Blog

Has it really been almost 2 months since I posted an update?  The final few weeks of the build have been hectic and combined with the move (yes, we finally moved in . . . more on that later) finding time to write has been tough.

In post 37 I described many of the finishing details.  Finishing up the GarageDominium is all about completing the details, testing systems, and inspections. Maybe there is no devil in these details, but at the time it sure seemed like it.   Turnkey Builders hired a third-party inspector for a turn over inspection.  The 27 page report listed several issues but most were minor or for items we knew were not yet complete. 

The more significant items included:

• inadequate attic insulation
• HVAC issues including high temp drop across evaporator and some ducting support issues
• electrical issues such as improperly sized breaker, missing panel knockouts, improperly labeled wires and missing necessary GCFI outlets
• microwave didn’t work

I already had an extensive punch list with 91 items. My list included all kinds of finishing details like painting, cleaning, cabinet work, and quite a bit of work for the low voltage contractor to complete the security system and audio/video system.  I’ve been keeping and updating this list for most of the project.  I review it every week or so with the project manager, so they are very aware of any problems we find.  He also adds his own items to the list.  The inspection report contained some items that were already on my punch list, but I used his report to add 32 more items.

The insulation problem was surprising and disappointing.  We spent a lot of time working on insulation specifications and details with the builder and insulation company.  We used spray foam insulation in the walls and the underside of the roof deck.  However, the inspector found that the attic insulation thickness on the roof deck varied and in many places was only 3” thick. 

Our specifications and local requirements call for a minimum of 5.5” thickness on the roof deck.  I used a piece of wire to poke into the insulation and measure the thickness confirming the inspector’s findings.  The inspector could not check the wall insulation since it was all covered with sheetrock.  However, I had checked wall insulation prior to the sheetrock install.  We had to fix a few voids and uneven areas in the walls, but it was all corrected before the sheetrock went up. On January 25, the insulators sprayed more insulation on the roof deck making all areas at least 6” thick.

As mentioned in previous posts, the air conditioning system (HVAC) is somewhat complex.  The design included a heat pump with a 2-stage compressor, a variable speed blower, and a whole house dehumidifier.  The design called for 2 control zones; one zone for the master bedroom / laundry / master bath / master closet area and another zone for the remainder of the house. Each zone has its own Ecobee smart thermostat.

Based on how the system was running and reviewing the Ecobee data, I had suspected some HVAC control problems.  The inspector found that the temperature across the evaporator coil was not in range.  Additionally, he found a thermostat wire in the house with no thermostat connected.  We also noticed that the dehumidifier was running constantly.  Airtron HVAC technicians determined that they had installed the wrong condensing unit (the big unit that sits outside the house).  The compressor was a single stage unit instead of the specified 2 stage unit.  Correspondingly, the blower was wired to run a constant speed instead of variable speed.

Airtron corrected all this by replacing the entire condensing unit, rewiring the blower, and reconfiguring the dehumidifier controls.  The dehumidifier needed an outdoor temperature sensor as well as modification to the control settings.

Responding to the inspection report, an Airtron technician decided that the HVAC system needed a third thermostat.  He connected it to the wire that the inspector found.  During construction Airtron had ducted the system to allow for 3 zones, but we decided that 2 zones were all that was really needed.  They initially set the system up for one of the thermostats to control 2 of the zones and another thermostat would handle the remaining zone.  But this technician split it all into 3 zones and added the third thermostat.

Adding this zone and thermostat would have been ok, but he installed an incompatible thermostat.  He set it up like an electric resistance heater rather than a heat pump.  This caused the backup heating coil to operate instead of the heat pump.  The 2 thermostats Airton originally installed were each slightly different Ecobee models.  This new third thermostat was also different model.  In the end, Airton upgraded 2 thermostats and corrected the control logic. 

We now have 3 zone control, each with its own high end Ecobee thermostat.  It works great.  In fact, during this moderate winter the dehumidifier unit is the only device that has been running.  It runs periodically to provide fresh air and maintain the humidity level.  In the weeks since this was all corrected, we’ve had daytime temperature up to 90 degrees and night time lows in the 30’s but the heat pump has not kicked on at all.  The house stays between 72 and 78 degrees and 50 to 55% humidity.

Related to the HVAC system is the house air leakage rate. Nobody wants a leaky house, whether it is air or water that leaks. I wanted an extra tight house, so I specified a maximum leakage rate of 2 ACH 50.  See post 9 for more about this. To determine the leak rate the contractor performs a blower door test.  For the test an exterior door is temporarily replaced with a fabric door containing a fan and instrumentation.  More detail is available here.

