Building a home

[Flubber]

Does the construction company have specialists for each type of work or
are the same people building the foundations and covering the roof with
shingles? How many people are involved in the construction?

If you build with a smaller outfit you may get the same people doing a couple of roles. I believe Asher built with a bigger shop that probably does 300 homes a year. With the bigger contractors things can get ridiculously specialized. When I built, I spoke to one of the framers one day and he indicated that they had only done 3 different models of home over the last several months as they were the experienced framers and only did "estate homes".

[Asher]

Yeah, there's different tiers of the contractors also. The top tier builders tend to share the same contractors which tend to be highly specialized. Morrison, Sterling, and one other builder all use the same contractors (from what I've heard) for their "high end homes". They also tend to share a mid-tier contractor for their value brands (Morrison has Discovery, Sterling has Pacesetter). Other builders like Trico homes are large, but they use low-end contractors.

When my house was framing there were three guys in their 40s doing all of the work. At the Trico home across the street there were about a dozen young Asian guys not speaking any English and they rushed through it pretty damn quickly.

[Asher]

That fireplace makes it look like a gay man's house. Who but a *** would have such a gay fire place? I ask you.

This is the specific model of fireplace: http://www.kingsmanind.com/files/fil...zdv3624_75.pdf

[onodera]

Could you share the specs of your walls if you know them? Russian builders will try and skimp on everything if you don't hound them.

[Dinner]

Ben?

...Oh. Right.

I was just being a dick to see if I could get a reaction.

[Asher]

Could you share the specs of your walls if you know them? Russian builders will try and skimp on everything if you don't hound them.

What specs do you mean?

[onodera]

What specs do you mean?

Exact composition of walls: parameters of materials used and their thickness.

[Asher]

Nah, I don't have those off-hand.

[onodera]

[Elok]

[Ecthy]

I must say that for some reason I'm absolutely digging this project. Good luck Asher!

[Asher]

Thanks

I had the first walk-through today. It's the post-framing, pre-insulation/drywalling walkthrough to confirm the framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc. Really impressed with the workmanship on everything I saw. I was one of those annoying *******s who brought a tape measure and a level with me.

No problems at all. Everything is exactly as per the blueprint. They even caught something that wasn't on the blueprints -- they added a second attic access since the vaulted ceilings in the middle made accessing the front part of the attic extremely difficult from the sole attic access.

The site super is a ~65 year old Dutch guy who has been doing this for about 40 years, 25 of which are with my builder. He seemed to really know his stuff. I was very impressed with him. The framer was also there finishing up a couple minor tasks, and he was a ~40 year old guy who had been with the company for 12 years. Also seemed pretty good.

So I'm feeling really good about it. Progress is awesome, and the people seem very good at what they do.

[Asher]

Week 11: City inspections complete. More plumbing and electrical work. Garage floor is in, driveway & front walkway forms complete and should be poured shortly. Insulation in progress.

Week 11: Garage floor in.


Week 11: Insulation has started. R12 interior walls, R20 exterior walls, R40 attic.


Week 11: Insulation has started. R12 interior walls, R20 exterior walls, R40 attic.


Week 11: Insulation has started. R12 interior walls, R20 exterior walls, R40 attic.


Week 11: More electrical in, including light switches. Yes, that's a Cat6 port in my kitchen.

[N35t0r]

Light switches are easier to handle than heavy switches


Are the cables just running through the spaces in the walls? no 'tubes' to run them through? Replacing them will be a headache...

[Hauldren Collider]

Looking excellent, Asher!

N35tor: Nah, you just drop the wires between the studs to go down floors, no need for a conduit.