Two years before you want to be moving into your new home, you should begin creating a couple of lists.  If you’re not a list person, draw or collect pictures.  The first list should be labeled NEEDS.  What do you need in your new home?  But first you need to think about your current lifestyle, what it includes and excludes, and how you foresee your future.  The last thing you want to do is pay for a $400,000 two-story house that doesn’t have a guest room for gramma when she visits every summer.  Oh yeah, she can’t climb stairs either!  So think about the following:

• Children — how many, separation in ages, upcoming births, adoptions, school district, home schooling, going to college, empty nest soon, we’re DINKS and plan on staying that way
• Parents — moving IN with you, moving away from them, moving close to them, design for frequent visits with no stairs
• Work — changing careers, working from home, starting own business, retiring timeline, length of commute, changing hours, becoming stay-at-home parent
• Relationships –  getting married, getting divorced, single parent, need a roomate, want to get rid of a roomate   
• Community – formal and frequent entertaining, neighborhood parties, isolationist, frequent child care, significant amount of travel

Starting with these current and future life events will help you make decisions about your needs and make sure that nothing that could have been predicted and planned around was overlooked.   How many bedrooms do you need?  Where should they be in the house — all on the main level, only master suite on main, or everybody upstairs?  The NEED is how many and where.  The WANT is how large and with what amenities.

So column or list A is NEEDS.  You NEED a three car garage.  Or you NEED a handicap accessible/liveable home.  The next column or list should be WANTS.  You WANT the heated shop behind the garage.  Or you WANT a spacious floorplan.  As you can see, some Needs and Wants are going to be flip-flopping back and forth between the two lists depending upon how you set your priorities.  In a perfect, chocolate-flowing world, all of our wants would be needs AND we’d be able to afford them.  But the world is indeed a cruel and unusual place so we must prioritize and catagorize our needs and desires based upon our budgets.  Thus, my dad has a smaller garage than he had hoped.

The next list or column is DREAMS.  These are unlimited wants.  It’s the “I’m a princess or prince for a day” list.  My dream home would include a…. These arn’t silly, as long as you realize that only one or two of these MAY become a reality.  Maybe none of them will — but the list will help you plan for the future and will also help your builder guide you towards products within your budget.  A couple I worked with recently actually dreamed of a sunroom, but didn’t think they could afford it.  Because they shared it with me, we were able to modify the plan in such a way that made this dream a reality.  So DREAM AWAY!   

I also highly suggest creating a dream book.  This is a three-ring binder with page sleeves in it.  Divide the binder into sections, such as Kitchen, Hall bath, Master Bath, Living Room, Fireplace mantels, Hardware, Paint colors, etc.  Start collecting every picture that strikes you and WRITE ON IT WHY YOU LIKE IT!  Also, begin collecting pictures of the architectural styles that you are drawn to — French Country, Early American, Modern, Tudor, Mission, Mediterranean, Victorian, etc.  You will more than likely be attracted to more than one style.  That’s the cool part — we can blend them into the design.  And don’t worry, you don’t have to subscribe to a dozen home decorating magazines either.  You can look on the Internet for photos, in the Sunday advertising section and the Free magazine racks at the grocery store, to name a few.  If you’ve got the time and your significant other has the patience, go visit a few open houses.  While you’re touring, take along the camera and snap pictures of the details that you like AND DON”T LIKE.  Put these in your binder as well.      

Every home builder figures the cost of a project slightly differently.  Some throw numbers at a project using cost-per-square-foot (CPSF).  I can’t think of a more inaccurate way to bid a custom homes, actually.  They might as well just guess.  In fact, in my opinion, if a builder refers to him/herself as a “custom” builder and then proceeds to tell you their CPSF, then I question their “customness,” so to speak.  A CPSF bid is really not a bid at all, but an educated guess based upon their sale averages from the past.  In other words, if they’ve built the same house over and over again using the same materials, bought at the same price (which never happens), on the same lot using the same utilities during the same time of year with the same weather and soil conditions, then it MIGHT be close to accurate.  But then is it customized?  A custom home should NEVER be based upon sale averages or old pricing.  A custom home figured by CPSF is an oxymoron.  The dictionary defines “custom” as “made or built specifically for an individual customer” and to customize is to “modify, build or make according to an individuals specifications or preferences.”  So if you have no or very little choice in the products that are bid for your project, I’d argue that you haven’t found a custom builder.  

