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I am looking into building a new home. I’ve recently looked at one of the builder’s homes. He used 2x4S in the walls, used poured walls for the basement, steel beams for support, and Anderson windows. I have no experience with any of these. Any suggestions, what to look for’s, do’s and don’ts, would be GREATLY appreciated.
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POURED CONCRETE IS STRONGER THAN A BLOCK FOUNDATION. STEEL BEAMS ARE MUCH STRONGER THAN DIMENSIONAL LUMBER AND LAMINATED BEAMS.THE BIGGEST DRAWBACK TO THE STEEL IS THAT FRAMERS HATE THEM! IT'S DIFFICULT AND TIME CONSUMING TO ATTACH WOOD TO STEEL, BUT THAT IS NEITHER HERE NOR THERE SINCE YOU ARE NOT DOING THE ACTUAL BUILDING.IN THE LONG RUN STEEL IS THE MOST STABLE,BUT EXPECT TO HEAR SOME SQUEEKS WHERE THE METAL MEETS THE WOOD. TRY ASKING TO HAVE A GASKET BETWEEN THE WOOD AND METAL
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Allen G. I am all for poured foundations and steel beams for support, though you may want to check with your builder as to what types of support he offers. In my area (central Wisconsin) I offer my customers the option of A three ply micro lam or the instalation of bearing walls. In central Wis., basement space is often used for rec areas or other usable space such as additional bedrooms ( provided egress codes are met). I also build A majority of my homes with walk-out basements. My customers can choose to put in their bearing walls instead of A beam which eliminates framing around A beam at A later date if they so choose to finish of their basement area. If you have no set plans for your basement space, I recomend to my customers to opt for A three ply micro lam. This will provide the stregth needed ( in most cases, but check with your architect,builder or anengineer to make sure you provide enough support) to support your load and will allow you when you are ready, to easily frame under the beam with 2x6 material giving you A flush beam/wall surface. If you have no desire to finish of the space, go with the steel.
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Go with wood walls in the upper area of the house. I have no problem with 2x4's but prefer 2x6's (with r19 insulation) Anderson are good windows but weathersheild are equivilent quality at a lower price. Pella or Marvin are the best choice.
Rick Tuk
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All good advice. The laminated beams have the advantage of
more finishing options, and as a builder with no employees,
I can handle them myself, or with one helper. Your builder
will probably have his own opinions.
If you're trying to find out if he is a quality builder,
look more closely. Check out his joints on trim, exterior
and interior. Check various items for plumb, level and
square. What does he use for subfloor and wall/roof
sheathing? There's a lot of variability in a lot of
different way
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Not to knock Pellas and Marvin's, but there are better choices than either of these or Anderson. Check out Kolbe and Kolbe or Semco; both are excellent windows and Kolbe and Kolbe is very reasonable on custom units. Semco has a unique nailing flange on their clad units that makes installation much easier. There are too many Andersen's sold at Home Depot and Menard's, need I say more. You usually get what you pay for, however you can pay too much. In this area service on Pella's stinks. I really think that the Pella popularity is an outgrowth of a name that appeals to the Martha Stewart types of this world, Marvin's are popular on public TV, why because they're probably donated.. Stick with the poured foundation, it will prevent a myriad of problems.
*I took a close look at Pella and Kolbe+Kolbe sliding glass doors last week and I was disappointed with the Pella stuff. I don't know if my standards have changed, or if their products have changed, but I wasn't impressed with their windows either.I liked the look of that "KaKor" finish Kolbe+Kolbe offers. Anyone have any reports on that? - jb
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Allen
Seeking advice from the experts that troll these waters was your first great move. I won't add much to what the others have passed on. What I will add though, is developing a solid level of communication with your builder is about as good a thing as any. I have seen far to many home building projects go sideways because the owner was talking oranges and the building was thinking apples. Getting very specific details on what the both of you think is quality I feel is important. Often, a builder can sell quality (after all, very few set out to build a crappy house), but they put much of this 'quality' into the stuff you can see at the end, ie: nice finish trim, nice kitchen cabinets etc, but the substructure is cheaped out on. You can tune up a lot off iffy finish work, but if the framing, foundation etc are not built to first rate standards, boy, that's tough to tune up down the road.
btw, I agree with Rick, don't let him use 2x4 studs. 2x6 is the way to go here, the added insulation can't be made up later either in any easy way.
Good luck!
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To all- I have been A Kolbe & Kolbe customer for 10 years and hav'nt had A reoccuring problem yet. I've had kak out to my projects severall times to adjust things and their service reps are true profesionals. I had A problem with their three point locking system, for example, and they came right out on time, corrected the problem and thats how they do business. I also like the fact that they are A homestate co, i've been in several labor markets and for A pure hard work force, Wisconsin is unbeatable. Kolbe & Kolbe's gross income in 1998, was'nt half of what Anderson spent on advertising, that says alot. For price/quality combined , KaK beats them all. By the way, Kolbe & Kolbe put some photos taken of my homes in their sourcebook so I may be A little bias. I used to wonder who built the cool homes shown in brochures, guys like us.
*Would like to know if Hardiplank lap siding can be installed with insulation board (new construction)?
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I am looking into building a new home. I've recently looked at one of the builder's homes. He used 2x4S in the walls, used poured walls for the basement, steel beams for support, and Anderson windows. I have no experience with any of these. Any suggestions, what to look for's, do's and don'ts, would be GREATLY appreciated.