House layout: rules and tips for zoning space

The design of a house is based on the application of building and planning standards. Each of the family members in the house at the same time should be able to do their own thing and not disturb anyone. This means that each resident needs their own corner - a separate room. This is why the layout of the house is so important even at the stage of its design; it is necessary to allocate personal space for each family member in advance.

With the correct layout of the house, when guests arrive, they immediately find themselves in the living room, and then do not wander throughout the house in search of a toilet.

Example of house layout Source pinterest.com

Features of planning when designing

To make your new home cozy, comfortable and economical, you should correctly plan it, taking into account both the overall dimensions and the area of ​​each room. When planning a house, you must adhere to standard rules, the first of which is zoning the total area into two parts: utility and residential.

In turn, the living area is divided into evening and daytime, and then they are divided into rooms for guests, children and adults.

The day zone should include:

• vestibule;
• hallway;
• hall;
• living room;
• dining room;
• veranda or terrace;
• toilet.

Dressing rooms, bedrooms and extended bathrooms are classified as evening spaces.

The utility area includes a kitchen, garage, pantry, workshop, boiler room, and laundry.

The photo below shows the correct zoning of space in the house: on the right is the living room, kitchen and dining room, while the rooms are not separated by partitions. To the left are three bedrooms and a bathroom.

An example of the layout of a house with a separation of economic and residential parts Source shouse.site

When designing and planning a house, they also think about:

• size and shape of housing;
• number and location of entrance doors;
• number of storeys;
• the material from which the dwelling will be built;
• the presence of a boiler room and a garage attached to the house;
• arrangement of bathrooms: in a multi-storey cottage they are sometimes located on each floor;
• number and size of windows;
• combination of kitchen, dining room, living room;
• availability of walk-through rooms.

If you want to build a large house so that all the rooms in it are useful and constantly in use, you can consider having a winter garden, a gym, a billiard room, and a swimming pool.

An example of the layout of a large house with a built-in swimming pool and a garage Source bankfs.ru

The house plan is checked for compliance with building and hygiene standards. Each person should have 25 m³ of air. Otherwise, it is impossible to ensure normal well-being.

When planning the number and location of windows, illumination is taken into account. Depending on the position of the sun, living rooms and living rooms are designed.

The design for the construction of a house must take into account the view from the windows. Beautiful landscape, preferable for living rooms. Household and non-residential areas are installed in places where the view from the window is not important.

A fashionable trend is the arrangement of an attic, an open or closed terrace, a veranda. If it is decided to make the latter open, then they should be located on the sunny side, in a sector protected from the wind. The location of the open terrace taking into account these requirements will ensure a comfortable stay.

An example of the layout of a house with a terrace and veranda Source ro.decorexpro.com

An important point is the porch of the house, so the layout should take into account maximum convenience. The entrance is made from the south side, taking into account the wind rose. Depending on this, they decide on which side the handle and hinges of the front door will be located.

Wind rose - compiled based on weather observations. Graphically it looks like a polygon, along the length of its edges the directions of the prevailing or predominant winds are visible - from which side air flows most often come to a given area.

The path to the porch should be level and provide easy passage in any weather.

Linking the project to the area

When planning the location of the house, they take into account the wind rose, soil conditions, and local landscape. There must be free access to housing, a convenient location for access communications for your car, the supply of fuel, building materials, and loading and unloading operations.

On sandy and clayey soil, a foundation with enhanced protection from moisture is installed. If this is neglected, the walls of the house will become damp and mold and mildew will appear. Depending on the structure of the soil, the permissible load on the foundation and walls is calculated, and the possibility of building housing on several floors is assessed.

The project provides for the optimal route for communications - water supply, gas, sewerage.

An example of a plan for linking individual points of a house to a designated area Source yurlkink.ru

When studying the area, you should clarify whether it is possible to drill a well to create an autonomous water supply for the house.

Optimal house area

When planning a house, think about the number of rooms and their placement in advance. Dimensions depend on functionality. Children's rooms, for example, are not made large - they are cozy rooms in which the child needs to be provided with restful sleep and sufficient lighting.

The dining room should accommodate all family members at the same time - this room in the house should be the second largest after the living room.

It is undesirable to make rooms long and narrow; this is very inconvenient both in terms of living and when placing furniture.

When planning rooms, it is worth thinking about the placement of furniture in advance. This will allow you to choose the optimal area for each room and ensure rational use of space.

You can't skimp in the kitchen. This room is used most actively. Cooking requires sufficient space to carry out the work in peace.

