What feature do you like about your house, garage, hangar, etc???

Why, you a moaner or screamer? :popcorn: :biggrin:

My wife keeps her sewing machine in one, and I used to have a desk in another. This house is 1BR less than before, so my desk went away.

It also makes it easier to shut off when company isn't here, and lower the AC bill.
 
Biggest problem with a basement is it gets wet from plumbing pipe breaks and seepage from ground water and rain. The solution is to put a crawl space under the basement. Put the basement slab on steel beams and steel corregated roofing made for supporting a slab. Expensive yes. Oh, and two sump pumps, one on a battery (with a trickle charger) and one on house electricity. Never have to worry about water in the basement after spending that 20 grand.

Having a crawl space keeps the under joist area accessible for wires and pipes and having an attic does the same thing up there. Then put a raceway for adding pipes and wires going from top to bottom. Then you dont have to put holes in the sheetrock to fix pipes and add wires.
 
My wife keeps her sewing machine in one, and I used to have a desk in another. This house is 1BR less than before, so my desk went away.

It also makes it easier to shut off when company isn't here, and lower the AC bill.

Uh huh. Sure thing. ;)
 
I stayed in a hotel that had heated toilet seats...... I felt like the king..!!!
 
Can you elaborate on why you'd rather have a crawl space, as opposed to just building a basement? Also, why no gutters (regional cold climates, excepted)?

A basement is great but has two disadvantages: it is difficult to get stuff into (walk out basements are really just lower floors in hilly areas) and it usually gets "finished" and therefore all the wiring is covered up. With an accessible SEALED crawlspace, there is access to all the utilities and it offers insulation from the ground.
Gutters funnel water off the roof to particular areas around the house but tend to get clogged and require cleaning. By putting a vegetation barrier around the house consisting of drainage tile and gravel, the water will shed from the roof and be carried away from the foundation. Also, keeping vegetation away from the house keep bugs and roots away from the house. The drain tile will have to be below the crawlspace floor.
 
Gutters get the rain away from the backfill area (via downspouts) which ensures the rain isn't going to seep into the hole that was dug for the purpose of building the house. It gets the water to the undisturbed soil. Landscaping is important. Make SURE there is positive drainage away from the house in all directions well past the backfill.

One really nice thing to have is a map of where the excavation was and how far from each foundation wall the backfill ends and undisturbed soil begins. Depends on if you have well drained soils or not. If you have poorly drained clay , these things are important. Also ask for the soil engineer's report and save that document as well as the blueprints etc.

There are 3 basic types of soil. Loam, sand and clay. Also gravel and solid rock (though those arent soil). Then there are mixtures of the two.
 
Thanks to everyone for the feedback and comments...some of you guys went way out to the weeds, but it is POA after all and that is to be expected! :)

Random comments.

Instantaneous water heaters: They don't perform well in areas with hard water, many times lasting less than one year, Plus they require a pretty empty 240v electrical feed to each location. I had already planned a system like Spike recommended with a recirculating hot water pump. I also plan to have two 30 gallon-ish water heaters, one electric, one propane, piped in series, thus providing redundancy.

Pex: It seems to be the thing these days. A good friend who is a commercial plumber likes it and he said that they've solved most of the initial issues and it is now quite reliable. He said they use it almost exclusively. I'm still having a hard time with it though, as I view it as that vinyl siding of the plumbing world. I'm pretty good with copper and sweating. I'll see what kind of mood I'm in when that time comes. Water around these parts is hard, but is not corrosive in any way to copper or brass.

Crawl space: Everything is going to be slab on grade.

Floor radiant heat: I'm considering this for the big structure but not the small one. Having a bunch of water pipes in the slab give me mucho pucker factor. It really limits options. If I go radiant it will be fired by an outdoor wood stove.

HvAC, small structure: This is pretty straightforward since it's basically just two rooms, a high efficiency dual fuel heat pump and a woodstove. The heat pump will have back up propane. That way if I lose electricity, I still have heat with just one 20a, 110v circuit from the genset.

