Chapter 3

Plumbing Electrical Siding Drywall

      
     Paul - owner of Nutmeg Homes rants and whines - 

We often are told by home buyers, other builders, real estate people;
that they really don't care that the home they buy, build or sell will
only last 2 or 3 generations.  "I'll be dead by then".
With out exaggeration we have been told this many dozens of times. In
reality the point is very valid. As an investment, the first owner
usually will make money on resale. By the time the house too rotten to
live in the land may be worth more than the structure. BUT - consider -
living in a brand new house for 10 years and during that ten years, the
structure - your home, is well on it's way to failure. Mold and rot
alone will destroy a code minimum (a typical builder's maximum) wood
frame house on the west coast of BC in 60 to 80 years- we live in a
rain forest after all (climate , the forest was logged long ago). After
15 years - replace the windows, heat system etc, and by now you have
grown used to the background smell of rot and mold. When can you expect
problems with a Nutmeg Home? Answer - you'll be dead by then,
so will your great great grand children, and the only likely problem
will have been burnt out light bulbs and water heater elements. When
will a Nutmeg Home rot? Around the same time as the Hoover Dam in
Nevada or the Parthenon in Rome.

Chapter 3

Once the roof is on and the windows and doors installed, the house can now be 'locked' - this stage is called - you guessed it - Lock Up.

Plumbing

Sink with a View

At Nutmeg Homes, the owner alway tries to follow his mother's rule - "The kitchen sink must have a view." Other than that the plumbing is pretty straight forward. Some standard features for Nutmeg Homes are extra high toilets, elegant high quality taps and fixtures, large tubs - 6 feet when possible, stainless steel laundry sink in cabinet, slow close high quality toilet seats and so on. There are very few upgrades possible in a standard Nutmeg Home. We try to get it right the first time.

Simple Elegant Fixtures

A recent improvement in our standard building package is the addition of an instant on hot water system. This involves a pressure pump on the hot water tank and a temperature sensor on the far end of the hot water line. When the hot water in the line cools, the sensor opens and the warm water return to the tank, and hot water takes it's place. The system is set by a simple programable timer to operate to the occupants' schedule. As a bonus, the system saves energy and water.

Electrical

Filling the steel reinforced walls with concrete

The Building and Electrical codes specify the minimum level of wiring in a residental home. Of course this is the starting point for Nutmeg Homes. Our electrician - Rick is given somewhat of a free reign in wiring our homes. Light switch placement follows the rule "no going back" - that is as one moves through the home light switches are placed so you don't have to back track to turn off a light you turned on when entering an area. Wall plugs are located with furniture placement in mind. Future wiring for hot tubs, additional crawl space plugs, optional kitchen sink garberator (plug and switch - but please compost kitchen waste - those worms will love you) are typically standard.

Light from 5 sources

Lighting is a serious issue for Nutmeg Homes. The number one light source is natural light. Then controlled levels of lighting for evening and night time. This pictured example of lighting the stove area illustrates some of the lighting practises we employ. In our spec homes we tend towards simple lighting - pot lights are frequently used. Pot lights, properly done are not less expensive than ceiling lights, but they can provide a better level of light control, no dust or bugs, little or no cleaning and they do what lights should do - provide light. Ceiling and display lights (ie. chandeliers) are used sparingly and tastefully. An elegant, simple, timeless decorating/finishing philosophy is our prefered style.

Natural light from south windows provide lots of natural light.
Obscured glass between counter and cabinets provides additional natural light.
Overhead pot lights provide counter surface light.
Under counter lights for soft accent and working lights.
A good quality stove fan with several lighting levels.

This is one of our typical spec homes, not an owner-customized home - just our basic standard. We try to do it right the first time. Warm, Solid, Quiet, Superior.

Of course telephone, computer lines, and cable are pre-installed with the same level of attention. One thing we do try to get away with is no television/cable in the main living room area, especially when a media room is in the home (another standard we have been implementing lately), this is not to save money - it just seems to be - well - polite.

