New House (your input wanted)

[pharmvet]

Starting the planning process of a new house. Hope to get a good pad built and a pasture road this fall. Would like to start the house sometime next year. What Im looking for is advice from those of you who have built homes as well as advice from some of you builders (electricians, framers, plumbers, concrete guys, roofers, etc), contractors, architechs, planners etc. Not really looking for "floor plans", styles, trends, etc, but rather: Im looking for hard and fast definate "Do's and Dont's" In other words:

Make sure you use "X" sized water line
Make sure you use "X" sized re-bar spaced "X" distance apart in the concrete
Make sure you use "X" wire and "X" circuits and "x" breaker size
Make sure you put your HVAC unit "X"

Example - we once had a deer cabin located on the east side of a lake facing west. In the evening you could not sit on the porch because it was too hot and the setting suns glare off the lake was unbearable.


Example -- Once lived in a house whose master bedroom was on the west end with no shade. That was the hottest room in the house. During the summer, we had to turn the AC up so much for us to sleep that the rest of the house was riduculously cold.

These are the types little subtlties I want to avoid if possible. Things you might not realize until you experience them.

Any detail that you feel very strongly about, I want to hear it.
Im really into the details and I feel that "FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION"

 

[Willl]

and a pasture road this fall.

What's a "pasture road" ?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

2x the amount you estimate it will cost.

 

[alchemysa]

Whats your personal involvement in the project? Are you basically just supervising or are you going to be working on the site full time or part time?

Are you building from your own plan or is it a stock design?

Are you paying tradesmen by the hour?

 

[tanglefoot]

We also live in northeast Texas, and I built the house we live in, as well as the house we lived in before we moved to this location. We've lived at this location 15 years. I'd give a lot of thought to the foundation, if I were you. We have a heavy clay subsoil that shifts and settles because of the variation in the moisture level through the year. If I had it to do over, I would have pier holes drilled and poured with concrete to support the slab. I didn't do that, but I did have heavy beams poured in the slab, and the 3/8" rebar is on 12" centers. The slab cracks, but does not separate. Locating the AC compressor will probably be determined by the floor plan.
Good luck,
Butch

 

[pharmvet]

What's a "pasture road" ? - Just the road across the field from the hi-way to our house location.

Are you building from your own plan or is it a stock design? -- probably own design



Because of my job demands, I will not be able to do any of the work. I will probably use the same person that has already built one of the buildings in our business. He let us have a heavy hand in choosing some of the sub contractors (gave us advice and suggestions but ultimately left the decision up to us). During construction of our first building (another contractor) one of the subs made a comment that really stuck with me. He said; "you dont get what you expect, you get what you inspect". Boy was he correct. Anyway, I will be able to drop by the job site most days. I just want to try to avoid as many of the common pitfalls as I can. I have already learned some lessons the hard way. I was hoping to learn many here the easy way. LOL. thanks

 

[alchemysa]

The biggest money saving suggestion I have is to try and have your own 'laborer' on site throughout the build whenever tradesman are on the job. Its a lot cheaper to pay a laborer to run around doing all the menial stuff rather than paying a tradesman his full hourly rate for carrying stuff, hammering nails, digging holes, cleaning up etc. A tradesman will get a lot more done if he can just concentrate on the specialty stuff. And most tradesman will appreciate unskilled help. And don't always believe a tradesman when he says he will bring his own helper, because often it wont happen. So try and find a 'good quality' local, flexible, unemployed or retired person who wants to earn some cash. A good person can also serve as your ears and eyes on the job.

Other things...
-Double glazing, at least in the main living areas.
-Lots of double power points, including in the hallways.
-Try and keep the plumbing from the water heater to the taps as short as possible especially the kitchen tap.
-Beware of architects- they want to build monuments to themselves.
-Windows are great but you need wallspace too.
-Think about the maintenance afterwards. How hard will it be to reach high spots.
-Windows that go to ground level can be a big mistake in some areas (like front bedrooms). And know exactly where beds are going to go so that power points and window opening directions can be properly considered.
- Don't put a split system AC where it will blow on you.
- Consider getting forks for your tractor if you haven't already got them. They come in very handy around a building site.

