First time homeowner garage
- Thread starter tigerxj
- Start date
Nice project, and glad to see you are catching things in a timely manner that are not correct. I didn't read every word in the previous posts, so I may have missed this. Have you planned for an electrical generator?
No, we have pretty mild weather here. We don't really get snow or much ice, just the usual summer thunderstorms. I don't think We have lost power in the 4 years I've lived here, and I don't ever recall losing power for the two years I lived off campus in college here. Heck even in Asheville where I'm from they don't routinely install generators because it just isn't that common to lose power for more than a day or two.
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UnionMan
Well-known member
tigerxj - looks good. I recently just had a custom home built myself and have only been in it for a little over a month. It ended up being a 10 month process. I feel your pain with having to go around and double and triple check everything. In all seriousness its like babysitting grown adults. By the end of my home build everyone who worked on my home knew who I was. Not only because I was there every day I was off work but I reminded them that on the checks that I write my name is printed on and theirs is written by me, which can change is they piss me off. It went from the joy of having a custom 1 off home being built to why I didn't just buy an existing home. My 9 year old daughter reminded me that all the time. Its amazing home much they hear conversations and pick up things.
Good luck with everything and keep the pictures coming.
UnionMan
Good luck with everything and keep the pictures coming.
UnionMan
HemiRamOn22s
Well-known member
The reason for the 2x6 walls is two fold. Not only are they stronger but with the 2012 energy code you need the extra depth for the amount of insulation that you will need to put in the walls. I prefer doing closed cell spray foam and then fiberglass bat insulation behind it. Gives it an airtight seal for the air leakage test you are required to do now.
My dad enlightened me to this fact. Per code when the basement walls are supporting two floors then they have to be 2x6 lumber. So only 2x6 in the basement, 2x4 everywhere else. Would love to do spray foam but not in the budget. I'm hoping that when we do the basement I can afford that. Of course on the foundation walls they are 8" thick and of course backed by earth. I'm contemplating leaving some of the bare concrete in the game area and just cleaning it up a bit, maybe try to seal it or stain it. That area wouldn't have any outlets anyways. We'll see. I did do a little research on building science about mooney walls etc. I read that r18 in a 2x6 wall is only r13.5 due to thermal transfer through the studs. I have time to worry about that. Will probably go with a mini split or something. Basement won't need near as much tonnage as the main floor.
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Bib Overalls
Well-known member
In a basement you can use ridged closed cell foam next to the walls to abate the thermal transfer through studs. 1" = 5R. R13 batts in a 2x4 stud wall backed by R8 closed cell foam is R18.
You will save a bit on the studs and batts but it will cost you a bit more to get the additional performance.
I have been told metal studs are actually better than wood when it comes to heat transfer.
HemiRamOn22s
Well-known member
Just drop a few vents down from the first floor. You will be surprised by how cool it will stay down there.
Got our fireplace in. Electrical is basically wrapped up, hvac is just about done.
Don't mind the water. Chimney isn't capped yet. The fireplace will be a gas-lit wood-burning unit. This is my favorite type because it is the convenience of instant light, with the nostalgia of cracking and popping of real wood. I don't mind the cleaning, this is the type of fireplace I had as a kid.
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Don't mind the water. Chimney isn't capped yet. The fireplace will be a gas-lit wood-burning unit. This is my favorite type because it is the convenience of instant light, with the nostalgia of cracking and popping of real wood. I don't mind the cleaning, this is the type of fireplace I had as a kid.
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Finally got all my garage cabinets moved from our rental to the shop. Referencing the gladiator template earlier in the thread these *should* all fit with plenty of space for my bandsaw, drill press, table saw, and I'll probably store the chop saw and router table in cabinets until needed.
Unfortunately work has been at a standstill for the last 7 work days. We had inspection last Monday and framing failed because they were missing a 2'x3' piece of plywood as fire blocking in an inaccessible (when finished) portion of a crawl space. This of course meant we couldn't get insulation in last Wednesday as scheduled, and the inspector couldn't get back out till last Friday, which we passed. I'm told insulation will start tomorrow. I'm holding my breath. I think we will end up 6 weeks behind the contractors schedule. Not real pleased about that. I'm worried now we may not make it in prior to the first home game at Clemson.
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west_perf
Well-known member
Looks like it's coming along again. The mrs, and I gave you all a wave a few weeks back, we were camping up at Oconee (rained like hell pre-4th) and drove through Clemson/Gville/Columbia on the way back. She had never been upstate and thinks it's beautiful. Now I have her convinced to let me get a second place somewhere up there.