Television is chewing gum for the eyes. Frank Lloyd Wright

Siding

stucco, vinyl, cement board, stucco, stone, brick

ICF manufacturers generally recommend that siding be applied before 6 months after the concrete has been poured. This is primarily to protect the Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) ridgid foam from UV (sunlight) damage. However - we personally know of ICF structures that have been owner built and been uncovered for 2 to 8 years with no problems. Once the roof, windows and doors are in - you are, in reality, done. Any siding you put on an ICF wall is primarily decorative, and secondarily to protect the EPS foam - from UV and physical damage. We know of a local unsheltered ICF waterfront home on a nearby small island being occupied (no building offical approval required) all winter through a heavy storm season - no siding -no problem. Underneath the first of the two layers of EPS is a minimum of 6 inches of solid concrete - the siding on ICF really is - just decorative!

Shell Busey and Exposed Web Studs ICF

What limitations are there for siding ICF? None. Any siding - wood, stucco, brick, vinyl, is easily applied. Nearly all ICF brands have integral plastic studs every 8 inches (rather than 16 or 24 inches as in a stick build wall). In most ICF brands the studs (or webbing) are just beneath the surface of the foam with easily seen patterns or markings that indicate stud location (most brands also have vertical lines every inch for easy of assembly). The ARXX brand ICF block is available with the web exposed. Simply nailing on siding is generally accepted, screwing is even better. The best siding (and often most expensive) is brick, next is stucco - then vinyl (yes, vinyl) followed by the others. For ICF, stucco is the perfect and prefered choice. Many commercial buildings use an EPS panel and stucco system - that's because it's a great system! Another very good thing about stucco is that it's life span is second only to brick (and some natural rock systems - the pyramids for example). Cement board products like Hardi Plank, (which are a combination of saw dust and cement), like wood, need regular periodic maintainance. If the structure only lasts 60 to 80 years (an average Canadian home) then painting every 10 to 15 years may be acceptable (where does all that old paint go any way?). But painting a structure every 15 years for say 600 years - that's 40 coats of paint - not good for the environment or the asthetics of the building. Power wash - no soap, just water - acrylic stucco (on a 1/2 to 3/4 inch base coat) as needed, and the building will be as colourful and clean as the day it was done (some darker acrylic colours may suffer minor UV fading).

Drywall

Drywall attached to ICF walls

Don't worry - drywalling ICF walls is easy! At Nutmeg Homes we glue on the board and hold the board in place with a minimum number of screws - about 6 screws for a 4 by 10 foot sheet. This means less filling, less work, and a better looking finished wall. Don't worry about starting or stopping butt joints on a stud - the wall is flat and level use glue. Use foam glue - easier, cheaper and faster. There is only one drawback. Most ICF brands (NUDURA is the only exception we know of), have about a 1 inch gap between blocks where there is no webbing. That is the stud/webbing goes up for 15 1/2 inches, then there is a gap where the next block up connects. Nudura blocks actually inter connect - they 'click' together to provide a continous nailing strip and slightly more stable wall before the concrete is poured. The same gap problem on the inside with drywall occurs on the outside with siding. There are several easy solutions.

What about drywall nail pops? These usually occur on exterior south facing walls when the wood expands and contracts with the daily and seasonal temperature and humidity changes. Wood walls. How much expansion and contraction does an ICF wall manage? Well - if you drive your car - at say 50 km. per hour - into an ICF wall - you may rattle some pictures hanging on the wall - you won't cause a nail pop (you will wreck your car though) - (see the disaster section our Library page).

The end result.

The drywall finishing is critical. In some areas in the USA we have seen some pretty incredible drywall finishing - incredibly poor. There are obviously different standards in different regions. Canadian drywallers have a well deserved reputation for quailty work, and the drywallers we use are very good, even by Canadian standards. Harvey and Don do all our finishing work - and they're good! Our painter - a ticketed German Master Painter, often thanks the drywallers for their role in making our finished walls look good. How can you tell if the drywall has been done well? In a way you can't; flat, clean, unblemished - smooth, no bumps, dips, shadows - invisible perfection. We are very proud of our walls at Nutmeg!

Finally - the Painting, Cabinets, Fixtures, Trim and Flooring

Please check your bank balance before proceeding!!

>>> Chapter 4