Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pclausen]

Day 61

The recessed can train had already left the station by the time I got over to the house this afternoon.

They are air tight cans, so hopefully these will work fine with retrofit LED bulbs.

They installed the bath fans today (regular Nutone stuff) Both are vented out to the soffits. Guest bath:

Master bath (with heat)

They have pulled 12 15A and 12 20A circuits so far. And they have dropped a 50A circuit for the wall ovens, and a 30A for the master bath heat, so thats 28 of 42 used so far. That leaves 14 positions for everything else. It is going to be tight!

They continued working on the deck today.

No hangers. And I hope those 1x1 are just used during the installation as an aid. I don't see how they could possibly provide any support. Hopefully hangers will be added later and they just didn't have any on the van today.

The only hangers I spotted was where the 45's meet the outer perimeter boards

Only nails used to far as seen here. Eddie, I hear you on using screws. I do that for all my projects. I'll discuss with the builder.

Distance shots

View from where the stamped concrete porch will be in front of the kitchen. After some more select cutting, that pasture should really come into view

Trim coil they will use

And misc assortment of trim boards

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter,

I don't like the way that ledger board attaches to the concrete - not even at all. I do not see any bolts like I would expect to see. Also, the lack of joist hangars boggles me. Just my 2 cents...
-Stu

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter,

I don't like the way that ledger board attaches to the concrete - not even at all. I do not see any bolts like I would expect to see. Also, the lack of joist hangars boggles me. Just my 2 cents...
-Stu

I don't even have a deck (yet) but here is how the attached mine. IIRC, this is a fastening system made by Hilti that includes epoxy in each bolt hole.

 

[pclausen]

Peter,

I don't like the way that ledger board attaches to the concrete - not even at all. I do not see any bolts like I would expect to see. Also, the lack of joist hangars boggles me. Just my 2 cents...
-Stu

Stu, you do realize the 2x12 boards that protude from the top of the basement walls are notched and that a 10" tall section, is resting directly on top of the walls, right? The 2x10 boards attached to the walls of the house are only carrying the weight of the inner edge of the 1st trex board. The notched 2x12s carry all the weigh of the deck, which is different from how my deck (and yours once done) is constructed.

 

[pacerron]

Pete,
You heard Eddie about the screws for the deck floor boards. That's what I used in regular 1 x 6 treated boards but they are still ugly.
Why not use the invisible brackets that go underneath. Cost a little more, but the surface of the deck boards are unscathed. You are probably using the composite deck boards.

How long has the malware block of TBN by Google Chrome today been fixed?
Ron

 

[FairfaxStu]

Stu, you do realize the 2x12 boards that protude from the top of the basement walls are notched and that a 10" tall section, is resting directly on top of the walls, right?

I did not so at least I can breathe again. That is an odd design but it seems sound. I would still get on them about the joist hangers - I thought they were mandated by code in VA, I know they are in my area.

I remember fondly when you setup the soft pool on your deck. We had a ton of fun but it was dangerous as ****. IIRC, it was like 20K lbs or better.
-Stu

 

[srs]

I'm sure the builder is going to install joist hangers, he is doing a real nice job on this house. He's not done with the deck so give him a little time. Pete, I believe the 1 X 1's are temporary and just used to support the 2 X lumber. And I too agree with pacerron about using hidden fasteners, do it once and your'e done and looks sharp.

 

[pacerron]

I'm sure the builder is going to install joist hangers, he is doing a real nice job on this house. He's not done with the deck so give him a little time. Pete, I believe the 1 X 1's are temporary and just used to support the 2 X lumber. And I too agree with pacerron about using hidden fasteners, do it once and your'e done and looks sharp.

Stanley,
It's hard to be sure about anything these days, but they probably will use hangers.
The nails we see so far are just air gun spikes that will rust away. There are heavy coated nails for deck framing that really hold up well.
I'm wondering what kind of foundation pedastals he is going to use under the permanent posts and who is going to dig the holes for the concrete
up where the ground is close to the bottom of the framework with a hand digger. I've got an old one in the barn that has "his and hers" painted on the handles, and she does her share when we plant small ornamentals.
Ron

 

[dstig1]

One more from the things you don't want to hear Dept....

Venting fans into the soffits is very bad, assuming you have a normal vented roof construction (which I seem to recall you do). You are basically venting all that moisture right back into the soffit vents and back into the attic. They should vent through a wall on a rake end, through the roof, or far enough away from the soffit vents on the wall as to not be an issue (if it is a floor below, for example, that is not a problem). Through a soffit or right below vented soffits is the only "wrong" place to put them.

Looks like it's coming along good so far, and I have tried to keep my comments to a minimum on things like this, but I hate to see you set up for a long term problem with moisture in the attic.

 

[ThomasH]

One other thing - make sure they seal the wiring where it penetrates the can light envelope. I have seen can installs where the electrician cut a 2" or so hole in the foam around the can exterior and just left it. Either a shot of spray foam or caulk will work.

As to underside cabinet lighting, don't get too hung up on LEDs. Yes, they are fine but here is a comparison of efficiency for you:


LED CFL F5 Fluorescent Tube

Watts 12.5 13 12
Lumens 800 825 1200
Lumens Per Watt 64 63.5 100
Bulb Cost $45 $4 $4
Expected Lifespan 25,000 8,000 20,000
(Hours)

So the difference between LED and fluorescent really is how the light is from a more concentrated source (flourescent or LED fixture) versus rope (LED only). By the way, LED efficiency is currently significantly limited by the circuit boards that the diodes are mounted to, which waste a fair amount of energy in heat. Either one will be energy efficient and last a fairly long time. Personally I like the florescent fixtures better because you can find cheap and readily available various heat bulbs (daylight, cool white, warm white, other colors) to suit yourself.