House

[Jeff396]

And make sure the box is secured better than a typical box for a light. In our last house in Arizona I went with Hunter original ceiling fans. They are cast iron and they weigh a ton! It was a real chore to install those things especially on the higher ceilings. I always prewire my rooms for ceiling fans and a light. But since I can't stand ceiling lights and will never put them in I run three strand wire. That way I don't have to have that switch on the wall that does nothing and a future owner can add a light by using one of those duel function switches. So many details, it's a wonder we don't forget more. We've had four houses built now and are forgetting less each time we do it./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Jeff

 

[Molerj]

Another thought, In the bathroom use the light/fan/ heater as opposed to the light/
fan. Also spend a little extra on the units. They will be quieter & if you can get the glass
light lense instead of the plastic it will not turn yellow from the heat of the light bulb.

 

[RobS]

You're right up my alley Molerj, I can't stand extra noise in a house. We're doing a lot to isolate sources of noise including higher end fans etc. Also have two closeable doors between the laundry and the rest of the living space. Both furnaces in the basement (some put the upstairs unit in the attic) and 2 X 6 studs for interior "wet" walls to accomodate extra insulation. Of course moving out of the subdivision will help a lot /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Rch]

Think about radon gas. You can fix for radon for about $400 as you build the house that would cost 4 times that to remediate and be less effective. Radon comes from radium content of granite. You may not have granite around Lake Michigan's ancient lake bottom. The way to check is ask a well driller if they go through granite when drilling for water. One thing about radon is you can't measure for it til the house is finished since it depends on the tightness of the house. Around here house sales are predicated on the radon level &/or its mitigation. Radon in well water is also checked. 4 picocuries/liter or below is the standard for air and for water probably below 100 to 30 ( water standard is somewhat controversial)
Radon leaks in through the basement; there are several things to do as the house goes up. 1) through the foundation footings on each side put a 1 1/2-2'' pvc pipe that extends horizontily 3-4' into the stone that is under the slab. On the outside of the footings run the pvc up the basement wall to above grade and put a gooseneck curve on it so the opening is facing down. Somewhere in the center of the house run a 3-4" PVC pipe from the sub slab stone with some short laterals all the way through the roof, also with an upside down gooseneck to keep the water out. Put 6 mil poly over the stone and under the slab, carefully overlapping and taping the seams. 2) Use a small transfer pit (used to corral toliet water and is all sealed up including the perforation for vent,egress and electric cord) instead of a sump pump pit which is usually open to the basement. Vent this to the outside. 3) Use polypropylene fibers in the slab cement to minimize cracks and gaps and cauk the edge of the slab with silicone in several months when it pulls away from the wall at the edges. 4) after you build the house, check the air for radon (get a Purex kit at a hardware store) If too high, activate the stack by putting a squirrel gage fan in the attic the pulls air through the PVC pipes on the outside of the basement walls through the footings through the sub slab rocks up the 3-4" stack to exhaust above the roof. There will be a natural convection since the 3-4" stack, going through the center of the house heats the air. Make sure you have electricity and access to the attic where this 3-4" central stack is. 5) if there is significant radon in the water consider a charcoal filter that hangs on to the radon gas long enough for the ~2.7 day half-life of radon to reduce the radiation. Do it for water taste as the charcoal filter technically become a radioactive waste and is difficult to dispose of. The use of serious bathroom fans while showering significantly reduces aerosolized radon gas as does exhausting laundry and dishwashing vapor.
Radon has been implicated in lung cancer. Real estate-wise it can effect the salebility of a house. City water is pretty safe because aeration liberates the radon and this is usually part of purification process. This is a serious problem where granite is close to the surface. This was discovered in western NJ and eastern PA where a large geological feature called the Reading prong ( after Reading PA) has the appropiate rock. A nuclear plant worker set off the alarms upon his return to work on a Mon. AM and his house had some astronomical reading of 30,000 that was equivalent to smoking 8-10 packs of cigarettes a day!

RCH<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Rch on 12/11/01 05:40 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[mikim]

I'm looking for a real mechanical doorbell - the old type that has a handle on the outside with a rod through the door and hammers in the bell on the inside of the door. - don't care if it's new - it'll sure work without worryin' 'bout wires or such - and will fit into the decor of the house as well. (still in concept planning stages)

 

[RobS]

Since I've had so little tractor time lately I thought I'd show off what I have been working on. This is a scale model of the house we'll be building this summer. Model is finished just in time as we hope to have a full size hole in the ground next week.

