Insulation for the House

Before we can drywall and brick the house, we had to have a framing inspection. Then there is another inspection after insulation is installed to the exterior walls, and then drywall can begin.

Because we chose ICF, our insulation was already in place. However, there were some exterior walls upstairs that we had to insulate.

We actually had the exterior walls started prior to the inspection. It was a mistake that was caught before it was too late.

Usually insulation in the attic is blown in after the drywall is up. But we chose to use spray foam insulation to encapsulate our attic like we did in the last house.

This has so many benefits. It allows the HVAC units located in the attic to work in a better space than 140 degree air. This helps make the unit last longer. We will also have less dust because no blown in insulation. It was so hot upstairs prior to insulation that having it now makes such a large difference. We'll only have to turn on our A/C to circulate air, not to cool it!

We had a dry spell in our area for weeks! This was a good thing for building, but we wanted it to rain to test the roof. It finally rained and we found a leak.

Luckily, it was because the roofing paper on the front porch was not covering an area.

We had to fix this before we could apply the spray foam to the underside of the roof. We hadn't shingled that part of the roof because it will be metal. And we can't put the metal roof on until the brick is up. So, for the meantime, we had the roofer come back out and put the fancy ice shield for roofs so that it will buy us time until the brick is complete and we can get that metal roof on.

Once the exterior walls were foamed, the crew moved to the attic.

Here is a short video of the crew working. We had a two-guy crew. Spray foam is a chemical that is applied wet and as it dries, it expands.

There was a lot of space to cover. It took them a week to complete fully.

Once they completed the job, they performed a quality test. We had this done on the first house. They closed off all pipes and suctioned the air to see if there were any leaks. We have a tight house!

At the top of the ICF walls, the framing crew laid a thin piece of foam before laying wood on top. This was to help prevent the air leakage through the first and second floor.

After the insulation was complete, we had another inspection. We passed, which means drywall can start. The crew started today and boy do they move fast! I'm sure I'll post something by Saturday with an update with complete walls!

After the insulation test, the crew cleaned the house. It was so nice. It hasn't ever been this clean.

Not only is the spray foam energy efficient, it also binds the structure together to make it even more solid. And surprisingly, it's not that expensive. I would definitely recommend it. This is our second time using it and we love it!

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)

Last week I mentioned how I would LOVE to work with a builder and use green materials. It’d be an even sweeter deal if the work I did had some benefit (a house I could live in.) But just being able to make the community aware of new materials would be satisfying enough.

I did a post about Icynene Spray Foam Insulation a few weeks back. I remember when this product came out, because an acquaintance of mine in Florida was making good money being a specialist with it. His company was growing as more and more people learned of it and its benefits. We used it in our house, and it was a great decision!

Insulated Concrete Forms is not something we would use as an upgrade on our current house. Although, it could be used on an addition in some cases, an addition to our house would be to add more to the second floor. We wouldn't be able to use concrete walls on just the second floor when the first floor was wood framing.

ICF replaces traditional wood framing and sheathing. It comes in “blocks” and can be used for any shape house. Even ones with curves and bay windows. The forms are interlocking modular units that are dry-stacked and filled with concrete.

In Florida, most houses have their exterior walls made out of cinderblocks. It became building regulation after many bad hurricanes that all houses would be built using cinderblocks. I was surprised to move to Alabama and not see a similar building regulation. Being Tornado Alley, I’m shocked to see wood framing still being used on brand new homes. Even with a brick outer-layer, that house will be splinters after a small tornado comes through.

I forget the particulars on how I stumbled upon learning about ICF, but once I researched, it was a no-brainer. Why weren’t more people using this?

I researched the cost. Since it replaces both wood framing and sheathing and insulation, it was three steps in one. The cost is around 6-10% more than wood framing. Not bad if it replaces other steps in the building process!

Another reason why it is not widely used yet, is the learning curve. A builder does have to become certified. There are families in the business with years of framing experience. They have their timing and costs very efficient. Having them learn something new, would take time and money that they don’t want to spend. However, I have found one builder that is certified and will use it. Southern Construction and Design. They are approved builders in my current neighborhood.

