Still alive - just tackling a HUGE DIY

[Jester369]

So a little more progress - starting to run the in floor heat pipe:

Day 1 - first loop run

Day 2 - second loop run

It's been incredibly slow, painful, and tedious. It should have been a one day project, but when they blew insulation above, they didn't tarp, and now the entire floor, including the grooves for the tubing, are blanketed with a thin layer of foam. Tried solvents, dremel buffers, and sandpaper, and so far only sandpaper really works. So it's hands and knees drudgery getting this job done. Displeased.

 

[AnOldUR]

Radiant floor heat. Nice! Last year we renovated a bathroom and use that same system (a little tighter pattern) throughout, including the shower. Cheap a$$ me didn't want to spend the extra cash, but wife talked me into it. Got to say, it's great having a warm floor on a cold winter morning.

 

[jww9618]

Looking Good!

 

[ToV]

Looking good. I would have loved to have been there just to learn. Oh well.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Surprising how simple much of this stuff really is, isn't it Jester?

It's not so much that the work is all that technical, it's just that there is a LOT of work to do, some materials are quite awkward to maneuver or are just fecking heavy after about the third or fourth lift/laydown (only 1,238 pieces left to go!), and working conditions aren't necessarilly all that favorable until you are dried in and have some way to heat or dehumidify.

Still, nice job. Best part is the pride you can claim saying "Yeah, I did that." Even if you don't ever verbalize it.

They say you finally have the house you really want, after you've built the third one.

Chop, chop brother, you got 2.5 to go!

I used to build hotels. Specialized in wood frame. And was always a lead crew member getting my hands dirty, callused, or scarred up at every stage of the project.

So, just out of curiosity. Does your location not require licensed trades for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems? Or, do you have licensed contractors in your pocket claiming your work at a reduced fee?

 

[Jester369]

Surprising how simple much of this stuff really is, isn't it Jester?

It's not so much that the work is all that technical, it's just that there is a LOT of work to do, some materials are quite awkward to maneuver or are just fecking heavy after about the third or fourth lift/laydown (only 1,238 pieces left to go!), and working conditions aren't necessarilly all that favorable until you are dried in and have some way to heat or dehumidify.

Still, nice job. Best part is the pride you can claim saying "Yeah, I did that." Even if you don't ever verbalize it.

They say you finally have the house you really want, after you've built the third one.

Chop, chop brother, you got 2.5 to go!

I used to build hotels. Specialized in wood frame. And was always a lead crew member getting my hands dirty, callused, or scarred up at every stage of the project.

So, just out of curiosity. Does your location not require licensed trades for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems? Or, do you have licensed contractors in your pocket claiming your work at a reduced fee?

Yeah - no one part is that complicated - it's putting them all together in the right order!

As for license requirements, no, as the homeowner I can pretty much do it all. The boiler will be installed by a pro, as well as the plumbing drains and vents, and the electrician that pulled power to the service panel is going to come in and look over my wiring just to confirm that it's all good. I'm very comfortable with electrics, but it can't hurt to have a double check.

 

[Jester369]

Another day, another loop of the upstairs heat pipe in. No pic - looks pretty much just like the others! 3 down, 4 to go, but I started with the longest loop and have been working my way to the shortest. By length, I'm about halfway there.

Now, since I am starting to hit the inside work pretty hard, here are some renders to show what all the lumber in upcoming posts are ultimately going to look like:

First floor

Starting center bottom, going clockwise, it's front entry, mudroom, pantry, kitchen, living room, 1/2 bath, office. The stairs are in the same position as the drawing, but they are rotated completely differently. Just never updated the sketchup files.

The kitchen in those drawings has also been refined:

Second floor I never really put a lot of details into the drawing once I figured out the layout.

Again, starting bottom center - Boys shared bathroom, 1st boys bedroom, master walk in closet, master bedroom, laundry, master bath, 2nd boys bedroom.

In reality there is an extra window in the master closet, 2nd boys bedroom, and the master bedroom does not have those two doors and one big window. Scrapped the elevated deck idea ages ago. Also, hadn't come up with the curved wall idea yet, obviously!

Finally, the master bath ended up rather different, too:

So there you have it. Might help make sense when I start posting pictures of interior framing!

 

[Jester369]

Looking good. I would have loved to have been there just to learn. Oh well.

