Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

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hackermb
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Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by hackermb »

We break ground on our new construction Tract home here in a few weeks.

1) What are the things I should stay on top of during construction?

2) What things should I slip the subconstractor a $100+ to make better/change?

Looking for suggestions all the way from add a 2x4 here to put in dual zone HVAC.

Reference: 3100 sqft house 2 story with walkout unfinished basement, three car garage. Price range mid 300's. Location middle of Indiana.
Jamieson22
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Jamieson22 »

Hardwire network connections in every room, run them all to basement. Add conduit in wall to easily add future wiring needs. Pre-wire for surround system(s), including wired from from baseboard to where you plan to run TVs, also electric outlets up high. Run speaker wire from one spot to locations you'd want some in ceiling speakers for whole house audio.

All this is easier before drywall goes up.
psteinx
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by psteinx »

Not advice specificly about the construction, but a general thing:

If you can cheaply get a deep pour of the unfinished basement (i.e. 8 feet instead of 7, say), do it as it allows you to finish the basement down the road with more normal ceiling height.
livesoft
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by livesoft »

Network will be wireless in modern houses.
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Random Poster
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Random Poster »

Four-plug electrical outlets (instead of the usual two-plug outlets) in the living room, media room, office, and bedrooms.
psteinx
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by psteinx »

Many electrical outlets.

LAN wiring if you prefer wired to wireless.

Even with a 3 car garage, if it's not too expensive to make it a foot or two wider or deeper, you may appreciate this in years to come.

Good pad and reasonable carpeting, where used.

A little bit of extra paint for whatever the primary paint color is (for future touch up). And a little bit of other exterior building materials/supplies for matching/fixes down the line would also be helpful (stains, floor coverings, exterior siding, etc.)
Globalviewer58
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Globalviewer58 »

Do you have a set of the plans to be able to compare the drawings to the actual work?

Do you have a construction background so you can walk through and compare the work to the local building code requirements for foundation concrete, framing, roofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC? This is what the building inspector is to inspect and approve or notify the builder of required changes. You might talk to your local inspector and inquire about her experience with your builder and the subs.

I worked as a construction engineer long ago. Had a Pulte home. Did my walk throughs at night and compared to the quality of the model. Found poor quality workmanship on concrete ( visible honeycomb on structural concrete), window installation (insulation gaps between window and framing), drywall (left 2" gap between drywall and framing around two door frames then used tape to span the gap between drywall and trim). Finish coat of paint was thinned too much so color did not cover thoroughly. Gap at door threshhold on interior doors was meant for carpet although floor was tile. They corrected all deficiencies I documented but commented that I should have been their construction inspector.

Good luck!
123
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by 123 »

If it's tract construction I doubt you can have much of an impact on an individual property as much as you feel that its "yours". In tract construction consistency in materials and workmanship is the key. Having watched tracts go up in my former neighborhood I feel that anything that causes an "exception" is asking for trouble. What seem like small adjustments can cause compound complexities over time. Tract houses are like members of a marching band, they have to stay in synch to all finish at the same time. If some modification, however minor, causes yours to go out-of-step it may be quite some time before the chorus (i.e. workmen) come around to it again. Crews of workmen come through like SWAT teams for their particular tasks. A property that's not ready for their task may simply be bypassed.
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walkabout
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by walkabout »

Try to get a good HVAC system, not builder's grade.

Strongly consider two stage heat pump (or AC if you are going AC/furnace vs heat pump) and variable speed air handler (or furnace).

If you get a zoned system, be very wary if the contractor wants to use a single stage non-variable speed air handler (or furnace).

If you have HVAC questions or concerns, post them here: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/hvac/

Whether you have concerns or not, get your model numbers and post there to verify that you are getting a good system and that the components are a good match. If you don't get a good match, you probably won't get the advertised SEER from your system.

If you are getting a heat pump, you will have two main components: compressor and air handler.
If you are getting a furnace, you will have three main components: ac, furnace, coil.

There is a reference that lists, per manufacturer, which component combinations constitute a "good match". The gardenweb forums can help here, especially user "tigerdunes".

