New Home Begins

[tkappeler]

Not much to show in pictures. Working on housewrap if and when the ground dries out enough to ladder the back and right side. Doing the DWV and electric now. The electric rough in should be done by the end of the weekend. Ordering the siding this week and will begin that soon. We are going with Certainteed Monogram 46, double 4" in Spruce. Of course it's a "premium" color which means a "premium" price.

Our soffits and facia trim will be natural clay to match the windows.

We still have to decide the window trim methods. Our choices are:

1) primed 5/4 x 4, capped with aluminum coil in Natural Clay color to match the Andersen Sandtone. More labor intensive and requires j channel around the windows.

2) vinyl lineal which has an integral J channel and requires buying full boxes in the desired color since it is not a standard stocked color.

3) Azek or Versatex or other PVC/composite. One flavor of these has the relief on the back for the window's nailing flange and integral 3/4" x 3/4" dado on the back so no j channel required. The downside is that it will need to be painted and that maintenance.

4) Hardie NT-3 which has no fasteners on the face. Small flashing-like strips are stapled to the back and then these are nailed to the house. it comes in colors but am not sure how flat/secure it will sit.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dr Dave]

I would go with #2, quick and easy, low maintenace, and think it would look best with your siding choice. Great job on the pic's!

Dave

 

[s219]

I don't see the point of going with maintenance-free vinyl if you still have to paint window trim, so I would skip option 3 (we did use PVC trim on our house with Hardie plank siding though -- it looks good, but god forbid the day we need to have the place repainted).

I am guessing that option 4 -- Hardie NT-3 -- is one of their pre-painted "color-plus" products. It is very nice paint, but again, will need to be re-painted at some point in the future. My builder specifically did not want to use the pre-painted Hardie products because he says you have to be super careful handling the material during shipping and installation to avoid damaging the finish. Knowing how things go on a jobsite, it just seems too fragile to me.

So it comes down to whether you want to paint or not. If not, 1-2 are the way to go, and I'd prefer 2 myself. Otherwise, if you can accept painting, I know option 3 does look good.

 

[dave1949]

It's not a bad thing to have some vinyl or other siding left over. If a section gets damaged then you have something to repair with that matches. Granted, those long vinyl siding boxes are a pain to store. I have one laying on shelf brackets up high on my garage wall. And since I have it, I'll never need it :laughing:

 

[srs]

Any thoughts?

Tom, My house is premium vinyl siding with aluminum trim. I have to paint the exterior doors and the round columns supporting the porch (pita!). I personally wish I could have gotten a vinyl clad post. Anyway as mentioned you need to decide if you want to do a lot of exterior painting in a few years. Myself the more maintenance free the better. Also try to keep several extra pieces of trim, facia, and especially the siding should you need to replace something in the future. I have 3/4 box of siding left over and had to replace two pieces when they were accidentally damaged.

 

[srs]

It's not a bad thing to have some vinyl or other siding left over. If a section gets damaged then you have something to repair with that matches. Granted, those long vinyl siding boxes are a pain to store. I have one laying on shelf brackets up high on my garage wall. And since I have it, I'll never need it :laughing:

Sorry dave1949, I just said the same you just quoted. Duh!

 

[Obed]

It's not a bad thing to have some vinyl or other siding left over. If a section gets damaged then you have something to repair with that matches. Granted, those long vinyl siding boxes are a pain to store. I have one laying on shelf brackets up high on my garage wall. And since I have it, I'll never need it :laughing:

Yes, me too. My box is sitting in the attic on the ceiling joists.
Obed

 

[srs]

Tom, any updates?

 

[tkappeler]

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have been working hard but no new pictures, unless you want to see the completed circuit panel.

We have just finished the electric and will go for the rough electrical inspection this coming week. You just don't think that a home of 1800 square feet can actually have 3500' of wire in it. After walking the house, I made some changes to the architect's electrical plan to streamline things and we made some changes based on other mechanicals.

We decided to go with propane for hot water and the furnace, not electric, so there are changes in that wiring. We also eliminated some switches that the architect had. I also consolidated some of the outlets to other circuits. All told, we have 36 of 40 spaces used in the panel. I will reserve two for a 100A sub panel for the garage/shop and possibly the other two for an interlock kit for backfeeding the entire panel from the generator.

I have also run Cat5E to every bedroom and the great room. Same for quad shield RG6 for cable. These go to a central place in the basement, under the fireplace bump out with power there in support of routers, etc

Speaker wire for surround speakers in the great room is all in too.

I still have to decide on what to do to boost cell service, especially since the foil layers on BOTH sides of the RayCore walls knocks the signal down a bar or two.

The tubs are here but waiting on the drains to come in before setting them. I began the drains for the kitchen and laundry today and have off from work on Monday and Tuesday, so I hope to make big progress on the plumbing then. I can install the tub/shower valves also.

Anyone have ideas on running 2" ABS through the IJoists? Do I really have to piece smaller pieces in to fit and use couplings? The drain for the laundry and kitchen have about 7' of run perpendicular to the IJoists, then its a 90 degree turn and 38' run to the main 4" trunk, parallel to the IJoists.

After the plumbing rough in is done, the siding will go on.

Again, sorry for the lack of updates recently.

 

[dstig1]

You can buy siamesed wire that bundles Cat5 and coax, even in multiples if you like. I have used a cable that has 2 of each in it. Makes for one bigger pull vs a couple smaller ones. sometimes they are peel-apart, sometimes they are jacketed. It can save some time, but is more expensive and less flexible. Always some tradeoffs...

And yes we want pictures!!!!:hissyfit: