After doing much research and looking at what seemed to be over a thousand house designs, we decided to design our house and be our own general contractors. Others who had built their own house told us we were crazy, but I think we have made the right decision.

To general contractors, time is money. They work on a fixed price so the faster and cheaper they build your house the more $$$ they make. Based on our research, they charge about $8-10,000 per month. Looking at houses being constructed near us, it amazes me how cheaply they are built – they look good on the outside and inside but everything in between is cheap. We have been able to take our time, do the research and make good decisions. But I have to admit, I would not recommend this process to everyone. I have a good understanding of house construction concepts (I worked construction in college) and a good friend that works in the construction industry is helping me.

The key to our success so far has been my friend’s ability to get us excellent craftsmen at good prices. Without his direction I would have been lost. Learning building codes and getting building permits from your local agencies is a science unto itself. Having someone who knows the building permit process is important so you don’t get halfway through building and then have to rebuild to meet building code specifications. So there is some risk in being your own general contractor – but we think the $80,000 we are going to save is worth the risk.

We had several requirements for our house design:
Energy efficient
Structuraly strong
Low maintenance
Quiet
Designed for the enjoyment of family and friends

Here’s how we met these requirements:

Energy efficient
Rising energy costs are hurting several of our friends and relatives who have badly built houses. Everyone seems to be focused on gas guzzling SUVs, but most of the $$$ spent by a family for energy is for cooling and heating their home. With the rise of China and India, energy costs are going to continue to increase. Living green is just plain smart and if done correctly, will save you $$$ in the long run.
We chose Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) from R-Control - http://www.r-control.com/sips.asp for the exterior walls instead of 2X4 wood. These SIPs are made of dense OSB plywood with structural Styrofoam in between and are 6 ½ inches thick. The SIPS are glued and held under pressure so they form a very rigid structure. We have hired Chapman’s Building Systems - http://www.sips-chapman.com/ - to build the SIPs. They pre-cut all of the doors and windows and have built-in chases for the electrical lines (their operation is very impressive).
We are also using SIPs for our roof. This means we will seal our house at the roof line and the attic space will be ‘conditioned’ air; i.e., not open to the outside air. Most people don’t know that vented attics waste energy. A vented attic (moving air) creates a low pressure that sucks the cooled air from out of your house into the attic. This causes air to be sucked into the house from the outside through any holes – door jams, badly caulked windows, etc. I didn’t believe this could be such a problem, since most all houses around here are built this way. So I went into my attic on a hot summer day and to my surprise the bottom 6 inches of my attic was considerable cooler then the rest of the attic. The cool air in my house was being sucked into my attic by the attic vent fans. I was shown studies that showed a well-insulated sealed attic can be substantially cooler than a vented attic. So, we are sealing our house at the roof line and not venting the attic. The SIPS are bolted, nailed and glued together to form a near airtight house. Airtight is great for energy efficiency, but can cause other problems. Fumes from paints and lacquers can build up in the house and cause the inhabitants to become sick. Part of being ‘green’ is using materials in the house that are not harmful to people. We are going to make sure we use low VOC paints and finishes throughout the house. We are also going to use an air filtration system that brings fresh air from the outside into the house. We are going to use the Ultra-Aire APD unit - http://www.sylvane.com/images/productpages/therma-stor/ultra-aire/150h/UA150Hspec.pdf.
We have 3-foot eaves all around the house to shade the house during the hot summer months when the Texas sun is directly overhead. We have also oriented the house to the south to take advantage of the low southerly sun in the wintertime to help heat the house. In the summer, we will have no direct sunlight coming into the house, but in the winter, the windows on the south side will have sunlight coming in. We are protecting the west side of the house (facing the street) from direct sunlight by having the garage on the west side and a large porch covering the front door and windows. The windows on the west side of the house will not get direct sunlight any time of the year. The only windows facing east are in the master bedroom – which will be great for watching sunrises in bed. We were told by a ‘green’ architect from Austin that if all the houses in Austin were oriented toward the sun (like ours), the total energy consumption in the area could be cut by as much as 40% - wow.
We are using efficient double-pane windows. In the South where it’s hot, the window glazing should be on the inside of the outside pane – this keeps the UV rays out from between the panes and keeps them cooler. In the North, the glazing should be on the outside of the inside pane – which allows the UV rays to heat the air between the panes and help heat the house. I thought this concept was pretty cool – or pretty hot if you live up North.
When you think about it, having your hot water heater continuously heat water is pretty ridiculous. We are using Bosch gas tankless hot water heaters – these systems should pay for themselves within about 3 years - http://www.boschhotwater.com/?gclid=CJLd-eW7p4kCFTlmGgodkyLiOQ. We are using the outdoor version to ensure there will never be a build up carbon monoxide in the house.
We love to open the windows whenever the weather allows, so we have designed the house for efficient airflow throughout. We are using a design technique borrowed from the pre-A/C era – the dogtrot house - http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Dogtrot_House.html. The dogtrot down the middle of the house is usually open from the north and south. The breeze through the dogtrot causes a low pressure that pulls air out from the rest of the house – causing a nice breeze all through the house. If you have a chance, stop by the Sam Houston Memorial Statue - http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/TXHUNsam.html. The gift shop is a dogtrot house. Even if there is just a breath of a breeze, the wind blows through the dogtrot at an amazing rate. We have incorporated the dogtrot design into our house by making the living and dining rooms a continuous room that goes from the north to the south side of the house. We have 102 inches of casement windows (5 windows) on both the north and south walls. This will allow us to ‘tune’ the breeze through the house by opening some or all of the windows. The living/dining room is in the middle of the house and any breeze should pull air from throughout the house – just like a dogtrot house. We also have opposing windows all along the house on the north and south sides of the house for maximum breeze throughout the house.
Based on our energy plan check, our house design is rated 50% more efficient than code requires. I’m not sure how much more our energy efficient design is costing us, but I believe given the rise in energy costs, we will save $$$ in the long run.