And arrange house insurance before the foundation goes down. Most insurers will insist on this.

 

[mjarrels]

Wheel chair access... I'm screwed in this new house if I ever need one. I'm 3 stories.

mark

 

[CharlieR]

Ever thought about building a modular house (not mobile home)?
It's made in sections in a factory out of the weather with supervised labor and regular inspections (especially for energy efficiency certifications).
Then all you need to do is have a builder handy to do the on site finish work.
If you do that, visit the factory and meet the people - know what you are buying.

Ditto on the wheel chair access.
My wife broke her leg a few years back and we suddenly realized how unfriendly our 1850's house could be.
This can simply mean 36" wide doorways and ample room to move within rooms.

Good luck and have fun with the project.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Knowing what I know now I would NOT build a new home without a ramp being in the design BEFORE the foundation was dug.:thumbsup:

If you are younger this can be hard to get your mind around.

 

[EarPlug]

Build the house "around" the HVAC System. Most ductwork systems are terribly inefficient because they are forced to use the leftover space in the walls and ceiling. Plan for proper duct placement and sizing and you can get more efficient and better balanced system.

 

[Baldyonthehill]

Do not hire someone based on your friendship with them unless you have ample positive referals for them. You will lose money and their friendship. My framer was a friend but I had to fire him when he went $23K over his contracted price.

I don't know what your sales tax rate is, but you can save a bunch of tax money as well as find the best deals by purchasing from the internet.

We designed and built our house ourselves except for the sheet rocking, framing and granite counters. Shoot for the moon and adjust down as money dictates. Get your wife involved with everything and listen to her. Mine couldn't tell me what she didn't like for about a plan I drew up so I made her sit beside me and we drew up a plan together. It was probably modified 100 times in various ways but all with her approval.

Now is the time for researching everything. You won't believe how quickly styles change (tile, vinyl, lighting fixtures) and need to be flexible.

My wife is my best friend and a better assistant than I ever imagined (pays to marry the farmer's daughter). We never had an argument throughout our building process. She loves our house as much as I do. If there was something she liked thatI hated or vice versa, we simply dropped and went to a mutually agreeable choice. After living in the ouse for a couple of years now, we are both very pleased with our "compromises". Much better than hearing, "He/she wanted that awful &^$&^$&$!"

Good luck.

 

[Richard]

Wheel chair access... I'm screwed in this new house if I ever need one. I'm 3 stories.

Good point (we have a niece who's in a wheelchair). Make all your doorways 36" wide (or what ever width they need to be to accomodate a wheelchair)

We have several doors that are 36" wide, several french doors. I even put a 3-way switch on the basement bathroom (full bath) so if our niece ever needed to go in there, she would have access on the OUTSIDE of the bathroom to turn the light on prior to entering it. This room has french doors on the bathroom so when the door opens up it would otherwise make it difficult for her to reach.

If you debate on making a home entertainment room with a theater in it... then consider making it some dimensions that would work good for sound (non-parallel walls), perhaps a "room in a room", maybe put a bathroom or utility room between this sound room and the rest of your house to act as a natural buffer.

 

[scesnick]

Sounds like you have been given some very good advice. Especially the ramp / wheelchair access. If you aren't going to spend the rest of your life in this particular house I guess it wouldn't matter much. We built a log home a few years back and we plan on dying in this house so even though it is actually three floors with the finished basement, we well be able to live solely on the main floor when we get old. We put a laundry room, bathroom and masterbedroom on the main floor.

Also, I would suggest a full basement ( if your region allows it) it is cheap square footage and you can use it for just about anything...

 

[Chuck52]

Having lived in two houses with foundation "issues", if I was building one I'd research how to get as close to bomb-proof as I could on the foundation. The folks who drove piers to stabilize the foundation of my present house also drive the piers in new construction. That sounds good to me, though I don't know how much it costs.

