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Elem7 posted:Was it expected you wouldn't be dried in before it starts snowing? Yes and no. Ideally we would have been sealed in by late september, early october. But with the various delays it was expected we would overshoot and miss the mark. Thankfully the weather has been quite warm so that works in our favor, but it being as wet as it is, the indoor ice-rink / splash pool is not ideal for the wood materials. Glad we went with plywood as it's much more resilient with this sort of dunking over the more popular and less expensive OSB. The next week is supposed to be very nice, warm, and most important dry. So we're looking pretty good for getting a roof on on the 20th, and by then I hope we can clear up the final windows and get those in.
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Nov 13, 2023 00:42
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Once they get it all closed up, do they run fans/heaters or dehumidifiers to get rid of the excess moisture? I"ve always heard that when you're building a house, or whatever other wooden structure that a few soakings of rain, or snow/melt aren't *that* bad as the wood is (supposed to be) pressure treated and all that, so unless its open to the elements for months and months of rain etc then ts not a huge issue. But thats just what I hear, no idea if its true.
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Nov 13, 2023 01:17
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Plan is to run heaters and fans to get the rest of the water evaporated and have it diffuse to the outside. Generally yeah, a bit of water over a short enough time it's not a big deal. The big risk is always rot which takes months to set in, otherwise with plywood the risk delamination between the plys. I hope it hasn't been long enough to cause issues, and the floor is still solid as ever. My framer was telling me a bit of a horror story on another project that stalled out over the summer and the floors being OSB and with the exposure have now swelled and you can rip a hole in them with a hefty hammer swing. Most of the wood in residential construction won't be pressure treated, we just have pressure treated anywhere wood meets concrete (sill plates, bottom of exterior sheathing) and on the deck. Otherwise it's all either MSR / dimensional SPF lumber (you're standard 2x#) and LVL which is pretty much thick plywood.  OSB has a lot of benefits, but the swelling upon moisture and it not returning to pre-swollen dimensions even after fully drying is a big risk in my opinion. OSB also takes longer to dry supposedly for whatever reason, which can make it more susceptible to rot if it does get wet during construction. There are products like Gold / Green edge which is OSB with the edges sealed with some fancy coating, but the any cut edges won't be sealed and any damage during handling can compromise the coating which you're relying on for protection. On the other hand, it's pretty much used everywhere in modern home construction and I can't imagine rotted floors and walls being an endemic issue with new homes so in the end it's probably no big deal.
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Nov 13, 2023 03:20
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Progress, and more little hickups, but we celebrate the wins when we get them.  The garage definitely looks big enough.   So of course there's an issue with the truss design. The truss supplier sneakily lowered the roof by a foot to make the transition work, and added a small valley right where the house meets the garage. Well, we needed to lift it back up a foot to make the garage doors work and be a standard size, so this complicates the transition.  There are two trusses at the end which kick up and would mean the fascia would have to kick up as well, which would look really goofy. One is minor so some trimming and adding some added structure to make sure we're safe and we're good. but the other is more complicated so we'll have to either cut it down and rebuild the truss, or have a replacement sent to site depending on what the truss engineer says.   We're still quite unseasonably warm which is great for us, but the little bit of snow we get in between the warm days means we have a good amount of water melting and finding the gaps inbetween the roof sheathing.  Behold! My own private lake. 
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Nov 19, 2023 01:19
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Wife and I and my parents are thinking about building a little house (ADU) in our back yard because actual houses are too expensive in Los Angeles. We already bought in when it wasnt too crazy back in 2015 but my parents moved closer to us and are currently renting. They were hoping to buy a small fixer place but that just doesn't seem like its in the cards right now. Anyway a lot people are telling us that the 'architect cost' is going to be close to 10% of total cost and total cost is going to be $300-400k in our area for a 1200sqft free standing little house. This is all new to me so 10% of $400k is $40k for architect seems a bit much. As I understand that includes some revisions and site visits to make sure everything is correct. And some engineering effort to make sure its safe etc. but $40k for all that for 1200sqft seems still excessive soft cost. BTW 1200sqft is the limit we are allowed in my area to build for an ADU. I don't think we can even fit 1200sqft on the buildable part of our lot. Maybe if its 2 story.
