Pre drywall home inspection - new home buyers should watch

My plumber had a house built for himself with Zip board and realized the nail guns used pushed the nails slightly too far into the Zip board. I might have used Zip tape over the nails. He had the Zip board wrapped with house wrap.

I agree, part of the equation is the quality of the installation. One can also use some spray foam and fiberglass in stud cavities to help seal.

At the end of the day whats important from this discussion is how well the house is sealed and how it performs on a blower-door test.
Wow. That was really silly of the plumber because it would have been cheaper to just use OSB w/house wrap.

Like you he he could've hit the over driven nails with ZIP tape or liquid flash (ZIP).
 
When i had my shop built last summer, I researched the builders well, before hiring someone.
I also checked on it every single day.
 
Zip board seems like a PITA? you have to tape every seam and cut? Seems faster to wrap the house with tyvek at take a couple joints?
Yes, and to some, in this imperfect world at least with house wrap it is nailed.
It's nice to read all the wonderful things that promote Zip Board except for the fact that workers have to tape everything perfectly, in perfect weather and on perfectly clean surfaces. We know that doesnt happen and tape doesnt always adhere in the way it is supposed to.
In addition contractors will buy generic tape products to save money. Nothing to lose as any possible mistakes in taping will never be known for years. Until water rears its ugly head.

Im not against anything. I am against anyone that knocks tried and true house wrap. It's less technical to install and hard to screw up by unskilled laborers or being installed in less than ideal weather conditions which is very common in building homes. Nailed house wrap sticks even when wet. Taped zip board does not.
 
Yes, and to some, in this imperfect world at least with house wrap it is nailed.
It's nice to read all the wonderful things that promote Zip Board except for the fact that workers have to tape everything perfectly, in perfect weather and on perfectly clean surfaces. We know that doesnt happen and tape doesnt always adhere in the way it is supposed to.
In addition contractors will buy generic tape products to save money. Nothing to lose as any possible mistakes in taping will never be known for years. Until water rears its ugly head.

Im not against anything. I am against anyone that knocks tried and true house wrap. It's less technical to install and hard to screw up by unskilled laborers or being installed in less than ideal weather conditions which is very common in building homes. Nailed house wrap sticks even when wet. Taped zip board does not.
TBH, with some half decent framers, I don't think even house wrap is doing much for you? The walls are pretty tight just with the OSB on the framing. Keeping the water off the OSB before the siding is done is most of the benefit IMO.
I guess in very humid places it keeps some humidity out of the OSB?
And I suppose if the vapor barrier isn't great on the inside, wrap might keep air from moving into the wall cavity as much with less air flow? Anyways, I don't think is really a great goal to have a house sealed like a garbage bag, but you do need to keep water out of the walls, so I guess wrap or zip board or foam on the outside will do that.
 
I watched this home inspection video and I am sure glad I am not about to buy one of those quickly built homes in a sub division. In southern DE they are building a 100 homes in any cornfield they can find.

This home inspection would scars the crap out of me if I was a perspective buyer.

The worst problem (not sure how they would fix it) was it looks like they were short one roof truss from the number on the design. So they spaced out the ones they had a little farther apart to make up for the missing one. Holy crap.


The use of OSB would be enough for me to not buy that house.
 
Now in our second production home bought new over the last 18 years I like the idea of a national builder who I know will take care of any concerns I have. This is not to say if you like a custom home in a community such as ours and want to spend the extra money for one that it is in anyway a bad choice. We have really nice custom homes here but many to us seem to be “over the top” very heavy moldings in the rooms, stuff like that and yet the floor plans for my wife and I weren’t as practical to fit our taste. Very “heavy” look to them and I agree some of the locals are small companies who may do a more quality job on some items if you want to pay for it. It still won’t guarantee the home will stand up to a hurricane any better.
But yes if you don’t mind paying 50+% more for the home in our area you will get a home loaded with fixtures and moldings everywhere you look.

I would not assume that a custom house would cost more. I want a custom house because of all the stuff that I don't want that they seem to put in every new house.
 
The use of OSB would be enough for me to not buy that house.
I have never purchased a house to be built by a builder but I assume there are many many choices. And that's after you setting on the basic design & layout. You probably cannot afford every option offered. Wife wants nice kitchen & bath. So you have cabinets, counters and appliances to start. Then flooring. And siding. Maybe not much choice for siding (due to HOA) other than color. Although I would opt to HardyBoard. Then there are the things you cannot easily see. Zipboard or building wrap. 2x4 or 2x6. Air sealing in the attic. Insulation levels. Concrete floor in crawlspace. Dehumidifier in crawlspace. Crawlspace encapsulation? Also important is the grade of HVAC units. Extra power outlets in garage. Size of pipe, 3/4 to each area needing water then drop to 1/2". Circuits other than lighting 20 amp. Circuit breaker box with lots of empty space. And more.

Many choices, cannot upgrade everything. So you pick what's important to you (that fits in your budget,).
 
I would not assume that a custom house would cost more. I want a custom house because of all the stuff that I don't want that they seem to put in every new house.
I don’t think I would trust the warranty or dealing with a custom builder.

Also, the word custom builder is not very well defined. I have heard lots of stories some not very positive about small and custom builders.

In the last 20 years, I have owned two production homes and could not be more happy🙃
 
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