HVAC, big structure: mini-splits and, again, a wood stove. Gotta have a wood stove, especially when one has an ample supply of firewood, 4 chain saws, a log splitter and a skid steer with a grapple rake. Free heat discounting labor, but I love cutting wood. May go w/ in-slab radiant in the hangar. Maybe.

Thanks for the suggestion on the laundry sink/tub. I had one in a previous home and loved it. It had fallen off of my radar screen. I need one!

To those who suggested a large laundry room in the Louisville laundry closet. I agree completely. That's why in both structures the washer/dryer will be out in the garage/hanger. There will be plenty of room out there! :)

In both, everything is going to be one elevation. No stairs, only one step up to the living spaces from the garage and hangar because it will be 8" higher for safety and I believe it is a residential code requirement.

Speaking of codes, this is Missouri, for the most part once you get out of side the major metropolitan areas there Is no code enforcement. I can do whatever I want to, I will still abide by the codes though, especially those concerning life safety.

One thing that I guess I really don't understand is people advocating a bunch of empty conduit for future data/cable/whatever. I haven't hardwired anything except a TV for 10 years and really don't forsee doing so in the future. What am I missing?
 
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Actually, I have a three story house. We're on a hill two of the sides are dug into the grade. The only windowless rooms are the "furnace" room and the wine "cellar".

Under part of the house, the plans called for a "crawl space" (yes, this is sealed up and within the insulated building enevelope). It turned out that this ended up being over 8' tall (though the door to get into it is about 5' tall). The trades asked (and I agreed) if they could locate the heat pumps and my fire sprinkler system inside this space. This places it closer to most of the house. There's still tons of room there. The former "equipment" room is now just a huge closet.

The other advantage of being on the grade is that the hangar and the car garage keeps the same roof line. The hangar floor is just 6' lower than the garage. The other neat thing is that since I am built on the taxiway (perpendicular to the runway), my house is set on the runway setback giving great views of that. My hangar fronts the taxiway (the house is L shape).
 
Instantaneous water heaters: They don't perform well in areas with hard water, many times lasting less than one year, Plus they require a pretty empty 240v electrical feed to each location.
Are you talking about the thing to make hot water for tea or a tankless domestic hot water system? We've had a Rinnai for 8 years now and it still goes strong. We do have a water softener. The only things that come off the unsoftened side of the supply are the carbonator (says it needs unsofetned water) and the water supply for Margy's greenhouse.
I had already planned a system like Spike recommended with a recirculating hot water pump. I also plan to have two 30 gallon-ish water heaters, one electric, one propane, piped in series, thus providing redundancy.
Even 60 gallons is a bit short for us. Love the Rinnai's. I do have a smallish electric hot water heater ahead of one Rinnai. This is really a heat exchanger for the HeatPump "desuperheater." During A/C season, some of the excess heat is used to preheat the hot water. The Rinnai that covers the main part of the house will have the recirculator feature.
Pex: It seems to be the thing these days. A good friend who is a commercial plumber likes it and he said that they've solved most of the initial issues and it is now quite reliable. He said they use it almost exclusively. I'm still having a hard time with it though, as I view it as that vinyl siding of the plumbing world. I'm pretty good with copper and sweating. I'll see what kind of mood I'm in when that time comes. Water around these parts is hard, but is not corrosive in any way to copper or brass.
I wouldn't equate it to Vinyl siding. Vinyl siding was never anybody's idea of quality. I paid slightly more to not have the inane woodgrain stamped in mine when I had it redone.
According to my water quality guy, it's the acid in my water supply that ate my fittings. Hardness shouldn't be a problem. I've sweated more than my share of copper together (no big thing, I had a six head shower system with thermostatic valve and volume controls in the previous house). One neat PEX trend (really doesn't have anything to do with PEX) is the idea of home running all the lines to a common manifold rather.

Floor radiant heat: I'm considering this for the big structure but not the small one. Having a bunch of water pipes in the slab give me mucho pucker factor. It really limits options. If I go radiant it will be fired by an outdoor wood stove.
Most of the bad stories about radiant comes from the days when people tried to do it with copper pipe. Everybody uses PEX now. I'm not sure what options it limits. In the "Slab" they're deap enough that if I wanted to drill and bolt something to the floor it would be fine. In the upper floors mine are set in thin, lightweight concrete, but others just put them in channels in (or below) the subfloor).

