Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[ENG18LT]

The transfer switch is mounted and the meter base relocated to keep them close together

I really don't want to butt in here, but.... you may want to have those boxes mounted to a piece of AZEK or similar maintenance free boards. Maybe even some 2x lumber wrapped with coil stock. Doing this will give a much more finished look and a lot less hassles down the road.

Just something I always did for my customers, take it for what it is worth.

 

[pclausen]

The white soffit vents, flashing, spouting, etc. might look rather nice with your white window frames in the windows. White goes with anything. You would have to have a white garage door and other entrance doors though.
What color has she picked for siding? Is it vertical? Are you going to side the basement wall that has windows under the deck?
Ron

The window and door frame are all tan, which is why I find it odd that the soffits are white. It might just be the lighting. Only noticed it once I posted the pics.

The garage door is tan as well, not white. Siding will be horizontal (not vertical like in the concept pics). Siding is also a biscut/tan color.

 

[pclausen]

I really don't want to butt in here, but.... you may want to have those boxes mounted to a piece of AZEK or similar maintenance free boards. Maybe even some 2x lumber wrapped with coil stock. Doing this will give a much more finished look and a lot less hassles down the road.

Just something I always did for my customers, take it for what it is worth.

Very good point. They will have a very hard time getting hardy plank back behind those boxes. Fortunately nothing is connected to them yet on the backside, so it will be an easy change. Another item to discuss with the builder in the am.

 

[dave1949]

Hope for moderate temperatures when they install the aluminum trim that they form from the coils with the pan brake.
Mine was put on in cold weather and looks fine, but when it gets hot in the summer it expands and there is warbling especially
down at the bottom end. You can't see it from much distance, but I am picky since I didn't install it myself.

I think you will really like the set back effect on the deck posts, especially when you get the railing up on top out at the edge.
The rail posts will not be fighting with the deck support posts, in your minds eye, no matter how they align with each other.

I have some of that too on trim coil that is wrapping door casings and other trim. It may also come (my theory) because the framing lumber inevitably shrinks forever after new construction but the trim coil does not, except from heat and cold. I didn't install mine either, and it really bothers me. :laughing:

 

[pclausen]

I think you will really like the set back effect on the deck posts, especially when you get the railing up on top out at the edge.
The rail posts will not be fighting with the deck support posts, in your minds eye, no matter how they align with each other.

Agreed. Here's mom's current deck, which is very similar.

Here's another shot of mom's old house. The new house is sort of a scaled down version.

And the beautiful garden she created!

So gardening is very high on her list of things with the new house as well. The plan is to create a mini paradise version of what she had at her old place.

We have also made the decision to cut down all the remaining Yellow Pines over the next few weeks (hopefully!). The builder is going to get a couple of boys with chainsaws in to drop the trees, I'll then haul them off to the mill.

 

[pclausen]

Troffer lights are generally used with drop-ceilings commonly found in offices; but they should work fine if you can screw them to the framing in the basement and/or garage. The big advantage to the lights you are looking at is the acrylic diffuser panel protects the bulbs from breakage. Otherwise good old fashioned "shop lights" should suffice.

I looked at them in person today. I'll get the non troffer version that still has the diffuser panel. Thanks for catching that!

 

[pacerron]

Pete,
The light cream color of the window frames does show up when zooming in on your front bedroom pic 64-7.
Looking up at the vinyl facia it is hard to see if any ( T ) shaped drip edge has been installed under the shingle edge?
There should have been a few boxes of it around. Each box has 50 ten foot long pieces. It is normally put all around the roof
edge, even gable ends, to keep the roofing from curling down from the heat and cracking. Normally made of aluminum.
Ron

 

[mjncad]

I believe they also make motion sensing light switches that mount where the normal on-off switch goes. Of course these can always be added later.

Yes they do make those switches and I have them in our laundry galley connecting the house to the garage, a 1/2 bath, a closet, and a small toilet room. They have ON/OFF/AUTO, time, and sensitivity settings. They have limited vertical coverage, which makes them worthless for stairwells. I have Leviton and whatever brand Lowe's sold a few years back. The Leviton's of 10+ years ago have a peculiar habit of activating when an outside door or window is opened as if they were sensitive to air pressure changes; but the literature I was able to find on them at the time only listed infrared as I recall as the item being measured. Also, if the wind blows heavily, they'll come on, which again is another air pressure change that no doubt migrates via the fart-fan duct.

I looked at them in person today. I'll get the non troffer version that still has the diffuser panel. Thanks for catching that!

You're welcome.

Yep, your Mom definitely likes to garden. My place should look half as nice.

 

[pacerron]

Very good point. They will have a very hard time getting hardy plank back behind those boxes. Fortunately nothing is connected to them yet on the backside, so it will be an easy change. Another item to discuss with the builder in the am.

One of the reasons I suggested standoffs a while back. Since you have now selected the siding and know the thickness, putting standoffs behind the boxes not only keeps the conduit parallel, it allows the screws to be withdrawn, the siding put behind and then the boxes screwed back to the house. Boxing behind, and other methods will work, but then there is always caulk and a seam involved where the dissimilar materials meet, as they shrink and expand at different rates.
Ron

 

[pacerron]

Here is the pic that made me question if there was drip edge installed. My mind, and as I recall Eddie Walker's also, had questioned it back when they had cheap felt on the lower part of the roof prior to installing the roofing. On the lower edge, drip edge goes down first, before any felt, so water never has a seam to get under. Then you had no pictures of the cheap felt being replaced by the rubber before the roofing went on and the attention switched to other areas.