If you like Christmas lights, see if you can get electrical outlets near where you expect to plug in the lights. Obviously you want some outlets outside, but you also might want some outlets that make it convenient to put electric candle lights in your windows.

Try to get quiet bathroom fans with either a timer switch or a humidistat switch. I am always amazed when I go on the local "Home Parade" around here and very vert nice homes have a loud fan. Panasonic makes well-regarded exhaust fans. For a tract home, I'm not sure how much control you have over this.

Someone mentioned a hard-wired network above. Someone else mentioned wireless. I feel like wireless is probably good enough, but make sure that you have a place where you can centrally locate your router so that you can, hopefully, cover your whole house.

This is probably standard practice, but try to get each cable jack wired as a homerun from either your point of demarcation or from your network box (or whatever it is called). It would be nice to have two runs pulled to each cable jack. That way you have to option of either two tv sources or you have flexibility about which cable jack hosts your cable modem.

Get good windows. Dual pane is probably standard, with argon and low-e coating. You might benefit from triple pane. I'm sure there's a calculation you could do to determine the payoff, based on your location, fuel cost, etc. If the difference is not huge, just go triple.

If you plan to finish the basement in the future, try to get the HVAC contractor to tuck the ductwork as high as possible in order to maximize the headroom. If you don't say anything, they will take the path of least resistance which means you might lose headroom that you don't need to lose.

For any mechanical equipment, try to get the installation instructions for the specific make and model (download them from the manufacturer) and do your best to verify that the equipment was installed correctly. Sometimes you can get lucky and can find obvious mistakes that you wouldn't know to look for if you didn't have the instructions. You're not going to become an HVAC expert overnight, but you could certainly catch if a condensate drain is obviously incorrect, for example. In our case we were not building a home, but we did have our HVAC system replaced recently. Our condensate drain was installed exactly how the instructions say NOT to install it. I would not have given it a second thought if I hadn't taken 5-10 minutes to read the instructions. We also had a UV light installed that would have been installed incorrectly (wrong location and wrong model for our air handler) if I had not been there to question it.

You don't necessarily want to be a pest or a know-it-all, but it can only benefit you to be as well-educated as possible.
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Ged
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Ged »

I think the wired/wireless question depends on who is going to be living in the home. If there is an engineer who is going to be working from home some conduits that can have whatever the latest media pulled through them are likely to be worthwhile. Wireless doesn't really cut it when you are transferring terabytes for a work related project.

Even a single run from the basement to the attic can make a large difference.
General Disarray
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by General Disarray »

123 wrote:If it's tract construction I doubt you can have much of an impact on an individual property as much as you feel that its "yours". In tract construction consistency in materials and workmanship is the key.
This. It's a tract home, not a customized home. Tract home builders such as Pulte mass produce homes for a quick profit. The uniformity of the construction, including in the interior (cabinets, air conditioning units, etc.) are all uniform. This uniformity lowers the cost to homebuyers, BUT the materials are not top quality. In fact, Pulte (and other similar companies) are notorious for cutting corners. Google "Pulte homes" and read some of the reviews.
Sagenick48
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Sagenick48 »

There have been excellent suggestions so far. I had a custom builder so my experience is not quite the same. Agree on electrical; on media went wired and regretted it, wireless was more convenient and didn't get outmoded as fast. Be sure to check what they are doing every day. Found that even good people couldn't read plans and I had to correct for misplaced doors.

Got to know the finishing carpenter and that was good. Accept that no matter how much you try to get it right something is not going to turn out perfect.
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Allan
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Allan »

General Disarray wrote:
123 wrote:If it's tract construction I doubt you can have much of an impact on an individual property as much as you feel that its "yours". In tract construction consistency in materials and workmanship is the key.
This. It's a tract home, not a customized home. Tract home builders such as Pulte mass produce homes for a quick profit.
Correct!

The business model for tract builders is to build repetitive plans (saves money), build fast , no or very few changes changes and upgrades, quality just high enough to get by, and sell cheap.