Chuck

 

[Richard]

I even put a 3-way switch on the basement bathroom (full bath) so if our niece ever needed to go in there, she would have access on the OUTSIDE of the bathroom to turn the light on prior to entering it. This room has french doors on the bathroom so when the door opens up it would otherwise make it difficult for her to reach.

To clarify that, I have a 3-way switch on the inside of the bathroom and on the wall outside of the bathroom, basically, back to back with the bathrooms switch, is another 3-way switch. Both control the bathroom light so yes... in a playful time, someone can turn the lights off on you from outside the bathroom :confused2:

To get around that, I also have some lights by the mirror, light in the shower (with clear door) and lights over the washer/dryer (in a closet) Ultimately, if someone pranks you and shuts the main light out, you can still have some independent lights in there

 

[Bird]

Having lived in two houses with foundation "issues", if I was building one I'd research how to get as close to bomb-proof as I could on the foundation. The folks who drove piers to stabilize the foundation of my present house also drive the piers in new construction. That sounds good to me, though I don't know how much it costs.

Chuck

Probably the most important thing, of all. I had fellow working for me several years ago and he and his sons built his new house on a slab foundation. They knew what they were doing and did a beautiful job except very soon after they moved in, the chimney pulled away from the roof when part of the foundation settled. It was an expensive repair.

 

[dmccarty]

ALL doors in our house have a minimum size of 36 inch wide. Exterior doors are 36 or 66 inches wide. We have several sets of French doors. It is very nice if you are moving something big and heavy to open the doors and gently place said heavy object IN the house by using your tractor with the FEL and pallet forks. :thumbsup:

Or to take something big and heavy out of the house.

Wide door ways also are very handy just moving "stuff" around the house. Having to take off a door to move a piece of furniture is a pain.

We have 10 foot tall ceilings. The tallest window we could get was 6 feet tall. I don't like windows close to the floor since we don't like furniture in front of the window. That just does not make sense to me. So our windows are placed about 32 inches off the floor. 32+72 is 104 inches so we needed to go to 10 foot ceilings to place the windows as we wanted.

For good or bad we ended up with eight foot tall doors to match the window height. That costs more money but it was worth it.

With tall doors and the taller ceiling the ceiling fans are out of the way and not easily hit if you are moving something around the house. The tall ceilings help keep the heat off of you. This is good in the summer. Not so much in the winter.

Radiant flooring could make sense to do depending on climate. I looked long and hard at radiant heating using solar but in the end it simply did not make money sense to do at the time for our climate. With the tax incentives today it might make money sense for us. If you live up Nawth were it really gets cold for a real long time I think Radiant is the way to go.

Wood stove(s) if you have free wood. If you burn wood put in a pipe/duct to bring combustion air to the stove. We have a 6 inch PVC pipe that runs under the floor from and exterior wall to the back of the stove on the hearth. When the fire is going you can feel the air being sucked into the house by the pipe but the air gets consumed by the fire or warmed by the fire. Use Stainless Steel for the chimney. It sure ain't cheap but it is cheaper than a masonary chimney. Keep the chimney IN the house as much as possible and limit the bends/turns. This helps with the chimney's draft.

Make the bathrooms as wheel chair accessible as you can. There are designs out there on how to do this. We would have to change cabinents in our bathroom and kitchens for a wheel chair access but the accessing the toilet, shower or tub should be ok. Might not be perfect but it will work. Hope to never find out for sure.

I would STRONGLY recommend that at a minimum you read the book written by Joseph Lstiburek that applies to the climate were your house will be built. His books are here: http://www.buildingsciencepress.com/Builders-Guides-C1.aspx.

It would not hurt to read the information posted on the Building Science website: Building Science Information. Lots of good information there.

Lstiburek is a PE who knows his stuff. I listened to what he had to say on professional building websites in forum discussions and he really impressed me. I bought his book for my climate. The foundation and wall details in the book where used to build our house.

