Modern home materials & technologies discussion thread

[Kaido]

I worked for a custom home builder for a number of years back in college & got exposed to a lot of neat classic & modern residential building technologies. I got interested in the idea of building my own home & thought I'd share some of the notes I've collected over the years here. I don't intend this to become a directory of all the available gear out there (unlike my smarthome thread, which has a limited number of vendors in the game), but there are a lot of neat housing materials & technologies available that a lot of people simply aren't aware of. So without further ado:

Building materials:
Quad-lock: Insulated concrete forms (ICF blocks). Walls, floors, and roofs.
Gerard Roofing: Stone-coated steel roofing - looks like shingles, but super-durable underneath. Lifetime warranty (for the original owner). Does well with fire, wind, and hail.
Envirosound SIP: Wood-free structurally insulated panels for roof panels.
FLIR One: Relatively inexpensive iPhone-based thermal vision device.
SmartVent: Vents for flood protection.
Eldorado Stone: Incredible stone & brick veneer for indoor & outdoor use. Also see Boral cultured stone.
Laticrete MVIS: Waterproofing membrane & mortar system for concrete veneers.
Storm shutters: Great if you live in a hurricane-prone area like Florida or South Carolina.
Kerdi Shower Book: Waterproof bathroom tiling system using Schluter Systems. Pricey stuff, but it's the best waterproofing system I've come across. Good introduction here. "Mold-free" although you still have to wipe it down after each use.
Blue Sky Framing System: Metal moment framing system. Also see ThermaSteel.
Firefree88: Fireproof paint.
Swiss Trax: Garage flooring.
Slide-Lok: Garage cabinets & Slat-wall. PremierGarage as an alternative.

Utilities:
Milbank SYNAP6: Handles up to 6 on or off-grid power sources (grid, solar, wind, etc.). Tracks energy distribution & consumption. Controllable via MODBUS, Ethernet/Wifi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and UART.
TED Pro Spyder: Individual circuit monitoring tool for tracking power consumption.
Wiremold: Electrical organizational equipment.
Legrand Adorne: Excellent modular under-counter lightning system, fashionable touch dimmers, etc.
Wholesale Solar: The go-to place for everything DIY solar.
Plug1 Gas Outlet: Quick, easy disconnect for gas appliances (gas grill, patio heater, laundry dryer, space heater, etc.).
Bauco: Access panels.
HomePath exaPath: In-wall cable pathway systems.

Water:
PEX Info: Intro site to PEX, a flexible PVC alternative for water lines. Love this stuff!
Sharkbite: Amazing DIY push-fit plumbing system with a focus on PEX-compatible products.
BriskHeat SpeedTrace: Never have frozen pipes again! Click here for more info. This is an external wrap solution; HotLine has an internal water & sewer line solution as well.
FloodChek: No-burst washing machine hoses.
Watts Hydro-Safe QT: Water filtration system.
Watts OneFlow: Anti-scale solution.
FloodStop: Point-of-use automatic water detection systems. They also have a remote-controlled version.
IslandSky: Basically a humidifier with a water filtration system - they have indoor units for drinking water & outdoor units for whole-house water. Nice if you live in a water-restricted area or want to be off-the-grid.
Bylin Roof Ice Melting System: Get rid of icycles & snow loads on the roof line.
Bylin Pavement Snow Melting System: For driveways, sidewalks, porches, and patios.
FloodSaver: Leak & overflow pans for washing machines, dishwashers, and hot water heaters. Also see Drip-Tite's product offerings.
DrainNet: Floor drain strainers.
Add-a-trap: Put an end to clogged sinks forever!

HVAC:
Mitsubishi Mr. Slim: Mini-split ductless HVAC system (handles both heating & cooling). Can pull heat from -13F with the H2i system. Basically zoned per-room.
BAS Haiku ceiling fan: Efficient ceiling fan with automatic sensor technology & Wifi control.
IQ Air Perfect 16: Whole-house premium air filtration.
DryerBox: Recessed dryer vent box (don't squish your exhaust hose).
AprilAire HVAC: Various home control products.
Thermocrete: Chimney systems.