Allan
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by stan1 »

My suggestion would be to drop off a 12 pack of beer with the builder's site foreman and walk through the house with him several times during construction including at least once right before the drywall goes up. I bought a tract house before the slab was poured in 1999. My builder encouraged buyers to meet with the site supervisor and had a process to leave a work chit at the sales office if I saw something wrong. If you get the site supervisor on your side he will manage the subcontractors more closely.
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hackermb
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by hackermb »

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Agreed its a tract home but I've had friends that have slipped trades people a few hundred to do things a little different/better.

In addition ill be adding some things on the weekends. Talking with a couple of their site managers they don't seem to mind they just want to know ahead of time.
john94549
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by john94549 »

No matter where you live, I suspect the biggest aggravation is water infiltration. Whether it be through the roof, the flashing, the perimeter, the windows, or the basement. I'd watch those things. Ironically enough, in our last re-roofing, the nailing gun proved to be the source of a major leak in our bedroom. The roofer just missed by an inch or so, nailed through the paper, and created the leak. That said, is there any way to see or catch such human errors? Short of knowing what each tradesman is to do and following each tradesman around, I suspect the answer is "no".
WhyNotUs
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by WhyNotUs »

Understand the foundation plan for dealing with freezing, make sure that it is implemented properly.
Understand the roof structure and how it will shed snow and water, make sure that it is implemented properly. are gutters included? Where are they sending water?
Understand the grading plan and how it will deal with storm water, look at adjacent parcels and make sure that they are not sending water your way or vice versa.
Pay the upgrade cost, if any, for plywood boxes for all cabinets. Hopefully they are standard.
Find out how much room for growth there will be in your electric panel, make sure there is some-- electric cars, additions, media room in basement, etc.
Upgrade for extra insulation in attic, R-50+, it will help with year round comfort.
Upgrade for setback thermo stats, if not included, they are worth it.
Check the quality of roofing material, look for long term warranty and how they address any special weather issues in your area
Slip the $100 issues- air sealing and insulation- get it sealed up right the first time. Ask the job supervisor to make sure air exchange in roof is double checked, window sealing is double checked, and insulation is installed properly.
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LAR
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by LAR »

Can you hire a home inspector who can monitor the construction?
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shmidds
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by shmidds »

Conduit or chase from basement to attic for future use. Sound deadening sheetrock or insulation on the master bedroom interior walls.
Valuethinker
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Valuethinker »

wageoghe wrote:
Get good windows. Dual pane is probably standard, with argon and low-e coating. You might benefit from triple pane. I'm sure there's a calculation you could do to determine the payoff, based on your location, fuel cost, etc. If the difference is not huge, just go triple.
.
A mistake I made was to specify triple glazed windows on a loft extension. It turns out good 'low E' argon windows do just as well, and are cheaper and lighter. There are 'top quality' triples but they cost. I got mehh triples, and it would be too expensive to do anything about it before their 25 year life is up.

On the north side of the house it's worth having triples (if you have any windows at all), perhaps. That's also the case if you have noise issues (again, the right window is more important than double or triple, the manufacturers do 'low noise' windows).

The rest of the house I am less certain. Our 'Velux' (European brand, very popular) slanted loft windows (south facing so liable to overheat) are just as good as the triples when you look at u values (North Americans use R R = (1/u)x 5.6 to convert European u to North American R; so lower u is better, higher R is better), and the framing is much less obtrusive, thinner (they don't do a triple, as it would be too heavy).

From a cost view I doubt higher spec pays off (or does so only in the very long run). Where it does pay off is in comfort. Warm air hits the window on the inside, then cools and slides down it, creating a draft in the room. What you can do to prevent that is really important. A drafty house feels far colder in winter than one without drafts.

On the south side, and usually the west side (the east side has symmetric exposure but usually at a cooler part of the day) solar gain/ overheat is a major issue. You can get types of windows to help with that. It's great to have picture windows, but they can be a warm/ cold nightmare if the glazing is wrong.

