Spec Sheet for New Construction Home
JoePodesta
10 years ago
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Comments (23)
renovator8
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoJoePodesta
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
New Construction Spec
Comments (2)Residential pre-packaged "master" specifications are written to include just about every material and system that might be used in building a house. The designer must then select the appropriate items and delete the rest which is a tedious difficult process if you are not familiar with the elements, how they are used together, and the requirements of the applicable building codes, etc. Companies and brand names may or may not be included in the master and the detailed specifications offered may or may not be specific to those brands so you might have to add that information yourself. There is a very steep learning curve involved in writing and/or editing specifications and doing it right is important if you want them to be useful and enforceable. Small builders and owner-builders usually rely on "outline specifications" that have a limited scope and don't have installation requirements and other detailed information normally found in a full specification. However, such documents afford less protection to the owner. I wish I could tell you the name of a good residential master spec but I have had to take the best parts from several and add my own information. Keeping it up to date has been quite a chore. I would say it is the least pleasant task in the design of a house so I recommend delegating it to a professional....See MoreNew home construction- best paints
Comments (9)All the painters we've interviewed say BM stores are independently owned, therefore can't get quantities larger than 1 gallon and very little discount to painters, that BM is mainly used to redecorate rooms. Those are interesting comments. "Mainly used to redecorate rooms" is a silly thing to say. Ben Moore paints are used for paint jobs of all sizes up to and including industrial and commercial. If you've talked to someone at the Ben Moore store and they are carrying Aura, I would guess it's not a small, independent, Mom & Pop type Ben Moore paint store with limited capabilities. They are carrying Aura, that hints to some volume and capacity for having a clue about what's new and up-to-date. I don't think Aura comes in 5 gallon buckets. Even if the store doesn't do 5's at all, so what. Buying paint in single gallons might be less convenient for the painter to work with, but since there's not much of a discount (apparently) anyway it really shouldn't matter outside of being less convenient. You're paying for the paint so what's it to them. Something isn't adding up here in the painter's story. A painter should be able to tell you how much paint and primer is needed. That's their job and it can be different for every painter. Some guys do two full coats and some others do two fffuuuulll coats -- they all paint differently. It's my opinion that no one can make the call about how much paint better than the guy doing the painting cause he knows how he paints. Make sense? It's not your job to determine how much paint is needed. I would agree about priming the new drywall for Aura. Although I know of one new house where they did not. Not surprised that's what the Ben Moore store told you. The whole thing with Aura is that it doesn't require primer and no more than two coats - so what else would the store say, KWIM. That's why you need a good painter. If you had a good painter, he'd tell you to prime before Aura and why. Luckily, you have the guys here for input and second opinion. Again, if it were my new house and my money going to pay for the gallons of Aura, the walls would be primed first. Working mainly with the uber brands of paint, I can't tell you how many painters don't understand. Just this week, I spec'd Aura for a dining room and the painter keeps referring to it as "that fancy stuff". Even after he uses it and even if he thinks it's a great product, he will never be able to get past the fact that it's $55 a gallon. Stuck. In a rut. Will never see the light. Good luck with the project....See MoreNew Construction Homes - Home Building Options
Comments (23)Kristen we have built 4 houses, the first being a tract builder and could only choose from a few options. The others were totally custom where we provided plans to the builder who then gave us a estimate. Included in his estimate was a allowance for lighting, plumbing, appliances etc. We could choose from stores that he had accounts at which we would pay the “contractors” price. Or we could get them from anywhere we chose. When comparing, we found that the contractor’s price was not significantly higher than the big box stores. See Jeffrey Grenz’s comment above.... it was well worth it to go with our builders accounts....See MoreReading Specs Sheets to judge Faucet Quality
Comments (8)Stop driving yourself nuts. Reading the spec sheets isn't going to help you make the perfect choice since there is no standard, and you admittedly aren't familiar with how faucets are constructed. Buy a moderately priced faucet that you like from one of the name brands that have decent lifetime warranties. Then have it installed and quit worrying knowing that you'll get a free replacement if it ever fails while you are in that home. Also, don't buy into the baloney about big box stores having "identical" faucets with cheap internals. If the product code on the box corresponds to the one assigned by the manufacturer, it will be identical regardless of where you get it. Major brands don't risk their reputations by manufacturing two versions of the same faucet and sending the crappy ones to the big box stores. Finally, look at reputable online stores, like build.com, which have huge selections and good prices....See MoreUser
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomcfromct
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoJoePodesta
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoUser
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomillworkman
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agomcfromct
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoFmrQuahog
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agodadereni
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoworthy
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoJoePodesta
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agovirgilcarter
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agosweet.reverie
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoibewye
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agorenovator8
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoIsabelParsons
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoqbryant
8 years agoSanford W.
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoVirgil Carter Fine Art
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoSanford W.
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoqbryant
8 years ago
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