Since I have geothermal heat pumps, there's no need for backup. We do have enough fireplaces that we did keep warm the time one of the pumps in the heat pump died. I have spares now.
cement. I can do whatever I want to, I will still abide by the codes though, especially those concerning life safety.
One thing that I guess I really don't understand is people advocating a bunch of empty conduit for future data/cable/whatever. I haven't hardwired anything except a TV for 10 years and really don't forsee doing so in the future. What am I missing?
Conduit wouldn't hurt if you don't have a way to retrofit otherwise. I've got a mix of hardwired stuff but I'm a computer guy. I've got a 1G main switch and another one in my office. Some of the stuff doesn't have wifi and lives in one of those two locations. Mostly the switch drives (and powers via POE) the six wifi APs that most everything connects to. The only downside is the absolutely crappy internet service available here.
 
Outlets! Minimum 2 per wall, more in garage.

I have all that in my house, just need electricity in Alabama now. :(
one of these years!

P69na.png
 
Just a couple comments. PEX will last longer than you will. Polyethylene has been used in industrial and utility distribution service for several decades so service life is not a concern. PEX in the slab is the only sane way to do radiant heat - no joints to fail in the in-slab piping.

I like copper for DW but it’s tough to beat the low cost of PEX. Gotta use home-runs with PEX though. Translation: modifying a copper system is frequently easier than modifying a PEX system.
 
Things I've either had or want:

1) Wood burning stove somewhere. Not a fireplace, a true stove that allows for wood heat. While this wouldn't be expected as the primary source, it's nice to have as a backup
2) Whole-house generator with propane tank and automatic switchover. Nothing more annoying than trying to wheel out a generator and fuss with it not wanting to start when the power's out
3) Build one room in the basement to tornado shelter specs. We're going to build ours as a theater room.
4) Garage tall enough for a full-sized lift (not an issue if you're making a hangar)
5) Laundry room w/sink on the 2nd floor
6) 80-gallon hot water tank. Never run out. An on-demand system has also been on our list
7) 400A electric service. Consider adding a separate 200A service for the hangar/shop.

Hangar should ideally be attached to the house.
 
Biggest problem with a basement is it gets wet from plumbing pipe breaks and seepage from ground water and rain. The solution is to put a crawl space under the basement. Put the basement slab on steel beams and steel corregated roofing made for supporting a slab . . . Having a crawl space keeps the under joist area accessible for wires and pipes and having an attic does the same thing up there. Then put a raceway for adding pipes and wires going from top to bottom. Then you dont have to put holes in the sheetrock to fix pipes and add wires.

I have a split-level home, one side on slab, the other with a crawl space. The only time that the crawl space came in handy, was when we had the galvanized pipe rupture and had to be replaced (with PEX). However, it never would have ruptured had it not been improperly-suspended in the crawl-space. I just can't imagine having so much need to run new pipes/electric that couldn't be done through the attic space. Sheet rock is cheap and easy to fix in my experience, and if there's a leak in the wall, is going to have to be cut-out anyway, so you're not saving much for repairs unless they happen in-slab.

A basement is great but has two disadvantages: it is difficult to get stuff into (walk out basements are really just lower floors in hilly areas) and it usually gets "finished" and therefore all the wiring is covered up. With an accessible SEALED crawlspace, there is access to all the utilities and it offers insulation from the ground.
Gutters funnel water off the roof to particular areas around the house but tend to get clogged and require cleaning. By putting a vegetation barrier around the house consisting of drainage tile and gravel, the water will shed from the roof and be carried away from the foundation. Also, keeping vegetation away from the house keep bugs and roots away from the house. The drain tile will have to be below the crawlspace floor.

They make "gutter guards" which prevent most large debris from entering the gutters, which eliminates clogs. I'd much rather use gutters/downspouts to direct water away from the foundation versus relying on drainage tile and gravel around the perimeter.
 
5) Laundry room w/sink on the 2nd floor.

