Matt, I have a request. I’ve been keeping up with you now since about 2016 and would love for you to cover a video or even a series with your thoughts on site development, grading, drainage, excavation, etc civil stuff. Love what you all are doing and keep up the good work!
Being an engineer and having worked with an incredible custom builder and architect out of Santa Fe in the past, it's awesome the kind of partnership you get when you trust the customer to be an extension of your project and allow us to bring our design goals deeply into the "boring infrastructure" of a project. Thanks for showing this awesome build!
@@GibsonCRGabsolutely! The builder was Gerry Barber of Madera Builders and the architect was Luca Marino-Baker under his High Desert Creative brand.
@@MarkMyshatyn Hey thanks so much! Although we're building a retirement home south of Santa Fe by "a piece" (as they say) I'm trying to get a handle on New Mexico talent 🙂 Appreciate the quick reply!
@16:09 Matt, slight correction. “Li-Po” batteries are short for “lithium polymer”, not lithium phosphate. Li-Po batteries are very energy dense, but not the safest. Almost every consumer device where you have heard of the battery exploding (like cell phones and laptops) use Li-Po batteries. Franklin uses lithium iron phosphate batteries “LiFePO4”. This is actually the chemical formula for these batteries. They are not nearly as energy dense as Li-Po’s, but are MUCH more stable.
Mats build show saved my home. River shack full remodel. Alll the homes on the water have rot on the river side but not the road side. Build show inspired me Zip baord with liquid over the tape in prone areas Rockwool 80 exterior for extra waterproofing and insulation. Helped make code with old 2x4 walls. Metal standing seam roof Attic is conditioned space all closed cell foam 2 mini split heads 1 on each side of the house. ERV and constant air recirculation system so ever room gets freah air. 1 mini split head can maintain the entire house and the run on the lowest quietest setting. The ERV pulls from thw bathrooms 100% of the time. I have a cavity slider door. I chose sheep wool for sound proofing because no PPE is needed to work with it. Fiberglass windows. The home is lifted for flood plane and we noticed becuse the openings are so large there is enough natural ventilation moisture/rot is not a problem. Removal of the old insulation exposeing prone areas proved everything was ok. Tankless heater, valve tree . Floating slab sink base. Tons of nice detials in this home. From old river Shack to mini Mansion!!!!.
@@utpharmboy2006 Have lock wool. I did simple test using cardboard box and phone, it seemed better than cellulose, very competitive anyway. I couldn't be there when the drywall was going up so they installed it. I noticed some sections of wall are not as good as others so I assume they didn't pack every bay 100%. You need to pack it tight. Stuff that wall. If I had time to do the walls my self I would use 2 sheets of 1/4" joined using the sound caulk 5o maken1/2" sound board. And I would pack the wool extra tight. The wool is so clean and safe to work with. I've been messing with Ruxol and spray foam and I hate it. It has its uses but sucks to work with. I had to use Ruxol on the exterior and sprayfoam in the roof and floor because of the type construction.
It would help to create a playlist with all of the videos from this (or any) project in one place, and then link to it on each video so anyone who stumbles across one of the videos can access the entire project's video library if interested.
I am married to a European. I feel in love with their human interface stuff. Glad not the only one who likes it! It just feels nicer, looks nicer, and better put together. Also love the minimalist design the home owner went with.
@ 19:20 Steve is referring to a flitch beam for anyone who might be curious. A steel plate is coupled with dimensional lumber on either side, and all 3 pieces are held together with (usually) staggered rows of bolts. This sandwich of wood-steel-wood makes for a lightweight but strong composite beam that can be accept flush joist connection similar to a normal wood beam. It's handy when you need the extra stiffness and/ or strength but don't need a full steel beam. The stringers are basically a inverted flitch beams with steel on the outside and a core made of wood. You can do similar with W-section steel beams (aka I-beams) by just packing the webs out with wood. There, the wood doesn't really do anything structural. The steel I-beam carries all the load, and the wood pack out allows for traditional wood joists or trusses to attach with face-to-face (flush, dropped a bit, raised a bit, etc.) connections. Often one or more oversized pieces of wood are cut to size to fit the web 'bay', including the concave joint between web and flange, and then bolted thru to transfer loads from joists into the steel. Flitch beams are sometimes more common on single family homes, but also used in commercial and multi-family projects. Really, I've rarely seen them used in my market though. Packed out I-beams are very common, though.
I'm currently about to start building my own house and after seeing this I kind of just want to slink into a corner. The homeowner is amazingly talented.