Smart thermostats:
Nest Thermostat: Smart learning thermostat.
Honeywell Lyric: Similar to Nest.
Honeywell Wifi series: Easy color touchscreen thermostat with Wifi app for your smartphone (basic, less-expensive Wifi versions without the color touchscreens available as well).
Wink Norm: The unthermostat; requires a Wink Hub or Relay controller. Primary control is via smartphone app; only $80.

Fireplaces:
Jotul: Excellent wood-burning stoves.
Heat & Glo Cosmo: Gas fireplace with wireless smartphone control.
Heat & Glo Energy Master: Efficient wood fireplace.
Escea: Indoor & outdoor fireplaces, also with smartphone control.

Kitchen:
CLIQ Cabinets: Quality cabinets you can order online.
Formica Counters: Click before you judge - Formica has gone through a huge evolution in quality & aesthetics.
EyeVac: Basically an automatic dustpan. Sweep the mess near it & it gets sucked up automatically.
CleanCUT: Automatic, touchless paper towel dispenser. Uses standard paper towels. Awesome if you're into cooking - on sensor feeds it out, the other sensor cuts it wherever you choose, no touching required (useful if you work with raw meat & other messy stuff a lot).
BLUM Metabox: Steel drawer system (no more warped wood, easy cleaning, etc.).
BLUM Blumotion: Soft-close hinges for cabinetry & drawer slides.

Security:
The smoke & fire detection market has seem some recent improvements in technology, such as voice guidance, LED pathway lighting, 10-year batteries, miniature units, Wifi integration (for low battery & alarm alerts to your smartphone), etc. They're a small investment into the safety of your home. Note that there are 2 types of smoke detectors: photoelectric (smoky fires) & ionization (open flames) - it's best to have a combination of both sensors in your home. Plus things like residential fire sprinklers are becoming more & more common, and it's smart to keep at least one fire extinguisher handy (like in the kitchen). Here's a few things to look at:

First Alert 6-pack: Six-pack of hardwired smoke alarms (with battery backup) for $80 if you just want to get them all in one shot.
Atom Smoke Alarm: Super tiny smoke alarm.
Nest Protect: Smarter smoke alarm with Wifi control (smartphone alerts for detections & low battery).
Kidde: They have all kinds of neat stuff: 10-year sealed batteries, Wink home automation integration, etc.
Watts Residential Fire Protection: Home fire sprinkler system. They are trying to push systems like this into code. Viking has some nice equipment. Good articles here and here & at Bob Vila's site; average whole-house cost is $6k; HFS Coalition & FEMA resources. Just to geek out a bit more about it, some quotes from FEMA:

When fire sprinklers alone are installed in a residence, the chances of dying in a fire are reduced by 69%, when compared to a residence without sprinklers.

When smoke alarms alone are installed in a residence, a reduction in the death rate of 63% can be expected, when compared to a residence without smoke alarms.

When both smoke alarms and fire sprinklers are present in a home, the risk of dying in a fire is reduced by 82%, when compared to a residence without either.

Aside from fire protection, there's also home security to consider. There's a zillion options; here are a few interesting ones:

Alarm.com: Web-enabled security platform with a variety of options.
SimpliSafe: Wireless, no-contract (optional monitoring fee), easy-install home security system.
ADT Pulse: Basic home automation & security service.
XFINITY Home: Home security by Comcast.

Landscaping:
Eve Irrigation: Smart sprinkler system with wireless temperature & moisture sensors.
EZ-Drain: Pre-engineered French drainage system.
Unilock Pavers: Twice as strong as concrete, lots of great color & design options, plus walls, steps, outdoor fireplaces, integrated solar or electric lighting, etc. Read up on the price per square foot myth and check out the 9-step paver installation whitepaper.
Driveway Impressions: Stamped asphalt driveways.
Kwik Kerb: Concrete curbing for trees, driveways, etc. with optional lighting & various styles and colors.
Traditional Oven: DIY instructions for building an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven. Really awesome project for your backyard.
Lawnbott: Robotic lawnmowers. Also see Robomow.
Rainhog: Discreet rainwater storage (ex. for gardening or watering your lawn, especially useful in dry areas).
Rainhandler Gutters: Unique gutter design; watch the video.
Paramount: In-floor pool cleaning system. They also have ParaGlo LED lighting & the ParaLevel automatic water leveling system. And if you're looking at pool stuff, google for "coral stone" as a pool surround, as well as Creative Stone Systems (outdoor pebble flooring).