We here at Allegro Custom Homes will ask you a ton of questions during our first few meetings — right down to what kind of cat do you have and does it get along with the dog.  In order for me to know what to include in a bid, I need to know as much as I can about the family who will live in the home.  Likes, dislikes, opinions, feelings, routines, etc.  For example: Do you like to cook?  Which one of you cooks?  What do you like to cook?  Discussing this will give me insight into how to design the kitchen.  In those two to three hours of conversation, I have to paint, as accurately as possible, a picture of what your family will look like while experiencing this home. 

So why does the bidding take so long? 

After we meet and have completed the design process (or picked a houseplan), I will make photocopies of the houseplans and distribute them to my subcontractors.  I ALSO provide the subs with a two page outline for HOW they are supoosed to bid it.  My lumber salesman often receives four to five pages.  It describes all of the details for your project — door style, door wood species, hardware styles and finishes, etc.  Creating each of these outlines takes time to create and type.  But once submitted to the subs, it saves me (and ultimately the customer) TONS of miscommunication problems and ordering snaffoos.  Most subs can get me numbers within a couple days to a week.  Spring time is ALWAYS busier for the subs, requiring friendly reminders to return numbers.  For several aspects (roofing, sheetrock, sometime paint, etc) I perform the take-off myself.  It’s much easier and faster.  After I receive all of the numbers I compile them in my estimating program.  I basically have to construct the house mentally.  I review notes from previous projects, making sure I haven’t missed anything.  I do not want any surprises.  Once I have completed the estimate in the computer program, I then type out a Scope of Work.  This will become our construction BIBLE if the project is approved.  It becomes part of the formal contract.  It is usually about ten pages long and describes absolutely every detail of the project — what is included, what is not included, what faucets are where, what window brand, exterior clad color, muttin bars or not, etc.  I can not express how important this document is to both myself, the customer and the subcontractors.  It is just as vital as the blueprint.  So I take it’s creation very seriously.  Therefore, it takes a day or so to create.  From copies and outlines to Scope of Work, the bidding process takes anywhere from two to four weeks, depending upon the complexity of the plan, my schedule and time of year for subcontractors.  I understand that this can be excruciatingly long for families who are excited about building their dream home.  But I feel this method of bidding is most accurate which means there will be fewer headaches, misunderstandings and possible change orders down the line. 

Several builders use a ”base house” or “standard house” method of bidding custom homes.  This means they bid the shell as they have always bid it.  They do their own take offs for the building materials (lumber, sheeting, shingles, concrete, siding, etc) based on linear footage.  This, plus their percentage and permits, is the base price.  Anything customized will be adjusted as a change order or added as an additional line item.  This is definitely a faster way to bid IF you’re NOT wanting a lot of customization or alternative products.  If you’re not interested in having to make a lot of decisions other than some interior colors, this would be a faster way to obtain a bid.  And it is fairly accurate for those builders who have been doing this a long time. 

Once upon a house, a builder asked her lumber salesman about insulated headers.  He thought she was crazy.  “Can’t get ‘em.”  So the young builder asked around.  Couldn’t get them locally.  A couple years (and a few lumber salesmen) later, she asked again.  “We can get them, but why in the world would you want to?”  She insisted that she wanted to try them.  So we did.  It only makes sense — wood is not that great of an insulator.  I mean, it’s okay I suppose.  It’s better than glass or aluminum.  But if you could, wouldn’t you rather have that 2″X12″X48″ area filled with some kind of R-value?  Anyway, kudos to Gilcrest Jewett in Waukee for finding, ordering and delivering the insulated headers for this project.  Note: I was not able to use this kind of header at every opening due to span and load requirements.                                

Some of you may know, earlier this year I visited a friend of mine over in Holland.  Being the wonderful hostess with the mostess that she is, she opened her home (and her neighbors’) to me and my husband during our travels.  She knows I am interested in architecture, good, bad, old and new, so she had arranged a few imprompt “tours” for us.  During these tours, one could not help but compare ”their” houses with “ours.”  Now granted, one of the homes we looked at was over a 100 years old, as was the norm in my friend’s little town.  But two of the homes were not more than five years old.  Neither the new nor the old would have passed an inspection by an Iowa building official.  But they also had some really cool ideas.  It’s fascinating to look at forms of residential structure from different areas — even if it is from the other side of the pond. 