It's still under construction

 

[Huaco]

Did I see Built-In dog water/food bowls in the kitchen? Smart move!

 

[Gear101]

Guy is that a dog food/water bowl at the end of the base cabinets? And placement of a washer and dryer?

 

[KIAKillerXJ]

What kind of wood flooring are you putting over the wormboard radiant? Living here in Tahoe, as a flooring guy, we work with that a lot in these huge homes up here. Some materials perform better than others...

And whatever you choose, be sure to pressure test it thoroughly before you lay one square foot of anything down.

 

[Jester369]

What kind of wood flooring are you putting over the wormboard radiant? Living here in Tahoe, as a flooring guy, we work with that a lot in these huge homes up here. Some materials perform better than others...

And whatever you choose, be sure to pressure test it thoroughly before you lay one square foot of anything down.

Most likely going with bamboo for the wood parts. As for pressure testing: absolutely! In all likelihood the heating will be up and running well before we even think about laying flooring anyhow.

 

[Jester369]

Did I see Built-In dog water/food bowls in the kitchen? Smart move!

Yeah, a brief moment of inspiration on that one!

 

[Jester369]

Guy is that a dog food/water bowl at the end of the base cabinets? And placement of a washer and dryer?

Washer and dryer are tucked in a small laundry room off the master bedroom.

 

[ToV]

It's still under construction

Good to know. I had a lot of down time a while back and now things have gotten busier. Its looking good (both what is built and the design.)

 

[craigbrew]

Jester, you have inspired me. I would like to design and build my own ICF house. Could you point me in the right direction?

did you have someone design the house for you or did you buy a set of plans and make changes to them?

How hard was it to figure out what type of ICF to use and install? Would love to save the money and do the ICF myself like you did.

What resources did you use for cost estimating?

Thanks Craig

 

[tszetela]

Jester, you have inspired me. I would like to design and build my own ICF house. Could you point me in the right direction?

did you have someone design the house for you or did you buy a set of plans and make changes to them?

How hard was it to figure out what type of ICF to use and install? Would love to save the money and do the ICF myself like you did.

What resources did you use for cost estimating?

Thanks Craig

I know some of the SIP companies will take your plans and convert them over using their products.

 

[Jester369]

Jester, you have inspired me. I would like to design and build my own ICF house. Could you point me in the right direction?

did you have someone design the house for you or did you buy a set of plans and make changes to them?

How hard was it to figure out what type of ICF to use and install? Would love to save the money and do the ICF myself like you did.

What resources did you use for cost estimating?

Thanks Craig

Hi Craig,

I'll put together some answers for you and PM them to you.

 

[Jester369]

Ok, so I am winding down on the craptacular job of sanding the flooring channels, but I needed to take a break today. Spent a little time on framing the easier (non-curved!) walls.

This is the laundry room (in the corner) and the start of the master bath.

This is the start of the master closet.

Tomorrow, more piping, and starting the curved hallway wall.

 

[NewBrewB]

If i was building a house from scratch, i would include some or all of the following features:

A charging shelf for cell phones, etc
A hidden spot for a built in safe for valuables
Prewired 7.1 surround
Access to the space behind my tv/electronics for easier wiring
Emergency generator for the house with autostart
Pull-down shelves from the MBR closets for non-seasonal clothes
A wet bar with at least 4 faucets, fed from a keezer in another location
A wood/metal workshop with serious thought to layout/outlets
An icemaker (love having mine)
Covered gutters that never require cleaning
Designated space/wiring for battery bank for eventual solar conversion

Hmmmm

 

[vogtenstein222]

If i was building a house from scratch, i would include some or all of the following features:

A charging shelf for cell phones, etc
A hidden spot for a built in safe for valuables
Prewired 7.1 surround
Access to the space behind my tv/electronics for easier wiring
Emergency generator for the house with autostart
Pull-down shelves from the MBR closets for non-seasonal clothes
A wet bar with at least 4 faucets, fed from a keezer in another location
A wood/metal workshop with serious thought to layout/outlets
An icemaker (love having mine)
Covered gutters that never require cleaning
Designated space/wiring for battery bank for eventual solar conversion

Hmmmm

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Love this thread. Building my own house from scratch is my greatest dream.

