# Considerations when designing a new home



## glkirk

To those who design homes, would you be so kind to give me some thoughts as to what are some main considerations when designing a new home to retire in.
We have flat land here. No basements. We use crawl spaces about 3' off grade.
So, often we use the garage on grade to get a ROG (room over garage).
Don't need it too big. Probably only need 3 bedrooms/2 or so baths.
This will probably be built on a building lot, so, cant control the sun path orientation as much as would to be optimal.
Higher ceilings are nice some times/places.
Thanks,
Gary


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## Jaws

Im not a designer, but I have worked in design/build firms my whole career. The biggest mess ups are generally the kitchen layout ( not following the triangle of efficiency) and getting so caught up in saving square footage that they make the bedrooms and laundry rooms too small. It doesnt cost that much to add "empty" footage to areas without cabinets.


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## Railman

To me they would be:
1) Single floor/ranch for ease of living. 
2) Low maintanance exterior, or comunity maintanance.
3) High efficiency energy pakage.
4) Square floorplan. A square type floor plan will optimize many aspects of what's important in buiding a home, some of which are:
a) Can be built on smaller std size lots.
b) Will make for more appealing interior spaces, vs a long narrow type plan.
c) Square layouts are more economical in many ways to build, due to a better ratio of living space vs exterior wall area. They also are easier to heat and cooll for the same reason.
d) I would probably opt for a scissor truss system on the main open portion of the home, for easier/better insulation package, & to offer a more spacious feel.
Just for starters,
Joe


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## thom

You will get hot water faster if you centralize the water heater and water fixtures. Same for heat and a/c. More energy efficient also.

Garage adjacent to Kitchen will make it easier to carry in groceries.

Some women like the laundry close to bedrooms, some like laundry close to kitchen.

Range on exterior wall with microwave/exhaust hood vented to outside. Provide block out (headder) for exhaust vent on plans so it gets framed in the correct location.


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## Rio

If you're where it gets really cold try to keep the plumbing on the interior walls.

Even if the lot doesn't lend itself to solar orientation try to work that in, using passive solar gain whenever possible and work towards having a roof line that will face south (or relatively flat) for solar thermal and/or electric panels.

Work on having a nice sense of entry to the house from the outside, defining the transition from public to private space.

Put the money in quality of living space, not volume.... less is often more. Read *'The Not so Big House'*, by Sarah Susanka for a lot of good ideas along those lines.

Open floor plans are nice but if they're too open they're very noisy.


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## fjn

*Floor Plans*

Watch out for these 10 mistakes !





http://www.jlconline.com/Images/Ten Common Floor-Planning Pitfalls_tcm96-1152642.pdf


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## cleveman

I always wanted a pantry off the kitchen with a window. During this time of the year, one can open that window and have a walk-in cooler/freezer.


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## EmmCeeDee

If you are looking to retire and age in place imagine what your needs may be in 20-30 years. Think accessibility. 

Minimize stairs and thresholds. Make closets, doorways and halls wide enough to easily negotiate with a walker or in a wheelchair. Exterior landscaping and walkways as well. 

Bathrooms should be spacious. Consider using barrier-free showers and ADA fixtures and dimensions. (Turning radius etc.) Spending some money here is a good idea IMHO. My folks got a separate whirlpool when they renovated their bathroom and they use it nearly every day.

Having a walk-through closet off the bathroom will minimize travel required to get dressed.

An in-law suite or garage apartment will make it easier to have both long-term visitors or live-in medical assistance.

Depending on where you live a covered garage with an entrance will keep your car out of the weather and you away from icy sidewalks. 

A pantry near the garage as suggested above makes it easier to bring in groceries.

That's all I can think of right now. Most of the above can be incorporated with only a moderate increase in SF. Obviously its much easier to plan for it now than try to retrofit later.


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## slowsol

^^^Great post!:thumbsup:


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## Runnerguy

Great thoughts above so I really can't expand on those.

But one key element often overlooked is when you're think about your house, think "property line to property line". Don't stop the design at the exterior walls, stop it at the property line. Don't know if I have the photo thing down but hopefully here's an example of a budget oriented house where we're thinking propery line to property line, not wall to wall.


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## EmmCeeDee

Also, install blocking anywhere you might need handrails or grab bars later. Places like steps, bathrooms, near beds, inside closets.


