Must haves - Design of House

↑ gamanit ↓

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 11:45 pm

amother wrote:

No to the pot fillers. A faucet without a drain underneath is just a flood waiting to happen. And why can't you fill a pot at the sink? If you make a pot of pasta, you're going to have to carry that pot to the sink to drain it anyway. So obviously, you can carry the pot.

How big is your soup pot? Believe me the less you carry a huge pot the better. Why carry double?

amother

↑ Pink

Sun, Dec 16 2018, 11:52 pm

gamanit wrote:

How big is your soup pot? Believe me the less you carry a huge pot the better. Why carry double?

If you are really weak, or using a 50- gallon stockpot, you could use a faucet with an extension hose that reaches from the sink to stovetop, or fill your kettle with water and pour into a pot. But the potential downside of a pot filler doesn't justify the very minor upside.

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 1:06 pm

You should have ensuite bathrooms for the kids. You could do a jack and jill. Your dils will love you later on if they don't have to go into the hallway to go to the toilet. They also would have an adjoining room for their kids.

↑ gamanit ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 1:15 pm

amother wrote:

Don't you think using a hose has a much bigger potential for disaster than a pot filler Confused

Seriously. Think about it for a minute. What flood exactly are you foreseeing with a securely attached plumbing fixture? It does have a slight learning curve and we did have a minor flood before we learnt that you have to position and then turn on (can't move it while it's on) but it's totally worth it.

No need to come up with ridiculous inventions when something works well. Talk to people that have these in their kitchens- most of them don't know how they managed without one. There's a much bigger chance of someone dropping a pot they filled at the sink on the way to the stove than there is of someone turning on the pot filler for absolutely no reason or forgetting to shut it.

amother

↑ Tangerine ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 2:20 pm

Hi, Thanks for all the responses. Obviously there is a budget and I am struggling with prioritizing what I need/want .
It looks like we can afford a house about 3,000-3500 sq feet.
Maybe that can help influence some of these decisions
I definitely want a mudroom,
We have 4 kids - would ideally like each one to have their own bedroom. When we have guests then they can share.

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 2:31 pm

amother wrote:

How many bathrooms?

Do you need a playroom/ exercise room/ sewing room/ seforim room?

Will you be building a basement?

amother

↑ Tangerine ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 2:49 pm

Looking at 3.5 bathrooms at a minimum.
Will have a family room off the kitchen area.
Wondering if 4 smaller bedrooms is better than 3 larger ones? ?
How big should the kitchen be?
How many sq feet does each of the kids bedroom need to be?

Joy of Motherhood ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 3:26 pm

Bsimcha wrote:

Hire a good space planner!
There are people that know how to do this very well and it'll make a huge difference to have professional help.

Can you recommend someone good in Brooklyn?

amother

↑ Olive

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 4:04 pm

I would definitely go for more smaller bedrooms over fewer larger ones. It will give children a chance to have more of their own space. Also, when your family is older iyh and you want to have married couples over, the amount of rooms you have makes a much bigger difference in the amount can accommodate over the room size. That is something my parents really struggle with right now.

amother

↑ Ivory

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 4:06 pm

amother wrote:

I agree. I don't like pot fillers at all.

amother

Firebrick

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 4:19 pm

pesek zman wrote:

Wow! A custom built house sounds like a dream come true.

I’d want:

An eat in kitchen
Outdoor space accessible from kitchen (both for bbqs and of course sukkos)
Pantry in kitchen
Washing station near dining room, ideally within a ‘butlers pantry’

An office
En suite master bath
Separate living room and den (for more casual use)

Large entryway with large coat closets and even cubbies

My husband dreams of a window in a bathroom. Also radiant floors and towel racks but I’m not into any

Enjoy!

You don’t have a window in your bathroom? That’s illegal... every room must have a window.

amother

↑ Slategray

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 4:27 pm

amother wrote:

You don’t have a window in your bathroom? That’s illegal... every room must have a window.

A bathroom is legally allowed to have either a window or a vent fan.

↑ Bsimcha ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 5:21 pm

Joy of Motherhood wrote:

Can you recommend someone good in Brooklyn?

My friend used Sarah Piekarski 917-500-3268, she did the complete plans, built from scratch.
She was really happy, felt she got her money's worth as the plans were really well thought out and practical in real life for a frum family.
She does plans all over the world via email and mail if not local.

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 5:43 pm

amother wrote:

You don’t have a window in your bathroom? That’s illegal... every room must have a window.

That's not true. Why are you making things up? What code says this?

amother

↑ Goldenrod

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 5:48 pm

Please go see actual houses of planners to see if they look good in reality.
My husband is an electrician and he has had times that designers have insisted on things that are not possible... or really don’t make sense.
Not all of them know what they are doing.

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 6:26 pm

amother wrote:

You don’t have a window in your bathroom? That’s illegal... every room must have a window.

Building codes vary.

Where I live, BEDROOMS need to have windows. Other rooms -- not so much. No kitchen window? No problem. No bathroom window? Fine. No office window? Go ahead.

ETA -- I lived for several years in an apartment that was marketed as a large studio. It was very obvious that the windowless "dressing room" in front of the bathroom was, in fact, a small bedroom.

amother

↑ Sapphire

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 8:10 pm

amother wrote:

We also have 4 kids and renovated a home. We opted to have 5 bedrooms, so each kid gets his or her own. Two kids had been sharing up to that point. everyone is VERY HAPPY with their own room, even though the space is smaller. I'd definitely opt for each kid getting his or her own room rather than a larger room.

Orchid ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 10:30 pm

gamanit wrote:

Don't you think using a hose has a much bigger potential for disaster than a pot filler Confused

I say no to the pot filler too because you should let your water run for 30 seconds before using it if it has not been used for over 6 hours unless you know every single component of your pipe and city pipe contain no trace of lead. See CDC recommendation on water flushing: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/water.htm

amother

↑ Powderblue ↓

Mon, Dec 17 2018, 10:33 pm

amother wrote:

You can build a false wall which is relatively easy to take out. DH did this. He laid the floor tile down across two bedroom floor before he built the wall.