 

[Scarpozzi]

Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Detector, Hardwired + Battery Backup
http://www.brkelectronics.com/product/SC9120B

They do make models that wirelessly communicate so you don't need to run 12/3 between them, but here, this is code. I'm building a bedroom over a garage and must have these placed at the top of the stairs and in the bedroom. They're about $35-40 each.

 

[Kaido]

Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Detector, Hardwired + Battery Backup
http://www.brkelectronics.com/product/SC9120B

They do make models that wirelessly communicate so you don't need to run 12/3 between them, but here, this is code. I'm building a bedroom over a garage and must have these placed at the top of the stairs and in the bedroom. They're about $35-40 each.

Nice! Yeah, I think a lot of things depend on code - I've heard that things like the Rainhog aren't legal in all areas because it's not always legal to store rainwater (or something).

Also posted some more detailed info about washer/dryer setups here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36926578&postcount=3

If anyone's interested, I'm thinking about doing another post on interesting appliances (which I guess falls under the "home" section of Home & Garden haha). Between being a gadget nut & having food allergies, I have a pretty big collection of neat kitchen gizmos

 

[RossMAN]

Kaido for Elite!

 

[splat_ed]

This is a great set of resources. We're in the middle of a new build design. However we're in Japan so a lot of this is harder to get, but it helps to know so that we can ask the designer about this stuff.

 

[Kaido]

This is a great set of resources. We're in the middle of a new build design. However we're in Japan so a lot of this is harder to get, but it helps to know so that we can ask the designer about this stuff.

Congrats! Yeah, if you can find a good set of people to work with, they'll typically have a lot of knowledge about the more modern construction options. Kind of depends on how you want to approach the design. Personally, I like high efficiency materials that require low maintenance (stone veneer, concrete walls, metal roofing, composite doors, paver stones for outdoors, that sort of thing - stuff that doesn't fall apart or get dirty easily). If you do the design right, the place can be cake to maintain.

Being in Japan, you'll definitely want to check out some earthquake-resistant designs, which are probably part of the code over there. Some reading:

http://www.reidsteel.com/information/earthquake_resistant_building.htm

http://housingrevolution.org/614/elizabeth-hausler-quake-safe-housing/

 

[seepy83]

I'm really curious about how practical those Rainhandler Gutters are. Seems like a great idea...I would be mostly concerned about the volume of water it's leaving below it, and how shrubs/plants below would be affected by that.

 

[Kaido]

I'm really curious about how practical those Rainhandler Gutters are. Seems like a great idea...I would be mostly concerned about the volume of water it's leaving below it, and how shrubs/plants below would be affected by that.

I have a friend who cleans gutters & roofs professionally (a surprisingly good-paying job!) who said there is no perfect system - everything clogs, sometimes the anti-clog ones moreso, haha. The Rainhandler is the best one I've come across to date, after researching many. It basically just sprays the water out into finer droplots, which is nice for not making a trench around your house & not having to worry about routing gutters & stuff. Here's a nice video explainer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJgrOKLbDnQ

Good installation video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Ls5kN7lyA

 

[Meghan54]

I have a friend who cleans gutters & roofs professionally (a surprisingly good-paying job!) who said there is no perfect system - everything clogs, sometimes the anti-clog ones moreso, haha. The Rainhandler is the best one I've come across to date, after researching many. It basically just sprays the water out into finer droplots, which is nice for not making a trench around your house & not having to worry about routing gutters & stuff. Here's a nice video explainer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJgrOKLbDnQ

Good installation video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0Ls5kN7lyA

I don't see how it solves the problem of moving the volume of water cascading off the roof away from the house's foundation, the whole point of gutters.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I can't help but wonder what the typical contractor would do if faced with installing some totally new high-tech product or building system. I imagine most would look like my Dad on Christmas Eve at 1AM faced with assembling a new bike to be put under the tree.

