jim gerken
New member
We drew a reasonable plan for a ranch with walkout basement, 1500 square feet per level. Due to use of ICF construction having foam exposed even the basement walls must be sheetrocked. Due to new code, the basement ceiling must also be sheetrocked. These plus other factors lead us to basically fully finishing the basement. Bids for this plan came back 50% over our budget. Wife started thinking, this house is for aging in place, so the stairs will eventually be a barrier to access the large storage closet called a basement.basement . She draws a new plan, pulling laundry and a studio room up from the basement to the main, and kicking the basement out completely. We re surveyed the lot and found that pulling the home away from the hillside onto level ground (cause the walkout basement is probably out), and by keeping all the plumbing on the main level, we may be able to use an existing septic system without pumping the waste uphill, saving $8000. Chopping off the basement saves a bunch too, and keeping the ICF walls makes it safe for storms without a basement. Part of the savings is the floor trusses we don't need, so that brings us to a slab floor.
The slab floor forces a few changes. HVAC was the first issue that I saw. Found plenum trusses described, so that looks like a good solution to keep ducts inside conditioned space, and out of the floor. Electrical is pretty easy overhead in the attic, no problem there. Plumbing mostly has to go in the floor, although the plenum truss will help that too somewhat.
Do you have any other good ideas for me, to help remember all the important things before the concrete hardens?
Efficiency wise, we are in good shape. As mentioned, ICF walls. 3 inches of XPS foam under slab. A couple inches of spray foam in the attic to seal eveything, then R50 blown in. Triple pane fiberglass windows and one door. Good quality fiberglass front door. High efficiency LP furnace and a heat pump ac unit. Heat exchanger (HRV) of course.
The slab floor forces a few changes. HVAC was the first issue that I saw. Found plenum trusses described, so that looks like a good solution to keep ducts inside conditioned space, and out of the floor. Electrical is pretty easy overhead in the attic, no problem there. Plumbing mostly has to go in the floor, although the plenum truss will help that too somewhat.
Do you have any other good ideas for me, to help remember all the important things before the concrete hardens?
Efficiency wise, we are in good shape. As mentioned, ICF walls. 3 inches of XPS foam under slab. A couple inches of spray foam in the attic to seal eveything, then R50 blown in. Triple pane fiberglass windows and one door. Good quality fiberglass front door. High efficiency LP furnace and a heat pump ac unit. Heat exchanger (HRV) of course.