^it is exciting, but also very stressful

ready to pour concrete now!

Garage: (structural slab)





basement:



My future workshop:

6/15/2013 11:51:15 AM

concrete poured...

next steps

Tuesday: concrete cure
Wed: lumber delivered and start framing
Thurs: install steel beam in basement
Mon: trusses arrive

6/17/2013 4:57:17 PM

So is anyone still care about this thread? Figured I would ask before continuing on.....
I have tons more pics, but need to upload

6/23/2013 6:30:15 PM

I'm following it. Don't have much need to comment.

6/23/2013 6:55:45 PM

Yes please

6/23/2013 7:24:29 PM

I check it everytime it's at the top

6/23/2013 7:52:40 PM

ok so here goes more:

Initial Lumber drop:





Starting to frame the basement:





First Floor structure:



More work:



My future workshop:



MY cuties!!!



First Floor Framing from Saturday:






Another lumber drop today, roof trusses on wed, roof on by friday! going to be a HOT week out there

6/24/2013 6:25:12 AM

I will also say, keep posting, I'm watching it.

6/24/2013 8:18:47 PM

never seen an osb floor joist. is that common practice? better run your low voltage wires now!

6/24/2013 8:22:04 PM

They are an engineered joist, called an I Joist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-joist

The a dvantage of I-joists is they will not bow, crown, twist, cup, check or split as would a dimensional piece of lumber. I-joists' dimensional soundness and little or no shrinkage help eliminate squeaky floors.

[Edited on June 24, 2013 at 9:02 PM. Reason : typo]

6/24/2013 9:01:49 PM

I check this thread frequently as well. Just haven't had time to comment.

6/25/2013 12:38:26 PM

keep up the good work panthersny. I check this thread about once per week. Things are looking good so far. I know this has got to be exciting for you and your family.

6/25/2013 6:11:57 PM

Happy to know folks are tracking :-)



Future Kitchen



Family Room



Family room looking towards the front door



basement and first floor



sill plate




starting to foam areas....need to go back and redo some areas, applying this stuff in 95deg with 100% humidity sucks!

6/26/2013 6:23:54 AM

Friday - finish framing
Saturday - prep roof trusses
Monday - raise the roof
Tuesday - ply the roof
Wed - start paper/shingle

6/28/2013 2:31:28 PM

that place looks huge, what is the sq footage going to be?

6/28/2013 5:35:47 PM

Quote :

"Ok so specs: 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, 4443 finished finished sq ft, 1799 unfinished sq ft. Screened in porch, 12x23 blue stone patio, 3 car garage, 6.5 acres with creek on back edge of property feeding into local reservoir."

6/28/2013 8:48:19 PM

woohoo current house under contract to sell/close 15 Aug with rent back to 30 Sept!!!!

90 day push to complete!

6/29/2013 4:43:34 PM

masterbedroom



trusses

7/9/2013 7:16:24 AM

looking good!

7/9/2013 12:52:27 PM

Is there a reason you went with such a generic house design? (genuinely curious, not trying to be an ass) Or do you just prefer the neo-federal style?

7/9/2013 6:52:23 PM

^ I am curious too.

That is a big freaking house though!

7/10/2013 11:47:58 AM

I wondered that too, but I think some people just actually enjoy that style of house. I'm sure some people wouldn't dig a lot of the styles of house I like so it's whatever floats your boat when you're building your own I guess

7/10/2013 1:28:01 PM

shrug, its generally popular for a reason.

7/10/2013 3:35:12 PM

^Cheap to build...which is why the tract-builders love them

7/10/2013 5:42:00 PM

I think cheap to build has a lot to do with why it became popular and has stayed popular. A lot of people just don't have the interest to spend money on a more unique and architecturally custom exterior vs the interior which they see as more valuable to them. And I can totally understand that 100%. If we ever build, I'll spend a lot of detail time on the exterior but I know that is not desirable to everyone.