Combining rooms saves space. It is fashionable to combine living rooms with a kitchen and dining room. This solution will make the room large and comfortable. In addition, there will be significant savings on materials, because you will not have to spend money on building partitions. They also combine a toilet and a bathroom.

An example of a house layout where the dining room is combined with the living room Source ultimateplans.com

Passage rooms should be used rationally, these include living rooms and dining rooms. The fewer corridors and halls there are in the house, the more convenient it will be to move around in it. In addition, building a house with a minimum number of halls and corridors reduces the cost of living space.

Based on the number of planned rooms in the house and their area, the overall dimensions of the building are chosen. At the same time, you should definitely take into account that if you have a small family consisting of two or three people, you do not need to build a house that is too large, no matter how much you would like it. Let it be spacious and let each room be used for its intended purpose.

Premises that are not used by residents do not disturb them, but take away financial resources. Firstly, they need to be heated every winter, which means extra spending on utility bills. Secondly, when building a house, you are investing money in rooms that you will not use.

An example of a house layout for a family of two or three people Source yurlkink.ru

It would be more rational to use free financial resources for more expensive façade finishing or to equip a summer recreation area on the site.

See also: Catalog of companies that specialize in designing country houses.

How to obtain a building permit

It is prohibited to build a house on a site without the consent of municipal authorities; such an object will be recognized in court as unauthorized, with its demolition and the imposition of financial sanctions on the developer. A building permit is an act of local government that guarantees the legality of the start of construction. Without such a document, further commissioning of the property and registration of ownership rights will be impossible.

The list of documents that the developer must submit to obtain a construction permit is established by law and the Town Planning Code:

• Applications for permission from the developer. The form can be downloaded from the government services portal.
• A document confirming ownership of a plot of land.
• Urban planning plan of the land plot.
• An approved house construction project and a phased construction plan.

Drawing up a notice of the start of construction, obtaining technical conditions for connecting to communications

A notice of the start of construction of a facility is a document according to which the developer notifies the regulatory authorities that it begins construction on a land plot according to the project. The application indicates passport data and information about the site and design characteristics of the object with a mention of the building material, for example, foam block.

The submission of such a notice by the developer does not give him the right to begin construction. It is necessary to wait to receive written confirmation from local authorities that the property complies with design characteristics and urban planning standards. Such a response must be received by the applicant no later than 7 days for areas of ordinary development and up to 20 days for historical buildings.

Attention! To provide a house with water, electricity and gas supply services, it will be necessary to connect intra-house networks to central utility networks. This right of the developer is regulated by the Rules for determining and providing technical conditions in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 83, adopted in 2006.

In order for the developer to have a basis for connecting external networks, he must obtain technical conditions from resource supply companies and fulfill them before putting the house into operation. Before submitting an application for specifications, supply organizations will need to know the volumes of resource consumption: water, electricity, gas, communications and heat.

Which house project to choose: one or two floors

The possibilities of modern design of residential buildings make the name “one-story house” conventional. The house construction plan may include the equipment of the basement floor and the construction of an attic. A cottage with such extensions will turn out to be three-level in the design of a one-story house. The attic and ground floor cannot be called floors, but such premises will make housing more comfortable and increase the usable area of ​​the house.

On the ground floor they usually equip the economic sector, install sports equipment, and install communications. Here you can equip a boiler room and make a garage. The attic can be equipped with bedrooms and children's rooms.

An example of the layout of a house with a ground and attic floor Source medicroslavl.ru

If you are not attracted to a home with additional levels, you should plan the rooms with efficient use of space in mind. The house must provide premises for all family members, and the kitchen and dining room must be combined. The same applies to the toilet and bathtub. The construction of low partitions and columns will help to delimit the zones.

A two-story house is being built for a large family. Living rooms for household members are planned on the second floor. On the first floor, a living room, kitchen, and guest bedroom are set up. When several generations live together, the older family members are assigned rooms downstairs. Bathrooms on the floors are placed one above the other. This makes communications easier.

If you want to install autonomous heating, the boiler room is located near the kitchen, in the basement or garage.

The choice of which house to build, two-story or one-story, should be based on the size of the plot. If you have a large family and a small plot, it is better to give preference to a two-story structure. In such a house, you can allocate a personal room to each family member and at the same time save territory on the site.

An example of the layout of a two-story house Source centermira.ru

If the family is small, then a one-story house, even on a small plot, will be quite enough, because a two-story structure will cost much more.

When designing a house, they provide for the possibility of further expansion of housing.

