Cool features in your next house??

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

I don't know how the rest of you deal with it. After I completed redid my floor, kitchen, bath room it's nothing but constantly cleaning and up keep. I miss the day where I can cover up the hole in the wall with poster... Growing up/old suck...

David

What materials are you referring to ? or do you mean just dealing with new surfaces vs old. Worring about keeping them nice?

[Dan]

Bamboo floors cheaper than hard wood floors?

Wondering if putting a washer dryer in the master bedroom is too strange?

Plumbing wise I think it would be pretty easy. Dryer vent on outside wall.

Perhaps plumbing, wiring and vent for it just in case?

It does look like bamboo is cheaper than hardwood. There's a range of each, but on Lumberliquidators.com, bamboo is priced pretty comparably to laminate, and significantly less than hardwood.

I think a washer/dryer in the bedroom would be awesome and a huge convenience, especially if you can find room for them in a walk-in closet. Can you hoist the washer in through a window, or would you have to carry it up the stairs? You may be a better mover than me, but it might be easier to bring it in before the drywall is up and painted so you don't have to worry about dinging the walls.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

We have a skylight in our bedroom...in the summer, I get to greet the sun every morning at about 5 a.m. So, no skylights in the bedroom. Ours is not particularly thermally efficient either, which keeps the bedroom pretty cool in the winter.

I would take light pipes/light tubes over skylights - better thermal efficiency from what I hear, and similar ability to take advantage of natural light.

I have been concerned about roof penetrations. I don't want leaks!!

Working nights most of the time means, good catch on the morning light not working very well.

I have heard of the light tubes, need to look into that.

[Justin A.]

There's a light pipe/skylight display at the mall here. The pipes can go through multiple floors if needed from the looks of things, at least through an attic without any problems.

Built in display cases for curiosities and collectibles should be on my list, in addition to a nice home office/study area. Nice desk with a wall or two of built in bookshelves, light tube or few.

Bamboo floors throughout.

LED or OLED lighting throughout.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Be sure to check out RASTRA building systems and do it yourself...

I have seen a few ICF homes, cost is higher up front I believe.

Fascinating options and look for sure.

RASTRA is the original Composite Insulating Concrete Form (ICF), first introduced in 1972 in Austria. Since then over 9 million units have been placed in service with installations throughout Europe, Middle East, Far East, North Africa and the Americas, in all types of climates from the Austrian Alps to the Saudi Arabian Desert, to the humid climate of Southeast Asia. Today, RASTRA is not only recognized as the original, but also as the best product of any ICF category.

Approved by the International Code Council (ICC) under Legacy Report ER-4203, ER- 9955, and classified by UL under design U915, RASTRA is the most extensively tested Composite Insulated Concrete Form available today. While copycat composite ICFs exist, these products did not undergo the rigorous testing, lack approvals and decades of experience in process and application.

RASTRA is a stay-in-place Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) that is structurally strong • energy-efficient • sound absorbent • non-combustible • resistant to high wind, mold & pests • and made from 85% recycled materials

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Built in display cases for curiosities and collectibles should be on my list, in addition to a nice home office/study area. Nice desk with a wall or two of built in bookshelves, light tube or few.

Bamboo floors throughout.

LED or OLED lighting throughout.

Sounds like Bamboo floors are popular.

LED lighting is definitely something I want to look at.

Outside walls are 6 inch , best for built ins, need to look

at what that does to insulation. Maybe thing foam behind it?

[Jack M]

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Hey Jack.

Sweet, but not in my humble plans!

So, your externally linked photos show up but not those uploaded to Bomber?

Is there an internal issue with the site or just me?

Thanks, Bryan

[Gecko]

Radiant heat is awesome, we had it in Japan and I miss it.

what I really want is a large rectangular onsen style tub, shoulder deep while I'm sitting on the bottom, no not a hot tub similar but different and my opinion better

[MEC]

+1 on nixing the skylights in the bedrooms. We have them in all 4 bedrooms of our current rental, and it sucks. They leak in the winter (onto the beds) if the snow doesn't slide off the roof quickly enough, they leak heat (winter) and serve as a terrarium in the summer, and I'm am promptly awakened at 5:05am every day now because of the sun streaming in on us. I think skylights serve a better purpose in stairwells, kitchens, living areas etc, but if you do use them, I'd recommend getting good ones and BLINDS (they're expensive) for them.

I think a spray foam (soy) insulation would be better if you do 6" exterior walls rather than fiberglass with fan fold foam board. It will be tight as a drum and really efficient.

In Peru they build traditional housing with low doorways. An average height man has to stoop to go through. It's for two purposes - it causes the person entering to make a traditional bow/homage (to the mother earth) when exiting the home, and it keeps heat (and cool) in. (At least that is how it was explained to me when I was there.) Oddly enough, you forget about the fact that everyone is stooping to get in and out once you are in (or out).

[Allee]

Radiant heat is awesome, we had it in Japan and I miss it.

what I really want is a large rectangular onsen style tub, shoulder deep while I'm sitting on the bottom, no not a hot tub similar but different and my opinion better

These rock! I worked for a bathroomware manufacturer and we made them. I really wanted one when the ex and I built, but he said it was too weird and made me go with the Olympic pool sized spa bath instead. I would have used one of these way more than the spa bath - especially when the spa bath was so freaking huge that we had to warn the city every time we filled it up.

[Jack M]

Hey Jack.

Sweet, but not in my humble plans!

Yeah, mine neither! But you can put a very enjoyable home theater together in a non-dedicated room for pretty cheap.

So, your externally linked photos show up but not those uploaded to Bomber?

Is there an internal issue with the site or just me?

