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Homeowner Forum / Construction / March 2006Building New Home: Lots to Learn
Hi, My wife and I will be building a new home in the next year or so. Rather than just accept whatever the builder recommends for various components, I'd like to have a lot of input. What I'm really looking for are resources that list all the things that need to be considered like: heating/cooling, water heaters, water filtration/softeners, air cleaners, doors, windows, siding, etc. I would like to have input on these decisions, but I don't even know the full extent of what I should be looking into. Is there any source of information that might show all of the things I should be thinking about? I figure with a lot of these things the time to decide is well before the house is built since it's not like a light fixture where changing it after the fact isn't that big a deal. Thanks in advance, //Brian > My wife and I will be building a new home in the next year or so. > Rather than just accept whatever the builder recommends for various [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > before the house is built since it's not like a light fixture where > changing it after the fact isn't that big a deal. Yep. It's called your local library. Check out two or three books, and start reading. If your local branch doesn't have a book, an interlibrary loan only takes about a week or two to get the book and they'll be able to get you just about any book out there. It will take you a lot less time and be a much more systematic way of approaching it than bopping around on the internet. Take notes as you read. When you have specific questions, or have conflicting information from various sources, post a question here. R In a previous post RicodJour wrote... > Yep. It's called your local library. Check out two or three books, > and start reading. If your local branch doesn't have a book, an > interlibrary loan only takes about a week or two to get the book and > they'll be able to get you just about any book out there. It will take > you a lot less time and be a much more systematic way of approaching it > than bopping around on the internet. I second Rico's recommendation. I recommend you look for a book called "Housebuilding Illustrated" by R.F Cristoforo. It's a Popular Science book published by Book Division, Times Mirror Corp. in 1977. This is a "How-To" book, so it may have more info than you really want, but the drawings will help show you what's going on. There are other ways to frame structures than what's shown in the book, but it will give you the general idea.  SignatureBob Morrison, PE, SE R L Morrison Engineering Co Structural & Civil Engineering Poulsbo WA bob at rlmorrisonengr dot com In a previous post Bob Morrison wrote... > I recommend you look for a book called > "Housebuilding Illustrated" by R.F Cristoforo. OOPS! The author's name is R.J. DeCristoforo. SignatureBob Morrison, PE, SE R L Morrison Engineering Co Structural & Civil Engineering Poulsbo WA bob at rlmorrisonengr dot com Thanks, Bob and Ricod. I plan on using the library and appreciate the specific texts to check out. > In a previous post RicodJour wrote... >> Yep. It's called your local library. Check out two or three books, [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > to frame structures than what's shown in the book, but it will give you > the general idea. I'll throw in my recommendation of "How to Plan, Contract and Build Your Own Home" by Richard M. Scutella and Dave Heberle. This is a step by step guide that details the entire process. Perhaps more info than one needs (it's 785 pages, but it's well organized from initial planning, site selection, contractor selection, even pet and burglar proofing. It's all organized by chapters, so you can skip a chapter that's irrelevant for your project. Lots of pictures, they illustrate how all the pieces fit together. SignatureMatt --------------------- Matthew W. Barrow Site-Fill Homes, LLC. Montrose, CO You need to put in a lot of time learning, but it will be worth it. First, there are a lot of books on home building. Check your library and Amazon. An excellent learning resource is a CD-ROM set of the back issues of Journal of Light Construction; about $100 (google it). In addition to reading, there's tons of free info on the net. See if you can find other people in your area who have built recently and talk to them. Be very careful about choice of builder. Check references thoroughly. You've got the right idea that infrastructure is most important. Foundation, framing, roof, windows, wiring, plumbing, etc. are far more important that dishwasher, floor coverings, trim, etc. The latter can be expensive to replace, but at least replacing them is likely to be within your budget down the road. You don't say whether you are using an architect. I generally have a low opinion of architects unless they are also a PE. They are too concerned about the look and feel of a house and have too little interest in and knowledge of infrastructure, materials, and building techniques. If you've got a pretty good idea of the layout and look that you want, a team of a draftsman plus a PE is a lot better than using an architect. Mike > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Thanks in advance, > //Brian > You don't say whether you are using an architect. I generally have a > low opinion of architects unless they are also a PE. They are too > concerned about the look and feel of a house and have too little > interest in and knowledge of infrastructure, materials, and building > techniques. If you've got a pretty good idea of the layout and look > that you want, a team of a draftsman plus a PE is a lot better than > using an architect. Depends on the architect. I'm keenly aware of constructability issues and work with contractors as I'm designing to work things out. It's also a process of educating contractors about new materials and methods, along with code requirements. But an architect helps with much more than just the "touchy-feely" stuff. A draftsman & PE won't know even half the questions to ask that make the difference between an average home and something unique. Having an architect who's NOT a PE isn't all bad (sometimes it might even be better). Having an architect who knows when he needs a PE, that's key. