Home Insulation FAQ

Insulation is a part of your home that is rarely seen or discussed, but in actuality is vastly important.  Properly insulating your South Texas home can keep your utility bill low which is great for your wallet and the environment.  Modern insulation can be made from just about anything including newspaper, cotton, wool, and artificial materials such as chemical foams.  More environmentally friendly options are on the market too, recycled-content insulation and formaldehyde-free are just a few of those available.  Next week, we’ll talk about some specific types of insulation, but here is some initial general information about insulation.

R-Value

When talking about insulation, the R-Value is often the most discussed.  The R-Value simply measures the resistance to heat flow, therefore, a higher R-Value means a greater reduction in energy consumption.

Location

Where you install your insulation is just as important as the type of insulation.  Your home’s attic is the first place that should be insulated; it’s the easiest and best place to use insulation to save your on your energy bill.  You should also seal any large air leaks and your basement.

Insulation Installation Tips

Having an expert install your insulation is key to guaranteeing that you get the highest R-Value possible, incorrect insulation installation can lead to a lower R-Value than advertised by the manufacturer.

Vents and vapor barriers are a good idea to help keep moisture out of your insulation.  Discuss your home’s particular needs with your custom home builder to make sure that your insulation doesn’t get wet or stay damp during rain storms.

If you choose to install foam insulation, the R-Value is typically held for the first two years, but after that time, the gases from the foam will begin to escape the insulation causing the R-Value to fall.  You can stop this by also installing a foil radiant barrier.

If you’ve installed a loose insulation such as blown-in cotton fibers or cellulose, you should be aware that it will settle over time and your R-Value will drop.

If you’ve chosen fiberglass insulation and live in a cold climate, you should know that fiberglass can lose up to 50 percent in R-Value when temperatures fall below -20 degrees Fahrenheit (not really a problem for South Texas homeowners).  Colder climate home owners will find that cellulose insulation will serve them better as the R-Value actually rise in lower temperatures.

Bamboo Flooring: What to Know

Wood floors are a luxury that a growing number of homeowners in South Texas are choosing to have in their homes.  Your interior designer can help you select the perfect color and type of wood for your needs, but it’s always good to walk into the conversation with some knowledge in hand.

Bamboo is a beautiful choice for flooring, it is not only an environmentally friendly choice (bamboo renews itself every four years) but also typically easier on the pocketbook.

Why is bamboo a good choice?

Because bamboo is actually a type of grass, it takes only five years to reach maturity while trees take fifty or more years.  Bamboo is a sustainable source of material which will also grow back after it has been cut.  It’s important to ask where and how your bamboo flooring was manufactured; some companies use toxic glues containing formaldehyde that can possibly release toxins into your home.

Types of Bamboo Flooring

There are three types of bamboo flooring that can be found.  The first is vertical cut or solid bamboo flooring, these are solid pieces of bamboo that have been bonded together which creates a thin striped appearance.

The second type of bamboo flooring is engineered or horizontal cut.  This is made of a solid layer of bamboo that has been adhered onto a substrate.  It’s the most common type of bamboo flooring and is easily recognized with distinctive horizontal bamboo ring marks.

The last type of bamboo flooring is strand-woven.  This is the most durable type of bamboo flooring because of the way in which it is made.  The bamboo is shredded and then is pressed with adhesives into a plank.  The result doesn’t appear very “bamboo-like” but is the most versatile as many different colors and lengths can be manufactured.

Colors & Durability

Modern bamboo flooring can be just about any color that you want, the technology to produce light, dark, and any color in between is readily available.

Compared with traditional hardwood flooring, bamboo flooring durability depends entirely on how it is manufactured.  The Janka Hardness Test finds strand-woven bamboo to be the most durable (over twice as durable as other types of bamboo flooring), but engineered and solid bamboo floors are comparable in durability to pine and beech wood floors.

Wood-burning vs Gas Fireplaces

There’s nothing quite like a fireplace to cheer the soul; in many Texas homes, living rooms are the center of the home and a fireplace draws hearts together like no other centerpiece.