This picture is of our bedroom.  The house was a newer construction.  ALL of the windows and doors (including the front door) locked from the inside WITH A KEY.  I could not open this window unless I retrieved the key from the desk.  And even then, it opened like a door.  So we used the top awning portion (which you can’t see due to the blinds) which vented.  I did not see any window screens.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  I have not altered or strectched this photo.  These stairs were amazing!  Not only is the rise extreme, each tread barely contained the front portion of my shoe.  It was like climbing a ladder.  Notice the wide gap between each baluster.  In our code, there can not be more than 4 inches between balusters to prevent small children from falling.  This was a row house which had a front parlor, middle living area and a rear kitchen and bath.  Up these stairs were two bedrooms (originally three small ones).  There was a usable attic area accessible from one of the bedrooms.  My understanding was that this was a typical middle to upper-class home.   

The photo on the right is a picture of a generous back yard.  Many of the houses did not have yards, period.  The shed on the left is the neighbor’s.  There was VERY little green space for children or pets to play.  This was one of the first things that we noticed when we came home.  I know that many who are accustomed to this type of neighborhood arrangement prefer the community-like-feeling where most of your outdoor time is spent at a park or nearby forest (as in the case fo this town).

Strange photo, huh?  You are looking at (besides a box) the approved method of house footings for Holland.  Granted, this was an old house.  I’m sure we have many old farm houses done in a similar manner.  But the crawlspace was hard dirt.  And the house was balanced on several stacks of bricks and boards.  The access to the crawlspace was smack dab in the middle of the living room floor (since it was an interior unit).  I asked what kind of wall insulation they use.  The homeowner laughed and said, “The neighbors’ houses on each side of me.”   

This was a cool idea that I also saw in Japan (when I was a foreign exchange student).  They keep the toilet out of the bathroom.  Cool, huh?  It is in a separate room with it’s own hand-sized sink.  Every house (and some restaurants) that we were in were set up this way.  I’m not even sure we can get those little sinks here in the States, let alone get a code official to approve them.  But it makes so much sense.  I can kind of see our Powder Rooms or Half Baths being a super-sized version, kinda… Christmas Dinner with twenty guests coming?  Shrieks and horror to every cook — there is no OVEN!!!   Notice that the refrigerator is IN this picture.  I didn’t crop it out.  It’s underneath the countertop, next to the sink.  I was told that this was considered a very nice kitchen and it has even been REMODELED.  I was told that the microwaves (which are kind of small too) are convection, which help.  My dear friend told me that when they were house hunting she insisted on two things which were nearly impossible to find: a dishwasher and an oven.  Even then, she had to buy a second refrigerator which sits in her pantry.

They did utilize outdoor living spaces with patios, loggias, pergalas, balconies, etc.  Many of the micro-sized yards were beautifully manicured with ornamental trees and evergreens in whatever space they could find.  Potts, trellis, and hanging baskets were common.  Property was often separated by hedges.  There were few houses with garages — mostly just carports or a drive.  Many row houses had street parking only.  The overall view that I got was conserve space and conserve energy.  Holland, and maybe even Europe as a whole may be leading the way for what we call ‘Green Building’, but I would argue that it’s been at the expense of the homeowner’s safety and quality of life (as we currently define it in the midwest).  I can tell you that the cost of living there blew us away (food, gas, housing, taxes, public transportation, etc.).  It may be just where we’re heading, in fact.  Who knows.        

If I could have audio with each post, this one would have the “Money-Money-Money-MONEY!” theme song from “The Apprentice.”  So please sing or hum as you peruse…

