So it begins [new house build]

[bmf4069]

How goes the build? I used to wire houses a few years ago. Make sure you have a few dedicated quad plugs in the garage! Maybe a 50 amp welder plug too!

[TJay74]

Waiting as of now, been hammered with rain the last 2 months so the trade contractors are held up. Hoping to break ground in the next 4 weeks if the rain will ever stop.

[SteveBBB]

Several years ago, I built a large garage and put in a small bathroom with stool and sink. It was one of the smartest things I ever did. It was a very minor expense is used a LOT. I also used storage trusses and put a floor in the attic with a fold down stairway. The attic, not such a good idea. I tend to keep a lot of stuff I shouldn't, just because I have the room.

Good Luck with your build!!

[TJay74]

yeah the nice thing about Oklahoma is we have finished garages, the builder decks some of the attic already. I will deck a bunch of it once we get into the house as I plan on taking a full week off to move in and get everything sorted.

 

The laundry room is right off of the garage so there will be a full sink and tiled floors to walk on.

 

We have been out looking at the stuff for the theater room recently, looking like that room is going to easily be a $5k-10k room at this point.

[GPGuy]

Definitely looking forward to seeing it all come together.

[CaptainPlumbing]

You should look into radiant floor heating. Not expensive at all and extremely efficient. It can be used for heating purposes or even applications like snow melting. Especially if your building i'm sure you know the cost of plumbing nowadays. Copper is going to cost you 3 times as much with no difference than PEX tubing. Just some insight, good luck and enjoy!

[TJay74]

Living in Oklahoma we really have no need for radiant floor heating, sure it would be a nice feature if money was no object. At this point we are already locked in with the changes and cant change anything else unless we are ok with paying a $500 change order fee along with the charge for the change.

 

I would just be happy to break ground, was told last week we are still around 4 weeks out due to weather delays.

[sprayed99]

Congrats!

 

Here is a little advice.

 

Walk the house after all major completions and break out the tape.

 

Plumbing

Foundation

Framing

Roof

Etc

 

Also make sure they keep the job site clean. I work with a designer and we do 700-1000 home and commercial designs a year and I can't tell you how many times I have walked a job site and seen water bottles and trash that I know ended up behind the dry wall. Your builder is probably fantastic, but sometimes trades can be lazy.

 

I will start my new build at the beginning of the year if is going to be a pain!

 

Here is a my floor plan. I'm actually working on the elevations tonight.

[The Zip]

I review a lot of reports where burglars are sticking a wire or some other device between the garage door frame and the garage door and disengaging the electric garage door clutch. Once this is done the garage door rolls up without any resistance. Disregard this if your garage door will be manual, but if it's electric, have the installer place a key lock and handle on the outside garage door. Most electric garages don't have an outside handle because of aesthetics, but it is added security to be able to lock the garage when taking an extended road trip. Just a lil info since you are getting a house built.

[RyanbabZ71]

You can also add a zip tie to the mechanism so they can't pop your garage door and manually open

 

 

Ryan

[TJay74]

I actually ziptie the release shut. When we go on vacation I also slide both locking bars out and padlock them, then once the garage door is secure I unplug the GDO. No one is opening my garage door at that point unless they hook onto it and pull it off of the house.

[ember1205]

I review a lot of reports where burglars are sticking a wire or some other device between the garage door frame and the garage door and disengaging the electric garage door clutch. Once this is done the garage door rolls up without any resistance. Disregard this if your garage door will be manual, but if it's electric, have the installer place a key lock and handle on the outside garage door. Most electric garages don't have an outside handle because of aesthetics, but it is added security to be able to lock the garage when taking an extended road trip. Just a lil info since you are getting a house built.

 

There's no LOCKING handle on most doors because it completely interferes with an opener's use. This is offset by the installation of door locks inside the garage. The handle at the bottom for lifting purposes is still installed on many doors (or can be installed at install time simply by asking for it). If it isn't installed, it's often left behind in the box of "extra parts". It really doesn't serve any purpose because lifting the door manually requires disengaging the mechanism from inside where there almost always IS a handle or something on the door that you can grab to raise it.

[TJay74]

Progress pics

 

Stem Walls

 

Plumbing is in

 

 

 

Nice thing about taking pics along the way is I know where the water lines enter and run throughout the house. Next time I go out I am going to take my concrete punch and mark the water line on the curb and the property line pin before it is lost during the grading process.

[The Zip]

 

There's no LOCKING handle on most doors because it completely interferes with an opener's use. This is offset by the installation of door locks inside the garage. The handle at the bottom for lifting purposes is still installed on many doors (or can be installed at install time simply by asking for it). If it isn't installed, it's often left behind in the box of "extra parts". It really doesn't serve any purpose because lifting the door manually requires disengaging the mechanism from inside where there almost always IS a handle or something on the door that you can grab to raise it.

 

My garage door handle is on the outside and serves a purpose because it locks my garage door. A separate lock above the handle disengages the lock. I'm sure there are variations to include the "zip tie"

 

.....key lock and handle on the outside garage door.

[ember1205]

 

My garage door handle is on the outside and serves a purpose because it locks my garage door. A separate lock above the handle disengages the lock. I'm sure there are variations to include the "zip tie"

 

 

That's how many doors were installed, but quite a number of years ago. It is not the norm (around here, anyway) to see them installed in that manner anymore.