Watch stuff, take notes, work out what you do want to apply to your own build and what's interesting but not applicable. We don't all have pristine river views and we don't all need acres of glass in a single pane. The very best part about designing and building your own house is that while there will be mistakes, and even this chap Carl will decide in time that some of his choices were a mistake, when it's your own build, you're living with your own mistakes, not somebody else's mistakes. Living with the consequences of somebody else's mistakes is infuriating.
If any construction dorks were wondering, the framing member Steve was referring to at 19:15 is a Flitch beam, the old sandwiched dimensional framing lumber with plate steel in the middle, held together with fasteners. Obviously very strong, but heavy and limited and basically don't get used much anymore due to engineered lumber being better in nearly every metric. 👍👍
Architect here, some of the structural engineers I've worked with don't like them simply because the stress capacity of the steel is so much higher than that of the wood and they would rather use one material or the other and not mix. For something like a stair stringer where you need just a little more strength to accommodate the deflection this is a good application for them.
@@timmmahhhh I place a 2x4 on either side of a stringer except outside stringer, just below the cheek cut to stiffen the stringer. Amazing how well this works. I am PE Mech. and Structural.
I did a basement shop on my last house. It was supposed to be my last house but had to move for work - that's happened twice now. I leave nice shops wherever I go lol.
Wife and I bought 60 acres in the Berkshires last year and are really excited to build an amazing house there in the next few years with a lot of the features in this house. Currently working with the forester on logging the part of the property where we plan to put the house, barn, stables
60 acres is a lot, I guess I'll do you a favor and build a barndominium on an acre or two so you and the wife will have a friendly neighbor. You have to admit, that's pretty nice of me. Lol-
Hah. Will already be building a house for each of our kids, a guest house, a barn, a stable… 60 acres goes quick when you have multiple generations and horses.
@@stevenbaczekarchitect9431 Will do for sure, I think i might have shot you an email on your website a few years back when we were still hunting for a property. We're working with the forester now to clear space for the house and barn. There's a good chance we get some nice views once we clear the trees.
@@synewparadigm I thihnk they mentioned a european supply store that might have it. Wish he had linked the Franklin batteries, I thought he said he would.
I really don't understand the advantage to a strike plate? Like we're worried about wear on a strike plate? Don't they cost like 5$ and last for decades?
They actually require that if you read the spec sheet on that . They propose putting it in the vanity which might be even more convenient. However mine is also in the basement
Franklin batteries are 13.6kWh. Current Tesla Powerwall is 13.5kWh. Franklin bumps up peak power which is nice for single stage AC units. Franklin is more expensive from my quick look.
Like many of you fans on this show and industry, these videos, learnings are always interesting helpful and its greatly appreciated when builders, homeowners, etc come together to share and exchange ideas with the average person! One hope from a big fan base is that there will be more and more content offered on pre-existing homes and how to solve bring them up to standards to match and get close as possible as some of these new homes built for durability longevity with strong R value.
It's always a great video when you guys post. You've inspired me to build my own house in the future and while I have a million questions, your videos have answered countless already!
I have a similar Waterfurnace Series 7, 3 ton geothermal system. And I use an Emporia energy monitor. At peak hot and cold, I've measured a max energy usage of 2 kW @ 8 Amps. That is without the emergency heat coils, which I don't believe have turned on in my 2 years of ownership. Love this thing.
As an Architect I can appreciate the approach of using ground source heat pumps, battery systems, various controls, etc as presented. But I'm also well aware of the initial costs and maintenance issues . Many projects killed this approach after the owner saw the costs, maintenance and payback. The Mechanical Engineer was reinded in for simpler cost effective solutions. Sometimes " keep it simple" ends up with livable solutions.
I love this house not only because of its quality features but because of how simple the design is, my only concern is cost, especially given such a great plot of land, would be interesting to see how much it costs and how to achieve similar results but at a lower price point
The front door isn't just a meet and greet door. It actually performs as an entry door. In all of Europe those are entry doors. They just don't have door knobs like the US. Put the key in the lockset and use the key to turn to unlock and push forward.
I love so much about this home. The kitchen is glorious but my wife would absolutely undermine everything about that kitchen. She loves countertop appliances and is a pack rat. I built our home to be open and comfortable and that plan ended within the first year. She’s emotionally stable and very kind so it’s a bit of a compromise.