Recently I was reminded (during my moonlighting job) that most often we as consumers get what we pay for — especially in the service industries.  When you get your hair cut or highlighted, when you have your house cleaned, when you hire a professional to sell or decorate your home, when you go to the doctor, you are hopefully paying for that individuals knowledge and experience in that field.  I am reminded of this concept over and over and again in the building industry.  Building is primarily a service industry.  When you pay me to orchestrate your project, you are paying me for a service that I provide.  The outcome of this service happens to look like a product.  But unlike other companies that manufacture a product, not ONE of my products looks or feels even similar, let alone identical, to another product that also bears my name.  This is because the clients that I provide a service for are all so very different in what they want.  They don’t all have the same color, texture and style of hair, so to speak.  So does cost matter when picking a builder?  Experiences with below-par subconcontractors have driven this concept home far more times than I care to recall.  What is it they say — we learn best from our own mistakes?  Shopping the lowest bid package from a subcontractor in order to keep my costs down caused nothing but numerous call backs, delays in schedules, bogus change orders (submitted to me, not the homeowner) and worst of all, unhappy homeowners who would kill their pet spaniel before they’d give out a reference (which strikes sheer terror in the heart of those, such as I, who depend upon word-of-mouth advertising).  So yes, I’d say that cost plays a HUGE role in picking a builder, but not like you’d guess.  The products and systems that we bid to go in your home are going to vary.  For example, I recently bid against another builder who supposedly was drastically lower than myself.  After quizing the potential homeowner, I realized that the HVAC system that the other builder had included was not zoned, did not include an HRV, did not have the bath/ventilation fans piped to a centralized location, didn’t have a third-party inspection, and he omitted duct sealing, both supply and returns.  The upgrades that I had included (since the homeowners had asthma) easily ate up half of the price discrepancy.  I once told a homeowner that if a builder quotes you a geothermal system for more than $18,000.00 continue shopping.  They must be nuts.  I STAND CORRECTED.  These systems can cost anywhere from 15K to over 25K, depending on numerous variables (how it’s designed, size of house, zoning, upgrades, etc).  So in terms of individual product pricing and overall cost-to-build pricing, the old adage still holds true: If the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

But what about those costs that ALL builders have to include?  Did you know that EVERY builder needs to include money for storm water maintenance?  Yep, on average, the consumer is paying (in our area) $1,500-2,000 per house so that dirt does not wash off the lot, into the street and down the municipal drainage system.  As the EPA and the DNR continue to crack down on messy jobsites, this building cost will continue to rise.  Many are going to sit on opposite sides of the fence on this one as to whether or not our industry should have to pay such fees.  It’s the “Good fer thems!” versus the “What a waste of money!”  The HBA of Iowa has recently released a study that shows that out of 19 storm water pollutant sources (agriculture, non-irrigated crop production, livestock, hydromodication, etc), new construction only contributes to .06%.  But regardless of how you feel about this, the reality is that it’s law and that all builders have to comply.  Which means it’s added to the cost of building your new home. 

How about permits?  This cost varies WILDLY across the Des Moines metropolitan area.  I expereinced this myself with this example: 2 1/2 years ago I built a 2,900 sq. ft. w/o ranch in Urbandale with a permit fee of around $1,650.00.  One year later, I built a 1,500 sq. ft. w/o ranch in Waukee.  Permit fee?  Over $4,000!  Now to be fair, these were totally different house plans.  So lets compare apples to apples.  A study has been done by the local HBA comparing the municipal fees for new construction.  The same single family house plan (of average size) was evaluated by 14 of our surrounding communities.  The highest permit and builder fee award goes to… Waukee!  Grimes and Des Moines came in second and third.  The cheapest place to pull a building permit?  West Des Moines and Pleasant Hill.  PLEASE do not assume that I’m saying these communities are not a good place to build.  By NO means am I saying that.  I’m just pointing out that some building costs seem a bit arbitrary, yet quite unavoidable.  I would argue that you may not be getting what you’re paying for in comparison to the same house built in a different community.  It is up for debate, I’m sure. 

Sooo…. to answer my own question: Do You Always Get What You Pay For?  When shopping for shoes, I’d say ’yes.’  When trying out hairstylists, I’d say ‘yes.’  When shopping for kitchen gadgets, I’d say ‘no.’  When building a house, I’d give a two-part answer.  When it comes to the static costs, such as trash removal, municipal permits, storm water management, utilities, etc., I’d answer, “Possibly not.”  Unless you are concerned about the global impact of your project or calculate in such things as tax abatement programs or community advantages, I find that you are not getting the full value of your dollar.  But the second part to my answer is a resounding, ”Yes” when it comes to workmanship and experience.  It doesn’t take a builder very long to find out which subs to use and which ones to avoid like the plague.  So the really good ones tend to be booked in advance and could cost slightly more.  But, oh it’s sooo worth it.  I’ve yet to find a cheap expert!       