Thanks, Bryan

Correct. Fin is having his hosting service look into it. If you need to post pictures from your computer, upload them to www.tinypic.com and you can use the url they give you to include in your posts.

+1 on nixing the skylights in the bedrooms.

+2. We've had good luck with our Velux skylights, but it is impossible to seal out light. My son can't deal with his, so I staple-gunned a navy blue towel over it for the summer.

[MEC]

+2. We've had good luck with our Velux skylights, but it is impossible to seal out light. My son can't deal with his, so I staple-gunned a navy blue towel over it for the summer.

Note to self: Must go buy navy blue towel and staple gun ASAP.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Note to self: Must go buy navy blue towel and staple gun ASAP.

Is there glass at ceiling level? Perhaps you could use the really dark window tinting material? Not so handy to take on and off though.

Cardboard cut out with children's theme pasted on it?

Working nights, I have used cardboard and duct tape more than a few times.

[bjvircks]

I've been toying with the idea of blending Frank Lloyd Wright's 'hemicycle' with earthshelter. The Hemicycle, which never took off, is a semicircular home with the center facing south where a central courtyard or patio is. The semi-circular building has it's rooms on the outside of the circle and the inner side is a passegeway that serves as a passive solar system as well as providing light, view, and access to the courtyard. I would bury the back of the house into a south facing hillside. Of course I would also install geothermal heating/cooling.

The difference that I've been cooking up is how to maximize thermal effectiveness of the passive collectors in winter and then in summer put into place overlays and sunshades that would reject/reflect/reroute the heat... all without looking 'techno-geek'.

[Steve Dold]

A friend of mine in Davis has a house that has a huge steel tank of water that makes up one wall in the living room. It's about two feet thick, 15 feet high and maybe 20 feet wide. It is heated in the winter by sunlight coming through skylights, and in the summer the angle of the sun keeps direct sunlight from hitting it.

So the thing heats the house (a little) in the winter and cools it (a little) in the summer. He swears it works, and I guess it does since the place doesn't ever seem too hot or cold except when it gets below 45-50 or above 100.

It seems like a great idea, but I always wonder what will happen when it finally leaks (it's about 30 years old). It's covered in drywall and paint, so it would be a real hassle to get to it, and it would probably have to be welded, like a ship hull.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Searching CL for solar panels.

Found this.

[MEC]

Is there glass at ceiling level? Perhaps you could use the really dark window tinting material? Not so handy to take on and off though.

Cardboard cut out with children's theme pasted on it?

Working nights, I have used cardboard and duct tape more than a few times.

Why kid's themes? I have none, and really, though I'm a Wyliee Coyote fan, I really don't watch cartoons any more. :)

Anyway, we're moving out of the current rental in the next couple of weeks, into yet another rental about 150 yards away from where we are now. The nice thing is that the new place has land, river frontage, a large frog pond, new kitchen/bath, new Rinai heater and two wood stoves, no skylights in the bedrooms, and the new energy efficient washer dryer are in a huge walk in closet in the master bedroom. Yay. Finally a rental that is worth writing a check for every month! I guess I'll just deal with the early morning sunshine wake up calls for another couple of weeks.

[andreac]

there are a few things that have really made it awesome...

1. spray foam insulation... before we could tell which way the wind was blowing, now we are so sealed up we need to put in additional vents in the laundry room... think we have saved about 40% on heating bills (Dave can give exact figures)

2. engineered quartz counter tops! these are amazing.... both granite and concrete need sealing, these never do, they are made from crushed quartz held together with a resin so they are one solid surface with the color of natural stone (because they are), they are anti-microbial, guaranteed for life, no maintence and gorgeous, not to mention the company that made ours (Cambria) is LEEDS certified as a green company.... granite as i said needs to be sealed regularly to prevent bacteria build up in the cracks, and concrete is not at all a money saver, in fact it costs as much as granite and still needs maintenance... the quatrz was about the same cost as the medium level granite but so worth it! great company to work with all around!

3. radiant heat in basement bathroom...not done yet, but really looking forward to it!

that's all i can think of right now!

[bjvircks]

Here's an easy do-it-yourself perk that I recall a girfriends dad doing 35 years ago. He he coiled the showerhead feedline in the bottom of the shower stall and then filled and tiled over it. Whenever they hop into the shower they get a nice warm surface to stand on. Nice for an otherwise cold basement bath. And you only pay for it when you use it.

[Ernie00]

I'd really like to have a separate door that gives access to outside from the garage... instead of always opening the garage door. Specially in winter with out bedroom right above the garage.

[bjvircks]

New Invention Idea! Design a segmented entry door that can be added to a traditional overhead garage door. When the garage door is down the entry door can open and close like a normal door. Maybe even open just the upper half if desired. With the entry door closed the garage door would open and close as usual. Of course, an interlock would be needed to prevent the garage door from opening if the entry door is not fully closed. I'd be surprised if this didn't already exist.

One thing I didn't mention about the Hemicycle home layout is the fact that since it is curved and positioned the way it is, the building captures almost direct sun on some portion of its south facing arc morning, noon, afternoon. Additionally, because it is an arc it reradiates a small portion of heat to itself rather than that energy reradiating off to nowhere in particular.

[BobD]

240v receptacle in the kitchen for a UK 3KW kettle. I hate waiting for the water to boil to make a cup of tea.I also use it to heat water for cooking, as it's several times faster than waiting for water to boil in a pan on the range.

BobD

[Ernie00]

New Invention Idea! Design a segmented entry door that can be added to a traditional overhead garage door. .

It already exists and when I do need to replace the garage door I'll get one but the door was almost new when we bought the house ! so might take a while.

[davekempmeister]

BobD, Bodum (brand name) makes a countertop appliance that boils water very quickly. It's a Danish product but available wired for the American market.