Smart Homes LLC.

Termite and Water Damage Repair on Bonnie Oaks Drive

November 12, 2008 – 2:40 pm by admin

Before Picture of Bonnie Oaks Drive

Exterior Renovation

Smart Homes has just recently started repairing a house with extensive termite and water damage. The house is sided in Masonite, a very poor external construction material that requires intense preventive maintenance to maintain its structural integrity. Masonite is basically stiff cardboard, and to prevent it from literally just falling apart it must be painted and caulked once ever 2 years at the most. If you are unfortunate enough to live in a house with Masonite siding you probably already know what I’m referring to.

The house on Bonnie Oaks, in addition to having compromised Masonite siding, also had extensive termite damage on the lower 1/4 of the house. The Masonite had deteriorated away in some places do to poor caulking, irregular maintenance, and poor construction practices by the original builder. Through these cracks, termites crawled in and they were having a feast on the exposed stud walls. This compromised the integrity of several key structural elements of the house.

The primary area of concern is in the garage header beam. Through a combination of water damage and termite damage, this beam had rotted to the point of having birds making a next in a large soft cavity which formed over time in the middle of this critical support beam. Had this beam completely failed, then the entire facade of the second floor and the portion of the roof being supported by this beam could have came crashing down.

From the pictures you can see where we’ve stripped off the bad portions of Masonite, and replaced it with OSB sheathing. We also had to replace several structural studs behind the sheathing in these areas. I do not have pictures of the wall prior to replacing the bad studs, but you can see that we filled nearly half of a 15 yard dumpster with the waste, and we are not through yet.

The Plan

The plan of attack for this house is to first remove all the badly rotted cardboard … I mean Masonite and replace it with OSB sheathing. Also repair and termite damaged or water damaged studs and beams. next we will wrap the solid Masonite and the new Masonite sheathing in Vinyl to protect and beautify the exterior. We will also replace the badly rotted columns on the front and back porches with load bearing, structural and rot resistant fiberglass columns. We will also replace the front door and rear garage man door with brand new painted steel doors. The house should undergo a complete and eye popping transformation as a result.

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Andy’s Residential Framing

November 2, 2008 – 5:27 pm by admin

Don’t use Andy’s Residential Framing

Don’t use Andy’s Residential Framing. He has cost me thousands of dollars in costly repairs and delays on the project at 208 Randall Mullins Road. He took nearly 2 months to frame an 1800 sqft house atop a concrete basement. Also he never finished. When the job was about 90% done, he bailed on the project, leaving me having to hire a new framer to finish his work. Therefore, I lost the time he procrastinated away. I also lost time in searching for a new framer. I also had to pay the new framer more then what was left in the job, therefore encuring additional costs. To top it all off, when the first framing inspection failed I had to pay an additional fee to fix a costly roof construction mistake.

I’ve been working with Andy for several years now, and he has always been a bit slow getting the work done. However, he has always been easy going, and willing to fix any mistakes to make the project right in the end. I could deal with a little tardiness for quality work and willingness to get it done right.

This time however he pushed his tardies to the limit, and his quality has slipped. His new hires are at best poor professionals and at worst blatent ameteurs. His crews were often late to work, or they never showed up at all. The quality of the work was also suffered as evidence by the numerous mistakes.

If you are a builder or a homewoner looking for a new framer, avoid Andy’s Residential Framing, unless you have a penchant for pain and suffering.

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GDP sinks 0.3% in one quater

October 30, 2008 – 10:48 am by admin

Highlights of the latest Commerce Department’s report on the state of the economy:

Investments in housing dropped 19.1%, the 11th consecutive quarterly decline.
Housing subtracted 0.7 of a percentage point from growth, while the change in inventories added 0.6 of a point to growth.
Government spending increased 5.8%, adding 1.2 percentage points to growth. Federal spending jumped 13.8%, including an 18.1% increase in defense spending, the biggest growth in five years. Spending by state and local governments rose 1.4%.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gdp-falls-03-third-quarter/story.aspx?guid={73AA79F1-D096-44A4-B380-E02AC20AE6B9}&dist=msr_20

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Existing Home Sales Up 5.5%

October 24, 2008 – 11:27 am by admin

Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September. The National Association of Realtors, NAR, on Friday said that sales of existing homes rose by 5.5 percent in September compared to August, the best showing since a 5.6 percent increase in July 2003, during the bubble.

