Suzzer,

Those are some incredibly bare walls.

Scalp,

Have you spent any time looking through the selection of online house plans available? There are 100's of already drawn plans fitting the size ands style you are searching for and most of them are better designed. You can also easily modify them to fit any particular needs.

I think several hours spent searching already drawn plans would get you closer to what you want.

As someone who grew up in Iowa, was a contractor there, and still has family there who've built new homes recently, your cost estimates seem high. Also there are actually some really good builders in rural Iowa. What part of Iowa?

Thank you. We've spent many, many hours looking at online plans. None felt perfect, though - in hindsight - some maybe felt closer than what we have now. Honestly, most of the plans were waaaaay too big for us. We are looking for something that only has about 1800 or so sq. feet above grade, because of the ability to put bedrooms in our walk-out basement. It's hard to search for "nice" homes in that range. There aren't many pre-packaged designs that I've found that include below grade area in calculations and bedroom counts, which makes finding what we want a real PITA. The closest we came were some fancy lake-homes geared toward retired folks. But those had monster bedrooms, kitchens, etc., and would have come in way over our desired sq. footage. Honestly, I"m open to the possibility that I didn't look in the right places or ways, but we want a fairly rare kind of home, and those sites aggregate the more "popular" homes a lot more readily and bury what we're looking for pretty well. I can keep trying, and probably should.

I'm in the northeast part of the state, about equidistant from Rochester, LaCrosse, Dubuque, and Cedar Rapids. Those are the "big cities" nearby, and they're all at least 90 minutes away.

There are very good builders here. And construction is cheap. Our estimates may be high (our materials supplier thinks so). But our plot was $140k, and we need a $25k driveway and we have to dig a well. We'll be installing quasi-commercial appliances and putting up expensive windows, shingles, smart-board siding, a generator, solar, etc. etc. I don't think we're getting screwed by our contractors or builder. My cousin is a prominent member of the building trades in the area and has been helpful in helping me through it.

With all of the land and excavation costs you mention your budget makes more sense.

I'd think that entering your criteria into a few houseplan sites would net 20-30 plans in the size, style, sq', walkout configuration, ranch/view/lakehouse that you describe. Pick the one you like the most and go talk directly to the builder and give him a list of 10 things you don't like about it and 10 things you wish it had. You'll get closer than you are now without paying a designer.

The upside with most online plans is they make sense in that the layout works, the windows match in style and the lines are correct. It's much easier to modify from there.

In rural Iowa I'd expect the builder to do the work of the designer or an architect if you have a plan to start from. The builder can, and has the experience, make the modifications you want as part of the bid process. It's different than more stringently regulated areas where an architect or designer may be required. Find a good builder and tell him what you want.

suzzer,

here is the finished product.

Agree with this overall, but I don't think the bold is applicable in the overwhelming majority of the US. Only a tiny fraction of homes are designed by an architect, and afaik Nevada is the only state that has any sort of licensing for residential designers.

That was my place before I bought it. I just grabbed the pics off the real estate listing that's still up.

Here's what it looks like now: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/34...n#post49903416

That's awesome. I like the glass faces to the cabinets. Thanks for posting.

suzzer, all hardwood AINEC.

Hah, thanks but take my comments with a grain of salt as at least half of them are design-snob-trolling... sort of.

I have to say that I find that online plans suck because they are sooooooo average, which is okay if you want something average, which most people seem to be fine with. However, if you want more, you need to find a good architect. The problem is that, similar to other professionals, most of them suck and it is really only the top 10% or so that actually deliver. With builders, it goes down from there as there are way less builders that understand good design. Good builders definitely understand good design, but very few can actually design well. For what the_scalp wants, his chances of getting what he wants from a builder are way less than getting it from an architect/designer. It's just a numbers game.

