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The Pretty Good House

prettygoodhouse.org

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Re: The Pretty Good House

#301

Post by poutine »

carabiner wrote: post #45
poutine wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might have trouble finding good builders for such a small job. Depends on the market I suppose. Also you'll run in to restrictions on some land, some areas will not let you build really small places that are out of proportion to the neighbourhood. Depends how fancy you're talking. But doing a really nice small space is a great strategy for saving money. You can use nice materials since you dont have a lot. Doing…

Thanks! Do you have thoughts on kit homes like First Day Cottage? This one FDC looks incredible: https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/sibihx/first_d...

I've only built two houses for myself that are large custom builds. Dont really know about kit homes. From what I hear that they dont really solve a ton of money as people always overestimate the cost of the structure and underestimate site prep and finishing which are the same whether your house is custom or pre fabricated.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#302

Post by rascul »

topkai22 wrote: post #283
alanwreath wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is interesting, I was predisposed on thinking about the cost of labor. I wonder beyond price what it means for the longevity (or persisting value) of a 3D printed home vs one that - is made of wood - is made by humans (and so possibly deviating from approved spec)

Wood has really good longevity- in the US it’s not hard to find 100+ year old houses all over the place in older settled areas. In Buffalo, NY about half the single family homes for sale are over 100 years old, and they mostly appear wood built. My unscientific observation is that buildings are more often replaced due to changes in land use and taste than structural failure, and the structural failure modes include f…

> Anyways, plenty of regions use concrete (what most 3d printed houses are made of) heavily in residential construction.

Outside of apartment buildings, concrete isn't used much for residential that I've seen, except for the foundation. Not sure what you mean by "heavily" though.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#303

Post by sagebird »

Gravityloss wrote: post #236

Here double pane has been the standard for about a century and triple pane after the eighties. No problems whatsoever. I don't even know what's the standard nowadays. Newer windows also quiet down traffic well and reduce the drafty feeling. So there are really very few excuses to not use them. But I don't know what's the name of the phenomenon when someone who uses some primitive technology comes out with all kinds o…

What would be some concequences if someone installed two old single pane windows a few inches from each other into a wall.

IE - pseudo double panes via single panes.

Would it fog up like double pane glass with a broken seal? Could you put a desiccant in there? Is there a cheap way to be able to open it if you need to? Could it be worth it because it is more repairable than a broken double pane system -- even though it would cost more?

Re: The Pretty Good House

#304

Post by Enginerrrd »

yojo wrote: post #269
Gravityloss wrote: post #236

Here double pane has been the standard for about a century and triple pane after the eighties. No problems whatsoever. I don't even know what's the standard nowadays. Newer windows also quiet down traffic well and reduce the drafty feeling. So there are really very few excuses to not use them. But I don't know what's the name of the phenomenon when someone who uses some primitive technology comes out with all kinds o…

On windows: the seal between single pane windows never fails, because it does not exist. The original windows in my house have been working for 110 years. I put storm windows over them in the winter to get a little extra efficiency. Some of the double panes added during the 90s remodel have busted seals and need to be replaced. It’s a minimum $1500 to get a window replaced around here with a quality modern replacemen…

>It’s a minimum $1500 to get a window replaced around here with a quality modern replacement

FYI, you can usually replace just the double-paned glass insert in those for a small fraction of that cost.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#305

Post by thebiss »

aaronax wrote: post #271
alfor wrote: post #231

Is there open source plans? It seem to me that we could have open source full plans for a few models of cost effective houses. Then builders and prefab manufacturers could bid on the price and selection of parts to build it. The houses I see builded here are terribly inefficient. Complex shape and roof lines with a lot of unused space. They are made to look like an old house that was upgraded multiple time instead of…

In the US I believe these complex shapes are one way of making a large house have a less bulky appearance. An enormous box can be ungainly.

Correct. Architects call the perception of size from shape the massing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massing

And if you hate McMansions, you'll love: https://mcmansionhell.com/

Re: The Pretty Good House

#306

Post by pjlegato »

sagebird wrote: post #303
Gravityloss wrote: post #236

Here double pane has been the standard for about a century and triple pane after the eighties. No problems whatsoever. I don't even know what's the standard nowadays. Newer windows also quiet down traffic well and reduce the drafty feeling. So there are really very few excuses to not use them. But I don't know what's the name of the phenomenon when someone who uses some primitive technology comes out with all kinds o…

What would be some concequences if someone installed two old single pane windows a few inches from each other into a wall. IE - pseudo double panes via single panes. Would it fog up like double pane glass with a broken seal? Could you put a desiccant in there? Is there a cheap way to be able to open it if you need to? Could it be worth it because it is more repairable than a broken double pane system -- even though i…

This is quite common in old buildings in cold areas such as northern Europe, the northern United States, and Canada. Two single pane windows are place a short distance apart. There are also "storm windows," a similar concept where a new window is retrofitted to the outside of an existing single window. Both windows are usually easily openable for summertime ventilation.

