House plans and ideas

For reasons that may, or may not, eventually become clear I知 looking for house plans. The house(s) in question would be built in a third world country which has access to the kind of building techniques and technology we had in the 80痴 i.e. bricks, blocks, concrete, timber etc and the skills to work it but not modern high tech insulation and the like.
Summer time temp can reach 30-35C with snow in the winter and temps down to -5, perhaps -15 for short periods. Common construction technique is either timber construction (stud walls with cladding on the outside, lots of insulation and then timber on the inside as the finished surface) or double skinned, block/brick with insulation again, plastered on the inside. Timber is still the most prevalent (softwood, some hardwood available but expensive) due to cost but blocks/bricks are available but you pay a premium. As you can imagine, with the technology they are used they have love affair with concrete.

Typically houses tend to 1ｽ high to maximise space and provide the pitched roof that can cope with the snow.

So back to the original question, I知 looking for house plans. Whilst I can just turn up and start building in the same style as they have I壇 like to be a little more imaginative. Currently I知 considering A frame construction since that gives the pitch of roof, materials are easy to source (2 joined 2x6 to make a 4x6 can easily make the framing) something like the following (less windows at the front is one of the changes).



I found some plans also which could easily be modified for what I am thinking. Free A Frame House Design Plan with 2 Bedrooms

But that aside, any ideas on what would be a good way to go, open to any suggestions but, as mentioned, the limitation is the materials and skills to hand. Thanks.

Originally Posted by go_slow

For reasons that may, or may not, eventually become clear I’m looking for house plans. The house(s) in question would be built in a third world country which has access to the kind of building techniques and technology we had in the 80’s i.e. bricks, blocks, concrete, timber etc and the skills to work it but not modern high tech insulation and the like.
Summer time temp can reach 30-35C with snow in the winter and temps down to -5, perhaps -15 for short periods. Common construction technique is either timber construction (stud walls with cladding on the outside, lots of insulation and then timber on the inside as the finished surface) or double skinned, block/brick with insulation again, plastered on the inside. Timber is still the most prevalent (softwood, some hardwood available but expensive) due to cost but blocks/bricks are available but you pay a premium. As you can imagine, with the technology they are used they have love affair with concrete..

At first I thought "Wow! You're joining us in Australia!"

And then you mentioned "lots of insulation" and I realised you weren't

...more seriously, I think you are on the right lines

Timber framed the way to go if that's common I think - so much more flexible in terms of what you can do, and easier in terms of skills required. And you can make them perform really well. You don't necessarily need hi-tech insulation, just a good amount used properly. A frame is a very good plan for an economical house of modest proportions. The drawback with them is that you can't get a big plan area but that's unlikely to be a problem for you

Log cabin type things might also be worth considering
Tons of stuff here to give ideas:
House Plans & Home Plans at COOLｮ houseplans home floor plans & blueprints

I would pay particular attention to the quality of joinery you can get hold of - with framing, insulation, cladding and roofing materials you can do anything really in a lower skilled country - but if you can only get shite doors and windows it's a killer for the comfort and perceptions of quality. Always the hardest thing to get right on any build (it's also the single biggest problem over here, the windows are b0ll0cks)

Originally Posted by dodgy

At first I thought "Wow! You're joining us in Australia!"

I can see how you would think that

Originally Posted by go_slow

a third world country

Originally Posted by dodgy

...more seriously, I think you are on the right lines

Timber framed the way to go if that's common I think - so much more flexible in terms of what you can do, and easier in terms of skills required. And you can make them perform really well. You don't necessarily need hi-tech insulation, just a good amount used properly. A frame is a very good plan for an economical house of modest proportions. The drawback with them is that you can't get a big plan area but that's unlikely to be a problem for you

Log cabin type things might also be worth considering
Tons of stuff here to give ideas:
House Plans & Home Plans at COOLｮ houseplans home floor plans & blueprints

Nice one, I'll take a look

Originally Posted by dodgy

I would pay particular attention to the quality of joinery you can get hold of - with framing, insulation, cladding and roofing materials you can do anything really in a lower skilled country - but if you can only get shite doors and windows it's a killer for the comfort and perceptions of quality. Always the hardest thing to get right on any build (it's also the single biggest problem over here, the windows are b0ll0cks)

Joinery isnt bad as long as you are prepared to wait i.e. you can't buy a sill profile for the windows but they will make it for any windows you need by hand. So the level of craftmanship is good but their timekeeping is rubbish, they'll promise you a date just to make you happy. Same goes for double glazing, they've heard of it and their way of doing is basically second glazing which I guess is better than nothing.