It's pretty clear to me that the_scalp wants more for his house design, much more, but he is challenged to find a top-10%er due to his location. Frankly, I'm pretty impressed with how the_scalp expresses his vision, dreams and desires for his house and how he realizes—at a gut-check level—that he isn't getting what he really wants, despite his designer apparently putting in what sounds like some decent time and effort. It appears though that his designer has limitations, which are pretty apparent to me when I hear what the_scalp describes and see what the designer delivers, which is just a jumbled-up melange of what he is used to doing for the upper crust Iowan (is that a word?) doctors and lawyers that are satisfied with much less than what the_scalp envisions. The thing about the upper-crust doctors and lawyers is that they are fine with what this sorta house designer comes up with because it is the same shtick as what all the other doctors and lawyers have—therefore it must be "good" design.

I gotta say that I feel for the_scalp because I don't think he is going to ever really get what he wants, even though he is prepared to pay for it from a design and construction perspective. He might be able to get close though, we'll have to wait and see how his designer responds to being challenged further.

As I said yesterday, I'm gonna take a look at the plan over the weekend, just for a lol, and see how it goes.

BTW the_scalp, nice looking site!

Yes, Iowan is corrct

And just a quick pop-in for now - but I don't want this subthread to turn into a let's bash Midwestern yokels thing. There are parts of Iowa that are way more cosmopolitan than the part I'm in. I'm in the sticks. And even the folks who know things can be better (culinarily, architecturally, etc. etc.) sometimes have to be content with less. There are trade-offs to being here.

Had a dream last night that we just found a better rental, spent a few years savings some more scrilla, and built a baller timber frame cabin. It was . . . nice.

Iowegian ldo

I went to school in Kirksville, MO. Nothing worse than getting stuck behind one of those blue license plates puttering along 5 mph below the speed limit.

How concerned should I be about this corrosion below my house's main water shutoff valve? 3/4" M grade copper, 45 years old.

Suzzer, I like the tile that looks like wood myself. I'm in a hot climate so tile is nice in the summer, and I have kids so durability matters to me a lot. Aside from that I think hardwood throughout would look the best in your situation.

That would make me pretty nervous and I'd plan on having it replaced. I'd also make sure I knew where the shutoff was in the yard (if there is one).

That's just dirty copper. That would not have happened if the plumber had wiped off the flux after soldering it. Copper pipe should be wrapped in 10 mil tape when penetrating concrete however. I cant tell if that is or not. You could clean that off with some sand cloth or sandpaper. I always like to install a ball valve for a main house shut off as it can be shut much faster and they dont fail as much as gate valves.

Thanks for the advice legion and zikzak. I plan to clean this off with baking soda and steel wool if necessary. definitely no leaks but there is potential for condensation here, would it be helpful to rub the pipe with wax after cleaning?

the_scalp,

I mucked around a bit with a plan and a couple of sections to look at a different approach for your house.

The main thing I wanted to look at was getting some order and presence into the plan. The way I did this was by establishing a strong, linear, 5' wide circulation spine along the east side of the house with the primary spaces oriented to the view to the east. On the plan you will see a long dashed-line: the spaces to the west have a flat, 10' high interior ceiling and the spaces to the east are vaulted to open up to the view. Where I show a couple of closets to the west of the circulation spine at each end of the kitchen, there would be long, linear clerestorey windows up above the closets to bring light down into the hallway, which would also make the roof appear to 'float' up above.





I'll take you on a tour of the plan:

Garage
The 3-car garage is oriented to the south in order to screen the garage doors from being seen on the main elevation. The garage is highly glazed: I'm thinking narrow, linear clerestorey glazing to the west and lots of glazing to the east. The ceiling vaults to the east so you can always install your golf simulator in there. There is a work bench along the north wall. There are two doors: one leads to the foyer and the other outside at the east.

Entry Porch, Foyer & Screened Porch
A pathway is provided from the driveway as I'm anticipating that visitors would park to the south of the garage. They would make their way to the front door, which is announced by a row of trees, a landscaped path, and a view to the roof of the entry porch, which would have a cantilevered roof up above. If that was too amibitious structurally, a couple of columns could be added for support.

The wall in front of the entry would be highly glazed. You would be able to see completely through the house: past the foyer; over the stair; and through the screened porch beyond. The foyer offers direct and easy access to the garage, the stair down to the lower level, the screened porch; and, to the rest of the house. The west wall of the screened porch is floor-to-ceiling glazing; the east wall, of course, is screened. To the left of the foyer is a closet. The ceiling above the stair and screened porch is vaulted.

