Best House Floor Plans

Tips and tricks to finding a beach house floor plan.

As chilly climates creep into some of our realities, our attentions are distracted by the winter retreat. Most beach houses are a warm escape from the confines of urban or country living. But, unlike other house plans, the beach house calls for a little more meticulous planning. Unless you’re buying a home ready to move in, the choices of a beach house are a renovation or building a beach house from the ground up.

Original architectural designs tend to be exorbitant to say the least. The ultimate buy is the pre-designed beach house. Most house plans start at $500. Considering the normal copyright rates of a unique house floor plan, pre–made ones are just as functional.

If you plan to have your home built from the ground up, select beach house plans specific to the foundation type of your proposed site. Also, make sure that the materials used to construct your home are conducive for stability. Although certain beach houses are erected using stilts, every municipality has its own building codes. (Be sure to check your county’s guidelines).

If you plan to build your beach house from ground zero, you’ll need a comprehensive floor plan, including, but not limited to the features listed below:

Building Section – includes the roofline, footing, insulation, wall space, deck framing, and other specific details regarding the beach house plan.

Floor Plans – are comprised of the framing dimensions, locations, etc.

Roof Framing Plan – a composite of the roof, materials as well as other architectural considerations.

Foundation Plan – detailed renderings, from the posts, beams to the layout of the basement.

Electrical Plans – comprehensive blueprint of the electrical plans (i.e. light fixtures, light switch placement, outlets, etc).

Exterior Elevations – are sketches/renderings of the right, left, front and rear profiles of the house.

A number of resources feature beach house floor plans. One of the best places to start your research is at HGTVPro.com the site has more then 30 stunning and affordable beach house floor plans.

Stay tuned for our next post featuring a list of your most wanted dream house features. We’ll be discussing some of the latest trends in luxuriant dream house living.

Review what a floor plan is and what do know before you select your house floor plans…

In this installment of Best House Floor Plans, we’re talking basics. So, we are backtracking to the fundamentals of what defines a floor plan. Below are ten concepts to understand about floor plans:

A floor plan includes…
the interior and exterior designs schematics of a home.

Floor plans are developed by…
architects and home designers. Draftsmen can render modifications; however because copyright laws are applicable to floor plans, owners are required to purchase house plans.

Stock floor plans…
are less expensive than hiring a home designer or architect to customize a brand new floor plan.

Selecting the floor plan is…
the first part of building a new home.

Various companies offer home floor plan…
customization services. For a fixed price, they can take a stock floor plan and tweak it to the homeowner’s specifications.

Before deciding on a customized or stock floor plan…
be sure to check with your area’s local building codes, copyright laws as well as any other requirements. For instance, prior to homebuilding approval, certain municipalities mandate the review and approval of any house floor plan.

Redlining is a…
house floor plan term that means to amend the blueprints. To illustrate any modifications, homebuilders used to take a red pen to the floor plan. Today, red-lining is considered an affordable means of making changes to the house plans. But, again make sure the changes are within your town’s building codes.

Most designers recommend…
floor plans that merge comfort, contrast and texture.

When it comes to hiring a specialist to modify your house plans, select a local draftsman. The reason is that a professional from your area will know the building codes, hence incorporating municipal guidelines with your design specifications.

Here are some great articles on floor plans and finding the right one for you from House Plans and More:

• Floor Plans For Your Families Needs
• Open Floor Plans
• What’s the Right Plan for You?
• Why Buy Stock Plans?

What’s the best framing material to design my new greenhouse?

If you’re thinking about developing the floor plans to a new greenhouse, there’s more to choosing between a cold frame and wooden frame. Greenhouse building materials depends on several factors:

• How much space do you have?
• What is your budget?
• How you plan to use your greenhouse?
• How much time do you have to invest in the maintenance of your greenhouse?

