Building a high performance home(dan.bulwinkle.net)
dan.bulwinkle.net
Building a high performance home
https://dan.bulwinkle.net/blog/building-a-high-performance-home/
22 comments
I realize this is a little mean, but if you fashion yourself "competent" in white-collar things it has no or negative relation to a building project, at least in the US (I realize trade culture is different around the world). You need to be a bulldog, and a competent and skilled one in all manor of things, to drive a project like this. Otherwise, that is what you are paying the general contractor to do, and that is the most important person on your job - beyond the architect, and especially vanity consultants. This person made a huge mistake in not being 100% comfortable with their builder before embarking.
Most of this heartache could be avoided with two principles in my opinion: 1) do the harder thing (i.e. pour concrete), 2) build as close to commercial code as you can afford (i.e. find a commercial builder if you are chasing specs like this, a mechanical company to do this vanity HVAC work, etc).
Most of this heartache could be avoided with two principles in my opinion: 1) do the harder thing (i.e. pour concrete), 2) build as close to commercial code as you can afford (i.e. find a commercial builder if you are chasing specs like this, a mechanical company to do this vanity HVAC work, etc).
absolutely agree. Software folks, such as myself, often think that we are generally smarter than others, can figure out/learn anything, and that the software way of working is the obviously correct one. Beside the project management, which the GC is invaluable for, it is nearly impossible to know enough about building and all of the related technologies, codes, and processes to end up with a home that doesn't have at least a handful of issues, as someone who hasn't worked in the industry for many years.
If you want to build a home, try building a shed. Learn about code, how to keep out water, how to insulate, how to condition the air (if necessary). You will learn how many ways there are to achieve the "best" result, how many small skills that you will need to learn, and how many products are out there that market themselves as the best.
Building a home, even if you just plan it and oversee the build, is the equivalent of a 2-5 year software project.
My advice would be to decide the things that you absolutely must have, especially the ones that will be unique to your build and communicate why you want them to a good GC. Work with an architect, a builder, etc. Let your GC manage the network of trust necessary to get a project like this done. Or pay up and find a boutique builder that builds exactly what you want.
If you want to build a home, try building a shed. Learn about code, how to keep out water, how to insulate, how to condition the air (if necessary). You will learn how many ways there are to achieve the "best" result, how many small skills that you will need to learn, and how many products are out there that market themselves as the best.
Building a home, even if you just plan it and oversee the build, is the equivalent of a 2-5 year software project.
My advice would be to decide the things that you absolutely must have, especially the ones that will be unique to your build and communicate why you want them to a good GC. Work with an architect, a builder, etc. Let your GC manage the network of trust necessary to get a project like this done. Or pay up and find a boutique builder that builds exactly what you want.
Would love to do a project like this. Unfortunately not viable in city Centers
> I’ve never seen such incompetence in the tech industry, so perhaps that’s why I was so naive.
I get the sense that real estate in general is an extraordinarily mixed bag with far larger deviations than I’m used. Currently trying to buy a home and some of the solicitors that supposedly do this for a living come across like it’s their first time communicating with a client
> I’ve never seen such incompetence in the tech industry, so perhaps that’s why I was so naive.
I get the sense that real estate in general is an extraordinarily mixed bag with far larger deviations than I’m used. Currently trying to buy a home and some of the solicitors that supposedly do this for a living come across like it’s their first time communicating with a client
>I get the sense that real estate in general is an extraordinarily mixed bag with far larger deviations than I’m used.
Most people who work in professions that require doing more than the bare minimum in order to not get a bad performance review and eventually let go from their company will be shocked by what happens in real estate at all levels (building, buying, selling).
Most people who work in professions that require doing more than the bare minimum in order to not get a bad performance review and eventually let go from their company will be shocked by what happens in real estate at all levels (building, buying, selling).
Resubmission/glitch? Timestamp says I posted this an hour ago, but this comment is like 3 days old
Probably second chance queue. Sometimes the mods silently resubmit an old thread into new if they feel it didn’t get the traction it deserved the first time around. Imo it’s pretty annoying and these sorts of threads should be flagged as such.
I run electrical work for a living, I could easily GC my own house build. I’d still pay an architect and a general contractor if I was going to have one built.
Also, the incompetence the author experienced is because virtually all of the skilled and smart tradespeople are doing commercial work, or they’re booked a year out.
Also, the incompetence the author experienced is because virtually all of the skilled and smart tradespeople are doing commercial work, or they’re booked a year out.
My family undertook a major renovation where we basically took down everything above the foundation and started from scratch. I went down many of the exact same rabbit holes as the OP and the results ended up being very similar. My takeaway was that the majority of the people working in the home building trades are very closed-minded and are terrified of doing anything that veers too far from the way homes have been build in the US since the middle of the 19th century.
It doesn’t help that when something goes wrong on a new home the default seems to be to find a lawyer and try and go after the builder.
> I’ve never seen such incompetence in the tech industry, so perhaps that’s why I was so naive.
How
How
This is very nice! I love passive houses, although much of the advice is for the US, not for Europe.