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Thanks in advance, > //Brian I strongly second the motion on the Journal of Light Construction CD. Get it and read every article. That will keep you busy for a loooong time but you will be very knowledgable when done. The other magazine is Fine Homebuilding but they don't have a CD version. Steve. Bwana7@gmail.com wrote in news:1142610159.678562.103690 @z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com: > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Thanks in advance, > //Brian Just remember. Your house will only be worth what similar houses in the neighborhood have sold & closed in the past 6 months when you sell. Go too much overboard and you will not get the $ back. It will just make the house more desirable and quicker selling. Thanks to all who replied. I appreciate the book and information titles. Al, I don't plan on going too overboard, but I don't want just "contractor special" and I figure since it's my house I should have some say in what components are used. > Bwana7@gmail.com wrote in news:1142610159.678562.103690 > @z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com: [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > too much overboard and you will not get the $ back. It will just make the > house more desirable and quicker selling. But there is also the issue of making sure the house is being built correctly. I just spent $6000 to repair a basement wall because the &*^#$# contractor didn't put rebar and grout down the cores. Would have cost around $400 if it was done when the house was built. Just had a new shop built and I pulled the permits and acted as the GC. Bought galvanized nails for the framing crew to use in the sill plate and got the old "been doing this for 30 years and never used galvanized nails in a sill plate before". Since this is something that can't be checked by building inspectors I'll be real curious to see what happens in 10 years in coastal areas when low strength hurricanes starting hitting houses where the nails holding the bottom of the studs have long since rusted away. Added a whopping $30 to my materials bill. Steve. Unless you used a pressure-treated sill,I would have to agree with your contractor. (And different types of treated wood require different degrees of galv fasteners). Anyway, homes over a hundred years old have been torn down and found that the old steel nails were doing just fine (I've never known regular nails used to make connections sill to studs to have rusted to any degree at all.) If they did rust out, the structures would have failed decades ago and the codes would have required galv fasteners. For hurricane areas, it takes more than a couple of 16d nails in withdrawl to hold the sidwall together. > Just had a new shop built and I pulled the permits and acted as the GC. > Bought galvanized nails for the framing crew to use in the sill plate and [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Steve. Brian, Check out www.nudura.com They have a fantastic dealer network that supplies training and supplies to build very energy efficient and healthy concrete homes. They are based in Cananda, but have dealers in most states. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Thanks in advance, > //Brian Brian, Check out www.nudura.com They have a fantastic dealer network that supplies training and supplies to build very energy efficient and healthy concrete homes. They are based in Cananda, but have dealers in most states. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Thanks in advance, > //Brian > Brian, > Check out www.nudura.com > They have a fantastic dealer network that supplies training and > supplies to build very energy efficient and healthy concrete homes. > They are based in Cananda, but have dealers in most states. There are a few different concrete building techniques / systems out there these days... I stumbled across a dry-stack method recently (http://www.vobb.com) and was tempted to use it for my outdoor kitchen / BBQ, but since they didn't have a local manufacturer, I decided to just go with regular 8x8x16 CMUs mortared together and then filled with concrete... I even found a study where they used normal 8x8x16 CMUs without mortar and then fiber reinforced surface bonding cement to hold everything together... Supposedly it was as good as mortared jointed blocks... For my BBQ area, I had every block tied into a 6" slab with 3/8" rebar in addition to every cell having at least one piece of rebar in it... The rebar was at least 18" longer than the height of the wall so that I will be able to bend it to tie it into a poured in place 2"+ concrete countertop... Next hurricane we get through here might destroy my house, but my BBQ is going to still be here... Gotta set your priorities, ya' know... I also agree that Journal of Light Construction is a great resource: http://www.jlconline.com IMO no one should build a house without knowing how to do it correctly, first, even if they plan on hiring others to do the work. Too many problems in new construction, and if you don't know mistakes when you see them, they just go on building and cover them up. Don't count on there being any legal recourse if they mess up, either. And, please don't agree to an arbitration clause with any contractors you hire. That right there negates your legal recourse. Another suggestion is the book "Your New House" by Fields. This is not about how to build a house but how to plan for building a house so all your ducks are in a row. Financing, researching contractors, etc. IMO a must read. Hi Brian, I would recommend starting with Tom Landis' site, www.ownerbuilder.com and www.askthebuilder.com as both are 3rd party information sites that you can ask questions and review responses already posted. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have as well. Best Regards, Larry J Clark Allpro Building Systems www.abshomes.com Larry, Thanks. Yes, I've had askthebuilder.com bookmarked for quite some time now. I've found it to be very informative. My one peeve about it would be that he doesn't date his articles so it's hard to tell which article is the most recent for those topics that have 2-3 articles. //Brian |
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