Also agree with you on the fireplace. Our current house doesn't have one (it's only good for a month or two down here anyways) but we will get a wood one for the next house. Love em.
Also agree with you on the fireplace. Our current house doesn't have one (it's only good for a month or two down here anyways) but we will get a wood one for the next house. Love em.
We were at my parents place on the north end of Keowee for the week before the fourth, I was just driving the 40 mins into work in Clemson. Oconee state park is just up the road from us. Glad y'all had a good time. It's a great spot, near the lakes, just a few hours to the beaches, mountains, ATL or CLT.
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Started on drywall today. We decided to go ahead and do the bonus room over the garage with ducts, drywall, mud taped finished and doors sealing the crawl spaces for $1300.
I guess it won't count towards finished space until we have flooring in it, but it will add about 300 sq ft to the total, bringing us close to 3000.
They were about 50% done with the upstairs bedrooms/bathrooms when I went by at lunch. I'm hopeful they'll finish hanging the 2nd floor today and can get started on the rest of the house. We do have vaulted ceilings which will require scaffolding but it also means fewer cuts and measuring. They are also using 4'x12' boards so that goes a little faster. Should be done by next Monday.
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I guess it won't count towards finished space until we have flooring in it, but it will add about 300 sq ft to the total, bringing us close to 3000.
They were about 50% done with the upstairs bedrooms/bathrooms when I went by at lunch. I'm hopeful they'll finish hanging the 2nd floor today and can get started on the rest of the house. We do have vaulted ceilings which will require scaffolding but it also means fewer cuts and measuring. They are also using 4'x12' boards so that goes a little faster. Should be done by next Monday.
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It's hard to take pictures of drywall. My attempts below
dining room
master bath
master bed
guest room
I've noticed these guys put tons of screws in, if you look close on some of the photos some sections of drywall have a screw every 2-3". That seems excessive to me but I don't have any experience with drywall. Hope I'm able to find a stud if I ever need to hang something!
All these pics were from yesterday. Hopefully the finished hanging drywall today and started mudding. We will be getting 3 coats of mud. Interior trim should start next week.
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I've noticed these guys put tons of screws in, if you look close on some of the photos some sections of drywall have a screw every 2-3". That seems excessive to me but I don't have any experience with drywall. Hope I'm able to find a stud if I ever need to hang something!
All these pics were from yesterday. Hopefully the finished hanging drywall today and started mudding. We will be getting 3 coats of mud. Interior trim should start next week.
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They are done with drywall hanging. Taping starts today. Lots of pics
Finally a garage shot. We are going somewhat minimal in the garage since most of my equipment will be in the shop, will have 4 overhead lights, I think we have 5 outlets in here, one on a dedicated circuit for the fridge.
front door view
dining room
great room from foyer, dining room to right
sunroom, dining to right, looking through great room.
kitchen
master bedroom
view from upstairs balcony
my daughters bedroom, walk-in storage to the right en suite bathroom next to that
en suite bathroom for my baby girl (this was one of my wife's requests) and the WIC to the right
my sons bedroom
another angle of the boy's room
bonus room over garage. IF we have a fourth, then this will be the shared room, boys if we have two, or the two youngest if we don't have any more boys.
it has a WIC to the right
And the hall bath
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Finally a garage shot. We are going somewhat minimal in the garage since most of my equipment will be in the shop, will have 4 overhead lights, I think we have 5 outlets in here, one on a dedicated circuit for the fridge.
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bonecrrusher
Well-known member
Looking good looks like you will have lots of shade at your house!
We do, obviously as high noon a good bit of sun, and a period on the late afternoon in the summer the sun is above the trees across the street so we get a little then. We saved as many trees as we could.
Neighbors on either side essentially clear cut to the property line, and it was no problem for 40 years while this lot sat empty. I even had the surveyors move the house over about 5' so save as many trees on the garage side of the house. The neighbor on that side is 80 something and a nice lady, but has an adult daughter in her 50s that lives with her because she has an autism-spectrum disorder. She's pretty functional but can't read social cues. First time we met her she told us she was upset we were cutting "all" the trees down (this was before we even owned the lot). Also told us she was not happy for us. So we tried to maintain as much barrier as possible on that side. My wife used to work with ahistorical children so we understand, she's pretty harmless. We'll eventually plant some more privacy trees, particularly in the back yard and by the garage/driveway. It doesn't help that their house is basically on the setback line, so they are only about 30' from us.
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dehumidifier thoughts
Any thoughts on dehumidifiers? I'm split between splurging for a high-end unit like a santa fe in the $1000-1200 range, versus a higher end residential unit in the $200-$300 range.
