Aransas Pass is where I'm building.
Shane
----- Original Message -----
From: Dale Leavens
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 8:23 PM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
First you must decide what properties you want the exterior to have then
find the materials which provide those properties.
It sounds to me like you are allowing your imagination to be captured by some
or other idea or material and then adjusting your thinking to the method or
material.
Determine your specifications then find the methods and materials which will
meet them. You will succeed much better that way.
Can you more accurately locate yourself in south Texas?
----- Original Message -----
From: Shane Hecker
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 8:58 PM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
I thought about building the exterior wals with a combination of nail base
and concrete, but this may be overkill. For those that don't know what I'm
talking about, nail base is a structural insulated panel that does not have a
skin on one side. Rather, it has the skin, then foam. You could almost say it
would be similar to taking a piece of plywood and spraying it with about 4
inches of foam on one side.
Shane
----- Original Message -----
From: Dale Leavens
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
the budget is not relevant without knowing the size or sophistication of the
fixtures and fittings. Beyond that there are a huge number of things to
consider.
In south Texas it is cooling which will be the big cost. you want to start
with orientation of the building to things like the sun. You want to consider
things like the roof overhang to minimize summer solar gains but permit winter
solar gains.
You might like to consider something like adobe but more waterproof so heavy
rains won't wash it away, maybe really thick concrete walls with the inside
well foam insulated or even stone construction. Stone can probably be had
fairly cheaply if you don't have to quarry it. Then other passive design
features like a very light coloured roof to reflect heat.
Finally, I expect I would investigate geothermal energy recovery. If you have
ground water or a stream or water course near by this could be relatively
inexpensive to install but even traditional geothermal, although expensive to
install will ultimately allow comfort and much reduced operating costs and
those will diminish as fuel continues to rise in price and it will continue to
rise in price.
If you get any amount of winter sun then the mass of a heavy masonry
structure will help store what heat you can accumulate. A good air tight foam
insulation will help you retain both that heat and the cool.
----- Original Message -----
From: Shane Hecker
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 6:52 PM
Subject: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
I'm planning to build a house in a few months. This question will likely
invite some debate, which I think is good. If you wanted to build a house as
energy efficient as possible, without breaking the bank, how would you do
it? To make things simpler (or perhaps more difficult), there is a $80000
budget for building.
Shane
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