Build the laundry room with a poured pan and a drain (basically like a walk-in shower). Last year I had major water damage when a fitting in the second floor laundry gave up the ghost.

Another thing I am considering putting in. A central shutoff wired into water alarms in utility room and laundry rooms.
 
I saw it mentioned briefly, but what's the thought about having an "equipment room" or use of a basement for such duties? It seems like having all water heaters, pumps, telecom/electric panels, etc. all running to a central location would be beneficial. I'm sure that becomes less-desirable as HVAC and plumbing runs get longer, but it seems like it would save on space versus having to carve out closets for each item. I just don't see them used too much until homes get into the 4K sq ft and above sizes.
 
1) Wood burning stove somewhere. Not a fireplace, a true stove that allows for wood heat. While this wouldn't be expected as the primary source, it's nice to have as a backup
Two of my fireplaces are Renaissance sealed units with heat recovery systems. They'll throw a lot of heat while retaining a fireplace appearance.
2) Whole-house generator with propane tank and automatic switchover. Nothing more annoying than trying to wheel out a generator and fuss with it not wanting to start when the power's out
Gone one. The neighborhood was without power for about six hours the other evening. I didn't even realize it until I heard the generator. I was in a darkened room so I didn't catch the lights going out for a few second.
3) Build one room in the basement to tornado shelter specs. We're going to build ours as a theater room.
My room is the wine cellar. Amusingly I have an old FALLOUT SHELTER sign pointing to it.
4) Garage tall enough for a full-sized lift (not an issue if you're making a hangar)
And I got enough height for a taller four post lift. This lets me double stack things as well.

7) 400A electric service. Consider adding a separate 200A service for the hangar/shop.
I have 400A service but frankly my testing shows I never get anywhere near 200A even with electric heat pumps. If I could only get three phase power.
 
Whole-house generator with propane tank and automatic switchover. Nothing more annoying than trying to wheel out a generator and fuss with it not wanting to start when the power's out

There's something the rest of us missed. I'm not a prepper, but it's always seemed like a cool idea. Although from a practicality standpoint I don't know that it makes a lot of sense. I'm 52 years old and have never had a power outage that lasted more than just a few hours. Still, I'm one of those "just in case" people, so it sounds like a good idea.
 
My house has something I'd never thought of - and it's from 1954 - 4' wide hallways - it makes it simple to move stuff around - and - if someone is sick and needs help to move (wheelchair, cane and support etc) there is plenty of room.
 
My wife employed universal design in our house (she actually used that as her Master's thesis). The house is designed for the possibility that one of us will end up in a wheel chair someday. The essentials are all on the same level. The front door has no steps and we do have an elevator. Turns out one of our neighbors who was a very senior US Air pilot got clobbered by a tractor-trailer and put in a wheelchair. Margy even places the furniture with advice from him as for maximum mobility.
 
There's something the rest of us missed. I'm not a prepper, but it's always seemed like a cool idea. Although from a practicality standpoint I don't know that it makes a lot of sense. I'm 52 years old and have never had a power outage that lasted more than just a few hours. Still, I'm one of those "just in case" people, so it sounds like a good idea.

I'm not a prepper either, and wouldn't have spent the money on just for fun. However it came with the house, and it's been very nice to have. Longest we've had the power out for was about 6 hours. Totally survivable without the generator, but it's just a nice convenience. One night we were downstairs watching a movie, power went out. Wait 5 seconds, "crank crank crank crank VROOM!" and the power's back on. Turn the TV and DVD player back on, pick up movie where we left off.

Now having one, if I were in an area where the power might be likely to go out, I would go for it.
 
I'm not a prepper either, and wouldn't have spent the money on just for fun. However it came with the house, and it's been very nice to have. Longest we've had the power out for was about 6 hours. Totally survivable without the generator, but it's just a nice convenience. One night we were downstairs watching a movie, power went out. Wait 5 seconds, "crank crank crank crank VROOM!" and the power's back on. Turn the TV and DVD player back on, pick up movie where we left off.

Now having one, if I were in an area where the power might be likely to go out, I would go for it.


