New House Build in WV

[TnWV]

Hello All,

I have been planning a house build for a number of years and it is finally underway. We got a late start due to COVID-19, but the poured wall foundation was poured in late June. I am building the house myself, subbing out the pieces that I cannot/don't want to do. So far it has been mostly myself, my wife, my father in law, and one good friend who helps out when he is not traveling for work, so progress can be slow at times. I have been trying to get this thread started for a while, but work has been continuous until well after dark most days.

So far we have managed to get the basement water proofed, drain lines in, most of the gravel backfill done, concrete floor poured in the basement and we are now working on framing walls. Still have a few interior walls and a couple of garage walls to frame. Not all interior doors are completely framed in yet either. We have found it much easier to lift walls by ourselves if the headers are not put in until after the wall is in place. Trusses are do onsite in about 1.5-2 weeks, so hope to be ready for them as soon as they arrive. I will have some hired help to set the trusses and will also hire a crane to lift them in place. Currently talking to a contractor about getting them to sheath and shingle the roof, as those two tasks would take me forever to complete, so hoping that works out.

The house is one story over a full basement with attached garage. Front and rear porches will span the full length of the house, with the front being concrete and the back being treated frame with composite decking. We put PEX in the basement concrete floor for radiant heat.

Main floor is about 2200 square feet. Looked small on paper, but it definitely is not small now that it is going up! At this point, the only portions hired out have been the excavation, the poured walls, and the basement concrete floor.

House build threads are my favorite and I have followed everyone posted on this site for the last 10 years or more. I have to say I have learned a ton from those that have been willing to share their experiences and following those threads is not doubt helping along the way on this build.

I purchased a set of forks for my tractor prior to starting and they have been a life saver to move material around, especially the 34" I-joists and 3/4 subfloor sheathing. Its has been nice to be able to scoop up a load of studs and place them on the sub floor, keeps us from wearing out just getting lumber to where we need it.

A bad storm moved through on Tuesday evening causing a lot of damage around my property, including putting a 6" tree limb through the roof, and bedroom wall of the mobile home we are currently living in, on site. Dropped lots of trees, tore roofing panels off my big building and took down a large portion of my goat fence with another huge tree. Repairs and cleanup have caused no build progress for the last couple of days, but will be back to building walls tomorrow evening and over the weekend. Once walls are done, the next major step is getting the back porch framed. I hope to get the posts marked and dug this weekend, but looks like Saturday may be a washout, weather wise. If so, we will take that time to go get our windows and doors ordered.

I will add some progress pictures and try to put the blueprints up so you all can see what we will end up with. For some reason, the TBN website is not allowing me to add pictures through the manage attachments function, so I will have to work on that later. Below are the only two pictures that I can get to upload at the moment, maybe I will have better luck from the tapatalk app then my computer.

 

[TnWV]

Here’s a picture of the forms up, right after the pour.



Some shots of the framing. We are much further along, just haven’t taken updated pictures. I’ll try to get some tonight.

 

[mred2]

Looks good, keep us posted. I also have poured walls in my basement. I did my house about 15 years ago. My worst problem after build was the pour on the front porch. They did not back the fill under the porch. It cracked after 4 years and dropped about 4 inches. I had to cut it out and do over. This time, packed the fill and poured with steel and thicker. I also wish that I had dropped my back deck about 2 inches more and left more slope for the water to run off. The cracks between the boards filled with dirt, leaves and trash and water stood on it and ran into the basement. Never overlook waterproofing every thing. If water can get into a basement, it will.

 

[ovrszd]

Thanks for starting this thread Tony. Looking forward to following your progress!!!!

 

[TnWV]

Thanks for starting this thread Tony. Looking forward to following your progress!!!!

It’s going to be fun watching it all come together. Progress is likely to be slow, but we will get there one step at a time!

