Framing at the New House Next to the Pond

Here is an update on The New House Next to the Pond.

The last post (click HERE to read) showed the site work and the footings - photos of dirt and concrete without too much to help you envision the beautiful house that will be there... But now we have insulated foundation walls and the first floor system and first floor walls framed.

View from Southwest / Driveway approach

In the photo above you can see the walk-out basement room on the left that looks toward the pond. Dirt and a retaining wall will bring the grade higher than it looks now, so that the front porch will only be 3 steps up. You can see the cardboard sonotubes sticking up at the front/south and on the west. These will be filled with concrete to provide a footing for the front porch and screen/sun porch roofs.
On the right side you can see the cantilever bump-out that is part of the eating area, and then the master bedroom wing in the background. In general, you can start to see where windows or doors will be located.

Peeking into the basement through the walk-out door

 Some plumbing has been roughed in under the basement slab so that a future bathroom can be built on the lowest level. (white pipes sticking up on the right). The opening in the floor shows where the stair will connecting the levels.

North Side Elevation

 This is the back of the house. On the left is the master bedroom wing, which also is where the garage will connect into the mud room. On the right is the high spaces for the office and living room with the stair in between.

South Elevation (front)

Footing forms await concrete delivery for garage

The 24' x 36' garage is tucked behind the house. They will start building that next and then build a connection between the roofs for a dry walk from house to car.

Coming up: Second Floor framing and Roof!

Program Analysis for the NHND to the Pond

After (but really during - that's the thing- architects are thinking about everything all at once) analyzing the building site, (see post about Site Analysis HERE.) I analyze the building program. The "program" is the architect term for all the spaces that are needed/wanted and in the analysis we think about how they relate to each other, the size or proportion of each space, and where on the site (solar orientation,view, privacy) is the most desirable. (for example, the kitchen wants to be near the eating area and also convenient for carrying in groceries, and perhaps wants to be open to the living space, and sunny in the morning and throughout the day.) The program for just about anybody's house can be similar, of course, but a custom-designed house can be more responsive to the wants and needs of the folks who will live there and to the specific site the building is on.

These clients liked the idea that this house would have almost all the spaces be on the main level, with only the kid's spaces being upstairs, and a (future) recreation/guest room facing the pond in the basement level where the hill drops away. A very large garage was included to store two cars and the myriad of outdoor recreation equipment the family owns. With all this ground-floor space, this was starting to look like a really big footprint on the site! Aside: When I asked them to show me photos of architectural styles they liked, a two-story farmhouse "box" was among their picks, but I had to explain that that was not at all the massing we were ending up with because of the master bedroom, office, etc all being on the main level. They also showed me lots of bungalows, capes, and craftsmen styles, and stylistically that's what we strove toward with our design, as those building shapes tend toward prominent roofs with minimal upper floor spaces being located within the roof/attic. That is another aspect of pre-design: looking at precedents- a picture really does tell a thousand words, so I always ask clients to show me photos of things they like and explain what they like about them.

One of the precedents my clients showed me- by Locati Architects in Montana

You can see photos of the above "modern bungalow" at another blog by clicking below:
http://hookedonhouses.net/2015/03/16/a-new-bungalow-built-to-blend-into-an-old-neighborhood/

One of the best ways to "be green" when designing a building is to keep the building as small as you can. Early on, my clients decided they didn't need a formal dining room and that one eating area and one living/family area was all they needed- and this helped a lot. They wanted an open and informal kitchen/living/eating space and liked the idea of incorporating a built-in bench for the eating area. Built-ins are great space savers! (think of a Tiny House on wheels and how everything is built-in) A built-in bench seat can be right against the wall/window, whereas with chairs around a table, you need 2.5 feet minimum behind each chair to slide it back or walk around, ending up with a much larger required space. I proposed a few more built-ins (storage cubbies and a bench in the mud room entry from the garage, a window seat & shelves to display art and store books in the master bedroom, book shelves on the stair landing) and all these features added to the functionality of the space and allowed each of those rooms to be a bit smaller, while also adding interest and detail. (but I'm getting ahead of myself again)