Laundry, Mudroom & Powder
There is plenty of room here to fit in a side-by-side washer and dryer, a laundry sink, a small powder room, and a bench, with storage for coats and boots. There is a door to the outside at the east.

Kitchen, Dining & Living
The kitchen is in the flat, 10’ high ceiling portion of the section to the west of the circulation spine. The dining and living are in the vaulted ceiling area to the east.

I am proposing that you consider locatig the stove on the island and that the island be low with no upstand ‘bar’ portion. I believe that cooking is the main activity in a kitchen that should be on display, not the process of washing dishes. The island would be quite wide at 4’ which will provide plenty of space for people to pull up a low stool on the opposite side to watch or help with the cooking. The stove would be a showpiece with a high-end, stylish, suspended exhaust fan above. The work triangle would be to the south of the kitchen, with a large fridge/freezer and a prep sink. A dish sink and dishwasher would be to the other end of the kitchen and a storage pantry would be to the north.

The dining table would be a long, 10-seat showpiece located under the low end of the vaulted ceiling.

The living area would be to the east with large expanses of glazing complete with corner glazing. The fireplace would be low-slung, perhaps with low built-ins/window benches to each side, and be located in the east wall with glazing up above it. The chimney flue would be a simple, metal cylinder to minimize its presence in the space. A door would lead to an outdoor deck/terrace with a fire pit, which would be located to the east of the garage, so as not to interrupt the view from the screened porch.

Master Bedroom
To reach the sleeping area, you would first pass through a zone of closets and ensuite. I showed a bath and shower, as well as two vanities—because that’s the way I roll.

The master bed is placed against a long built-in and headboard element. There is room for a built-in tv or free-standing dressers across from the bed, as well as a small fireplace and sitting area, off of which there is a private terrace with a fire pit.

Lower Leve
I didn’t draw it, but it would be pretty straight forward with space for a couple of bedrooms near the stair, a large family/entertainment room located below the main space above, and a guest suite below the master bedroom above.

As I was playing with the plan, I couldn’t help thinking that it might be cool to bring a couple of the bedrooms up to the main level and to really stretch out the plan. Meh, whatever. Either approach would work.

Other Options
After thinking about de captain’s advice regarding stock house plan services, I decided to do a quick google and check out what is available these days—and I have to say that de captain might have a pretty good suggestion as the state of plans on offer have changed a lot since I last took a look at them. In fact, I borrowed and modified some of the plan features to suit your program because it was easier for me to do than to start right from scratch while mucking about at home.

So, in case you want to explore some other options, here are a few that you might want to consider taking a look at. Who knows, if you found the right guy to modify them for you to suit your program, floor area, site, and exterior stylistic preferences, there might be something for you to really take a look at.

I found the following plans to be quite strong; however, the sections and exterior appearances aren't quite my thing as I prefer more of a contemporary expression with a more dynamic section:

https://www.houseplans.com/plan/3108...armhouse-38373

https://www.houseplans.com/plan/2415...ge-ranch-37632

https://www.houseplans.com/plan/3599...armhouse-38958

Good luck!

You sure that's from flux? I'd expect to see flux at the joint, not where it enters the concrete. The joint is clean. To me it looks like something in the concrete is reacting with the copper, hence my concern.

Nice work, 99. I don't know how well contemporary design will fly in rural Iowa, but I like it.

Could be the flux ran down the pipe when it was heated, and they didn't wipe it off. Either way, I had a plumber I work with tell me the other day that can eventually lead to a leak if not cleaned off.

If I had to guess its from condensation. There's definitely no leaks in the area.

That is what crappy soldering looks like. If the person that soldered it wiped everything down after he was done that should not have shown up. Copper will oxidize like that. Copper roofs or copper anything will take on a patina like that if not cleaned or exposed to weather. I would be more worried about the copper in direct contact with the concrete. Clean it off with whatever is available. If you are worried about a leak in the ground just shut that gate valve and go look at your meter. If it is not spinning you dont have a leak.

I have been a plumber for 11 years and have seen that green buildup many times.

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