Tag: pre-fab

  • This New Old House Part 11: Windows – The Decision Where More Mistakes Were Made.

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    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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    Even that’s Odd

  • This New Old House Part 9: Plumbing – PEX, Paying Twice, and Poisoned Septic Tanks

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    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 units and the complexity of the systems, he suggested we hire the professional he’d worked with. Since…

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    Even that’s Odd

  • This New Old House Part 8: Electrical – The One Thing We Got Mostly Right

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    Winter 2009-2010 After framing was complete, it was time for electrical. This is where having a friend with an electrical engineering degree really paid off. Actually, let me rephrase: this is where we got more things right than wrong, which for this build was a massive victory. The Friend Who Actually Knew What He Was…

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    Even that’s Odd

  • This New Old House Part 7: Framing a Kit House (and the Ruts We Left Behind)

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    Fall – Winter 2009 With foundation complete and the Connor Homes kit ready to ship, it was time for framing. This is where our decision to act as our own general contractor would really be tested. We had a choice: our realtor’s brother was a professional builder who could have managed the entire project. He…

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  • This New Old House Part 2: Kit House Dreams – Discovering Connor Homes

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    Spring 2008 After deciding to build, I went down the research rabbit hole. This was 2008, so the internet existed but wasn’t quite the resource it is today. There was no YouTube showing you every possible mistake you could make. There were forums, sure, but they were mostly people arguing about whether PT lumber would…

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    Even that’s Odd