Revisions 5/28/07

This was an email sent to Walt, our designer at E and E. Comments are welcome.


Revision 5/28/07

We've done a lot of thinking and have come up with some major
revisions. Thanks for translating them into drawings. We are faxing a
diagram to accompany this email

FIRST FLOOR

1. Change the den area into a SCREENED PORCH with doors to the LR and
a outside door with steps heading south to the 7721 property. Remove
closet from den, now porch

Screened porch can have removable screens made with fixed standard
door frames on a raised sill going around the entire porch. The
screens can be replaced with removable door windows for extended
seasonal use. Also, the Belko door to the basement can be on the
south side of the house near the steps to the porch. We can use the
basement to store screens and windows via Belko basement access. Add
small shed roof around porch to keep dripping rainwater & snow off
porch - maybe shed roof should be wider to go over steps as well.

2. Move the BATHROOM to the corner where the storage/office is now
located. Probably needs a little hallway which will be placed where
5/22 plan den closet is. Add needed hallway space from 5/22 den.

3 .Put the storage/now office where the bathroom is on 5/22 plans.
Make OFFICE a little larger and put the closet into it.

4. Move the KITCHEN into the corner adjacent to the DR area (in place
of current mud room) - kitchen is no longer in the center of the
house. Design a kitchen - with lakeside
eating area (combined breakfast room/DR) that flows together -
informal. The counter area between kitchen and eating area should be
higher towards eating table and then lower at standard kitchen counter
height in kitchen. Try to place 2 sets of cabinets underneath - one
set opens to kitchen, the other set opens towards TABLE


5. Move MUD ROOM into the center of the house (between new kitchen and
the staircase) , like a foyer entering on to the LR area. The room
should have double doors to the living room area. These doors will
give an airlock effect for winter use, but remain open in the summer.
Maintain closet, storage hooks, etc.

6. ENTRY DOORS should have a triangular overhang so that snow does not
hit people walking in/out. We saw overhang at the house E & E are
building on on rt 8 - similar but without the supporting poles that go
to the ground.

7. We are very interested in CEMENT SIDING such as James Hardie - can
we get color similar to our 7721 house?

8. We are very interested in the metal roof - such as www.mtlsales.com
or www.abcmetalroofing.com

SECOND FLOOR

1. Bedroom 3 - we are planning to make that a sitting/TV/reading
room. Will be back-up sleeping room. We may want to expand windows for
lake view or put in a clerestory. WDYT? Might change closet to make a
TV stand, etc.

Thanks. Look forward to hearing from you. It's great working with you
and fulfilling our personal preferences.

Bob and Jane

PLANNING

Planning is beginning in earnest now that the Zoning Board approved our variance request. We met with E and E today for about 2.5 hours going over anticipated costs ($175 per square foot) and payment schedules (monthly or by meeting pre-agreed benchmarks). We spent some time with the Design guy, Walt, who runs his CAD like a very smooth automobile with a GPS. He has a good sense of direction and gets exactly where he wants to go without detours. We have worked on some issues, but not in great depth. For example: we are converting the two closets in each bedroom to one larger closet and a second space with shelves and drawers. We dealt with the path of the stairs from floor 1 to floor 2. We added a second window in some bedrooms to improve cross ventilation. We may replace some storage space on floor 1 with a small office. etc. We are dealing with what I feel are a lot of peripheral issues as Walt gets a feeling of what we want in the more detailed design.

We spent considerable time on the energy conserving qualities of the new home. And they are IMPRESSIVE. Just a few. The house will be wrapped in a foam insulation. There will be fewer studs, and therefore more space for insulation. No plywood is used on the exterior. Radiant heat is the most efficient and we will probably go that route. Energy costs with Energy Star construction and appliance selection can be reduced by 30 to 50 percent. E and E say that as they have gotten more experience with the technique their costs have come down so it is no more costly to build in this way than with standard techniques. Also, remote computerized techniques are available to control heating in the house.

More later.

Dad

Heating, Energy Efficiency etc

Good idea about exploring solar heating additons. Here in the Northwoods, the sun in winter is very low so we get very little "raw material" to convert for our use. We also have a large number of high trees to the south of the house that will interfere with winter sun. I think the light gathering tube will do something to save electricity in the upstairs hall-- but this will be very modest.

E and E have a reputation for building homes that are very heat and energy efficient-- low E and high R I guess it would be. When we first met with them they said the heat efficiency of the new home would be 30-40% greater than what most new Adirondack homes will have. When we meet with them tomorrow before the the zoning variance hearing, I will get more details.

And Ed, you suggested talking to your dad as an expert in the field. I think that would be a great idea. Knowing his thoughts will be very helpful.

Dad

Heating, heating, heating

What sort of materials will the house be built out of- this will have a major impact on the heating? Do E+E do any sort of green building (low environmental impact)? Are we going to incorporate any solar?

As to questions regarding remote control of heating, as well as heating a few rooms vs. the whole house, should I ask my dad, since he basically built his business around this?

More Heating - Ben

in a comment, Dad asked about how long it takes to warm the house from, say, 45F, (freeze protection temperature) to 68F?

I don't know. Lets ask E&E. I'm sure it will be okay though.
Questions for E&E:

How long to warm the house?

Can the thermostat be controlled remotely, by telephone or online? You could warm the house up before you get there.

Can we set zones so that you can heat downstairs and only the master bedroom if M&D are the only people up for a winter weekend? Is there any measurable benefit to that?

Heating

Yes, we are planning for a fireplace or stove nicely placed in the first floor livingroom. Glad to get ideas about pellets or other good ways to be rustic and smart and warm.

Post the plans?

We did design-in-a-day with Eric & Eric -- very effectively -- in April. If we are in a GO situation, we'll get them to post the working plans for comments, suggestions from all... We consulted the writings of an architect who specializes in the NOT-SO-BIG house - lots of creative ideas.

Heat source

What is the heating source for the house? A stove/fireplace would be nice in addition to some other form of more standard heating, but we should probably go for a pellet stove in terms of efficiency.

Post the plans?

Ben-

Can you post the plans for the house on here? Blueprints, etc?

Ed

Eric and Eric

Eric and Eric and the builders.
http://www.ericeric.com/

Truss Roof

If we have a truss roof, I think we should have an attic room with a pull-down staircase designed into the truss. This will interfere with the light tube periscope but we can figure something out.

Light Tube

I want a light tube in the north end of the hallway upstairs.
www.sun-dome.com one of the companies that makes them. Eric and Eric do not want to penetrate the roof because they are concerned about leaking from ice dams. So I think we could make a "periscope" and mount the light blister on the south wall, high on the roof under the eaves. It might reduce the wattage but it will mantain the roof.

Concrete Foundation

I'm thinking we might add pigment to the concrete mix for the foundation so that its some sort of brown or green and not "concrete color." Otherwise, you have to paint it and mantain the color or its greyish.

Welcome

Hi, this is a blog where we can all collaborate and share ideas about the building of the house at the Annex at Brant Lake. If you have gmail, you can post to this blog, you can also leave comments or both.

Flooring

we want a strong organic flooring. maybe pressed bamboo.