^did you/cabinet maker consider drywall thickness? Don't wanna be 1/2"+ off on cabinets in a corner, etc.

[Edited on July 13, 2013 at 5:37 PM. Reason : .]

7/13/2013 5:35:59 PM

Yes we did. We would not be in a good position if we hadn't! we have had a challenge since we are doing a 40" Gas range about our ventilation...trying to figure out where to bring the fresh air in from! Finally figured it out and it wont be evident at all!!

7/13/2013 8:39:19 PM

Dryer vent



Main HVAC trunk we designed into the plans...will be a closet in front of this hidden space (minimal wasted space)




back of the house:

7/13/2013 8:44:35 PM

Someday

7/13/2013 9:48:59 PM

Do you plan on being in this house for the next 20+ years? If so, did you do anything special to account for future upgrades you might want to make (ie, technology upgrades)?

7/15/2013 9:55:38 AM

Yes we do plan to be in here 30 yrs

As for upgrades, its hard to design too much for future modernization.....

7/15/2013 10:26:50 AM

new pics

7/20/2013 7:29:06 AM

I got those same plygem windows. great deal for the efficiency they provide.

7/20/2013 11:24:12 AM

we went with the builder series 1000 plygems singlehungs

7/20/2013 9:34:58 PM

ah, nevermind then. I have the plygem 2000-something double hung with the extra low noise casings (busy street). how many tankless water heaters for that unit?

7/21/2013 1:42:12 PM

1 Navien tank-less (model NR240A LP Gas) with recirculation pump/plumbing loop

7/21/2013 2:40:05 PM

Obviously you are already doing it, but my dad has told me at least 5 times that if I ever build a house "take pictures of each wall before the dry wall goes up so you know where the plumbing, wires, ducts, etc are". And label each picture so you know what you are looking at.

I've never built a home although the last two homes we've purchased were new homes, but they were spec houses we bought after completion.

7/22/2013 4:16:32 PM

^^ you're having propane brought out just for hot water? I'm looking a tankless unit that can do a whole house. my rinnai 9.4gpm unit isn't quite enough

7/22/2013 7:44:40 PM

Propane for water heater, dual fuel furnace, duel fuel range, and fireplace


Ok so need your opinions....meeting with the electrician again on Friday (spent 2.5 hrs with him today) to settle on the third parralleled panel for my generator.....need to figure out what to put on that panel.....what would you do?

So far: well pump, sump pump, septic pump, trudge, freezers, kitchen lights, basement bedroom, basement bathroom...these will be the easiest/safest to hole up in.....garage door, dunno

7/22/2013 11:08:21 PM

when i was a kid, we just backfed the whole damn house with our generator from the 220 welding outlet in the shop. of course, it wasn't an autostart, just one that ran off the tractor PTO, so we'd just open all the breakers, hook it up, then turn on the things we needed.

7/23/2013 7:08:56 AM

^^What size genset? I always like to be able to run the ceiling fans (hurricane season) since the A/C will be out. That way the kids can sleep in their own rooms.

Do you have a primary panel and a secondary panel? The primary panel should be all your 240V (WH, AC, range, dryer, heat, secondary panel) stuff and the secondary panel should be the 120V services (lights, outlets, etc).

I think you need your primary life support stuff (pumps) and your lights and outlets (to minimize the inconvenience). Then you can control the load on the generator by turning breakers on and off in your sub-panel

[Edited on July 23, 2013 at 9:13 AM. Reason : mo]

7/23/2013 9:02:51 AM

Are you or do you plan on getting into homebrewing? If so, and you want to convert your homebrew setup to electric, do yourself a favor and get a 240v 60A outlet installed in your garage. I'm currently facing that issue right now I have to run a 20' extension cable into my house to my dryer outlet (and even then it's only 30A...so I have to operate my brewery at half capacity)

7/23/2013 10:19:41 AM

240v in the garage is always a good idea. We're going to have one installed for the welder, but thankfully the main box is already there so we'll just have another box put in next to it.

