Home designs that annoy me.

[Packard]

Things that annoy me on home shows:

Staircases with no hand rails at all that would be illegal in almost every city, or town in America.

Rooms with white carpeting and the expectation that they would remain clean.

Coffee tables in the middle of the room too far from seating to be anything other than a display table.  Also note in the image in the link, the end table has a coffee cup shown on it—clearly out of reach from the couch.

Small coffee tables in front of huge couches so that only the people sitting in the center have access (the coffee table should be nearly the length of the couch).  And coffee stains on the oatmeal colored loveseat would convince me to choose a dark color instead.

Anymore beefs?

 

[mino]

Actually soft color carpets are fine as long as one uses brain and the customer understands the implications.

Especially like the one on the picture which is not fixed /so easy to get cleaned/ and is not single solid color /so any non-cleanable spill can blend-in/. That is actually a good example how a soft color carpet can be used functionally well.

Everything else 100% with you.

Most of the displays - from places like IKEA all the way to exhibitions - are completely useless as an inspiration. They are either just for display in a gallery - like here - or are so jam-packed with stuff that no sane person would want to live in that.

The worst thing is many people fall for it when arranging their homes and you cannot even advise them as they have no proper point of reference. They will tell you 10 yrs later you were right, but what good is that ..

The same goes for the few shows about renovations I have seen. 99% of the time they include so little storage spaces it is almost sad thinking about the people who will have to live there once the show is over.

On the other hand, this is like in IT which I know. I always tell colleagues frustrated from the customer's absurd ideas:
"If (They) knew what they needed, they would not need us (nor pay us) to tell them ...
[cool]

 

[live4ever]

A very large number of small bathrooms on those shows or on Houzz/Pinterest (even those that are professionally designed and built) do not meet code when it comes to clearances for toilet, lav drain, shower/tub glass clearance from vanity, and shower/tub door swing clearances.  It's actually gotten fairly tricky to remodel 5x8 bathrooms.

 

[Bob D.]

For the camera you need extra space. Furniture positioned at a 'normal' spacing/distance will appear crowded in print or in any 2D medium. Plus depending on what is being 'sold' in the image you want that image in full view. If a third of the chair is hidden behind a coffee table that just leaves questions in the viewers mind. The room needs to feel like there is space to walk around comfortably not cramped.

The coffee cup and other such items give a feeling of home or lived in and not a static store display.

 

[Sparktrician]

• Closets 18" deep or less, preventing normal hanging of clothes
• 7' 6" ceilings
• Plumbing access hidden behind built-ins
• Plumbing without cutoff valves, making it necessary to turn off the water to the whole house to replace a simple washer
• Tile laid using mastic, not thinset, over drywall in wet areas like showers, with no gaps between tiles for grout
• Use of compressed paper to create "lumber" to be used in exterior applications where water is a common issue

If I had time, I'd have a very long list of design/construction issues that I've encountered.  [mad]

 

[Packard]

There is an actual and valid reason for 7’ 6” ceiling heights in my area anyhow. Any space with 8’ or higher ceiling height is counted towards the square footage for tax assessment purposes.

So a 2,000 square foot home with a full basement at 8’ ceiling height would be assessed as a 4,000 square foot home.

So the property/school tax on my home (2,000 square feet) would jump from $8,600.00 per year to up to$17,200.00. (Though I don’t know if it is directly proportional, it would be seriously higher).

 

[Econoline]

Anything built after 1920...

 

[Ron B]

Packard-that tax assessment would get me in a lot of trouble because I do not handle stupidity very well.  And it does not get better with age.

 

[Ron B]

Packard-where do you live at?  Just wondering where those tax assessments are written. 

I understand you can't fight everything.  I have farm property in Illinois, and compared this year's assessment to a bill from 18 years ago.  One property had a tax increase of over 500%, the other over 700%.  When the camel sticks its nose inside the tent, you have to whack it, because if you don't, before long the entire camel is inside your tent. 

So if taxes double if your ceiling is over 7.5', what is the next thing they have up their sleeve to get into your back pocket?

 

[mino]

Ref Packard .. this reminds me how over here in the middle ages there was a "chimney tax".

This meant - at the time when central heating tech was not available - that there were houses made with crazy chimney "trees" inside the walls so that all the fireplaces in a house could exit into a single chimney.

End result of the tax was that the "well-off" people - who it was suppossed to hit - worked around it via engineering per above while all the poor and middle-low-income ones - who could not afford the engineering complexities - ended up living all the winters in a single kitchen-living-room which they could heat up using the single chimney ..