Did you know that you can walk into a health food store and buy a supplement for manganese?  Or you could just come over to my house and drink our tap water.  Did you know that too much manganese (often found in drinking water) can lead to neurological disorders?  Long story a bit shorter: having more trouble with well.  Can’t dig another well.  Drinking water brown and full of black manganese.  Good news: our local rural water company has agreed to extend the line to our house for a franction of the previous estimate (cheaper than digging another useless well).  By next spring, I will be on city water like the rest of you all!  Yee-haw!  The ten-year battle of the aquifer is over and I won.    What does this have to do with this blog?  Good question — throughout the ordeal with the water, I learned a great deal about water quality, recirculating pumps and water filtration systems and water softeners.  I am familiar with installing alternative water systems, such as rain water collection, and I even got a lesson in basic plumbing procedures.  So, as a young builder once said, “A great challenge is just a lesson in disguise.” 

If there was one thing I could teach the public, it would be this: How to really shop for a well-built house.  My friends, some builders have figured out how to dupe you.  If they just slap on some granite in the kitchen and a fancy vessel sink in the half bath and price the house accordingly, the buyer believes they’re getting a well-built home.  I recently was in a meeting with an architect and we were discussing whether or not “greening features” were affordable or not to low-income families.  I mentioned that even though features like geothermal, solar-panels, etc. were efficient in the LONG run, a lot of families simply can not afford them now, currently, at this moment, when they apply for the loan.  It doesn’t matter how much of a ”return on their investment” they will receive, the upfront cost is beyond their reach.  The architect said, “Yes, they say that, but then they put in a $10,000 tile shower.”  I don’t think she got my point.  The last time I checked, low-income houses don’t have tile showers (and unless you went nuts with the design, most tile showers don’t cost $10,000).  But I did get her point.  We’re kind of like little kittens when we look at houses — we’re attracted to shiny or fluffy objects that tickle are fancy.  We succumb to the “pimpness” of the home.  And we completely overlook the items that are going to make our living in the home more comforatble, healthier and just overall better.

I have a friend who purchased a home in Des Moines (my friend, if you read this — I love you dearly.  But you do fit my example nicely).  She told me all about how the remodeler/house flipper had installed this unique vanity (it is pretty cool) with a modern-chic pendant above it.  She loved the paint color in the living room.  She loved the hardwood floors.  But after she moved in and was trying to find places for all of her belongings she THEN saw that the kitchen only had one drawer!  Once she began to finish some of the spaces in the lower level, she discovered that the remodeler had not updated the electrical.  And after it rained the first time, all the window wells filled with water and ran into the basement.  She was looking at spending more money on a house that was advertised as “updated.” 

Here is MY list of things to look for when buying an existing home (new or used):

1.  Flow of traffic.  Does your furniture fit?  Is there more than one pathway into the kitchen?  Will the carpet wear out along that path?  Do you have to do a mountain of stairs just to get to the master bedroom?  Do your children have room to play in their rooms AFTER you place the furniture?  Can you be with your family while you’re cooking?  While their doing their homework?  Is there enough gathering room in the areas your family tend to congregate (kitchen, great room, master bedroom)?

2.  It’s all in the pad.  TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF and squish your toes!!!  Lay down on the carpet.  Sit like you would when playing with the dog or your children.  Enjoy the floor.  Some builders install the lowest cost of carpet they can get away with because they assume you’ll either be moving before it wears out, or be replacing it.  Demand better.

3.  Look past the jewelry sitting on top of the cabinets and actually imagine cooking and serving (if you cook).  Do you have enough counterspace next to the oven to spread out for those large dinners?  Do you have enough open counter for baking cookies with the kids?  Is the sink faucet a GOOD faucet, perhaps with two tyles of sprays, does it pull-out?  Is there plenty of storage for your dishes (both everyday and fancy), bakeware, silverware, pots & pans, those “use it once a year” items, canned goods, holiday table decor?  Do any of the lower cabinets have pull-out trays?  Is there a lazy susan?  Are the handles easy to grasp?  Where will your trashcan go?  Where will the pets eat?  How many drawers are there?  Does the dishwasher/oven open all the way without hitting the knob of a perpendicular cabinet? 

