Where in NC? The differences between the coast and mountains are pretty significant. It is a big state. The tank of course gets filled with propane which is 3-4 times the cost of NG. The inability to give ballpark estimates is stupid. Do you have a builder? Our builder gave us ballparks based on prior builds. They were always shocking because of the lack of competition in the area. The 2 I remember were $10k to foam the attic rafters and $60k for geothermal - both of which were non-starters. Generally in NC (central and coastal), the HVAC costs are too low to justify either geothermal or foam. A well sealed house with above code insulation can cost $500 a year to HVAC without resorting to those more costly options. If you are in the mountains, then you change the picture a bit. First the basics - ducts in conditioned space and good air sealing. Then bump the attic insulation. Then bump the walls. The ducts require appropriate house plans - and don't trust the designer alone. Plenty don't leave appropriate room for the units. For a point of comparison, I have a ducts in the attic, 5000 sq ft. Conventional insulation but r-40 in the attic. Air sealed pretty well with ES standards. Seer 16 heat pumps and NG backup. I have $1000 in HVAC costs. Lose the NG backup and I'd probably go to $1200. That isn't a lot of money and 1/2 is a/c which is harder to cut. The most important thing now is the ductwork. Then the solar orientation and/or shading. Then check for rate cuts for Energy Star certification. Progress gives us 5% for life. Given the merger, they should have 80% of NC but I know there are a lot of locals.

No such machine was used... They poured the entire garage at once which lasted from 8:15am-8:45am.. From that point until 1pm they were working the concrete by hand.. This is a quick shot of what they were doing: I just really can't believe that this company would allow this.. They are a higher end company and they do most of their work in high end neighborhoods.. I am actually getting a little concerned that its not even.. I went over while at work to take a quick pic but got their late and it was already dark.. I left the headlights of my car on and took a pic.. I can't tell if its the lighting combined with the trowel marks, but it almost looks like ripples.. This is what it looks like: At this point I don't know what to even do.. I feel like every time they get to the next stage I have to question what my options are because it wasn't done right.. I know I am not building a mansion or some multi million dollar home, but I just feel like I probably could have done a better job myself and I have absolutely no experience.. I know it's easy to second guess people, but I feel like this is not an acceptable finish.. I talked with a few people and they said there is no real way to "repair" this.. They would have to hammer it all out and pour again.. I had contemplated doing an epoxy finish but I don't even know if that would solve this.. Im sure it would help the finish look, but if this floor is in fact not level I am not sure an epoxy coating will level it out.. I am nervous to even go down to the basement.. I only saw a small portion from the upper level (no stairs installed yet) and everything was covered.. I can only assume the basement slab looks the same..

Considering insulative sheathing has made it's way into prescriptive minimums, I think it's more of a requirement than allowment. The "+" value in wood framed wall R value below denotes insulative sheathing prescriptions. Typical framing results in walls where 20-30% of a wall's total area, has no cavity insulation, which drags down the entire wall area's performance. For owners or designers after the most "R per inch" insulative sheathing is more effective than cavity insulation as it better encapsulates framing and structural components. This potentially increases airtightness, reduces thermal bridging and keeps structural components warmer, reducing chances of condensation and rot. The last feature may be why codes are beginning to adopt insulative sheathing as best (minimum) practice and calculating the minimum insulative sheathing is important for wood framed walls in cold climates. In the warmer climate zones of 2 and 3, a 2x4 wall with 1/2" of insulative sheathing outperforms a 2x6 wall and is thinner. As for Open Cell foam in roofs, I agree it's a relatively new practice posing risk and the same is true for Closed Cell. That's why many experts recommend insulative sheathing on top of roof structural sheathing and why the traditional unconditioned attic is appealing, as long as it has an airtight ceiling plane (tough part) and a thick layer of loose fill insulation. Roof leaks are typically more common and damaging than condensation and I think closed cell complicates discovery and repair more than open cell, but in cold climates I would prefer closed cell. Martin's article sounding the alarm about modeling studies is useful, but I think the onus mainly falls on field results and the vast majority of open cell roof decks seem to be working fine, other than the unfortunate reality that most spray foam installations are below code minimum performance. A good friend of mine is building in TN and we just went through all this. He was able to get good pricing for a flash coat of closed cell against the bottom of the roof deck, followed by filling the rest of the rafter cavities with open cell.

Michigan occupies building climate zones 5 - 7. Zone 5 is the warmest zone that can still comply with the R20 cavity-only requirement. It looks like Ontario has adopted similar IRC mandatory exterior insulative sheathing. We use the performance compliance path on every home, one of the many advantages to including a third party energy rater. Most raters are not keen on getting too far away from code prescriptions. For some of the prescriptions, like blower door minimums, it's cost-effective to exceed code. Most high performance builders are exceeding code with exterior insulation as code encourages risky wall strategies, hence the recommended minimum table I first posted about. Even leaky, all natural homes can have poor indoor air quality. Outdoor air ventilation is now required by current IRC codes and a smart idea for any inhabited enclosed space. It's a life-safety requirement and long overdue measure for modern homes.