Looking at doing something very similar, except with ICF, all electric, heatpump everything... My current want/wait is Sodium Ion batteries, to bring the cost down for stationary storage. My workshop will be in a pole barn, and will go with Ikea cabinets, while I build/make my own cause my projects usually take 5-10 years to complete, lol at least that's the dream/goal...
actually, just viewing the complete build videos, it is ICF, so this is more or less my same thought process, glad I'm not the only crazy nut thinking this way, lol
ICF puts the fragile flammable toxic insulation on the surfaces where it's most vulnerable to mechanical damage, vermin, or fire, and puts the concrete in the middle where its strength has the least leverage and its thermal mass is useless. If you can build a sandwich with the structural concrete on the interior surface of the wall, and then your insulation, and then enough concrete on the exterior surface to protect your insulation and back-brace the main concrete, you'll be well ahead. ICF is easy, but that doesn't make it good.
I would like to see the build show network build a home from start to finish and how energy efficient it will in northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, or northern Minnesota. Don’t know how many videos it would include. Do you think this could happen?
Awesome house and excellent craftsmanship by the homeowner. I have my shop in my walkout basement like that too and it’s wonderful. Being a retired electrician I couldn’t help but notice the code violation in the garage. The batteries are installed within the required working space for the electrical panel in the wall, that’s illegal.
In China the “bank vault” style front doors are even more extreme. In addition to the large security latch there are also numerous metal pins throughout the entire height that extend into the frame when the door is shut. It was crazy to witness. They also had fingerprint and code entry, and video when you ring the doorbell.
This door may have had that as well, it seems the high end Euro doors have this and he's shown it on other videos. Seems like a much more secure door other than the two large windows on either side!
I did a few custom things on this home, nothing like this, but even in my small scale I wonder if the next owner is going to have the understanding to maintain it. I saw a video on a rotating house in California that the owner designed/engineered and he was pretty much the only one that understood it. I guess we do these things for ourselves and don't really look down the road that much, but seems one man's dream may be another man's headache someday.
Really cool house, and I love the Japandi vibe. Love the workstation sink. Those cabinets will be annoying to close though. It's the one design feature I can't seem to work around in my kitchen design. Hardware ruins the look, but push open requires you to carefully close each door, which is annoying when your hands are full.
12:51 the door should actually unlatch with the key from the outside, if it’s German for hardware. It should also have a latch disable feature if you have prior going in and out the front for a while.
Didn't hear any pant swishing though as they walked around. But all kidding aside, or in addition to the humour, I'd love to know what type of plywood they used for the stairs!
yea, the bank vault front door makes so much sense. A criminal is going to look at that door and say "what an idiot, you gave two man sized window panels to walk through"
Your not getting thru those sidelights. I have seen demonstrations of big guys with an axe and a triple glazed window with the films on them - it was embarrasing
Is there a link to the door hardware in the garage? Clean look and looks like it will last for many years. Keep up the good work. I enjoy learning about new products.
Beautiful custom home, but I get a kick out of the super secure front door with two windows on either side. You can't kick in the door but you're more than welcome to kick in the glass.
Super-minor: 9:37, 11:04 I would have expected the induction cooktop to have been recessed so its top was flush with the top of the countertop, rather than proud by 3/32″ or so. Is there a reason not to do that? (I am thinking about this detail in my own kitchen, so it's on my mind!)
@@tombrady8716 Except, it is way less complicated and so much easier to repair. You realize the controls aren't built into the wall, right? They mount on the wall like a thermostat. You can remove the controls and replace them without undoing a single screw, it snaps on and off the wall. The single wire from the control panel down to the valve uses an RCA jack behind the control panel, not a screw terminal like a thermostat. Swapping the control panel if it fails takes less than 30 seconds of work. Obviously any repair to the valve that is easily accessible in the basement is also super easy. I don't think you have ever worked on a shower valve before if you don't see how simple and better control by wire is. All airplanes are control by wire and cars are starting to be too. All hvac is control by wire. How is this simplification and reliability improvement for showers not a good idea?
Great build. Kudos Steve and Carl. I’m in the middle of specifying Franklin batteries (Matt would love a video on Franklin’s aGate integrating with SPAN). Given the building code complexities of garage battery placement I noted the protective bollards. Steve was this detail required by the inspector or was Carl ahead of the game?
Nice touches and overall build! I like the idea of charging the Franklin batteries from the grid at a reduced rate. I wonder if the Franklin batteries could be charged by a small backup generator while it is powering the house. I am surprised the Carl failed to insulate the hot water lines. I insulate the entire hot water line and then use either a 1-hole or 2-hole strap sized to allow for uninterrupted pipe insulation to secure the water lines. This also allows for the PEX lines to expand/contract due to the changing water temperature flowing through them.
