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Is there anything you would do differently? I consider myself very fortunate that we were able to buy a small (relative compared to what most people here seem to have) property of 3.5 acres, in Northern Ontario (Canada). It came with a small home; Its a vacation home.
it was ok for us until our son was born. he kept coughing and used to get sick all the time whenever we go there. Eventually we got someone to "look" at the home and its been declared that the home is full of mould. we cant see it with naked eye but its all over the place. Or so we were told.
Now, hubby and i want to get rid of this home and rebuild something else. A 5 bedroom home in the same property. I am not sure what to look for and I am hoping you guys will help me decide.
Septic: we already have a septic in place; so we are covered.
Water: The water we get had a weird smell to it; so got some tankers and its fixed.
Ive also been thinking of getting heated floors in the bathrooms and kitchen; granite counter tops as Ive been told they last a lifetime.
Apart from the usual things like good front porch, a hidden home away from the road, what are the things you would possibly do differently if you were to rebuild again?
A basement? I am not too sure of this. It never floods here; I am not worried about it but I am not seeing an upside to having a basement.
brief background: we have 2 kids aged 7 and 3. This will eventually go to them. We hope to retire here, whenever that happens.
I forgot to add, the town's population is 500. We are the only South Asian (from india) people here and more often than not, we get the looks. No one smiles at us; even when i smile and try to talk. I take it that its fine, we are not full time residents as of now. Once we settle down, then it will be ok. I just dont know how to even make friends with the neighbours.
I wish I built my cabin about 30 feet further down the hill it's on, to leave more room on the uphill side for my fruit trees, as it's the best spot on my property for that. I could have fit another half dozen trees where my cabin is. Downhill the ground is no good for fruit trees but fine for a structure. I built half the cabin on a pier foundation. I've regretted that from day one. It is never as warm with a pier foundation as a normal foundation no matter how well insulated. And not as mouse-proof either. I also intend to screen in and roof the back deck. A deck is nice when it's nice out but if it's not black flies or mosquitoes outside it's raining or snowing. A roofed, screened in porch is a lot more practical.
Is there anything you would do differently? I consider myself very fortunate that we were able to buy a small (relative compared to what most people here seem to have) property of 3.5 acres, in Northern Ontario (Canada). It came with a small home; Its a vacation home.
it was ok for us until our son was born. he kept coughing and used to get sick all the time whenever we go there. Eventually we got someone to "look" at the home and its been declared that the home is full of mould. we cant see it with naked eye but its all over the place. Or so we were told.
Now, hubby and i want to get rid of this home and rebuild something else. A 5 bedroom home in the same property. I am not sure what to look for and I am hoping you guys will help me decide.
Septic: we already have a septic in place; so we are covered.
Water: The water we get had a weird smell to it; so got some tankers and its fixed.
Ive also been thinking of getting heated floors in the bathrooms and kitchen; granite counter tops as Ive been told they last a lifetime.
Apart from the usual things like good front porch, a hidden home away from the road, what are the things you would possibly do differently if you were to rebuild again?
A basement? I am not too sure of this. It never floods here; I am not worried about it but I am not seeing an upside to having a basement.
brief background: we have 2 kids aged 7 and 3. This will eventually go to them. We hope to retire here, whenever that happens.
Any advise? please and thank you.
A home that works well is often built to the site and needs. In your situation, with a frigid climate a significant part of the year, I would have all plumbing stacks on the interior, and I might consider takng what would normally be kitchen window and back patio door and have them open onto an enclosed, skylighted 40' square room with concrete floor and nothing else except for an option for cheap heating of it and screened ventilation for bug months. That way, as kids needed a place to play when it was cold and dark outside they could do whatever without fear of destroying things while being out from underfoot, yet watched. At a later time, the room could be converted to shop or whatever.
yes, 5. Is it too small for a growing family? I mean, it would be us (hubby and I), my parents/ in-laws would visit us once every year, 2 kids (their own rooms), eventually when they get married, they will have their own families and all...dont get me wrong, I am thinking long term; i dont think I will have an opportunity to rebuild or add-on later on. Once done, its done.
I wish I built my cabin about 30 feet further down the hill it's on, to leave more room on the uphill side for my fruit trees, as it's the best spot on my property for that. I could have fit another half dozen trees where my cabin is. Downhill the ground is no good for fruit trees but fine for a structure. I built half the cabin on a pier foundation. I've regretted that from day one. It is never as warm with a pier foundation as a normal foundation no matter how well insulated. And not as mouse-proof either. I also intend to screen in and roof the back deck. A deck is nice when it's nice out but if it's not black flies or mosquitoes outside it's raining or snowing. A roofed, screened in porch is a lot more practical.
A screened deck is a great idea. I havent thought about it. Actually, I am not sure how to even make this mouse proof. In our current cottage, there are mouse on and off and I am not particularly happy with it.
A home that works well is often built to the site and needs. In your situation, with a frigid climate a significant part of the year, I would have all plumbing stacks on the interior, and I might consider takng what would normally be kitchen window and back patio door and have them open onto an enclosed, skylighted 40' square room with concrete floor and nothing else except for an option for cheap heating of it and screened ventilation for bug months. That way, as kids needed a place to play when it was cold and dark outside they could do whatever without fear of destroying things while being out from underfoot, yet watched. At a later time, the room could be converted to shop or whatever.
I remember that we have never stepped on to the back porch for 6 long months because it was always covered with ice/snow/sleet for so long. It would start around Halloween and would last until April. skylighted room/ screened porch sounds like a good fix. Thank you so very much this helps a lot.
We are in our fifth home. This is our first attempt to design and build a home for ourselves.
We are also in a small town [235 pop.] and our house is away from the road [150 yards from the pavement].
I am glad for our radiant heated floor. The entire house has heated flooring in a single loop or zone. We have a wood stove that sits in the center of the house, it heats water that circulates to a thermal-bank in the crawl space, and then it circulates through the heated floor.
The woodstove is our primary source of heat. The idea is the capture as much of the heat as possible, store that heat in the thermal-bank, and re-distribute that heat evenly through-out our house. It is very low-tech and simple, and we love it.
After about eight years in this house, I extended the roof eave out eight feet to give us a covered wrap-around porch. On the South side and the East side, this extended roof is clear greenhouse roofing, so our windows are not shaded. We still get a lot of passive solar gain in the winter when the sun is lower. On the West side, I extended the roof out 20 foot and made a carport. Now even in the hardest snow storms, we can step outside to get firewood or walk to our cars, without stepping in snow.
I love a basement, especially if it helps keep stuff out of the garage. Great place to stick the deep freezer, generator, holiday decorations, the sports equipment/trophies the kids will start collecting, a finished area for the kids to use as they get older and want to hang with friends. etc.
I also miss having a good pantry!
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