We don't live in an area prone to prolonged power outages. However, the ice storm back in 2007 woke a lot of people up to the possibility of needing backup power sources. Our home was only without power for 3 days or so I think, and we had a wood-burning fireplace which everyone slept in front of. We also were on of the few who had a small gasoline-powered generator which was normally used for powering a softball/baseball pitching machine during practices. We were able to watch TV and keep the fridge cold with that generator sitting on the back deck and used sparingly. However, there were many outside of the suburbs who went without power for weeks in mid-December. If we had thought about it, we probably could have wired up the downstairs heater (natural gas fired) to the genny and gotten by, but it never got to that point. Ice storms of that magnitude are admittedly rare, but it's always a possibility in places like KS/OK and other states where freezing rain is as almost as likely as getting snow since winter-temps sometimes go back-and-forth over freezing during the day.
 
One more thing you might not have thought of is pocket doors. We have a few and they are out of the way and good for closing off parts of the house during get togethers.
 
One more thing you might not have thought of is pocket doors. We have a few and they are out of the way and good for closing off parts of the house during get togethers.

They also can be nice for closets and bathrooms. We replaced the standard swinging doors with sliding doors, which gave a lot more usable space in the master bath, master closet, and laundry room.
 
We don't live in an area prone to prolonged power outages. However, the ice storm back in 2007 woke a lot of people up to the possibility of needing backup power sources. Our home was only without power for 3 days or so I think, and we had a wood-burning fireplace which everyone slept in front of. We also were on of the few who had a small gasoline-powered generator which was normally used for powering a softball/baseball pitching machine during practices. We were able to watch TV and keep the fridge cold with that generator sitting on the back deck and used sparingly. However, there were many outside of the suburbs who went without power for weeks in mid-December. If we had thought about it, we probably could have wired up the downstairs heater (natural gas fired) to the genny and gotten by, but it never got to that point. Ice storms of that magnitude are admittedly rare, but it's always a possibility in places like KS/OK and other states where freezing rain is as almost as likely as getting snow since winter-temps sometimes go back-and-forth over freezing during the day.

True. In many ways the rare event is more concerning than the common event. Regardless, we're prepared with a 500 gallon tank and our generator.
 
A large hidden safe that can hold several guns, cash, gold, jewelry, important documents and your John & Martha King VCR tapes.
 
They also can be nice for closets and bathrooms. We replaced the standard swinging doors with sliding doors, which gave a lot more usable space in the master bath, master closet, and laundry room.
We have some pocket doors. Note one problem with them is in most cases they'll preclude you being able to put switches or other electrical boxes on the wall adjacent where the door slides.
 
PEX will last longer than you will. Polyethylene has been used in industrial and utility distribution service for several decades so service life is not a concern. PEX in the slab is the only sane way to do radiant heat - no joints to fail in the in-slab piping.

Yeah, won't argue that, Clark. But it's not the pipe itself that gives me the pucker factor. It's that the pipe needs to be in the top 1/3 of the slab in order to efficiently transfer the heat upwards. Combine that with a 4" to 5" slab that needs to be cut a minimum of 1" to ensure a weak plane. Not much margin for error there.

Then there's attaching walls to the floor (yeah, the pipes SHOULDN'T be at the walls if properly installed...but...)

Then there's later on when I decide I want eye bolt in another location to pull the tail of the airplane down or when I want to build another wall somewhere, I'd have about a 10% chance of hitting a pipe...and with my luck that's 100% chance.

Those are the drivers behind the pucker factor I'm talking about.

Then there's requirement for rigid insulation under the slab if installing in-slab radiant heat. That means a pump truck and addl $$.

I've put a pencil to it and just don't see the cost payback being very lucrative even if using wood...before considering the pucker factor. Sure is nice though.

2) Whole-house generator with propane tank and automatic switchover. Nothing more annoying than trying to wheel out a generator and fuss with it not wanting to start when the power's out

Eh. I had a gas generator (12 hr tank) mounted on a little trailer at my last house. It stayed in the barn on a battery tender. I installed a manual transfer switch on the house and built a custom cord for hook-up. If I had a power outage then I'd pull the genset over to the house with the side-by-side, plug it in and fire it up. It really wasn't a big deal. But I ran it for about a 30 minutes once a month to make sure it was okay. The advantage was I could pull it out to the back 40, to the neighbor's, wherever, if I needed power for a remote project.
 
