New House Questions

Higgy · 02-16-11, 06:55 AM

Hey guys. My wife and I looked at another new house outside the city. It seemed as though it was better built then my current one but I had some questions. First off, some of the good points I noticed is that it has ICF basement, steel cross beam in the basement, energy efficient heat and AC, R20 in the 2x6 walls and R50 in the ceiling (which isn't the best but better then my current), silent joists construction, joist cavities that have rigid foam and spray foamed around the rigid to hold it in place. It also has a humidifier built in, but that's something I'd probably rarely turn on. We'll have to see. One thing I'd have to add in is an HRV system. I'd also have to landscape the yard and put up a fence as it's a brand new house.

Some things that perplexed me is that it looks as though they screwed in the drywall right to the ICF forms. Is that normal? Also, isn't ICF only rated R12? So wouldn't I want to frame around it and add more? The over hang at the back of the house is also very short and almost nonexistant where part of the house has a jut out, to the point where there's just enough for a eavesdrough. Is that a truly bad thing? The house is pointing west to east so I'm not sure that's a huge deal. Another weird thing is the air intake. As the tube comes into the main branch of the air intake, there's a small 6 inch tube with holes in it. As if it's pulling air from the basement into the air intake. I don't really get it, and the realtor was a bit perplexed. I'm getting him to ask the builders about that. They did, however, tape up all the seams in the duct work. Also, the heat was electrical and not gas. How bad is that?

Let me know what you think about these issues and what may be some negatives about them. Thanks.

02-16-11, 06:55 AM	#1
Higgy The Gardener Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Manitoba - Canada Posts: 492 Thanks: 17 Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts	New House Questions Hey guys. My wife and I looked at another new house outside the city. It seemed as though it was better built then my current one but I had some questions. First off, some of the good points I noticed is that it has ICF basement, steel cross beam in the basement, energy efficient heat and AC, R20 in the 2x6 walls and R50 in the ceiling (which isn't the best but better then my current), silent joists construction, joist cavities that have rigid foam and spray foamed around the rigid to hold it in place. It also has a humidifier built in, but that's something I'd probably rarely turn on. We'll have to see. One thing I'd have to add in is an HRV system. I'd also have to landscape the yard and put up a fence as it's a brand new house. Some things that perplexed me is that it looks as though they screwed in the drywall right to the ICF forms. Is that normal? Also, isn't ICF only rated R12? So wouldn't I want to frame around it and add more? The over hang at the back of the house is also very short and almost nonexistant where part of the house has a jut out, to the point where there's just enough for a eavesdrough. Is that a truly bad thing? The house is pointing west to east so I'm not sure that's a huge deal. Another weird thing is the air intake. As the tube comes into the main branch of the air intake, there's a small 6 inch tube with holes in it. As if it's pulling air from the basement into the air intake. I don't really get it, and the realtor was a bit perplexed. I'm getting him to ask the builders about that. They did, however, tape up all the seams in the duct work. Also, the heat was electrical and not gas. How bad is that? Let me know what you think about these issues and what may be some negatives about them. Thanks.