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Building our
new home
on the
Virginia Northern Neck:
Specifications and materials

This page lists the specifications and materials for building our house -- we tried to keep the specs and materials in order for ease of reading.

Foundation, crawl space, exterior

•   On crawl space, 36 inches high.  Six inches of sand on bottom of crawl space, covered with two layers 6-mil poly.

  •  Crawl space will be heated and cooled by a duct from HVAC.

•  Continuous poured concrete footers, 24 in X 18 in.  By "continuous footers" we mean that the footers underneath the foundation are not broken -- there is a continuous footer completely around the house and through the interior of the foundation.  Every part of the foundation sits on a solid footer, not on a small pier.

•  Continuous concrete wall foundation; exterior faced with dry-stack field stone; interior faced with 4-inch foam board insulation.

•  Wall sheathing:  5/8-inch Zipwall with taped joints.

•  Siding:  HardiPlank Select Cedarmill, factory-finished Monterey Taupe color, 8-1/2 inch with 7-inch reveal.

•  Trim:  HardiTrim.  Soffit, fascia, and other exposed trim:  #2 or better SYP faced with Azac.

•  Windows:  Peachtree Series 700; Aluminum-clad exterior, wooden interior; double-pane, low-E glass, argon filled.

•  Exterior paint:  HardiPlank Monterey Taupe.

•  Porches:  PT SYP 2X dimensional structure; tongue-and-groove SYP flooring, primed, painted with Cabot Opaque stain.  :Porch ceiling is SYP T&G beadboard.

•  Roof:  5/8-inch OSB decking; 15-lb felt; 35-year architectural grade shingles with shingle-over roof vent

•  Engineered trusses for roof.

•  Floor will be engineered laminate I-beams; sub floor is 3/4-in TG OSB fastened with construction adhesive and screws.

Interior

•  Flooring: 

  • Great room, master bedroom, study, hallways, kitchen -- oak hardwood floor, finished on site. 

  • Bathrooms -- ceramic tile.

  • Bedrooms 2 and 3 -- carpet;

  • Pantry and utility room -- ceramic tile.

•  1/2-inch drywall wall; Benjamin Moore paint

•  Paint-grade trim.

•  KitchenMaid cabinets.

•  Silestone countertops, color Ivory Coast.

Plumbing

•  Supply lines will be 1/2-inch CPVC; PVC drains.

•  Moen faucets

•  Kohler toilets, ADA compliant

•  Master bath will have tile shower, built on-site.

•  Kohler 18-guage stainless steel sinks in kitchen.

HVAC

•  York 5-ton, 16-SEER heat pump with propane gas furnace emergency and backup heat.

•  Sheet metal trunk duct with flex duct feeders to registers.

•  500-gallon buried propane tank.

Electrical

•  200-amp service

•  12KW backup generator; propane powered; automatic start; wired into house panel to provide electricity to selected critical circuits in case of power failure.

•  Satellite TV outlets in great room, bedrooms, study.

•  Cat 5 Ethernet outlets in great room, bedrooms, study.

Fireplace

•  Keystone 36-inch B-vent gas fireplace with stainless steel chimney.  Exterior chimney to be field stone to match foundation.

•  Raised hearth with field stone surround.

Garage

•  26 X 30

•  Two garage doors

•  100-amp electrical service

•  Cold water supply; 20-gallon water heater; laundry tub.

•   Siding and roof same as house.

•  Blue stone ( gravel ) driveway.

Shed - Woodworking shop

• 20 feet wide by 16 feet deep; built on concrete slab, 26 feet wide by 20 feet deep.

• Shed will sit on one corner of the concrete slab, leaving a 4-foot wide porch on front and 6-foot wide porch on side.

• Double doors -- 6 feet wide -- on one end to allow riding mower to be driven in.

• Single entry door on the center front wall, flanked by two small windows.

•  Siding and roof same as house.

•  Shingles and trim colors will match house.

•  60-amp electrical service

• Workbench across back.

• Saltbox roof with deep, low eave in back where we can store long ladders.

Appliances

•  Bosch dishwasher

•  Wolf gas cooktop

•  Wolf exhaust hood over gas cooktop with inline exhaust fan in attic

•  GE Profile double electric ovens

•  GE upright freezer

•  Whirlpool side-by-side counter-depth refrigerator

•  Click on this link to see details of appliances.

Follow these links to see the construction progress.