4. Now let’s be practical.  Is the flooring in each room practical for your familys’ use of that room?  Is the kitchen flooring easy to clean?  Is it practical for having toddlers, teenagers, a large dog, elderly parents, etc?

5.  Windows of opportunity – I get in this debate almost every time I bid out a house.  Builders will always favor some windows over others.  (I’ll be glad to tell you my opinion if you call me — but I’m not about to post it here).  But there is SOME basis to preference.  I recently compared (side-by-side) the construction of three different brands of windows.  I simply asked the lumber companies to loan me their floor samples (quater cut through the window).  It didn’t take an Einstein to see the difference in construction.  Some windows are sold on name recognition and their company’s past performance.  Also, some companies who are known for their high quality upper-end windows (often out of the price range of most buyers), have decided to broaden their market share by making a “builder line” or “replacement line.”  Sometimes these lines are made with the same scrutiny as their more expensive lines.  But not always.  There are some who are selling their entry-level grade windows simply by name alone.  There is very little product there, especially for enduring our Iowa winters.  So whether you are buying a new house or a pre-owned, check out the windows thoroughly.  Do NOT assume the realtor or even the builder knows what they’re talking about — they want to sell the house.  Ask to see an uninstalled window, a quarter-cut sample or even a tour of the manufacturing facility (a luxury we have here in Iowa where a lot of window companies call home (Marvin, Pella, Windsor, etc).   

 6. Mechanicals & Electrical – this is not a glamorous area for anybody.  It’s boring, it’s complicated and it’s never SEEN by us or our visitors.  It is the mystery that lays behind our walls.  But we FEEL it and BREATHE it every day we live in the house.  We bathe in it, wash our clothes in it, read by it, plug our appliances into it, rid our waste through it, etc.  It’s vital to our comfort (as well as pocket book).  I can not emphasize enough — check this out before you buy.  And DO NOT just ask the realtor — they DON’T KNOW!  Like my friend, if she had checked out the wiring before she bought the house, she might have saved herself a few thousand on her mortgage.  What kind of furnace does it have?  Does it have a mutil-stage blower?  Is there a programmable thermostat?  Is the ductwork sealed?  How?  What kind of filter does the furnace require?  Can you find the filter easily or is it special order?  What about the hot water heater?  Is it efficient?  Turn on a faucet farthest from the hotwater heater, how long did it take to get hot water?  Did the builder or previous homeowner install a fancy shower with upteen body sprays, but neglect to provide a large enough hot water heater for it?  Is there a drain in the floor near the utilities?  Where is the electric panel?  How old is it?  Are there GFI outlets in the kitchen and bathrooms (this is code, people).  Are there enough outlets in each room?  DO THEY WORK?  If the house is out in the country, how is the water quality?  Ask for a drink!  Will you need to buy a water softener?  What about the septic — when was it maintenanced last?  And make the builder or previous owner PROVE this information to you, not just tell you, “Oh yeah, it was maintenanced a year ago.”

7.  Foundation — this is mainly for pre-owned homes, but could apply if the builder uses sloppy foundation crews.  WALK AROUND THE HOUSE.  Look at the foundation, both inside and outside.  Are there any cracks? (Please keep in mind small cracks are normal, large ones are not).  Do you see any evidence of water leakage?  If it’s a walkout, how well does the door seal?  If there are window wells, do they have the ability to drain?  If there is a bedroom in the basement, have they provided egress (ladder, steps, etc.)?  Are there any areas around the house where the ground appears to be sinking in towards the foundation?  Are there any long (over 20 feet) concrete walls that should have a “wing” support?  Is there any evidence of basement insulation, whether interior or exterior?    

One final example for you before I end the lecture of home-buying:       

A close relative of mine (who will remain nameless) bought an old farm house which appeared to just need some lovin’ — new carpet, paint, possibly windows and blown-in insulation.  It had a lot of charm with it’s arched doorways and original hardwood floors.  They were told (by the realtor who also happened to be a friend of theirs) that the house had an updated furnace, plumbing, new stove and new wiring.  But within one year they were replacing the furnace and the ductwork (it was not installed properly), new wiring, new septic, new stove, and new plumbing for the laundry.  Eventually, they will need to repair the foundation and the roof (which in one area is falling in).  So in summary, I fully understand how exciting buying a home can be and what a sense of relief one gets when the decision is made to buy “this one.”  But please look beyond the face-lift or builder-glitter.  Think of a house like the human body — we can clothe it in the latest fashion, tack on a bunch of shiny jewelry and apply colorful makeup, such as faucet fixtures, flooring and paint colors.  These are readily available and easy to install.  But if something is wrong on the inside (plumbing, septic, framing), it is often difficult to see (easy to hide) and will probably require major surgery which can be costly and comes with no guarantees. 