Design and build passive solar into the house. It really does not cost much to do and it does make a difference. In the winter the south side of our house is a few degrees warmer from solar heat gain. All I had to do was do the trig to figure out how wide the eaves had to be to keep the sun out of the windows in the summer but allow the sun in during the winter. The equations are on the Internet.

The wider eaves also help keep water off your wall.

We put in colored cement floors in the house. People think it is some kinda of tile. Looks good. Easy to clean. Dogs, kids, and the wife can make a mess but it takes just seconds to clean up. It is cheap as well. :thumbsup: All of that mass in the floor helps moderate the temperature in the house. If you get tired of it you can put down tile, wood, carpet, rugs, whatever.

Don't go cheap on the roof.

Insulate the ceiling to the proper R value for your climate.

There is a US government website with a very nice energy cost program. It is free. LBNL Window & Daylighting Software -- RESFEN. The program takes the location of the house, window/door sizes and types, size, energy costs, HVAC type and estimates your heating and cooling costs. For our house it was pretty danged accurate. I used the program to figure out which windows/doors to buy.

Get a GC you TRUST and LIKE. You will be married to this person for quite a while. You will live with what the GC did for years. If the little man on your shoulder is ringing a bell about a GC LISTEN to the bell and get a nother GC. My father in law still complains about the GC he used. Just was talking about the GC this weekend. He has been in the house for 20 years.

I talked to many a GC. Long story short we found our GC by luck. We were looking at a kit energy efficient home. We met at a house being built to talk to the kit builder. Spent 15 minutes with him. Spent an hour or two with the GC. When we left the house, the wife and I looked at each other and said, "We just found our builder."

Later,
Dan

 

[Sigarms]

Build the house "around" the HVAC System. Most ductwork systems are terribly inefficient because they are forced to use the leftover space in the walls and ceiling. Plan for proper duct placement and sizing and you can get more efficient and better balanced system.

+1

I would also add to ensure that you have a mechanical room. Mechanical rooms are like gun safes, always go bigger than what you need because sooner or later, your going to fill it and wish you had more room.

Something I always wanted was a vault room. Depending on your hobbies (or work), now that you're building, it's something you may want to consider.

Example -- Once lived in a house whose master bedroom was on the west end with no shade. That was the hottest room in the house. During the summer, we had to turn the AC up so much for us to sleep that the rest of the house was riduculously cold.

Something to consider is a properly installed zoning system. Know some here per another thread who would rather prefer to have multiple units, but in NC it is now code to maintain temperature swings between rooms and floors. Guys who know what their doing can maintain these temps between rooms with no problem, added the fact that you're only cooling/htg part of the house when you need it.

 

[mbohuntr]

1) Go with a general contractor, the details, and sometime shoddy subcontractor work will leave you in fits! I heard every excuse for not doing things right, or that some part of the job wasn't in the agreement. :confused2:
2) Make friends w/ your building inspector; I talked to him a lot during the process, and he can make your life easy or hard depending on your relationship. Mine told me what was expected BEFORE it was done, saving me tons of rework.
3) I went with an "American Energy Systems" Magnum ZC wood fireplace, and installed the outside combustion air option. All I can say is WOW!!! Heated my 1600sq ft log home at -12 deg F no problem. That fireplace was the centerpiece of my home. (Wood is cheap, and always works in a blackout.)
4) Try to anticipate future needs like outdoor lighting, wheelchair access, room sizes and bathrooms, and outbuildings. Buy a electric panelbox with LOTS of extra spaces for expansion.Easier to do it now than to say "Gee, I wish we would have put that in during construction."
5) Listen to your wife. Some of the worst mistakes we made could have been avoided if we would have listened to each other. Men are great with functionality, Women make it look awsome.
We envisioned the completed home how we would want it, and then de-constructed it back to the beginning. I knew we wanted post lights at the end of the drive, so we put in an extra conduit and buried the line when the service entrance was dug. We also wanted indirect lighting and discreet outlets over the mantle in the great room, so we planned the work ahead of time.