I’ve seen a house going up on the other side of town and they are using ICF. I about FLIPPED in my seat when I drove by. I immediately called Mr. JCrew and told him I saw a local house going up using ICF. I don’t know why I got so excited. It wasn’t my house or even a friend’s house, but I was excited. I couldn’t see a builders name on any signs around, but I was curious to see if it is the one builder I know of. Turns out, there is someone else in the area that uses ICF that is doing that project.

ICF House being built that I saw in town.

I think it is a great option and definitely has its benefits:

• Energy efficient
• Structural Safety – restists damage and protect occupants from fire, wind, earthquakes and flooding.
• Comfort – even distribution of air temperature in the home.
• Acoustical Properties – provides improved reduction of “outdoor” noise
• Durability – ability to resist rot, decay, corrosion, pest attack and other forms of degradation. 
• Environmentally Sensitive – ICF walls can be made with a variety of recycled materials that can lower the carbon footprint of the structure.

Some benefits of ICF construction help to minimize the monthly cost of home ownership by reducing insurance premiums and energy/utility bills.. ICF Construction call allow up to 60% smaller heating and cooling units to service the same square footage. ICF homes can also qualify for green tax incentives.

One downside that I have come across only matters if you are crunched for space. An ICF wall is thicker than a wood-frame wall. If your lot can’t handle the added thickness of the exterior of the house all around, you would have to take away from the interior square footage. This would be a problem in urban communities where houses are built on top of each other.

I would think all builders and homeowners would want to build something that would protect them from harm. It’s an added bonus that it also cuts your energy bills in half.

Cost of ICF construction is very dependent on the familiarity of the contractor and trades people with the product. In most cases, there is a “learning curve” in any new construction process that requires building several houses to eventually economize the overall approach to construction. Therefore, the experience of the contractor is an important factor that will have an impact on cost and quality. Fortunately, ICF construction is a fairly simple method of construction using a system of conventional materials and it is easily leaned and understood by contractors, trades people and “do-it-yourselfers.”

In fact, when I was researching making my own furniture and looking at plans, I was on Ana White’s blog. She lives up in Alaska and is building a House for both her mom and her mother-in-law (a Momplex). They are building it themselves and used ICF. It was then that I learned, even a six year old can do it! (Seriously, check out the link. It gives a lot of information from a Do-It-Yourself perspective).

Now, there is an option to keep wood-framing and “upgrade” it to meet the energy efficiency of ICF, but it ups the price.

There are ways to increase the R-value of the walls, if you want. I believe this is overkill, but good to know.

During my research, I found out about ICF deck. It can be used on the floors!  ICF decking weights up to 40% less than standard concrete flooring and provides superior insulation. ICF roof decks are less common as it is difficult to pour concrete on an angled surface.

I haven't decided on the necessity of that one yet, but it's cool. Probably very useful in cold climates. 

Selling factors for me with ICF are the noise reduction and the safety against natural disasters. We aren't located in a Wind-gust belt, but we do have higher odds of having a tornado come through. And with cities losing more space to build houses, our neighbors are getting closer and the roads are getting wider. ICF would block all the traffic noise. 

If you're going to put the effort into using ICF, then you can't forget the windows and doors. You can lose heat/air through them as well. 

Houses today can last decades, but wouldn't it be cool to see them standing for centuries? Look at the building materials used for commercial projects; they are much different. They use steel and concrete for walls and metal roofing. Maybe people don't want their houses to be around forever. Some do look dated, but I think color is what dates a house.

If I were to build my dreamhouse, I'd want to pass it down to my kids, and I'd live in the in-law suite. But using wood-framing, I couldn't guarantee that.

One downside I thought of when researching ICF was that people may be afraid of renovations with ICF. It wouldn't be easy to knock out a window and make it a door, or vice-versa. House-flippers wouldn't like ICF houses. Although, I did talk to a local builder that is doing an addition in ICF. The addition includes an indoor pool and other extras, but that addition will be the safest place to be. You can swim during a tornado warning. Even the windows are strong enough to withstand the wind gusts.

