New House Construction Materials Questions

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benjamming

benjamming

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northern Alabama
Our house plan is at http://www.archwaypress.com/product.php/27.htm . We are going with the partial basement with the other half crawl space. If you have the time, I'm looking for any suggestions to improve or confirmation of what we have picked out so far.

We are using Boral brick, Concord with Colonial buff mortar, which seems to be a well-made brick. It will take ~ 46k.

We are ordering Silver Line (lifetime warranty) double hung vinyl windows with LoE/Argon.

We believe we will use Owens Corning Oakridge PRO 30 AR (algae resistant) shingles in Driftwood color. http://www.owenscorning.com/around/roofing/shingles/selectedstyle.asp?Shingle_Line=13

The housewrap was not as easy of a choice (for some strange reason). I think we are going to go with R-Wrap from Ludlow Products. It is $93/1350 ft2. http://www.covalencecoatedproducts.com/pdf/RWrap/RWrapTechSheetRW103M.pdf .
I had also thought about Tyvek at http://www2.dupont.com/Tyvek_Construction/en_US/assets/downloads/HomeWrapSpec.PDF , since it seems to be the most popular, but R-wrap seems to be better.
I had also looked at Typar ( http://www.typarhousewrap.com/housewrap-specs.html ) which is $85/900 ft2. PinkWrap from Owens Corning is $88/1350 ft2 ( http://www.owenscorning.com/around/insulation/products/pdfs/19731-D.pdf ), and GreenGuard Ultra Wrap from Pactiv ( http://www.pactiv.com/green-guard/ ). Any experience with house wrap?

We are planning on using R-21 fiberglass batts in the exterior walls with R-11 fiberglass batts for interior walls. The attic will be R-38, but I don't know if I want fiberglass batts or blown cellulose. I imagine the fiberglass batts will be more expensive than the blown cellulose. I know that I don't want blown fiberglass anywhere.

What do y'all think?

Thank you.
 
Yeah, the lumber is a pretty good chunk. We are using 2x6 on 16" centers everywhere. I should have used 2x8 for the roof especially in the 16' high family room.
No permits except for the septic tank which was $50 plus the soil analysis that was $500.
Blown fiberglass just seems to settle too much. It doesn't appear that the installers have a way to tell when R-38 vs. R-30 is in the attic due to the pneumatic delivery system and the settling effect.
I don't want blown insulation in the walls b/c the painters will spend half of their time vacuuming the insulation instead of painting. It's just seems too messy.
 
No building permit, just health department inspection. I forgot to mention that I'm not in a subdivision either.
House isn't finished so I don't know how much yet. Budget $350k which includes 10% for the builder (cost plus contract).
I did get a call from the builder today that instead of 98 sq. of shingles originally estimated, it will need 70-75 sq. Same thing happened with the brick. Originally estimated 55k & now 44-46k after the land has been cleared and house pretty much framed.
 
quote:
Originally posted by benjamming:


We are planning on using R-21 fiberglass batts in the exterior walls with R-11 fiberglass batts for interior walls. The attic will be R-38, but I don't know if I want fiberglass batts or blown cellulose. I imagine the fiberglass batts will be more expensive than the blown cellulose. I know that I don't want blown fiberglass anywhere.

What do y'all think?

Thank you.
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It sounds like you are going to have one comfortable house. I believe there is a special grade of insulation for interior walls that has better sound absorbing qualities than regular R-11. I can't remember than name, but Mr Google could probably find it for you.

5/8 drywall on the walls instead of the standard 1/2 inch will get you a bit more quiet for not much $$, and the walls will be more durable.
 
Or you can double 1/2" drywall and use sound channel on one side along with sound deadening insulation.

I agree I certainly wouldn't blow insulation in any walls. I'm just not 100% sold on cellulose vs. fiberglass for blown in ceilings. Have you considered batts in the attic with blown in on top?
 
XS650,
CertainTeed has a product that I believe you are referring to here. However, CertainTeed is hard to come by here.
OwensCorning has one called QuietZone.
We're not using any special sheething for energy, just OSB for strength especially since the house has a lot of corners. The Thermal sheething would require special doors & windows as well.
 
I have considered batts with blown in on top. That was the suggestion of my builder. It would save money. I'm not sold on cellulose either. I'm getting estimates on both.
 
Another item we had considered was DuPont AtticWrap. However, the 4' roof caps are ~ $3.69/each so that would be ~ $3500. The wrap itself would be ~ $3500. The labor would be ~ $3000. It would add ~ 1 week to the house. I just couldn't see this as being a good idea for us. Frankly, I can't see where this would be used.
 
I wouldn't use anything but Advantec for the Subfloor material.

50 Year warranty. Better than plywood. Screw it down and it doesn't squeak.
 
I put R-11 in my interior walls for sound as well. It really helps. My in-laws house doesn't have this and you can hear everything from one end to the other. I think the 2x6 exterior walls will help your HVAC bills. I went with 2x4 due to budget but will probably go 2x6 next time. I did pop for LoE/Argon windows and SEER 15 heat pumps. I've only been in a couple months so I don't know what my electric bill is going to settle into but my highest yet is $137/mo.
 
quote:
Originally posted by benjamming:
Another item we had considered was DuPont AtticWrap. However, the 4' roof caps are ~ $3.69/each so that would be ~ $3500. The wrap itself would be ~ $3500. The labor would be ~ $3000. It would add ~ 1 week to the house. I just couldn't see this as being a good idea for us. Frankly, I can't see where this would be used.
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It look like a good idea, but not a $10,000 good idea.
shocked.gif
 
I've used archway press plans when I was building our lake house on Lake Texhoma. Pretty good company and good plans. You just can't insulate enough......as long as you got a good, solid vapor barrier. Especially in Hunstville, very humid.
 
quote:
Originally posted by benjamming:
thooks,

Any idea of the price per sheet of AdvanTech and compared to the $ of a sheet of plywood?
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No idea today. A quick call to most any lumber yard should let you know.


I'll tell you this-

In the Summer of 2002 when I built our addition, I used 52 sheets. It was $19 per sheet and they offered a $5 per sheet rebate, up to 50 sheets. So I paid $14 for each sheet, save the two.

I'm sure it's $40 a sheet today and plywood can't be much cheaper.

As I said, the Advantech is worth every dime. Check out their website.
 
quote:
Originally posted by XS650:

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5/8 drywall on the walls instead of the standard 1/2 inch will get you a bit more quiet for not much $$, and the walls will be more durable. [/QB][/QUOTE]

The 5/8" thick drywall is ~ $6 per higher than 1/2" thick. Do you still think it's worth it?
 
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