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Nov 19, 2023 01:37
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Yeah, for a fully architect designed house with contract administrative services (the site visits to check in on the build, shop drawings reviews, etc) the going rate is typically 10% of construction costs. This will typically include a structural sub-consultant as well, architects can sign off on certain structural details but the more complicated it gets the more likely you will require a structural consultant. Most people do not need a fully architect designed home. The much much cheaper option is to go with a standard floor plan for a few hundred, a couple hundred to a thousand or so for a CAD draftsman to make any changes you want to the plans, then another few hundred to thousand to have an architect review and seal the drawing set. All in you should be below $5k with this route. You only really need the architect route if you're building on a difficult site (sloped, tricky soil conditions, lots of authorities having jurisdiction each having unique requirements for building/developing on the site), want a really custom floor plan, and/or have some non-typical details in your home. We checked all boxes so we ended up the architectural route. If you're planning to build on a relatively flat piece of land with typical soil conditions for the area and you don't have to deal with onerous requirements for pre-construction studies / reports then the cheaper route will serve you just fine. To give an idea of costs, back of the napkin math our architectural and structural costs are around the $75k CAD mark, and the geotechnical costs are a hair over $50k CAD. Pretty much the savings we got on the land itself went towards the various consulting fees so that we could prepare all the necessary documents to actually get a permit to build.
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Nov 19, 2023 02:13
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Bajaha posted:To give an idea of costs, back of the napkin math our architectural and structural costs are around the $75k CAD mark, and the geotechnical costs are a hair over $50k CAD. Pretty much the savings we got on the land itself went towards the various consulting fees so that we could prepare all the necessary documents to actually get a permit to build. They say every time that happens an economist gets their wings. PS: fantastic thread, Bajaha, thanks for sharing.
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Nov 19, 2023 02:34
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Thanks for the info. Why is a fully architected route so much more tho? Aren't modern design software doing all the heavy lifting and architect/designer just telling it where you want a wall, etc? Every stud, joist, joint, etc. can be placed by code right?
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Nov 19, 2023 02:48
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Modern design software is pretty nifty, BIM (building information modelling) programs like Revit are the norm in the industry, as well as AutoCAD, and the details of where exactly the studs go on site is typically left to the framing contractor. The creation of drawings from nothing is definitely quicker than the old pen and paper days, but while the drawings are the deliverable from an architect, the majority of the of the cost is for the process of going from nothing to something. The big thing you're getting with an architect is their time and expertise. Designing a well functioning building that is aesthetically pleasing and meets your needs can be quite a process and consume a lot of time. In our experience, and bear in mind I've had more exposure to the construction industry due to being on the other side of the table as a consulting engineer, we started with creating a 20-odd page document for the home plan. A basic block diagram with the various rooms identified to show adjacencies, basic requirements for accessibility and basic descriptions of the mechanical and electrical systems. We wrote out each room with a list of what we expect to have in each and the expected usage of the space, the expected wall, floor, and ceiling finishes, the type of lighting, and what we wanted in terms of acoustic separation. We also spent a ton of time on Houzz to find a bunch of example images of styles we liked, and once we hired our architect we provided a link to the document and the example images as a starting point. The architect drafted a number of concept sketches and we went through a few iterations of these to really drill down to what we were looking for. Once we had a concept we liked it was developed by the architect, then we had a few more rounds of revisions and meetings to develop the drawings (see early on in the thread). The architect also worked closely with our geotech to revise things as needed to satisfy the onerous requirements of the provincial waterways management department. Because of the AHJ's we had some very stringent requirements for the foundation design, which is well beyond anything described in basic code which means it requires a structural engineer to seal it (essentially taking responsibility for the design) and due to some disagreements with where certain limits are (edge of bank is apparently defined as where the elevation has a well defined bend and not where the normal summer river level touches the bank) which resulted in us having the shrink the footprint a good few feet which threw the interior layout into disarray and it had to be re-worked. This was our compromise to satisfy the AHJ to get the permit