Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[dave1949]

I will play devil's advocate for just a moment. I can understand the builder's frustration with having his work critiqued on an Internet forum. You are admittedly showing us the imperfections to ask for suggestions so the images we see are not a full representation o the work being done. I am not disagreeing that repairs need to be made, but when/if I build I won't be telling the builder what I learned on tbn. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The important part is that Peter and his mom are happy with the work being done. Anything we suggest/critique can be helpful to the degree that Peter allows. I really admire guys like Peter an Obed who put these projects out there for all to see.

That's a fair point of view. The devil in me says maybe social media will run the riff-raff out of the building trades. :devil:

Think about the continuing and ever present shoddy building practices that are commonly encountered by innocent people paying good money for a product. You can't talk to very many people who have had homes built without hearing horror stories.

 

[s219]

On the T&G ceiling sanding. I found that sanding to make the thickness mismatches on butt ends blend-in/even results in the stain not being taken up the same where it was sanded and not sanded. I think it is because sanding removes the mill glaze. It might be less noticeable with a low gloss finish, or not. Maybe someone here knows of a finishing technique that will fix that.

Agree -- either sand it all or don't sand it. As soon as you sand part of it, the stain will penetrate differently there. It will be more noticeable with a darker stain.

 

[s219]

I'd say to reserve the warranty period for defects/problems that become apparent after move-in. Any issues you see now need to get fixed before move-in.

In all fairness, I do think this forum is a bit too nitpicky in some areas. And in other cases, there are aspects of the project (for example trim materials, exterior trim) where we might be expecting too much. I don't know what the $/sq.ft cost of the home is, but I've built homes from $60-200 per sq.ft, and I think there should be different expectations throughout the range. Things should still be done right regardless, but I definitely wouldn't expect to see $200/sq.ft level trimwork in a home costing half as much.

 

[FairfaxStu]

I'd say to reserve the warranty period for defects/problems that become apparent after move-in. Any issues you see now need to get fixed before move-in.

In all fairness, I do think this forum is a bit too nitpicky in some areas. And in other cases, there are aspects of the project (for example trim materials, exterior trim) where we might be expecting too much. I don't know what the $/sq.ft cost of the home is, but I've built homes from $60-200 per sq.ft, and I think there should be different expectations throughout the range. Things should still be done right regardless, but I definitely wouldn't expect to see $200/sq.ft level trimwork in a home costing half as much.

Well said, sir. I agree completely that you can't or should not pay $90/ft2 and expect super high quality. The old adage is you get what you pay for. However, IIRC, Peter is paying $190/ft2 so I think it is somewhat fair that we criticize certain work. If we do not do it now, and "wake the builder up" then the expectations will only go down from here. The kitchen is still to come and that, IMO, is the keystone of any house.
-Stu

 

[955Lincoln]

Here's an idea, take a look at these two pics. This trim is in a 'craftsman' style not much different that what you are doing with two exceptions. The rails (trim) along the top of the doors and windows are thicker than the stiles and overlap the stiles about 3/8 inch on each side. The different thicknesses give it some depth and both the thickness difference and overlapping is a lot more forgiving vs trying to cut things super accurate.

View attachment 314309

View attachment 314310

Excellent concept for this type of trim and many other "finish" applications unless you are doing it yourself and willing to devote extra time. Keep all of those edges apart. :thumbsup:

 

[s219]

Well said, sir. I agree completely that you can't or should not pay $90/ft2 and expect super high quality. The old adage is you get what you pay for. However, IIRC, Peter is paying $190/ft2 so I think it is somewhat fair that we criticize certain work. If we do not do it now, and "wake the builder up" then the expectations will only go down from here. The kitchen is still to come and that, IMO, is the keystone of any house.
-Stu

Hmm, well I don't think the trim work or exterior fascia/soffit are up to par for $190/sq.ft, but there may be other options driving the cost so it's hard to say for sure what the real level of materials/workmanship should be.

I will say that the interior and exterior trim materials/workmanship we've seen here so far is on par with one of my old houses that cost $75/sq.ft. That was a fairly standard house with no real options that would've skewed the square foot cost.

 

[mjncad]

As far as the 12-month warranty. I'd work out a 90-day, 180-day, 270-day, and 365-day punch list schedule.

Around here, most builders offer a 10-year structural warranty, 2-years on mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems, and 1-year on everything else. Of course there are so many loopholes in most of the warranties that it can be argued as to how much they are worth.

 

[ljnelson109]

That's a fair point of view. The devil in me says maybe social media will run the riff-raff out of the building trades. :devil:

Think about the continuing and ever present shoddy building practices that are commonly encountered by innocent people paying good money for a product. You can't talk to very many people who have had homes built without hearing horror stories.

I hear what you are saying, but we still have tract/production home builders around here like NV/Ryan who will ensure that those shoddy tradesman will always have a home. What has happened around here, mostly due to the downturn in the economy, is that many of the clowns have lost their companies due to mismanagement. The thing that I still find disturbing is how much money they lose redoing their work. I can't believe that it is cost effective to have cheap guys do lousy work that has to be redone.

Lee

 

[pclausen]

I agree that it doesn't make sense to redo work that should have been done right the first time. The builder has agreed that the sliding doors with the bow in them will need to come back out and be re-installed properly, which means removing the trim on the outside, and maybe some of the siding as well.

As far as the cost per sq. ft., the builder also felt that it wasn't fair to ignore the full basement with already insulated and studded exterior walls and bathroom rough in, and the finished garage in that calculation. Once you account for those, the cost per sq. ft. drops significantly. Anyway, heading over to the site now to observe how they do the stamped concrete areas. I have never seen that done before.

 

[dave1949]

Sunshine is powerful stuff, whether it is in politics or business. My message to the builder would be "Don't build something you wouldn't feel comfortable being displayed to the public" if he complained about your sharing the build on the internet.

That is generous because it ignores/sidesteps the question of what he would fix without your scrutiny and prodding? Would he collect payment and walk away?

We have some strange attitudes toward residential construction given that a home is often the most expensive product we will ever buy. Poor Peter is (benefiting? ) from the collective experience of many people. And yes, we can nitpick from our armchairs. But suppose that were not the case? Shouldn't Peter or anyone else have an expectation of receiving a quality product when building a home--even if they don't personally know what makes a home a quality product?