Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[FairfaxStu]

Ditto- The systems they use around here work the same way. There are actually 3 regulators. One at the tank that drops the pressure to around 10 PSI and one at the outside wall of the house that drops the pressure to 2 PSI. The range does typically include the kit, my dryer did not. I had to order. The installs for both are very easy. I did both at my old house.
Lee

Yep, that is exactly how my system is setup, except for the return line. I don't have one of those. It is a real bummer that your dryer did not include the conversion parts. Seems like the industry standard is to produce stuff for NG and let folks convert it over if running LP to save manufacturing $$. However if you actually have to seek out and purchase the conversion parts, that is just plain stupid.
-Stu

 

[deathtoblackberries]

New construction question, do you need to start treating for pests right away e.g. carpenter ants, termites?

 

[Obed]

Peter,
On the septic tank itself, sooner or later it should be pumped.
A lot of guys putting them in don't care about that. There are concrete riser rings ( very cheap ) that can be put on the clean out cover/covers to bring them up to grade and a concrete lid
that fits on top of the riser. Do that while installing the tank, before backfilling, and it will save a lot of digging later on to get to the tank cleanout.

Put a nice little flower bed border around the top of the tank and put some good soil in for your mom to plant an oasis of flowers. That will also keep you off it with your tractor when mowing.
Ron

Then flower bed is a great idea. I accidentally drove right over my septic tank with my CUT tractor a few months ago. Fortunately it didn't cave in. I really hope I didn't damage the tank.
Obed

 

[Obed]

See page 223 of Obed's build, http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/157965-home-woods-223.html. He had a very good trim carpenter and there are many good pics of how I think the trim should be done. Certainly takes longer to do it right, unless you're going to have to re-do it 2 or 3 times before the owner is satisfied. I think the trim work is the most demanding part of the build because it's not just skill, but also an art. And the trim really makes or breaks the build, IMO. Sorry you're having to go through the "bitching" phase at the end of the build. I have a serious question: If this trim work is standard on the "Custom Ranch", what does the trim look like on the "Standard Ranch"? Semantics, I know, I know.

mkane09

I sure would have liked to have had Pete's framers and electricians on my build. Pete could have benefited from my trim carpenter and sheetrock guys. I shuddered when Pete said the framers were going to do the trim work. Framers aren't known for doing detail stuff. No build is perfect. But I would rather have a house that is structurally sound with some cosmetic defects than a house that looks awesome but falls apart in a few years.

Over all, Pete's mom is getting a very nice house. I love how the back of the house looked with the grass around it. Wow that grass grew fast!
Obed

 

[mjncad]

Word of caution here. I think you will find that your cooktop and perhaps dryer are setup for natural gas so somebody has to convert them. They typically include the new nozzles to do this which is a very good thing. In my case, neither my contractor nor my plumber would touch it, so I called the gas company. Turns out they had dealt with this type of range before and new exactly how to change out all 7 nozzles to convert it over.

Bonus was that they only charged me $45 for the service call and all. I figure they definitely lost money because not only did the tech spend over an hour doing the conversion, he drove here 30 miles each way in god-awful DC traffic in a Ford F550.
-Stu

Oh I'm sure the gas company treats these conversions as a loss leader, and they more than make up for it in the price of gas you buy from them.

No build is perfect. But I would rather have a house that is structurally sound with some cosmetic defects than a house that looks awesome but falls apart in a few years.

Obed

As I say about the clown who built our house, "He's good at putting frosting on the canine Twinkie to make stuff look good; but once the frosting melts you discover you have an expensive turd."

 

[forgeblast]

I like the "step" being stamped as well...me too, It brings it all together.

 

[pacerron]

Peter,
The window in your mom's bedroom looks bowed up at the bottom in the current picture as it did in another recent one from a different perspective.
You might want to check the action of the windows and how hard they are to latch. Also, if the screen is pinched and hard to remove.

Your day 95-14 pic, sitting on the horse by your stereo cutout shows the straight edge tool.:licking: I wonder if you have looked in the dumpster lately for more.

 

[jinman]

I don't recall anyone mentioning it, but I found it very amusing on the stamped patio that the masking was there for the concrete pour and removed for the color stain. What's up with that? The stain is spattered around. I hope it comes off the Hardie siding. On the front entry. the stain overspray is not critical except at the door. Since the front will get a lot of traffic, I wonder if the stain will wear over time? I suspect normal entry into the house will be through the garage, so the front entry will be mainly visitors.

I hope there is lighting or something to accentuate the step up/down from the entrance to the sidewalk. People will be looking at the stonework or flowers in the flowerbed and can easily stumble on that little step, especially since it is stained and stamped the same as the entrance and walkway. I'm thinking of something like theater step lights for nighttime safety. I'm not sure what to use for a daytime attention getter. Maybe a colored LED light that's lit all the time would be a solution. Just a thought. . . .

 

[MacLawn]

Jin, that powder colored stuff comes off easily, but stays in the concrete. Works great.

I'm a believer in per treating for termites, code here. And, I'm glad. Hate them crits! Then have a contract for unwanted crits like termites, etc. that's what I do. Nary problems.

 

[pacerron]

I don't recall anyone mentioning it, but I found it very amusing on the stamped patio that the masking was there for the concrete pour and removed for the color stain. What's up with that? The stain is spattered around. I hope it comes off the Hardie siding. On the front entry. the stain overspray is not critical except at the door. Since the front will get a lot of traffic, I wonder if the stain will wear over time? I suspect normal entry into the house will be through the garage, so the front entry will be mainly visitors.

I hope there is lighting or something to accentuate the step up/down from the entrance to the sidewalk. People will be looking at the stonework or flowers in the flowerbed and can easily stumble on that little step, especially since it is stained and stamped the same as the entrance and walkway. I'm thinking of something like theater step lights for nighttime safety. I'm not sure what to use for a daytime attention getter. Maybe a colored LED light that's lit all the time would be a solution. Just a thought. . . .

Jim,
I was wondering about the staining of the paint on the Hardie too since Peter didn't post a pic of what it looked like after the wash down last night.
Maybe he's waiting till the sealer is applied before the pic.

I hope Mrs. Clausen and her friends are beyond wearing high heeled shoes at her house get together's, unless they all use the garage for entry.

Man I can hardly type. Been trimming the honey locust branches/thorns that always grow down in the spring to hit me in the face when mowing along the tree lines with the big tractor.
I have one of those 12' pole trimmers with a small chainsaw on the end for trimming but I'm always needing to stretch a little beyond the comfortable length and get out of balance.
Time for lunch and a good nap.
Ron