Throwing another log onto the fire is a nostalgic action, but is worth it?  Gas fireplaces are becoming increasingly popular and are often chosen over their traditional open wood-burning cousins.  Your custom home designer or architect can help you talk through the details of adding a fireplace to your custom home design, but let’s take a quick look at how they measure up.

Heat

Though a champion for creating a cozy atmosphere, wood-burning fireplaces fall behind gas fireplaces in heating.  The majority of the heat goes up the chimney, and this works to create a draft that actually causes other warm air in your house to take the same route out.  Wood-burning fireplaces get an efficiency rating of only 15 percent.  By comparison, gas fireplaces rate 75-99 percent on the efficiency scale and typically come in three types.  Inserts that can be installed in your existing fireplace, log sets that sit in your existing fireplace, and a completely built in fireplace.

Air Quality

Emissions are another thing to think about when considering which fireplace to choose.  Wood-burning fireplaces smell amazing, but that scent is actually a health and environmental hazard both in and outdoors.  Gas fireplaces produce about 0.28 pounds of pollutant particulates per one million BTUs of heat while wood-burning fireplaces produce 28 pounds.

Maintenance

Because real logs create ash and soot, fire-burning fireplaces require annual cleaning and check-ups to make sure that everything is clean and that there isn’t build-up that can lead to a fire hazard. Gas fireplaces also should be checked annually, but there is little more required than the occasional once-over with the duster.

Cost & Convenience

The cost of gas fireplaces compared to wood-burning fireplaces is about the same, wood and natural gas costs are not too different.  Your heat bill is where you might notice a large difference, gas fireplaces will probably enable you to keep your thermostat lower, while wood-burning fireplaces will require your heating system to work harder.  When it comes to convenience, you can’t beat a gas fireplace.  With the push of a button (perhaps even on a remote), you can start your fire.  Wood-burning fireplaces, on the other hand, might require you to pull your Boy Scout handbook out of storage.

Soundproof Home Design

Urban environments are wonderful place to live; close proximity to schools, grocery stores, and other conveniences are just some of the reasons that people choose to live in cities.  Unfortunately, these very amenities can also be the source of a lot of sound pollution that leaks into your home day and night.

Sound is a complicated issue for homeowners, but we’ll try to break down some soundproofing options that can be easily built into your home to help your castle stay quiet and peaceful.

The first step is to identify what is causing noise in your area, is it the traffic on a nearby street?  Also important is to check your current house design with your local contractor to see what problem areas they can help you to identify, exposed plumbing, cabinet doors in the kitchen, the AC unit.  All of these come with solutions as well, and many of them can fit quite easily into your housing budget.

Kitchens

Food prep, by its nature, requires hard surfaces, this can be a problem which with a few design tweaks can be circumvented.  Sound can be minimized by soft-closing hardware which will help your cabinets and drawers to close quietly.  You can also select quiet appliances and plumbing (see below).

Sound can also be blocked by the installation of solid core bedroom doors that have gaskets all the way to the bottom.  The majority of bedroom doors leave about 1 inch of space at the bottom for air flow so you will need to be mindful of cutting this off and creating air flow in a different way.

Plumbing Noises

Choosing a higher quality gear, plumbing valve or other component will typically guarantee that your plumbing remains quiet.  A little more cost upfront for a simple fix before the problem can help you sleep a little better.

Plumbing noises can also occur when the pipes directly touch the gypsum board of the wall, leaving air space between the wall and pipe is very important so that the sound doesn’t have a direct travel path.  Pipes can also create noise when they are rattling against rigid necessary metal attachments.  Ask your designer if some of these attachments can be switched out for a different material, say plastic or rubber.

Dream Home Design: Common Questions

Designing your dream home may seem like a pipe dream for some people, but don’t strike it off your list of possibilities yet.  It may be only dreaming for now, but it could be reality one day, so why not take some time and think about your list of “wants” and “needs” for your dream home.

Cost

The living space on the first floor will typically be the most expensive part of your house.  This is due to the cost of the foundation, AC and heating, and roof.  Basements, depending on your house’s lot, can be a cost effective way to add a lot of space for very little money per square foot.  A second floor will also be cheaper per square foot than the main floor and can add to the overall exterior charm of your home as well.

