Flooring

A stiff double floor construction is standard, consisting of ½ inch thick plywood underlayment and a 7/16 inch thick OSB layer, glued and screwed to the floor joists. The joints of these two layers are offset and staggered, on both the width and length of the material.

The industry standard for system-built homes is 5/8 thick OSB or ¾ thick OSB. Our standard floor would be an upgrade (and an up charge) from all of our competitors.

Our standard perimeter band joists are doubled 2X10’s, and our standard center beam is six 2X10’s. The floor joists are normally 2X10’s, either solid or engineered trusses, 16 inches on center, with metal cross bridging or solid blocking.

Compare this to many of our competitors in the systems-built industry, who use only four 2X10’s in the center beam. Most traditional site or stick builders only use one 2X10 in the perimeter band joist.

Other than upgrading to the double floor construction (if your model does not have it), there are no floor upgrades needed for any home we build. Our standard floors are already the best in the business.

Walls

Framing is 2X6 construction, 16 inches on center.

Although this is considered standard in high-end home building, we believe that 24 inches on center, allowing for more insulation in the exterior wall, is a better wall for homebuyers. We look forward to explaining this to you so that you can select the better wall, and have us put money back in your pocket (save $1,000 to $2,000 on your home and get a superior product !).

Drywall on the interior side is ½ inch thick. Exterior sheathing is ½ inch thick plywood. Most of our competitors use OSB in place of plywood. Our standard wall would be an upgrade from them.

All of our homes have a housewrap to protect the inside of the walls from water and air infiltration. This is an upgrade from most of our competitors.

Insulation

Exterior walls have R-19 fiberglass insulation with a vapor barrier.
Ceiling / Attic has R-38 fiberglass insulation with a vapor barrier.

Options include rigid foam exterior sheathing, which can significantly increase the wall R-value. This can also be applied in the attic.

We can also move the ceiling insulation to the attic ceiling (underside of the roof decking) as a minor-cost upgrade. This results in a more friendly attic space, and if ductwork is in the attic will absolutely result in a more comfortable home with lower energy bills. We strongly encourage this option.

Siding

Vinyl siding is standard. We use the CertainTeed product, there is none better.

Many clients will want to choose other siding products according to their own tastes. We can do anything: stucco, stone, brick or clapboard (Cedar or cementitious like James Hardie Hardiplank or CertainTeed Weatherboard).

Kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities

Aristokraft is our standard line, typically oak wood with a flat center panel door, and solid drawer fronts.

Many clients will want to work with a kitchen designer to customize what is usually the most important room in the home. We can accommodate their needs, working with local designers we can develop kitchen plans in 3-D and color renderings. We can also do virtual walk-throughs of your kitchen on our computers for you.

We normally install plumbing fixtures from the Kohler line, although we can source and install anything you wish. Bath vanity tops are typically cultured marble as standard.

Heating and Air Conditioning

Our standard is an air-exchange heat pump. We find that clients have definite opinions on this important part of their home. Therefore we will design and install any type of system you desire, including electric baseboard heat, hydronic baseboard or flooring heat, gas, propane or oil combustion furnaces, geothermal heat pumps (open or closed loop, well or trench layout). We can also use two different systems, one for primary and one for backup heat.