Conducting geological and geodetic research on the site

Before building a house, it would be correct to study the properties of the soil on the site based on geological and geodetic studies, during which the following data is obtained:

1. On the physical and mechanical characteristics of soil.
2. Information about the geological structure of the earth.
3. Level of location of groundwater.
4. Soil strength.
5. Chemical-corrosion potential of soil.

This information will help determine the location of drilling a well or constructing a well to supply water to the house, as well as choose a method for designing the future foundation.

Layout of a house with an attic

A house with an attic floor is a budget option for creating additional usable space. As a rule, bedrooms and offices, as well as children's rooms, are equipped in the attic. Relative privacy and a beautiful view from the window are advantages over other rooms.

To maintain a comfortable temperature in winter, the walls and ceiling must be additionally insulated. A large window will provide good lighting. When the presence of an attic is planned in advance, all communications are brought there during the construction of the house.

If there is an attic, but there is no need to use it as a living area, you can arrange a workshop there or use it as a storage room.

An example of the layout of a house with an attic Source sovas.ru

We buy building materials

You can entrust the purchase of building materials to the contractor performing the work - you have less worries.

But if you want to save money, then take on this work yourself. Research the market, collect all possible information about the prices and quality of building materials in the construction region. It is safer to buy materials from well-known manufacturers, but it can be cheaper to find materials from less well-known brands, but not inferior in quality to the first ones.

Don't buy materials that are too cheap. Remember the basic rule of the market - quality costs money.

When purchasing large quantities of goods, be sure to negotiate with sellers.

During periods of reduced demand (usually November to February), price discounts are often provided. Buy materials in advance during this time. Get discounts from sellers for purchasing wholesale quantities of goods, free delivery, unloading, and installment payments.

Agree or find out the conditions for the return of materials in case there are excess, unused materials left at the construction site.

Be wary of sellers' recommendations; their job is to sell the product. And they often don’t know everything about the product.

An example of the layout of a two-room house

If you decide to build a small house, consisting of only two living rooms and suitable for one or two people, the project provides the most profitable option, taking into account the small area of ​​​​the house. The kitchen and dining room can be combined, as well as the bathroom and toilet. Maximum use is made of built-in modules: cabinets, appliances, niches and storage rooms. One bedroom in the house is a must. In addition, you need to equip a sleeping place in the living room.

The width of the hallway should not be less than 1.5 m. If the room area is large, install built-in cabinets and shelves with shoes and outerwear.

An example of the layout of a one-story house consisting of two living rooms Source bankfs.ru

In a two-story house, living rooms are located on the 2nd floor, on the first floor there is a household sector - a kitchen, a dining room, a boiler room, and a storage room.

The plan for building a house with two living rooms must provide for:

• hallway;
• common room;
• bedroom;
• kitchen;
• bathroom;
• pantry.

In the project, you can consider a separate exit from the kitchen to the terrace.

An example of the layout of the first floor of a two-story house consisting of two living rooms Source ecoteploiso.ru

Advice for the developer - how to properly build a relationship with the contractor

• Enter into a written contract with the contractor based on the design and estimate.
• Conclude a contract for separate short stages of work so that you can quickly get rid of an unscrupulous contractor. A threat on your part to refuse to continue cooperation disciplines the contractor.
• Hire specialized teams. One is for constructing foundations and laying walls, another is for installing a roof, a third is for installing windows, etc.
• The contract clearly states what needs to be done, when, and the amount of payment.
• In the contract, be sure to define penalties for the contractor for violating the deadlines for completing the work.
• Everyone must sign an agreement on financial responsibility for construction materials, equipment and expensive tools.
• Try to avoid paying an advance. Provide in the contract for stage-by-stage payment for work performed. Pay only for completed and accepted stages of work. Unpaid money is your main tool of pressure on the contractor.
• Upon completion of the work, pay the contractor no more than 90% of the agreed amount. You will pay the remaining 10%, for example, after three months, after eliminating hidden defects that can be identified during this time. Specify this condition in the contract.
• Use the services of a professional technical supervision engineer or an experienced builder whom you trust. How a technical supervision engineer can help, see the beginning of the article. Contractors will often use your inexperience with construction to their advantage.
• Try not to go beyond business relationships with contractors. This will discipline the contractor and will not allow him to manipulate you.
• Decisively break off relations with an incompetent and unscrupulous contractor. If you follow his lead, believe his persuasion and promises to fix everything, you will lose even more time and money.
• Think over and discuss with the contractor an algorithm for monitoring and accepting the work done. The technical supervision engineer or you yourself must inspect and accept the results of hidden work, which will then become invisible. If you have done the plaster, accept it. Then let them putty, accept it too, and only then wallpaper. Laminate flooring installed - accept it. Skirting boards later. Allow work to continue only after the defects have been corrected and re-inspected.
• Do not accept the contractor’s proposals to change the design, replace materials, or do something faster and easier without discussion with the designer and/or technical supervision engineer.
• If you give money for materials, then all the material must be purchased at once for the full amount. And lie in your place. But it’s not like that, they bought it for half the amount, and took the other half as an advance. The employee buys small items himself. You pay for it after the fact! once a week.
• Payment for additional work. Here it is necessary to clearly distinguish between two options. The performer could not know. For example, they started digging a hole in the ground. But it turned out that there was an old foundation down there that needed to be hammered out. Here additional work is logical. The performer forgot, did not take into account, did not think. For example, I “forgot” to apply a primer under the putty. This is definitely at his expense. After all, he is the professional, not you.