Mentioned in other posts is air tightness. This cannot be overemphasized. Besides money, your comfort in winter (and hot summers) is all about the ability to keep the air out/ in. As another poster mentioned, this is key around window frames and doors. Fixing that after the house is finished is well nigh impossible.

All the advice about properly matched and multispeed HVAC systems is very good advice.

Ditto about plywood cabinets. Anything where the workmanship is rough, it's worth forking out a few hundred dollars to have it gone over, more carefully.

I suspect one does not need wired ducting *except* from the ingress point into the house to a couple of key locations (maybe one downstairs, one upstairs?) where you will locate the wireless hubs.
dolphinsaremammals
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by dolphinsaremammals »

Really good insulation, no drafts around windows, and associated stuff.

Sound insulation. You never know when you will get the neighbors from hell who play their stereos at 2 am on work nights.

You can never have too many electrical outlets. In both houses I've owned, I've wished there were more electrical outlets in several places, plus the earlier suggestion to make them four socket instead of two is very good.

Ceiling lights. Flood lamps and desk lamps just don't compensate for the lack of an overhead light.

No horrible rough surfaced ceilings. They will always look cheap, no matter how else the room is finished and furnished.

Good access to house systems, i.e. something better than belly downing in a crawl space.

Power failures will happen, and some for extended periods of time. You will be glad if you have a gas hot water heater and possibly a gas stove. I had stand-alone gas heaters in my old house, but in my current house the gas baseboard heating has an electrical pump, unfortunately.
cherijoh
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by cherijoh »

I had a new construction tract home and was able to make some minor modifications to the plan. I visited the builders office and took distances off the detailed floor plan so that I was able to figure out how I would arrange my furniture and then added extra outlets, phone jacks and cable in the appropriate locations. (This was a lower price point than the OP's new home, so a limited number were included in the plan). I had the house prewired for ceiling fans then had them capped and had an alarm system installed while the walls were open. I also added some pocket doors added so that some oversized furniture could be placed closer to the doorways. Provided you put in these type requests early enough in the process, these will only cost you an nominal amount and won't get you out of sequence with the builder.

I did check about twice per week during construction and caught a few issues - I was to get a deck and showed up to find a staircase down to the lawn - they were going to pour a patio instead. That was corrected, but might have been an issue if they'd gone as far as pouring the concrete. I also paid for a paint upgrade and found they had painted it the standard color. This resulted in getting an extra coat of paint. There were also a few sheetrock issues that I had them redo.
rustymutt
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by rustymutt »

Whole house surge protection, and backup power generator. Inside walls insulated where needed. Widen the stairs to the basement by at least 6 inches. Centralized data/media closet in basement. Better carpet than builder grade.
Make sure the ventilation system is balanced with enough return air to work air movement efficiently.
Quiet proofing a home is very important to me. I don't like hearing people in other parts of the home walking on cheap flooring. I had planking used on our floor. Make sure they use screws on drywall, not nails. A builders contractor, will skip corners is not properly overseen. Walk through the home dailey as it's being built. Talk to the contractors if they aren't doing it your way.
I might even ask for the floor to have sound proofing added. And make sure the hot water pipes are insulated, with recirculating pumps, if need be. Pipe noises can drive you crazy if pluming isn't done correctly.

Good luck!
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investingdad
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by investingdad »

We're in a tract home type community but the prior builder (local) and our builder (local) all emphasized customization of their floor plans. The current builder (yes, the community is on its THIRD builder...big community that has gone through the housing implosion) is also local but does NOT like to customize anything despite what they say. They're cheap and their quality stinks. The people buying from this guy think they're getting what the rest of us got for more than 100K less...they're going to learn the hard way what comes with that kind of discount.