We bought used though and I am not a fan of the exterior of our current house, but there were no existing homes in our area that had a style I really liked and also ticked the rest of the boxes so on a used home I had to concede that aspect and just focus on interior functionality and the ability for me to do a lot of work to the interior to get it up to where we wanted it aesthetically.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 10:25 AM. Reason : ]

7/11/2013 10:17:48 AM

Why would you spend so much time on the exterior when you are inside of your house most of the time?

7/11/2013 2:57:54 PM

I would say the combo of having an aesthetically pleasing house and re-sale value is a pretty good reason.

I mean...don't go nuts...but not everyone wants cookie cutter.

7/11/2013 3:24:05 PM

^^ I love architecture and design inside and out so like I said I am probably in a minority here. But, a very architecturally crafted exterior is tied in to a great interior. Some of my favorite interiors of houses couldn't exist like they are/were without an artistically crafted exterior. In my opinion only getting part of the puzzle if focus is only on the inside like so many houses are. Houses that put an emphasis on both are on another level, and it is noticeable on the inside. Of course, it costs $$$ to do it which is why many people take that kind of attitude and just don't worry much about the exterior.

Lighting is a HUGE factor that is improved greatly by a house that had tons of time spent on the inside and out. But in general, why do people spend money on their lawn, or a motorcycle, or a boat, or a vacation house they visit twice a year? Lots of people spend money on things they utilize or interact with a lot less than the outside of their house.

That being said, this house will be a great house and it was clear lots of detail was put into the quality of construction which is awesome. That is also something that gets overlooked too often.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 4:15 PM. Reason : ]

7/11/2013 3:55:11 PM

sorry for the delayed response...its been a hectic week on the project (and selling the house work and real work and kids!!)

We wanted to go with a more classic old williamsburg style (we are in VA, near historical Fredericksburg, love the old classic style, and were trying to minimize additional costs wrt what else we are doing on the property).

My wife and I did our original design, then worked with the drafter to refine, then the builder and all of use tweaked additional details. We really wanted to go with an all stone/brick, but that was too cost prohibitive. If we had gone that route we would have done some additional shaping. Your right that the exterior shape/detail lends a lot to how the inside will shape up. We also (both being engineers) wanted a very simple to make strong house. I have been through 13 hurricanes (including Hurricane Andrew in Ft. Lauderdale growing up) and numeorous other severe weather events that we wanted to put some lessons into this design. Lots of straps and other security items have gone into the build that most would never see.

To each their own on style. We also wanted to make sure we had no wasted rooms/spaces in our house and I think we accomplished that also.

Roof going on:


fireplace:


sunroom entrance:


window in kitchen:



screened in porch



[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 5:19 PM. Reason : ]

7/11/2013 5:16:57 PM

yeah, I think all the extra engineering-side design that went into it is pretty awesome. I would do a lot of the same stuff (engineer in the construction industry here). With that plus the exterior architectural stuff I think I'd probably price us out of a reasonably priced house for us for awhile

Would definitely love to build custom myself as even our house I am not very satisfied with design-wise. We've done a lot to it but still.

[Edited on July 11, 2013 at 6:08 PM. Reason : ]

7/11/2013 6:04:44 PM

If I were going to design/build my own home, it would probably have to be about 1,000 or less SF, else I couldn't afford it Build to last.

7/11/2013 6:31:06 PM

that sunroom will be awesome

7/11/2013 8:39:37 PM

I'm liking the foam sheathing...I wish more people understood the value in a well-insulated house.

7/11/2013 9:53:23 PM

agreed.

7/11/2013 9:53:56 PM

what insulation on the interior have you decided to go with? I've been pretty intrigued with recycled denim insulation for sound insulation environments and wondered if you had any plans to do some sound proofing anywhere in the house?

7/11/2013 10:56:03 PM

I would love spray-in insulation... but talk about screwed if you want to make electrical/plumbing changes in the future.