 

[Jester369]

A charging shelf for cell phones, etc
A hidden spot for a built in safe for valuables
Prewired 7.1 surround
Access to the space behind my tv/electronics for easier wiring
Emergency generator for the house with autostart
Pull-down shelves from the MBR closets for non-seasonal clothes
A wet bar with at least 4 faucets, fed from a keezer in another location
A wood/metal workshop with serious thought to layout/outlets
An icemaker (love having mine)
Covered gutters that never require cleaning
Designated space/wiring for battery bank for eventual solar conversion

The office will sort of be the central charge up locale

Floor safe - i could show you where it's going, but then I'd have to kill you

Basement features a projection home theater with 7.1 (my current audio with a new projector/screen)

The a/v rig is installed in a cabinet facing the viewing area, with the back open to the utility room for unobstructed access

Thought about the generator, still undecided how/when I want to go about it

There won't be pull down shelves, but there are high shelves that will be used for out of season stuff. There will also be cabinets over the laundry room and master bath for linens, etc.

In addition to the already mentioned theater, and pool table, there will be a wet bar with 7 taps (scavenged from The Keezer v1)

Eventually there will be a 30'x40' barn for woodworking and auto restoration

Icemaker - not a bad idea

No gutters on the house - no clogging at all!

Solar - perhaps at some point, but not for a while. House orientation isn't great for roof panels, and the land isn't great for ground mounted panels

 

[Jester369]

Got one more loop done for the heat (5 down, 2 to go) and started the curved wall framing. Took some shots of the steps to build the curve.

The curve plates (from Flex-Ability Concepts) come in 2' lengths, that get pinned together with short wooden dowels. Each segment is 6" long.

After pinning together enough segments, I straightened them against a 2x4, and laid out the stud locations.

Then, the LVL studs get nailed in place - I'm doing 12" OC for the curved drywall.

Then you just stand it up, and bend the bottom plate to follow the line already scribed on the subfloor, and nail it in place.

Next, I will take a form cut to the proper radius and use it to set the curve of the top plate, and use short screws to lock the segments.

All in all, it went pretty fast. Lots more to do, of course...

 

[Huaco]

I guess it goes without saying that you MUST be careful not to nail into your radiant floor heating? Lol...

 

[Darkness]

We, my wife and I built about two years ago. I do custom mechanical systems, so we put a radiant floor In The basement and in the master bath a electric mat. Love the heated floors. The Wife loves the brewing and so an 10x10 brewery built in with floor drain in floor. Now stainless sheeted walls 700cfm exhaust and 150cfm makeup air pumped in. Twin 2 vessele systems. We can easily do 50gal in 11 hours.

 

[Jester369]

I guess it goes without saying that you MUST be careful not to nail into your radiant floor heating? Lol...

Too true. Toooooo true. Pressure test BEFORE putting down any flooring!

 

[ToV]

If i was building a house from scratch, i would include some or all of the following features:

A charging shelf for cell phones, etc
A hidden spot for a built in safe for valuables
Prewired 7.1 surround
Access to the space behind my tv/electronics for easier wiring
Emergency generator for the house with autostart
Pull-down shelves from the MBR closets for non-seasonal clothes
A wet bar with at least 4 faucets, fed from a keezer in another location
A wood/metal workshop with serious thought to layout/outlets
An icemaker (love having mine)
Covered gutters that never require cleaning
Designated space/wiring for battery bank for eventual solar conversion

Hmmmm

One thing I would do with utilities is wire and plumb everything from the attic and basement and have all utilities running from the basement to the attic in one utility chase. I've had too many PITA moments getting at in wall routing.

 

[Jester369]

One thing I would do with utilities is wire and plumb everything from the attic and basement and have all utilities running from the basement to the attic in one utility chase. I've had too many PITA moments getting at in wall routing.

Well, as the ceiling gets framed you'll see that that's not really an option (no real attic), but with floors 26" deep I'm planning access hatches on each floor that will allow full access. Also, there will be a couple of empty chases left for pulling future wiring.

 

[Gear101]

Off topic, somewhat I would guess, interesting product.

http://gajitz.com/the-roof-is-on-fire-solar-shingles-let-you-green-on-the-sly/

Might have to be Big Daddt Warbucks to buy them, but cooler than all.

 

[Jester369]

Ugh - researching configurations for my heating. Too many ways to skin this particular cat. Circulators and Zone Valves and Thermal Actuators, oh my!