In placing the spaces in relation to each other and on the site, I ended up with something like the diagram above. I wanted  the kitchen to be the front/south - open to other spaces -including an outside space- and filled with light. I wanted the garage hidden but with a direct connection to a mudroom entry. I wanted a sunny southern porch and a western facing sun/screen porch toward the pond. I wanted the master bedroom to be away and private and not have any second floor over it, so I could vault it's ceiling and give it a feeling of expansiveness despite it's not-huge size. I wanted to office to be able to be closed off for privacy, but to also be able to be open to the living spaces with wide pocket doors to share space when they want/need extra space. I wanted the stair to be a beautiful piece of woodwork that is visible from the living area. I wanted diagonal views from kitchen, through living toward big windows facing the pond and long views from the master suite toward the public areas of the house. Of course, I wanted them to have lots of storage space, but also lots of windows and an friendly, uncomplicated feeling about the place.

These bubble diagrams become squared-off spaces with walls, doors, windows, ceilings, materials... you start to figure out how a roof might be shaped to cover it all... and the house design goes on from there, getting more and more refined, stretched, re-organized, detailed, etc. - that's the design process!

Progress on Site Work and Foundation at NHND to the Pond

When you build in an established developed area, like a village, there could be municipal services that your new building can hook up to, like water supply and sewage treatment. There are enormous benefits to shared services such as these, and that's why the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards value selecting a building site in an already-developed area so highly. (Site selection can also help one minimize their transportation footprint - which this family is great at, biking to work/school/town)

This rural site doesn't have any municipal services to offer.  So the owners here have to install their own services. Here are more photos of dirt, but essential if you want to have indoor plumbing!

Temporary construction "road" to SDS area of site (follows existing carriage lane)

Raised Leach Field

Well!

House Footings

In addition the the well and septic, the footings for the house were poured. The house is placed on the site such that part of the foundation will be exposed out of the hill sloping down to the pond, so the footing needed to step down as well. In our climate zone, footings need to bear on undisturbed earth minimum 42" below grade. (or be re-bar tied into bedrock) This is to ensure they are on soil that won't freeze and heave, which would rack/move the building un-evenly, like a annual winter earthquake! Footings and leach fields may not be interesting or glamorous, (no pics like these on Houzz!) but they are probably one of the most important parts of making a rural home safe, solid, and comfortable to live in for many generations.



 

Tall Forms used (right side) where footing steps down hill

Site Analysis for the New House Next to the Pond

In the first post about the NHND to the Pond, (read it HERE ) I mentioned how an architect-designed house such as this one starts with a site analysis and a program analysis.  Through the analysis of the site I review the legal, natural, man-made, and physical conditions of the specific building site, as well as the climate/solar path/prevailing winds. The "program" is the architect's term for the rooms or spaces needed/wanted (pretty standard in residential architecture) and where they should be placed in relationship to each other on the site.

Proposed Site Plan

First let's talk about legal restraints. These include required zoning regulations such as setbacks from property lines, water, etc. This information can help inform where the building or driveway/curb cut can be placed (without having to get a variance from the town or special permission from the DEC, for example). The zoning regulations will also set limits on the footprint size, maximum lot area to be covered, maximum and minimum building square footage, and maximum height of primary or accessory buildings so that something completely out of character with the neighborhood cannot be constructed without input/review. Some laws can also include "pattern" books or suggested materials or styles- this is mostly found in village centers and historic districts, and not relevant for this project, which is located outside the village boundary on a rural road.

Open Meadow by the Road

The natural features of the site were then examined. This site is large with a stream, pond, wetlands, rock outcroppings, wooded and meadow areas.  There is a lot of grade change and a surveyor was engaged to create a topography map so we could read how water drains off the hillside. This map helps the designers figure out where the rock outcroppings are and where the land/soils might be most suitable for the house, the well, and the septic (SDS) system.


