Build Notes (New Construction, Older Homes, Renovations, Interesting Finishing and Details)
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I love stuff like that. It’s cool seeing different products and everything from something affordable to super high-end is interesting to me.
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The next house courtyard and pool area are starting to come together in this little 10 unit neighborhood. We’re doing French pattern natural stone around the pool, and it will also carry over to the small stoop outside the outbuilding, finished with a granite border. The outbuilding has a kind of open studio space on the main level with a bedroom and bath above.
One of the cooler details is the little fabricated steel panel roof with spear accents.
We also have foundations, plumbing, and everything else going into the next three houses. Two of those are an attached wall to wall townhome unit, and the third is a detached single family house. Even then, there are retaining walls between all of these units, so some are true standalones while others mix in townhomes or outbuildings that attach in different ways to the main house or even the house next door.
There are just a lot of different little things going on that make this a really tricky neighborhood to build. Lots of elevation changes, courtyards that sit lower than the outbuildings but are at the same level as the main house, and all kinds of odd little conditions to work through. Very cool and interesting stuff, but painstakingly slow at times.
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One other detail across the front of these first three homes is that the front yards are really more of a shared park. This is not something each homeowner maintains individually. It is covered by the small HOA, and once everything fills in, it should be incredibly lush within a year or two.
Ideally, we would have liked to use some type of crushed stone in place of the concrete sidewalk, but there are a few city requirements that make the concrete necessary, and cobble or brick just was not in the budget. Long term, though, once the landscaping matures and really fills in, I think it is going to look fantastic even with standard concrete sidewalks.
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Yes, when it comes to residential construction in the U.S., wood framing is the norm for the most part. Florida is probably the biggest exception, where block or CMU exterior walls are very common. You also see more masonry construction in parts of the Southwest, especially with stucco and adobe-influenced architecture, where block can make sense for the exterior walls.
A lot of it can also be very builder specific. You may find a builder in almost any state or market who says, “Nope, this is how I build,” and all of their houses are block, poured concrete, steel framed, or some combination of the three. There are always a few guys out there doing the Bob Vila on steroids version of residential construction.
Architecture plays a big role too. Once you get into more modern designs with long spans, cantilevers, huge openings, walls of glass, and very open floor plans, steel and concrete become much more common and can sometimes be structurally necessary. At that point, it is less about a builder’s preference and more about what the architecture and engineering require.
California is another good example. They do a lot of different things there, especially at the higher end. Between earthquakes, wildfire concerns, steep sites, and ambitious architecture, you tend to see more reinforced concrete, steel framing, masonry, and other engineered systems. In a lot of those cases, it is not just about building “better,” but about responding to the site, structural demands, fire exposure, and the architecture itself.
Once you get into ultra high-end residential, or somebody simply wants something different, you will occasionally see structural block, poured concrete, ICF, steel framing, and other systems. I have seen all of those used, but outside of certain regions and specific architectural or structural requirements, they are still pretty rare compared with conventional wood framing.
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How do you typically construct and waterproof your outdoor pools?
Do you use a watertight reinforced-concrete shell, or do you rely on a separate waterproofing system?
And what do you normally use as the final finish — specialized pool coating, tiles, glass mosaic or natural stone?
I’ve heard that there are some highly specialized pool-coating companies in the Washington, D.C. area.🥴 -
These pools in particular are getting a pebble tec finish https://pebbletec.com/
Reinforced Concrete no separate waterproofing system
Typically, doing some sort of ceramic waterline tile
These are not particularly fancy or super high-end. There’s a lot of options out there.
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When I was asked about block Construction, I totally forgot about this from a while back…
Small 34 unit neighborhood pool house and pool project completed a little over two years ago. I built 17 of the homes in this development, including several of the ones you can see around the pool area in the photos.
This project(edit: pool project)is actually all block and stucco construction, except for the ceiling and roof structure. The exterior is a European hardcoat stucco with a sand finish. The bathroom interiors have a smooth, plaster-like stucco finish with subtle modeling in the color. It turned out super cool. I could probably take some interior photos, but I’m not sure they would really do it justice.
The one-story pool house has four separate bathrooms, two exterior vanity areas set into small offsets at the front and back, and an outdoor shower.
The pool pavers are actually cast concrete, but they have the look of limestone while being a little more practical and lower maintenance long term.
The one-story structure also kind of blends into the four-story home behind it, at least from a distance. Architecturally, it has a bit of a 1930s early-modern feel, with the breeze block adding a definite mid-century influence.
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Anybody here ever had Shou Sugi Ban, or Yakisugi, done on their house or been involved with a project using it? It’s the Japanese technique where cedar is charred on the exterior with flame.
I’m really interested in possibly using it on a house for myself. I think I mentioned elsewhere that I’m on about a five-year plan to get up into the mountains, specifically Highlands, North Carolina, so I’m starting to loosely plan the house and actively look for property.
Obviously the final piece of property will dictate the layout, architecture, size, etc., but I have a general idea of how I want to approach the house. If zoning allows, I’m thinking possibly three separate structures, maybe four if you include a garage or carport of some sort.
Architecturally, I’m leaning toward something with a Scandinavian/Japanese influence, and I really like the idea of incorporating charred cedar into the exterior.
I may also use this thread just to throw out ideas as I start thinking through the house. And honestly, if this is too much or people feel like it doesn’t really belong on the forum, no offense taken at all. I don’t have to keep posting this stuff. It’s just a bit of an outlet for me, and talking through what I do for a living and what I’m planning for myself is something I enjoy and find relaxing.
@selveldgesteps
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@northsouthdenimguy I find it all interesting. Please keep it coming.
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@northsouthdenimguy I don't have experience with the charred aspect, but one of the buildings for the current project I'm on is cross laminate timber with some supplemental steel. This is the first time I've been on a building with this type of structure and there was definitely a learning curve at first compared to traditional concrete or metal framing. This building is the designated "show piece" of the campus. The whole exposed wood grain trend seems to be like a really good move to attract curb appeal and make the property pop. I'm sure the charred finish would make the home really stand out.
