Author: mb

interior door hinges

Interior doors we went with pre-hung 1 3/4″ solid core birch slabs, all 7′ high, mostly 32″ wide, 36″ for utility room and main passage from the laundry/mud room. Hinges were normal butt hinges in satin nickel, looks like they were Hager hinges. Prepped for radiused hinges and a single standard bore. Doors were a little over $200 per copy (strangely the one 20″ door for a linen closet was the most expensive at $263).

I didn’t realize the hinges would squeak and spew out black graphite, I would have happily sprung for ball bearing hinges to avoid both of these problems. Former problem is fairly easily addressed by banging the pins out, cleaning things up as best you can, applying white lithium grease to the pins, and banging them back in. Latter is only bad if the hinge is not tight to the jamb, which ours mostly are not. I don’t know how long it will take the graphite to dissipate, and I am not sure how easy or hard it will be to try to clean things up (seems people suggest using trisodium phosphate or Krud Kutter).

audio system – roon with meridian endpoints

I used Roon with a combination of Meridian DSP and Monitor Audio speakers. I am sold on Roon’s interface and am a long time Meridian fanboy, so this was an easy one.

Roon server, they call it a “core,” is running on a Hackintosh I built a few years ago. It is still a pretty solid machine, 3.5 GHz i7 with four cores, SSD, etc. Roon is set up with a Tidal HiFi plan, which serves up at least CD quality (16 bit 44kHz) and also MQA (they call Masters, typically 24 bit 96 kHz), plus a local library of music on the server,which sits on a shelf in the Middle Atlantic rack in the mechanical room.

We have two Meridian DSP speaker zones and four pairs of Monitor Audio in-ceiling speakers. The Meridian speakers are the main living area surround sound setup, which is a G61R processor hooked up to 2xDSP5500s (24/96 model), 1xDSP5000C (also 24/96), and a pair of DSP320s in the ceiling for surrounds. A Meridian 218 feeds the G61R through a Reviver (and I am using Revivers for the older DSP speakers). Then we have a MS200 feeding an AC200 that is hooked up to a pair of DSP520s in the master bedroom.

The Monitor Audio speakers (three pairs of CWT160s inside, one pair of AWC265s outside under a soffit over the main deck area) are fed by MS200s and  Meridian 258, and I ran Monoprice 12 gauge speaker wire, which was maybe overkill, 14 gauge or even 16 gauge might have been fine. But while the walls were open I figured might as well err on the side of caution and run fairly hefty wires.

I put all of the Meridian end points on fixed IP addresses. While setting up I noticed firmware versions were not consistent. We have a Mac household and as far as I can tell the only way to update firmware in the MS200s, maybe the 218 too, is to fire up the Meridian Sooloos Configuration utility on a Windows machine. I always had trouble configuring Meridian kit with a Mac running Windows in a virtual machine, so I knuckled under and bought a reconditioned Dell Latitude 630 with a SSD on eBay for $225. The way the Sooloos configuration tool updates things is strange, it just does it, no messages, no user interaction required or possible.

System is awesome. Sound is great, interface is easy to use, etc.

doorbell – DoorBird

New house and seems like you have to go with some sort of a smart video capable doorbell. The obvious choices are Ring and Nest, maybe SkyBell, the less obvious choice is DoorBird, which is what we went with. Ring and other lock you into recurring billing arrangements and they are closed API, big negatives for me. DoorBirds don’t pop up on all the top 10 lists, but they are on some of them and probably should be on all of them. Open API, good functionality, German company, good documentation, pretty good looking, cost in line with other options at $350, not cheap but Ring is trying to sell their high end model at the same price, and I think they started at $500. Also important to me was hard-wired (vs wi-fi) and POE.

I ran Cat6 to the doorbell location, 48 inches above the entry deck level, which seems to be the generally accepted height for video doorbells. The electrician also ran 3-conductor to the doorbell location, and also to a doorbell location in the entry foyer area. In hindsight I should have also made a Cat6 run to the doorbell location.

The DoorBird comes with a fairly bulky female RJ45 to a connector that goes to the doorbell, about an inch by an inch, so if you want to use that you need to have room behind the sheathing for that, and if you have already blown insulation probably more trouble than it is worth. We have Cembonit siding at the doorbell location, furred out by an inch from the sheathing, but subs just left me a hole a bit bigger than the wires so no way to stuff the dongle in there without some siding surgery. So I just spliced in connectors to the Cat6, and I also hooked up the doorbell wires in case I want to try to use the NuTone bell my electrical sub put in.