This was a lot of fun. I glued copies of the prints to foam-board and cut, glued and pinned from there. I'm sure the architects who do this for a living have a better way to cut the stuff, but I made some simple holders for razor blades at various angles. I even put in the interior walls, mostly for us to visualize the spaces we'll be living in soon.

Hopefully by this time next week I can post some more interesting pictures of the project /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Wow... Robbie... that's great... /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

You can do dollhouse's on the side and make big bucks!

Really a beautiful job...!

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Wow, Rob! That really looks neat! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

SHF

 

[RobS]

Thanks John. I'll accept the compliment but at the same time I'm counting on better craftsmanship from the crews on the real thing than what I put into the model.

Our builder was impressed too /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, that looks great!

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

RobS

As long as everybody else is jumping in with last minute suggestions, here's a couple of mine.

1. For your phone/video lines "leviton" makes a "structured media" panel that basically is an empty breaker box that you bolt different componets into for connecting phones and TV/stereo, alarm, etc. The boxes and components are available at Home Depot. I used 2 boxes, one for stereo/video and one for phone. That way an electrical surge is less likely to bridge from TV to phone/computer lines.

2. This one is on my "if I ever do it again" list. Wire every over head light with a 3 wire lead. That way if you ever decide you want a ceiling fan at that location, you can have a single wall switch that will control both functions independently. Besides, who knows what cool stuff will come out next year that will need the extra wire?

SHF

 

[RobS]

SHF, thanks for the tips. I saw something similar the other day and will be checking out all the options for phone/network/alarm/cable etc. That is one of the things we intend to handle ourselves /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[cedarranch]

Is it just my poor eyesight or are your porch posts leaning? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
Nice job!

 

[Mike_Dumond]

Love that porch. When do I move in?????/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

RobS

Leviton's website also has downloadable books on phone wiring (home and commercial) and the various standards (CAT4, CAT6, etc). It will tell you how to treat the wire for the type of installation you want, as well as which wire, etc you will need. The info is free and comes in Adobe format so it prints beautifully. Even if you go with another manufacturer's boxes and plugs, the info is nice to have. If you want the link, I've got it around here somewhere.

SHF

 

[DocHeb]

Try <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.levitonvoicedata.com>Leviton Voice and Data</A>. Leviton products for voice and data are carried by Home Depots in Southeast Michigan.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

That's the place! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif I must've printed 60 or so pages from there. Came in real handy, even when I had to hook my 4 pair wires up to the phone company's 2 pair box. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

SHF

 

[paccorti]

Rob,

You have a great looking house, I went the Victorian route myself (with a bit of farmhouse thrown in). I'd also suggest that you run multiple (at least 2 coax RJ6 to each TV location). If you are on satellite for tv, the coax will only carry 1 signal from the sat to your tv. If you want Tivo (or any capability to watch one thing and record something else simultaneously) then you'll need multiple coax. I'm also under the impression that HDTV uses two coax? Anyone know for sure?

Also for phone wiring, I had every jack run individually to the basement. There I bought two 24 port patch panels (with 110 punch downs). 1 patch panel handles phone line 1 the other handles phone line 2. With RJ45 connectors on the Cat5 wires I can now switch any phone jack from phone line 1 to phone line 2. With a little more work, I'll be able to have each RJ45 outlet be either: phone line 1, phone line 2 or ethernet (I have a 5 port 100mbit switch). In my personal opinion some of those modular wiring panels (for the basement) are over priced for what you get. I spent probably only $120 on my two patch panels and I have WAY more capacity than any of the modular units that I saw. All my coax run directly to the dish. Let me know if you need more detail.

Peter

 

[RobS]

Peter, SHF, DH, thanks. Looks like some very useful information that I will definitely be tapping into.

Isn't this board great /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MDNY]

Rob, Nice house, nice model. We are getting ready too, if our builder will just get us our upgrade pricing so we can finalize. Fortunately for me work in IT Sales so alot of the wiring stuff I can get the material for alot cheaper cost than my builder and if I have to get some of our techs at work to help me out on the weekend. My builder uses CAT5 for the phone, but doesn' t have a clue that you can split the pairs and use the others for the data side (a selling feature he doesn't understand).

I wanted to look at poured walls vs block, but can't find any buiders in my area (that are realisticly priced) that do it, and I know that the cellulose insullation is better, but again no one really is doing it around here. The scary part that tells me I should run is my builder actually said that they don't use it because it is flamable, hmmm, that is odd, then why would it be so widely used.

We are hoping for an early April ground breaking, but with no numbers in sight, weeks over due and no calls answered (I hear a new builder coming soon) I wonder if we will ever get it started.

I will put up pictures of ours as we get the final draft of plans next week.