Anyway, here are some thoughts:

- if you're doing granite in the kitchen now or in the future, double the floor joists under the floor to prevent sagging.
- if you're going to finish the basement, make sure your electrical panel is big enough to accomodate the extra load (otherwise you'll need a second panel or subpanel...not a big deal, just extra cost).
- also, if you're going to finish the basement in the future frame in for future windows and doors (assuming you have a walkout...I seem to recall you do from other posts?) right NOW! ---our builder framed in three windows for no cost. I forgot to frame in for double doors and had to pay extra for that when we finished the basement.
- finally, if you're going to finish the basement think about routing your water main in such a way that main line from the entry point to the manifold doesn't run under the area you want to finish.
- one more finally, if you're going to finish the basement request now that any gas lines (fireplace, dryer, etc) be flex line with and not hard pipe with threaded elbows. By code those hard pipe lines have to be changed to flex line to eliminate the chance of leaks and gas pockets forming under your first floor floor. I had to change mine...again, not a big deal but money you can save by doing it now.
- if you're going to do undercabinet lighting in your kitchen in the future, PRE-WIRE RIGHT NOW!!! We did and it saved a HUGE amount of money and work later. Only cost a few hundred dollars to pre-wire and the installation effort after the house was done was next to nothing.
- make sure the builder foam caulks and seals all the gaps between your framing boards once the insulation is up...may be an extra for some builders.
- if you're getting a stone or brick facade on the exterior, make TRIPLE sure that the weap cloth is installed properly behind the masonry. That masonry is porus and if the water cannot drain due to incorrectly installed weap cloth, you're going to get water in the basement entering at the top of the foundation.
- if possible, request that the top of your foundation is ABOVE street level...this will alleviate water draining toward your house during heavy rain.

I'm sure there are more but this is off the top of my head after building two new homes.
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by carolinaman »

Make sure there is good drainage around your house is big factor. It is much better to get this right the first time rather than try to remediate later.

Make sure framing is square and according to plan. My son has done a lot of punch work for tract builders and you would be amazed at the things he had to try to fix. If caught earlier, it is usually much easier to fix.

Regular inspection of work. Even if you are a novice, you should be able to spot many defects. The key here is knowing what is a nit and what is material.

Establish a relationship with the superintendent but do not be a pest about it. If he knows you are vigilant but reasonable, he will make sure things are done right.

I would be leery of paying extra for things with subs or providing perks like booze. They will certainly take it but I doubt it will mean better work. Most subs are under pressure to finish their work by their boss and the builder, so a little extra by you may not mean that much in terms of quality of work. I have a friend who is a builder of higher quality homes. He uses the same labor pool as tract home builders but he pays them a little better. He has to monitor their work closely and remind them he is paying extra for better quality work. I doubt your extra compensation would have the same affect due to pressure by builder to finish quickly.
kcb203
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by kcb203 »

A couple comments:

I installed the quiet Panasonic bathroom fans in my custom build 5 years ago, but learned later that one primary reason for fans is sound masking, in addition to ventilation.

Make sure there is 2x4 blocking where you plan to hang the towel bars so you don't have to use drywall anchors that will eventually rip out.

Undertile radiant heat in the master bathroom was a very nice addition.

Solid interior doors instead of hollow.

Extra HVAC returns in each bedroom.

Recirculating hot water system for instant hot water.

Rough-in for basement bathroom.

Duct sealing with mastic instead of tape.
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Aptenodytes
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Aptenodytes »

Apologies if these have been mentioned already -- coming in too late to read them all. Simply don't read what I wrote if you object to that.

Connection to plug in a portable generator to your house wiring, if you live in an area prone to extreme storms. Or spring for the built-in generator.

Compromise on the ethernet wiring. Have two ethernet ports on each floor, one in a closet where you can have router and one at the most likely location for a desk. Also an ethernet port where you are going to have your main TV / gaming console. WiFi is great, but it isn't as robust as wired.

Plan on a closet that will house all your various networking devices. At the last minute I had our contractor put an ethernet port and an electrical outlet in the most central coat closet, and I'm so glad I did. In that closet we have our main WiFi router, our Sonos controller, our home server, and our secondary Wifi Router. The main router connects to the ethernet port, which connects to a port at my desk. If these things weren't in the closet they would be taking up space somewhere in the open.