The outer window can acquire significant condensation, especially if it's fully sealed. This can drip down and rot the wood sill. The outer window is not supposed to be fully sealed. There's supposed to be an air gap at the bottom so that this doesn't happen, but some installers or homeowners are unaware of this and caulk all around.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#307

Post by switch007 »

mnw21cam wrote: post #238
switch007 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly! I pleaded with the window company not to put vents in the new windows, as my house is already very draughty. They said it’s the law. They are cheap and poorly designed so they let in lots of noise too. And I had to tape them off because of the draught they let in even when closed.

A house does need ventilation. It's incredible how quickly humidity and carbon dioxide build up in an enclosed space from just breathing. The carbon dioxide is bad for you (reduces your ability to concentrate), and the humidity will have to condense out somewhere (on the coldest part of the house, which will usually be the windows, but wherever it is, it'll help mould to grow). However, getting that ventilation using…

My house has plenty. I’m very sensitive to lack of fresh air, so I would know. The kitchen fitters did a terrible job and left lots of holes in the walls behind the cabinets and the floor is extremely draughty. There are huge exposed air bricks to keep the timber dry which also causes draughts everywhere downstairs even with good carpeting. And it’s open plan from the kitchen to upstairs so those draughts make their way upstairs. I also live on a hill and get plenty of prevailing wind. I spend a huge amount on energy trying to keep warm - it’s hard to know which bits to tackle to keep warm but not to cause structural and other problems…

MVHR makes total sense and sounds superior. I’m sure the builders have successfully lobbied against such a sensible suggestion for decades and that’s why we have (I imagine) such stupid and basic solutions in our building regulations.

I feel like UK houses lack infrastructure that the likes of the US and Europe have. Even kitchen ventilation is such an afterthought

Re: The Pretty Good House

#308

Post by dkarl »

Gravityloss wrote: post #299
dkarl wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can measure the air-tightness of a house, and in the U.S, it has become more common to do so. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of anything else you can do to measure the quality of a build after the fact. The best way to monitor quality is for somebody knowledgable to keep an eye on construction.

All apartments and houses by law must have an energy certificate here. There's a high level EU directive but the details are by country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Performance_of_Building... However, it has its pitfalls and critics. Anyway, there the energy consumption is calculated from areas and insulation U values and so forth. Don't know what would be the actual biggest problems against launching someth…

Estimates done from the design are pretty common, and BIM programs (Building Information Management) like Revit integrate all of the construction details into the design model, so they are able to automate some of those calculations. But BIM programs are not great design tools (not sure if that's an inherent conflict or if there simply aren't any good ones) so they are not popular for smaller jobs like single-family homes where you can use drawings produced directly from a tool that provides a better user experience for design.

Unfortunately, the drawings don't give you any assurance that the construction details are done correctly. Corner-cutting aside, a contractor may depart from the design with good intentions and accidentally create a thermal bridge that sucks heat in or out of your house.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#309

Post by cantaloupe »

Ensorceled wrote: post #288
adamhp wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Investment" in this context is personal investment as a primary residence. You seem to be purposefully missing the point or cherry picking a singular definition of the word. The OP is literally a book about how to build a good home for yourself that is affordable. I'm fairly certain 90% of the audience on HN understand the housing crisis that exists and no one here is arguing for more rent-seeking with this book.

ROI: Return on investment (ROI) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. What do you think it means? "Enjoyment of my property" is an important aspect of a Cost-Benefit Analysis but it's not ROI. Anyway, it a is a singular problem in an otherwise laudable process.

Using that definition, “efficiency of an investment” is quite apt for the characteristics of a home which do not involve monetary return. In other words, I want as much X for every dollar I put in. X can be comfort, curb appeal, U-value, etc.

Re: The Pretty Good House

#310

Post by eitally »

actionfromafar wrote: post #226
joris wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That probably depends on where you are. Here in Amsterdam, our triple glazing is made out of all actual glass. In our house it’s made out of four 6-mm sheets of glass actually. So one double sheet that’s a sandwich with a glued layer of foil in between (like a windshield), used as a security component either on the outside (anti break-in) or on the upper floors on the inside as a way to prevent falling through the wi…

6mm sounds very thick?

Probably meant 6 mil (1mil = 1 thousandth of an inch), since this is a typical non-metric measure of sheet thickness (metal, glass, plastic).
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