Tag: kit-home
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This New Old House Part 12: Insulation and Air Sealing – When Tight Isn’t Right (Or Is It?)
When we decided to build our Connor Homes kit house, we had visions of a super-efficient, modern home wrapped in the latest insulation technology. We’d read all about spray foam insulation, tight building envelopes, and energy efficiency. We were going to do this right. Spoiler alert: We sort of did. Maybe. I’m still not entirely…
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This New Old House Part 11: Windows – The Decision Where More Mistakes Were Made.
If you spend a fortune making your house air-tight with spray foam insulation, and then punch 27-29 holes in it and fill them with cheap windows, you’ve basically defeated the entire purpose of the exercise. This is the story of how we did exactly that. The Window Budget Reality By the time we got to…
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This New Old House Part 9: Plumbing – PEX, Paying Twice, and Poisoned Septic Tanks
Or: How I Paid Two People to Do One Job and Discovered Water Lines Don’t Make Sense Winter 2009-2010 After electrical was complete, it was time for plumbing and HVAC. My friend, who had been coordinating most of the work, had apprenticed to learn plumbing and HVAC. But because of all the equations for sizing…
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