Must Have WNC Home Features

[getatag]

Enough good points in this thread where I almost want to build another house...ALMOST, but not quite!!!! If my wife heard me say that, she'd be the first one tossing a noose over the highest limb in the back yard, then come searching for my neck!

[v10tdi]

Doh!!!!

One last thing that I think is important no matter what you end up going with: take pictures during the build. Lots and lots of pictures at every stage...every roughed-out wall, plumbing line, power line, septic line, etc. Use a drone if you have one to take site pics during the early stages (note any permanent markers visible from the air that might provide future reference...big, non-movable rocks are best.). If you think you have enough pictures, just move to a different angle and take some more. You can never have too many...

At some point you will need to get behind something and you'll want to know what was there...which side of the stud, etc. Pictures like this should go on a thumb drive or cloud so you never loose them and can pass them on as needed.

[motordavid]

^ Excellent opin!
We took hundreds of photos, (real 4x6 photographs from color neg film/our old Mamiya 35 mm film cam), back in 2000 into 2001, as our mtn house was being built.

I edited those hundreds of photographs down to an album of dozens of pages...that album of photos has indeed come in handy when some 'behind the scene' situ/project/repair has had to be done.

Our prob was that our mtn house was a 'remote build' for us as we were still living in NY just outside NYC, and on site visits req'd a 12 hr 800 mile drive or a plane ride to get on site and see what the builder had done/not done...

If OP builds, rent a 'local' house or some living situ and be 'on site' as much as he/she can, imo.

GL, mD

[Kjun09]

Originally Posted by Lizap

I disagree. Generators are like insurance - you don’t need one until you do. The peace of mind knowing you will never lose power is priceless. Whole house generators are worth every penney.

I can see both points but after earlier this year I would definitely lean towards having a generator. We are just out of Burnsville around 2600 feet and generally only lose power for a few minutes but with the storms earlier this year and heavy wet snow we went a couple of days without power since they had so many line breaks. Luckily we have a fireplace to keep warm and it was cold enough outside to move our frozen food so we didn't lose anything.

But since we are on well water with electric pump we had no running water and the kitchen is total electric so no warm meals - other than roasted hot dogs on the fire place or the charcoal grill outside. Also our road is private, steep, and not maintained by the county so we were "stuck" there for a day or so until we could clear it out.

A generator sure would have been nice at that time.

[AB03]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I've built 2 houses down here, the last just 2 years ago so I'm familiar with all the tech stuff, outlets, etc and the build process and was really just looking for WNC specific features that are needed. Mostly anything related to cold/freezing or stick built houses with basements since those are completely new to me. I appreciate the tips.

[motordavid]

Block or poured basement walls, that is the 50-50 decision and both have pros and cons...have built and lived in houses with each...

Rec'd some decent 'mat like' barrier for exterior wall, below and up to grade on either choice of basement wall construction. Goog has dozens of links, your builder should have decent rec'ds, product wise.

They are not 'bullet proof' but they help and should not be skimped or skipped, imo.

Pipes: We have PEX, installed 23+ yrs ago, and our water piping system has run well. Only snafu was builder used 'pieced' PEX from street water box to house main entry, and that pieced long run failed/leaked a few years ago. If your street 'water box' is a long run to house they do sell one piece pex in v long spools.

We lived full time in our Waynesville Mtn home from 2001 to 2005, with serious azz winters back then, at our high elevation: never had a pipe 'burst' or leak due to cold temps.

Be sure builder puts inside 'main' shut off valve that is accessible, and the street 'water box' should also be v accessible, as most of us turn that off when we leave for more than a few days.

Outside spigots: our builder installed Woodford brand spigots...they still work and have never frozen.
Don't chinch on quality or number of outside spigots.

Some builders will offer an additional outside above ground single 'full pressure' spigot for garden use: they can really crank the water volume/pressure vs the pressure reduced through wall outside spigot. Maybe one in front and/or back yard.

Have some decent electrical outlets/potential lighting switches run in basement and or crawl space. A couple few awning type windows in basement wall(s), if some of basement wall is above ground.

If 'mechanical', eg heat source/water tank et al are in basement, give some thought to where, access, and 'disguise' or 'hide' vs builder just placing them where it's 'easy' for him/HVAC subcontractor.

Basement and pipe stuff that comes to mind...

We are all spending your $.