The basement will be insulated with R19, and we will eventually condition the space, though finishing the basement may be 8-10 years off. I'd hate to spend over a grand on big humidfier that is essentially an AC unit that doesn't cool, if I'm going to spend that or more down the road adding AC to the space.
It gets a little more complicated. We have a 5 ton HVAC unit that will be going in for the main and 2nd floor, which will be about 3000sq feet. The basement will take much less to cool than the upper floors, but I am afraid that at 3000' the 5ton unit will already be at the top of what it can handle. Thus I'm thinking we may consider mini-splits to cool the basement. I'd need a least a 2-zone since we have a bedroom/bathroom down there that is about 500sq ft combined, and the main basement area is about 800ft. This excludes the shop and storage area. Thus i'd probably need a 9-12k btu unit zone for the bedroom and 18-24k for the main basement area. This seems to put me in the $2-4K depending on what you go with. I think I could get away at the lower ranges for BTU because the basement will take a lot less energy to cool.
so, should I go with 1-2 smaller consumer dehumidifiers for the time being, or go with a bigger more efficient unit? The doors/windows will not likely be opened much due to the space being unfinished, so I dont think I'll have that frequent influx of warm, humid air creating condensate inside. Intermittently during football season we may actually have people sleeping down there.
Any thoughts on dehumidifiers? I'm split between splurging for a high-end unit like a santa fe in the $1000-1200 range, versus a higher end residential unit in the $200-$300 range.
The basement will be insulated with R19, and we will eventually condition the space, though finishing the basement may be 8-10 years off. I'd hate to spend over a grand on big humidfier that is essentially an AC unit that doesn't cool, if I'm going to spend that or more down the road adding AC to the space.
It gets a little more complicated. We have a 5 ton HVAC unit that will be going in for the main and 2nd floor, which will be about 3000sq feet. The basement will take much less to cool than the upper floors, but I am afraid that at 3000' the 5ton unit will already be at the top of what it can handle. Thus I'm thinking we may consider mini-splits to cool the basement. I'd need a least a 2-zone since we have a bedroom/bathroom down there that is about 500sq ft combined, and the main basement area is about 800ft. This excludes the shop and storage area. Thus i'd probably need a 9-12k btu unit zone for the bedroom and 18-24k for the main basement area. This seems to put me in the $2-4K depending on what you go with. I think I could get away at the lower ranges for BTU because the basement will take a lot less energy to cool.
so, should I go with 1-2 smaller consumer dehumidifiers for the time being, or go with a bigger more efficient unit? The doors/windows will not likely be opened much due to the space being unfinished, so I dont think I'll have that frequent influx of warm, humid air creating condensate inside. Intermittently during football season we may actually have people sleeping down there.
They should finish with siding today. The area of the dining room will be rock. They still have the rear deck area. The big gables will be board and batten, and the porch gable will be shake. All hardi products.
This is a few days old, they are done on the rear except the porch.
Interior trim carpenter started on steps and doors. They need to readdress the top tread, it's not level, noticeable just stepping on it.
I really hope we are in a few weeks before Oct 3, Clemson-Notre Dame, lot of people planning to stay with us.
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This is a few days old, they are done on the rear except the porch.
Interior trim carpenter started on steps and doors. They need to readdress the top tread, it's not level, noticeable just stepping on it.
I really hope we are in a few weeks before Oct 3, Clemson-Notre Dame, lot of people planning to stay with us.
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UnionMan
Well-known member
It looks like its coming along nicely. I ended up getting Hardie siding on my current home and I'm glad I spent the extra money. When people stop by my house something I commonly hear is "I just built recently myself but went the vinyl route and wish I spent extra for the Hardie."
UnionMan
UnionMan
west_perf
Well-known member
Looks great man, shouldn't be too much longer and you'll be chilling on that porch watching a football game.
Lawn update...one of the things I was afraid of will likely become reality. Bermuda and zoysia are probably our two most common grasses here. Unfortunately due to how far behind we are, we will have to seed the back yard with fescue because it's too late in the year for Bermuda seed to germinate and grow before winter. Fescue is beautiful but much more upkeep. Now it has me thinking about adding an irrigation system. We'd probably need 3 zones, landscaper quoted roughly $600-800/zone.
What are my options here? Should I forgo the irrigation and just plan on the fescue failing and reseeding with Bermuda. This is my "first" lawn. My first house was a townhome, and I spent very little of my own time and money on the lawn at our rental, no sense in it. Which means I don't have much experience. I would probably hire out the fertilizer/pre-emergent applications and aerating. But I'm still worried the fescue will fail. I stay pretty busy with work and the kids. Not sure I'll have much time to devote to a high maintenance lawn.