Running a generator, if you factor in all costs (purchase price, fuel, maintenance, depreciation etc.) is expensive. It's a great idea in an emergency, but as a rule utility power is almost always going to be cheaper. I do exactly what you do with my water lines; they can't be too well insulated and it sounds as if you are just as meticulous as me.
@@paulmaxwell8851: I already own a 7KW/8.5KW Peak generator that I use to power our house when the grid is down. Currently this is a very inefficient setup as the generator needs to run 24/7 until the grid comes back up. Rarely are we using 7KW of power at one time (because my generator is not large enough to run our home's air conditioning). This means I am wasting a lot of gasoline and not utilitizing my generator's power output capabilities wisely. My thoughts are a whole house battery system could power my house while the generator is also charging it. Once the battery reaches a full charge, I could shutdown my generator. This would make the setup far more efficient, save wear/tear on the generator and save gasoline used to run the generator. A bonus would be no power interruption when it is time to re-fill the generator's gas tank or if it runs for many days and I need to change the oil. If the overall cost difference was reasonable, I would install a whole house battery system that could handle the entire house load. Yes, I am very meticulous. Sometimes a person's OCD can be of great benefit. I believe it makes me better at my job and contributes to my projects.
The more gadgets in your house, the more repairs and maintenance you have to do. I get it, the guy has an unlimited budget to work with but is any of this necessary in the first place?
I am building mine and I've been removing as much as possible to avoid as much maintenance as possible, only keeping what's needed and useful. You must consider you'll live there in your 60s and will have less energy to maintain all this...@@branchandfoundry560
A lot stuff is imported, like the door hardware. It will last way longer in the long run. There are houses in Europe hundreds of years old and still in great shape. Kinda like power tools, buy quality up front, save in the long run
I would love for you to cover EV charging for the home. I have one EV, and I know I’ll have at least one in my house for the rest of my life. It does 95% of what I do, then I pull out the truck for the remaining 5%. It such a better experience. I just plug it in like my phone when I get home.
Lipo is lithium polymer as used in drones. LFP, LiFePO4, LiFe are typical abbreviations of Lithium Iron Phosphate. It's the onoy chemistry that should be used in a home IMO. Pretty bad error in the video about a pretty sweet and unique home. 10/10 Carl/Karl!
curious where this house is built....was that Wegman's seltzer in the frig? The home owner has a design/performance mind like me....one day I hope to have something similar...WOW
I look at shows like this as showing what's coming 10-15 years down line for everybody. Just in the same way that the tech channels show computer hardware that are utterly out of reach of the average consumer, it still shows you where things are going.
Plan your life, set long-term goals, and have fewer children. I started planning my retirement when I was in my early twenties and, although a divorce set me back a little bit, it went roughly according to plan. I retired early, bought a nice place in the country and, together with my wife, designed and built an off-grid solar home. We don't have the money Karl obviously has but we're comfortable, and that's result of a life-long modest lifestyle and careful money management. Anyone can do it, barring serious health setbacks of course.
Everything in this house is scalable, it's your job to take the concept and provide an alternative, I have many lower cost homes using many of these concepts....
I noticed the same myself. I would wager there’s at least some thick Mylar film on it. That should at least contain the fragments for a brief time and give a few seconds delay if someone smashes them trying to reach in and open the door.
Speaking from an architectural perspective here, so I apologize for the mini essay lol: There is impact rated glass. It's a safe bet that is used in the sidelites for the front door. At least, it would be a shit product if the glass wasn't high impact rated. The other windows are usually not as highly rated, but can and sometimes are impact resistant to some degree as well. Usually there will be 'normal' tempered glass used for larger windows anyways. But for security reasons, it all can and should have some improved impact resistance, but that gets expensive. Robbers usually go for the doors anyways and not windows, because broken shards of glass is asking for them to cut themselves going in and out. And carrying thick enough blankets to drape over the openings would attract too much attention in most busy enough neighborhoods anyways. Likewise, if the first floor is raised off the ground, the windows are likely too high to reach without a step ladder or ladder, which would also attract attention and slow you down if you have to run. Most robbers are gonna be looking for targets of opportunity and an easy get away, so doors are the preferred target over jumping thru a window. That's not always true, of course, but if someone is willing to smash and climb up thru a window each way... reinforcing both the doors the windows probably wasn't going to stop them anyway at that point. But I agree, all potential points of entry should be reinforced. But also, when you go down that rabbit hole, if the doors and windows are reinforced, is it easier at that point to just get a chainsaw and cut your way in thru the siding, sheathing, and stud wall? Because most homes are stick framed in the US, someone who wants to get at you bad enough could easily just do that. It's suuuuper unlikely, but if you have enough of a target on your back to warrant all that added security at your doors and windows, you'll want your exterior walls to be concrete also at that point. From a cost-benefit analysis, for most folks it makes sense to just reinforce the front door and maybe some select windows, not everything, unless they have a huge budget. Cameras, motion sensors, alarms, and automated lights will provide extra protection if not more than reinforcing all the non-door openings.
