Opinions on floor plans for a semi-detached house, is the layout okay?

Hello Neonjay,

generously planned but have you also thought about space for supplies and cleaning utensils? Sure, you have a basement but I wouldn’t feel like carrying the cleaning stuff all through the house and who wants to run down to the basement for every pack of noodles. Think about whether you want to store something there, I also didn’t want to do without my storage room.

The open kitchen/open staircase is a matter of taste. I would either make the kitchen lockable or have the staircase outside. That way you always have the smell throughout the whole house when cooking...

In the attic, I would also provide an exit from the bathroom to the hallway... if you are upstairs and your child calls you from below you always have to run out through the dressing room/bedroom.

Regards,
Natascha

Yes, opinions differ when it comes to open stairs and slanted walls. The open staircase wouldn’t bother me, maybe with 2 kids? Hmm, but at least you have privacy in the evenings thanks to the fireplace when the teenagers want to come home or return. I can imagine that the wall in front of the stairs is needed for the structure (load-bearing wall/stairs)

The dining table will probably take up more space, just like the seating area, since once again dollhouse furniture templates were used.

Consider whether you might remove the 2 doors in the dressing room and use those 2 walls for the wardrobes (2 wardrobes hold more than 1 wardrobe). Door to the dressing room opposite the stairs, door to the bathroom from the hallway – this is more practical than wandering through the rooms to quickly touch up lipstick or quickly change. This also gives you a straight wall in the bedroom... Upstairs you’re alone anyway :)

Personal opinion: - open staircase is stupid (TV is loud, children hear everything, drafts, etc.) - The bay window is almost completely made of glass. There is also a terrace door there. We have a similar bay window and deliberately installed only 4 windows so that you don’t look at feet in the dining area and placed a corner bench in the bay window. Of course, it’s a matter of taste. The question: If your dining table is there: How often will you open the door? Wouldn’t a window make more sense there? If it absolutely has to be with a fixed-glass floor section? Who goes in / out there? - Are you planning a controlled residential ventilation system? Then you have to include the lines of the controlled residential ventilation (riser pipes) - Toilet in the attic: Everything under 1.8m height is to be criticized (according to our architect). Because you hit yourself when standing up - TV wall + couch: Why terrace doors at this spot? If the couch always stands in front anyway, better fixed glass: a) it’s cheaper, b) it’s harder to break into

Personal opinion:
- open staircase is stupid (TV is loud, children hear everything, draft, etc.)

I have to contradict that with personal experience: We now have a floor plan similar to our ERH – with an open staircase.
If the upper room doors are closed, you hear NOTHING from TV or women’s/men’s gatherings when staying upstairs. The other way around the same. There is no draft either – and we don’t even have a hallway wall there yet, like the one that is now built.

- Are you planning a controlled residential ventilation system? Then you have to include the ducts for the controlled residential ventilation system (riser ducts as well)

The planner is already working on that, as far as I understand. Execution plans look different anyway (with corresponding riser ducts, which apparently are planned here by the chimney).

Dear ypg, in some centralized controlled residential ventilation systems there are exhaust valves in bathrooms and supply valves in other rooms. To allow air to flow from A to B, a gap of 2 cm under the doors is mandatory. This means you cannot make your rooms soundproof at all. If you have children and plan a study room on the upper floor / attic, I can only recommend a closed staircase. They can't be quiet enough for you not to hear them. I agree with you about the draft - in my brother's house there is a draft through the living room (open staircase) but that is not generally valid. I say this about the controlled residential ventilation because we fell for it. Our floor plan was nice and finished and then the details came and the ducts of the controlled residential ventilation went through the kitchen and children’s room, so the previously nice floor plan was ruined.

I have to contradict that with personal experience: We now have a floor plan similar to our ERH - with an open staircase. When the doors of the upper rooms are closed, you hear NOTHING from the TV or men's/women's gatherings when people are upstairs. The same applies vice versa. There is no draft either - and we don’t even have a hallway wall there yet, where it is now built.

I suspect this also has a lot to do with the doors you installed. When I look at the honeycomb doors from the hardware store, I can imagine that they don’t block sound or anything else... well, with a total cost of €80, I’m not surprised. If you have better doors, there shouldn’t be any problems with sound.