Books and builder

Books and builder

Bigger fan. Easy access

Just go big - not the smallest fan. And put stuff where access isn't an issue. 

Think about it

The light went out at the top of the stairs. Changing it felt like I was risking my life on a step ladder positioned 3 inches from the first riser.

Vent ducts over bed, smoke detector about stairs on ceiling that needs an 18 foot ladder. 

A ceiling fan that encourages silver fish to come down from the attic. 

Position things PROPERLY 

and seal them up. 

Rooms with door

If there is a door- to a room or closet- that door should be able to stay closed. The room has its own thermostat- in flow- and outflow. 

The temperature of a room should not be dependent on a door being open. 

Switches and lights

Each room should have a variety of light intensity options- dim mood lighting- movie watching in non-darkness- homework or book reading. 

Ceiling fans are a good thing

Switches- lights on the left, fan on the right, outlets on the right

Duct work -

Our Virginia home has AC ducts in the floors on the first floor. 

On the second floor they are above my pillow. 

Hating both! 

Plan the position of these with the house use in mind. 

Storage here is another problem. Need storage that is inside the envelope. Gold rimmed China can't go in the attic- it's too hot. 

Basement windows-

Same quality as main house. 

Egress sized for future bedroom type use. 

Natural light encourage 

And then

Washer hook ups on the left. 

Dryer on the right. 

Windows with an r value of 14

But since we are actually talking about windows its U-0.07

"Green from ground up" page 140

Foundation notes- termite barrier. 

6 inches of foundation is above grade - or more

Perimeter drain

Rigid foam insulation on the inside of footing and insulation under slab

Insulated concrete forms

Frost protected shallow foundation? 

Outside foundation - not asphalt based damp proofing. Use corrugated membrane to take water to perimeter drain

If using crawl space- 24+ inches 

Your home.gov.au

Rainwater collection ok in Rhode Island?

Yard

Possible? Musings? 

Along road side - 

Sun dial - people are the dial (like Milwaukee domes entrance) 

Tunnel for kids to crawl through

Hop scotch

Fairy garden 

Bridge

Labrynth 

Cherry tomatoes 

Mint plants

Johnny jump ups

Edible landscape

Fence and landscaping keep this separate from our PRIVATE haven. 

More yard

Red pine,

Pitch pine, 

Scotch pine, 

Eastern white pine, 

Red maple, 

Sugar maple. 

Yard

Lilac 

Hydrangea

Smoke tree

Brides veil

Golden chain

Apple trees (human enjoyment) 

Crab apple

Cherry trees

American persimmons 

Wild grapes

Magnolia

Dogwood

Viburnum 

Holly

Honey locust

Juniper (hay field pine) 

Blueberry bushes

Milkweed

Queen Anns lace

Raspberries 

Mulberry - maybe! 

American cranberry bush viburnum

Red bud??? 

American bayberry

Teton fire thorn 

Elderberry 

What I learned from the holidays

A water main shut off inside the home.

Before electrician gets paid- breaker box switches correctly correlated. 

(Remember the time we were installing new smoke detectors and we shut off the smoke detector breaker- but one was still hot?) 

Where do we want the Christmas tree? No heat there. Extra outlets. 

How do we want to decorate for holidays? Window lights that can reach outlets? 

Window fans that can reach outlets. 

Window AC that can reach outlets. 

Under roof line- and exterior of house- outlets for outdoor decorating. 

Holiday entertaining- 

Great room big enough to hold 4 banquet tables end to end with room on the ends to sit and walk around. 

East west

Front door and window next to it line up with back door and window next to it. Shot gun style? 

Might be misusing the term

Garage to house

Between garage and house a large screened in covered porch. Stairs in garage go up to the deck above the porch. This is where the bee hives will be. Behind privacy fence. 

Also suitable for nude sun bathing. 

Structurally strong enough for a hot tub up there. 

Allow room / infursteucture for a wheel chair lift in garage 

More thoughts on plants

A few sections of white picket fence on the south west corner. 

Behind it... Peonies.

Then smaller ornamental trees: 

A few of each

Smoke tree

Honey suckle

Wild grapes

Wisteria

Ginkgo

Chestnut

Viburnum -scented

Golden chain

Pee-gee hydrangea 

Burning bushes

Rhoderdendron 

Dogwood

Weeping cherry

Honey locust

Layer them in to create a welcoming boarder in that corner. 

Yeah yeah

Okay. Yes, I want passive solar. But opening a window to cool the house isn't going to cut the mustard 6 to 8 weeks of the year. What else ya got? 

Visit ability

Web site: concrete change 

www.concretechange.org

Coined the term 

Visitability 

A conversation about universal design features. 

Stair cases

Stair cases should be built in such a way that ...

The guys that work for furniture stores...

Won't groan when they see then. Queen size box springs and big couches are easy to get up them! 

Bathrooms

When sitting on a potty the door should be able to open and close without hitting knees. 

When a little one is using a stool to brush teeth at the sink, the bathroom door should be able to open and close without having to move the stool. 

When someone gets out of the shower and leaves a damp spot on the bathroom floor...

That should be not the same spot my feet need to be when using the potty. 

The area around a potty should be large enough to lay down and the floor should be warm...

If you are sick enough to sleep laying next to a potty...

You will want the floor to be warm able. 

Elevator

If the garage is connected to the house via the covered back porch...

Could we have a storage / office / yoga studio type thing above the garage? 

And a path from the upstairs of the garage to the upstairs of the house. 

And although not actually install an elevator in the garage, at least plan for one. 

Elevators in homes turn into fire magnifiers. 

Back up heat

Possible propane back up heat. But no electricity required to kick it on. Direct vent. 

SIP's and carpenter ants

Just read an article about SIP's being a gold mine for vermin and carpenter ants. 

Given that the region is FULL of carpenter ants.... 

Sound proofing

Sound proofing so we can't hear neighbors dogs barking. Sound proofing so when parents are up late watching a kick ass movie .... Everyone else can sleep peacefully in beds. 

Universal access

Front door - big wide side walk up hill to wide front door. IS a handicapped ramp but doesn't look that way. 

more

out going air vent above dryer to evacuate humidity

Master Bath will have a large steam shower.

Throne room built for a 6'6" guy to lay down. Or is that the half bath walk through to the Master? And keep the throne room modest - larger than average ~ but normal.

And...

Aging in place

Barrier free

Universal design - kids to great grand parents.