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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2983 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for June 29, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Homeowners of The Motte -- what would you differently if you could do it all over again?

I plan on building a house in the next 12 months on a lot about an hour away from the Gulf of Mexico America. It's going to be a two-story 5BR house with porches on the front and the back, built in a traditional Southern style.

I'm a bit overwhelmed as I don't even know what I don't know about building, and I want to avoid making costly mistakes that I'll have to pay to renovate later (or worse, be unable to fix at all). Happy to hear both from people who built and people who bought.

I don't even know what I don't know about building

You may want to buy a copy of the Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction. It's a bit pricey, but absolutely comprehensive in terms of design.

Highly relevant is the International Residential Code. This link leads to the 2024 version. Your jurisdiction probably uses an older version, but you may still want to tell your builder to obey parts of the newest version. In particular, ch. 11 (Energy Efficiency) has undergone major changes recently, such as §§ N1102.1.3 (Insulation and Fenestration Criteria: R-Value Alternative) and N1108.1 (Additional Efficiency Requirements). Appendices NE (Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure) and NG (Energy Efficiency Stretch Code) may also be of interest to you.

International Property Maintenance Code § 404.5 (Overcrowding) also has some handy guidelines for design, and ICC A117.1 (Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities) ch. 11 (Dwelling Units and Sleeping Units) has information on the different levels of accessibility that you may want to meet in order to facilitate "aging in place".

t. in the process of getting a two-bedroom custom house built for 220 k$

Since this is the stupid question thread -- what should I hope to learn from those books? They appear to be reference books about regulations. Should I study them so I can keep my GC honest or double check his work?

What should I hope to learn from those books? They appear to be reference books about regulations.

The Architectural Graphic Standards include a lot of helpful guidelines and drawings in addition to regurgitation of (an old version of) the mandatory codes.

Reading the Architectural Graphic Standards and the codes enables you to draw up on your own a rough design on which the builder's architect has only to put minor finishing touches, rather than describing what you want to the builder's architect and having him draw up from scratch a design that probably will require a bunch of iteration.

Ah, okay! That's really useful, then. Lazy question, but how did you draw your designs? I'm pretty miserable with pencil and paper, and I imagine there are a million software tools for this sort of thing. Any in particular you liked?

Edit: I see you've already answered this here.

How did you draw your designs?

See response here.

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