Category — wishes

Well, the status is: there is none. We’re still waiting on the construction drawings. We’re still trying to find suitable builders to bid; some have told us that they won’t talk to us without a signed contract. M. has had some recent health issues, which have distracted us from everything else, but which also make us wish we were already in the house (not anybody’s fault that we aren’t, just wishing things had gone a bit differently sometimes).

Oh, I’m wrong, there has been something going on. The county sanitarian has approved our sewage permit. I hadn’t realized that I’d checked the box for sewage when I requested the well permit, but apparently I did. It’s valid for one year (until the end of August 2009). The details are: 2 tanks (one 1000 gallons, the other 1500), and 8 lines with a split header in the leach bed. The boilerplate “construction details” letter says the larger tank should be closer to the house, but the drawing approved by the sanitarian says the smaller tank should be closer to the house. When we get closer to excavating, I’ll get clarification of which tank should go where.

Since I was nearby, I went to the lot and briefly traipsed.

There’s a lot of goldenrod! You might even be able to hear the crickets chirping — they were quite loud.

Continuing with the “easy” decisions, I’ve added a Page for the Garage. I’m showing a white garage door with some hardware. The hardware isn’t necessary (and in fact, I wouldn’t use it at all). I would also consider painting the door to match the house color instead of leaving it white.

The inside of the garage will be unfinished. That can come later (perhaps we’ll practice our drywalling skills?) There will be a spigot inside (if we can get it at a reasonably comfortable height, that would be nice) that bypasses the water treatment system. This is (mostly) so we can get plant water in winter.

I know it doesn’t seem like it here on the blog, but I’ve been feverishly trying to get stuff finalized for the various components of the house. The construction drawings are still in progress, but I think Bob has enough to go on with regards to stuff I’ve already picked out.

For the past couple of weeks we’ve been struggling with the plumbing details, some of which I talked about in the last post. There are a multitude of faucets and trim kits and shower heads and other crap, and I am totally overwhelmed. Part of my problem, I think, is that any number of them (or even all of them) will work just fine, but I need to balance cost vs. the aesthetics which are at the moment only hazily defined.

And then there’s the kitchen. It is impossible to talk to anyone about designing a kitchen without hearing “have you picked your granite?” Nothing about the cabinets, nothing about the style, it’s all about the stone — and if it’s not granite, it must be soapstone. Granite isn’t really appropriate in a chem lab setting. Soapstone might be but it is way too expensive. So we’ve been going around and around with alternative designs. Frequently these design excursions occur because we see a cute sink and think “I like that!” but then realize that it really doesn’t have any “labbishness” to it. Then there are the incredible variety of stainless steel sinks. I am really enamoured of the zero-radius sinks, but they are pricey (they’re typically handmade rather than stamped) and are apparently available only as undermounts. An undermount sink isn’t a problem unless we end up with a laminate countertop, in which case…

One day last week I went to a couple of kitchen shops. They weren’t really useful visits, except for getting a couple of brochures. I’ve been looking for an independent kitchen designer to give me a couple of hours of advice, but it seems that all of the designers are associated with builders or kitchen stores.

Anyway, today I went to Dexter Cabinet and Countertop almost on a whim. When I mentioned to the fellow in the showroom that I was planning a kitchen that looks like a chemistry lab, he perked up and said “We just did a lab. Want a sample of that countertop?” “You bet!” said I. And so now I have a 4×5 inch piece of black phenolic resin countertop (backsplash, actually) of my very own. I then spoke to Josh about the options for a matte black surface. He thought the phenolic might scratch a little too easily, but said he’d be willing to try to price it for us (we’ve been having problems getting lab supply houses talk to us). He also showed me a sample of Richlite in Slate Black that is also a possibility. Richlite is made from paper and phenolic resin. Josh will also try to give me an idea of pricing for that, too. I figure that these will all be in the “Corian” range, which is still pricier than laminate, but typically less than stone. He will also find out if I can have an undermount sink.