Unfortunately, the blower door testing contractor came when no one else was around.  He did not have a blower door that would fit our exterior doors, so he did the test on an attic door.  This produced a misleading result that was out of spec.  The blower door test lowers the pressure of the entire house.  Doing this through the attic makes it harder for the blower to evacuate the air in the house.  I insisted on a new test.  This time the contractor and I were present, and he used a properly sized blower door.  The result was 1.7 ACH 50 meaning that the house passed the specification and is very tight.

Electrical was another challenge.  The wrong size breaker was installed on one circuit.  My specifications required a 30-amp 110 volt RV outlet at one end of the house.  This threw the electricians for a loop.  They had not seen a RV outlet and did not know how to connect it.  The electricians were confused about the type of outlet, what voltage and what breaker to use.  They did finally get it fixed which corrected the problem that the inspector found.

Electricians also had to install more GFCI outlets to meet the inspector’s expectations (and code).  The only electrical problem remaining is a flaky soffit light that blinks for 10 minutes after it is turned on.

The microwave oven was weird.  U.W. and the project manager both checked it out after installation, and it was fine.  When the inspector turned it on it made a buzzing sound and wouldn’t work.  The GE appliance technician found that it had a bad magnetron.  The magnetron is what makes the microwave energy.  Read all about it here.  With that replaced it has worked fine.

The cabinet work has been interesting.  All of the cabinetry is custom.  There are of course kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities.  There is a large kitchen island along with cabinets in the mudroom, a custom dresser cabinet in the master closet, laundry room cabinets, and cabinets above toilets.  Some cabinets are painted while others are stained.  All have soft close hinges and slides on the doors and drawers.

The cabinets look great, once done correctly.  But the contractor rebuilt several cabinets due to improper sizing.  Most of the painted upper cabinets had to be repainted.  The first paint job matched the white in a different house that they were doing at the same time.  Multiple trips were made to adjust doors and drawers. 

We really like tile floors for their beauty and durability.  Most of the GarageDominium has wood look tile.  Only the 2 guest bedrooms have carpet.  We have battled issues with this tile. Several of the tiles had excessive lippage where one tile is higher than the one next to it.  Many of the tiles have a hollow sound.  Some have already been replaced and many others still need to be replaced. The project manager and tile guys aren’t sure what happened.  It may be a tile manufacturing issue where the tiles aren’t as flat as they should be.  It may be an installation issue where the installer did not use enough thinset.  Maybe it is a combination of both.

It also took a lot of work to get the tile clean.  The tile was laid before the house was complete.  Workers of all sorts tracked dirt through the house and onto the tile floors. The tile installer also left a film of grout on the tile.  It took several attempts before the tile all came clean.  U.W. is still not happy with it since we tracked in a lot while moving.

In post 9 I also mentioned using a smart controller for the hot water circulation pump.  After the plumbers installed the water heater and the circulation pump, I did some testing.  It took over 10 minutes to get hot water to the farthest fixture.  There were 2 problems.  The circulation pump has a timer on it.  This timer had a loose wire that caused a ground fault such that the circuit would trip occasionally.  The smart controller uses a flow meter to detect water usage.  When it senses water flowing, it turns the pump on.  The plumbers installed the flow meter on the hot water recirculation pipe instead of the cold-water inlet pipe.  It has to be on the cold-water line to sense when cold water enters the tank.  The only time the hot water recirculation pipe has flow is when the pump is already on.  

With this corrected the system works well.  The smart controller turns the pump on based on either water flow, a timer (to keep the hot water loop warm), or differential temperature (again to make sure the loop is warm).

The lesson from all of these fixes is that you get what you inspect, a concept that was drilled into me during my engineering career.  My work required a lot of machinery inspection and testing during fabrication and installation.  While manufacturers and contractors may have been well meaning, often they did not do things properly.  Sometimes it was to try to get away with something.  Sometimes they were covering up mistakes.  Often, they just did not know how to do some aspect of the work properly.

I saw the same thing on this project.  I caught many things that contractors tried to cover up.  Most things were the result of just not knowing any better or just not paying attention.  Fortunately, the project manager was also very diligent and found stuff I didn’t even think to look for.  Turnkey Builders was very good about working through all of the issues and made sure everything was done right in the end.