Jarret TT Camp

Archive for January, 2010

There are not many people in this country that is not dealing with financial problems. There probably isn’t anybody that would say that they would not control their home building costs. Actually it is one of the most expensive things that a person can do in their life and there most always is a finical problem.

At times building expenses will rise very high; in turn a home builder will need to get help from a financial institution. At times a home builder will need to mortgage the land that they are building their home on, unlike home costs. To try to avoid this from happening try to lower all expenses as much as possible.

First of all visit the markets and get a feel for what things are going to cost. Plan out a budget and sort out the more important things first, this will save money as some things can wait until later, like home costs many times. For example do not buy luxury items when a budget item will serve the purpose.

When shopping for supplies go to all the hardware stores items pricing varies for one to another. Buying in bulk can also save you money and will help with controlling your home building costs, like construction costs. There are some materials that will fluctuate in cost so you should watch the fluctuation and buy these items when the price is at its lowest. If a price rise is expected in the future, buy the item when it is at the cheapest price.

Labour cost is a hard thing to have any control over, but you should be very choosy about what carpenter that you do choose. This is because you do not need problems to arise down the road due to a job that is not done right.

Home buyers have it drilled into their heads that they need to get a home inspection. In California, for example, real estate agents advise home buyers to do a home inspection 15 ways from Sunday. Our purchase contracts contain two pages that talk about doing a home inspection, and those two pages are repeated in the buyer’s broker agreement. That’s just for starters.

A home buyer does not close escrow without hearing about the need for a home inspection. But what does a home inspection report disclose? Home buyers are often clueless about home construction and its components, and have difficulty deciphering home inspection reports. Many don’t know how to figure out which types of defects are serious or whether their home inspector checked all the essentials. But, by George, they got that home inspection!

Home Inspection Checklist Comparisons

All home inspections are different and can vary dramatically from state to state, as well as across counties and cities. Much depends on the home inspector and which association, if any, to which the home inspector belongs. Because I am most familiar with home inspections conducted in accordance with the standards of practice established by the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, the following information is based on NACHI guidelines.

Home Inspection Checklist of Items Not Inspected

Understand that California home inspectors are not licensed, nor are they licensed in many states. However, a home inspector’s standard practice typically does not include the following, for which a specific license to inspect and identify is required:

* Asbestos
* Radon, Methane, Radiation and Formaldehyde
* Wood-Destroying Organisms
* Mold, Mildew and Fungi
* Rodents
* Lead

General Home Inspection Checklist Items

* Structural Elements.
Construction of walls, ceilings, floors, roof and foundation.

* Exterior Evaluation.
Wall covering, landscaping, grading, elevation, drainage, driveways, fences, sidewalks, fascia, trim, doors, windows, lights and exterior receptacles.

* Roof and Attic.
Framing, ventilation, type of roof construction, flashing and gutters. It does not include a guarantee of roof condition nor a roof certification.

* Plumbing.
Identification of pipe materials used for potable, drain, waste and vent pipes. including condition. Toilets, showers, sinks, faucets and traps. It does not include a sewer inspection.

* Systems and Components.
Water heaters, furnaces, air conditioning, duct work, chimney, fireplace and sprinklers.

* Electrical.
Main panel, circuit breakers, types of wiring, grounding, exhaust fans, receptacles, ceiling fans and light fixtures.

* Appliances.
Dishwasher, range and oven, built-in microwaves, garbage disposal and, yes, even smoke detectors.

* Garage.
Slab, walls, ceiling, vents, entry, firewall, garage door, openers, lights, receptacles, exterior, windows and roof.

Home Inspection Checklist Items Needing Service

Home inspection reports do not describe the condition of every component if it’s in excellent shape, but should note every item that is defective or needing service. The serious problems are:

* Health and safety issues
* Roofs with a short life expectancy
* Furnace / A/C malfunctions
* Foundation deficiencies
* Moisture / drainage issues

Home Inspection Checklist Items Sellers Should Fix

If you have a choice, it is smarter to hire your own contractors and supervise repairs. Before issuing a formal request to repair, consider the seller’s incentive to hire the cheapest contractor and to replace appliances with the least expensive brands.

Although home inspectors are reluctant to and, in many cases, refuse to disclose repair costs, call a contractor to determine the scope and expense to fix minor problems yourself. No home is perfect. Every home will have issues on a home inspection. Even new homes.

A repair issue that will be be a deal breaker for a first-time home buyer, causing the buyer to cancel the contract, will not faze a home buyer versed in home repair. Talk to your agent, family, friends and call a few contractors to discuss which types of defects are minor. Perhaps a simple solution is available such as replacing a $1.99 receptacle, which can resolve many outlet problems.

Pat yourself on the back, too, for getting a home inspection. Some buyers feel a home inspection is unnecessary, especially if they are buying new construction. If a light switch doesn’t work or the air conditioner blows out hot air, those are problems you can see and test. The problems that aren’t readily identifiable to you such as code violations, a furnace that leaks carbon monoxide or a failing chimney, are the types of defects a home inspector could identify in a new home. Builders’ contractors make mistakes, too.

Builders often refer to the exterior of a home as the “envelope” or the “shell.” Sealing the envelope or shell against air infiltration (air leaking into the house from outside) and air exfiltration (air leaking from inside the house to the outside) helps reduce your energy expenditure for space heating and cooling. Besides, no one likes to live in a drafty house.