approved by their department. Then once we got to construction and pricing things out, we found out the costs of some of the features were beyond our budget which required revisions to the structure (ie. we went from a structural floor slab in the basement to a suspended wood floor over a crawlspace due to cost considerations, same with the wall system revisions) which again required a bunch of changes to the plans. A bit of a ramble, but the main benefit for us for going with an architect was having the ability to revise things as needed through the process and being able to speak with the AHJs with authority behind our requests. In the cheaper alternative I mention it's a lot more difficult to do all these changes on the fly, AHJ's are less likely to listen to Joe-homeowner than a licensed architect / structural engineer / geotech which if you're building on a typical lot, are really not typically an issue. The plans you can purchase are relatively cheap because once it's designed there's not much additional cost to reproduce the design and sell it online, so the cost of creating the plans is spread over multiple buyers. From experience, building owners can be quite a pain in the rear end on occasion so there's probably some portion of the fee for "dealing with your bullshit"
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Nov 19, 2023 04:04
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So I work in visual effects and graphic design and also hobbyist DIY so a lot of these concepts are familiar to me. If I did the leg work on a proper survey of the lot(my wife works in commercial real estate so she knows a guy) and got a head start on a design and floor plan my family likes in something like sketchup along with my own renders. Handed that off to an architect to take over. Will they be annoyed that I just handed them plans for a groverhous? I know a lot of professional trades don't really like it when randos hand them plans that may or may not make any sense. Obviously I would be polite about it 'so err, I did some napkin renders of what I think we would like...👉👈'. Obviously this isn't something normal people would do but its something I kinda want to do.
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Nov 19, 2023 04:41
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Shaocaholica posted:Thanks for the info. Why is a fully architected route so much more tho? Aren't modern design software doing all the heavy lifting and architect/designer just telling it where you want a wall, etc? Every stud, joist, joint, etc. can be placed by code right?
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Nov 19, 2023 05:17
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Arsenic Lupin posted:You're in luck living in LA. LA has a list of pre-approved auxiliary housing structures, and you can find it here. If any of these is close enough, then no architect is needed at all. Thanks. I'll dig through those designs but lol some of them are quite fancy and not as basic as I would have thought for free plans.
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Nov 19, 2023 22:09
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Shaocaholica posted:Obviously this isn't something normal people would do but its something I kinda want to do. That's pretty much what we did with our architect so I don't think you'll raise too many eyebrows. Architects like having clients who know what they want and can guide the design in a relatively efficient manner. But yeah, I'd go with Arsenic's suggestion and find a pre-approved one that is close enough and go from there.The vast majority of residential builds don't go the full architectural design route from start to finish, which is the opposite of commercial builds which almost always includes an architect.
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Nov 19, 2023 22:11
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Shaocaholica posted:Thanks. I'll dig through those designs but lol some of them are quite fancy and not as basic as I would have thought for free plans. These two are pretty plain. https://www.ladbs.org/adu/standard-plan-program/approved-standard-plans/yakov-design_ADU31 https://www.ladbs.org/adu/standard-plan-program/approved-standard-plans/complete-package-drafting
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Nov 19, 2023 22:25
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I don't think they're free; I think they're pre-approved, which means you don't have to go through the hassle of negotiating with the city about zoning. I assume you pay a flat fee to the architects. Thanks. We want to (maybe) try to shoot the moon and get something as close as possible to 1200sqft into our lot. I think this is possible but only with 2 story. Totally not possible as 1 story.
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Nov 19, 2023 23:25
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The very first plan on there is city-owned and free of charge, but, uh:  
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Nov 19, 2023 23:30
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Oh no, someone sat on it.
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Nov 20, 2023 00:31
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We have a housing crisis! Here take this, it’s on us 
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Nov 20, 2023 04:22
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Roughly speaking if I’m building 600sqft per level 2 story (1200sqft total) how much more can I expect to pay if I add a 600sqft basement? As a percentage of the original without basement.