7/23/2013 11:27:21 AM

re: garage door. you can also just get a battery backup door opener. just a thought.

7/23/2013 1:16:17 PM

^why couldn't you just pull the cord and open it manually?

7/23/2013 5:50:35 PM

Locks in place, so not sure if you'd be able to get back in after the fact.

7/23/2013 6:53:55 PM

Good progress, panthersny

No disrespect to your project, but I still can't get over what a "custom home" means in the US. It's like if you get a "Custom motorcycle" really means you're getting a Vtwin chopper with a huge rear tire, ridiculous rake, crate motor, and crhome all over the place. Then you pick your color, wheels, and some bolt-ons to make it custom. I know there are codes, best practices, availability and price of materials, and a shitton of other things to consider, but is that really the best you can do for a long-term estate for your family?

7/24/2013 2:10:15 AM

Thanks for all the comments on the power.

I am probably looking at either a 6500 watt or 10000 watt honda generator, or if I can find a Generac 17500 without the panel I would go with that.

Yes on primary/secondary panel....secondary panel will have room circuits on it.


No homebrewing here....not really a beer drinker.....but now I need to think about my workshop though....

David0603 your right about the garage door...


Igor....This is a custom home in the fact that my wife and I started from scratch and did the initial design....we did not go off a builders plan and then choose 'options'.....I am sure the house seems like a builder's spec model to some, but we chose a Williamsburg style look because we like that. We did a lot of thinking about the here and now and also will this design fit us in 15 years with teenagers. Appreciate the comments.

7/24/2013 5:34:35 AM

Is it too early to nominate for "Thread of the Year"

7/24/2013 2:07:22 PM

Quote :

"Locks in place, so not sure if you'd be able to get back in after the fact. "

Quote :

"David0603 your right about the garage door... "

I don't think this is true. I was having problems with my garage door sensors and I had to open and close it manually for a while. It wasn't that big of a deal. It didn't lock in place either up or down. The door even has a key on it that you can use to lock it in the down position for security. I don't see much of a point in spending money on something that is unlikely to be used when it isn't too much of an inconvience to do it the manual way.

7/25/2013 8:55:02 AM

^ all depends on the door and opener your getting, and also some doors can be really heavy (especially insulated 16ft doors)

We are going to have a 9'x8' and a 16'x8' Clopay Gallery insulated steel door with Arch 1 glass with grills with a liftmaster chain driven opener....While belt drivens are quieter, they dont handle heavier weights long term as well, and seeing as there are no rooms above...noise isnt an issue.

7/25/2013 10:47:14 AM

Quote :

"I don't see much of a point in spending money on something that is unlikely to be used"

I use it multiple times a day every day.
I didn't grow up with a garage but it's especially nice to have the opener when its cold/rainy/etc

7/25/2013 11:54:26 AM

Quote :

"I don't think this is true. I was having problems with my garage door sensors and I had to open and close it manually for a while. It wasn't that big of a deal. It didn't lock in place either up or down. The door even has a key on it that you can use to lock it in the down position for security. I don't see much of a point in spending money on something that is unlikely to be used when it isn't too much of an inconvience to do it the manual way."

Almost all newer openers essentially lock in place when closed (and if you force it open, you can cause some major damage to the motor). I'd assume a really cheap/low end motor may be forceable. I am in a new home and there is no way I could force it open without a jack. The house I grew up in (built in 1980s) had doors that one could force open, though it was quite the challenge.

Unless you are referring to unlatching the chain key and having a free-moving door (not using motor/chain, just moves freely along tracks), most newer doors aren't/shouldn't be forced open.

End of story: either put it on your generator if you'd like; or get a model with battery backup for like $30 more than without this. Or don't worry about it because it rarely happens. (I have battery backup)

Quote :

"^why couldn't you just pull the cord and open it manually?"

because the entire point of a backup battery system is to avoid coming home to no power during a storm and having to get out to go inside to pull the chain key. I mean, this is a classic FWP, but if you have $30 to spend and your area experiences outages regularly it may be money well spent.

