Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pclausen]

Day 35

So they didn't quite get the floor done today as the rest of the materials didn't show up until late. But everything should be set to hit the ground running tomorrow.

Here are the building materials:

About all they got completed today was to put down the treated wood for the rest of the floor to go on:

And here's the stairwell down to the basement from the garage.

That was such an awesome idea Ron! Mom likes it, the builder likes it and he didn't see any issues with doing that. The stairs will be all poured concrete with a rail on top of course so nobody falls down in the hole.

Also discussed which HVAC system to go with. The standard build included a bottom of the line Goodman system, so we're stepping up from that to the following American Standard 16 SEER system:

Gold XI Heat Pump 2.5 Ton (same as Train XL15i)
Platinum XV Air Handler (can't get the variable speed in the Gold series)
AccuClean Whole-Home Air Filtration System

 

[murphy1244]

Good deal Pete, I like the stair idea.

 

[sixdogs]

The stairway to the basement from the garage is what the Amish do around here and it is very popular. You can let service people downstairs without having to let them in the house.

 

[SPIKER]

My sisters ranch has stairs in the garage going into the part basement & works well for them.

Mark

 

[pacerron]

Day 35

So they didn't quite get the floor done today as the rest of the materials didn't show up until late. But everything should be set to hit the ground running tomorrow.





About all they got completed today was to put down the treated wood for the rest of the floor to go on:
And here's the stairwell down to the basement from the garage.
That was such an awesome idea Ron! Mom likes it, the builder likes it and he didn't see any issues with doing that. The stairs will be all poured concrete with a rail on top of course so nobody falls down in the hole.
Also discussed which HVAC system to go with. The standard build included a bottom of the line Goodman system, so we're stepping up from that to the following American Standard 16 SEER system:

Gold XI Heat Pump 2.5 Ton (same as Train XL15i)
Platinum XV Air Handler (can't get the variable speed in the Gold series)
AccuClean Whole-Home Air Filtration System

Pete,
Can't tell from your pictures with my old eyes; did they put a thin layer of blue insulation material under the plates before bolting them down tight. It's only 1/4" thick or so but helps keeps bugs and breeze out. I have the old fashioned aluminum formed and pour solid basement concrete walls of 20 years ago. Maybe they don't use it on your preformed panels but I can't imagine a tight seal everywhere between your treated plates and the top of the concrete unless they used a mastic or something?

Is the Accuclean air filter system you purchased like the static charge system that Crane markets?
A washable plastic prefilter and then a metal plate with rows of 2" holes opening to a metal needle below each hole
in grid fashion, then followed by a 6" thick pleated paper filter rack, similar to a car air or turbo filter but much thicker.
There is a DC current going to the needles and an opposite polarity charge on the metal plate with holes and the thick pleated filter.
It has an indicator that supposedly tells you when to clean everything. It is actually just a clock keeping time of how long the air handler fan has run. We run our fan constantly for efficiency purposes.
Tell mom not to throw away all her dust rags if it is the same system. It does catch a lot of dust but also passes a lot on through to the upstairs.
I finally took the non-charged mesh prefilter out and replaced it with an old fashioned fiberglass gauze filter. It works a lot better now, but the variable speed fan on the air handler really cranks some R's on a super cold night so that is probably when the most dust passes thru.
Ron

 

[mkane09]

I like the stairs-in-the-garage idea, especially in this application. Your mom probably won't be down there (ever) and you won't have to worry about her accidentally falling down the stairwell. My father, brother, and I built a small house in 1971 with a drive in basement. The stairs to the living area were in the partial basement side and landed in the laundry room at the back door. They were very much out of the way. The only bad part was that you HAD to climb stairs to get to the living area. I like your arrangement a lot. Great build so far.....

MK160

 

[pacerron]

One last quick thought on your garage stairwell.
Might be a good time to put a short T-riser on the French drain down there before everything is covered up. That way if you ever begin having water problems in the basement you could uncap it and run a camera snake either or both ways around the house perimeter to see if the pipe is clogged with roots, mud, or whatever.
Ron

 

[pclausen]

Pete,
Can't tell from your pictures with my old eyes; did they put a thin layer of blue insulation material under the plates before bolting them down tight. It's only 1/4" thick or so but helps keeps bugs and breeze out. I have the old fashioned aluminum formed and pour solid basement concrete walls of 20 years ago. Maybe they don't use it on your preformed panels but I can't imagine a tight seal everywhere between your treated plates and the top of the concrete unless they used a mastic or something?

They did indeed put down that thin blue insulation material under the plates.

Is the Accuclean air filter system you purchased like the static charge system that Crane markets?
A washable plastic prefilter and then a metal plate with rows of 2" holes opening to a metal needle below each hole
in grid fashion, then followed by a 6" thick pleated paper filter rack, similar to a car air or turbo filter but much thicker.
There is a DC current going to the needles and an opposite polarity charge on the metal plate with holes and the thick pleated filter.
It has an indicator that supposedly tells you when to clean everything. It is actually just a clock keeping time of how long the air handler fan has run. We run our fan constantly for efficiency purposes.

Yes, it's just like that. Here's a link:

Whole Home Air Filtration | Get AccuClean Air Filtration System | American Standard

 

[pacerron]

Yes, it's just like that. Here's a link:
Whole Home Air Filtration | Get AccuClean Air Filtration System | American Standard

That's it!
I originally had one of the genius multiple speed outdoor DC compressor units, that really did sound like a Trane or a Rolls Royce jet engine as it varied it's speed up and down. It lasted 16 years before the shuttle valve froze up. That's 14 years longer than most of that design. The new unit we replaced it with a couple years ago for the main part of the house has 2 single speed compressors and is very quiet. The second compressor only runs when the weather is real extreme, so it is much more efficient than the old one, which was supposed to be the best in the industry at the time, but proved to be a dud. Of course the freon type had changed in the meantime so new piping and a new inside unit was the best way to go. That's when we put in the fancy air cleaner. It was part of their rebate promotion at the time.

Don't answer this question.... do you have security in place at the building site?
Lots of materials being hauled off at night from construction sites anymore.
Ron

 

[mjncad]

I'll add a couple of things to Mojo's comments.

We have motion detector switches in the Master Bedroom walk-in closet, 1/2-bath, and laundry galley that connects the house to the garage. There's nothing like having the light come on automatically when your hands are full, or you have to hit the head at night.

I'd also put illuminated wall switches in the house. When the lights are off, the switch has a soft low level glow that makes it easy to find in the dark. Leviton and others make them.

The cops around here always recommend leaving porch lights on to deter burglars. I have always done that and have our outdoor lights on dusk to dawn using photocells. I use CFL's in the light fixtures.

We have a Honeywell electronic air cleaner system similar to the American Standard one pictured in the links above. The things do work; but if I were to do it over, I'd just use a good quality 3M Filtrete or equivalent disposable filter. The reason I say that is because I wash the cells as Honeywell calls them, and the pre-filters once a month. I have an old dishwasher in the basement for this purpose. It's quicker and easier to replace a disposable filter than washing the crud off the filter cells.