New House Build

[ovrszd]

After the spray foam the builder sheetrocked the ceiling throughout the house. Remember, they are trying to work in below freezing temps. They are trying to get the house sealed and insulated so they can better work.

 

[ovrszd]

After the ceiling was rocked we discussed insulation again. We already planned to blow fiberglas in the ceiling, R60. The builders and I discussed our wall insulation again. They all three suggested netting the exterior walls and blowing them full of fiberglas while we were at it. Very good idea. Actually ended up with better insulation value than we were going to have with 2" spray foam. I can't brag enough on my builders. They are awesome!!!

 

[ovrszd]

Once the insulation was done they could move on to rocking the walls.

I want to make a very serious point here...?. If I were building again, I would insulate all of the interior walls. Drive this point home one more time. If I were building again, I would insulate all of the interior walls!!!!

As you will see later, we are living on our concrete. Stained and Sealed. Our house is noisier than it could have been. I don't mean outside noise. I mean noise within the house. It's not horrible. It's just noisier than it could have been. That could have been dramatically improved by insulating the interior walls.

Anyway.....

 

[KubotainNH]

Looks good. Good fix on the insulation issue.

We insulated between the floors (2 floors plus basement) plus between the master bedroom and other bedrooms. It really does knock down the sound. Hardly hear anyone banging around upstairs.

 

[ovrszd]

When it came time to mud the rock I covered all of my floors with construction paper. As we planned on living on the concrete I tried to minimize cleanup.

Terry had a vision of how she wanted the rock finished. They call it "Skip Trowel". None of my builders had ever done it before. So Terry Googled it and brought them pictures of what she had in mind. They worked on areas that would be covered and each attempted to duplicate what she was after. Tyrell nailed it. Was exactly what she was looking for. 9 months later she is still talking about it.

The Living room/kitchen area and the Hallway were finished in Skip Trowel. The rest of the house was done in a version of Popcorn finish. Very satisfied with all of it. My Builders are great!!!

 

[ovrszd]

In the Living Room area the ceiling is vaulted. After they had the sheetrock done Terry decided she would like a beam at the peak of the vault. I asked the Builder about it. He chuckled and said I wish we had known that before we rocked. We would have added some reinforcement for holding up the beam. I said how about a fake beam? He said oh yeah, if that's what she wants it's no big deal to fasten up there and easy to add.

Okay, Terry Googled beams and came up with what she wanted. Made from a type of rigid foam. Kinda U shaped inside. The room is 22' long.

I contacted the company that makes the beam and they wanted $1280...?nbsp; Wow, that's high priced per pound...?br>
So I took a phone pic to my local material supplier. He said, let me see what I can do. He called me the next day and said $875..... Still pretty expensive per pound...

So I got online and started searching. I got the beam delivered to my house for $385..... Wow, those other places were really ripping me off!!!! Most amazing was that the manufacturer was that high. The company I bought it from had it shipped from the manufacturer!!!!

Anyway,,,, the beam was kind of a tan color. Looks like axe hewn log. Terry stained it Cherry and Varnished it. Builder screwed a 2x6 the length of the peak. The log straddled the plank and is screwed to it. He split one of the two "brackets" in half. One bracket covers the splice in the middle. The two halves of the other bracket are at each end.

Turned out to be a great addition and worth the $$$

Another lucky thing in the Kitchen area. Terry said she wanted a stained glass door on the Pantry. Had one picked out. In my rusty memory I thought I had one. So I dug it out of the barn. All she had to do was clean it and brush on one coat of varnish. She loves it!!!

In the process of hanging the door the Builder said "do you want a Jam Switch" for the light"? I had to ask what that was??? When you open the door the light comes on, close the door and it goes off. YES!!!!

Ordered two 11' pieces and two fake brackets that look like hammered steel.

 

[ovrszd]

As I mentioned earlier, we planned to live on the concrete. So, when pouring the concrete our contractor did an exceptional job of finishing it. High gloss troweled. He's very, very good.

Well, we contacted a local guy about staining and sealing the concrete. He said he would have to grind off the sheen so the stain/sealer would stick. Okay....

We had never saw this done before and were unsure about the results. We actually didn't like it at all when he first got done. He said I think you'll like it once you move in. He was right. It's a kind of marbled look with shades of grey and black. I added four coats of concrete stain finish polish before we moved in.

Terry says it's a bit of struggle to keep clean. That's because she's meticulous about it. And when you are on bare concrete, everything, everything shows up. Our house is Hospital clean. No hiding things buried in the carpet no more.

I didn't get good pics of them staining/sealing because it was nighttime when they did it and they were in a hurry so I stayed out of the way. Hopefully these pics will give you an idea of how it looks.

 

[BigBlue1]

Things are looking very nice! Thanks for the update and pics.

So, they did the skip trowel and popcorn finish on all the walls, not just the ceiling? That must have taken a lot of mud!