Today, we’re reviewing four common greenhouse frames:

• Cold frame
• Galvanized steel
• Wooden frame
• Aluminum-metal frames

Cold Frame
The cold frame is the least expensive and easiest greenhouse to add to your house floor plans. Unlike other greenhouses, where artificial sources of heat are used, the cold frame depends on natural sunlight. The cold frame greenhouse is a good place for the novice gardener to start. For the veteran, it works as a handy supplement to the main greenhouse.

Wood
The combination of glass in a wooden frame green house is visually appealing. The wooden green house is conducive for extremely arid climates. Although wooden frame seems like a natural structure for a greenhouse, there’s a downside: moisture absorption. As it absorbs moisture, wood frames tend to rot rapidly, calling for too much maintenance and too many treatment applications.

Galvanized steel
One of the best and most expensive greenhouse structures is galvanized steel. With its durability and the capacity to withstand the harshest of environments, the galvanized greenhouse frame is built to last. Costlier and more heavy-duty than the wooden frame, the galvanized steel greenhouse is resilient to wear and tear, and does not call for the extra work.

Aluminum Metal Frame
Aside from the value, there’s a wealth of reasons to opt for the aluminum frame greenhouse. The advantages are lifespan and overall care. The aluminum-metal frame greenhouse is suitable for extending growing seasons and maintaining a garden all year round. Aluminum requires very little in the way of maintenance. What most greenhouse owners, love about the material, is that it does not rot or rust.

For more examples, check out greenhouse framing materials.

Generally, aluminum frames come in several colors or finishes:

• Bronze
• Dark Silver
• Green
• Silver
• White

In fact, the aluminum greenhouse has a reputation for weather resiliency. Because the slight framing minimizes shadows, botanicals get the best sun exposure. Moreover, in terms of windows, the aluminum – metal green house is compatible with a number of paneling alternatives:

• Glass
• Polycarbonate
• Plastic

At the end of the day, whether, you decide on a cold frame, wooden frame, aluminum metal or galvanized steel, the ultimate green house decision is based on budget and time. In case you missed our first installation on greenhouses, you can catch up on your research with Green house Floor Planning Considerations.

But, click here for more ideas on adding a greenhouse to you house floor plan.

Check out what everyone should consider before planning a green house.

Greenhouses are the latest trend in going green and maintaining the eco consciousness.
While many of us may have a green thumb itch to start a green house, there’s a bevy of questions to consider. So, before you spring into greenhouse floor planning mode, here are a few matters to weigh:

• Purpose/objective of the green house
• Green house Zoning/Permit Issues
• Greenhouse Budget
• Climate appropriateness
• The Magnitude/Size
• Green house style

Purpose/objective of the green house
How do you plant to use your greenhouse? Are you planning to use it to prepare for spring (i.e. extending the growing season or start seedlings)? Then a cold frame greenhouse or collapsible one is suitable. Will the green house be used to grow vegetables during the winter month? For obvious reasons, like budget and size, how you plan to use your green house influences the floor plan.

Green House Zoning/Permit Issues
Before you invest a moment into your green house floor planning, check with your local municipality’s by-laws to determine if there are any restrictions. Also, find out if you will need a building permit and how much it may cost you.

Budget
Given any permit fees and your budget, your greenhouse floor planning begins. Since most financial situations are subjective, there are a number of considerations: 1) Is your climate conducive for cultivation in the winter? 2) Do you plan to use the greenhouse for self- sufficiency, as in a vegetable garden? 4) For the next several years, can you afford the time, cost and maintenance of a greenhouse investment?

Based on your budget and utilization, the green house could be quite cost effective.

Climate appropriateness
To save a lot of time and heartache, conduct a little research about your climate’s capacity to harvest vegetation during the winter months in your region. Also, be sure to investigate the best place to position your green house. This depends on what types of botanicals you are growing and where the sun is during the winter months.