Other trips: I went to the Rock Shoppe to chat about stone veneer. Basically, real stone veneer will run about $15 a square foot (not including labor). Concrete stone veneer could be as low as $8/sq ft, depending on style, color, etc. I’m looking for Michigan Basement/Foundation, which are typically granite cobbles. I think I’d like a split-faced granite cobble, but that’s a bit more expensive. The Rock Shoppe has a list of masons they recommend, if we decide to act as our own GCs.

Bill and I also visited the current project for Living Space. It was an interesting trip, and deserves its own post.

Updated to add: I nearly forgot that I went to a local glass shop to see their (rather teensy) showroom of shower enclosures. A budgetary price for any sized 3/8″ thick glass (not “neutral” but greenish, and not etched or patterned) enclosure is $55/square foot including the hardware and the installation. The lady behind the counter said that 3-sided showers weren’t a problem.

Updated 7/29: I spoke briefly with Josh about the countertop pricing. Richlite (and it’s competitor PaperStone) are way out of the budget (well over $100/square foot). He’s still waiting to hear about the lab tops.

Probably the biggest expense item after the structure and the systems is the flooring. All I can say for sure is that I want hardwood in most areas, with perhaps something a bit more water/weather resistant in the entry-to-mudroom hall and the baths.

We drove out to the Chelsea Plank Flooring Outlet last week and got their current price lists (always dependent on availability, of course) and looked at their current line.

We really liked the Red River Birch (pictured at the left — ~$7/sq. ft.), and the “character” cherry (about the same price).

What we’re looking for is flooring in reddish tones, and maybe finishing each floor so that each level up is a lighter color. So we’d start in the basem lower-level with a brick-colored concrete (through-color or stained or both), and then use the same species with different finishes in the rest of the house.

However, CPF only offers pre-finished flooring, so that little design fillip might not work. (Nothing saying we have to use them.)

Alternatives to cherry (since I recognize that it is pretty soft): ash (~$5/ft reg, overstock at about 75% cost), red oak (>$5/ft).

Lyptus and bamboo (not offered by CPF) are also possibilities. The “Green” tradeoff here is sustainable growth vs. sourcing locally.

In any case, we’re looking at “character” grades, not select. Something with some life in it, that won’t make me feel bad when we walk across it.

After the reddish floor, I’d like maple cabinets with a natural finish (sort of yellowish).

I have a feeling we’ve moved away from the direction we were going with the library. “Having a correct place to store, present and interact with our stuff” is one of the core underlying premises of the design we’re aiming for, and I think that was accomplished nicely by the library part of the previous design.

One of the contributing factors may be my statements on wanting a “patio” outside the north face. I think I misspoke, or did a bad job communicating what it is I’m talking about. The north side of the house, towards the road, is the one patch of maintained “garden” we’re considering: the little bit of deep green lawn, maybe with a border of some sort. When I say “patio” in this context I’m not at all thinking of a concrete slab with a place to sit an umbrella chair. I’m thinking of a wide step, down onto a lawn, and that’s it: maybe three feet deep. A place one can reach by opening a french door in the library, step out, see the sky and the trees and feed the bugs, and then step back in. In my experience I suppose I’m revisiting some features of the Dow Studios, and Sol y Sombra and other southwestern residential complexes. If there’s any solid surface involved at all, I’m imagining perforated concrete block with grass, or maybe a little patch of white gravel with a broad brick border.

Beyond that, as Barbara’s explained, the current library just seems to have some obstacles to use. Not merely size, but as a space it feels “funny” in a few ways I need to explore.

• If we have tall shelves on both floors, where will the ladder stand without interfering with the furniture?

• If we have a shed roof, how will we avoid using ground-level windows to light the space?

• Is there a place to see the books? Can we sit or stand anywhere and actually look over the expanse of shelves?

• How can it be integrated better into the household? As it stands, it seems like a retreat (as requested), but it isn’t big enough to play the role of “living room” or even “parlor”, with the storage requirements it carries.