 

[TnWV]

Looks good, keep us posted. I also have poured walls in my basement. I did my house about 15 years ago. My worst problem after build was the pour on the front porch. They did not back the fill under the porch. It cracked after 4 years and dropped about 4 inches. I had to cut it out and do over. This time, packed the fill and poured with steel and thicker. I also wish that I had dropped my back deck about 2 inches more and left more slope for the water to run off. The cracks between the boards filled with dirt, leaves and trash and water stood on it and ran into the basement. Never overlook waterproofing every thing. If water can get into a basement, it will.

How did they pour your porch? It would cost thousands in rock to fill mine. I put 1/4 inch angle along the front and planned to get metal panels designed to pour concrete on to span the porch. The panels are a fraction of the cost of rock fill. This is common around here and I have not heard of problems, hoping it’s not a risky option.

The biggest mistake I’ve made is not running the basement all the way under the front porch. I simply did not anticipate the hole being so large, or it would have been a no brainer to gain that space for very little extra cost, not that we need the space.

Speaking of rock fill and drains, I have already used 125 tios of river rock in my drains. At $800 per 25 ton load, gravel is costing me a fortune. I have also used 50 tons of 57 so far. I’m expecting to be at 300 tons of gravel before I’m done......

 

[TnWV]

Here is a few shots of the drainage work.

 

[Code54]

Looks good! That was as heck of a storm the other night. Im over in Hurricane and while we didn't lose any complete trees this time, it certainly "trimmed" a few!

Looks forward to reading your thread neighbor!

 

[TnWV]

Looks good! That was as heck of a storm the other night. Im over in Hurricane and while we didn't lose any complete trees this time, it certainly "trimmed" a few!

Looks forward to reading your thread neighbor!

Yeah, your not far away at all, we spend a lot of time in Teays Valley and Hurricane.

It was a heck of a storm, , that’s for sure. Worst we have seen since the derecho in 2012. Lots of damage in a 4-5 mile stretch over here. One tree landed on my current home putting a 6” hole through the wall into our master bedroom and another through the roof. Also pealed 3 sheets of metal off my biggest building, and dropped many other trees in our hay fields. The repairs and cleanup has slowed the build this week.

We were fortunate no one, or any of our animals, were hurt. If the tree went 2 feet to the right, our house would have had major damage.




Got out of work a little late and it rained once I was home. Still managed to build and stand up 2 more interior walls before dark, so not a total loss.

 

[EddieWalker]

Really impressed with your foundation and framing. I'm curious why you didn't run your sheathing all the way down to your rim joists?

 

[TnWV]

Really impressed with your foundation and framing. I'm curious why you didn't run your sheathing all the way down to your rim joists?

I went back and forth on wether to run it all the way down or not. The reason I didn’t is due to lack of help standing walls. 2x6 9’ and sheathed makes for an extremely heavy wall. We struggled as is, and adding in 12+ inches of overhanging sheathing may have made it impossible for us to handle with limited help. I talked with several local builders and they all do it the way I did. I’m also making sure that all walls are nailed into the joists, not just the subfloor. May even go back and add some structural screws for added strength.

 

[747driver]

Nice thread you have started here with the new house build ! How has the lumber prices and availability affected you ? I usually build my walls like you have done when building on wood floor system. I do let my sheathing hang down 2" so it covers the seam where the plywood floor meets the floor joist. I caulk that seam before so it makes a good air/water seal. Yes...those 2x6 x 9' walls get heavy with sheathing attached. Enjoy watching your progress !

 

[TnWV]

Lumber prices jumped way up. Fortunate, I got all lumber to the top of the walls before the jump. I took a big hit on the trusses, roof sheathing and treated wood for the back porch framing, though, about a $6-7k extra hit for those.

 

[mred2]

Here, we back fill a lot with sand. My porch was back filled with sand. The problem was no steel or wire in the porch pour. Added to the fact that the outside edge sat on the top of the outside front of the porch. They did not tie the back of the porch into the wall of the house. Only thing holding it up was the sand. When the new guy redid it, he drilled holes into the wall and put runs of rebar going from house wall to front. Does not rely on sand after it is dry.

 

[Code54]

Yeah, your not far away at all, we spend a lot of time in Teays Valley and Hurricane.

