Durable Home Features

How can we make our homes more durable?

If you are planning to build your home, you must talk to your builder or architect about these features.

Here is a short list of the exterior items we’d recommend to improve durability:

1. Roofs - Wide roof overhangs. Also called eaves or soffits. These should be at least 2 feet wide.

2. Water Collection and Disposal - A large and properly installed gutter, downspout and underground drainage piping system to move water well away from the home.

3. Lot’s of Soffit Vents - You can’t have enough soffit vents. Try to vent as much of the soffit area as possible. Use a venting material that maximizes the percentage of open gaps for air travel. (Note - combine this with a quality ridge vent on all ridges)

4. Walls - Healthy air gaps behind your cladding (siding, brick, stucco).

5. Distance - You want to have at least 6 inches between the finish grade around your home (think top of mulch), and the bottom of your exterior wall cladding. The wall along this height should be masonry (concrete or block). This helps protect the base of the cladding.

6. Basement Backfill - A 45 degree “wedge” of gravel from the base of the footer almost to grade is best. A 8” layer of top soil above multiple layers of filter fabric can be placed above the stone. Almost no builder does this but it can prevent numerous problems.

7. Footer Drainage - A SCH 80 PVC piping system to serve as the footer drains will provide high durability. Make sure to install vertical cleanout pipes with cleanout Y’s at the base, at all bends (corners) of the footer level horizontal piping. Ideally these drain to daylight, but to a robust sump pit system is OK too.

8. Grading - You want the grade next to your home to slope downward at least 6” within 10 horizontal feet of the home.

Some builders and architects may think you are crazy for some of these items, but the home you end up with will be much more durable and robust.

Luxury Home Feature

Sometimes you just need to wash 1 piece of clothing, and really fast.

This is where a jetted laundry room sink comes in.

Fill the sink with hot water, a little detergent and turn on the jets. Within a few minutes you’ll have a clean garment ready for drying!

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Maintenance Reminder

Do you have fire extinguishers throughout your home?

Does everyone know where they are? You should place one on every floor.

Are they still any good? Put another way, do you know that they will work if you need them?

These cost about $25/each. You are looking for a “Class ABC - Multiple Use”, also sometimes called a home fire extinguisher.

These should be replaced every 10 years.

The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial decisions. There are no sponsors of this newsletter.