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## Joasis

Keep in mind all issues regarding aging in place. Meaning, do you want to have multiple levels when you are a senior? If not, keep it on one level. 

Also, on my next home for me, and I think others would feel the same, I would have a his and hers bath for the master. Urinal in the "his" bath.


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## hdavis

Don't wait until you have to have grab bars / walk in tub or shower. Put the grab bars in place when you build, and put the walk in tub or shower in as well and use them. It's never too early to protect yourself against falls. The worst type of falls result in brain injury - huge amounts of time to rehab from that, if ever. Hips and arms are much faster. Would you prefer your head bounces off tile or carpet?

Here's something you don't see in bathroom design discussions - it's something you find out by talking with Rescue people. If the toilet has walls on the left and right sides, a person who faints doesn't fall off the toilet onto the floor. You'd think this would be good, but getting horizontal is how your body is designed to deal with these medical situations. Instead of fainting and falling off, you die.


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## hdavis

There's something called a Med Cottage. It's brought on site as a prefab (I think) and is intended to be used if, for instance, you have to take care of one of your parents who has significant needs, possibly including monitors, oxygen, and Hoya lift / assistant (like CNA). It's a small space, so everything is easy to get to with few steps. That gives you an idea of the extreme in planning for old age. 

Back to falls as a big problem. I know of two people who were carrying things, and so didn't use the hand rail on some steps (in each case, just 2 steps - what could go wrong?). One broke their hip, and one had severe (career ending) brain damage. Using a handrail no matter what is a behavioral thing, but making it easy to get things in and out without having to carry them up and down stairs is something that design can help with.


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## Joasis

hdavis said:


> Don't wait until you have to have grab bars / walk in tub or shower. Put the grab bars in place when you build, and put the walk in tub or shower in as well and use them. It's never too early to protect yourself against falls. The worst type of falls result in brain injury - huge amounts of time to rehab from that, if ever. Hips and arms are much faster. Would you prefer your head bounces off tile or carpet?
> 
> Here's something you don't see in bathroom design discussions - it's something you find out by talking with Rescue people. If the toilet has walls on the left and right sides, a person who faints doesn't fall off the toilet onto the floor. You'd think this would be good, but getting horizontal is how your body is designed to deal with these medical situations. Instead of fainting and falling off, you die.


Excellent point. 

I was called by my pastor to see what we could do for a lady who is now wheelchair bound from a car wreck...no fault of her own, and last Saturday, I had to asses what needed to be done to make one bathroom accessible, and the kitchen sink. Home was build in the early '80's, no space at all to work with, and now, you have given me something else to think about.


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## sy85

Basically- what all of the above said and again- if it's for end of the road kinda stuff (as eerie and foreboding as that sounds...), make sure it's suitable for modifications for end of the road stuff. Dealing with my grandmother about to turn 96 (97??) you learn this stuff. One fall can cut years off your life. Ten years ago, she was walking fine, the dog took off and she went down.

The house was built in the early 1900's, late 1800's. Not easy to retrofit. Suggestions that were mentioned work pretty well. I would say place an emphasis on extra wide openings, doors and pathways. Also- try to make EVERYTHING on one surface plane. Avoid anything as big as a threshold (think half an inch or less, preferably always less when you can). Lord forbid something happens, but if someone older falls, even rehabbing can be made significantly easier by not having to step over things. My grandmother doesn't even have the strength to lift her feet in a sitting position on the wheelchair into the foot pedals. Take it for what you will, just a small deviation of half an inch can be a super nuisance at older ages. Even worse if you're clumsy like me . 

Plan for larger equipment. We have automatic La-Z-Boy recliners that are a little larger and machine operated to help lift you up into a standing position but they require space and larger doorways to move them through if you ever had to move the room it is in. 

Harder floors. Carpet may cushion a fall, but it's also a crazy slip hazard. This is more of what I've read, like if a walker gets caught or something, however. Personally- I would go hard floors, smooth as possible (hardwood, tile with thin grout lines) and if you like and want carpet, just buy a nice area rug to throw down before it becomes necessary to have the hard floor surface. 