What is a buyer to do?  If you know of someone in the building industry whom you trust and who also HAS NO INTEREST in the transaction, ask them to check out the house for you, or at least suggest items for you to inspect.  There are also third party inspection companies you can hire.  The realtor will be glad to offer their inspector, but I advise you to spend the extra $300.00 or so on an unbiased opinion.  And, as with everything else, check and double check the inspector’s credentials.   

Plumbing is such an important piece of the construction jigsaw puzzle.  It is the circulatory system of our homes, the blood-supply, so to speak.  Just like in our bodies, our home’s plumbing circulates the stuff we need to function (water) and takes away the waste (self-explanatory).  And many of you know that this is a topic of contention with me since I am often found with a short supply of the former.  But after visiting with a new homeowner the other day, I realized that I have a few good tips to share regarding plumbing and new construction.

1.  Be aware of these new high powered washing machines.  Yes, their great and I’d love to own one myself — and now they come in a beautiful candy-apple red!  But if you find yourself in a brand new house with a flooded laundry room floor, please refrain from placing a hex on your builder until you can rule out that it was the washer’s fault.  I have found (and my plumber backs me on this one) that many of the new washing machines drain with such force and volume of water that the standard drain installed in the wall typically can not drain FAST enough.  Even when I put the washer’s drainage tube in a nearby laundry sink, the sinkcould not drain fast enough and filled with water.  There are a couple things one can try: creating a curve in the drainage tube may be enough to slow down the flow (use of friction); or my plumber suggests purchasing (Menards and Lowe’s carries them) a 1 1/4″ X 2″ reducing coupler or gasket that wedges tightly in the drain that prevents the water from backing up (use of pressure); or you can call your plumber (use of phone). 

2.  Think about HOW you bathe and your family’s morning/evening routine when building a house — preferably BEFORE you begin building.  If you have a “standard” sized family (the 2 adults, 2.3 kids and 1.7 dogs), but you ALL take baths at the same time in the morning, you may not want the “standard” configuration of plumbing.  This is especially so if mom takes a whirlpool bath instead of a shower.  Showers take the least amount of hot water (~3-4 gal/minute).  Whirlpool baths (baths in general) take an enormous amount of hot water.  Pretty much plan on when the whirlpool bath is filling, nobody — and I mean NOBODY — should be trying to take a bath or do some laundry (depending, of course, on how large or how many hot water heaters you installed).  In a 1800-2000 square foot home that has a 50-gallon water heater and two full baths, one with a whirlpool tub, if one person is filling the tub and another person is trying to take a shower, both will run out of hot water. 

3.  On-demand circulation pumps are wonderful!  I love these things — I have two installed in my own home.  (Here she goes about running out of water again…) Since we run out of water often, it was a have-to sort of thing.  Our shower is quite a distance from our water heaters so we did the infamous “turn the shower on and walk away” routine for hot water.  This is especially bad if by the time the hot water arrives, you have now cut your shower time in half.  You may find yourself soaped-up without any rinse water!  It happens.  But ever since we installed the pumps, we have NOT run out of water (knock on wood).  There are many kinds out there, so research carefully.  The ones we have can be installed two different ways, depending on what you need.  The one in our bathroom uses the built-in timer.  It begins circulating in the morning and evening when we’re typically in the bathroom.  It can also be manually switched on.  It can be installed to run continually (which I don’t advise since it will contribute to your electricity bill) and will begin circulating when it senses that the water has dropped below the optimum temperature.  The one in our kitchen is wired to the undercabinet lights (we are SOOO hillbilly).  I think it’s pretty cool — when you’re about to cook or do dishes or run the dishwasher, you turn on the undercabinet lights.  Easy.  When you’re done, turn the lights off.  www.autocirc.com 

