Structural decisions that actually matter

When designing your house, it's easy to get distracted by shiny finishes and overlook the important structural details. Here's your cheat sheet for conversations you need to have early with your architect and structural engineer because changes after plans are set can quickly turn painful and expensive.

Foundation: What’s under your feet?

Basements, crawlspaces, or slabs each has trade-offs. Basements are perfect for storage or your hidden speakeasy, but here in Seattle, they often become damp and dark. Crawlspaces are budget-friendly and give easy utility access but can become moisture traps without proper ventilation. Slabs are quick and cheap, but once pipes are buried, fixing them becomes an excavation nightmare.

Don’t just pick one because it worked for your neighbor. Your lot’s slope, soil type, and drainage dictates what's best. Rocky terrain might mean crawlspaces. Steep slopes might call for daylight basements. Let your engineer guide you based on your land’s unique puzzle and your needs.

Recessed features: Small details with big impact

Want a curbless shower or flush-mounted patio heaters? These seemingly small features need specific structural adjustments like dropped subfloors or specially spaced joists. Hidden roller shade pockets? They require specific framing decisions.

Bring these details up early. If you wait until framing, you’ll be stuck revising plans, recalculating loads, and dealing with construction delays.

Heavy stuff: Floors have limits

Most floors handle about 40 pounds per square foot. Add a home gym, heavy safe, or rooftop deck, and you're pushing those limits. Sagging floors and cracks won’t appear overnight. They'll creep in slowly, causing expensive fixes later.

Tell your engineer from the start where heavy loads will be, avoiding reinforcement headaches down the road.

HVAC: Plan for the hidden giant

HVAC ducts can be surprisingly large up to 16” in diameter! If you don’t plan for them upfront, you’ll end up with awkward soffits or reroutes that eat into your ceiling height. Trusses with open webs make life easier by letting ducts pass through cleanly. Traditional beams? You'll be drilling, dodging, or lowering the ceiling to make it work.

Don’t leave this to the last minute. Once framing is underway, changes can mean tearing things open and delaying the whole schedule. Coordinate HVAC and structural designs early. Whether it’s central air, mini-splits, or radiant heat, get everyone aligned before you build yourself into a corner

Structural flair: Cool details need serious planning

Cantilevers, floating stairs, raised parapet walls. They look amazing and elevate your home’s design. But they’re not plug-and-play. These features need specific beams, posts, and supports built into the design from the beginning. Done right, they make a house feel custom. Done late, they cause expensive revisions and delays. Flag them early.

Big openings: Go wide, but plan ahead

Huge windows, pivot doors, NanaWalls, or wide garage doors look incredible, but they require structural accommodations like steel beams, larger headers, or hidden posts. Decide early to avoid expensive surprises, permit revisions, and delays.

Trusses vs. beams: The hidden battle

Trusses have open webbing, perfect for running plumbing, wiring, and ductwork easily. They span greater distances, ideal for open floor plans, though they can cost a bit more upfront.

Traditional beams are straightforward and cheaper initially, but they're solid with no easy routing for utilities. That means drilling or routing around them, complicating framing and reducing ceiling heights.

Final thought: Don’t wing the bones

Structure isn’t glamorous, but it’s the difference between a house that looks good and one that works well. Talk to your engineer early. Be clear about what you want. Make sure your systems play nice together.

If you love a seamless, built-in look, say so early.

Then? Build something that’s not just beautiful, but built to last.