Many of these things are marketed to the contractors themselves, not the home owner or end user. Then the contractor sells it to the home owner.

 

[seepy83]

I don't see how it solves the problem of moving the volume of water cascading off the roof away from the house's foundation, the whole point of gutters.

Right...it handles the problem of a steady stream of water landing in the same line and causing trenches/erosion, but (I would think) there's still a big problem with the volume.

 

[Kaido]

I don't see how it solves the problem of moving the volume of water cascading off the roof away from the house's foundation, the whole point of gutters.

I'm curious about that as well, particularly long-term usage details. It says it disperses roof flow into a 3-foot droplet pattern, so at least you're not getting the trenches off an un-guttered roof, but that's still a roof-sized quantity of rain spraying out into your yard, so I'm wondering how that affects the foundation.

I also really like the idea of a rainwater collector like the Rainhog, which you can use to water your grass & plants, but that requires a dedicated gutter system.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I've lived in very few homes where the downspouts directed water more than a foot or two away from the foundation. Something like this is pretty typical:

And consider that you'd typically have just one or two downspouts on any one side of a house. So if you're breaking up the runoff from the roof and dispersing it just a foot or more away from the house, that should be more than sufficient.

But where I find gutters to have a purpose is just to keep that water from running down and being a nuisance. In a rain storm, try stepping off a porch with no gutters, or opening a patio door, and you get drenched.

 

[Squeetard]

Best new technique I discovered while renovating my place is acrylic tile adhesive. No more stinking thin set mortar. I did a fire place in ledge stone too and used that adhesive to stick the stone veneer to the wall. 50 times easier than mortar and 5 years later I can still hang off it. Mortar would have added another 500 pounds to the weight of that fireplace. Old school and out dated. Tiled right over the linoleum in both bathrooms and my foyer. Then just grout the cracks.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Best new technique I discovered while renovating my place is acrylic tile adhesive. No more stinking thin set mortar. I did a fire place in ledge stone too and used that adhesive to stick the stone veneer to the wall. 50 times easier than mortar and 5 years later I can still hang off it. Mortar would have added another 500 pounds to the weight of that fireplace. Old school and out dated. Tiled right over the linoleum in both bathrooms and my foyer. Then just grout the cracks.

The problem with using it on the floor is exactly what you described. You tiled directly over linoleum. Because of the adhesive, if at any point you or, another owner wants to change or replace the tile you just put down, you're either going to have to add yet another layer or, replace the entire floor including subflooring. In the case of tile mortar, new is not always better.

 

[Kaido]

Best new technique I discovered while renovating my place is acrylic tile adhesive. No more stinking thin set mortar. I did a fire place in ledge stone too and used that adhesive to stick the stone veneer to the wall. 50 times easier than mortar and 5 years later I can still hang off it. Mortar would have added another 500 pounds to the weight of that fireplace. Old school and out dated. Tiled right over the linoleum in both bathrooms and my foyer. Then just grout the cracks.

That's awesome, thanks for the heads up! My current kitchen has linoleum & I've been trying to decide what to do as it is getting nasty & falling apart. What kind of tile did you go with for tiling over your linoleum?

 

[Greenman]

That's awesome, thanks for the heads up! My current kitchen has linoleum & I've been trying to decide what to do as it is getting nasty & falling apart. What kind of tile did you go with for tiling over your linoleum?

Installing tile over failing vinyl isn't a good idea. It might work, and it might not. It's not all that tough to pull up a vinyl floor and put down a proper substrate.

As far as using acrylic instead of thin set, it all depends on what you're going over. If it's a masonry surface, I would always use thin set. I've seen acrylic used to bond stone to stone, and it appeared to work, but there isn't any benefit to using it, it's not cheaper, it's not stronger, it's not faster or better. It is a bit more convenient.

 

[MongGrel]

Nice!

Will be looking at some of these in the future.

 

[MongGrel]

That's awesome, thanks for the heads up! My current kitchen has linoleum & I've been trying to decide what to do as it is getting nasty & falling apart. What kind of tile did you go with for tiling over your linoleum?

