Building our new retirement place

Those are some nice looking cabinets. You already know this, but if you farm out the doors, make sure you and the door shop are using the same lumber.

That was how these were done. My door shop sold me maple straightlined on one edge and S2S at 15/16".
They were well below what I could find it for too.
 
Thank you Mom, I will have no need. Sorry I am behind on the drawings.
The upstairs has 3 doors that open out onto the roof of the carport, with a straight staircase up the far side with a 6' long landing at the top to make a turn with anything you want. For myself, I will be cheating with my forklift. One of our better $500 spends.
DW shared a picture of the rain chain this winter, and her colleague said, " you have a forklift?"
She replied, " doesn't everyone?" :D
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The basement is walk out with french doors I can back my truck up to, so these stairs and elevator are just for people ( and dogs ).
 
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Floor 2 image.
This is 2 bed 2 bath, with a couple of common areas that could become bedrooms very easily. Both bedrooms have private entrances from the sun deck over the carport. In the short term it is the guest digs with a sink and a small fridge under the counter, and we'll furnish it so people can hang out and have their own space if they wish.
The hinge point for declaring a space as an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is the addition of a cooking range. As long as I don't put in a stove up there we are good.
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It's going to be fun, I think. The Trus-Joist Specifiers Guide has a handy little detail that lets me cantilever that walk on the north side 4' wide so that bedroom gets a private entrance, and also a nice place to take in the sunrise views like that one I posted earlier.
I'll kick it out there with 2x8 and put 2x8 fascia board down it, so I can cast out there to the carport edge with something strong. It gets 2% pitch and will be 2" below the FF up there, and is under a 2' overhang.
The carport is 24' and the same 2% slope away.
They make some DIY deck vinyl, but this is a place that I will probably go for professionally installed Duradek.
https://duradek.com/
We looked at it at the home show a couple of weeks ago, and it looks nice.
I got a spitball quote of 12~15K for that.
I will face hang the rails so there are no penetrations to deal with.
They do make kits for this. I like this look. I don't mind a little hardwood at waist level to oil every season.
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I have no need to optimize wet walls or venting. That is strictly a cost thing and plumbing is really cheap, so I let my design speak to my needs and not to some pocketbook agenda.

I made those suggestions because I thought it was a more user friendly layout, making the plumbing easier was an added bonus.

I would also reconfigure the laundry/main bedroom closet area to close off the laundry from the living area, and to create access from inside the main bedroom.
 
Deck installation was actually one of the easier things we did in our house build. We also used a composite (Fiberon) and did both back and front decks in about 4 days. I took a lot of time and made sure all of the screws were in perfect lines even though they kind of disappear when you put in the matching plugs.
 
I don't know what your timeline is for completing the deck, but I would delay laying the finish decking until most of the inside work is completed to prevent damage.

Frame the deck and then lay down a few sheets of cheap OSB or leftover building material to create an outdoor working area next to the house for cutting wood and other jobs, keeping the dust out of the house.
 
Great looking plans, skyking--look forward to hearing about the build and final house pictures!
 
I made those suggestions because I thought it was a more user friendly layout, making the plumbing easier was an added bonus.

I would also reconfigure the laundry/main bedroom closet area to close off the laundry from the living area, and to create access from inside the main bedroom.

I have thought about a version where we walk out through the closet too.
the nice thing is, there are no bearing walls in that 16x34 end of the house, so they can be moved.
The building permit is for 2 years and they already expect some changes, and without bearing walls there are few stumbling blocks.
The craft room wall is bearing for the 8' down at the carport end. The living room wall next to it is bearing.
The wall behind the pantry is bearing, as is that corner heading towards the fridge.
Upstairs it is that thickened area as I have drawn it by the walk in shower, and then the wall in line with it beside the staircase. The rest is all beam, so every other wall is optional.

I would probably rotate the half bath toilet so the back is against the main bedroom bathroom wall, and move the main bedroom toilet so they oppose each other.
That moves the toilet in the main bathroom as far away as possible for the morning run. That would be less popular with DW :D
 
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I don't know what your timeline is for completing the deck, but I would delay laying the finish decking until most of the inside work is completed to prevent damage.

Frame the deck and then lay down a few sheets of cheap OSB or leftover building material to create an outdoor working area next to the house for cutting wood and other jobs, keeping the dust out of the house.