Those plans I linked to they use a metal bracket for the timber to go link the timber to the concrete, I'll probably get them made here also if thats the route I take, they have heard pf galvanising but its a specialist sport there.

With some of the other items I'll ship out from the UK i.e. electrical items, kitchen appliances etc, whilst you can get quality items over there they are a lot more expensive than here. I am looking at the cost of sending a container over, this can contain what I need from here, I'll throw in some power tools as well, the lads can have them when the job is complete. I like the idea of the container since we can use that as a workshop/shed also, cladding it to look good is easy and roofing over so you end up with the container and a parrallel covered work space means we have somewhere to work rather than be out in the open. That said containers are cheap there so maybe get one sourced locally and put them 10 foot apart and the middle section becomes the workshop.Once done it gives us a shed and garage.

Anyway, all ideas and planning at the moment, earliest we could do anything is mid next year (need a septic tank in and access first) and that depends on plans and money

A frames can be a PITA, the inside are obviously sloping right from the ground, which can make the rooms feel wierd. They are also difficult to extend if you want more room. On an immediatly practical note, the lower part of the roof, near the ground is easily damaged unless its metal clad, with obvious leakage iussues in rain, and when the snow melts. On the door/window front, if your shipping stuff anyway, sent out the double glazing panels (glass only) from here, and get them built into doors/windows locally.

Any building regs to be considered, planning applications etc? be a shame to finish and then told "i#If you'd have asked us we'd have told you to do this and that!" Do they get earthquakes?

You moving to India, GS?

Originally Posted by Yambo

Any building regs to be considered, planning applications etc? be a shame to finish and then told "i#If you'd have asked us we'd have told you to do this and that!" Do they get earthquakes?

Planning regs? Bwahahahahaha. No, a decent lunch will sort that out

Nope, no earthquakes.

Originally Posted by Olly

You moving to India, GS?

Nope, this is a propa third world project mate.

Originally Posted by go_slow

Nope, this is a propa third world project mate.

Norfolk??

Originally Posted by Olly

Norfolk??

Third, not fifth fule

A frame houses make OK holiday homes, where you don't have much stuff to fill them but...

The walls sloping like they do means that there's not much furniture that fits into them. Wardrobes and whatever have to go against the gables or be built in.
Thats often a bit more expensive than just nipping into Ikea.
They shouldn't leak in as long as you have something like Tyvek under the slate laths. That stuff stays waterproof even without the slates on for quite some time.
Might be worth checking out if insects or termites are a problem wherever it is. Plus places like Greece have quite strict building controls in place regarding earthquake protection so a lot of their stuff is shuttered concrete.

Personally I really like timber framing but the factory stuff is faster on site than the on site framing.

The external wall studs are made, covered in OSB, covered in Tyvek and sent out to site on big pallets. Then a few workers fire it up in a few days, the roof put on and then the place is waterproof, leaving the external cladding to be put on later. Can be timber cladding, brick or even stone.

Doesn't matter though because all the other trades can be inside making the place habitable while the brickie is busy cladding it.

nothing much to add except for my own penchant for NOT trying to reinvent the wheel (as I have so many, many times..) & pinch it. What do the posh people live in? No, not the dictators in their marble palaces. The one's a bit further up the scale than most who still have to consider running costs. Nick that plan. Or look at directly comparable situations in other countries. What do they do?

Like the container. Might you have trouble with corrupt officials on the imports?

I've always liked a U shaped house style where you have a central courtyard accessible from all points of the house. An perhaps rather than a full A frame perhaps conside a one sided A frame, I think the roof style is called Pent(?). So you still have the steep sloped roof to cater for the snow.