Any ceramic tile that you put down sans linoleum would be good I'd think in general.

Was the first thing I did when we bought our house 20 years ago was rip out the linoleum in the kitchen and put ceramic in.

I've ripped out the carpet in the rest of the house over time and installed laminate all over myself.

Some if was rough on the knees a bit, I'm not a young guy these days, but I recommend getting knee pads even if you are young.

The bathrooms are the only thing really need work on these days, I need to do new ceramic in the two I have and upgrade them in general I guess.

 

[Humpy]

I can't help but wonder what the typical contractor would do if faced with installing some totally new high-tech product or building system. I imagine most would look like my Dad on Christmas Eve at 1AM faced with assembling a new bike to be put under the tree.

Many of these things are marketed to the contractors themselves, not the home owner or end user. Then the contractor sells it to the home owner.

At this point, for a variety of reasons, I think you are right.

There are still plenty of contractors though who would study the reference material, contact the manufactures rep, request some sample product, construct mockups, etc. These contractors would be unlikely to be involved in "selling" anything to the customer.

The problem for the typical customer is that, even if they knew who to contact and could afford it, this type of contractor will be busy or may be unwilling to work for many of today's customers. Especially the low-hanging residential work. So many homeowners have crazy unrealistic expectations.

 

[Kaido]

Installing tile over failing vinyl isn't a good idea. It might work, and it might not. It's not all that tough to pull up a vinyl floor and put down a proper substrate.

As far as using acrylic instead of thin set, it all depends on what you're going over. If it's a masonry surface, I would always use thin set. I've seen acrylic used to bond stone to stone, and it appeared to work, but there isn't any benefit to using it, it's not cheaper, it's not stronger, it's not faster or better. It is a bit more convenient.

Yeah, I've been debating how much I want to do. I'll be in my current place for another 10 months & the kitchen floor is really pretty crummy. I've thought about doing those laminate wood panel flooring they sell at Home Depot - they actually had some really gorgeous dark stained wood-style planks with a nice thick coating that might last a decently long time. DIY doesn't look too hard, although their install price for the vinyl sheeting wasn't too bad either. My kitchen is extremely tiny, so I'm trying to decide if I want to give it a go myself (haven't done much flooring myself) or just say screw it & pay for an install.

 

[Kaido]

I can't help but wonder what the typical contractor would do if faced with installing some totally new high-tech product or building system. I imagine most would look like my Dad on Christmas Eve at 1AM faced with assembling a new bike to be put under the tree.

Many of these things are marketed to the contractors themselves, not the home owner or end user. Then the contractor sells it to the home owner.

Yeah...I worked for a contractor for awhile. A lot of them either learn it as a trade, or learn it from their dads (who were also in the business all their lives), so it's all typically very old-school thinking: everything is wood, shortcuts are taken to make things work & fit, etc. That does keep compatibility high, since lumberyards, Home Depots, etc. are super common everywhere, but it's not really a forward-thinking industry in terms of the guys who install things on a regular basis professionally.

That's actually one of the things that kicked off my interest in building a custom home: not only being able to avoid the shortcuts & crappy workmanship that goes on behind-the-scenes in homebuilding, but also being able to use improved materials, like ICF blocks where you get built-in bugproofing, strength, fire resistance, insulation, sound deadening, HVAC efficiency, durability, shortened build times & enhanced material availability, etc. Although a lot of this stuff only makes sense if you're doing either a new build or have a high budget for renovations, since most of it is +10% the cost of building over conventional materials - but it pays for itself over time!

And of course, building with alternative & non-standard materials has its own set of issues: it makes expanding down the road more difficult (especially with concrete walls), you have to use an HRV/ERV to keep the air flowing (or have a reasonable window-to-wall size to allow the house to "breathe"), etc. Plus I personally like to work with sub-contractors who are already experienced in (or even specialize) in the materials. Like, I wouldn't really trust a newb to put in a Kerdi waterproof shower system, you know? There's a certain workflow that needs to be mastered in order to get the output desired. It also makes working with a building team of architects, GC's, etc. more tricky because a lot of them aren't familiar with all of the newer gear, which can be a hassle for planning & provisioning. But, it all depends on how you approach it - DIY or contract - what your budget & schedule is, how patient you are, and so on.