Magnitude
If you plan to grow flowers, herbs and vegetables, you’ll need a sizable space to accommodate all that cultivation. To map out the green house floor plan, measure one of your rooms, and sketch out a blueprint of the greenhouse floor plan. Remember certain fruits, in example tomatoes, need more headroom or height for growth.

Style
The style of your green house has a wealth of components. Here are a few concepts to explore:

• The exterior design
• Material for the structure green house
• Windows
• Insulation

Well, that’s it for this week’s installment of Best House Floor Plans. Although, we touched upon a few ideas about green house floor planning, we barely covered the surface.

In the meantime, for more in depth greenhouse information, check out Greenhouses.com.

This week we’re stepping out of the house and into the outdoors to make some eco-friendly touches. From the backyard, patio, to the balcony, we’ll be shedding the radiance on how to turn your outdoor lighting into a green urban sanctuary.

In the northern states, summertime is the designated time of year for frolicking and entertaining outdoors. One does not have to go far to escape interior confinement. There’s no need to make a trek over to the closest outdoor café, the beach or even the park. 

As summer is all about enjoyment, we wanted our exterior space to epitomize fun.

So, we went shopping for eco-accessories, as in outdoor lighting and eco-friendly bug repellant. We took three environmentally unsavory outdoor products and found some festive but green alternatives.

Outdoor Toxic Problems and Green Fixes

String Lights
A little lighting sets the ambiance outdoors. At Target, we found some lovely, colorful string lights, but the package had a prominent warning about the cord containing lead. With the exception of this eco-unfriendly quality, the string of lights met our other shopping criteria: vividly muted illuminations.

Green Fix: As an alternative, we settled for solar light panels. The panels feature subdued vibrant incandescence and sporadically changes a spectrum of colors.

Tiki Torch
There’s something so lively and yet so noxious about the tiki torch. While the flame is natural, the black smoke billowing from the torch is not. Sans the toxic fumes, we found an eco-friendly alternative: the solar torchlight. Not as ostentatious as the tiki torch, the energy efficient flicker of amber LED lighting turned the carbon emitting tiki torch into a sophisticate shade of ambient outdoor lighting.   Made of bamboo and without the wiring, the solar torchlight is fuss free.

Citronella Candle and Bug Repellant
To keep mosquitoes at bay, we went looking for non-toxic alternatives to the citronella candle and bug repellant, DEET. What we found is 10 times more effective than both without the harmful fumes.

Green Fix: Catnip is a naturally potent mosquito repellent that smells of soothing mint.

If you are looking for an eco-friendly alternative and need advice, we welcome your questions.

In this installment of Best House Floor Plans, we’re putting the light bulb in the spotlight. Lighting always sets the ambiance. Few people understand the difference between the LED light bulb and the CFL light. While both have their eco-friendly qualities, we’ve shed some light on their differences: 

• CFL is the acronym for Compact Fluorescent Lamp.
• LED stands for light emitting diodes.
• Compact fluorescent lamps are related to fluorescent lighting, most commonly used in the workplace, office, warehouses and schools.
• In the home, the LED light bulb is commonly used as ambient or accent lighting.
• Because, it is an industry-specific term, CFLs are referred to as a lamp opposed to a bulb. Any lighting device electrically powered is considered a lamp in the lighting industry.
• Mercury is not contained in the LED light bulb.
• On average, most CFLs are comprised of 1/6000th of mercury or 5-milligrams.
• As compact fluorescent lights contain the poisonous chemical, mercury, they should always be recycled.
• Light emitting diodes or LEDs have a shorter lifespan than CFLS.
• Compact fluorescent lamps cost more than LED light bulbs.
• Sometimes, CFLs require more time to light up.
• CFLs make for a problematic clean up. If a CFL bulb shatters, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends opening windows and leaving the room for at least 15 minutes, before using gloves to clean the hazardous debris.
• Unlike LEDs, CFL lights are incompatible for all lighting fixtures because they do not fit all lamps.
• Due to the hazardous material contained in CFLs, certain recycle centers charge a dollar to recycle it.
• On average, LEDs provide 1000 hours of light time compared to the 6000 hours of luminosity provided by the CFL.
• The average CFL bulb provides a $30 savings over its lifetime.

