Project Appropriate Assumptions are Required: In order to draw any home design, decisions regarding the physical construction are required. Construction needs to ‘fit’ a site. A footing has to have a width and depth. A wall has to have a construction composition, and a width and a height. A roof has to have a construction type and member sizing. This is inescapable when creating any design project with 3d modeling. A conversation with client and builder (if preselected) about anticipated construction assemblies early on is helpful. A specific site’s conditions, the climate climate zone that site is in, regional construction practices, product availabilities and budget factors are all considerations. Below is a condensed summary of ‘default’ assemblies that are pretty universal, flexible, and time tested. Consider these conversation starters. There are many options and enhancements to these default assemblies, and there are building system alternatives, either or both of which may offer a better solution to a specific project.
Foundation Configuration – All Living Space Above Grade: Crawl space construction, slab construction, or full basement scenarios are usually site and region determined. This configuration determination wants to be made before any design work begins.
Foundation Configuration – Daylight and Walkout Lower Levels: Conventional masonry wall construction in the earth/retaining earth/ and (2×6) frame wall construction above grade is the default composite configuration for daylight and walkout lower levels.
Foundation Construction: Continuous concrete footings and 8″ or 12″wide masonry foundation walls are used as defaults. Concrete block or poured concrete are in all instances are viable wall constructions.
Floor Framing: Conventional stick floor framing using dimensional lumber for appropriate spans and engineered joists for longer spans.
Wall Framing: Exterior frame walls are most typically 2×4 or 2×6. In an early design stage it might be difficult to select a specific total wall assembly and if so, 2×6 is used as the default.
Roof Framing: Conventional stick frame roof construction is the default. Some selected designs do plead for a truss solution and in those instances the truss solution is shown.
Roof Insulation Strategy: The roof plane, or the ceiling plane requires requires insulation and possibly ventilation. This basic decision drives other important structural and HVAC decisions. There is no default employed for this, so this variable wants to be discussed early.
Mechanical Systems – General: The layout concern in any home design is that allowances and space for all mechanical systems and requirements are provided. Electrical systems need control equipment space, low voltage communications and entertainment equipment needs space- water heating, treating, and distribution equipment needs space- and HVAC equipment and systems need space. It is always smart to allocate that space as efficiently as possible and therefore wants to be addressed early in the design phase.