I wish I had given in to my temptation and had the contractor put in USB outlets on our big "landing strip" counter top. I hesitated, and now we are awash in wall warts that frequently go missing and always look ugly.

Consider whole-house surge protection.

Solid-core interior doors only cost a little more than hollow-core but have a more satisfying heft and sound protection.

In our addition/remodel I paid extra for higher quality paint, and it was well worth it. Stronger, more durable, easier-to-wash.
SimonJester
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by SimonJester »

LAR wrote:Can you hire a home inspector who can monitor the construction?
This is where I would spent my money. Hire a good home inspector to go out multiple times during construction to check / report back on the various stages. Dont confuse this with what your regional building inspector does. While their functions might be similar the home inspector works for you, the building inspector works for the local municipality.
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LAR
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by LAR »

If you have dogs or have the need, I believe a utility sink in the laundry room or garage is a plus.
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by obgraham »

Don't position the HVAC compressor unit right outside a bedroom window!
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Epsilon Delta »

There are two different conversations going on here. One is what features you would like when you design the house. The other, which I think is closer to the OP's question, is how do you ensure that a house is built according to the design, i.e. how do you supervise the actual construction.

One thing that should be important is to complete the design and then build to the design. Submitting change orders after the building starts* adds expense, decreases quality and annoys the builder.

*Actually the deadline is probably a bit before ground is broken, since some items have lead times.
WhyNotUs
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by WhyNotUs »

kcb203 wrote:A couple comments:

I installed the quiet Panasonic bathroom fans in my custom build 5 years ago, but learned later that one primary reason for fans is sound masking, in addition to ventilation.
Contractors call them "fart fans"
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ResearchMed
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by ResearchMed »

If you are planning to finish that basement, then try to get any wiring and especially plumbing (e.g., for a full or half bathroom, etc.) done during construction.
Do you have any idea at all what you might do with the basement?

Likewise, if there might need to be another side or back door if the basement is finished, try to get that done now (along with those windows). Is any re-grading required for any windows or a door on the basement level? Is it walkout level only on the back, or on most of the two "sides"?

We worked with a "tract home" (one of several floor plans offered), and had them re-do architectural plans, and lots of custom work.

It took forever but was worth it, big time.

It was absolutely true that the plumbers, the electricians, the tile guys, etc.... all had to "come back", and that took a long time.
(In our case, the builder tried to refuse to finish and give us back our tiny deposit, because he could without a doubt now sell it for more. We refused, and finally told them, "Look, you can let it sit here 'almost finished', and with construction loans, or you can just finish it, sell, and get your money. We WILL WAIT." It was a vacation property, so we didn't "need a place to live". A couple of weeks later, it was, miraculously, completed.)

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hackermb
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by hackermb »

Epsilon Delta wrote:There are two different conversations going on here. One is what features you would like when you design the house. The other, which I think is closer to the OP's question, is how do you ensure that a house is built according to the design, i.e. how do you supervise the actual construction.

One thing that should be important is to complete the design and then build to the design. Submitting change orders after the building starts* adds expense, decreases quality and annoys the builder.

*Actually the deadline is probably a bit before ground is broken, since some items have lead times.
Yes there are two different conversations going on. Both are equally applicable.

To clarify a bit further the main intent of the thread was what are the things you would:

1) do yourself during construction before drywall etc...
2) Things you know are going to be quality issues that the builder won't change since they meet code already etc...
3) What are some construction tips that I should ask the site manager if they are going to be constructing that way.
4) Any foundation drainage suggestions for a sloped yard with walkout basement (level to yard) out the back?

This being a tract home the design is already finsihed and is standard, I'm not going to be able to make a lot of changes without 1) doing the work myself 2) greasing some pockets etc...

I'm liking all the suggestions so far so keep them coming. I'm making a list to review with the site manager before we break ground.
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hackermb
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by hackermb »

Im leaving the basement unfinished for now as we really won't need the space for 2-3 years and it will give me something to do during the winter.

To the best of my knowledge the entire back will be fully exposed and ground level with roughly 25% of each side fully exposed.

