What American home design aspects to put in new construction Israel home?

[LongTimeLurker]

I have yet to see an israeli house that does not have building violations

[skyguy918]

(including soundproofing plumbing).

This guy and other builders on YT put out a ton of great info, especially what they call 'building science', but I'd imagine a lot of it might be less relevant for building in EY.

[ExGingi]

This guy and other builders on YT put out a ton of great info, especially what they call 'building science', but I'd imagine a lot of it might be less relevant for building in EY.

That doesn't take care of everything. I have cast iron plumbing in my house, and I wish there was more soundproofing (overall, but definitely for plumbing). I can actually hear the water running in the copper pipes when my daughters take their hour+ long showers at night. That being said, I don't know if they even have cast iron pipes in Israel. Everything has been PVC there for decades.

[ExGingi]

Hey everybody,
Just wanted to say I'm still here, just very busy with work.  I really appreciate all the suggestions and ideas and will take the time to properly respond/ask questions to all.  Honestly, despite my original focus on bringing practical American design elements to an Israeli home, a lot of the ideas could apply to building a home anywhere and hopefully will be useful to all!

And just to focus the discussion a little more (unless this does end up becoming a home design master thread...): our home will not have a driveway, garage, or basement.  It will, however, be two stories and a true single-family home with a yard, not a duplex/townhouse.  The home will be on a kibbutz, and there are very silly building codes in effect (at both the "county" [מועצה אזורית] and local [kibbutz] level) that do not allow basements, etc.

Try to make a space for the Sukkah that has at least 2, preferably 3 permanent walls surrounding it and if you can get A/C there - even better.

[Sammy82]

That doesn't take care of everything. I have cast iron plumbing in my house, and I wish there was more soundproofing (overall, but definitely for plumbing). I can actually hear the water running in the copper pipes when my daughters take their hour+ long showers at night. That being said, I don't know if they even have cast iron pipes in Israel. Everything has been PVC there for decades.

The trick is to put the hot water on a timer (on a smart system so it's very easy) and make it turn off after 15 minutes! (Or manually turn it off)
Kill 2 birds with on stone. Save money and get some quiet.

[ExGingi]

The trick is to put the hot water on a timer (on a smart system so it's very easy) and make it turn off after 15 minutes! (Or manually turn it off)
Kill 2 birds with on stone. Save money and get some quiet.

I did that one time (not after 15 minutes, probably more like after 1.5 hours). Do you have teenage daughters? Not sure about killing birds, but this might be a way to get myself killed.

[daybyday]

Let's face it your wife is making most of the decisions anyway. But mainly congrats on the new house, what a great step. Should be with lots of Simcha and Mazal

[yfr bachur]

@moe8555 any updates? did you get any other ideas?

[Dan]

@moe8555 any updates? did you get any other ideas?

+1, we want pics

[moe8555]

@moe8555 any updates? did you get any other ideas?

Hi, yes it's true I haven't been updating here, basically for very practical reasons.  There is a massive amount of bureaucracy, and believe it or not, our blueprints were finally submitted to the municipality for approval less than a month ago!!!  Now the clock is ticking and final approval to build could take up to 9 months 

A lot of the suggestions/ideas weren't really applicable to this stage of the process, which pretty much focuses on the physical structure (i.e. "4 walls and a roof").  All the cool little upgrades and creature comfort additions aren't part of the building permit process, and can be built/implemented as we go, once we start building.

So unfortunately, this thread is pretty much on the backburner until we start to actually build and our focus shifts back to interior comforts vs. the current focus on exterior physical structure.

On a positive note, they started to install EV chargers in the parking lot closest to where the house will be (as a reminder, this is on a kibbutz so we will not have a driveway)!

[moe8555]

+1, we want pics

I actually do have a 3D video rendition from the architect (some slight changes were made between the rendition and final submission, but it's pretty close to what we submitted for approval).  Not sure if there's a quick and easy way to upload it?

[chaim41]

American Boiler (instead of dud shemesh/chashmal) so that there is always hot water available.
The small filtered hot water faucet near the sink for coffee (not sure what it's called)
Warming Drawer
Dishwasher
Master Bedroom walk in closet



 

[Yo ssi]

I actually do have a 3D video rendition from the architect (some slight changes were made between the rendition and final submission, but it's pretty close to what we submitted for approval).  Not sure if there's a quick and easy way to upload it?

https://streamable.com/

[longtimelurker23]

I know i'm late to the party, but while the heated floors idea was cool, where in E'Y do you need heated floors? I spent two winters there as a bachur in Yerushalaim; it  almost never gets below 40.

Honestly.... New Yorkers cant handle a little cold. My parent's New York based landlord in Miami gave a them a radiator  . It gathered dust in the closet.
While I couldn't use my dorm room in yeshiva in LA because my new yorker roomates turned on a heater. In. L.A.!

OP. sorry about the red tape Hatzlacha!

[Dan]

Hi, yes it's true I haven't been updating here, basically for very practical reasons.  There is a massive amount of bureaucracy, and believe it or not, our blueprints were finally submitted to the municipality for approval less than a month ago!!!  Now the clock is ticking and final approval to build could take up to 9 months 

LOL!
We designed, got approval, built, and moved in that timeframe 

[JMHO]

LOL!
We designed, got approval, built, and moved in that timeframe 

If you would have unpacked in that time frame too, THEN I would be impressed!

[Dan]

If you would have unpacked in that time frame too, THEN I would be impressed!

Impossible.

[moish]

Great thread. Is there a thread for ideas to include for building a house in the US?

[moe8555]

LOL!
We designed, got approval, built, and moved in that timeframe 

Yeah, I'm honestly not even finding the right words to express myself.  Out of curiosity, I checked the guidelines provided by the town where I'm originally from (upstate NY) and it says "Please allow up to 14 days for approval" 

I did a little asking around and apparently the people in charge of reviewing are understaffed and underpaid.  Basically your typical situation in which "the most qualified for the job don't want to waste their time in the public sector."

[moe8555]

https://streamable.com/

For all interested:
https://streamable.com/c3b718

The interior design elements are for illustration only, we haven't actually made any decisions yet.  The exterior is mostly the same as what is going through the approval process, except the small door leading outside from the living room has been changed to a window (since we have the large exit, no real need for another door...).  Also, there were some changes made to the decorative stone siding.  Besides that, a little hard to tell, but almost the entire outside area upstairs is actually one big wrap-around balcony.   The lack of windows on part of the house is because those are safe rooms (upstairs and downstairs), not an oversight.