Bedrooms

Think about how many bedrooms you need both at present and how many you will need in the future.  Do you have a kid who is about to leave for college?  Are you planning to have more children?  Also think about whether or not you want all of your bedrooms to be on one floor.

Bathrooms

The general rule for bathrooms is at least a half bath for the common living area for guests to use, and a large master bathroom. Depending on the number of other bedrooms you have, the number of bathrooms should go up.

Kitchen

Kitchens are not just for cooking but also socializing and gathering.  How big do you want your kitchen to be?  Do you want an island with barstools on one side?  Storage is also important, a walk-in pantry might be just the thing for organizing your extra dishes and non-perishable food.

Laundry & Garage

Most people prefer to keep these two spaces separate, but they can also be combined.  Do you like natural light for your laundry space?  Would you rather have a laundry room on the second floor for easy access?  How much space do you need in your garage?  Do you want room for your tools as well as your two cars?

Direct involvement in your home’s design is a luxury that home owners in south Texas can enjoy.  By coming into this conversation prepared to ask and answer questions about your desires, your custom home designer/architect can better work with you to talk about all the possibilities and solutions.  As always, when building your home, you should also consider your home’s resale value; this is always a possibility and should be taken into account when custom building.

 

Thermal Break Explained

There are many types of windows to consider for your home; double, triple insulated glass, thermal low-E, E+, argon gas, and tinting all have their own unique benefits.  Today, we’ll be talking about thermal barrier or thermal break windows.

With thermal barrier windows, the sash and window frame are insulated against conduction of cold and heat.  This is accomplished by using polyurethane (which is a very poor heat conductor) to attach and also to separate the outside metal parts from the inside.  Home owners in San Antonio know just how important it can be to keep your house cool during the hot months without breaking the bank and thermal barrier windows can help to keep that precious cool air from escaping into the sizzling outdoors.

Performance

Because of the close-tolerance aluminum extrusions that are used in the manufacture of thermal barrier windows, this means that they have a significantly higher resistance to heat transfer as well as lower air leakage than do single-paned windows.  When compared to vinyl or wood windows, thermal barrier window performance is equal to or better.  The testing of thermal barrier aluminum windows is very strict with exact industry specifications.  In a 25 MPH wind, for every foot of weather stripped window perimeter, air leakage may not exceed 0.375 cubic feet per minute.  Older non-thermal barrier windows may have leakage of over ten times this rate.  Additionally, thermal break windows are beneficial in that they can reduce the transmission of outside sound by vibration dampening.

Condensation Prevention

Thermal barrier windows cannot prevent condensation; while there is not a condensation-proof window on the market, it is worth noting that a window cannot cause condensation.  A thermal barrier window MAY cut down on condensation by providing a barrier between the heat and cold.  Condensation is caused indoors by your breath, showers, cooking, laundry, and any activity that uses water.  Each one of these activities can raise the humidity in your home.  Condensation is from the humidity in the air responding to different indoor and outdoor temperatures, the easiest way to think about this is to imagine an icy glass of water placed outside in the Texas heat.  Condensation can and does occur on other surfaces, such as walls and ceilings, but it is most noticeable on your window surfaces.  It’s recommended to keep your interior humidity level at about 15-40%.

The Aesthetics of a 2×6 Wall

Last week, we took a look at the energy savings and practicality of 2×4 versus 2×6 walls and this week we will dive a bit deeper into the more abstract differences between them.

After the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home and began to use the GI Bill to buy homes across America.  The construction of these homes, while creating much needed jobs and providing a place for a newly come-of-age generation, were also built quickly and not made to fit individual needs or desires.  That has all changed now, Americans are utilizing custom builders to help them create their own personal castle; a home where they can raise families and live out their lives in comfort in their own unique way.

Here in Texas, we love our high ceilings and using 2×6 walls is ideal.  You won’t just have more structural stability (2x4s are prone to twisting under heavier loads while the 2x6s are steady as a rock), they also just look better.  Even the untrained eye can pick out the subtle difference between a cookie cutter home and a home with 2×6 exterior walls.  The thick walls add to the feeling of your home, the place where you can kick off your shoes at the end of a long day at work and feel as though you are in a luxurious environment that is built for the sole purpose of providing you with shelter and comfort.  Thicker walls also come with deeper window wells, which can add charm to your home and make it feel less utilitarian.