This lasted - via inertia - until central heating became technologically available in the 19th century at which point the taxes were eventually abolished. I think after WW1 or so.

Heh.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Any space with 8’ or higher ceiling height is counted towards the square footage for tax assessment purposes.

Easy. Just leave your ceiling where it is, and lower the floor. Tax problem solved.

 

[Packard]

Packard-where do you live at?  Just wondering where those tax assessments are written. 

I understand you can't fight everything.  I have farm property in Illinois, and compared this year's assessment to a bill from 18 years ago.  One property had a tax increase of over 500%, the other over 700%.  When the camel sticks its nose inside the tent, you have to whack it, because if you don't, before long the entire camel is inside your tent. 

So if taxes double if your ceiling is over 7.5', what is the next thing they have up their sleeve to get into your back pocket?

Under 8’ is not counted as “living space”.

I live upstate NY.  When I moved here my total taxes came to $1,800.00 per year and I paid $0.79 per gallon to heat my house.

My recent assessment will increase the tax to $9,200.00 and my last oil bill was @$5.999 per gallon.  I am not worried about the cost of gas—the cost of heating oil will break the bank.

I’m going off topic.  I will try to rein that in.

 

[demographic]

A roof thats fussy just for the sake of it, adding cost, reducing space for solar panels, decreasing possibility if rooflights and loft conversions and adding potential for leaks.
While I'm on the subject I'll mention house design with fussy details for no good reason. A workmate suggested that extra corners must cost an extra five grand per corner when you taks into account,  the founds not being straight, bricklayers being faster on long runs, ading cavity trays and different types of roof truss.

This is an example of a roof that I just cant stand.

 

[4nthony]

Shutter fails, haha
https://www.boredpanda.com/window-shutters-blinds-fails-the-craftsman-blog/

 

[Packard]

My house has two adjacent windows with a shutter to the left of the two and one to the right of the two.  If you could imagine they were both operable, then each shutter would cover 1/2 of each window.

There is no reasonable way to correct this other than to remove the shutters, so that is the plan.

My current home has generous eaves (30”) except where the previous owner enclosed a walkway where there was just the gutters for an overhang. That was causing water problems in the newly created sunroom so I removed the gutter and the fascia and sistered up the joists to allow for an 18” overhang.  Better, but the 30” is much nicer.  It is like having awnings on all the house windows (I live in a ranch house).

 

[Packard]

I weaned my housekeeper off or paper towels and Swiffer pads.  I bought a bag of 50 microfiber towels.  She uses 4 or 5 each week.  So I wait until I accumulate several before laundering.  (Remember:  No fabric softener—it will reduce the absorbency of the towels).

I also bought this Rubbermaid damp mop which I saw in action in the local Simon shopping mall.

It has grown in price since I bought it, but it is still a better deal than Swiffer.

The Rubbermaid Hygen mop + auto refill reservoir + extra cleaning pads is going to cost a  little over $250.00 today.  Though the auto refill tank is mostly for convenience.  But in the three years I have had it, I have only spent $10.00 for cleaning supplies.  The mop handle never seems to break (I had to replace the Swiffer mop frequently) and the microfiber pads last a long time and get laundered (no fabric softener). 

To clean microfiber, I wash in hot water with an extra rinse and regular laundry soap.  They come out absorbent and soft. 

I also have microfiber cloths to wash my car.  Same laundry process for all of them.

 

[oberlin1]

I am with Sparktrician on shallow closets…last house was infested with them.

Other design peeves are interior barn doors and white subway tile.  There are so many beautiful colors and styles for tile and you choose stuff in the mens bathroom at the train station?!

 

[mino]

I am with Sparktrician on shallow closets…last house was infested with them.

Other design peeves are interior barn doors and white subway tile.  There are so many beautiful colors and styles for tile and you choose stuff in the mens bathroom at the train station?!

White tiles are absolutely fine. The same way as pure-white wall paint is absolutely fine. On itself.

The problem is not the tiles. The problem is that any plain tile or wall needs to be coupled with adequate non-paint decorations. A plain tile bathroom with requisite wooden furniture details, nice colorfull curtains etc. can be absolutely stunning.

That same bathroom with just plain white walls and plain white furniture can also be an alter ago of a public bathroom.

 

[Bob D.]

"Shutter fails, haha"

How about 16" x 7 foot tall fake (as in plastic) shutters on either side of a 9 foot wide overhead garage door?

Two houses around the corner from us both built in the 80s. I believe the shutters were on from the beginning.

We see them time we take our evening walk.

 

[kevinculle]

I would advise you to not buy any home whose design annoys you.  Of course, if it's not your home you don't get a vote.