Overall, I am excited for more homes to use ICF. Especially in areas that experience tornadoes, fires, hurricanes and earthquakes. It's really up to homeowners to decide if they want to use it. Builders are willing to use it, but the market has to drive it. The more people that hear about it, the more we will be seeing it used. I'm excited!

My Dream Job - Build A House

I went on a project hiatus back in February and filled my time working on a BIG project. I had discovered that I love the planning process just as much as I enjoy the project coming to fruition. To help me get through a necessary hiatus, I took on a project that involved a lot of planning, but it would be something I may never see. 

I designed my dream house, and it was so much fun. I lived and breathed this project for months. I created a package to show all the details and even made multiple floorplans. I didn’t have the right computer tool like an architect has, but I came up with a cool floorplan.

I used www.floorplanner.com. It’s free. It even creates a 3D view.

The 3D view helps you get a visual on hallway openings, door placement, window placement, etc. Some of those details are hard to see on a 2D drawing.

The only thing I wish is that it would create an outside rendition. All you have to do is tell it what type of house you want it to look like (Tudor, Craftsman, New American, Cottage, etc), and it would change the style of the exterior.

That was the main reason I used www.floorplanner.com because I thought it would. Oh, well.

Today I’ll share pictures of my dream house. This house has five bedrooms and six bathrooms. Enough space for three (or more) kids and my parents.

My current house is perfect in a lot of ways. It won’t be too big when my family is grown and left me, and the layout is what I fell in love with. Tudor is not my style of house, and the driveway could have been longer, but that’s all I’d change.

The dreamhouse’s garage is huge! Empty, it could fit five cars in there! I even added a small garage door to the back side so that a riding lawn mower could enter the backyard through the door instead of going the long way around.

And the driveway was long enough to hold six, possibly nine, more cars. With more kids and parents living under one roof, you need a place for the vehicles. (Looks excessive, but I was anticipating friends’ cars.) It looks junky when you have cars lined up outside your house 24/7, and it's a neighborhood covenant of ours not to have cars parked on the street overnight. I also added a semi-circle driveway in front of the house.

Originally, I had planned for the driveway to look like this:

I calculated the size lot I would need for this configuration and realized how hard it would be to find the perfect-sized lot to accommodate.

I had even gone so far to design the landscape already! That’s one of my favorite parts. I try to envision the views from inside that I want to create. I also took into consideration what views I wanted to take advantage of and what I wanted to obstruct. Of course, the landscaping is best done when the lot is chosen. I fictitiously picked a lot and designed according to it. Flipping the floorplan was the main change. You'll notice the flip in all the comparison pictures.

Since floorplanner did not come up with an outside sketch, I had to create my own.

That was the hard part. It was so hard to make it look like I envisioned.

Here was an actual picture that looked like the look I was trying to go for. Not the color, but the look/style.

Until I found this design, and knew this was the style. It was the only one Mr. JCrew and I could decide on. We liked everything about it.

Even the mix of stone with the brick. I like brick; Mr. JCrew likes stone, so this was our compromise.

Mr. JCrew and I came up with guidelines that a dreamhouse would have to fill:

• More bedrooms to accommodate more children
• An In-Law suite located on the first floor
• A larger shower than we currently have
• A space for all of Mr. JCrew’s books
• A wrap around porch
• A larger garage and a longer driveway
• Tornado Safe

I found an existing floorplan and made my tweaks. I used eplans to find a floorplan to modify. 

Finding a floorplan with an in-law suite is not impossible, but finding one with the suite on the first floor is!! Parents are older; they cannot be climbing stairs to get to their space! So, I looked for floorplans that had a guest bedroom on the first floor that I could convert: or space that allowed for an addition to be added easily.

The original floorplan had 15 exterior doors! That is WAY too many doors to be checking at night before going to bed! I eliminated 9 of those doors.

Mr. JCrew and I both want to be available to take care of our family and friends. The in-law suite would be for my parents, but we could take in anyone and everyone that needed it. I turned the extra bedroom on the first floor into a suite.

I almost added a kitchenette for the suite, but I wanted meal times to be a time of gathering. The kitchen and dining room would be able to accommodate everyone and no one would be eating alone. The openness of the kitchen to the family room is my favorite part of the house.