As for buying CFL lights with that feature the best luminosity, bulbs with 2700 to 3000 Kelvin render yellowish, natural lighting, which is common in incandescent lighting. But, then again, buying and LED light bulbs feature soft lighting too.

Eco-friendly ceiling fans have come of age. Compared to the conventional fan or light unit of yesterday, these conserving cooling accoutrements offer substantial energy efficiency. But, how can you identify an energy efficient ceiling fan from one that is not?

To shed a little green light on the ceiling fan, here are a few frequently asked questions on the eco-friendly ceiling fan.

How can I be sure that my ceiling fan is eco-friendly?

ENERGY STAR qualified eco-friendly ceiling fans and lights are tested for efficiency and meet various standards approved by the federal government.

How energy efficient are these ENERGY STAR qualified ceiling fans?

According to a report published by ENERGY STAR, ceiling fan/light combination units are 50 per more efficient than conventional fan/light units.

If I buy an eco friendly ceiling fan, will I be able to on save money on my monthly utility bill?

Absolutely. Studies show that these ceiling fans save up to a $10 a month in the electric bill.

Why are eco friendly combination light and ceiling fans so efficient?

A number of components make up the energy efficient ceiling fan. These include the following: the motor grade, blades and control.

What features should I look for in an ENERGY STAR qualified ceiling fan?

Generally, ENERGY STAR qualified ceiling fans are better because the motor and blade are engineered to maximize energy efficiency. There are two types of ceiling fans motors. One requires more maintenance than the other. For instance, the ceiling motor fan with sealed bearings calls for minimal maintenance; while, the one with lubricated ball bearings requires service occasionally (in example: adding oil).

Why is lubrication an important feature of the ceiling fan?

Lubrication affects the performance of the fan. With more lubrication, smoother flow ensues which extends the longevity of the ceiling fan.

Where can I find information about eco-friendly ceiling fans?

At energystar.gov, the site features a wealth of information regarding eco friendly ceiling fans.

Information gathered from:  http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=ceiling_fans.pr_ceiling_fans_performance

What are the qualities of non-toxic carpeting? What features should one look for in eco-friendly carpets and rugs?

Non-toxic carpets represent an overwhelming aspect of the environmentally conducive domicile. In fact, just like freshly applied paint, laden in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some new carpeting reeks of health issues. Since VOCs emit noxious fumes and gases, these elements contribute to a host of irritating symptoms that are the antithesis of eco-friendly carpeting:

• Allergic skin reaction
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Nausea
• Stuffy or runny nose uncomfortable breathing
• Throat discomfort

The binding, used to secure the fibers of conventional carpeting, or 4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PCH ) releases a lethal aroma. While the odor lingers for week or more after installation, the pungent smell is quite toxic. Nevertheless, many people are unaware of the dangers of 4-PCH.

Fortunately, eco friendly carpets are non-toxic and do not possess poisonous chemicals. With the installation of low-VOC carpets, occupants can live in a healthier environment. Use the following checklist to identify the features of non-toxic carpets:

• When shopping for a carpet, confirm that the carpet adheres to the standards and requirements approved by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) Indoor Air Quality guidelines. Usually, these carpets are labeled with the CRI icon.
• Contains 100 percent raw materials ( in example: natural wool carpet or organic cotton).
• During manufacturing, the carpet does not endure any harsh chemicals or additives no (i.e.: stain protections, synthetic polypropylene, pesticides or dyes).
• Shop for environmentally friendly, non-toxic carpet pads. Ones, which contain styrene butadiene should be avoided.
• The backing is made of durable materials, such as hemp or cotton.
• The adhesive is natural, biodegradable and non-toxic. (For instance, rubber trees contain natural adhesives)

As an eco-friendly alternative to the non-toxic carpet, review which materials are available in eco-flooring and carpeting. Prior to installation, don’t forget to allow the eco-friendly carpet air outside to release any noxious chemicals.