Structural strong
In south Texas, our hot and humid summers are sometimes briefly interrupted by torrential rains and sustained winds of 130 mph – hurricanes. Texas Insurance Agency requires homes to be able to withstand 110 mph winds in our area – so all homes have to be structurally designed accordingly. We decided to design for 120 mph winds just to make sure. To my surprise, what happens during heavy winds is the roof lifts off the house then the house implodes. With typical house built with 2X4s, the roof is an integral part of the structural integrity of the house – if the roof blows off, the house is not able to withstand the winds. So holding the roof down – not up – is the main problem to solve in designing a house in hurricane areas. These requirements and the energy efficient requirements led us to the SIP solution. The SIP panels are put together in such a way that the house becomes a one-piece house – all the SIP panels are stapled and glued together using splines. The result is an airtight house that is very strong. This testimonial convinced me of the strength of a SIP house - http://www.design101.tv/news/TNTornadoRelease.pdf . Image, 200 MPH winds and the house stays intact but the cinder block foundation fails. So we are planning to use SIPs for the walls and roofs. The roof will be supported by large pre-manufactured beams that will be held up by 3X3 tube steel poles. The steel poles will be bolted to the concrete using special bolts designed for high-wind areas. The net result will be a very strong house.

Low maintenance over a forty year period
Moisture control is one of the most important considerations when designing a house along the Texas Coast. We started our moisture control from the beginning by using a product call StegoWrap http://www.stegoindustries.com/ instead of the normal 6mm black plastic for the moisture control under the foundation. It’s supposed to last almost forever under your slab without deteriorating. It’s a little more expensive, but I think it’s worth it to never have to worry about moisture coming up through your slab. We recently had 11 inches of rain in one day (not uncommon for the Texas coast) and one of our friends houses got water damage because water came up through the slab and flooded the middle of their house – ouch.
We plan on using 4 inch limestone for the exterior instead of bricks. The housing boom around Houston has caused a brick shortage – plus we love limestone. Drawbacks of limestone are it’s very porous and tends to stain easily. We have different opinions on whether we should seal the limestone or not. Some say to seal it so it won’t stain and others say don’t seal it so it can breathe and let the walls dry out quicker. We’ll do more research before we make a final decision.
We are using fiber cement board (Hardy Plank) for the entire non-stone exterior. Hardy Plank will last for almost forever and requires little maintenance if it’s painted on a regular basis.
R-Control SIPs have a termite treatment to keep out termites. We hired Orkin to apply a termite treatment under the foundation and spray all exterior walls with a borate treatment 4 feet up the walls. Borate keeps out termites and helps prevent fungi growth.
Splash back from rain running off the roof is a major cause of wood deterioration. We are going to have a thick plastic sheet 2-3 feet up the base of the walls to prevent moisture infiltration at the bottom the SIPs. We are also going to use Tyvek - http://www2.dupont.com/Tyvek_Construction/en_US/ to prevent moisture from getting to the SIPs. Tyvek is breathable – so it doesn’t keep the walls from breathing. Otherwise, moisture would build up behind the plastic and mold would form. We have 3-foot eaves all around the house – which will help prevent splash back.
We are using high quality appliances whenever possible. We are looking at a Lennox A/C system – it has a 10-year warranty. We are using Panasonic vent fans in the bathrooms to remove moisture – Panasonic is one of the quietest and most reliable vent fans available. We are using American Standard for all of the plumbing fixtures.
Carpet is nasty stuff. If you have ever removed a 8-10 year old carpet you know what I’m talking about. There is a layer of dirt and dusts under every carpet. We have been told by our allergists and several other people not to have carpet in your house - its one of the worst things you can have in your house. New carpet gives off nasty fumes and old carpet collects dirt, dust, mold, dust mites, etc. So we are going to have slate tile in the high-traffic living areas (kitchen, dining room and living room) and cork tile in the bedrooms. Slate lasts forever and if you get the good, dense slate, it doesn’t have to be sealed. The slate will give off some dust until it is worn down – but I believe the longevity of slate is worth the minor hassles – plus we love the look of slate. Cork tile is pretty interesting stuff. We are going to use the cork tile that has the top finished, the middle made of engineered wood, and the bottom made of raw cork. The finished top requires two coats of water-based polyurethane every 10 years – how’s that for low maintenance. The raw cork on the bottom gives the tile a little cushion – better for the old back. If taken care of properly, cork tile can last +100 years. The bathrooms will be tile – but we haven’t decided on which type.

