FJ's New Construction Checklist

[FarmerJamie]

Herb garden right outside the kitchen door, if possible, like the early settlers did.

And if you do put in a wood stove for heat, don't go with the smallest rated for your size of house; if the stove is forced to go at full bore all the time, it will wear out faster (yes, they CAN wear out)

The herb garden already is in my landscape plans.

 

[tortoise]

Without further ado, the start of the list under consideration.

2. Handicap accessible, or at least allowances made for future accessibility without large expense
I'm gathering that your wife's health problems / symptoms overlap some of mine. So I have a few suggestions related to that. Don't procrastinate on wheelchair accessibility, do it now. Do it yesterday. Using a wheelchair at home saves me when my fatigue is bad.

In the kitchen, have a section of counter that is a "kitchen office" area. But really, that's a wheelchair accessible kitchen workspace. One of the most frustrating things about not having a wheelchair accessible home is that I don't have any workspace in the kitchen.

Deep sink is probably not wheelchair accessible, unlikely she could reach the bottom of the sink

If you have a stand mixer and don't have space to leave it out on the counter, get a lift for it. And if you don't have a stand mixer, get one. One of the best devices for those with pain or joint problems.

3. Fireplace...traditional or pellet stove insert?
traditional for sure

4. Flooring...wife likes the idea of heated ceramic tiles with a faux wood look.
100% agree on heated floor, but I wouldn't suggest it as a primary heat source. If she is prone to any blood flow abnormalities, warm feet and cool head are a recipe for syncope.

5. Adding to base plan.....a canning kitchen as an addition.
Outdoor canning kitchen. I literally can't take the heat of canning indoors. I pressure can outdoors on a propane burner, but it's a PITA on the deck. For smaller scale canning, an electric pressure canner is super nice. I set it on the floor.

7. Mod to base plan, redoing pantry/mud room layout.
Make it excessively large - roll-in wheelchair accessible. Consider space for carts. Can't carry hardly anything when in a manual wheelchair, but can roll a cart around the house. But I have no storage for a cart, so it's an annoyance to my whole family. I use a cart for dragging cleaning supplies around the house.

10. Some sort of reinforced room in the basement for storm refuge
wheelchair accessible???
make this room comfy because fear amplifies perception of pain, and can flare up dysautonomia.


Keep gardens close to the house - as close as possible. Alternately, have a driveway to the garden area. I am not usually able to walk to my garden and then still be able to work in my garden. More often though, I work in the garden and them am unable to get back to the house. Have passed out in the garden unable to get out of the sun, DH has had to rescue me from the garden a few times when I've been stuck there.

If you have an outbuilding, such as a barn, run water to the building but also have a water heater out there. probably tankless? I can't do barn chores in winter because of cold intolerance - pain from cold hands. Any water is the worst, severe pain. I can't keep rabbits anymore due to it, or until I find a way around it or convince DH to put a water heater out there.

 

[FarmerJamie]

What a 2020, no progress on this item. At work, the previous executive management was dead set against IT work from home. New management heartily endorses it. Meaning, I hope, going forward we could in theory, live anywhere with reliable solid internet connections.

Maybe this is the plan

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The county just north of us is having their soil and water conservatory district tree sale. lots of nut trees and ELDERBERRY starts. Oh the frustration of not having our own place

ARGH! That is definitely frustrating! Could you put a couple elderberries in big pots?

 

[FarmerJamie]

@Britesea and @frustratedearthmother good ideas. The setup here is not ideal. I looked at the again and they are offering pawpaws too

 

[FarmerJamie]

Let me clarify my "no movement" comment. We are doing some traveling this week, so lots of car time to discuss.

The wife is industriously searching out floor plans, and then makes notes all over a snap shotted image of them. Since her changes are of the type that will require an architect to update any plans, I suggested that maybe we just start listing the rooms we want (including sizes and features), and let a professional piece it together.

 

[baymule]

So, those old houses with cracks in the walls were healthy to live in!

 

[baymule]

I’ve lived in some of those. I prefer no wall cracks. Open windows, yes. Blowing a gale from ill fitting windows, no.

 

[flowerbug]

my recommendation for if you do end up in a more isolated situation is to avoid having a wood burning fireplace as it is a lot of work to keep up and use and if you are concerned about heating in the winter during a power outage that propane and a fake fireplace or fake stove that can be used for alternative heat is much better. it will keep you from freezing until the power comes back on and then you don't have to deal with anything other than making sure the tank gets filled up once in a while. no wood making, no splitting, stacking, carrying, no ashes or smoke to deal with.

the thing is, i love fire and i really would have loved it had we kept our fireplace as a fireplace for burning wood but the smoke isn't compatible at all with either of us so we had it converted into propane and that has worked well enough. except it was not a very good conversion in terms of heating efficiency so you can be sure to not make our mistake and get a unit that is more efficient in producing heat. and if you want to use it as a cooking surface then make sure it has those features. we just take old cans and set them off to the side and heat things up in those. it's like camping but we can still sleep in our own beds.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I love the ceramic tile faux wood look. I've seen a lot of tiles the last few weeks working on our re-do.

Ok - you spoke of a canning kitchen. In that theme what about a pot filler at the stove?