Find a tree, use twine, and wrap it around the base of one; within 30-50 years, the 2x4 will be returned to the Forrest and you can claim that you were eco-friendly. win win... unless the 2x4 kills the host tree with mold or rot... but who cares, that's 30-50 years in the future! Zombies would be the dominate species on the food chain by then.

8/4/2013 4:46:49 PM

Started drywall today.

Septic field is going in also.

County inspector said our house was the most insulated he had ever seen.

We have sound insulation between all the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, and into the in-law suite.

Looking into the in-law suite (there is a closet behind the insulation to the left):






sound insulation on the sewer pipe:




even sealed between studs and the floor










caught some rework required....can you spot it?




Septic solids tank:



start of distrobution lines:

8/6/2013 1:42:52 PM

since when are the top/bottom plates for frames laid down? I thought they were always vertical and laminated or had blocking? And your top plate in your frame isn't supported by the jack stud... though, from several pictures ITT, it looks like that's how it was done... maybe I just can't see them correctly...

like this door frame... are the jack studs supporting the header? doesn't look like it. I zoomed and enhanced and didn't see this support:



[Edited on August 6, 2013 at 1:54 PM. Reason : .]

8/6/2013 1:51:55 PM

The jack studs are supporting the header....remember this is a 9 foot ceiling basement...it looks funny....and lighting isnt good (washed out)....

8/6/2013 2:50:35 PM

Jack Studs are supporting the header, then spacers used to standardize the frame opening.
/what I see

8/6/2013 2:56:29 PM

woohoo passed septic inspection today!

8/6/2013 10:04:08 PM

Oh, I see what you guys are saying. Never seen it done like that.

8/7/2013 8:57:04 AM

So technically does it matter if the spacers are being supported or not? Could you have done it the way he suggests he thought was "normal" and still passed inspection? Why not?

8/7/2013 9:55:46 AM

It should, as that's how I've always seen it and never saw it not pass. Any advantage for doing it with "unsupported" spacers? Seems that it would actually be a weaker frame...

8/7/2013 11:53:56 AM

The spacer isn't seeing any load, so the nails are fine to hold it.

Now, That isn't the way I have normally seen it done either, but I can't see why it would be a problem.

My thought is that is if the header was directly framing the opening, then there would be a large space above it, that could have then been framed normally, but this way they do the header on top, and then frame out below it with the spacer to standardize the opening.

8/7/2013 1:03:15 PM

Siding has begun



so has drywalling

Stairs to basement:



Arch in hall



Looking towards sunroom



master bedroom



upstairs foyer



master bathroom

8/11/2013 10:42:57 PM

Looking good panthersny. I like the arches.

8/12/2013 9:21:56 AM

why vinyl? given the pricepoint this house is likely at, it seems odd to go with something that's typically synonymous with "starter home"

8/12/2013 9:36:20 AM

we will have stone/vinyl on the house.

We wanted to go all brick/stone but $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ is what pushed us away

8/12/2013 9:53:47 AM

I predict you'll be redoing the vinyl in <5 years, either to all brick or real siding

8/12/2013 10:03:14 AM

I assumed the vinyl was just for the back and sides of the house and that you guys would be going all brick/stone in the front. Did you consider hardiboard instead of vinyl?

8/12/2013 10:03:58 AM

I am looking to someday replace the vinyl with either brick or another product.

Because I most likely will go brick/stone, but couldn't afford it right now, I didnt' want hardiplank as it is more destructive to remove than vinyl.

8/12/2013 10:27:24 AM

eff the haters, the house looks awesome.

8/12/2013 12:06:21 PM

oh i wasn't hating, i was genuinely curious.

that seems reasonable though. makes sense to go all in on structural stuff now and replace something that's pretty straightforward to do like vinyl later.

8/12/2013 1:37:13 PM

I, however, will hate on the vinyl on behalf of colangus.

8/12/2013 4:33:52 PM

^please go back to chit chat

8/12/2013 10:46:26 PM

Quote :

"I am looking to someday replace the vinyl with either brick or another product. Because I most likely will go brick/stone, but couldn't afford it right now, I didnt' want hardiplank as it is more destructive to remove than vinyl. "

Correct me if I'm wrong as it's been a few years since I've been in new construction, but in order to have a brick/stone veneer you need to have a wider foundation wall, correct? The front foundation wall is usually 12" for brick/stone and the sides are usually 8" for siding. That extra 4" is the ledge the brick/stone sits on. So won't you have to add to the foundation if you want to change from siding to brick/stone?

Don't take that as a dig against the vinyl siding, as I don't mind it. Just curious.

8/13/2013 6:55:35 PM

I have the larger ledge....I am stoning the foundation with a ledge stone also......smart question

8/13/2013 7:03:21 PM

how'd they warp a drywall around an arc for the archway?

8/13/2013 11:35:46 PM

They sell 1/4" or 3/8" drywall that you can moisten and bend.
Dealt with this 8 years ago when I used to do construction.

8/14/2013 12:30:36 AM

Quote :

"Correct me if I'm wrong as it's been a few years since I've been in new construction, but in order to have a brick/stone veneer you need to have a wider foundation wall, correct? The front foundation wall is usually 12" for brick/stone and the sides are usually 8" for siding. That extra 4" is the ledge the brick/stone sits on. So won't you have to add to the foundation if you want to change from siding to brick/stone? "

I've seen cases where they've bolted a bigass piece of angle iron to the base of the foundation wall and built the brick up from there, but I have no idea if that meets code...

