Notes of things to talk about 1/17/17

Notes from meeting with builder:

1. Maximum allowable square footage for a new footprint He suggested that we get an official calculation from an engineer about how much square footage our town will allow us to add to a new footprint. Apparently it's restricted according to lot size, and since we have a small lot size, we definitely need that number in hand. So I'm working on having the person who did our survey provide me with that calculation, but he's been out of town until yesterday. Hopefully I'll hear back from him in the next day or two.

2. Stucco He strongly recommended against using stucco. His reason was that in our low-lit forested and humid area, our house is already prone to mold and mildew, and stucco does not do well in these conditions. So we need to find a different material.

3. Three Floors He wasn't sure what the regulations for our town were, but in similar towns the rule is that the bottom floor counts as a basement and not a story if the height is less than 83" or so. I need to find out from the town what exactly counts as a story. The other possibility is making the third floor a "half floor" which is what most people do in town.

4. Roof pitch He said the flat roof and shallow mono-pitch concern him. We do get significant snowfall here, and snow removal from a flat/shallow pitch is a must or else you risk ice dams and roof cave-ins.

Beyond what he said, I have my own areas I'd like to explore:

Three story option:

A. Roof Deck I'd love to explore the possibility of putting in another deck above where the proposed new living room/ music room and shifting the third floor back above some of the kitchen/dining room area. I've attached a mock up to give you an idea of the basic idea of what I'm thinking- it could either be a partial deck as I've shown in the picture or a full deck. This helps us reclaim some outdoor space despite having such small sloped lot. I'm picturing container gardens, lounging area, etc.

B. Light We live in a wooded hollow, and natural light is at a premium. I'd like maximize the functionality of anything in the South/SouthEast corner of our house since that is where the light and the views are. E.g. no stairwells in the southeast corner of the house.

C. Basement without knocking into existing basement and without a full bathroom- how can we maximize the use of the entrance space? Guest room + half bath + storage?? Kitchenette during kitchen remodel?

Two story option:

C. Basement floor with no garage- Can we fit two bedrooms, a bath, and an entrance area + stairwell? Maybe extra common space?

D. Roof Deck? I'm kind of attached to this idea, ha ha.

Kitchen:

E. Layout Peter does not like the proposed layout with the pantry/fridge behind (hates it). He's particularly concerned about the fridge being behind the cooking area (he likes a more traditional kitchen work triangle). We also had a friend point out that there may be regulations in MA about where sinks are located because they need a drain vent. I'll ask the builder about that next time I see him.

Energy Efficiency:
We want to zone our HVAC, but how will open concepts/open stairwells affect our efficiency?