Do not leave the design and construction of a house in the same hands

– these must be different
independent from each other. The competition of interests and opinions of these specialists will allow you to choose the optimal solution and avoid unjustified costs.

Scheme of work between the customer and contractors - designers and performers. Only this type of work will allow you to make the right choice of contractor, save money and get a better result.

An expensive contractor is not always the best, and cheap workers will force you to spend more.

There are more than enough companies, teams, private owners offering themselves in the “all in one” format, who “design” themselves and do it themselves. It would seem that this is happiness. BUT…

In this case, a very bad phenomenon arises, called a conflict of interest.

What does the performer need?

• Build as quickly as possible.
• Minimum costs for yourself.
• Earn as much money as possible from you.

What do you need?

• Quality result
• Reasonable prices

Agree, “reasonable prices” very much conflict with “earn as much as possible.” And “high-quality results” are not friendly with “faster and at minimal cost to yourself.”

Household products

⇆

Now imagine the temptation of the performer. After all, the customer is a “fool” and has little understanding. Deceiving him... well, no problem at all.

As a result of the conflict of interests of the customer and the contractor - when “all in one”, we have inflated prices for materials, unnecessary materials, and very expensive installation prices. Yes, of course, more than 3 times - this is rare, usually the overpayment is only 1.8-2 times.

Not all performers agree to work on someone else’s project. They know better how to do it. You will have to choose who to believe, the designer or the performer.

Three room house layout

Such housing can easily accommodate a family of three. It is necessary to equip two bedrooms and a living room.

From the hallway you can provide three exits at once: to the kitchen, to the bathroom and to the living room. Thus, the living room will be a passage room and from it you can access two bedrooms.

A 3-room house should have:

• corridor;
• hall;
• two bedrooms;
• kitchen;
• bathroom;
• vestibule.

If desired, a veranda or an additional porch with access from the kitchen can be built.

An example of the layout of a house consisting of three living rooms Source yurlkink.ru

If the house has four rooms

Housing with four rooms is easier to zone, and it is suitable for a large family. The right side of the building is reserved for relaxation, the left for activity, or vice versa. In such a house they plan:

• hallway with vestibule;
• 3 bedrooms;
• corridor between separate rooms;
• living room;
• kitchen;
• bathroom

If the space allows, arrange a laundry room, a veranda with an exit from the bedroom, and a second porch with an exit from the kitchen.

In the process of designing interior spaces, the location of sources of natural light should be taken into account. It is advisable to design rooms in certain proportions, so that they are not too elongated along the length, and their depth does not exceed 6 meters.

An example of the layout of a house consisting of four living rooms Source ar.decorexpro.com

Façade finishing and primary interior work

Initially, they begin the external cladding of the house, and after that the internal finishing work. This rule is established to prevent the impact of atmospheric factors on the particle boards with which frame structures are sheathed.

When used for lathing wooden materials, they are treated with antiseptic solutions and fire retardants so that the wood is more resistant to the influence of a damp external environment and flame.

There are a number of recommendations that must be followed during the finishing work in a frame house:

• The finishing work of the rooms is carried out sequentially.
• The first room in which finishing will take place is chosen to be the one furthest from the front door.
• First, it is necessary to lay utility lines, and only after this is completed, they begin covering walls, ceilings, and installing floor materials.
• In a frame house, finishing work is carried out “from top to bottom”.

Additional Information! There is only one exception to this rule - suspended ceilings, which are installed after finishing the walls.

Video description

See the video for the nuances of the 10x10 house layout:

Planning the location of windows

Living rooms are located on the sunny side. The illumination should be sufficient to preserve vision, but not lead to fading of furniture and wallpaper. If the layout of the rooms in the house involves the construction of a glass wall, it is necessary to equip it with protective blinds or blackout curtains.