[Edited on August 14, 2013 at 8:41 PM. Reason : ]

8/14/2013 8:40:41 PM

our final schedule...going to be crazy!

• Trim next week: 8/19-8/23

• Master tile: 8/22

• Interior paint and drywall point up: 8/26-9/3

• Start drilling well: 8/26

• Finish siding: 8/16

• Start exterior stone:8/26

• Vinyl flooring: 9/4

• Install cabinets: 9/5

• Measure granite:9/6

• Electrical final:9/6-9/9

• Appliances:9/9

• Plumbing Final: 9/10-9/12

• Second trim/rails: 9/12-9/13

• Install granite tops:09/13

• Finish plumbing final:9/16

• Hardwood flooring:9/16

• Final drywall point up/sand: 9/17-9/18

• Rough clean/final paint:9/20-9/23

• Final Clean:9/24

• Final county inspections: 9/25

• Walk thru with homeowner: 9/25

• Final punch out: 9/25-9/30

8/15/2013 1:16:11 PM

Nice!

When's the house warming party?!

8/16/2013 6:14:39 PM

Just one question: Did they insulate any of the heat/ac ducting? With a house that big, wrapping the ducts with even a thin-walled aluminum coated duct wrap can make a HUGE difference on the efficiency of the heat and cooling output.

It's super cheap to do up front, but a fucking nightmare to retrofit. Since you've drywalled now, it doesn't really matter, just curious. Normally most builders will only insulate ducting in cold zones (attics, garage, crawlspace etc), but doing it inside hot zones can be worthwhile in larger homes.

8/17/2013 1:17:24 AM

Agreed. Hopefully they insulated at least the supply duct everywhere. Beyond better efficiency, you can still end up sweating on the ducts in the wall cavities too over time if they aren't insulated since those cavities aren't directly conditioned and you don't know if you are having any moisture ingress into the space from outside humidity.

Unless supply ductwork is in a fully and directly conditioned space, I just about always insulate it. Return ductwork in a wall-cavity is questionable depending on the setup on whether it is economical.

Really similar rules to dealing with ductwork above a dropped ceiling in a commercial building.

[Edited on August 17, 2013 at 7:36 AM. Reason : ]

8/17/2013 7:32:27 AM

This has been one of my favorite threads on here ever. Thanks panthersny!

8/24/2013 10:22:01 AM

More pics to come soon.....its been busy for us.

Tomm I go order seed/straw and landscaping....

^^yes some wrapping done....no hvac runs in the attic also

8/24/2013 10:54:22 PM

hit 15 gals/min @ 240 ft









marble

8/25/2013 7:50:42 AM

That's a pretty good strike with your well. I've seen plenty of folks have to go 500-600 ft. to only get 1-2 gpm.

8/25/2013 7:03:38 PM

STUPID RAIN GO AWAY!!!! Making it painful for me to work on my grading in preps for a long weekend of landscape work....may have to push things off till after we are in at this rate because if I can't get things done this weekend then I am out of free time....squeezing an 8 day trip to Japan before our finish date is not helping the stress level!!!

Finally started painting today...1st prime coat on, point up in the am because it turned so humid by 3pm the paint still wasnt dry!


dining room



looking into the sunroom (still need to finish some shadow boxing...ran out of material) I love installing trim except keystone crown

8/27/2013 11:15:01 PM

Looking good bro. That sunroom is awesome. Can't believe you you are leaving the country at the point in the construction

8/28/2013 10:38:58 AM

Yeah its Sucks but have to go fix a broken ship....gotta pay the bills

8/28/2013 10:46:23 PM

^ 10-4. I thought you were taking a vacation

8/30/2013 9:52:24 AM

got 125 cu yards of compost delivered today, spent from 6am-5pm working the yard...back at it @ 6am tomm....got a bobcat and a 30hp tractor with a 62" tiller on the back....rain is killing our schedule now

8/30/2013 9:33:04 PM

This thread is awesome. Hope the rain doesn't set you back too much!

9/4/2013 9:26:19 AM

no rain all weekend!!! yay!!!





stone starting

9/4/2013 12:20:15 PM

Very nice! Just curious, where about is this house?

9/4/2013 9:28:14 PM

nothing better than spending a day spreading dirt/mulch with a tractor.

9/5/2013 9:40:15 AM

^^

Quote :

"in VA, near historical Fredericksburg"

9/5/2013 10:01:48 AM

LOL, Frednecks.

9/5/2013 10:57:21 AM

Quote :

"HISTORICAL"

9/5/2013 11:07:26 AM

^^^^ or 4

[Edited on September 5, 2013 at 11:43 AM. Reason : ^]

9/5/2013 11:43:25 AM

more pics

prepping sidewalk:






rear patio:




Started cabinents...long way to go with detail work:

9/5/2013 10:05:33 PM

finished doing my own landscaping today!

9/7/2013 7:39:11 PM

[Edited on September 7, 2013 at 8:26 PM. Reason : post from iPad]

9/7/2013 8:24:47 PM