Why? My theory is that existing homes can be had for a greater discount. Homeowners, often have more equity in an older home then a builder like myself has in a new construction house. Therefore, even if they are selling short, selling for less then what they owe, they might have an easier time talking the bank into the short sale. Also I think many people are skittish of building a new construction house right now because of the economic turmoil.

Funny thing, while writing this blog, I got an e-mail from a potential client saying that instead of building a new home she is now considering buying an older one.

“…I am considering purchasing a preexisting home, because the market has reduced tremendous, and construction has stayed the same, or rose in some areas.”

Good news for me is that I’m taking on more renovation jobs. I love renovating historic homes, and they are a great investment for the home owner!

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208 Randall Mullins Road Framing Inspection

October 24, 2008 – 9:43 am by admin

Blow In Blanket Insulation

The first framing inspection at the house in Toney has failed yesterday. After fixing a few minor items we should be able to get the house insulated. Be looking for the pictures of the BiBs insulation, an energy efficient alternative to Bats, for a fraction of an increase in price.

Click here for more information on BiBs.

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Lennox Solar Assited HVAC, Green HVAC for Your Home

October 21, 2008 – 10:30 am by admin

Heat Pump Diagram

Lennox Industries introduces a new integrated solar-assisted residential heating and cooling system.

Lennox Industries, a subsidiary of Lennox International, unveiled SunSource, the industry’s first integrated, solar-assisted, residential, HVAC system at the Association of Energy Services Professionals (AESP) 4th Technology Symposium in Long Beach, California (USA). This green, smart home, system will be available for sale next year.

“Lennox is a recognized and respected innovator in the heating and cooling industry, and with the introduction of the Lennox SunSource we are furthering our commitment to innovation and energy efficiency,” said Doug Young, President and COO, LII Residential Heating & Cooling. Using a patent-pending technology developed specifically for use in residential applications, the Lennox SunSource can help reduce peak demand, increase energy efficiency, and maintain homeowner comfort.

The system works by using a 190 Watt solar panel to help provide electricity to power the Heat Pump’s fan, a major draw on energy. With this invention, HVAC systems have taken the next logical step in garnering energy from the environment to help heat and cool your house.

A traditional heat pump heating and cooling unit is a green and energy efficient alternative to older style furnaces. A heat pump uses a compressor, the first law of thermodynamics, and a fan to heat and cool your house. The first law of thermodynamics dictates that the total amount of energy in a system cannot be created or destroyed. It remains constant and can only change form. A heat pump in summer works by blowing the warm air inside your house across a chilled radiator. Consequently the freon in the radiator’s pipes are warmed as a result. This warmed freon is then pump outside the house where it is decompressed. This expanded freon takes up more space, but because of the first law of thermodynamics, it remains at a constant energy. Since the energy is constant but spread over a larger area, the temperature of the freon drops. This decompressed freon is then passed in front of a fan outside your house which cools the freon even further. Energy is literally pumped from the interior to the exterior of your house, thus the moniker, ‘heat pump’.

In winter the system works in reverse by compressing outside thermal energy, pumping the compressed energy into the house, then blowing cooler air across the compressed and consequently warmed pipes, to heat the air in your house.

Thus a heat pump essentially borrows energy from your environment to heat and cool your house. The only electricity used in the system is used to run the compressors and fans. The new Lennox SunSource system compliments this green and miserly behavior by borrowing solar energy from the sun to generate electricity to power the exterior fan. To match the expected gains in energy efficiency, a conventional outdoor residential air conditioning unit would have to almost double in size.

Integrating solar power into other components of a typical home comfort system — including indoor motors, compressors, indoor air quality products, and thermostats — is currently being evaluated, reveals the company’s press release. “The Lennox SunSource is another step towards the acceptance of single-point solar technology applications,” said Doug Young. “This unique application specifically targets reducing peak demand, while improving energy efficiency and maintaining comfort. Together with the electric industry and the support of our outstanding North American dealer network, we can begin to make a significant positive change in 2009.”

More Information

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