Building a home

Lori Gay
by Lori Gay
My foundation is in on my new ranch home that we designed. Anything that we should definitely make sure we do or put in? We live in New England and a heated driveway is out of our budget but we are still open to other things we should look into to make our new house our dream home.
  6 answers
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Jan 26, 2013
    This may be too late...as orientation is critical to good design...but passive solar is one way to heat a home with out using fossil fuels or lots of electricity. This combined with earth sheltering or Earth Bermed designs further enhance the stable temps. http://kmswoodworks.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/small-living-vs-sustainable-living/ Another key to more sustainable living is to keep the size down...less is most cases is better.
  • Lori Gay Lori Gay on Jan 26, 2013
    Thank you... we have gone with some geothermal power source. I appreciate the tip!
  • Is this a slab construction or crawl/basement config? You should consider at least a 2 inch foam barrier between the foundation walls and outside soil. Be sure that you have back fill against the foundation walls assuming a basement/crawl config using pea gravel not soil. And be sure you have at least a 4 inch foundation drain pipe placed just below the top surface of the poured foundation footer. What geothermal system are you using. Water Furnace is one of the best and largest brand around. If your on a slab, be sure to place again at least 2 inches of foam board down prior to placing cement. This will make a tremendous difference on the comfort of the floors.
  • Lori Gay Lori Gay on Jan 27, 2013
    Thank you!
  • Lastly, before back fill is placed, have a licensed pest applicator come in and mix the soils with termicides to prevent termites in the future. This is the best time to do this as they can assure that you get a good quality barrier. If its a slab, be sure to get treated around every floor opening where pipes are placed and around footings for bearing walls within the center of the house.
  • Lori Gay Lori Gay on Jan 27, 2013
    Thank you. I just forwarded this to my builder to make sure they do it. I really appreciate the help.