Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pacerron]

Lots of interesting opinions from folks here on building science and theory.

I will throw a suggestion in here about insulation. Your best bet would be to find a local reputable building scientist to come up with a thermal boundary/insulation plan. There are benefits and drawbacks to each type of insulation. Even fiberglass is a cost effective insulator as long as there is absolutely no air movement through it. I won't give any specific recommendations because I know my environment and professional building practices for cold/snowy northern climates. These practices would be completely different from the practices in your area.
So I would look up someone in your area that is BPI certified and have them help you out with insulation and air sealing for the house. In the long run this will save you money and energy. Also a properly detailed insulation plan will also make the rest of the house last a lot longer in terms of addressing roof temperature, air management, moisture management, etc etc.
all the systems in the house are connected and need to work well with each other.

Very good points by nctacoma...

Also if you read the article attached and its side tabs, you will see that there is a lot more " make the numbers sell the products" than actual reality in the environment and way we live.
Calculating heat loss

 

[SPIKER]

I see this ISSUE with double posts is getting a lot worse... for everyone please go back and delete your double posts ASAP. Remember you have to click EDIT on one of the dual posts.

then once open for EDIT you have to click the DELETE button. It will then POP UP a Radial clicker circle which says "Delete entire post" and below that a "DELETE Button" (lower right) as a Multiple step process I think a lot of people miss.

Mark

 

[aczlan]

I see this ISSUE with double posts is getting a lot worse... for everyone please go back and delete your double posts ASAP. Remember you have to click EDIT on one of the dual posts.

then once open for EDIT you have to click the DELETE button. It will then POP UP a Radial clicker circle which says "Delete entire post" and below that a "DELETE Button" (lower right) as a Multiple step process I think a lot of people miss.

Or just click on the "X" when the box comes up asking if you want to leave the page after you click on "Post Reply"... It wont reload the page, but your post will make it in.

Aaron Z

 

[pclausen]

Pete, will the stone in the garage get vibrated down prior to the concrete pour? Stanley

I asked the builder about that today and he confidently stated that #57 gravel self compacts and that there would be no point in vibrating/compacting it further... Not sure, but I know who to call now if the floor ever does something undesirable.

 

[pclausen]

Day 60

They got the deck framing installed today

All the 2x12s are notched and resting on the Superior Walls.

The initial batch of hardie planks was delivered today, along with the soffits.

The work area for building the deck

Inside, the plumbing and electrical moved along nicely.

Water and drain lines being pressure tested

Gas lines started

And pressure tested

Mom wants to do a lean-to green house from the sunroom. It will be 4' x 8', have a tile floor with a drain. So this will be extending out 4' onto the 8' wide deck. Builder is trying to figure out how to best accomodate this request at this late stage of the game. Likely a prefab unit using aluminum railing and real glass panels.

Here's a shot out of the sunroom slider showing where the leen-to greenhouse extension would go.

On a completely different note, there will be about 10 recessed ceiling lights. Regular IC cans run about $15 each for decent ones, and one can then add a LED bulb for another $30 or so, for a total of $45 a pop. Or, we can get true LED recessed IC cans, which run about $90 each, including the LED lights. What are the pros and cons of each? I would like to go with the native LED cans, which typically feature 9 individual LED elements, but would like to understand what the advantages are?

 

[pclausen]

pc, I put pipe insulation on ALL of my water pipes, it's cheap, easy to do now, and, man am I glad I did that! Hot water stays hot longer at faucet, cold pipes don't condense in humid summers - a great, cheap thing to do while the pipes are easy to do!

Excellent suggestion! I discussed with plumber today, and he will check w/ builder if that would be considdered an extra charge or not. If so and the amount is small, I'll let then do it, otherwise, I'll do it myself. Like you said, it is cheap and easy to do.

 

[pclausen]

As far as insulation, they will blow in foam, and it will expand to at least 1.5" or so. And they will then add R19 batts to that, on all exterior walls. They will also spray foam everywhere else a surface is exposed to the outside on the other side. Cellulose will be blow in the ceiling to a thickness of at least 16". This is required by code these days from what the builder told me.

 

[cycle_gator]

Pete:

I see the job super was on site today. Grandma must be very proud. However, I bet she is a stickler for 15 minute ONLY coffee breaks.

 

[ThomasH]

IMHO, the traditional can or traditional can with efficient bulbs can be one of the larger hidden energy losers in a house, in that they typically are not easy to impossible to seal against air movement. With warmer air trying to escape the ceiling, they let a lot of air out of the conditioned envelope. This is of course tempered by whether the top of the cans are in the attic, have an insulation dome to stop air movement, etc., but it is something that should be looked at to ensure that you don't lose a lot of heated air in the winter.

There are newer cans that are low heat generating, so they can be sealed, and I wouldn't use anything else to make sure that air infiltration (the stack effect of air moving higher from the basement through the house and into the attic) is minimized. I would advocate that making sure that the conditioned space envelope is well sealed is the most important factor in energy costs, followed by insulation factors. It's the reason that spray foam is as popular as it is, as it greatly aids in sealing the conditioned air envelope.

 

[s219]

I asked the builder about that today and he confidently stated that #57 gravel self compacts and that there would be no point in vibrating/compacting it further... Not sure, but I know who to call now if the floor ever does something undesirable.

He is right in a way, though the 57 does need to be spread the right way for it to settle/equalize, and you have to assume the base is solid!

When they did the garage on our new house, they spread the gravel (a little smaller than #57) and worked it in to make sure it settled, but did not vibrate. Then they drilled holes in the walls all the way around and stuck in short rebar pieces before they poured the slab. This still lets the slab float horizontally, but won't let it move vertically at the walls, and should prevent cracking if there is any minor settling. The builder said they have been doing that in this area for about the last 4-5 years, and it has really cut down on issues.