These could be wastespace, awkward corners, poor circulation through the house, freakish features, unusual methods of building which increase the labor involved, crowded places, or inconsistencies.
Getting an experienced house designer to double check your plans would usually be a profitable investment, which might keep you from making absurd mistakes. After they are built, things do not always look the same as they do on paper. If you do not believe that people make many queer mistakes, drive up any residential street and take a critical look at the houses people have built in the mistaken notion that they were creating works of art.
There are many good planners who will work for a modest fee. Although they have not had the experience on large buildings to qualify as architects, they are willing to take time to give careful, personal thought to your house and to draw you a good plan. Since you are the one who has to decide what you want anyway, find someone who can help you and who is interested in seeing that you get just the house you really want.
Some contractors and builders are good at planning and some of them are not. Most contractors are good at the details of construction, even though they may be poor or indifferent planners as far as room arrangement, convenience, and appearance are concerned.
Although you might be wise to leave many of the construction details to the judgment of the contractor, insist on the room arrangement you want and any special features you consider important. If you want a screened porch, do not let anyone talkyou out of it. You are building the house to get what you want, not what someone else thinks you ought to want.
Much depends on one's personal preference. Since you are building instead of buying because you want something that is not just run of the mill and ordinary, because you want something different from what everyone else has, plan your own house to suit you and your family.
In all your planning allow enough room, but do not waste any space. A common mistake of the beginning planner is to fail to allow enough room for the thickness of the walls.
Walls are usually 5V&" thick; if you draw them 6" the plan will be about right. Some people crowd things in the mistaken notion that they are saving money. The size of the house is just one of the many factors that enter into the cost of the building. Some odd corner or peculiarity of construction will often cost more than an additional hundred square feet of floor space.
It is always a good idea to use a mortgage calculator to help you save money when you purchase land or a house with a mortgage.
I've been observing a lot of homes lately that were not built to take maximum advantage of the lot upon which they were built. This hurts the resale value. Usually these are homes in tract subdivisions. One of the most egregious examples is a home I previewed recently located on a cul-de-sac lot adjacent to devoted greenbelt area. To the left of the home, and straight out the cul-de-sac as you go into the street is natural ranchland scattered with beautiful full-grown oak trees, local vegetation, and a wet weather creek. This is devoted area that will never be developed. It's wholesome Texas Hill Country scenery of the kind one sees in photos and that you imagine admiring from a back veranda rocking chair or swing. It is way better than staring at a neighbor's house. But whoever built the house really did blow it.
Much to my amazement, the beautiful natural area surrounding the floorplan of the house presents no acknowledgement of the scenery. If I had built on this lot, I would have selected a floorplan where in I could appreciate the local Texas landscape, having the windows of the kitchen or the living room face to the scenery and added a largely roofed terrace. The home was poorly built with a tiny terrace of 5x8 foot concrete lump and didn't even have any roofed terrace at the back. Upstairs, the master bedroom is on the other side of the home from the open area and offers no view.
If there is none to choose from, the whole floorplan could have been reversed and flipped to the other side, the kitchen as well as the breakfast area would have had the sight of the local Texas scenery, and the master bedroom would be overlooking it, while windows could have been added or shifted to more proper areas.
Without making advantage of the peaceful and beautiful sight on this lot, why would a person in this world construct such a home on in? In my point of view, individuals would choose first a floorplan and then pick a lot to build it on when purchasing for a new home, although they don't take time to think whether the home is a good match for the chosen lot. I've also seen builder spec houses with floorplans with the same deficiency of thinking of which floorplan will best suit to take advantage of the orientation and/or sceneries of the lot.
On the other hand, negative characteristics of a lot can be mitigated by thinking better. For example, would you construct a home at the 'T' end of a street with the master bedroom windows in the front of the home? No, because the headlights from vehicles at night will shine into your bedroom windows. If you don't consider of things like this in advance of time, you will unluckily discover it the first night after you move in.
Concentrate on how good both the home and the lot flatter each other if you're prepared to purchase or construct a new home. Stay away from houses that grossly disregard this association. Focus on how the streets are aligned and whether there may be possible light interruption into your home from night time road traffic. Focus on the compass orientation of the home, the likely sunlight may either flatter or torment your living area.
When previewing houses for purchaser prospects, I scratch a lot of candidate houses off of the list because of these types of concerns. Many of these houses will look ideal on paper and in Internet photos, but they don't endure the first visit because it makes more than a good floorplan to make a good home. It has to be the proper floorplan for that lot.
Both Gerald Mason & Austinandhouston Realty are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gerald Mason has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dogs, Gardening and Adwords. How To Save On Your Mortgage: . Gerald Mason's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.
Austinandhouston Realty has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate, Mortgage and Home Improvement. This article was created by R. Chandler Smith, an acknowledged real estate authority in the Austin and Central Texas area. He maintains . Austinandhouston Realty's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.