7/12/2013 9:31:31 AM

depends on open or closed cell. I would imagine closed cell would be a nightmare trying to run anything later. Between interior walls and a crawl space or basement/attic access to different floors there are typically available options though. If you plan ahead, there should be hardly anything you would be required to run up/down in exterior walls later that couldn't be accomplished using a path of lesser resistance I would think.

7/12/2013 9:42:17 AM

True, but no amount of planning/thought ever negates every single, "aww fuck, why didn't I think about that?" twenty years later.

7/12/2013 9:48:14 AM

agreed with that, but it's tough to worry about the unknowns that will pop up 20 years down the road because they will always be there.

7/12/2013 10:51:45 AM

fuck it, just run fiber throughout the house.

7/12/2013 3:10:04 PM

We have sound proof insulation going in between the kids rooms and between their bathroom and our room.

Fun aspect of building a custom home: got to walk with the cabinet guys and review and validate the layouts, and spent time with the HVAC folks locating all the vents today. So glad Sara and I have talked about what we want and room layouts as there were a number of good catches that are easy to do now, but cost money later to redo...very much enjoying this process. HVAC install begins Saturday, Plumbing mid-week, Electrical next week and maybe in 3 weeks drywall!!

7/12/2013 4:57:20 PM

galvanized duct all the way to the diffusers?

[Edited on July 12, 2013 at 5:10 PM. Reason : ]

7/12/2013 5:00:50 PM

^^You may consider adding return registers in rooms and/or bedrooms that tend to have doors closed a lot. I learned that from a custom home builder I know. It helps with air flow obviously, but more importantly air quality.

Quote :

"True, but no amount of planning/thought ever negates every single, "aww fuck, why didn't I think about that?" twenty years later."

To negate this, smarter contractors are running cables in plastic conduit prior to spraying the foam. Of course there's an added cost, but it minimizes the invasiveness of running additional wire/cable in the future.

7/12/2013 9:16:25 PM

Yes/no.... in some areas we are doing soft insulated ducts for sound purposes....

We are not putting any units in the attic so no ducts running outside the controlled area

7/12/2013 9:22:30 PM

gotcha. How many units and are you doing subzoning within the unit or not? (sorry bit of an HVAC nerd)

with unlimited money to build a custom house I would utilize something like Trane's ComfortLink system. I've never actually priced it though so I am sure it is $Texas but it would be nice.

7/13/2013 8:05:36 AM

Zone #1: Dual Fuel
-- Carrier (59TN6A060V17-1) 96% AFUE, 2-Stage / Variable-Speed LP gas Furnace
-- Carrier (CNPVP3717ATA) Matching Dual Fuel Evaporator Coil
-- Carrier (25HNB530A003) Heat-Pump 15+ SEER 2.5 TONS
-- EWC (UZC-4) Electronic Zone Damper system with three (3) zones:
• Damper Zone #1 – Basement
• Damper Zone #2 – 1St Floor
• Damper Zone #3 – In-Law Suite
-- Three (3) Honeywell (TH832OU1008) Dual-Fuel Programmable Thermostats
-- One (1) RenewAire™ Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) (Model # EV300)

Zone #2: Heat Pump
-- Carrier (FV4CNF002T00) Variable Speed Air Handler
-- Carrier (KFCEH0801N08) Matching 8Kw Aux. Heater
-- Carrier (25HNB518A003) Heat Pump, 15+ Seer, 1.5 Tons,
-- Carrier (KFCEH0801N08) Matching 8Kw Aux. Heater
-- One (1) Honeywell (TH622OD1028) Programmable Thermostat 25HNB518A003

7/13/2013 9:53:15 AM

Definitely nice. That should be a good system.

7/13/2013 10:43:58 AM

Thanks...a lot of planning

7/13/2013 2:32:17 PM

gg Borka

thanks for keeping us updated, this has been really interesting to follow

7/13/2013 3:05:07 PM

Thanks Begonias

Roof on (still have to finish small details)


Fireplace vent (gas logs)



Laying out the kitchen to make sure the design we did actually fits!







Full fridge and full freezer

7/13/2013 4:07:57 PM