The side porch was my second favorite  part. They call it a Friendship Door. However, the original plan had three exterior doors on the side porch. You’d have to open the door from the garage, walk across the porch, and open another door to get into the house. Imagine yourself carrying groceries from the car; doesn't sound fun.

I took out the back hallway and added a door through the pantry for quick access to unload groceries. But I think I would add that hallway back in. I like it. Some may feel it’s wasted space, but I know I’d like the feel and look of it.

The Pool Bath, as I call it, had a shower. I wouldn’t ever plan on having a pool to maintain, so I eliminated the shower and exterior door in that bathroom. Showers would be in bathrooms near bedrooms.

The upstairs did not have many changes at all. There was only a shower in one bathroom, and I turned it into a tub/shower combo. I added more of a wall and door to the toilet portion of the other bathroom. Two boys would be sharing that bathroom, and if someone is using the shower or toilet, the other child can still go in and wash their hands/brush their teeth.

The front porch doesn’t look like there was much change.

1. Four sets for French doors were removed.
2. The front door was recessed. 
3. The opening to the dining room was widened.
4. The porch was extended to wrap around.

Now, I even revised my floorplan to be all on one level. I have gotten use to living on one level and I enjoy it. I like having the kids close by, especially when they are small. And if this were to be our forever home, I wouldn't be going upstairs in my old age. So, I toyed around with the idea of putting all the bedrooms downstairs. This meant we would lose the playroom (okay by me) and we'd lose the formal living room (also, okay with me). The office would then relocate to the area where the living room was and the new bedrooms would occupy the space where the study was. Doing this added about 12 feet to the width of the house. The only down-side to this floorplan in general is how wide it is! It's hard to find a lot in a neighborhood wide enough. But I still love the layout. I pretend to walk through the house all the time.

I really had so much fun planning this project. I took so much into consideration. Sometimes I wonder if I missed my calling. I get so excited seeing dirt trucks on a construction site. I even get excited seeing the road construction going on. Building a new road is equally as awesome as a new house. Especially, if you have to build it over a river!

I even took into consideration the building materials and making the house as green as possible. I would use ICF framing to ensure comfort control and strength during tornado storms. Instead of a a storm shelter, the whole house would be storm-safe! I would use brick instead of siding. It is more expensive, but less maintenance in the long-run. I would use the Icynene Spray Foam Insulation again in the attic. I would also use the automatic timers on outside lights and motion-sensor lights inside. 

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF)

I would REALLY love to design and build a house for a builder. When I was planning my dream house, I imagined striking a deal with a builder and letting him show the house in the local Parade of Homes Tour in exchange for discounts possibly. It would be great advertising for the builder! All they have to do was execute the plan. I planned every little detail, so there would be no flip-flopping with decisions during the building process. I would LOVE the opportunity to work with a builder and use new materials and educate the community. That’s usually what showcase tours are about; thinking outside the box. I researched builders that use ICF and not many popped up in my area. However, SouthernConstruction is licensed and they are also a Southern Living builder. I like Jimmy Bryan Construction, but he's not worked with ICF. The quality of his work is fantastic and they have GREAT customer service!

I had put too much work into this, not to share. It may be a dream of mine, but maybe I can be a part of someone else’s dream, too!

I have come up with other floorplans that I may share later. This floorplan is the one I kept coming back to because I could envision how we would use the space efficiently.

The inside of the dreamhouse I envision looks the same as my house. This is home, so I wouldn't change a thing. Same colors, same furniture, same everything. The only thing I would possibly play around with was doing something different in the kitchen. I'm not a fancy person, so although my dream house is larger, it's not fancier. My home is comfortable and I don't want to take away that feeling. 

And when I say, "larger" I want to note that the dream house room sizes are the exact same as my house. The bedrooms are exactly the same size! I didn't want them to be bigger. They are big enough. The family room is bigger and we added the in-law suite and a playroom. Basically, it's the same rooms we currently have in a different layout  (combining my parents' house with mine.)

I really do get excited when any new house is being built. I don't necessarily have to live in it, just be a part of the process. A fly on the wall, even! That would be my dream job. Any local builders want to partner with me?