Or should I buck up and go ahead an install irrigation and plan on fescue?
I should mention we have pretty good sunlight in both front and rear, good for Bermuda but has potential to burn out the fescue. We will not have side grass, probably just mulch, but I'm also worried about transferring different types of grass back and forth...is that even a possibility?
We will have Bermuda sod in the front, hopefully Tifway 419, heard good things about it for our area.
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What are my options here? Should I forgo the irrigation and just plan on the fescue failing and reseeding with Bermuda. This is my "first" lawn. My first house was a townhome, and I spent very little of my own time and money on the lawn at our rental, no sense in it. Which means I don't have much experience. I would probably hire out the fertilizer/pre-emergent applications and aerating. But I'm still worried the fescue will fail. I stay pretty busy with work and the kids. Not sure I'll have much time to devote to a high maintenance lawn.
Or should I buck up and go ahead an install irrigation and plan on fescue?
I should mention we have pretty good sunlight in both front and rear, good for Bermuda but has potential to burn out the fescue. We will not have side grass, probably just mulch, but I'm also worried about transferring different types of grass back and forth...is that even a possibility?
We will have Bermuda sod in the front, hopefully Tifway 419, heard good things about it for our area.
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psychorugby
Well-known member
I'd get the irrigation system now, you'll appreciate it later on not having to move the sprinklers around the yard. I wish I had done it on my first house when it was being built as it was cheaper. Eight years later I was moving the sprinklers around a dirt patch hoping for the grass to come back. I have an irrigation system now and not sure how I lived without it.
That's my thinking. I'm not opposed to fescue as I think it looks better than Bermuda, but for my needs I think the Bermuda suits is better. I'm leaning towards at least roughing the irrigation in, we'd need 3 zones I bet, and at $600-800 that's a chunk of change. I'll bet plumbing will be half that, pumps/heads and installation prob the other half. Last I saw a quote from a company around here Bermuda sod was $300/pallet which is 450-500 sq feet. In the back yard I think we'd need 3-4, I'm not sure what the premium over seeding fescue would be. But instant grass would be nice.
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west_perf
Well-known member
Agreed - irrigation systems are pretty cheap (especially before sod) and a lifesaver. You could put the irrigation in right now, seed with fescue and then resod with Bermuda in the spring. $2000 should buy you a very nice irrigation system, make sure to get a good timer and rain sensor. My system is four zones, 3/4" piping with a new type of rotator head (can't recall the name of it) that uses significantly less water. Don't get too caught up in the brand names, Orbit and RainBird are the big box brands while the local guys wanted to use Hunter, at about 3x the cost because it's "better". I ended up with a mixture of rotators and spray heads and brands, but it all works great.
Oh and get at least two written quotes with a "spray pattern" plan. The guy I ended up using went double his estimate and wanted to replace everything under the sun, including the still perfectly functioning timer. With all new equipment it should be easier - do it once and do it right.
Oh and get at least two written quotes with a "spray pattern" plan. The guy I ended up using went double his estimate and wanted to replace everything under the sun, including the still perfectly functioning timer. With all new equipment it should be easier - do it once and do it right.
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blkguyblkmach1
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- Mar 3, 2015
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Make sure you give that Bermuda plenty of sun. It will surely thin out and do poorly in less than full sun. My neighbor is kicking himself right now for sodding with Bermuda instead of zoysia. His trees are killing his yard even after trimming some branches.
This is one of my concerns. We have pretty good sun exposure in the summer, but I haven't really been out there all day long. This is one of the things I plan to discuss with him next week. I'm a little worried we have too much sun for fescue and maybe a little too much shade for Bermuda. I'll try to take some pics at lunch today of the front and back yards, and then I'll take some around 5pm when i get off work
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blkguyblkmach1
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Yea post up some pics, and make sure to discuss with them their opinions on the type of grass to use. Bermuda and St. Augustine is used almost everywhere down here in Houston but most people don't take the time to research the sun/shade requirements of the type of grass they use. Bermuda is very intolerant of shade. Any areas under trees will be bare dirt and thinning out radially from the trunk.
I wanted to use Bermuda badly in my lawn but with the way my house is oriented, half the lawn only sees around 3 maybe 4 hours of sun a day which was not enough for Bermuda. Decided to go with Emerald Zoysia and haven't looked back since.
Are you looking for a picture perfect lawn, pretty good lawn, or a good enough lawn? You can also check out the forums at aroundtheyard.com . Those guys there are A++ with the knowledge on lawns. Helped me a great deal after building my house and sodding.