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jocelynperry

Design Proportion Dilemma

My husband and I are building in Nova Scotia Canada. We are building a scandinavian style simple cedar exterior home. The house will an L shape but we can't decide on wall height, width and roof pitch. I like a 12/12 pitch, currently the house is designed with the front street facing section to be 16 feet which i think is too narrow so we're planning to make it 18 - 20 feet wide. If it was 20 feet wide with a 12/12 pitch with 8 foot walls would that look odd? This is the style we are looking for with the exterior. Inside we will have vaulted exposed ceiling. Is a 12/12 too high what sould I do for dimensions?



Comments (12)

  • dan1888
    12 days ago

    The design can depend on your lot size and the orientation N-S of the house. Ceiling or roof insulation is important even if this will be seasonal. The interior rooms are useful to consider. Do you have a floorplan? 20 foot wide and 20 foot deep gives you a 10 foot tall roof with no overhang to shade the house in summer. This will be taller will overhangs. It can overwhelm an 8 foot wall. If the depth front to back is 40 foot the roof now is 20 foot tall. The layout is important. It's also pretty much impossible to walk on a 12/12 roof. 6/12 takes care.

  • PRO
    French Farmhouse Living
    Original Author
    12 days ago
    last modified: 12 days ago

    Lot size is 100 x 100 this is why we're doing an L shape. The legth of the long portion will be 44 feet, the wide section at the back will be 32 feet wide and the narrow section at the front is currently drawn at 16 feet wide but I think it needs to be 20 feet wide. 6/12 roof does not support the style I'm looking to achieve. There will be no eave overhang I'm doing half circle european style gutters. Not looking for shade as there will be lots of trees and it's 300 meters from the ocean so there will be a breeze, we will have lots of french doors to provide natural cooling and also will have a heat pump that is an air cond unit too. 20 feet is very tall. I'm working on a floor plan with a builder and a draftsman, architects fee is $15,000 I'm not paying that much for a house that i won't actually be living in. I might have to do a 10/12 pitch. because i dont want the interior to feel hallow.

  • PRO
    Mark Bischak, Architect
    12 days ago

    Are you an interior decorator?

  • PRO
    French Farmhouse Living
    Original Author
    12 days ago

    Not officially! I've done some renovation designing but not a new build.

  • PRO
    Mark Bischak, Architect
    12 days ago

    As long as the architect is capable, engaging an architect may be an economical way to get educated in the field and get the style and proportions you desire. It takes a lot more information than you provide to achieve a viable solution to your concerns.

  • PRO
    French Farmhouse Living
    Original Author
    12 days ago

    I totally understand this. I had a meeting with architect, once they heard my ideas for my scandinavian barn style house I never heard back from them. In Canada the fee for architect services is about $15,000. I'm doing all the interior finishing myself so i just need framing plans to get permits and basic idea of front and side elevation. I'm building in Nova Scotia most builders and designers aren't interested in working on a project like this, most people just build basic builder beige homes and for anything out of the ordinary they charge an absolute fortune for. I've opted to do my own design because this will be a vacation home not a residential home.

  • PRO
    Mark Bischak, Architect
    12 days ago

    The better it is designed the better the vacations will be. Keep looking for a local architect that is willing and able to do your project with you. Generalizations and assumptions do not make a good project.

  • res2architect
    11 days ago

    It's cold in Nova Scotia so it's not too soon to figure out how to expose the roof structure and insulate it.

  • Seabornman
    11 days ago

    For the basic massing, get SketchUp and spend a little time learning how to create forms. Your concept seems perfect for it as it is simple (at least as I understand it).

  • PRO
    French Farmhouse Living
    Original Author
    11 days ago

    Yes exactly! i plan to finish the interior myself, my husband and i are very handy and this isn’t our first rodeo. ill look into sketchup thank yku

  • dan1888
    11 days ago

    Post your floorplan ideas. Include the side that faces South and any views. You can use graph paper to scale the plan. Add measurements.