[Edited on July 25, 2013 at 1:11 PM. Reason : .]

7/25/2013 1:08:18 PM

Quote :

"don't worry about it because it rarely happens"

7/25/2013 2:42:58 PM

Get the battery back up. Don't hook it to a generator, its not worth it. If your batter fails after three days because you still don't have power, you have a front door. Fwp.

7/28/2013 7:43:23 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=638175


Internet help

7/28/2013 11:18:46 PM

Quote :

"1 Navien tank-less (model NR240A LP Gas) with recirculation pump/plumbing loop"

i'm replacing my existing WH with that same one, except it runs on natural gas rather than propane.

[Edited on July 29, 2013 at 3:42 PM. Reason : ahh, actualy it's the NPE-240A]

7/29/2013 3:42:41 PM

Big day tomm...7 inspections!

Exhaust Hood Duct Rough In, Plumbing Rough in, Mechanical Rough in, Electrical rough in, Framing/Air Barrier, Braced Wall/Veneer, Prefab fireplace rough

7/30/2013 10:13:43 PM

maybe addressed earlier in the thread - are you having duct leakage testing done before everything is closed up?

7/31/2013 4:17:11 PM

generally house systems are low pressure enough that it shouldn't be a huge issue...if you spec a good seal class and it is applied properly. However, that being said, I'd still be on the fence myself and would consider a leak test even though I know it's overkill on a residential system. It would just depend on the cost.

Your best bet cost-wise probably is to have them plan for and include the cost to test something like 25-50% of the duct at random (witnessed and possibly portions chosen by you). Then based on some acceptance criteria, if they fail, they have to test the rest on their time. If they pass, they're good to go and they don't have to test any more. Either that or measure airflow at all supply diffusers and compare that to the total flow at the fan.

http://www.smacna.org/dalt/

[Edited on July 31, 2013 at 8:01 PM. Reason : ]

7/31/2013 7:57:54 PM

We passed our inspections withonlya fewminorcorrections required....tomm insulation gets installed

^we are doing the whole house leak test Monday before drywall goes up Tuesday...

7/31/2013 8:54:27 PM

good deal. I was signing witness on lots of duct leakage tests today

7/31/2013 9:38:54 PM

blocking for towel bars/hooks







third small panel on the right is for my generator

8/1/2013 10:08:19 PM

where's the low voltage?

8/1/2013 10:29:43 PM

I agree with the battery back-up for the garage door vs. putting it on the generator. Really all you need is enough juice to get your cars out into the driveway and close the door back.

8/2/2013 9:51:32 AM

custom home...and you use those one piece tubs? I never understood that.

That said, I like the home other than that.

8/2/2013 12:50:30 PM

You are an idiot

8/2/2013 12:55:07 PM

I'm serious...I'm looking for houses now...and I just think most of them don't offer what I consider a decent bathtub experience for most americans now.

8/2/2013 12:56:54 PM

So you want to buy a home based on an aspect that you may use 5-6 times a year, max?

8/2/2013 1:01:55 PM

Srsly, just get a hot tub if you really want that "experience"

8/2/2013 1:05:57 PM

^ this

8/2/2013 1:07:26 PM

I like to bath in pure bliss.

That said, a custom shower is just fine.

8/2/2013 3:37:32 PM

Computerguy.....you need to think before you type.

Cost is a factor in building a home....as is functionality.

The hall bathroom upstairs is for our kids...we didn't want tile there as it is harder to maintain with young kids.

The master shower has a vinyl base with tile and glass.

The master tub has heated air bubbles but no jets and has a tiled surround. The average person should not put in a jetted tub unless they will use it a min of 2-3 times per week as if they sit they breed bacteria in the system..

Wait till you see the finished product

8/2/2013 10:38:25 PM

I like the project thus far except that you defaced such a pretty 2x4 with numbers and attempted to use it as a foot ruler. Seriously, you should invest in a proper ruler and give the trees back the 2x4...

jk

8/3/2013 6:02:58 PM

Hahaha that gave me a good laugh

8/3/2013 9:08:49 PM