Building a new home

[Henry from Winnipeg]

My wife and I are going to build a new house. We've chosen the lot and the house style. Is there anything that you guys would recommend getting like piles, delta wrap the basement, heat recover ventilation unit, etc?

Thanks,
Henry

[Kerry in Fort Sask, AB]

We built 5 years ago. Assuming money is no object, some things I'd do another time around are:

-blue foam insulation outside
-mineral wool insulation in the walls
-tyvek wrap
-steel roof (if neigborhood restrictions allow it)
-upgrade ALL flooring - get laminate or hardwood instead of carpet
-upgrade the paint (most builders seem to use crappy matte finish paint that marks easily and can only be washed once or twice before the one coat of paint they did use wears through)
-patterned (stamped?) concrete driveway (looks WAY cool!)
-see if you can get a concrete number of days past move-in when the rough grading will be done. Some folks here are waiting more than a year for this.
-Electrical - get 220 and adequate outlets/lighting in the basement if that's where your shop will be, otherwise same for garage.
-If your workshop will be in the basement - get 9' walls down there.
-I'd also investigate geothermal heating/cooling - I know a couple of happy geothermal users in Manitoba, and I believe you can get a rebate from the Manitoba government? (unlike Alberta where energy conservation is a sin against the government aka oil companies)

That's all that comes to mind just now. Enjoy the process (if the builder allows that :lol: )

Cheers,
Kerry

[John in Calgary]

-mineral wool insulation in the walls


Not to get too far off topic, but why mineral wool (are you talking the Roxul type stuff)? Just last weekend I put Roxul in my garage - two reasons, to keep the mice out of it and because it has a slightly higher R rating, important for the 2x4 walls in the garage (our house is also 5 years old).

Our builder had a selection of 7 colours of paint as standard (all nice, trendy colours) and I figure they were selected based on ease of touch-up (both for colour and for finish).

I'll add the following:

1) 8' garage door (assumes attached garage)
2) high ceilings in your garage if possible - the extra headroom can be used for storage and its kind of nice to be able to flip a board end for end vertically if you are working out there (our garage ceiling has between 10-13' ceilings, not because that is what I selected, but because that is where the roofline & bonus room above the garage intersected)
3) If you are using your garage as a shop and still need to park cars in there, make sure your garage size is a minimum 24x24 and, if design allows, have 4' of the garage offset from the door (i.e. don't centre the garage door in the 24', you are better off having a 20' garage with a 4' bump out so you can set up a bench/tools/etc. and still park the cars beside).
4) Main floor laundry is nice (and standard nowadays), but 2nd floor laundry would be nicer (it is risky though since if your washer leaks, it could cause much grief on the floor below). Either way, look at the front load washer - they work great and you can get the builder to put in a counter top above the washer and dryer (and even build them in behind cupboard doors for a cleaner look) so you have work space to fold laundry (can you guess what is on my list of upcoming projects?).
5) If you have reasonable access to your back yard, and you have kids you expect to kick outside through your back door, make sure there is room for the door to open, room for a shoe rack and some coat hooks that don't interfere with your kitchen table/nook - we are constantly tripping over the kids stuff at the back door (but then, our kids spend an inordinate amount of time in the backyard, so I'll suck that up since they aren't sitting in front of the TV!)
6) if you decide on a stamped/coloured driveway, spring for concrete that is coloured all the way through instead of a veneered colour layer - as the concrete spalls or gets chipped, you will notice it less if the colour goes all the way through
7) keep good records of what changes you want and provide confirmations to the builder so he has to keep good records. Ask for prices before approving changes, otherwise you may get hosed on things that you thought were simple changes
8) if you have any south or west facing windows, look into getting coating upgrades to limit solar radiation heat gain during the summer time, especially if these windows are in large, vaulted rooms that you will be spending most of your family time in.

Good luck,

John

[Glenn from Winnipeg]