Leaving it unfinished will allow me to add windows and possible larger multiple sliding doors later which the builder will not allow.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by ResearchMed »

If you don't anticipate wanting to add any plumbing (no bathroom, half-bath, wetbar, or mini-kitchen), then it should be fine.

It was the plumbing that would have been very difficult for us to do "later", once the foundation was in, etc.
Electrical would have been much easier later, to run along baseboards, etc., if necessary.

But it was wonderful to have it all finished, with sockets in walls, and plumbing in place.
(We had all the bathroom fixtures added at the time, but having the plumbing in place to add the fixtures later would have worked, too.)

It was a tedious process, but it was worth it.
There are just a few things we wish we had done differently: One that wouldn't have cost much more would have been to undermount ALL of the sinks. We didn't do that in the smaller bathrooms or powder room, and we regret that. But that's not a big regret.

We might have considered wiring for a generator, if we had thought about it. It wouldn't have cost much at the time.
(We just added a generator to our home, and fortunately, the electrical panel was right near an old-fashioned basement type window, and the gas came into the house not too far away. So it's all automated. That should guarantee no hurricanes here for the next decade or so... :shock: )

RM
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Flashes1
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Flashes1 »

We built a custom home 2 years ago after living in a tract. Just a couple things:

1. I'm unsure exactly what the custom builder installed, but he said he put some kind of a French Drain around the outside perimeter of the house. I haven't heard the sump pump discharge once in 2 years. This is after experiencing a wet basement in the tract home....the person who fixed the leak, said it could have all been prevented had the builder put in a French drain which he said was inexpensive.

2. Run a water line somewhere in the garage for a Utility sink. You probably want to install it later as they're pretty cheap at HD.....but they are awesome for cleaning off shovels and paint brushes.

3. Run speaker wire if you want a surround system down the road. $20 for a spool.
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hand
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by hand »

SimonJester wrote:
LAR wrote:Can you hire a home inspector who can monitor the construction?
This is where I would spent my money. Hire a good home inspector to go out multiple times during construction to check / report back on the various stages. Dont confuse this with what your regional building inspector does. While their functions might be similar the home inspector works for you, the building inspector works for the local municipality.
Assuming you are not a construction expert, you want (need) someone who is working in your interest to ensure that the builder meets their obligations.
A home inspector you pay should do this and may have a very different view than whatever code inspections your town mandates.
smackboy1
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by smackboy1 »

SimonJester wrote:
LAR wrote:Can you hire a home inspector who can monitor the construction?
This is where I would spent my money. Hire a good home inspector to go out multiple times during construction to check / report back on the various stages. Dont confuse this with what your regional building inspector does. While their functions might be similar the home inspector works for you, the building inspector works for the local municipality.
The homeowner can hire their own home inspector (who has home construction experience) to perform phased inspections. The inspector will go out and inspect the construction at various milestones during construction to ensure everything is built according to plan e.g. insulation installed correctly, drainage pipes connected, sumps installed correctly etc.. It's very hard to find mistakes and omissions once the walls are closed up.

Home builders generally are resistant to phased inspections.
Disclaimer: nothing written here should be taken as legal advice, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
SimonJester
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by SimonJester »

hackermb wrote:Im leaving the basement unfinished for now as we really won't need the space for 2-3 years and it will give me something to do during the winter.

To the best of my knowledge the entire back will be fully exposed and ground level with roughly 25% of each side fully exposed.

