68 
House Garden 
THE HOME BUILDER’S QUESTIONNAIRE 
Answer the Following Questions, and You Will Have a Comprehensive 
Idea of the House You Plan to Build 
H ouse & garden’s information 
Service receives many questions from 
prospective builders which are difficult to 
answer because of the form in which they 
come to us. Very often the really helpful 
answer to a question depends upon the an- 
sw'ers to other questions, or upon data and 
information not given by our correspond¬ 
ents. The following questionnaire is in¬ 
tended as an outline of the things to be 
considered by anyone who proposes to 
build a house, and their sequence is im¬ 
portant as a guide to systematic thinking. 
In another issue we will publish a question¬ 
naire on the alteration or remodeling of old 
houses. 
I. What is the maximum amount of 
money available for the building of the 
house? 7 / the available amount for expendi¬ 
ture is limited, give due thought to the possi¬ 
bilities of “progressive building”, that is, of 
planning your house so that its essential living 
accommodations can be built immediately, 
and other portions of it at some future time. 
2. What is the nature of the site? Level? 
Hillside? Country? Suburban? Village? 
IMountain? Seashore? The answer to this 
question would largely dictate the answer to 
Question j. 
3. What is your preference, if any, as to 
architectural style? Colonial? Italian? 
Spanish? English? What kind of English 
—manor house or cottage? Bungalow? 
The answer to this question woidd have a 
good deal to do with the answer to Question 4. 
Questions 2, j and 4 are all closely related. 
The site considered topographically, and the 
site considered sociologically, as a location, 
with certain neighborhood obligations, should 
govern the choice of style. Style, in turn, usu¬ 
ally governs the type of construction of a 
house, and the type of construction calls for 
certain materials. 
If there is no special style suggested by site 
or neighborhood, the possession of a certain 
kind of furniture might dictate the style. No 
one woidd pid a collection of fine Colonial 
and Early American mahogany in an Ital¬ 
ian villa. 
4. What type of construction have you 
in mind? Frame? Brick? Stucco on frame? 
Clapboards on frame? Half-timber? Va¬ 
ried construction, utilizing varied materials? 
What kind of roof? What material? A 
consideration of type of construction is in¬ 
separable from the consideration of materials 
to be used, and the exterior finish, such as 
paint, stain, etc. 
5. How many rooms on the first floor? 
The answer to this will govern the answer 
to Question 6. The first-floor plan usually 
determines the extent of the cellar, and also 
the door area available for the second story. 
6. What is to be accommodated in the 
cellar? Laundry? Garage (if grade per¬ 
mits)? Preserve Cellar? Workshop? Is the 
site one in which surface water drainage into 
cellar must be specially provided against? 
If so, waterproofing must be used on the 
foundation, an extra cost not usually in¬ 
cluded in estimates. 
7. What type of heating plant is your 
choice? Hot water? Steam? Hot air? 
Pipeless? Fuel oil? Prospective builders 
should not be too much influenced in the choice 
of mechanical equipment of any kind by 
unprofessional advice. Failure of equipment 
to perform properly is often due to poor in¬ 
stallation by local mechanics, and has no bear¬ 
ing on the real merit of the machine. 
8. What do you plan for arrangement of 
first floor? Hall? Hall and Living Room 
combined? Reception Room? Music 
Room? Library? Dining Room, or Dining 
Alcove off the Living Room? {This is more 
suitable for the cottage or bungalow than for 
the larger house, and if you already have 
furniture, the plans should be studied ac¬ 
cordingly.) Porches? Sun Parlor? Ter¬ 
races? Breakfast Porch? 
9. How about details of first floor? 
Flooring? Wall finishes? Fireplaces? Type 
of windows? Doors? Lighting fixtures? 
Hardware? If no local dealers carry designs 
in stock which appeal, designs may be selected 
from the catalogues of various manufacturers, 
and ordered through local dealers or through 
the contractor. 
10. How about the Kitchen? Large or 
small? Movable or built-in equipment? 
Kind of range? Answer to Question 6 tells 
whether or not laundry tubs are to be in 
Kitchen. 
11. Will there be a separate Pantry? A 
Refrigerator Room? A Maid’s Room near 
the Kitchen on the first floor? 
12. How many rooms upstairs? Sleep¬ 
ing Porch? 
13. Any rooms other than Bedrooms? 
Nursery? Sewing Room? Store Room? 
14. How many family Bedrooms? How 
many Guest Rooms? 
15. How many Bathrooms? What 
grade of fixtures will be wanted for these? 
16. Any rooms on third floor? If so, what 
are they? 
17. Linen closet? Other special closets? 
18. What wall finishes on second floor? 
Plaster finishes or wall paper? What kind 
of flooring? Doors? Windows? 
19. What lighting fixtures on second 
floor? Hardware? 
20. What type of garage? {See Ques¬ 
tion 6.) If a separate building, how many 
cars? A mere shelter, or a finished 
building, with chauffeur’s quarters, heat¬ 
ing plant, etc.? 
21. Are there any special features to be 
considered in your house? Large pieces of 
furniture? Window seats? Built-in furni¬ 
ture? If you already have certain large pieces, 
such as a davenport, a large bookcase or any¬ 
thing which would not fit the average wall 
space, it is well to make notes of its dimen¬ 
sions, so that these can be figured on the plan. 
22. Are you contemplating features not 
included in building estimates based on 
standard construction and equipment? 
Copper rain-leaders and gutters? Brass 
plumbing pipe? Casement wnndows? Win¬ 
dow screens? Weather strips? Special man¬ 
tels? Paneling? 
It is well to keep in mind from the start 
that the decision to have special equipment 
will mean added cost, but that it will also en¬ 
hance the value and satisfaction of your 
house. It is also important to remember that 
special materials or equipment, decided on 
after the cost estimate for the whole house is 
made, cannot be expected to be covered by that 
original estimate. 
23. The question of electric outlets is best 
studied after the house plans are definitely 
decided on. 
When every point enumerated above has 
been duly considered, the memory can be re¬ 
lieved of considerable burden, and the danger 
of forgetting important details can be elimi¬ 
nated by making a set of lists. These may be 
made either by rooms or by subject. Thus, a 
set of lists by rooms cojdd be made to cover 
every item contemplated for the Living Room, 
every item for the Dining Room, and so forth. 
A set of lists by subjects could be made to 
cover, for instance, all the hardware, itemized 
by rooms, atid all the plumbing attd lighting 
fixtures, itemized by rooms. These lists, as 
the work began to take definite form, woidd 
probably be subject to revision, but they 
would ajfford a definite means of recording in a 
systematic way all changes in decision, all 
substitutions, eliminations or additions. 
T he above points are essential. Many 
might well be sub-divided into a num¬ 
ber of detailed considerations. A consid¬ 
eration of details, however, is generally 
unprofitable if made at the expense of essen¬ 
tials. Certain fundamental things must be 
established definitely as a working basis, 
after which the details are but the embellish¬ 
ment of a sound and well-studied plan. To 
have studied the above questions in se¬ 
quence, and to have formed reasonably 
well-grounded answers to them is to ap¬ 
proach the architect in a truly cooperative 
way, and in a way which will greatly expe¬ 
dite the preliminary, as well as much of the 
later, work of planning and building the 
home. 