 

[Squeetard]

The problem with using it on the floor is exactly what you described. You tiled directly over linoleum. Because of the adhesive, if at any point you or, another owner wants to change or replace the tile you just put down, you're either going to have to add yet another layer or, replace the entire floor including subflooring. In the case of tile mortar, new is not always better.

I have no idea what your point is here?

That's awesome, thanks for the heads up! My current kitchen has linoleum & I've been trying to decide what to do as it is getting nasty & falling apart. What kind of tile did you go with for tiling over your linoleum?

Listen to this guy VV

Installing tile over failing vinyl isn't a good idea. It might work, and it might not. It's not all that tough to pull up a vinyl floor and put down a proper substrate.
As far as using acrylic instead of thin set, it all depends on what you're going over. If it's a masonry surface, I would always use thin set. I've seen acrylic used to bond stone to stone, and it appeared to work, but there isn't any benefit to using it, it's not cheaper, it's not stronger, it's not faster or better. It is a bit more convenient.

This. The linoleum I tiled over was 4 years old and perfect, just ugly. I pulled up the heat vents in the bathrooms and luckily there was a 1" plywood subfloor already under the lino, done to bring the bathroom floors up to the same level as the hardwood floors is my guess.

The foyer was linoleum glued to concrete in the basement, so plenty stable.

You want to pull up your old linoleum and make sure you have a thick enough subfloor underneath. A regular 5/8" plywood floor is not good enough it will flex and crack your tiles.

 

[Carson Dyle]

The problem with using it on the floor is exactly what you described. You tiled directly over linoleum. Because of the adhesive, if at any point you or, another owner wants to change or replace the tile you just put down, you're either going to have to add yet another layer or, replace the entire floor including subflooring. In the case of tile mortar, new is not always better.

I have no idea what your point is here?

It would seem that if you glue the tile over linoleum, then you wouldn't potentially be damaging the subflooring. Is that what you are questioning?

But if you were to glue the tile directly on top of the subflooring, wouldn't that be a valid concern?

 

[Greenman]

Yeah...I worked for a contractor for awhile. A lot of them either learn it as a trade, or learn it from their dads (who were also in the business all their lives), so it's all typically very old-school thinking: everything is wood, shortcuts are taken to make things work & fit, etc. That does keep compatibility high, since lumberyards, Home Depots, etc. are super common everywhere, but it's not really a forward-thinking industry in terms of the guys who install things on a regular basis professionally.

That's actually one of the things that kicked off my interest in building a custom home: not only being able to avoid the shortcuts & crappy workmanship that goes on behind-the-scenes in homebuilding, but also being able to use improved materials, like ICF blocks where you get built-in bugproofing, strength, fire resistance, insulation, sound deadening, HVAC efficiency, durability, shortened build times & enhanced material availability, etc. Although a lot of this stuff only makes sense if you're doing either a new build or have a high budget for renovations, since most of it is +10% the cost of building over conventional materials - but it pays for itself over time!

And of course, building with alternative & non-standard materials has its own set of issues: it makes expanding down the road more difficult (especially with concrete walls), you have to use an HRV/ERV to keep the air flowing (or have a reasonable window-to-wall size to allow the house to "breathe"), etc. Plus I personally like to work with sub-contractors who are already experienced in (or even specialize) in the materials. Like, I wouldn't really trust a newb to put in a Kerdi waterproof shower system, you know? There's a certain workflow that needs to be mastered in order to get the output desired. It also makes working with a building team of architects, GC's, etc. more tricky because a lot of them aren't familiar with all of the newer gear, which can be a hassle for planning & provisioning. But, it all depends on how you approach it - DIY or contract - what your budget & schedule is, how patient you are, and so on.

Most contractors are happy to use whatever materials and methods the client wants. If it's something really new he'll go to the manufacturer and get the technical specs and instillation guides. What I often find is people want the gee wiz new technology until they see the price tag. Writing the check is where the rubber meets the road, and where a lot of people decide that the high tech stuff isn't worth the investment.