I built 20 years ago, so some of this might be dated.
- walls were standard 6" with fiberglass insulation but I added 2" of glassclad insulation and tyvec wrap on the outside. You get funny looks from the windows people when you tell them they are dealing with 8" walls instead of 6.
- in Winnipeg, triple pane windows are a must. I had wood windows originally, but south-east and south-west windows rotted within 8 years. Replaced them with fiberglass 5 years ago and they are totally maintenence free so far.
- the Manitoba Hydro Energy people suggested avoiding installation of light fixtures on outside walls and cielings - the less you penetrate the envelope the less leakage of warm moist air into your attic space.
- avoid skylights for the same reason - people that I know that have them curse them - and have replaced large parts of the surrounding cieling
- when you get your floorplan, lay out your furniture and figure out where all your electrical outlets and switches should be on your living floors. Mark them on your building plan and make sure the electrician follows the plan. I built to my design, and knew exactly where everything was going and ok'ed it with the builder. The electrician came in and totally ignored the plan and put in half the number of plugs I needed. His loss - cost him two days to fix it.
- decide on special circuits - eg. keep computers and home theaters on dedicated circuits - and off of a line that has something cycling on it, like perhaps a bar fridge or worse, a compressor
- get a cheap tester - the one with the 3 lights and gfi - half of my plugs were wired wrong.:mad:
- open up the odd plug or switch plate and check to see if the electrician tightened all the screws. I went to install a 3 way switch at the foot of the basement stairs - opened the upstairs switchplate to see how it was wired - all three switches had been shoved into the box with none of the screws tightened. :mad: The same guy wired the house across the street - the fire that started in the dining room wall switch caused the entire house to be rebuilt from the inside out - 1.5 years to rebuild 'cause it was brand new.:mad: :shock: :mad:
- I use a wood burning fireplace and the backdraft through the gas chimney was sufficient to bring smoke and ash into the basement and trip the furnace off. Make sure woodburning appliances have sufficient air supply.
- when I built the house I had a central exhaust system put in with a fan to exhaust the air. As soon as winter started, with the house as well sealed as it is, the moisture from the new drywall, etc. was forming little swimming pools on the window sills that had to be wiped up 3 -4 times per day. Immediately bought a hrv and that moisture was gone
- 5 years ago I put in a high efficiency furnace and switched to an electric water heater. Had the gas chimney sealed (with a mid efficiency furnace this was a huge air leak). I run the furnace fan on low 24/7 (because of the hrv). Because of the more efficient motors, both my heating bill and hydro bill went down dramatically. The furnace has a variable speed fan and is nice and quiet.

If you put in an hrv, connect all the bathrooms and put one behind the fridge to draw off heat in the summer.

If you are going with shingles, get the heaviest you can afford. Before I contracted for the house, I drove through the area during a strong windstorm - and watched all the light weight shingles zipping off the roofs. About 1 in 10 roofs were damaged. Poor or no adhesion. I put on heavy duty shingles and 20 years and several major storms later they are still in good shape.:p

I had the garage built slightly oversize (longer and wider) and went to two doors rather than one. Most large single doors commonly had sags from badly adjusted door openers? The extra size is not noticible from the outside but sure makes a difference inside.

I agree with what was said in the previous message.

Enjoy building your new house, but visit often during construction and anything you don't agree with or understand, discuss with your builder before it goes too far. (but don't nag him to death)

Ooh. Longer than I wanted
glenn

[Gary in Waterdown]

I would definitely look into Insulating Concrete Forms for the basement.

[Kerry in Fort Sask, AB]

Not to get too far off topic, but why mineral wool (are you talking the Roxul type stuff)? Just last weekend I put Roxul in my garage - two reasons, to keep the mice out of it and because it has a slightly higher R rating, important for the 2x4 walls in the garage (our house is also 5 years old).


It is also better at sound deadening, and as I understand it is better at slowing down a fire than fibreglass is. I used it in the interior walls surrounding my basement workshop and can attest to it's sound deadening capability. It's not 'sound proofing', but it sure helps. I believe it would really help quiet the inside of a house built on a busy street. The extra cost was minor when I did my workshop 4 years ago - I have no idea what it is now.

Cheers,
Kerry

[matt in golden]

Henry,

My recomendation would be to place a great deal of research into finding a good contractor and beware of the lowest bid that can end up costing more in the end with poor workmanship or change orders.

Ask how long they have been in business for and permission to go view their last few projects.

See how much of the work their own crew will do and how much will get subbed out. A stable company in my mind will provide stable employment for its guys.

If you can talk with someone who works as a Tradesperson then find out people they like to work for - if a builder treats their subs and employee's well they will likely treat you the same way.

good luck,

Matt

[Bryan @ Woodstock]

Make sure it's an insulated garage door, and insulated walls and ceiling. Have it in writing as to r factor for ceiling. I would insulate the basement floor and vapour barrier before having the concrete poured.

[Henry from Winnipeg]

We do want to put hardwood everywhere other then the bathrooms but I haven't found out how much it's going to be. I've been told by another builder to budget $12-14 sq.ft. but I think that's too much. I can have them install carpet and vinyl and get hardwoods put in professionally after the fact for about $8 sq.ft. I just hope I don't have future problems with the floors because the house is new. In today's rushed world I'm not sure they will give the wood the time it needs for the humidity to acclimate before installing.