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Nov 21, 2023 08:56
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As opposed to a slab? That's going to differ wildly depending on all sort of things. I'd say anywhere between 20% and 200%
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Nov 21, 2023 16:53
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slidebite posted:As opposed to a slab? Yeah instead of a slab.
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Nov 28, 2023 04:18
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Yay for progress! Lot's of stuff happening and things to coordinate so this will be a bit of another photo dump.   Roof is on, and they did a pretty nice job of this transition between the house and garage. It got complicated due to the truss company lowering things by a foot which won't work for us, so we raised it back up and did our best with the transisition. The little valley there is angled and sloped gently, water should be able to find its way down without issue. I know the roofers were bringing up buckets of water and pouring to confirm it shed water correctly.  And since the roof's been on, we've gotten most of the windows to site (now only missing two from the supplier due to QA issues which are being fixed in the factory, expected this Monday so crossing my fingers they come and they're in.) We've got the temp construction access door in place so the place is under lock and key.  We've had some snow last night and thankfully the wind died down enough to fly the drone high up for the overhead shot.  Garage windows are on site but still need to be installed. They did manage to get the man-lift in the back, it's been a struggle with the warm weather, on the one hand its great because well, it's warm, on the other hand it can get muddy and equipment like this is just slipping and sliding like Tokyo Drift.  But in the end, progress is exciting and it's really starting to shape up on the exterior.  I've also started moving some of my pack-ratted materials to site now that it's locked up. Finally might get some room back in the garage at our current place. 
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Dec 10, 2023 01:05
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Looks really good man. So, seeing all that copper made me wonder, is the insurance while under construction yours or the contractors?
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Dec 10, 2023 17:51
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The insurance is all under me, and I did verify it does cover theft of personal property with a $1M limit (thought it was only $300k but just checked and it is indeed $1M for personal property) So if any insurance claims have to be made, it's my headache to deal with.
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Dec 10, 2023 18:25
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What appears to be a large hand grenade has been delivered to site.  Somebody came by and drilled a few deep holes  And there's some caution tape, oh my.  A bit deep down.  Return of the offroad course, alternatively, landscaping? I hardly knew her!  Grenade has been disposed of.  Trench has been dug for various lines and bits and bobs.  Sewer shutoff valve has been abandoned in place and a new valve has been in added in an accessible spot.  Garage is coming along nicely and the $10k mistake is more like a happy accident with the added windows in the garage, it's surprisingly light in there.  Things are moving along which is good. 
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Dec 15, 2023 21:40
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A few holes?
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Dec 16, 2023 00:20
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Aye, one to pull the water out of the ground, and another to put it back after I've had my way with it. Open loop geothermal with two heat pumps, one for the radiant floor and another for a secondary forced air setup. I'll know for certain once we get the well reports but I believe they mentioned one was 28gpm and the other around 11gpm for flow from the wells.
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Dec 16, 2023 06:26
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Got ya. I forgot that was another way to do Geothermal. Most of what I've had to deal with (very little TBH) was closed loop.
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Dec 16, 2023 14:36
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This looks really nice and something to add to my list of things I would do if I had the money.