It was a heck of a storm, , that’s for sure. Worst we have seen since the derecho in 2012. Lots of damage in a 4-5 mile stretch over here. One tree landed on my current home putting a 6” hole through the wall into our master bedroom and another through the roof. Also pealed 3 sheets of metal off my biggest building, and dropped many other trees in our hay fields. The repairs and cleanup has slowed the build this week.

We were fortunate no one, or any of our animals, were hurt. If the tree went 2 feet to the right, our house would have had major damage.

View attachment 667694View attachment 667693View attachment 667692


Got out of work a little late and it rained once I was home. Still managed to build and stand up 2 more interior walls before dark, so not a total loss.

Hate hearing you had damage, that is something you don't need. Back in 12 the Derecho tore our place all up and did a ton of damage. I swear it took me weeks to clean everything up then another month repairing the garage where a tree landed on it. Hope to never do that again.

Hopefully the rain wont be too bad this weekend and not cause you any problems. Good luck on your build and stay safe working up there.

 

[TnWV]

Had a little storm come through right as I got started working on a wall this evening, that seems to be the way it’s going this week. Looks like tomorrow will be a washout with about 2” of rain predicted.

Probably be Sunday before any real progress happens. I may take Monday, and possibly Tuesday, off work so I can try to make up for what I’ve missed getting done this week.

Below are a couple pictures showing what we will end up with.

 

[Code54]

Going to be a really nice house when you get done!

 

[EddieWalker]

I went back and forth on wether to run it all the way down or not. The reason I didn’t is due to lack of help standing walls. 2x6 9’ and sheathed makes for an extremely heavy wall. We struggled as is, and adding in 12+ inches of overhanging sheathing may have made it impossible for us to handle with limited help. I talked with several local builders and they all do it the way I did. I’m also making sure that all walls are nailed into the joists, not just the subfloor. May even go back and add some structural screws for added strength.

With the quality of framing, I'm sure you should be fine with your structure. It's disappointing that local builders told you to do it that way. There is a significant benefit to tying your sheathing into your rim joists. Especially with taller walls and extreme weather. One of nice things about Zip Panels is that you can get them in lengths up to 12 feet long, which makes a huge difference with taller walls and never having any cracking in your corners when the house is done. People call this settling, or foundation issues, but it's almost always a framing issue.

On lifting heavy walls, I never put the sheathing on when framing. For me, it's faster and easier to do it after the walls are up. I also like to do my walls in 12 foot lengths and if they are 2x6 walls, or really tall walls, I'll only do a few studs to get it up, and then add the studs and headers afterwords. I've done walls 12 tall by myself like this.

 

[EddieWalker]

Had a little storm come through right as I got started working on a wall this evening, that seems to be the way it’s going this week. Looks like tomorrow will be a washout with about 2” of rain predicted.

Probably be Sunday before any real progress happens. I may take Monday, and possibly Tuesday, off work so I can try to make up for what I’ve missed getting done this week.

Below are a couple pictures showing what we will end up with.

View attachment 667813
View attachment 667812

Looks like it's going to be a nice house.

I would get rid of the attic vent. They cause more issues then they accomplish. For maximum venting, you want as much air as possible to come in at the soffits, and you want that air to travel the full length of the roof to the ridge. A ridge vent is by far the very best way to achieve the most air flow as possible. Venting has nothing to do with heat. An attic is supposed to be hot. The heat causes the air to rise, and this movement of air is what dries out the the attic and keeps moisture from developing in the attic and under your roof sheathing. If you did not have this air flow, condensation would develop every morning and just sit there, causing mold and then rot.

The attic vent siphons off the air and lessons the amount of flow that reaches the ridge. It's better then those metal turbines, but it's not as good as a ridge vent. Having both makes both less effective.

 

[TnWV]

Thanks for the attic vent advice. I have already told the roofer to plan for a full length ridge vent. The architect put the vents there. I like the fact they kind of break up the wall, but will look at alternative ways to do that.