House Build 2023

[drumminj]

We originally had a man-door on the plans for our garage. A few things changed (dropped a storage room, etc) and now instead the wall we'd put a man-door on is our HVAC + generator pad. Good trade-off for us, as all the noise makers are tucked in a corner.

LBBJ if you haven't planned out your exterior HVAC layout and all that, do that up front now.

Every thing that gets changed on the plans effects something else, it gets exhausting.

So very true!

 

[mike0000]

When you have a fire, the fire dept won't spray water until the power company shows up within an hour or so to shut it off. Fire doubles every 30 seconds, so seconds are important. I started doing that years ago on anything I built. Power company loved it. My parents, no meter on their house. My brother, no meter on their house. Me, no meter on my house. See, even if you have a main under the meter, line voltage is there to the incoming side of main. They'll just watch that fire compound until the power company shows up to throw the switch at the transformer.

I’m a retired professional Firefighter, The Fire Department I worked for absolutely starts fire suppression BEFORE the power company disconnects the electrical service.

Mike

 

[civilian]

I like the use of a man door into the garage and work shop and leave the big overhead doors closed. This keeps the heat inside in the winter and the heat out in the summer. This is northern Michigan, especially summers I don't need to air condition.

 

[Semper Paratus]

We are in the middle of a build. Our 3 car garage has two man doors. One from the drive way and one from out back. We elected to add a 5x5 Toilet washroom shower in the garage in lieu of a mud room. Planning a shelf or two for clothing changes and towels. The laundry room is just inside the house from the garage potty and shares the water connections through the walls.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

When you have a fire, the fire dept won't spray water until the power company shows up within an hour or so to shut it off. Fire doubles every 30 seconds, so seconds are important. I started doing that years ago on anything I built. Power company loved it. My parents, no meter on their house. My brother, no meter on their house. Me, no meter on my house. See, even if you have a main under the meter, line voltage is there to the incoming side of main. They'll just watch that fire compound until the power company shows up to throw the switch at the transformer.

Entergy finally came out yesterday. Meter on the house is the only option. They require it.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I’m a retired professional Firefighter, The Fire Department I worked for absolutely starts fire suppression BEFORE the power company disconnects the electrical service.

Mike

In the rural part of my world, they absolutely do not.

 

[tradosaurus]

It's looking like we may be able to break ground in the next couple of months. Prices are high - high, but Mrs. LBBJ is DONE with living in the temporary mobile home. I don't think waiting in the short term is going to benefit us. The house went up $100,000 since we had it quoted in December 2020. I don't see it going down appreciably in the next couple years. I'm being told wood is at the new normal. The only things I see that have potential to go down enough to matter would be wire and pipe. I think anything else especially, non commodity items, are probably as good as they are going to get unless something bad happens.

So anyway, I've talked to the bank. I've talked to a mentor/ friend that is in finance about our personal finances. We are getting a 2nd round of quotes. Then we should be off to the races. I may do kind of a build thread here. I'm going to be doing a lot of the dirt and driveway work myself so there should be opportunity for excavation equipment pictures.

I like the design where the spare bedrooms are on the opposite side of the master bedroom. The house we bought in the country ALL the bedrooms are on one side. So I get to hear door open and closing while I'm trying to get to sleep.

Why did you wait 3 yrs to start the house build?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Entergy finally came out yesterday. Meter on the house is the only option. They require it.

Yes, but you have to put up a temporary to build the house. Build a nice temporary and never call them to swap it over.

 

[deezler]

In the rural part of my world, they absolutely do not.

I mean, that's just insanely idiotic. You can't fight a fire because there's live electricity inside the house? Just start spraying water! Not like the firefighters will all get electrocuted.

I don't know if the electric company ever even comes out for a house fire here. I mean, probably eventually. But the fire departments shows up ASAP and gets to work protecting your structure. As they dang well should.

 

[mike0000]

I mean, that's just insanely idiotic. You can't fight a fire because there's live electricity inside the house? Just start spraying water! Not like the firefighters will all get electrocuted.

I don't know if the electric company ever even comes out for a house fire here. I mean, probably eventually. But the fire departments shows up ASAP and gets to work protecting your structure. As they dang well should.

I was a rural volunteer Firefighter before I was hired by a large city FD, Rural and City Firefighters in my area both make aggressive interior attacks with power still on. In a perfect world, of course it would be ideal if power were disconnected prior to fire suppression efforts. The size and amount of damage to the structure generally determines if FD calls for power to be disconnected.

Mike