posted by DejaVue
Plenty of impressive-sounding sq.ft. houses have vaulted ceilings and things that look nice but aren't practical. A big foyer is nice, and it's a good place to put muddy shoes and a table with some flowers on it, but no one is going to put a couch or bed there.
Be sure to take a look at modular/pre-fab homes. They might save a good bit of money, and someone would have a hard time guessing it's pre-fab unless they saw it being built. Oh, OP already mentioned modular.
Totally agree on both. Giant wasteful designs intended to "impress" are just stupid. These aren't mansions, they're just wasted space that has to be heated and cooled.
Also agree on modular, these things are built strong for code reasons. May have better opportunities for insulation, etc too. A friend is going this route and has been very impressed.
Definitely no 1 car garage, 2 at least. Attached is better than detached, nobody wants to walk outside between the car and the kitchen.
A lot of square footage are wasted between walkway, stairway, hallway to nowhere. My 1450 feels bigger than many 1700 because it is efficiently laid out with no walkway waste, but it is also low in storage.
Agree on 2-car but not on attached. Attached has downsides too, including the fact that you're wasting a lot of living space within the envelope of the house as garage. Totally agree that a well laid out house of x size might be better/more usable than another larger one of y size, but that's specific to the design.
Originally Posted by DejaVue
That's what I was thinking. Who wants to carry groceries from a detached garage in the middle of winter? Or walk back and forth to it in general.
Though I'd probably take a 2-car detached instead of a 1-car attached, because I hate parking cars outside no matter how junky they are.
A 2-car attached (or detached) doesn't have to be huge. Just need to stuff two cars in there. Put the lawn mowers and similar in a shed or something.
I keep my alternate cars in my garages, not my daily use ones. Funny, I've never noticed more than the slightest inkling of hassle when getting kids and groceries in or out in the winter or inclement weather. It's like the sales pitch for those horrible automatic opening tailgates. They make a pitch to someone running in a parking lot in the rain, carrying groceries with three kids. Ok well this scenario is rare if not fiction (and those auto closers are so slow they're beyond annoying too).
Somehow you got to your car, not necessarily covered and attached to work, the store, etc. a few more feet won't hurt anyone. And when on wins retired and too old to go safely, they generally stock up when conditions allow and NOT go out when conditions prevent.
Regarding a shed or not, two sides to this. Especially if attached, a shed for OPE is critical. I've never been in an attached garage that doesn't stink badly or gasoline and automobiles. Add OPE in the mix and it's worse. So toxic odors literally attached to a house, permeating through walls and seals? No thanks.
But if clean slate, there's the opportunity for a three car garage, so that the typical two car family can park, and then have a spare bay for bikes, projects, etc.
Originally Posted by DejaVue
Plenty of impressive-sounding sq.ft. houses have vaulted ceilings and things that look nice but aren't practical. A big foyer is nice, and it's a good place to put muddy shoes and a table with some flowers on it, but no one is going to put a couch or bed there.
Be sure to take a look at modular/pre-fab homes. They might save a good bit of money, and someone would have a hard time guessing it's pre-fab unless they saw it being built. Oh, OP already mentioned modular.
Totally agree on both. Giant wasteful designs intended to "impress" are just stupid. These aren't mansions, they're just wasted space that has to be heated and cooled.
Also agree on modular, these things are built strong for code reasons. May have better opportunities for insulation, etc too. A friend is going this route and has been very impressed.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted by supton
It's kinda hard to show but maybe the pic will come out ok.
Edit: looks like it came out ok. You can see how the plot of land cuts off half of it, and the septic is in the way, and how much I lose to setback. I can center it better, but it's not a very large lot.
But that's ok--most of my neighbors have 0.25 acre lots. Or less!
Hard to make out on my phone, but I'd be concerned if your lot was lower than any road. I'd want to consider re-grading so that runoff and water from any road on any side keeps moving and you don't have a low spot on your property.
You also want to be considerate of driveway length and garage location relative to the main road you'll enter/exit the property from. Long driveways are nice for keeping the vehicle and garage away from the road, but long driveway runs of snow covered (and you're using your garage for primary vehicle storage) means you'll have to clear the whole thing.
Well you would want to have some spacing from the septic and other pollution sources. But what about moving one or both to arrange the buildings? Cost I know, not sure how big of a leach field is needed by you given soil type, etc.
It's kinda hard to show but maybe the pic will come out ok.
Edit: looks like it came out ok. You can see how the plot of land cuts off half of it, and the septic is in the way, and how much I lose to setback. I can center it better, but it's not a very large lot.
But that's ok--most of my neighbors have 0.25 acre lots. Or less!
Hard to make out on my phone, but I'd be concerned if your lot was lower than any road. I'd want to consider re-grading so that runoff and water from any road on any side keeps moving and you don't have a low spot on your property.
You also want to be considerate of driveway length and garage location relative to the main road you'll enter/exit the property from. Long driveways are nice for keeping the vehicle and garage away from the road, but long driveway runs of snow covered (and you're using your garage for primary vehicle storage) means you'll have to clear the whole thing.
Well you would want to have some spacing from the septic and other pollution sources. But what about moving one or both to arrange the buildings? Cost I know, not sure how big of a leach field is needed by you given soil type, etc.
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Funny, I've never noticed more than the slightest inkling of hassle when getting kids and groceries in or out in the winter or inclement weather.
Must be nice.
The OP's state gets three times as much snow as yours does.
OP is about as far north as I am.
I currently have 6 feet of snow in practically the entire backyard, up to 5 feet in the front, I often duck-walk to get to the mailbox due to so much ice build-up that seemingly requires having my own salt truck to keep up with it, last week the wind and snow was so bad it led to white-outs and a 131-vehicle highway crash as well as two cars that shut down my road for hours, and tomorrow is going to be -30 F windchill.
A detached garage 50+ feet away? Pass.
Funny, I've never noticed more than the slightest inkling of hassle when getting kids and groceries in or out in the winter or inclement weather.
Must be nice.
The OP's state gets three times as much snow as yours does.
OP is about as far north as I am.
I currently have 6 feet of snow in practically the entire backyard, up to 5 feet in the front, I often duck-walk to get to the mailbox due to so much ice build-up that seemingly requires having my own salt truck to keep up with it, last week the wind and snow was so bad it led to white-outs and a 131-vehicle highway crash as well as two cars that shut down my road for hours, and tomorrow is going to be -30 F windchill.
A detached garage 50+ feet away? Pass.
Got her to nix the garage. One small victory. Wife is starting to get fed up with attempting to make a floorplan that she likes!
Some pics I took today. Should show the elevation drop to the backyard. New house would wind up to the left of the truck in these photos. It's a bit of a drop from the main road, but now that I look at it, it's not that bad, especially not if the house is slid back more.
Some pics I took today. Should show the elevation drop to the backyard. New house would wind up to the left of the truck in these photos. It's a bit of a drop from the main road, but now that I look at it, it's not that bad, especially not if the house is slid back more.
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