I drilled holes in the Cembonit a bit bigger than some 2″ #8 wood screws and fastened the bracket to the sheathing, being careful not to torque down on the unsupported Cembonit. Drilling holes in the cement board is hard, they call out using a carbide tipped drill and I went to get a few of those to get the job done.

Here is the mounted doorbell. Patched it in to the switch and it fired right up. Download the DoorBird app to your smart phone and set up is pretty straight forward.

I also hooked up a DoorBird IP Door Chime, for now it is just hanging on the side of the equipment rack in the mechanical room. It is not very loud so probably can’t be too hidden away to be useful, and/or might need to get another one.

The smartphone app is pretty slick. Live video any time you like, and you can talk to a person at the door. The DoorBird people provide some level of free hosting of pictures and maybe video for free, if you want to keep more than that there is a paid plan. Or you can integrate this thing with a Synology NAS, which I will do for video storage (along with a couple of Hikvision cameras). As I said DoorBird’s API is open and there are a lot of integration options.

low voltage wiring/structured cabling diy overview

I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do for data/audio/video/security so I figured it didn’t really make sense to have to explain what I wanted to someone else and then pay them a lot of money to do it. A high end installer might have added a little bit of value, but again at a high cost and based on a couple of conversations I had with installers I knew more about what I wanted to do than they did.

For data plan was to wire the house pretty thoroughly, I settled on using Cat 6a. More on that here.

For audio plan was Roon with Meridian endpoints. That required some data, 120v to Meridian DSP speakers, and speaker wire to some in-ceiling speakers. More on that here.

For video plan was for a cable box and a Plex server hooked up to a HDHomeRun with a cable card. One or two RG6 Quad Shield runs to each TV location for that. There are Plex client apps for Apple TV and smart TVs, so my plan is for a cable box at the main TV, everywhere else live TV via a Plex app and so delivered over ethernet.

Security and safety plan was for an Elk alarm/security system and Nest Protects for smoke and CO2. For the Elk control pads I ran Cat 6, rest of that will be wireless. Nest Protects are wired for power but interconnect is wireless. More on security here, and more on the Nest Protects here.

I also ran 2-conductor low voltage wire to locations where I guessed we would want powered roller blinds. More on that here.

Lighting I was initially thinking we would go with Lutron RadioRA 2, so I completed the online training for that and pulled down the application to design the system, but along the way they came out with RA2 Select, which uses the same wireless (and wired) switches, so I redirected over to RA2 Select. Back on installers, I had a proposal from one installer for a Lutron Homeworks QS system for the house at $33k for just lighting. I think I ended up spending about $6k for RA2 dimmers and switches to get me pretty much the same functionality in a system that I can easily maintain myself (not to mention that I don’t really like home run wiring for lighting, when there is a glitch you are more at the mercy of the electronics controlling the system, vs RA2 which also operates as conventional switching with the wireless control and programming flexibility as an added layer). More on our lighting here.

HVAC control is a combination of Nests for the radiant heat and proprietary LG thermostats for the forced air. More on that here.

Structured wiring in the house all goes back to a Middle Atlantic rack in the mechanical room.

I decided to take a pass on running fiber. Path for that inside the home is too unclear for me, and 10Gps ethernet is going to be enough for quite awhile, I think. I also didn’t run much conduit, the amount of steel in the house combined with the open living area/layout meant that runs were pretty convoluted and installing, never mind pulling, through conduit would have been tough …

 

 

towel and grab bars – block before you rock

It did not occur to our architect, builder, or any of the subs to mention that it might be a good idea to install blocking for cabinetry or bathroom towel/grab bars before sheet rocking. I think it would have been a very good idea to do this. Not such a big deal with cabinets, because not too hard to hit studs with those, but quite important for grab bars, which are likely to not land on studs, and also maybe for towel bars, though loading for those will not be too bad.

So I didn’t want to cut the walls open to install blocking for towel bars. Our bathroom fixtures are all Hansgrohe’s Axor Citterio M in satin nickel. Hansgrohe bars look OK but are expensive and long lead time and squared off. We decided to go with Valsan’s Porto line, which has round rods and is modern looking and available in a satin nickel, moderately priced and readily available.

To mount I consulted the many photos I took before we sheet rocked and used my handy neodymium magnet stud finder, along with wall panel shop drawings, to figure out what was where. Where I could mount to studs I used 1.5″ GRK cabinet screws. Where I was not going to catch a stud I used Everbilt hollow wall anchors, I think these are considered to be molly bolts and seem to be the best way to secure things securely to sheet rock. Our sheet rock is all 5/8″, so needed the longer anchors for this. I think the shorter anchors may have worked, but the boxes for same call out max thickness of 1/2″. Home Depot had these anchors (Lowe’s did not, nor did a good local hardware store).

