Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 262 posts

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

#91

Post by duxup »

lostapathy wrote: post #87
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…

This gets said a lot - but in practice, very little housing is built that way. The mega builders that build big developments certainly don't match up house plans with the way lots are oriented, and that's where most houses are built. I'm not trying to argue we shouldn't work on that, but to just dismiss off the shelf house plans entirely because "you have to build for the site" is rejecting the reality of how things…

I duno if I agree with this. They might not go lot to lot but a big developer also is the one who orientates the lots and selects the designs ... I think it is all relative to how they do business / organize lots.

It's more general than lot to lot, but still seems to take into account the general lay of the land, the city's codes and etc.

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

#92

Post by electrondood »

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…

+1 to A Pattern Language. That is an incredible book.

It's like a system design template dictionary for homes, spaces, cities, etc.

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

#94

Post by digging »

lostapathy wrote: post #87
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…

This gets said a lot - but in practice, very little housing is built that way. The mega builders that build big developments certainly don't match up house plans with the way lots are oriented, and that's where most houses are built. I'm not trying to argue we shouldn't work on that, but to just dismiss off the shelf house plans entirely because "you have to build for the site" is rejecting the reality of how things…

What does that have to do with this thread? The OP isn't buying a prebuilt house. Probably because they're not good houses.

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

#96

Post by lostapathy »

duxup wrote: post #91
lostapathy wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This gets said a lot - but in practice, very little housing is built that way. The mega builders that build big developments certainly don't match up house plans with the way lots are oriented, and that's where most houses are built. I'm not trying to argue we shouldn't work on that, but to just dismiss off the shelf house plans entirely because "you have to build for the site" is rejecting the reality of how things…

I duno if I agree with this. They might not go lot to lot but a big developer also is the one who orientates the lots and selects the designs ... I think it is all relative to how they do business / organize lots. It's more general than lot to lot, but still seems to take into account the general lay of the land, the city's codes and etc.

Maybe this varies regionally?

I'm around Kansas City. The biggest builders here will be in multiple subdivisions at once, with varying topography, and they may or may not have been the ones to plat out the lots.

They will absolutely sell you any house plan in their catalog to go on any lot, so long as it fits. You might get a walkout basement instead of a full in-ground basement, but that's about how much it varies.

The only variability is that smaller plans would be available in nicer subdivisions (that require bigger/expensive houses) and larger plans won't be available in subdivisions where they don't physically fit on the lots.

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

#97

Post by Qwertious »

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…

>Ideally, you'd want to be situated on a southward facing slope, beneath the road

If you casually assume everyone lives in the northern hemisphere.

Don't worry, we're already used to it with you all decorating websites with snow-themes in December, and saying "releasing this spring!" when what you actually mean is "April".

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

#98

Post by unethical_ban »

bluGill wrote: post #49
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…

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.

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

#99

Post by lostapathy »

digging wrote: post #94
lostapathy wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This gets said a lot - but in practice, very little housing is built that way. The mega builders that build big developments certainly don't match up house plans with the way lots are oriented, and that's where most houses are built. I'm not trying to argue we shouldn't work on that, but to just dismiss off the shelf house plans entirely because "you have to build for the site" is rejecting the reality of how things…

What does that have to do with this thread? The OP isn't buying a prebuilt house. Probably because they're not good houses.

Even if you're having a new house built, you get a lot less choices than you might think. To most builders, "custom home" means you get to pick the paint and flooring, not that you have appreciable input into anything structural.

I'm sure it varies regionally, but where I'm at (Kansas City market) you have to be in about the $800k range, generally, to be able to work with an actual architect and build something custom - and that's just plain out of reach for most people.

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

#100

Post by nonameiguess »

lostapathy wrote: post #87
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…

This gets said a lot - but in practice, very little housing is built that way. The mega builders that build big developments certainly don't match up house plans with the way lots are oriented, and that's where most houses are built. I'm not trying to argue we shouldn't work on that, but to just dismiss off the shelf house plans entirely because "you have to build for the site" is rejecting the reality of how things…

The entire purpose of designing your own house is to take these things into account. If you're looking for a cookie-cutter generic design, just let a mega builder use one of their templates and they'll get what you're talking about here.
Post reply on HN