Exactly!
before I can backfill the basement, i have to at least put in all the first level beams, joists, and subflooring. You can't load up the basement walls with dirt until you support them laterally.
That carport and deck would get in the way, so we will build the house and I will safety off those 3 doors, so i can get close with the forklift etc.
I will have the roofing on the house before I mess with the carport footings, slab, and beams and joists.
The house will probably have T&G OSB subfloor.
The deck will get T&G plywood. It is more costly but far better at weather resistance. I am also looking at this DIY product for the deck. I really like the driftwood color.
https://ducan.com/products/dek-master/dek-master-60-mil/

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I'd want to be all done with construction before applying that.
 
Looking at the 2nd floor plan, the toilet and sink in the bottom right bedroom are right above the dining room downstairs. I assume you've taken that into account for the drain lines? It wouldn't be hard to reconfigure that room to move the bathroom if that's an issue.

It looks like there will be a bit of room behind the pantry under the stairs, potentially a good storage area.
 
Showing the furniture may be helpful. The TV location, chairs, couches etc. The dining room table with chairs pulled out.
 
Looking at the 2nd floor plan, the toilet and sink in the bottom right bedroom are right above the dining room downstairs. I assume you've taken that into account for the drain lines? It wouldn't be hard to reconfigure that room to move the bathroom if that's an issue.

It looks like there will be a bit of room behind the pantry under the stairs, potentially a good storage area.
That is the staircase down to the basement. It is confusing how I have drawn it, but that basement door is recessed in there. That wall is bearing all the way down to footings in the basement, everything stacks up that wall for loads.
Basically that L-Shape formed by the two walls on the stairs is the shear and load corner for the middle of the house.
Back to the bathrooms:
those walk in showers require some special treatment. They are ~3" below the floor when you start tiling them, and you cannot cut down floor joists.
You have to support it in other ways. That shower upstairs sits on the midline bearing wall on the north and the 8' long piece of the craft room wall to the south. I will have a footing in the basement and a corresponding wall down there to carry that load.

In order to span that dining room, there is a 6x18 Versa-lam beam across there.
That is poking down below the 9'ceiling by 6"
I will make a drop ceiling box across there ~4' wide and that cures a lot of details.
That ducting chase in the carport entry connects to that and brings the ducting up from the furnace in the basement.
All the ducting for the 2nd floor runs in the joist bays, there is no attic space.
I can 45 my two bathroom runs into that on either side of the beam and take them to the stack, which is located down by that chase right at the end of that beam.
 
Neither one, it is aligned at a compromise to take in the best view and also maximize solar. Interestingly enough, the optimum alignment is not cardinal east-west, but depends on the average sun in your area.
Around here the best alignment is 11 degrees west, because the morning clouds cut production and facing a little west gets the most bang for your solar buck.
The house is about 30 degrees west of south.
Here is a rough elevation.
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the 30 degrees is so you face at least a little bit towards the sunrise views.
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I was going to leave the hydronics out of the basement slab because of potential for cutting in plumbing down there.
I did an about-face on that. It is dumb to have hydronics going and not put it in the slab.
My new plan is to rough in a 4 piece bathroom, a washer, and a couple of sink locations down there.
That is future-proofed as far as I am concerned.
This product will hold the hydronic tubing, act as the vapor barrier, and provide R10 insulation for ~$1900

https://hughydronics.com/products/heat-sheet?variant=39771509457029
 
An operator friend offered to go along with me yesterday on an all day field trip, and we got a lot done.
I had made plans to talk with the building inspector and we talked with him and a couple of planners at the city office. The plans are evolving and I have the input I needed to get the drawings ready for submission.
We pulled the tape measure up on the property to fine tune the plot plan, and I drew that up at the public library.
I spoke with an engineer today who can design the foundation for me.
Moving right along!
 
I got the drawings I have made to date, scanned to PDF form for emailing. I think they can get overlaid and imported into CAD now. Work has an 11" scanner to PDF function on the copier.
 
Sounds like things are humming along, how exciting for you!
 
They are and thank you.
I found out from the inspector that the way I have it now, I am only able to use lightweight sidings such as vinyl or aluminum, or reduce the south wall windows by about 4'
It is one of the vagaries of doing a prescriptive design. One solution is to open up my wallet a little bit, and have an engineer draw up and stamp my plans. So far, only the basement has required engineering and there is no way around that.
 
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