Theoretically you can just drive these anchors through the sheet rock, but you would have to pound the heck out of them for this. Our sheet rock is already poorly fastened because studs were all over the place and driving these through would have caused a lot of damage. I already popped a few sheet rock screws fastening the towel bar fitting to studs. I forget what drill size I finally used, but I worked up to a size where it was pretty easy to tap the anchors through the hole. No problem with the anchors spinning as they were set, the barbs held plenty well in the new sheet rock. I would not want to hang anything hugely heavy on sheet rock, but a couple of towels on 5/8 should be fine. I put of a couple of hotelier racks like this too and am not too worried about them either.

No grab bars for now. If those don’t happen to land on a stud I think we are cutting the walls open to block for those. We’ll wait until we are a bit older …

ikea – cutting down pax wardrobes and other

We toyed with the idea of using Ikea boxes in several areas, kitchen with SemiHandmade fronts, laundry room, and walk in closets. Ended up doing none of those, but did use SemiHandmade fronts for some of the kitchen, we liked their sequenced walnut.

We have an air handler hung below the ceiling in the passage between the master bedroom and bath, and as they were framing that in I asked them to leave me at least 79.5″ clearance from the floor, figuring I could squeeze the smaller Pax wardrobes in there for some extra storage, they are 79.25″. Of course the bottom of the air handler box ended up being just under 79.25 in at least one spot (and also not being very level, oh well).

CT Closet and Shelf did our walk in closets, we are happy with what they did and cost was fair, but I stuck with the idea of using Ikea for some extra storage in the passageway. Since the bottom of the Pax wardrobes is raised off the floor a bit I figured I could cut them down to fit.

The bottom plinths, or whatever you call them, at the bottom of the wardrobes are about 2 5/8 plus a circular saw blade width high. I cut those, and the sides of the wardrobes, down by 1/2″, using a circular saw, no problem there. I see why they tell you not to step on the panels, a lot of cardboard honeycomb in there!

If you cut much more than 1/2″ off you will not be able to use the leveling feet, here they are screwed all the way up.

But I probably should have left them off, since my adjusting bolts for these now stick up out of the cabinet base by about 1/2″. I think it would be no problem to lower the cabinet by 1 to 1 1/2 inches, you probably want the bottom shelf off the floor by a little bit, and if you get it too close to the floor maybe it will look goofy. Also when you cut the plinths you will lose one of the dowel holes. Not a big deal, the one dowel can hold them in place then when you have the weight of the wardrobe on them they’ll stay put.

Here are the wardrobes in our passageway (picture taken from the bedroom). I got sliding doors for the two wider units but difficult/impossible to fit those in under the air handler, so redirecting and will put on hinged doors. The Lillangan laundry cabinet/hamper is kind of fun, we tucked one of those in next to the wardrobes.

kitchen hood/exhaust make-up air

I have always wanted to have a good kitchen hood, jokingly saying things like “powerful enough to suck a small animal out of the kitchen.” We are going with an induction cook top, so really no need to go that crazy with the hood, but we picked a 600 cfm Faber pull-out hood.

At >400 cfm, technically per International Residential Code (IRC) 1503.4 you are required to have a make-up air system that can replace air being sucked out by the hood, and it needs to operate when the hood is operating.

Our HVAC subcontractor’s proposal included a $7580 option for non-tempered kitchen make-up air, using a Fantech inline fan and some other bits and pieces, I think the explanation was that this system would replace exactly what was being sucked out so things would stay in balance. But non-tempered, so cold air coming in during the winter and hot air coming in during the summer. A heater option for another $2310 was also served up.

The other option that was presented was a “ventilation control system” utilizing an Aprilaire 8126, for $1210. My understanding was that this would allow outside air to come in when the kitchen hood was running, not as precisely as the first option, but it would help keep things roughly in balance and comply with code without breaking the bank. So we signed up for this option. Note that we also signed up for a HRV option, a Fantech SHR1504R which is supposed to bring in up to 149 cfm, so we were trying to be thoughtful about fresh air in what should be a pretty tight house.

After the install I noticed an Aprilaire controller on the air handler that the Aprilaire 8126 was hooked up to, which controller allows you to set the damper to open for a certain number of user-selectable minutes per hour, and when the damper is opened a signal is sent to the air handler so its blower runs, pulling fresh air into the house. That didn’t seem like makeup air to me so I started asking questions.