• While I like the abstract sense in which the current design looks like an addition, I’m reminded too much of the “study/bedroom” spaces one finds in modern plans, where just inside the front door is a little cubby with glass-and-oak doors. That’s not the sense I’d like.

• We’ve been in a few houses where there’s an overhanging catwalk in a two-story space. In many cases, the result is a chimney effect: the square footage of the lower space is belied by the encroaching overhangs, and the upper space (in those cases) “kept private” because there’s no subjective sense of connectedness. I’m worried that the space here will end up the same.

What I think miss from the earlier design:

• The narrower, longer room was open to the house above, and we were thinking of using the hallway walls as additional shelving. In some sense, this version interpenetrated the house, was attached.

• There was an adjacent room, hard to reach from the library proper, with a window open to it. In other words, a retreat proper, where one could be connected to the library without being obliged to enter and leave, to be strictly “in” or “out of” it.

Some wishes:

• I’d like to see into some part of the house from the library, and vice versa. Upstairs, basement, something. An unreachable room with a window connection; a low railing separating it from a functional hallway. Something.

• There somehow needs to be more space. Not just for books, but for people, for vitrines, for little museum-like display cabinets. I can’t see 400 feet of shelving with access, let alone a place for glass, for antiquities, overstuffed chair.

When we first discussed having a library with Bob, he was dubious that what we really wanted a room full of books. “Most people who say they want a ‘library’ usually just want a couple of bookcases next to a fireplace.”

“No,” we said. “Have you seen Henry Higgins’ library? That’s what we want.”

(Though now that I see it again, I realize that his books are mainly on the second floor, with study space on the first. No matter, it’s the feel that we want. Without the piano.)

We have a lot of books. Really. Many of them are in crappy condition, to be digitized and moved on. Most, however, are not. There’s a mix of old and older books — and not so many new books because we’ve run out of space and really like the public library — in numerous categories. We’ve got art books and kook books and novels and cook books and gardening books and travel books and science books and technical books and… you get the picture. When we carted our books to the Netherlands, the books took up about half of our shipping container.

One thing Bob has mentioned a couple of times about the current plan is that we can change the size of the library, since it’s a separate room on its own foundation. (Possibly over a crawlspace, but given the amount of mechanical space we need, we might add basement. That’s a different issue, so I won’t go farther with it here.)

Well, how much space do we need? We need enough room for most of the books. I imagine there will be some fraction of the gardening and cooking books in the kitchen/dayspace, and M. will have her own (freestanding) bookcase, and the books-to-be-scanned will be in the basement lower level.

Right now we have about 100 feet of overcrowded bookshelves in our family room, and about 30 feet of overcrowded bookshelves in the living room, and about 15 feet of overcrowded bookshelves in our home office. Given the piles of books on the floors in each of these rooms, I’d guess there are another 30 feet of books that could go into cases if we had the wall space. (This is not including any of the DP books. ) Some of the “good” books will get sorted out, though the ones in the family room have been culled recently, so no space savings there.

Let’s say we’ve got 160 feet of keepable books. These are just the ones that are in view. There are more. Most of the cookbooks are packed. All of the kook books are packed. All 1500 vintage SF paperbacks are packed. Travel, science, folklore — all packed. Technical books are packed. And don’t get me started on the magazines. Our best guess is that about 2/3 of our keepable books are in storage. This means that we’ll need at least 450 linear feet of bookshelves in the library, probably more.¹ We will also need room for bound vintage newspapers, laid flat. We want to be able to highlight some of our special books.

We’ve been talking about how we’re going to arrange all these books. In our current house, we did it topically, and then alphabetically by author: fiction, art, gardening, and cooking in the family room; sf in the TV room; travel in the guest room, etc. This is convenient, but it takes up a lot of room. It’s more space-efficient to sort books by size, so within reason, that’s probably what we’ll want to do in the new library.²

I’m imagining that if we get enough wall space for the bookcases (setting aside some for a zero-clearance gas fireplace), we’ll have plenty of floor space for any desks or furniture we decide to include in the room.