Leaving it unfinished will allow me to add windows and possible larger multiple sliding doors later which the builder will not allow.
Have the build add rough in plumbing for a bathroom in the unfinished basement you will be glad later on as this would be a big expense to add afterwords.
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Feb29
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Feb29 »

If you can get to the site often enough, take pictures, especially before the drywall goes up. It can be very useful to know where electrical, plumbing, ductwork, and studs are later on.
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Duckie
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Duckie »

Feb29 wrote:If you can get to the site often enough, take pictures, especially before the drywall goes up. It can be very useful to know where electrical, plumbing, ductwork, and studs are later on.
This. It's not only very useful to you but if you put the pictures in a scrapbook or something it'll be useful to future owners.
SomeGuyWA
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by SomeGuyWA »

Some really good suggestions. My wife and I built our dream home several years ago and I have a few minor things to add.
1. I assume you'll have an island in the kitchen - make sure there are outlets on both ends. Somehow we didn't think about this at the time and ours has outlets only on one end, so at times we end up with cords strung all the way across the island if someone has their laptop set up on the end that has the stools and the legroom.
2. Consider some "under the cupboard" outlets - we have one in the master bath and keep the Sonicare toothbrush and a beard trimmer plugged in there, out of sight, but always fully charged and ready to use.
3. In the laundry room, consider whether you'll have side-by-side or stacked washer and dryer. We got stacked units, but the water and vents and everything were set up for side-by-side. Not a huge deal but if you're OCD like me, something to think about.

Hope this helps - good luck. Nothing like moving into your BRAND NEW house!
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LadyGeek
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by LadyGeek »

Jamieson22 wrote:Hardwire network connections in every room, run them all to basement. Add conduit in wall to easily add future wiring needs. Pre-wire for surround system(s), including wired from from baseboard to where you plan to run TVs, also electric outlets up high. Run speaker wire from one spot to locations you'd want some in ceiling speakers for whole house audio.

All this is easier before drywall goes up.
livesoft wrote:Network will be wireless in modern houses.
You still need hardwire ethernet connections for router access (to change passwords, access control, firmware upgrades, etc.). Also, you don't know where the wireless coverage will be spotty. A hardwire connection gives you options to do both.

Also run coax to every room, you'll need it for cable TV distribution. Or, a cable modem.

How's your budget? You'll need a distribution panel to do this right.

======================
I strongly agree with taking photos of the wiring (and plumbing) before the drywall goes up. When I had my house renovated, I had the contractors drop extra wiring down a few walls.

We didn't know the exact location of where we wanted to place some lighting - which we did later. Having photos allowed us to install the lighting fixtures with confidence - we knew exactly where the wires were.
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olentangy61
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by olentangy61 »

Have them stuff some extra insulation around the sewer lines that comes down from the upstairs through the ceiling and walls. This helps cut down on the noise when someone flushes upstairs.

Also, add insulation in interior walls that separate rooms where there may be noise - like between a room with a TV and bedroom or den.
ralph124cf
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by ralph124cf »

Consider having all 20 amp circuits instead of 15 amp. The upcharge for 12 gauge wire instead on 14 gauge is minimal, and the circuit breakers are also a minimal upgrade. It is amazing how often you will need to wire in some new device that would exceed the carrying capacity of a 15 amp circuit. Just don't let them reduce the number of circuits from the plan, as this would defeat the purpose.

Ralph
jontherevelator
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by jontherevelator »

LadyGeek wrote: You still need hardwire ethernet connections for router access (to change passwords, access control, firmware upgrades, etc.).
While I agree that hardwiring ethernet inside conduits is a good idea when you have the opportunity, this statement about hardwire connections being necessary to access the router for these specific tasks is not true. There are plenty of router options that allow for web-based, wireless management. This includes the ability to flash the firmware. I can even flash my router's firmware remotely over the Internet.
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saladdin
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by saladdin »

WhyNotUs wrote:
kcb203 wrote:A couple comments:

I installed the quiet Panasonic bathroom fans in my custom build 5 years ago, but learned later that one primary reason for fans is sound masking, in addition to ventilation.
Contractors call them "fart fans"
The whole world calls them that.

My head is spinning from people suggesting silent bathroom fans. Silence is not what you want in a bathroom.
Random Poster
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Re: Tract Home - Things to Watch During Construction

Post by Random Poster »

saladdin wrote:My head is spinning from people suggesting silent bathroom fans. Silence is not what you want in a bathroom.
Depends on where the fan is.

If the fan is in a closeted toilet room, perhaps you don't.

If the fan is pulling the air out of a shower room, perhaps you do.
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