The HVAC sub eventually agreed that the Aprilaire 8126 should operate in concert with the hood. The initial idea was to use a current draw switch on the hood load, and the gentleman I was speaking with mentioned that it would be neat if there were some sort of a pressure switch that could be used. So a little more homework, and Faber actually makes a kit that would have been perfect for our application. I called Faber to see if I could just get the pressure switch, since we already had the damper installed, and they referred me to the manufacturer of the switch, CCB Innovations. I called them and they are supplying a 6″ collar with the switch, which we can then hook up to the Aprilaire 8126 (after running a wire from the hood to the damper, which may require some demolition). The full switch/damper kit is in the neighborhood of $300 from either Faber or CCB Innovations, and the kits purport to satisfy the IRC code for make-up air. It also looks like Broan makes some similar kits, though the switch looks different and does not come mounted to a collar. This is not a commercial kitchen and it is just two of us in a 2500 sqft house with a moderately sized hood, should be fine for our application. Strange that neither of our HVAC sub or general contractor were on top of this.

pocket door (slideset and cavkit assemblies from ezjamb)

We’re not big fans of pocket doors, but it seemed like the best way to implement a door to the commode in the master bath. I had looked at EZJamb products for doors without casings but decided to go down another path, more on that in another post, but I thought the SlideSet would reduce installation labor and be high quality for this pocket door, and that the accompanying CavKit would provide modern/clean finishing trim with minimal fuss.

It is not possible to order from EZJamb directly and no local building supply company really knew anything about their products. RO requirement is 2x door width + 1/2″ and door height + 3″, and we prepped opening for a 32″ x 84″ (x 1 3/4″) door. The SlideSet marketing brochure says the kit is available for 30, 32, or 36 inch wide by 80, 84, or 96 inch high doors (1 3/4 only).

Despite clear direction the first supplier decided to order a kit for a 30″ wide door, which we did not discover until the kit was ready to ship about a month after we ordered it. This same supplier goofed on jamb width for a couple of other doors we had ordered, forcing us to cut them down, and ordered an entry door I didn’t want, so I was not too sympathetic and I ordered another assembly from a local supplier that EZJamb recommended (but which local supplier didn’t really know the EZJamb products). So then it was another month plus to get the correctly sized kit, but it arrived with some damage and the supplier refused the delivery. Another couple of weeks and the repaired assembly was delivered. During that process I asked to see a drawing of what we were getting, it indicated kit was for a 2×4 plate/wall, I had asked for 2×6, we actually received the latter, strange that they didn’t know what they sent us.

So the supplier of the kit also got us a slab to use with the kit, solid core birch, I asked for 32x84x1.75, in their defense they said they had highlighted that they only stocked beveled slabs, but the one we got was about 31.5×83.25 and was of course beveled. So that door (and the 30 inch slab that was delivered before the first SlideSet order goof) went in the dumpster. Another local supplier was able to get a slab that was the full 32×84 size (though also beveled), so we got that on site.

Next challenge was to find someone to put this thing in. First carpenter spent half a day looking at it and gave up. The basic instructions are OK, but there is very little detail in them about the rail system and fastenings. Next carpenter set the assembly frame in the rough opening but didn’t think fastening to the MDF top edge of the solid core door would work. Solid core doors are heavy, this one probably pushing 100 lbs, and the fittings that fasten to the track cars mount into a groove that needs to be routed in the edge of the door, he thought screws would pull out. Carpenter #3 said no sweat and got the slab installed in the kit, took two good guys a few hours. I went and got some long coarse thread screws and some glue for the job. Carpenter said there should have been a header above the RO and that we may have an issue with the track sagging.

Here is the install with the closer cap sunk into the sheet rock to the left.

Soft close mechanism works great but the rolling action is pretty noisy. These wheels a hard plastic, I think other rails (architect called out a Johnson 2060 or equal) may have softer wheels and run more quietly. The SlideSet and CavKit were just under $1500, it probably would have been quicker and cheaper to use the Johnson kit and have the carpenter do the framing.

 

 

building a modern panelized prefabricated home

My wife and I built a new modern panelized prefabricated home and I thought it would be interesting for us and helpful to others if we documented our journey. Our architect was Turkel Design, and the house is a custom home inspired by the Axiom 2340 that was built of prefabricated panels and then finished by our local builder.

We kicked off the project in August of 2015 and started moving in in July of 2018, so it was roughly a 3 year project. Going in I think we thought 18 months would be fast and it would likely be 24 months.