Aside from its color, what makes one rug green from the next? What to look for in eco-friendly rugs?

Dear Best House Floor Plans,

Recently, we remodeled our floors. Now, we want to buy eco-friendly rugs to add to our kids’ bedrooms and our media room. Can you tell me if there’s really such a thing as eco friendly rugs? And if so, what features are important?

- Trying to Go Green in Arkansas

Eco-friendly rugs are an excellent follow up to eco-flooring. From dying to the manufacturing process, traditional carpets are rich in toxins, dyes and require synthetic chemicals. If you’re looking for carpeting with eco-friendly qualities, here are five features to add to your criteria:

• Meets environmental regulations for recycling
• Outlasts conventional flooring
• Is 100 percent recyclable
• Requires minimal energy dependency in manufacturing and transport
• Promotes a healthy indoor environment

Another redeeming quality to look for in the eco-friendly rug is the way in which it is dyed. Unlike traditional carpeting that entails highly pollutant dyeing methods, eco-friendly rugs use less energy and have minimal effect on the carbon footprint.

Shop for eco friendly rugs that have been tested by the Environmental Protection agency. Also,  the Carpet & Rug Institutes Indoor Air Quality Standards is an excellent resource for homeowners in quest of eco-friendly rugs.

For instance, Green Floor Residential Carpet has quite a collection of eco-friendly rugs. Most of their products are recycled from already used food and beverage containers. Also, the products have minimal if any volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Remember, a wealth of elements promotes allergens such as: mould spores, dust mites, animal dander, and pollen. As a result, the best eco-friendly rug requires green cleaning practices and does not contain the ethylene oxide.

While many companies use ethylene oxide, the chemical is not biodegradable or considered an eco-friendly rug.
Have a question on buying eco-friendly rugs, and other household products? Email us your question and we’ll do our best to answer your question in upcoming posts.

Is Eco-friendly paint another marketing gimmick? What does it mean for the home?
Is eco-friendly paint healthier than traditional paint?

Eco-friendly paint is key to green living. Since, it minimizes the level of pollutants enclosed in the home, it promotes good health. Conventional paints contain toxic elements, which are linked to causing various types of cancer, fatigue, headaches, respiratory illnesses and other chronic ailments.

Based on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), American homes have higher levels of pollutants than most outdoor environments. Of course, it is not applicable to industrial communities.  But, it’s the invisible chemicals released from paints, stainers, and other household products that contribute to poor indoor air quality.

Long after conventional paint dries on a wall, a chemical release transpires. The toxic element is known as volatile organic compounds or (VOC) and supplies the home with indoor air pollution.  It’s also one of the reasons that eco-friendly paint has become such a high commodity.

On the contrary and depending on the brand, natural paints come with a few drawbacks. Unlike paints that contain VOC, natural paint requires more coats and is not intended for exterior use. Nonetheless, eco-friendly paint is available in a number of natural forms. Today, we’re reviewing clay and lime wash natural paints:
Clay Paint

Clay is a popular eco-friendly paint choice. While, it comes in an assortment of earth tones, orange, blue and white tints, clay paint has limited color options. However, the natural paint is a good alternative because it adheres to just about any surface and doubles as an odor absorber. On the downside, clay paint tends to be expensive and does not take well to stains. In other words, clay paint is not intended for washing or wiping away prints.

Lime wash

Quite affordable and a definitive green living preference over the traditional, lime wash is made of a calcium-based mineral. It is known as limestone. When mixed with water, this natural paint turns into a white wash. Since lime wash absorbs into the subsurface, it develops an antique appearance. While lime wash is ideal for porous materials (in example: wood, brick, concrete and plaster), it does not work well on drywall or already painted surfaces.