Architecture / Conventional home layout is inefficient
 

Despite our political differences, efficiency is our common bond; doing more with less. I hate wasting space.

Along that theme, I have a problem with the conventional home layout.

I suggest three changes.

My first problem is with bedrooms. They're mostly used for 8 hours of sleep. What about those 16 waking hours? Bedrooms should be multifunctional. The bed should hideaway so the space can be repurposed and enjoyed during the day.

My second problem is with static interior walls. Room walls and doorways should be Lego-like and on casters, so rooms can be reconfigured. Having a party? No problem. Expand the living room walls at the expense of making the other rooms temporarily smaller. Kids moved out? No problem. Delete their bedroom. Out of town guests? No problem. Create a temporary bedroom.

My third problem is with storage. Floors should be elevated to create under floor storage space. This allows you to live more efficiently in the same house footprint.

Any other ideas?

Innovative design and construction in homes is fascinating. I like poured concrete construction and standing seam metal roofing for reduced maintenance and durability in storms. Geothermal systems are neat too.

As much as I like those, they are expensive.

Moving walls won't give you the sort of sound insulation you want, and a convertible bedroom is what we all had in college. Ample storage can be a trap if you aren't willing to toss clutter.

However the real obstacle to making your ideas work is that it would be cheaper to just build a bigger house. Costs drive most of these choices.

In considering my enthusiasms, I was forced to conclude that a cheap to maintain and heat house could save me a little money each month, but would cost twice as much as a "regular" house of the same size. I built a "regular" house, but used preformed concrete for the basement.

When I put a new roof on my current home, I used standing seam metal. It was almost $40,000, but I hope it saves me some headaches. I'm not sure it was money smart.


Other ideas? How about using underground petroleum storage tanks buried below the frost line and finished as a living space?

Underground petroleum storage tanks? Most interesting idea. That would be one way to remain out of sight of the anti-tiny home building codes.

Can you speak more about "standing seam metal" advantages for roofing. Never heard of it.

There are lots of homeowner, house building with construction material alternatives on YouTube.

WikiHouse was a stand out. In short, a computer controlled cutter cuts the pieces of your house from 4 by 8 foot sheet of plywood.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wikihouse

They are typically seen on industrial structures.

https://www.clevelandmetalroofing.co...nding-seam.jpg

In my climate, a "30 year"asphalt shingle roof may only be good for 20 years. There are barns and houses in the countryside that have had these for a century, and with modern paint they may not need the kind of maintenance that century old steel can require.

A Murphy bed could be a good start on number one.

Standing seam metal roofs are friendlier to home solar. The panels can be clamped to the seams, so mounting won't require putting holes in the roof.

My dad wanted to put a metal roof on his house when he needed a new roof a few years ago. While it did cost much more than a conventional roof, that's not what stopped him. Dad figured that the longevity of the roof would outweigh the initial cost. The thing that stopped him was that it was determined that his roof structure would not support the weight of a metal roof. He would have had to remove the entire roof and truss structure, and start with stronger trusses. He ended up buying a high quality fiberglass shingle, and hoped that it would last longer than the original asphalt shingles.

The problem I see with Murphy Beds is that they take up valuable horizontal living space.

I especially like this French design, which disappears into the ceiling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnj4w4dlWMs

Here are some Murphy Bed-like solutions with a modern, (I believe) Italian design twist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nEFt0NMUMg

Asphalt shingles are SO 1950s. Surely we must have better roofing tech by now. Anyone explore foam roofing?

Drilling holes in the roof? Isn't there a frame that can hook over the roof peak so there can be none to, at least, fewer roof holes?