I think the shower should be moved to the northwest corner, and the sink should be near the door, so you can wash your hands on the way out without having to go further into the bathroom.

Nothing has made me want to have some CAD software around lately like the master bath in the current plan. There’s something about it that’s not quite working for me, and I can’t seem to make it “go” with paper and pencil. Ah for the days when I could just pick up machines with a stylus and shove ‘em around a factory floor until they fit…

We’re spoiled in this house with three full baths upstairs, two of them en suite. If one of those full baths had been on the first floor, we’d probably not be looking to build a new house. Having 3½ baths makes sense if there’s one full bath on each floor, so the number of baths in the house is good as it is. I certainly don’t want to add a second one upstairs.

What I like so far about the plan is the possibility for the studio to access the bath without going through the master bedroom. It gives us more flexibility when having overnight guests (not common, but it does happen occasionally).

There are some things, however, that I didn’t realize until very recently I would like to have:

• A toilet separated from the tub and shower. Some things are better private.
• A shower big enough for two people. With two (independent) shower heads.
• A soaking tub oriented so natural light falls on the reading material.
• A tub with 18-20″ overflow and a sloping back, set so there’s a seat/ledge near the head (this implies a drop-in or tile-in tub)
• One sink with a moderately large vanity. Our current bath has a pedestal sink for floor space reasons, and it’s not bad, but we don’t have room for shavers and contacts and brushes, etc.

As for the anteroom, well, I can’t figure what I might do with it, other than pile stuff in it. Maybe put in a cedar closet, accessible from the master closet?

The latest first floor plan is really very close to finished. There are a few larger issues that I’m addressing with scenarios, and then there are a bunch of little comments that are more detail-oriented put here so that I don’t forget them.

Scenarios

Scenario: We’re back from taking M. to the doctor.

We pull into the garage after having been jolted on dirt roads for the past 2 miles. M. gets out of the car and uses her walker to go up the ramp into the house. She pauses in the mud room to take off her coat, then heads immediately for the powder room, because rough roads are hard on old ladies.

• The ramp may be too steep. The actual length will depend on the elevation change, but the slope should be as shallow as we can manage to fit (which is why I suggested wrapping the ramp around the walls of the garage).
• The main door to the powder room should be 3 ft wide.

Scenario: I have a health problem that makes stairs difficult.

I move into the first floor suite. I need to do laundry, but I’m not allowed to use the stairs.

• It’s difficult to use the stair lift and hold a laundry basket (and somewhat unsafe). The laundry needs to be on the main level.

Scenario: We have people over who have never been here before.

Our guests walk towards the house, admiring the shade garden, and reach the front porch. There’s a door right in front of them, but there’s also one to the left.

• Which one should they knock at? Move the library door to the north side, and extend the porch.

Details and other comments

Flooring

• Smooth surfaces everywhere (better for walker wheels). No grout. Cork? Bamboo? Laminate? Rubber? Concrete?

Kitchen

This is a plan that I can envision working in, after a few tweaks

• I’m considering a counter-depth fridge, but still not very big.
• I like the idea of having an induction cooktop, but we would then have to have a built in oven (no induction ranges are currently available in the US). Could be put in the northwest corner, with counter between it and the fridge (can also build in the microwave in the same cabinet). Induction might be out of our budget, though.
• Cooktop venting: Downdraft? Overhead?

Kitchen sitting area

• I like the idea of having a lowered ceiling height in that area. Makes it cosier.
• Gas fireplace!
• May have to have a cable connection, so we can take our time finishing the basement.

Library

• Gas fireplace! Yay! Could have flanking bookcases à la Craftsman, with small windows above. (That way it looks like a library when you look in from the stair tower.)
• One exterior door on the north wall (see above).

All in all, a very short list, I think.

Before I forget: Garage needs a ramp into the house. Probably best if it wraps the wall to the north, so the passenger side door is accessible.