Southwest Home and Garden Thread - Page 14

HX_Guy · #**261** Posted **Jan 29, 2013, 7:17 PM**

Far far away. Basically right at Happy Valley Rd & Lake Pleasant Pkwy, which is about 5 miles west of where we live now. It is a little conflicting because I said I would never move farther out from the city, and actually wanted the move closer in but it doesn't make sense to move away from this area since our business is concentrated here and we work from home, plus my family and my wife's also live in this area. Sucks to be moving out of City of Phoenix, I've lived in Phoenix for the past 22 years. (new house is in Peoria).

Vicelord John · #**262** Posted **Jan 29, 2013, 9:14 PM**

thats too far, but congrats

Leo the Dog · #**263** Posted **Jan 29, 2013, 9:20 PM**

Hard to pass up on brand new construction, for a lower price in the local area!

nickw252 · #**264** Posted **Jan 29, 2013, 10:08 PM**

Congrats on the new house. I also love checking up on the local real estate market and am on Redfin all the time. Unfortunately I love my house and its location :-p

Are we going to get picture updates on the construction of your new house like we would of a new high rise?

HX_Guy · #**265** Posted **Jan 29, 2013, 10:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickw252

Are we going to get picture updates on the construction of your new house?

What do you think?

I've photographed a bunch of construction I had no connection to for year, you bet I'm going to document my own. Maybe even do a time lapse video.

I've already created a scale 3D model of the house in Google Sketchup so I can play with the landscaping.

Thanks everyone for the the congrats, I'm pretty excited if you can't tell.

Leo the Dog · #**266** Posted **Jan 31, 2013, 6:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexico

not sure how to make it into something. or what type of plants/green one would put out there. those ugly tables were just left when I moved in. of course they will go

You have an awesome view from your apartment! You should take some more pics from your balcony. Just curious how much rent is at W6?

I would definitely green up the concrete patio. I prefer tropical plants, but you can get that feel by heavy use of succulents with perhaps a potted palm or two. There are palm species that prefer shaded areas over full sun, which would do great on the patio.

HX_Guy · #**267** Posted **Feb 13, 2013, 3:40 AM**

They started construction today, should be ready in 4.5 months. Pretty fun to see the progress.

HX_Guy · #**268** Posted **Mar 9, 2013, 9:42 PM**

Anyone here have experience with new construction foundations and cracks? Is this pretty normal or something to be concerned about?

Arquitect · #**269** Posted **Mar 10, 2013, 4:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Anyone here have experience with new construction foundations and cracks? Is this pretty normal or something to be concerned about?

From your pictures, it looks like the crack actualy goes all the way through the slab, and also from one end to the other. It is definitely something you should keep a close eye on. If it was me, id ask them to tear it up and redo it. There should be more control joint on the slab to prevent cracking. If you bring it ip, do make sure they dont just patch it to make it look like there is no crack there.

HX_Guy · #**270** Posted **Mar 10, 2013, 4:50 PM**

Hmm, I don't know if it actually goes all the way through or if it's just the top 1" or so both on top and the side, if that makes sense.

I actually walked around a bunch of other houses with the same floor plan that are under construction and 5 of them (including ours) had the crack in the exact same spot and 4 did not. Ours has not been tightened/tensioned yet so there is actually visible separation there but all the others it was completely tight.

Another odd thing is that there are no control joints anywhere, not even in the garage where I've always seen them in other houses. I like that there aren't any (hate the dirt etc that gets in there) but found it a bit weird to have the whole garage floor as a single piece.

Arquitect · #**271** Posted **Mar 10, 2013, 5:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Hmm, I don't know if it actually goes all the way through or if it's just the top 1" or so both on top and the side, if that makes sense.

I actually walked around a bunch of other houses with the same floor plan that are under construction and 5 of them (including ours) had the crack in the exact same spot and 4 did not. Ours has not been tightened/tensioned yet so there is actually visible separation there but all the others it was completely tight.

Another odd thing is that there are no control joints anywhere, not even in the garage where I've always seen them in other houses. I like that there aren't any (hate the dirt etc that gets in there) but found it a bit weird to have the whole garage floor as a single piece.

The reason you don't have control joints, is because it is a post-tension slab. This is just my opinion, but I think that using post tension slabs on single story buildings is a waste. Those systems are designed for heavy loads and to facilitate longer spans. I have also seen cases were the cables begin to corrode because they aren't properly sealed and water from the irrigation system enters the opening. So keep an eye out for that.

As for the crack itself, since your house is not the only one that has it, it probably means that they are letting the concrete sit for too long before stretching the cables. In this case, it probably isn't something that could cause structural issues in the future, but it is poor form. My guess is that the concrete won't be exposed, so you probably won't notice it once the finishes are in.

HX_Guy · #**272** Posted **Mar 10, 2013, 8:46 PM**

I don't think it's a case of letting it sit too long before stretching the cables as the crack appeared literally the next day after it was poured and I think they need to wait something like 7 days before they can tension it?

I stopped back by to inspect the crack a little more. It does run across to the other side but doesn't quite reach the edge, very close though and there is another small crack there as you can see in the picture. The whole crack is very very small though, as you can see in relation to the size of my finger. On the end where it is cracked down the side as well, I don't know if it's cracked all the way through (like a cracker) or if just the surface of both the top and the side are cracked, like say just an inch or two down.

nickw252 · #**273** Posted **Jul 6, 2013, 8:21 PM**

I'm having some of my original 1937 metal windows and hardware restored.

The windows were screwed and painted shut. Probably hadn't been opened in decades.

Cranks before and after:

Brackets before. This is one of the better looking brackets:

After being cleaned but before repainted:

More pics to come.

nickw252 · #**274** Posted **Jul 6, 2013, 8:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

They started construction today, should be ready in 4.5 months.

It's been 4.5 months. What's the status?

HX_Guy · #**275** Posted **Jul 7, 2013, 1:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickw252

It's been 4.5 months. What's the status?

Moved in about a month ago.

pbenjamin · #**276** Posted **Jul 7, 2013, 7:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickw252

I'm having some of my original 1937 metal windows and hardware restored.

The windows were screwed and painted shut. Probably hadn't been opened in decades.

Cranks before and after:

Brackets before. This is one of the better looking brackets:

After being cleaned but before repainted:

More pics to come.

A neighbor of ours has a business that restores such windows. We have them in our house and they are all in working condition, get opened when the weather is right. We have the original screens which go inside the windows.