Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#141

Post by ghaff » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:20 PM UTC

justusthane wrote: post #128

ghaff wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the town. It's very common in places that get snow for on-street parking to be prohibited during 5 or so months of the year because of the potential need for snow plowing.

Not to dispute that but just for another point of view, I've lived in four different towns, varying in population from 1,300 to 120,000, all with very long winters, and they've all allowed on street parking all winter (usually alternating sides of the street to accommodate plowing).

I've seen that as well--more commonly in cities where there otherwise just isn't enough parking if you force everyone off the streets. Suburbs, where most people have garages and driveways seem more likely to just disallow parking in the street period.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#142

Post by turtlebits » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:26 PM UTC

Just browse the myriad of floor plan sites and find one you like.

Any plan (at least in my area) is going to require an licensed Architect stamp and engineering to match local code.

It's also worth it to spend the money up front to get a house designed that fits your lot (terrain, light, elevation, etc) - you'll more than make up for it in final home value.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#143

Post by Dowwie » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:28 PM UTC

blcArmadillo wrote: post #95

Several years ago the city of Phoenix released plans for a net zero single family home: https://www.phoenix.gov/sustainability/home You do have to provide some basic info to get them but I can confirm that they're a full set of plans.

Did any developers or private homeowners use these plans?

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#144

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:29 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#145

Post by bluGill » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:40 PM UTC

athenot wrote: post #76

fkyoureadthedoc wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Humidity is one difference that comes to mind. In most of Texas, the air outside is humid, you need a moisture barrier between your structural wall and your rainscreen/siding. In Calgary, cold winters will have very dry air, so the humidity will be much higher inside the house. So the moisture barrier needs to be on the other side. In either case, you don't want the insulation layer or the structural layer to be coll…

Vapor barriers are not in any house design. They are something you put on and the inspector will check, but they are not on any house design.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#146

Post by bluGill » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:42 PM UTC

HWR_14 wrote: post #88

fkyoureadthedoc wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Snow and cold vs. sun and heat as the primary environmental issues to deal with, as a quick example. But also humidity, local ordinances, matching the style of surrounding buildings, the relative value of land favoring single story (texas) or tall (Calgary) houses

Relative value of land and matching style is semi valid. However none of that prevents you from take a house from one area and building it in the other. In most cases local ordinances will allow it though it will cost slightly more as builders are not familiar with some details and some materials might not be readially available. However the design itself will still work if you want to.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#147

Post by ghaff » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:43 PM UTC

ilc wrote: post #110

nemetroid wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I've ever been in a home with two cars indoors.

Northeast USA you'll see them pretty frequently.

When I owned two cars in New England, it was a pretty big win to get both cars inside during the winter especially if a storm were coming. Always took a bunch of cleanup in the fall to deal with all the crap that had migrated out to the floor of the garage during the summer.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#148

Post by bluGill » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:47 PM UTC

ctroein89 wrote: post #81

bluGill wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you are not wrong, those requirements are the same for all houses. Your typical signal family neighborhood has the following requirements: There will be room to store at least 3 cars, and at least 2 of them will be indoors. The path from the street to where the cars are stored will avoid hitting things with the car. All this means that every house will have a 3 car garage up front with a straight driveway to th…

> While you are not wrong, those requirements are the same for all houses. Not every house needs triple-pane windows and R25 insulation in the walls, sitting on a 8-ft deep basement, with a steep roof pitch for snow to slide off of. Generally, you want to cut corners, because building to code in New York would be overkill in Texas. You could have unique plans for each climate zone, but then the slope of the land and…

> Not every house needs triple-pane windows and R25 insulation in the walls

Yes they do. Cooling is a large energy cost. Besides, you end up with that much space in your walls anyway just because for material strength reasons you need wide walls.

> sitting on a 8-ft deep basement

A basement is a line item that can be added or deleted at will. If you don't have stairs to the basement you still need that space except it gets a floor and is marked tornado shelter.

> with a steep roof pitch for snow to slide off of

They still build the same roof pitches so rain runs off.

> you want to cut corners, because building to code in New York would be overkill in Texas.

Not really because much of house design that matters is about structural matters where thickness matters. Other parts are about standard parts, you can buy a 2x4 off the self. While 2x3s exists, they cost more than a 2x4 and are generally lower quality.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#149

Post by nradov » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:49 PM UTC

zemvpferreira wrote: post #21

Here's the thing: The idea of planning a house without taking into account the site where it will sit will never produce a good house. Would a pre-existing plan account for the sun exposure of your land? Would it have a roof that makes sense for how much it rains or snows? Would getting sunlight in the bedroom also mean facing traffic? Would it take advantage of elevation for views or make sure to block a nearby neig…

Reading "A Pattern Language" is, frankly, a waste of time for anyone looking to design and build a house where people can actually live on a reasonable budget. A few of the patterns are decent, but most are outdated for modern lifestyles or appear to have been contrived to push the authors' biased opinions on how people ought to live. Many of them would be ridiculously expensive and consume an unreasonable amount of space for minimal utility. If you were to actually design a house the way they seem to recommend it would end up being 8000 ft² (including outbuildings) and looking like some weird cross between an ancient Roman villa, a Victorian mansion, and a Hobbit hole. The market for rich eccentrics who want that sort of thing is pretty small. There is a reason that book is held in higher regard by software architects than by real residential architects.

Re: Ask HN: Where to find open-source house plans?

#150

Post by bluGill » Wed, Aug 23, 2023, 5:50 PM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #98

bluGill wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you are not wrong, those requirements are the same for all houses. Your typical signal family neighborhood has the following requirements: There will be room to store at least 3 cars, and at least 2 of them will be indoors. The path from the street to where the cars are stored will avoid hitting things with the car. All this means that every house will have a 3 car garage up front with a straight driveway to th…

Where do you get this information from? Three-car garages are quite rare in Texas, and I am struggling to recall if I have ever seen a household use both carports for vehicles. At max, one car is stored in the garage while the other half is used for storage.

My wife is from Texas, and I have other family there. While older houses lack a garage, new houses all have them. It took longer for indoor parking to catch on, but it is common. Though "rednecks" are more likely to use the garage for storage of other things and park outside.