Big enough that my wife and I don't have to bump into each other constantly.
When we do, it's worth it.
 
We don't live in an area prone to prolonged power outages. However, the ice storm back in 2007 woke a lot of people up to the possibility of needing backup power sources. Our home was only without power for 3 days or so I think, and we had a wood-burning fireplace which everyone slept in front of. We also were on of the few who had a small gasoline-powered generator which was normally used for powering a softball/baseball pitching machine during practices. We were able to watch TV and keep the fridge cold with that generator sitting on the back deck and used sparingly. However, there were many outside of the suburbs who went without power for weeks in mid-December. If we had thought about it, we probably could have wired up the downstairs heater (natural gas fired) to the genny and gotten by, but it never got to that point. Ice storms of that magnitude are admittedly rare, but it's always a possibility in places like KS/OK and other states where freezing rain is as almost as likely as getting snow since winter-temps sometimes go back-and-forth over freezing during the day.

That.

We had no power for 6.5 days. Many of the country folk were down for much longer. We had fun though. Kind of like camping in our own home.
 
We have some pocket doors. Note one problem with them is in most cases they'll preclude you being able to put switches or other electrical boxes on the wall adjacent where the door slides.

We have sliding doors (not pocket doors). They hang on the walls and slide in front of the door frame area. This alleviates the issue you note.
 
If I could only get three phase power.
https://www.americanrotary.com/

One more thing you might not have thought of is pocket doors.
Lived in a house with nothing but pocket doors. Not impressed.

Then there's later on when I decide I want eye bolt in another location to pull the tail of the airplane down or when I want to build another wall somewhere, I'd have about a 10% chance of hitting a pipe...and with my luck that's 100% chance.
Had a 1/4 inch diameter gas supply to a barbecue in my back yard - drove in a couple bits of re-bar nowhere near the barbecue or in line with it and the house. "Why do I smell gas?"
 
My parents have a few strategically-placed pocket doors in their home. I think they work great, especially if you have a spot where doors would open into each other. They have an upstairs bathroom which has a door leading into the common area, and a pocket-door leading into a guest bedroom. The pocket door allows the bedroom guest to enter the bathroom without exiting the bedroom, and is located behind the entrance door into the room, so it avoids having two doors opening into each another. They also use a pocket door for the 1/2 bath near the foyer/downstairs living room. The bathroom is across from the coat closet, so it's another place to avoid doors being opened into each other.
 
My parents have a few strategically-placed pocket doors in their home. I think they work great, especially if you have a spot where doors would open into each other. They have an upstairs bathroom which has a door leading into the common area, and a pocket-door leading into a guest bedroom. The pocket door allows the bedroom guest to enter the bathroom without exiting the bedroom, and is located behind the entrance door into the room, so it avoids having two doors opening into each another. They also use a pocket door for the 1/2 bath near the foyer/downstairs living room. The bathroom is across from the coat closet, so it's another place to avoid doors being opened into each other.
Are the parents also in Oklahoma? It's the only place I've lived where multiple doors into a bathroom were not uncommon...
 
Are the parents also in Oklahoma? It's the only place I've lived where multiple doors into a bathroom were not uncommon...

Lol as a matter of fact they are. Sometimes referred to as “Jack and Jill” bathrooms. Usually the toilet/shower are behind another door so that the doors from the bedrooms essentially lead to a shared sink.


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I had my siding custom cut locally, looks better, unique, and saved money

Drain in the garage floor, ran 220 out to the garage, did a Wayne's coat inside the garage with the outside siding, looks pretty cool but is also super water/oil/dirt proof.

USB power at my outlets

Wemo switches for all the external lights, automatic, custom and can be run off my iPhone.

All overbuilt, used grace under my metal roofing.

Dual heating, oil and a central fireplace

Sold wood doors.
 
And for God's sake, buy nice baseboards, window & door trim to go with the solid wood doors, and stain it all.
 
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