Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[architect]

Yes this is just a forum, I have 6 years of Architecture school and 38 years of Architectural experience and am NCARB certified (nationally certified to be qualified to receive licencing in any state) and registered in PA, WV, FL and NC. And I have designed one of the most energy efficient office buildings in the country, but did it in 1981, years before it was required.
Fiberglass insulation does not work unless you restrict air flow with spray foam. The Codes were written with fiberglass in mind as they were there first.
watch out for metal roofing with synthetic underlayment, scorching has been occuring to underlayment, shows that venting under shingles is better bet, 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch air way above roof sheathing better, especially under metal roofing.
SIP panels for roof have no way to vent, ELK/ GAF permit their shingles on this without air space, other manufacturers have not tested, so always want venting. Shingles only 'cook' when they have 180 deg attic below, with SIP or foam spray attic never gets much above exterior temperature.

 

[pacerron]

Pete,
My wife thinks the stone you have in mind for the privacy entrance goes with the driftwood roofing.

I'm always just aware of little things since they can often be significant.
I noticed right away a difference in numbers on the top row of your shingle bundles.
You might want to check to see if this means a different batch number.
The companies are pretty good at matching these days, but there may be a slight color difference that will show
particularly if they are used on the front of the house.
20 years ago the roofer I used on this house when I built it, being my own prime contractor, thought mixing batches would
work if he scattered them around a bit on the front porch roof, which spans the total 50 ft. of the main part of the house.
Didn't work, I made him replace the entire porch roof with the same batch as you could even see the difference from the front gate which is 1/4 mile away. Had it been on the back, full dormer, I would probably have let it go.
Ron

 

[Dr Dave]

What no roof top delivery?

Dave

 

[pclausen]

Fiberglass insulation does not work unless you restrict air flow with spray foam.

So the plan to spray 1/4" layer of foam first, then then do R19 fiberglass in all the external walls should be ok, right? For some reason, the only options available to the builder are just R19 fiberglass, or 1/4" spray on foam, then R19 fiberglass. He plans to blow in loose insulation able the ceiling. I'll get some more details from him regarding that, as I would think it would then to settle at the bottom of the cathedral ceilings in the main rooms. Maybe I misunderstood what he said.

 

[pclausen]

What no roof top delivery?

The boom would not reach that far with those piles of gravel in the way. The ground was way to wet/soft for him to attempt for access the house other than from the driveway.

 

[kevin37b]

Why spend that money on a roof ? It amazes me the people build a house and renT the TV .

 

[kevin37b]

Pete,
My wife thinks the stone you have in mind for the privacy entrance goes with the driftwood roofing.

I'm always just aware of little things since they can often be significant.
I noticed right away a difference in numbers on the top row of your shingle bundles.
You might want to check to see if this means a different batch number.
The companies are pretty good at matching these days, but there may be a slight color difference that will show
particularly if they are used on the front of the house.
20 years ago the roofer I used on this house when I built it, being my own prime contractor, thought mixing batches would
work if he scattered them around a bit on the front porch roof, which spans the total 50 ft. of the main part of the house.
Didn't work, I made him replace the entire porch roof with the same batch as you could even see the difference from the front gate which is 1/4 mile away. Had it been on the back, full dormer, I would probably have let it go.
Ron

You havemore money in the roof than the house .

 

[kevin37b]

Iam really liking this thread . Looks like your builder is good .

 

[architect]

the spray foam needs to be 1 inch, not a building wrap, you really can not spray less than 1 inch at a pass as it expands 100 times or so.
best loose fill insulation in truss space is cellulose, but it will settle a little, if you want 12 inch (you do) should be about 14 inch put in, best way is to spray paint marks 14 inches above bottom chord of trusses as guide.
If you use cellulose you can avoid spraying underside of sheathing, but house would not be sealed completely, could have someone in area run a blower door test once insulation is in, you will be surprised at where it leaks.

 

[SPIKER]

For the insulation, the two views above are argued about regularly.

for most asphalt shingles the manufactures spec (USUALLY) says there has to be an air space below the roof sheeting. Even with fiberglass batting in a 6" rafter for cathedral ceiling they require the air spacers between the roof deck underside and the insulation so air can flow up from the eves to the peak/attic area and out the top vents. This thought is that the SUN when hitting the roof can bake the shingles hot enough to burn away their asphalt base's ability to hold together.

The other thought is keep the underside from heating up by stopping radiant heat from the attic back or by coating the underside with Foam as the SIPs are done using Spray Foam. This DOES keep the attic space much cooler but does nothing to draw the heat away form the underside of the sun baked shingles.

If you were running Metal Roofing then spray foam is much better (or SIPs) than fiberglass and much better when followed up with a Radiant Barrier between the conditioned living space and the attic heated space in Summer and the Cool space in Winter.
Mark