Something really nice I saw recently at a friend's house in Amsterdam, it's a Qettle, a faucet which is able to dispense boiling water instantly! Fully electric, using induction. And I was thinking about this recently, because where I live in Portugal, for the shower and the kitchen's faucet, share a boiler, which it's in the kitchen. If the faucet didn't need it, the heating could be way closer to the shower, making my shower hotter!
Something really nice I saw recently at a friend's house in Amsterdam, it's a Qettle, a faucet which is able to dispense boiling water instantly! Fully electric, using induction. And I was thinking about this recently, because where I live in Portugal, for the shower and the kitchen's faucet, share a boiler, which it's in the kitchen. If the faucet didn't need it, the heating could be way closer to the shower, making my shower hotter!
This seems like hell (and a control freaks dream).
To be responsible for the design and look of an entire house… I can’t imagine anything more stressful. Especially while having to balance it with a budget
To be responsible for the design and look of an entire house… I can’t imagine anything more stressful. Especially while having to balance it with a budget
> For final grading I saw the excavator trucking out what looked like native soil and trucking in rocky soil.
They sell the topsoil and replace it with cheap (rocky) fill. Every. Time.
They sell the topsoil and replace it with cheap (rocky) fill. Every. Time.
I'm unable to discern what the OP means there, but any slab on grade (including driveways and pathways) is only as good as the base underneath so that absolutely should be well compressed aggregate and you may have to pull out a lot of soil to fit it if conditions dictate. If anything is below grade, there should be a permeable drain pipe below the bottom grade at the footing, and drain aggregate running the vertical to prevent buoyancy as much as infiltration. If they tried to manage sub-grade moisture with the top soil, that is a disaster. The rest of the final grade may be specific to the drainage plan and geography, it is possible the soil needed amendment.
Use structural insulated panels or insulated concrete forms. Both are vastly superior to stick framing.
I'm not sure why americans are apparently allergic to stucco vs expensive siding - it's just much better product and imho better look and no concerns with seams etc
If you want to realize that the USA is a republic, building will teach you quickly. Normatives and standards are localized.
Stucco is the default in the Southwest, especially in the temperate climates. Most lower density commercial nationally will use some kind of EIFS (think fast food establishment, drug store etc).
In places with more weather, it's not easy to get right and the residential crews aren't always abreast of EIFS that has well designed moisture management. I had to pull the entire failed stucco system off my current dwelling and replace it. There is no easy way to do that, and putting up a new one is also extremely labor intensive.
Stucco is the default in the Southwest, especially in the temperate climates. Most lower density commercial nationally will use some kind of EIFS (think fast food establishment, drug store etc).
In places with more weather, it's not easy to get right and the residential crews aren't always abreast of EIFS that has well designed moisture management. I had to pull the entire failed stucco system off my current dwelling and replace it. There is no easy way to do that, and putting up a new one is also extremely labor intensive.
Stucco is not the default even here in NorCal where climate is as good as it gets... I don't think it's so much to do with "republic" but more with the fact that any given county permit office seems to be allowed to do its own thing. Evidence to that is even neighboring counties in my state have wildly different standards. Wrt to stucco though I think the technology is fairly standard and it's just the level of workmanship of contractors is so low that you might as well pay $$$ for relatively idiot proof product
The building code is legislated and enforced by the local elected governments, so, yes.
The classic Western stucco gig is to put down two layers of building paper over the cladding, styrofoam, chicken wire, a cementitious brown coat and one or more cementitious skim coats. This is really inadequate for anywhere with snow freeze/thaw cycles or enough rain and high humidity, but does fine in climates like central and southern CA, AZ, NV elevation dependent. You can improve this slightly by specifying different foam and skim product but to really deal with climate you are getting into manufacturer's product line, and it gets both technical and labor intensive where you are looking at an EIFS with proper moisture management.
The classic Western stucco gig is to put down two layers of building paper over the cladding, styrofoam, chicken wire, a cementitious brown coat and one or more cementitious skim coats. This is really inadequate for anywhere with snow freeze/thaw cycles or enough rain and high humidity, but does fine in climates like central and southern CA, AZ, NV elevation dependent. You can improve this slightly by specifying different foam and skim product but to really deal with climate you are getting into manufacturer's product line, and it gets both technical and labor intensive where you are looking at an EIFS with proper moisture management.
I can’t speak for the whole (pretty large and varied) continent, but I once lived in a wet area that used stucco siding extensively in the 80s, and it became very susceptible to rot and mold.
Is it possible to get a commercial builder to build residence? Standards seem much higher in commercial construction.
If just 1% of all software developers are writing near-flawless code to spec, that's still about 287,000 people in the world. They're relatively accessible and the chances of you being able to work with one on a short timetable is actually pretty high.
By comparison: GC's, architects, builders at that level are far, far more rare by the numbers + highly localized + are usually mired in many years-long projects simultaneously. They do not need your business, are paid whatever price they ask, and are usually booked far in advance.
Even so! If you even get the hint that someone in that situation is willing to work with you it will save you far more time and money to wait for that person than to try going with someone available that you feel alright about. If they're readily available, it's because they are not in demand. Think about why that might be. If you can afford to, waiting for the person you actually want to work with is the better option every. single. time.