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Dec 19, 2023 11:26
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And believe you me, you need a bunch more of the stuff than you think. poo poo's expensive yo. Back to the build, it'll be quieter until the new year as everything and everyone shuts down over the holiday season. It's been a bit foggy and humid, a far cry from our usual frosty and white christmases. Considering we're working on insulation the warm weather is a win. Thank you Climate Change!  Everything that's been dug up has been filled back in. I think I'm just going to get those big fake fiberglass rocks to hide the septic access and the well heads.  One vented well head. Our two wells ended up at 278ft and 138ft deep, neither artisanal with decent flow rates at 11igpm and 25igpm respectively.  And relocated shutoff valve for the low pressure sewer connection.  A bunch on insulation is being stockpiled  I'm debating whether the bottoms not lining up is bugging me enough to have this part re-done. The tops are lined up, but with the one set ending in a peak, it's more obvious that the bottoms of the windows aren't at the same elevation. Going to have to mull it over if it's worth the money for re-work. Benefit of being your own GC is you save a ton, downside is any re-work stuff that isn't due to poor workmanship is at my own expense.  Even more insulation inside, and look, some of it is in the walls.  The insulation contractors have been very thorough and spray foam the smallest of crevaces Don't bend over when these guys around...  Ceiling insulation is in for the flat ceiling area of the home, again the install appears very professionally done. I'm a bit of a nut with the building envelope and we'll have a service cavity below the poly to run our electrical, I'm avoiding penetrations into our vapour barrier as much as reasonably possible.  Moving onto the basement, we have a good amount of heat spreader plates and PEX-AL-PEX piping, in a delightful orange color.  Pipe and plates are a fairly basic install  Insulation is a bit tricky, but I think I have an easy method. Took some test pieces of R14 batt meant for 2x4 16"OC walls, if you just shove it up there you get a bit of a void as the material has to bend to fit in the slimmer bay. The engineered wood joists are 16"OC but the 2x4's are placed parallel to the sheathing rather than perpendicular like in a wall assembly, so you have a bit of a smaller cavity and it seems like nobody actually makes a commercially available insulation for this sort of joist spacing with engineered wood truss.  So our comes the electric turkey carver which makes quick work of the insulation. Slices through like a hot knife through butter. Cut off at a 45° angle +/- along the length of the insulation, rinse and repeat on the other side.  And it seems like that's enough to get it to sit relatively nicely against the underside of the floor sheathing and radiant piping.  Until next time.
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Dec 24, 2023 02:05
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The only person that will ever notice or care about the windows is you. How much does your framing contractor like you, and how much booze did you buy him for Christmas?
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Dec 24, 2023 05:17
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Still really enjoying this. Looks beautiful.
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Dec 24, 2023 20:37
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Coasterphreak posted:The only person that will ever notice or care about the windows is you. How much does your framing contractor like you, and how much booze did you buy him for Christmas? But, if it bothers you now, it will bother you every single time you see it.
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Dec 25, 2023 00:32
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Man this looks amazing, I’ll give my usually advice before drywall goes up and suggest adding blocks where you would put curtain rods, towels bars, and toilet paper holders.
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Dec 25, 2023 23:33
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That's a total pro tip. Especially around the tub for grab handles (if you haven't already). It is looking total boss though man. Congrats.
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Dec 27, 2023 04:55
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Yeah for sure, I've had blocking on my mind recently as we're laying out the the walls and doing final tweaks as we walk through the space. As part of that I sketched out the showers to get a better idea of what exactly we want to see here.  As usual went a little extra and sketched out the elevations in bluebeam (fancy PDF editor)         I think the built-in benches will be a better path than the wall mounted folding ones. The rainshower is huge so the lost space doesn't really affect anything by adding it, and in the regular showers we're going with a more normal spray head rather than rainshower so the bench or standing should be about the same. I think I'm a little high on the glass with 8'-0", probably makes more sense to reduce it to 7'-0 or so. Going to have to double check standard shower door heights, I'm finding online that 6'-0" is a standard door height but that seems a bit low maybe? I do like the transom glass panels above the doors to add rigidity to the enclosures. Otherwise enjoy some drone flyover shots https://i.imgur.com/eY6NiJO.mp4
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Dec 28, 2023 01:06
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That shower looks like it will be a big hit with the 
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Dec 28, 2023 01:16
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Are you doing curbless? Looks like it. I wonder if that doesn't impact standard shower door sizes?
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Dec 28, 2023 01:32
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We are indeed doing curbless and as you can see from the shot below - The floors, like panties, are dropped for impressing the ...  Even with a curb vs curbless, we're talking like max 3", at least I'm used to seeing relatively low profile curbs. Probably will get a better sense of things once I chat with a glass supplier for the shower glass.
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Dec 28, 2023 01:55
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Just remember you’ll have to clean all that glass on the shower side. So transom at 8 feet becomes a stepladder thing. Most custom glass are siliconed in place and that additional rigidity will be limited to hardware connection.
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Dec 28, 2023 19:44
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