House II

[RobS]

Re: House II, Side Doors

Hey, welcome Hank. If we drilled a well that deep around here we may hit oil or natural gas /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

One of the things I am enjoying most about this thread is to learn how houses are built in other parts of the country. Thanks for your input /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[miki]

Re: House II, Side Doors

Hi all,

Great post. We broke ground three weeks ago. We are building a bungalow (3284 sq feet). We hit bedrock three feet down. We ended up with a footing that is stepped and has different levels. Then they poured a 30 inch foundation to bring everything back to level. Finally they instaled the actual forms for the foundation and poured on Monday. I had the foundation walls extended to 8 feet 10 inches in case I want to finish the basement. Foundation is sticking about 7 feet out of the ground . . . it will take a whole lot of fill. Of course my builder warned me that all of this is extra. Further inside the foundation for the floor it took 20 loads of stone to bring everything back to level. We are only three weeks into the project and well over 10000$ in extra's. Not very encouraging. My well is almost finished being drilled. They are down 450 feet in bedrock. They did some hydra (or hydro) fracturing today as the gpm was too low. My well driller now says I have an excellant volume and will confirm the gpm tomorrow.

I will keep you al updated as my project progresses. By the way these posts have been extremely helpful, especially the thread about wiring for audio, video, etc.

miki

 

[MDNY]

Re: House II, Side Doors

RobS,

Sorry about that, it was 250FT down. They hit the shale at 40FT and with that we are in good spot with only 40FT or so of casing. Based on the builder we are on target (maybe a little under) our budget once you add a tank and pumps etc. But we have 4 Gpm which isn't bad, but then again it has been real dry this summer with not much snow so I figure our rates will go up, maybe.

Oh well out to the site tomorrow to see what new stuff they got done.

 

[Hank]

Re: House II, Side Doors

Thanks, Brad

Apparently, in the Wickenburg area, 450+ ft is the expected norm. It is a good water table at that depth, and ours came in at 25 gpm, but that is also a three-way share.

We are still in MD, putting our house here on the market next week, and preparing the move to AZ.

Rob (and Michael), not many Victorians out in AZ, though I am a big fan of that style. As a custom millworker for much of my adult life, I have made most of the typical stuff associated with Victorians, usually replacement items for historical-preservation houses in the Washington DC area, but also for some new construction.

Attached (hopefully) is a pic of an AZ neighbor's house; ours will be a similar style and size (2300 sq ft). As our construction begins, pics will follow. Can't wait to join y'all in enjoying the new home, but things move on a different schedule out there since they can build year-round, and prefer not to do so in the summer months.

If this pic makes it, you can see I won't be needing the MMM or RFM attachments /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[s1120]

Re: House II, Side Doors

Some of you guys seem to be in the same boat as me. I had a well on the land, they just needed to spiffy it up a bit. It flows about 4 or so GPM. The good thing is it recovers fast, about 3 GPM. The well driller says not to wast money on a new well, this one will work fine. Maby a chance in ten years or so of going bad, but we can just dig one then. Only thing he said was I will not be able to do any pool filling, OK, I can live with that.

 

[RobS]

Re: House II, Side Doors

<font color=blue>you can see I won't be needing the MMM or RFM attachments </font color=blue>

I bet a rock rake would come in handy though!

Hank, what do you know about MDF millwork for the interior. We're going with mostly painted trim and got some pretty incredible prices on the MDF over finger jointed poplar. Seems like neat stuff /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[BKColeman]

Re: House II, Side Doors

<font color=blue>what do you know about MDF millwork for the interior</font color=blue>

I personally don't know anything about it, but my wife is hooked on Changing Rooms on BBC America so we watch it all the time. They make everything you can imagine out of MDF (I assume because of price) and it usually looks incredible once it is painted.

 

[GSS]

mdf?

What is mdf? I am restoring an 1877 farmhouse in PA and, while it's not as gingerbready as some Victorians, there is a lot of nice woodwork and room for more.

I'll post pics once the siding is on (and I have a tractor related story to squeeze it into)... Some pics are on my site in my profile if any of yinz are bored.

- Gerald

 

[BKColeman]

Re: mdf?

<font color=blue>What is mdf? </font color=blue>

I believe it stands for multi-density fiberboard.

It is a compressed type of wood that is very uniform throughout so it is very easy to work with. It comes in sheets at Lowe's and is incredibly smooth. But it makes tons of sawdust.

Maybe some of the woodworkers here can give a better description.

 

[Hank]

Re: House II, Side Doors

To be quite honest, I have not kept up with the stock millwork market since I left the custom trade in 1995. They are obviously doing more wonders with manufactured products. Searching for "mdf moldings" just now returned tons of sites.

I would not want finger-jointed *anything* if the joints are in the surface, because over time they always show. From what you said, however, it sounds like the joints are hidden by the MDF.

The builder we are using in AZ uses no traditional inside moldings, no baseboard, no window or door casing, so we have not had reason to shop that market. It is a very different look.

 

[GSS]

Re: mdf?

Would Georgia-Pacific's PrimeTrim qualify as mdf? They have interior and exterior varieties...

 

[RobS]

Re: mdf?

I thought it was Medium Density Fiberboard? It's basically sawdust and glue. Very stable and the trim samples we have are very light perhaps due to a different glue. It appears the trim is extruded though it could have been machined just like wood.

My hero Norm uses the sheet stock for jigs and fixtures due to it's stability. It's also available with a paper facing and is used for highway signs. I suspect the glue is different for that application and may even be a phenolic resin that's cured under heat and pressure. I've seen some sheets of the stuff that are incredibly heavy /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[BKColeman]

Re: mdf?

I believe you are right. The M does stand for medium. I stand corrected. I think multi-density is some type of particle board. MDF is very consistent throughout.

 

[miki]

Re: mdf?

I looked at roof shingles last night. The salesperson was trying to sell me singles made out of fiberglass vs. asphalt.

Anyone familiar with these

 

[RobS]

Re: mdf?

Not sure about shingles made entirely out of fiberglass but most current asphalt shingles have some fiberglass in them for strength etc. I think ours are called fiberglass but there is still plenty of good old asphalt in them /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[miki]

Re: mdf?

thanks I think you are right. It seems to be a mix of both. I know not too many roofers have installed these here in Canada because of the cold weather. They have only been available for 4 years.

 

[RobS]

Re: House II, Front Door

Been a flurry of activity at the ole homesite the last few days. Siding, drywall and some of my own little additions. The biggie for us was the installation of the front door /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Here's a shot from the outside which also shows some more of the siding and the porch. This weekend we get the fun-filled task of back-priming the porch ceiling panels and installing them. The installation isn't so bad (since it will involve power tools) but I'm hoping for lots of wifely support on the painting part /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

The siders are keeping all the work down low in anticipation of the lift rental. It's now postponed 'til next week and I'll explain all that sometime later /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[RobS]

Re: House II, Front Door

Here's the front door from the inside which also shows the drywall. I know, nothing too exciting about drywall unless it's your own and it's just been hung /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[MDNY]

Re: House II, Front Door

RobS,

I am very impressed. And your are correct sir. It is real exciting when it's your sheetrock and its going up, up, up.

Here is our front with the footers and framing done for the front porch. Also the temporary stairs are in (4FT wide) so now the wifey can go upstairs (doesn't do ladders). Sounds like we all will be having parties over the next few months or so.

Michael

 

[MDNY]

Re: House II, Front Door

Here's my temp 4FT stairs too.