The man-made features on the site include a old farm path leading up the hill, a rudimentary stream crossing (which did not meet current standards and needed to be upgraded), meandering old stone walls at some property lines, and utility poles along the edge of the road. These features are all shown on the survey as well. In a neighborhood or a smaller site, neighboring buildings would be taken into consideration, so the placement of the new building fits in (see NHND post showing a site plan in a village HERE ) but on this site, we have no "context" like that that we need to be sympathetic to.

The physical conditions, like soil type, were looked at by the engineer to determine the design of the SDS system. He also determined the volume of water (design is always for the worst case - the 100 year flood) that will be coming down that hillside so as to design proper drainage for the driveway, and around the structures. This helps set the finish floor elevation and the garage slab elevation so that the building is up enough to be dry, without having its foundation sticking out too much. It also helps us figure out the grading into the garage for a car and setting that so that we don't need an excessive amount of steps between garage and house.

Correctly designed overhangs let in winter sun and block summer sun

 One of the most important things I look at during the site analysis is the solar orientation. Following the track of the sun across the sky helps layout what rooms might go where and informs the orientation of the long axis of the building. When at all possible, it's best to have the long axis north-south with an eave overhang for shading in summer. Creating a diagram of the height of the sun in winter (when we want to let the sun it the house) and summer (when we want to shade the house from the sun) informs the size of the roof overhangs.

Site Analysis informs design of house

So the site analysis of this pond property showed that what at first glance looked like the best building spot - the level meadow by the road- was not legally allowed, as it was within the DEC wetlands buffer. Therefore, a long driveway would have to be constructed up the hill to a building site in the woods. We elected to have the driveway come from the road at the southern edge of the property, even though this meant crossing the stream, because it meant not crossing through this wetlands buffer, which a driveway from the northern edge would have to do. (the engineer stated that steam crossing would be the easier permit to get). And this way we could re-use the existing farm lane as our driveway, therefore requiring less clearing and re-grading than a new driveway from the north edge of the property.

The SDS system and it's expansion area were placed where the soils could handle the percolation required. The house site was decided to be on a level-ish area not-too-far up the hill in the woods with the house oriented such that it's long axis faces south for ideal solar advantage. A walk-out basement recreation room could be incorporated in the northwest corner where the grade slopes down toward the pond. The garage could be tucked behind on the north, not blocking light or the view of the beautiful house as one approaches. (us architects always want to hide the cars/garage) The south/front of the house can have the porch my clients want while also functioning as the entry, and the west side- near the pond- can be the place for the screened porch. Now we are starting to get into program analysis - and that can be the next post.

Electricity at the New House Next to the Pond

Electricity trench from pole

The New House Next to the Pond is awaiting the power company to inspect and hook up electricity to the site. (working with wired electricity powering the tools, rather than using a gas-powered generator, is preferable by far for the workers and the environment)

The trench is dug from the pole at the street, up along the side of the driveway, over the stream, to the house site.

But this house won't be buying all it's electricity from Central Hudson. There is an "off shoot" trench/conduit for a connection to where the solar panels will be located. I named this project the New House Next to the Pond, but it is could also be called the New House in the Woods; solar on the roof is not possible, as there is too much shade. So, a free-standing, grid-tied PV (photo voltaic) system is planned for the sunny meadow between the road and house.

This network - follow the red "ribbon" next to the conduit- is all connected, so the PV system can supply the house with it's power, as well as selling the excess generated electricity back to the grid for neighbors to buy and use. (and, of course, the house will draw power from the grid when it needs to, like during night)

Conduit not in trench at bridge

Off-shoot Trench leads toward Solar Panel location

Giant Spools left over from long runs of wire

Temporary meter location with house site beyond