Questions for owners of two story homes
downsouth
16 years ago
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logic
16 years agodaisyadair
16 years agoRelated Discussions
Two Stage for Two Story? Nutty Contractor?
Comments (4)I work for a reputable hvac contractor in the south. We sell 80% and 90% furnaces, one-stage, two-stage, and variable speed. We sell AC and heat pump up to 18 SEER. We always try to give the HO a choice. It seems the bigger the house, the more the HO wants. For those with smaller houses, the upgraders tend to go for the AC first, then things like filtration and humidification, then the nice furnace. These are people who are gainfully employed and who plan to be in the same house 5 to 10 years later. That being said, I have a small house. I replaced my system 9 years ago, upgrading my AC to 12 SEER and adding Aprilaire filtration. Now, the one thing I really wish I had done is upgrade to a variable speed furnace. As far as that contractor goes, you may have to read between the lines some more. Maybe he genuinely cared about your parents' best interests. Maybe the president backed him up. Maybe you can find out what he sells to younger couples in small houses. Maybe Lennox has been putting out some bad product. Maybe he is thinking about switching brands and does't want the call-backs. Maybe he is a stick in the mud....See MoreFoundation question for two story addition to old home
Comments (11)As a clarification, our house is 120 years old and the existing foundation is showing it's age. I doubt it's going anywhere, but adding to it is questionable at best. The idea of the mushroom footings and columns is to avoid adding stress to the existing house. The new piers would replace existing piers along the back wall of a one story addition which started out as a porch. My initial description is incorrect. Thanks mightanvil for pointing that out. There would be four mushroom cement blobs buried 4 feet under supporting typical 10" cement columns along a 14 foot wall. The columns would support 4' lengths of lally (exposed to the elements), then 4X4 wood columns would run through the first floor wall and carry a beam for the second floor 2x12x18 24" o.c. joists. The 4X4's would continue to the roof line and support another beam for the flat roof 2x10x18 16" o.c. joists. Maybe those are called rafters, but it's a flat roof so they might be joists. The structural engineer designing this is the architect, designer, and owns the contracting company. It's a design/build outfit that's been around a long time, and the city inspector relies on his stamp of approval. I'm concerned about minimal requirements. For instance, we had some options to upgrade from 2X10's to 2X12's for an 18 foot span. I thought that was a good thing. So as part of a $3,000 work order change I was surprised to see the plans had the 2 X 12's at 24" o.c. After he explained that his plan met Massachusetts building code, he wants another $300 to make them 16 o.c. and thinks it's a needless change. If he didn't have our 1/3 deposit ($8k) and a ($3K) change order to beef things up, I'd move on. I've only seen piers supporting decks, and some houses along oceanfront properties. Been searching the building codes and haven't seen much written about this design. Code is linked at end of posting. Any assistance or words of wisdom appreciated. I will pay attention to the bracing within the walls of the 4x4' columns as suggested above by early1. Here is a link that might be useful: Mass Building Code online...See MoreHome Owners Association question
Comments (22)Homeowners' Associations can vary widely in what they can and cannot control. The first house that Hubs and I owned together was a single-family detached home (3Br/2Ba) in Lake Forest, CA, with an HOA. The dues were $9 per month. The only thing the HOA took care of was all of the greenbelt areas, and the more-than-100-year-old eucalyptus trees growing in some of the greenbelt areas. Each homeowner was responsible for their own landscaping, landscape maintenance, roof, exterior paint, etc., etc. However, there was an item in the CC&Rs that said you could not park your vehicle in your own driveway for more than 30 minutes -- you had to have vehicles fully inside the garage, or parked on the street (public streets - the HOA didn't maintain the streets, our tax dollars did). The HOA had the legal right (and they took full advantage of it) to issue "tickets" -- at $25 per ticket) -- for violations of that rule. If you were working on your vehicle, changing the oil, etc., you had to do that within the garage with the garage door down. Violations would result (if you were "caught") in a $25 ticket. If you didn't pay the ticket(s), the HOA had the legal right to foreclose on your home. We never had a problem because it was just the two of us and neither of us worked on our own vehicles, but one of our neighbors was always fighting the HOA because his teenage sons were always working on their cars and getting HOA tickets for it. It was crazy. We owned that place for 6 years, then sold it at a huge profit and moved to Sacramento County, CA, where we've been for the last 24 years. For the first three of those years we owned a place that also had an HOA, with $92 per month dues. They maintained the roofs, exterior painting, and front landscaping. The homeowners were responsible for their own back yards. There was a community pool, and tennis courts and greenbelt areas. The HOA was constantly giving one woman grief over her window coverings. The CC&Rs stated that all window coverings, no matter what type they were, had to show white or off-white to the exterior. So, you could have fire-engine red drapes, but they had to be lined with a thick enough white (or off-white) fabric that from the outside it looked like you had white (or off-white) drapes. Anyway, I don't remember what color this woman's kitchen window coverings were, but they weren't white or off-white, so the HOA was assessing her some crazy fee each month that she refused to pay. The HOA wanted to foreclose on her for the dang fees, but she fought it and won. And she won because her house had been one of the model homes and had the same window coverings that it had when it was being used as a model. Her argument was that the developer was selling the places with the HOA and CC&Rs already in existence (and in these instances, the developer has the majority of HOA board positions), and the developer had used an interior decorator to "do" the models, so whatever was put into the models had to have been acceptable. We've owned this house for 21 years (bought it while it was in the framing stage), and there is NO HOA. I don't think I could ever live anywhere with an HOA again....See Moretwo storey vs one storey costs
Comments (60)D E, you are really close, but from your example I am not certain you are totally there as cost is part of the consideration. cost effective would be getting the r60 roof. I can save money by going down to r38 but that was not effective because I didn't achieve my stated goal. That depends on the marginal utility of the r60 roof over an r38 roof, which is something that I can't answer for you. It is less about stated goals than maximizing utility, and utility is a bit individualistic. So for example, if you would prefer an r60 roof, but find that it will only add about 20% more utility to your life than an r38 roof at a cost of 80% more money then it is not cost effective (utility being some combination of comfort and discounted cooling costs). Thinking about this example in reverse is better. If you only want and need an r38 roof, any marginal cost to get you to an r60 roof is wasted regardless of how great a deal it is. ----- Looking at what I do from a resale perspective. Let me clarify my meaning of going through the design a few square feet at a time and asking is there any way to increase profit out of that square footage. What I really do is set a target price point, and ask is that square footage (or design element) helping me get to that price point? If the answer is no, then I ask if it can be eliminated? I don't care whether it cost me $20 or $500, if it isn't helping me get to my price point, it is wasted regardless of how much it costs. Obviously, you start at the most expensive stuff, and that is where the efficiency really comes in. Converting this from resale to living, I ask how will I use that square footage? If the answer is anything similar to I wouldn't, then I see if it can be eliminated. This can be used for square footage, rooms, r value, HVAC, etc....See Moremariend
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