First time in Breaktime!
Looking to build new home on Pacific coast and considering either slab on grade or conventional footing and ICF foam block forming system with crawl space. No basement obviously due to high water table. Any pro’s or con’s to either method.
Also, looking at pre-cut or panelized house system from Viceroy homes out of Ontario, Canada, delivered to the site. Looked at one house in my area delivered in february and erected with no glitches. Looking for feedback good or bad on this particular company and it’s product.
There were recent articles in F.H. on both of these subjects that sounded favorable.
Thanks, Dennis Wolters
Replies
Welcome Dennis-
In regards to the panelized home systems that I have seen in my area (WI), I feel the quality comes from the crews doing the settings and installs. Some companies have their own crews, while others have subs. I don't know anything about the one you mentioned, but that in itself is worth looking at. The quote about glitches is interesting. Were you by chance there later in the process, or after it was set?
I guess I mean if you were able to follow up with those homeowners and possibly the workers involved, that might give some more insight.
Personally, I like the panelized theories. My largest misgiving is how problems and errors are dealt with. Never know, a person could run the risk of their new house being chopped up like a remodel!
Is it safe to assume you are planning to general your own project?
Good Luck. Please keep things posted as they develop.
Quality, Craftsmanship, Detail
Thanks for the response.
I saw the house when it was framed and ready for siding and roofing. I spoke with the homeowner, who assisted with the framing along with an actual framing crew of 4 people. He was actively involved on a daily basis. The framing package comes labeled, color coded, etc. with a guidebook showing what goes where. Owner said it was great. Package includes all lumber from mudsill to roofing, triple insulated windows, doors, felt, building wrap, siding, and flashings. Changes to siding are available (cedar for hardiplank). Framing package is pre-cut or panelized.
I have worked in commercial construction since 1974 as a journeyman carpenter, foreman, and superintendent, working for a local general contractor in Portland, OR. My residential experience is limited, although methods are the same. Just don't have experience with this type of system, and trying to make an educated decision, with a cost effective way to build my retirement home in a time efficient manner.
Thanks, Dennis
ICF's are more efficiently put up on a slab. You can do a crawlspace, but it's a little more involved if you're planning to continue above the first floor with the ICF system.
The ICF's I've used are the ARXX forms and they have a plant here in Oregon....Tigard or Lake Oswego, I believe. For you, that would reduce shipping costs (those blocks use up a semi-trailer really fast!).
The ARXX system has a lot of pluses against the competition, but I suggest you take one of their classes.
Go to http://www.arxxbuild.com and they should have a schedule. They're pretty serious about the form assembly going well (to protect their own a$$) so the class is pretty serious and worth the time and $$'s.
Thanks for the tip. I will check it out. Just trying to gather info to make an educated decision.
Dennis
Viceroy has a pretty good reputation. I haven't seen any of their panelized homes go up around here, but quite a few of their pre-cuts have been built recently. (They opened up a 100-acre subdevelopment about 7 years ago not far from my place, and they are probably about 60% sold by now.) No problems that I have heard about.
On the foundation issue, seems to me if the water table is so high it prohibits a full basement, any crawl-space you build under the house is going to have a constant dampness problem which will require lots of venting/dehumidifiers/sump & pump setups or whatever. If slab on grade will work with the soil, that's the way I'd go. Don't forget the plastic vapour barrier under the slab....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
I put up a lot of pre fab walls in the Seattle area and it's a great way to go. Certain companies give prefab a bad name, but as someone else pointed out, it's very important who puts the structure together, just as it is with conventional stick framing.
If you have a crew that can build a level and square floor, the speed with which the structure go's up is pretty cool. They can also have it sided, windows in, tails precut for any hand cut roof, yada yada yada....
Armstrong Homes of Redmond, Wa. is a great prefaber and I know they ship all over the world, so they might be worth a call just for price comparison.
Good luck!
In the crawl space, if you use ICFs, I'm pretty sure you will have to sheathe the interior of the ICFs with sheetrock or something else to prevent exposure of the foam to flame.
A timber-frame and SIP home in my neck of the woods had delays that added many months to the schedule. The SIP's sat in a pile while the timber frame remained open for six or eight months.
Many of the problems were probably due to the HO attempting to GC the project without enough connections with good subs.
SIP's are newer and may require even greater planning and familiarity than basic panelized construction you are looking at, but you definately want to have all your ducks in the same zip code.
It seems like many contractors (not of the Breaktime ilk) are reistant to change and new ideas. They will be left in the progressive dust of the innovators.
I tried to get a local modular home business (with a fantastic array of cranes and such) to get into SIP and panelized construction. They were not interested. They would have been able to finish that timber frame/ SIP project in a few days with their highly skilled crane operator (he could thread a needle with a 100' boom), but most of the time he's doing autobody work while the crane just sits around waiting to set the next modular.
I'm in Ontario beside a Viceroy Home. They have a long standing reputation for quality but don't come cheaP My neighbours are happy with theirs'
Have a good day
Cliffy