Quiet
I love my peace and quiet – so sound control is important requirement throughout the house. The SIPs and the double paned windows are great for keeping out sound from the outside world. But we love to have the entire neighborhood over and we are all musicians in our family – so sound control inside the house was a bit of a challenge. Since we are not putting carpet anywhere in the house (the only good thing about carpet is its sound deadening quality), we needed others ways to keep down the sound. Sound travels across hard floors very well. I’m amazed at how loud some houses are that have all hardwood floors and are not designed to minimize sound. So there are a couple of things we did for sounds control. We isolated the Music Room at the front of the house away from the bedrooms. Sometimes we like to have the music float all through the house – other times we like to keep the music just in the Music Room. So we put the double door entrance to the Music Room in the Foyer and put double doors between the Foyer and the Living Room. These doors will be sealed at the bottom (just like an exterior door) so they will be almost sound proof. When we want to contain the music, we close both sets of doors so we shouldn't be able to hear the music anywhere else in the house. When we want to share the music, we can open both sets of doors and the music will be heard all through the house. In the walls we’re going to use a cotton battening for soundproofing - http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/natural_fiber.htm. This stuff is also fire retardant and resists fungi and mold. I am also researching other soundproofing techniques such as mass loaded vinyl - http://www.extremesoundproofing.com/Projects/Mass_Loaded_Vinyl/mass_loaded_vinyl.htm. There is some pretty good soundproofing information at http://www.extremesoundproofing.com/Projects/Walls_and_Ceilings/walls_and_ceilings.html. We will strategically put floor rugs where sound tends to travel across the floor the most. Since sound travels along a hardwood or tile floor, we are sealing doors between the Living/Dining Rooms and the bedroom area - just like an exterior door is 'sealed'. The Master Bedroom also has a sealed door to its entrance. Having sealed doors cause an air flow problem - each area that is sealed must have A/C source and return. We had to design chases in several places to accommodate the returns – in the Music Room and the Master Bedroom.
We also put the bedrooms upstairs so that they are not above the Kitchen/Living/Dining areas or the Master Bedroom. We are using 1 1/8 inch plywood for the second story floor and special nails so the flooring will not squeak over time. We will use cotton battening between the floors for sound proofing.
We are going to hang in the A/C-furnaces from the roof in the attic to minimize noise and vibrations from them. This is something we did in our current house and it made a big difference.

For Family and Friend
We spent a lot of time on the design of our floor plan to make the house as family friendly as possible and so we could easily entertain. First, we took out the formal Living and Dining Rooms. These rooms are for another time and in most modern houses are not used much at all. We do have a Music Room that will serve also as a formal living room – but it’s primary purpose will be for playing music. By taking out the formal living and dining rooms, we were able to design a house that is open and cozy at the same time. The kitchen is designed so there is easy access to the rerefrigerator and microwave without there being traffic in the food preparation area – kids can get to and microwave snacks without interrupting Mom’s cooking. The Dining Room and Living Room are one continuous room that runs north and south across the middle of the house. The rooms are visually divided because each ceiling is a Crawford (raised) design and goes up to 11 feet. The ceilings will help trap sound in each area so someone watching TV in the Living Room won’t disrupt a conversation at the dining room table. The house is divided into two main parts – the living area and the sleeping area. The living area has the Foyer, Music Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, Living Room and Powder Room. The sleeping area has the kid’s bedrooms, the Master Bedroom and Master Bath, the Landry Room and my Office. There is a wall (with sound proofing) running down the middle of the house to separate theses two areas.

More coming later....