4.  And the icky sewer smell wafting out of the drain… I don’t know how many people have heard of this one.  We get a call on it about once a year or so.  The p-trap is designed for sealing the pipe (besides keeping the family heirloom from washing down the system).  If a shower or floor drain is not used for a long period of time, the water in the bottom of the trap could evaporate and cause the seal to be lost.  Or, continuously strong winds blowing across the vent can cause the same thing by changing the pressure in the trap.  Either way, once the seal is broken, air can move back through the plumbing and come out the drain, releasing the “sewer gas” smell into the room.  Remedy: If it’s a used fixture, just pour some water down the drain or flush the toilet (or clean it, for that matter).  If it’s something that doesn’t get used much, like a floor drain, first pour some water in it and then pour about a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil down the drain.  The oil will sit on top of the water and prevent the water from evaporating. 

 I must hereby apologize for my long absence — I have been out saving the world from needless legislation.  Well, not actually.  But I was in D.C. a week or so ago representing my local homebuilders on “The Hill”.  I was awarded a scholarship from the Iowa Association of Homebuilders to attend the National Association of Homebuilders Spring Board Meeting and Legislative Conference.  I did far more listening and learning about our governmental process than I did “giving my two-cents worth” but I’m planning a comeback next year.  While in D.C. I attended several committee meetings, such as the Building Materials committee (where we looked at the forecasts for various building products), the Environmental Issues committee (where we heard from the EPA) and the Custom Builder committee.   I also toured the NAHB Research Center and got lots of pictures.  This place was incredible!  They not only test marketing strategies and host focus groups, but the lower level of the 42,000 square foot facility is where they test building products.  Here they test plastic plumbing fixtures, thermal systems, shear wall strength, material tension and compresion, performance of exterior windows and doors, and much more.  I highly suggest when buying building products, to look for the NAHB Research Center stamp. 

Besides sitting in on numerous meetings with homebuilding professionals from around the country, our small group from Iowa had the pleasure of sitting down with several of our state Representatives and Senators to discuss the hot issues that are affecting the homebuilding industry here at home.  I have never felt so at a loss for words in my life.  It was truly an honor to be with these Iowa delegates from our industry and listen to them deliver our issues to our statesmen. (Pictures: In the Halls of Congress and Meeting with Senator Grassley) 

We did have a little bit of time to explore the Capital City of this great nation - we saw the Lincoln and Washington monuments, the Reflective Pool and the White House.  We saw a fraction of the Smithsonian and experienced the Metro subway numerous times.  On the last day Matt and I traveled to Mount Vernon, Virginia to visit George Washington’s estate.  All in all, it was an eye-opening experience for this small town Midwesterner.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  However, next time I’m going to wear tennis shoes, no matter how much of a fashion “no-no” it is.     

 I found this article http://www.housingzone.com/news2.asp?topicId=14531&docId=l:609723967&nid=2469&rid=2026791795 and thought it was important to post so the average consumer could find it. I have personally witnessed and been a part of the debate this article mentions: between LEED and NAHB.  In fact, this same debate has occurred locally between several builders that I respect and admire.  I agree, both groups (LEED and NAHB) do not play well together. Builders are very concerned about the mandating of “green” and rising costs of construction, and rightly so. Every time you raise the cost of a home $1,000, you eliminate thousands of families who otherwise would have qualified for a loan — and especially now that banks are tighting their criteria. And some of this “greenness” is debateable on how it REALLY effects your pocket book. It is my opinion that how a client views value is dependent upon WHERE they are in the process. When searching and purchasing a home, value is measured by what is seen. Coughing up $25,000+ for a sealed and certified geo HVAC/insulation package that you won’t experience until after you move in is a pretty tough sale. But $25,000 on the kitchen of your dreams that you SAW in the showroom is a no-brainer.  But after a few months in the home (and paying the utility bills), some priority changes occur.  It’s natural and understandable.  So here’s my stance: I like choices. My feathers get pretty ruffled when my choices are taken away. I believe that I need to know how to build green, so my clients have more choices. And some of the green choices are definitely a better way to build. But some are hype.  It takes research and careful consideration of what green concepts are meaningful and affordable for each individual client.  What works for me (like rainwater collection) is not going to make any sense for others, and vice versa.