You can build a standard house - in small bedrooms there is one window, in living rooms there are always two. If the eating area is shared with the kitchen, then it is better to make three window openings here.

You can give free rein to your imagination and plan special windows: long, round, tall windows with an arch at the top.

A large number of windows provide plenty of light and fresh air. There is no need to worry that they will cause cold in the house. Modern multi-chamber windows have excellent thermal protection properties.

Large corner window in the bedroom Source houzz.in

Construction of the foundation for the building

Similar to other capital projects, the construction of a frame house requires the construction of a foundation. At the same time, it is inappropriate to build a powerful reinforced concrete foundation for a building whose standard service life is no more than 100 years, and when developing a basement, it will be necessary to take into account the level of groundwater.

The most common foundation for a frame house is considered to be a strip foundation, which is poured below the freezing point of the soil. Thus, it compensates for the movement of soil and makes it possible to proportionally distribute the load created by the house on the soil.

Table of the minimum depth of laying a strip foundation

Pouring such a foundation has technological features:

• A necessary condition is considered to be reinforcement around the perimeter of the structure, and the reinforcement must be secured to each other using wire knitting.
• To make the foundation, only freshly prepared concrete mortar, grade M 200 and higher, is used.
• The foundation must stand before the construction of the frame.
• An integral process should be waterproofing the foundation.

Video description

To see what a house should be like, watch the video:

Balcony in a private house

Some owners of private houses with balconies hardly use these extensions. According to people, it is easier to go out into the yard or onto the terrace. That is why the need for a balcony must be thought out in advance.

If you want to make one, then you should not build a small balcony similar to those that are equipped in apartment buildings. A large balcony is turned into a work of art using forged or other equally beautiful railings.

There should be enough space on the balcony for a comfortable rest - so that you can put several sun loungers or a rocking chair, a table with chairs for tea drinking.

Large balcony in a private house, equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable stay Source pinterest.com

The balcony fence must be at least one meter high to ensure safety. If there is no canopy, snow may drift onto the balcony in winter. If the floor does not have a slope, then after rain water will stagnate there.

Correct Scandinavian frame

Unlike America, where frames are practically standardized and there are very few differences, there are more variations in Scandinavia. Here you can find both the classic American frame and hybrid versions. The Scandinavian frame, in essence, is the development and modernization of the American one. However, basically, when they talk about a Scandinavian frame, we are talking about such a design.

Typical Scandinavian house kit

Scandinavian frame

Corners, jibs - everything here is like the Americans. What should you pay attention to?

1. Single strapping along the top of the wall.
2. Power crossbar embedded in the racks along the entire wall.
3. Single posts on window and door openings.

In fact, the main difference is this very “Scandinavian” crossbar - it replaces both the American headers and the double harness, being a powerful power element.

What, in my opinion, is the advantage of the Scandinavian frame over the American one? The fact is that it places a much greater emphasis on minimizing all kinds of cold bridges, which are almost all solid boards (double strapping, racks of openings). After all, between each solid board, a gap could potentially form over time, which you may never know about. Well, it’s one thing when the cold bridge is the width of one board, and another question is when there are already two or three of them.

Of course, you shouldn’t focus on cold bridges. There’s still no escape from them, and in fact, their importance is often exaggerated. But, nevertheless, they exist and, if it is possible to minimize them relatively painlessly, why not do it?

Scandinavians in general, unlike Americans, are very concerned about energy saving. The colder, northern climate and expensive energy resources also have an impact. But in terms of climate, Scandinavia is much closer to us (I’m talking primarily about the North-West region) than most American states.

The disadvantage of the Scandinavian frame is that it is slightly more complex, at least in the fact that in all racks you need to make cuts for the crossbar. And the fact is that, unlike the American one, it does require some kind of mental effort. For example: large openings may require double racks to support horizontal elements, and additional crossbars and headers. And somewhere, for example, on the gable walls of one-story buildings, where there is no load from the joists or roof, perhaps a transom is not even needed.

In general, the Scandinavian frame has certain advantages, but requires a little more effort and intelligence than the American one. If the American frame can be assembled with the brains completely turned off, then in the Scandinavian one it is better to turn them on, at least in the minimum mode.

Several examples of successful house layouts

An example of the layout of a one-bedroom house Source certy.ru

Original house layout with a round living room Source ecoteploiso.ru

Layout of a house where the living room, kitchen and dining room are combined Source centermira.ru

Layout of a two-bedroom house Source roomester.ru

Layout of a large house with a terrace Source sitysun.ru

Example of second floor layout Source tech.smart-wood.lv