I'll have to ask about the insulated basement wall forms. I know for the basement floor they put down 6" of buck shot gravel, a radon barrier and then 4" of concrete. I'll have to ask then if they can place some insulation down before pouring the concrete. As for the rigid insulation on the outside of the house that too sounds like a good idea.

Thanks for all the good points you guys have brought up. It's really made me think.

Henry

[ArtMulder]

Henry,
- are you empty nesters, have young kids (how many), teenagers, need a granny-suite, etc? Things like that are going to affect our advice.

For instance, I have four young kids. I want a house with a larger than average mudroom to accomdate coats, boots, sandals, and so on. And I want it to be at the SIDE of the house, so that the kids use the same entrance for accessing either the back or the front. Right now our present house has the main access to the back yard via a sliding door in the family room. Fine for a pair of empty-nesters, but completely stupid for a young family with kids tromping mud everywhere.

- agree about looking into insulated concrete forms.
- I would also see if I can find a builder that is using SIPs, as I have read a lot of really good things about them.
- I drive a minivan, and it bugs the heck out of me that I can't open the rear hatch on my van without also opening the garage door. I want a LONG garage so that I can get in and out of the back of the van while inside.

- find a copy of "A Pattern Language" at the library and browse it. This is the best book I've ever seen on housing ideas and design. (design ideas, not building methods) It dates from the mid 70's, and I suspect that a lot of these ideas were used by Sarah Susanka in her "not so big house" series. Those are also very good. Get anything in the library by Sarah Susanka - tons of good ideas, all illustrated with very good photos.

- We love light. Your average subdivision house is built with NO windows on the sides of the house, which is really unpleasant. Try to put in lots of windows. Especially try for windows on two walls of a room. The light makes the rooms feel better, and the cross-ventillation is also very nice.

- what about the shop. If it is going in the basement, then try to have a STRAIGHT set of stairs from the garage straight down into the shop - with a 36" wide door.
- How about a sub-panel for wiring the shop? A cutoff is nice also, so you can kill all power to the shop in one location, and lock it out (safety for kids) when you aren't there.
- perhaps rough in plumbing for a sink in or near the shop.
- even if you don't put a shop in the basement, I'd go for the 9' ceiling in the basement. Big windows also, if you plan to use it as living space.

- try for a house that has at least the possibility of a main floor bedroom - even if all the other bedrooms are upstairs. If anyone is ever disabled, even temporarily, or if an elderly parent moves in, or even if you keep the house into your 80's... you may want this.

- a sizeable roof overhang will shade your house in the summer from the hot sun, but won't block the low winter sun.

- I would like a porch.

- is there a place near the kitchen where you can put the barbecue? We barbecue all year, so like having it handy to the kitchen.

- wider 36" doorways. Makes it easier to move furniture around, makes it passable for a wheelchair if ever necessary.

- Take photos of ALL the walls after the electrical goes in but before the drywall goes on. Someday you'll want to look at them to find something.

- How tall are you? I am 6'3". NO low-hanging lights. Watch out for ceiling fans also. In the bathroom I want a BIG mirror - I hate having to bend to look in the mirror. Ditto in the shower - I want the shower head HIGH. Costs nothing to do it now, but big headaches to change later. Oh yeah, and a higher vanity in the Master Bath as well.

- speaking of ceiling fans - I want wall controls for them - no chains thank you. Yes, this DOES affect the electrical wiring.

- main entry needs room for a bench so you can sit down to pull on your boots or shoes.

- I would want a GAS stove in the kitchen. Ditto for the dryer.

- This is old news, but do remember that code is a minimum, and not necessarily the best. For instance - I want floors that do not bounce, do not squeek, and so on. (ie: my brother had a house built to code, and if I walk in front of the china cabinet, the dishes rattle. And I only weigh about 190lbs)

- I'd prefer french doors over sliding patio doors - dirt/sand/grit, and ice in winter, tend to get into the tracks of sliders.

- if you put in hardwood, having it run perpendicular to the joists will probably give you a stiffer floor than if they are parallel.

Things like baseboard, paint, doors... even carpet, can all be changed at a later date for modest cost. But fundamenta things like window placement, electrical, a dry foundation, door locations and opening sizes... these are big bucks to fix later. If there are trade-offs, go for the fundamentals first!


there's my two cents.
...art