Some clients have elected to go with even thicker walls to add to the sophistication and refinement of their homes.  When you walk in, you can really feel the difference in a tangible way; a home with thicker walls is quieter which only brings you back more and more to the feeling that you are truly in your own castle.  Choosing 2×6 walls also helps to create the illusion of an older home with character, one that was built with quality and long-life in mind, as opposed to a new home that has been quickly thrown up and will not pass the test of time.

2×4 vs 2×6 Exterior Walls: The Great Debate

Initial Thoughts

As the world and the USA become more eco-conscious, designing your home to be more energy efficient is becoming not just popular but a necessity.  Though a 2×6 wall offers more insulation which, of course, leads to a savings in utilities, is it really worth it?

The Breakdown

Here in Texas, the majority of the time we need to keep our houses cool, in order to figure out if two inches of added insulated will significantly save you money, you need to think about your location and the cold days that you experience.  The University of Illinois Building Research Council determined that there are two factors to saving energy.  The first is how far above sea level do you live?  In San Antonio, we are about 772 feet above sea level.  Because the air near sea level is denser, heat travels faster between air molecules, every 1000 feet above sea level, heat loss by conduction is reduced by 5 percent.

Now, let’s look at the second factor: how long is the cold season and how low does the temperature get?  The degree day method is the best way to measure this in your city: add the high and low temperature for each day in a year then divide this by 2.  Take this number and subtract 65 for each day.  If you end up with a number that is higher than 5750 then 2×6 walls would be significantly energy efficient, the higher above that number, the more energy efficient your walls would be.  The initial costs will be high, keep in mind that you will have higher upfront costs for top and bottom wall plates, wall studs, window and door extension jams, and insulation.  Ask your custom home builder to show you the difference in costs between a house that uses 2×4 and one that uses 2×6 exterior walls, from there you can compare your energy savings to your upfront cost.

Final Thoughts

Location, location, location.  You’d be surprised how much your home’s location comes into play when making choices about your building materials and design.  The importance of talking to your custom home designer or architect about their recommendations cannot be stressed enough; their experience and knowledge can help you make the right choice for your area.

Clay Tiles vs Concrete Tiles

Our previous article outlined the differences between metal and composite shingle roofing, in this article, we’ll go over clay and concrete tile roofing. Choosing your home’s roofing materials is a no light task, but don’t be discouraged, once you learn about the differences between the roofing materials available, the right choice should become clearer.

clay concrete roof

Clay Tiles

Clay tiles are a beautiful choice for homeowners when it comes to roofing material, they embody traditional European style and are also a beautiful choice for homes with a more modern design. They are a classic roofing material and are immediately identifiable. Clay tiles are made from natural clay and are fired in a kiln which helps their color to not fade over time; they are long lasting and don’t require a lot of maintenance. That said, clay tiles are a lot heavier than composition shingles or metal roofs and require a reinforced roof frame for extra support. Clay tiles are expensive to install, but since maintenance is low, the long-term cost is not high – especially given that clay tiles can last centuries. Since the clay tiles are fired, they won’t rot, they are also fire resistant, and won’t be affected by insects. The tiles can be easily broken by walking on them, so other house maintenance (gutters, fireplaces, etc.) might lead to roof damage.

Concrete Tiles

Concrete tiles are a fairly new addition to the roofing market; they can also be made to resemble slate, wood shakes, or even clay tiles. When compared to the cost of clay tiles, concrete tile is significantly less expensive, but the weight is still heavier than other roofing types, because of this a reinforced roof frame is often required. One advantage over clay or slate roofs is that concrete roofing does weigh less and therefore some of the structural problems resulting from the heavier clay or slate roofs can be avoided. Concrete tile is also fire, rot, and bug resistant, requires little to no maintenance, and is made to have a long life (about 50 years). For both clay and concrete tiles, be sure to check the warranty that comes with the tiles, there should be two warranties, the first from the manufacturer and the second is typically provided by the installation expert.