The stamped concrete patio guys had to cut my siding to make room for the slab. They left the siding as shown in the pictures. I'm concerned the house wrap is now showing and some bare OSB... Is this okay? How should I fix this? Appreciate any advice!
Ask your plumbers to fill and test your drainage system. They fill the vents up high and monitor the water level over a 24 hour period.
After testing mine... the pantry vents weren't sealed and started gushing water. Without the test we never would've found it.
Mandatory on new builds. Easy to skip on a reno.
It pulls stale inside air out, brings fresh outside air in, and keeps your pressures balanced so you're not fighting your HVAC.
The biggest feature... the old crusty air transfers its temperature to the new incoming air. That way you're not paying twice to condition the air leaving your house.
There are also bigger ERVs that tie directly into your HVAC system to treat all the conditioned air in the home. conditioned air in the home.
That black coating is a liquid vapor barrier, Bostik Roll-Cote.
Hose bibs usually come soldered to the pipe.
Spigots wear out, and when this one does, you can't unscrew it. when you turn it, the solder joint breaks, and then you'll have water spraying in the wall
Ask for a threaded iron pipe connection behind it and replacing the head becomes a simple swap. This house has crawl space access so it's covered either way, but on a slab build you'd be cutting drywall to reach it.
✍️ There are hundreds more details like this in my Ultimate Home Building Checklist at BuilderBrigade.com (catch them before electrical gets locked in)
Here's the full list:
Under the soffit, for Christmas lights, security cameras, or outdoor speakers
In the closet, for a cordless vacuum, an iron, or a small dehumidifier
In-drawer, charge devices without cluttering your counters
Bedside, for charging and a reading lamp
On the mantel, no cords running down the side of your fireplace
Near the toilet, even if you don't want a bidet now, future you will thank you
Which one would you have forgotten?
If you want automated shades for your new home build, add wiring to your windows before drywall.
3 wiring choices to choose from:
➡️ 16-2 Wire, the safest most universal pick if you haven't chosen your shades yet
➡️ Lutron Wire, if you've got the budget and you're committed to Lutron
➡️ CAT6, if you're planning heavy smart home automation
Bath tub has these very shallow cracks. Not sure if they go through or it’s just the paint but it’s definitely a crack of some sort. Any thoughts?
Small tiles mean more grout lines. That's more cleaning, more spots for mold and mildew, and more daily upkeep.
Large tiles cut your grout by up to 90%. Less scrubbing, fewer places for bacteria to hide, and a cleaner modern look.
One thing to watch: large floor tiles can get slippery. Spec a textured or matte finish on anything going on the floor so you're not sliding around a wet bathroom.
My husband and I are researching loan options to build our home. We'd like to self build--he's been in construction for 15+ years and a licensed GC for 10+ years working evenings and weekends building houses. However, he has a full time job, so we're being told that he cannot GC our own build. Has anyone been able to GC their own build while working full time? If so, what kind of lending institution did you use?
I’ve seen others talk about being their own GC, I’m mostly interested in how they were able to do that.
NOTE: This man is not human when it comes to building. He accomplishes more in one evening than other builders do in a day and more in one day than other builders do in a week. He's been like this for 15 years. It sounds like an exaggeration, but it's not. Even the builders that he works for say that he runs circles around them. Plus, the house is designed to be very basic to build. There's nothing fancy about it in terms of the layout and roofline, basically a linear house with a single pitch roof, so, in theory, building it in 12 months is feasible.
We've looked at a few construction loans where we could have a "builder" but we would do a lot of the work. These loans, however, force us to show $100k+ more for the loan more than what we actually need to cover the costs of labor that we would be performing ourselves. For example, we are being forced to show $20,000 in roofing labor even though we will be installing the roof ourselves and not paying anyone $20,000. They won't let us commit to paying anything out of pocket even though we have the funds to. AND they require us to show a minimum of 10% builder profit to the tune of $50k+ even though our builder isn't charging us that. Basically it sounds like the bank wants to plan for anyone doing the work becoming not alive or otherwise incapacitated so the cost of hiring someone else to do the build or another sub would be covered. With the extra >$100k on the loan (even though we wouldn't use it), it puts us over our debt to income limit. Our only debt is the property and we both have very high credit scores. And we have probably about $300,000 in equity in the property (which has all utilities and a high-end 1,600 sf shop).
Any advice?
Recirculating hoods are cheaper and don't need a duct run, so sometimes they'll get spec'd without anyone asking.
The problem: a recirculating hood just pushes air through a charcoal filter and dumps it right back into your kitchen. Grease, moisture, and odor stay in the house.
A vented hood ducts all of that outside where it belongs.
This is a before-drywall conversation. Adding a duct run after the walls are closed is a headache you don't want.
Has anyone used Quality Cabinets? I’d love feedback from anyone who has. We are thinking of using a local dealer who uses that cabinet line. I really don’t see much online review-wise so I’m looking for help!
I'm remodeling my bathroom, and moving the tollet. The pipe fall right in the middle of a floor joists. My plan is to double joists the for the tollet. See drawing. Room is tight to move tollet pipe to the side of the joists.
You thoughts.
I would like to finish this crawlspace. Initially, I’m wanted it to be another room. However, it appears that the footings and the block wall begin about halfway.
It is filled with a sand clay mixture, that, if I remove, it would probably cause issues for the foundation.
Is there a way to remove it and make this a full-size room?
Otherwise, I’m thinking of making it a storage space. I’ll level out the base, put plastic down, put a 4” slab. Then build stud walls, insulate, and drywall.
The entry into this room is a bit tricky. I would have to build a partial block wall on each side of this doorway and then pour concrete stairs going up to the top of the slab.
Please let me know your feedback, advice, and suggestions.
Thank you!
Photos here:
https://www.reddit.com/u/spencercoffman/s/Y2big5DMOp