In this article, we’ll show you a variety of ways you can seal leaks and improve insulation to make your home cozier and more energy efficient. Once you’ve sealed and insulated the weak areas, the work doesn’t stop there. We’ll show you how routine cleaning and water conservation can increase energy efficiency and save you even more money on your energy bills. Begin the improvement process with the following basic sealing guidelines to help you secure your home’s exterior.

Testing for Leaks

Technicians use a “blower-door test” to accurately measure air leakage in houses. The test involves sealing a portable, frame-mounted fan in an exterior doorway to the house. Any known openings to the outside, such as the fireplace flue; bathroom vent fans; and the flues to the water heater, furnace, or boiler are temporarily sealed.

After the sealing and setup is complete and the blower fan is switched on, it is possible to measure with precision how much air is entering the house through all the various “unintended” cracks, gaps, and holes in the exterior envelope. Using devices called smoke pencils, technicians can pinpoint areas where air is entering the house while the blower door is in operation.

While every home is different and each has its own set of leakage points, there are areas where infiltration shows up repeatedly in blower-door tests. These often include the seam between the top of the foundation wall and the wood framing that runs above, around, and through doors and windows; along baseboards; through electrical receptacles and switches mounted on exterior walls; and around fireplaces, laundry chutes, attic hatchway doors and pull-down stairways, whole-house fan installations, and pipe and wire chases. A homeowner can go a long way toward increasing energy efficiency by locating and sealing up as many of these entry points as possible.

You don’t necessarily need to have a blower-door test done on your home in order to locate the unsealed areas that are leaking air. Knowing that these points of air entry have been routinely and consistently identified in other houses gives you a start on where to look for gaps and cracks in yours. A windy day outside can be helpful in this endeavor. Wind can push air into the house through unseen and unnoticed holes to the point that you can feel the air movement.

Checking Exterior Sheathing

Before plywood and oriented strand board (OSB) were invented, homes were built entirely with solid board lumber. The exterior was sheathed underneath the siding with wide boards that, over time, shrank and cracked. All these cracks — and the many others inherent in most homes — are pathways through which air can enter or leave a house. Sidewall sheathing is covered with siding, so all those cracks that appear in and between wide boards on older homes are hidden and inaccessible.

Air enters the sheathing through cracks in the siding; around windows and doors; and through other openings in the exterior envelope that include kitchen and bathroom vent fan louvers, dryer vents, holes bored for air-conditioning lines, electrical and gas service wires and pipes, along the underside of the lowest course of siding, and through other holes. Any time you can find and seal a crack on the exterior of a house, you go a long way toward reducing air infiltration and exfiltration on the inside.

Because of the large size of plywood and OSB sheets, there are relatively fewer seams in the sheathing on newer homes. And the use of products like house wrap on new construction has further reduced air infiltration. Consequently, most new homes are more airtight than older ones. But although the sheathing might be more airtight in a newer home, there are still many places where air is getting in and out. Finding and sealing those leakage points not only reduces drafts and energy usage, but it also helps keep out insects and other pests.

Filling Holes Around Lines

HVAC system installers need to bore a large hole through the exterior wall of the house in order to pass refrigerant lines through to the compressor outside. Most take time to caulk the hole around the lines, but the caulk fails over time, often leaving a gap where air (and insects) can infiltrate the house. A few minutes spent with a caulk gun will close the gap and shut off the flow of outside air into the house.

Caulking the Exterior

Some people find that once an older home has been freshly painted, they suddenly feel warmer or “cozier” inside during the winter. That may be because the painter who worked on the house took time to caulk cracks, gaps, and other holes in the home’s exterior “skin.” While minute gaps around doors and windows might not seem as though they could possibly add up to much, under certain conditions it is surprising how much air they can let into and out of a house.

Consider a windy day. Wind drives air into gaps and around obstructions. Add rain to the mix, and you’ve got the recipe for both water and air infiltration. So caulking pays off in regard to both energy savings and building preservation. That’s why you don’t need to wait until it’s time to paint to caulk visible openings on the exterior of your house.

Securing the Perimeter

The wooden framing in most homes rests on top of a solid concrete or concrete block foundation. In homes built before 1980 or so, the lowest section of wood, called the “mud sill,” rests directly on top of the concrete. While the connection is secure from a strength standpoint, in terms of eliminating air infiltration, things could be much better. The problem is the rough and variable surface of the top of the foundation wall. While there are many areas where the wood presses down tightly, other areas may leave a gap through which wind can enter.

The gaps, which collectively might add up to a hole the size of a basketball in the exterior envelope, can usually be sealed with either caulk or cans of spray foam. This procedure, which can be done either on the inside or outside of the house (depending on which offers the best access) requires that you first brush away the dirt and cobwebs from the concrete and wood so the caulk or foam will stick to both surfaces.

From that point on it’s just a matter of aiming the caulk tube’s tip or spray foam applicator tube at the gaps and gunning them full of caulk or foam. It’s a job that doesn’t have to be neat or precise, just thorough. Once you’re finished, you will have stopped up one of the leakiest places in the home.

In newer homes, the gap between the mud sill and the top of the foundation wall is filled with a thin, compressible length of foam material. The foam creates an airtight seal that does not need remedial caulking or foaming. However, it’s worth checking along this area anyway, as occasionally the foam sealer didn’t get placed exactly where it should have been. Also, the top of the foundation wall might be too uneven for the foam to fill the gap, someone might have forgotten to put it in place, or it might stop short of the corners. In any of those cases, a shot of caulk or foam can quickly remedy the problem.

In the next section, we’ll discuss some basic sealing techniques you can use indoors to help make your home more energy efficient.