Can you provide info on that beam and brackets that you used? That looks like something I might want to add to our place. Thanks!

Rob

 

[ovrszd]

Things are looking very nice! Thanks for the update and pics.

So, they did the skip trowel and popcorn finish on all the walls, not just the ceiling? That must have taken a lot of mud!

Can you provide info on that beam and brackets that you used? That looks like something I might want to add to our place. Thanks!

Rob

Thanks Rob!!

The Skip Trowel was done on the ceiling and walls of the Living/Kitchen area and the hallway. It took a lot of labor. Terry is very happy with it so the cost is easier to swallow.

Let me get with Terry on the beam. I'll get the Manufacturer name and the distributor we ordered from. There's a lot of variety in sizes and designs.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

Ovrszd, very nice place. Building is a lot of work and a good builder definitely makes it easier. Sounds like you had a good one. Is your foam closed cell? Just wondering as we foamed the last house and the one we are in now with open cell. Both had 2x6 exterior walls and were foamed to leave a small air space behind the drywall. We foamed the attics also, at the roof line. Some people don't like doing that and I was skeptical on the first one but really liked it and we had zero problems with moisture. The roof on both ended up with around 8 inches of foam with 2 inches over all the framing.

Hope you and the Mrs are enjoying the new digs.

 

[ovrszd]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the compliment..... I've got a gazillion more pics.

 

[ovrszd]

Ovrszd, very nice place. Building is a lot of work and a good builder definitely makes it easier. Sounds like you had a good one. Is your foam closed cell? Just wondering as we foamed the last house and the one we are in now with open cell. Both had 2x6 exterior walls and were foamed to leave a small air space behind the drywall. We foamed the attics also, at the roof line. Some people don't like doing that and I was skeptical on the first one but really liked it and we had zero problems with moisture. The roof on both ended up with around 8 inches of foam with 2 inches over all the framing.

Hope you and the Mrs are enjoying the new digs.

Yes it is closed cell. No recommendations for open cell here. I believe it's because of too much humidity? Open cell absorbs moisture.

By my Google searches confused3 I learned that closed cell foam has an R value of 6-7 per inch. Also learned it reaches 90% of it's R value in 2". So it didn't seem logical to go much beyond 2".

We are recommended to not foam the attic unless a ventilation system is added. Can't remember what they call that?? Has a three letter acronym??? Escapes me right now.

This Fall I've looked at my roof several times on frosty mornings looking for heat loss. I've saw none. I think foaming my wall top plates and sealing up the batting along the eaves has minimized loss. My roof is a hip roof so I have an eave on all four sides, minus a Gable on one side.

We built this house to die in. No steps. No doors less than 36" 48" hallway. Walk in showers. Actually the main bathroom shower is big enough to go into with a wheelchair. We'll get into that a bit later.

 

[Xfaxman]

In the Living Room area the ceiling is vaulted. After they had the sheetrock done Terry decided she would like a beam at the peak of the vault. I asked the Builder about it. He chuckled and said I wish we had known that before we rocked. We would have added some reinforcement for holding up the beam. I said how about a fake beam? He said oh yeah, if that's what she wants it's no big deal to fasten up there and easy to add.

Okay, Terry Googled beams and came up with what she wanted. Made from a type of rigid foam. Kinda U shaped inside. The room is 22' long.

I contacted the company that makes the beam and they wanted $1280...?nbsp; Wow, that's high priced per pound...?br>
So I took a phone pic to my local material supplier. He said, let me see what I can do. He called me the next day and said $875..... Still pretty expensive per pound...

So I got online and started searching. I got the beam delivered to my house for $385..... Wow, those other places were really ripping me off!!!! Most amazing was that the manufacturer was that high. The company I bought it from had it shipped from the manufacturer!!!!

Anyway,,,, the beam was kind of a tan color. Looks like axe hewn log. Terry stained it Cherry and Varnished it. Builder screwed a 2x6 the length of the peak. The log straddled the plank and is screwed to it. He split one of the two "brackets" in half. One bracket covers the splice in the middle. The two halves of the other bracket are at each end.

Turned out to be a great addition and worth the $$$



View attachment 632230

View attachment 632231

Richard, I used a program called "Fotor" to enhance your low lighted beam pictures, the beam sure looks good:

 

[ovrszd]

Thanks for the touchup X. Taking care of me as usual!!!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

ERV

Energy Recovery Ventilation

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Thanks for the compliment..... I've got a gazillion more pics.

Would love to see the walk-in showers.

I really like your floor plan.

 

[airbiscuit]

Well done!

 

[cat fever]

Very nice Richard,

The way your walls were insulated was the same way mine were done. The inside of the house is very quiet with the foam.

 

[Big Barn]

I really like those concrete floors.

Terry would have an easier time keeping them clean here as apparently there is no dirt in BC.