On the bathroom, excellent points about design. (I never knew that about the toilet/feinting thing) I would recommend what they do in Europe, make a wet bathroom. No step into the shower, just set it up so you have a smooth transition. If someone gets to the point of needing a helper to bath you, it works in everyone's favor to have a bigger area with a shower massage style head and a place you could place a washing bench to sit on. The 4-5" lip on my grandmothers custom shower we made is basically impossible for her to use, and we had to remove the shower doors. 

There may be more but I'm on my iPhone and forgetting stuff now. You might want to consider taking tours of retirement homes under the guise if finding a place for a relative (if you don't want to say 'looking for ideas so you don't need to be in their place...' Haha) and pick the brains of the helpers who work there. They would be able to say right away- this is a great idea or this is a crappy one, and that would be the best bet. Especially the upper-end retirement homes/communities.


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## hdavis

Excellent points. I thought about expanding some, but you've covered most and added more.

I hadn't thought about the wet bath, that's excellent. If it's big enough, a person in a wheel chair with enough upper body strength can do the transfer from wheel chair to shower bench or toilet by themselves or with a slide board if there is a helper. The toilet height becomes ADA height either way.

Basic cleaning and daily household tasks become important earlier. having a house that's easy to clean, and having a good dishwasher really really helps. That's actually the argument for a hard surface floor - something that can be cleaned with something like a dry mop, wet mop, Swiffer, whatever. Built in counter with special stools mounted to the side instead of a table and chairs. You can really go nuts making a place easy to clean and maintain. 

Extra wide doorways, and plan the layout so the key doors can be taken off and there still be some privacy. This can be done with a wet bath by shaping i like a "G". 

Put down whatever thresholds you want now, but know you'll be pulling them all up in the future, so make sure what's under them is what you'd want to walk on. More of a problem in old houses, but if the flooring gets built up over time, you;ll have to be cutting fillers for where the thresholds were.


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## sy85

I like the idea of built in benches and sitting spots throughout the home. Gives ample opportunity to sit and rest when someone gets older and walking is doable yet still a chore. As small as a house as my grandmother has, the trips to the bathroom to the living room where she spends 90% of her time would be really long were she still walking and not being wheeled about. But the problem is you start taking up space or wind up with a greater need for more space. The benefit is that as you age, I think you have less of a need for a huge yard or something so that plan someone posted about designing property line to property line (setbacks allowing of course) sounds pretty great.

Other considerations- windows and thermal stuff. With all of today's standards it's nearly impossible not to do but get a well insulated house, double pane windows etc. And also get a great heating system. I've noticed older people love the heat. As far as windows go, I know they are more expensive but I would opt for casement or sliders as opposed to single/double hung, primarily for easy of opening. Arthritis providing, sliding windows would be best I think. We have a bunch of single and double hung and at 27- those are beasts for me. Although it could be the brand... The issue is more that the newer ones stay held up with pressure which means you need more strength to operate them which is something that fails people later in life.

I also agree about putting in thresholds with the idea you may take them out. What you can do is if you tile or hardwood or both- keep some extra pieces, plan it out without a threshold then leave a blank space for the threshold temporarily. That makes replacing the threshold for a seamless transition easier and cheaper later on. 

Other options as someone mentioned about not waiting to install grab bars (if you're really against the safety and look) are to install the blocking (as was suggested) but while you're building, take pictures with reference points of everything before drywall goes up. Then you can go back later and say- 'Oh, right- I can install a grab bar here, and here and there.' Helps with other stuff too. 

Running out of ideas again but someone mentioned planning in an extra room in case the need for a live-in helper becomes necessary. Best place is near your bedroom and at the worst case- if you never need a helper, you have a spare bedroom for your kids/hobbies/wife's um, whatever she likes to do. Or you can do a his and her sleeping quarters too if the need presents itself. (Probably want 3 br to be safe)


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## fjn

*Books*

One of the very best books in my opinion on house design is as follows. The title is Designing Your Dream Home by Susan Lang isbn#976-1-4016-0352-6. It has an extremely comprehensive check list to cover everything you can possible think of. Well worth the read.


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## Frank5

There is a really simple answer to your question, go look at homes that are for sale around you. Take notes of what you and your wife like and dislike about those homes. Note how the house flows from room to room. 

If you want a room over the garage that is up to you, but that means stairs...


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