I don't think it's so much about the security of the door as it is the super seal you get when all of the bolts engage and pull the door tight. These kinds of doors are pretty common in Europe. They're very conscious over there of constructing as airtight as possible (and in doing so energy efficient) buildings. Also, the door typically can be opened from outside with a key, and there is usually a small latch that can be flipped up on the jamb that allows you to push the door open from outside when you're home going in and out.
It’s not really about security cause this door is not even close to a european safety door, this door you see in the video is that thick and sturdy to get a well airtight and insulated seal between the inside and outside, that’s also the reason why you can’t open them from the outside cause it’s a European style door.
@@miles5600 If it's like any door I've used as a European you can get in from the outside with the key which first retracts the security bolts and if you continue to turn it also retracts the latch. It does have a higher resistance once you get to the latch though since you then also have to work against the spring of said latch.
I’ve never heard the term “desuperheater” (for domestic hot water), so I went and looked it up. As shown in the video, with the water-heater heatpump taking its heat from the indoor conditioned space, during the cooling season, it is providing some additional indoor cooling. During the heating season, the geothermal heat passes through a total of two heatpump systems to be put into the domestic hot water. As you say, a desuperheater is mostly of benefit in the summer cooling season, and the nice thing about it is that it’s just a simple heat exchanger, not yet another heat pump, but at best it could only be an adjunct to the “primary” water heating method. As I recall from Steve’s channel, this house is in Massachusetts, so it’s not a hotter climate.
@@kc9scott Correct I'm in Texas so they are really apealing to us, since I anywhere I can dump excess heat and make it useful is great. So I'm thinking a large holding tank, with maybe a tankless to feed it in the rare weeks we are not cooling.
No entry from thr front door? Talk about feeling stupid when you run out to meet a friend and the door closes and you have to walk around to the garage. I really never use my front door for entering but i would not give it up. Nice drill press and huge jointer.
@@wg8304 Cheapest insurance one could ever buy, especially in a rural or remote location. In plan revision phase now for our (hopefully) final home and workshop build. It's fairly remote. Fire sprinklers were first thing on the "Must Have" list for both the home and shop.
Everyone has a brain fart every now and then. The beam Steve was thinking of is a Flitch Beam (usually steel plate sandwiched between dimensional lumber, but could be plywood).
Beautiful home. I’m just confused about the crazy bank vault door. Was the point of the meet and greet style and 3 axis hinges purely for air sealing or to keep people from breaking in?
It’s not a secure door lol. It’s a well built, long lasting, airtight and insulated door. In europe we like quality, not our fault the US is still stuck with decades old building norms.
@@miles5600 using a sarcastic comment as an opportunity to “dunk” on the Americans. How does it feel to have us dumb Americans live in your head rent free?
I still wonder why the outer doors open inward the house. It is easier for burglars to break in and harder to get out in case of emergency because of those inward opening doors.
Matt, I have a request. I’ve been keeping up with you now since about 2016 and would love for you to cover a video or even a series with your thoughts on site development, grading, drainage, excavation, etc civil stuff. Love what you all are doing and keep up the good work!
Being an engineer and having worked with an incredible custom builder and architect out of Santa Fe in the past, it's awesome the kind of partnership you get when you trust the customer to be an extension of your project and allow us to bring our design goals deeply into the "boring infrastructure" of a project. Thanks for showing this awesome build!
@MarkMyshatyn any chance you would mind sharing the names of the architect and/or builder you used in NM?
@@GibsonCRGabsolutely! The builder was Gerry Barber of Madera Builders and the architect was Luca Marino-Baker under his High Desert Creative brand.
@@MarkMyshatyn Hey thanks so much! Although we're building a retirement home south of Santa Fe by "a piece" (as they say) I'm trying to get a handle on New Mexico talent 🙂 Appreciate the quick reply!
Building nearby santa fe in albuquerque. Its tough 😅 trying to build passive but also have views, seems tough
I have done over 6000 homes in NM, with many in Santa Fe area
@16:09 Matt, slight correction. “Li-Po” batteries are short for “lithium polymer”, not lithium phosphate. Li-Po batteries are very energy dense, but not the safest. Almost every consumer device where you have heard of the battery exploding (like cell phones and laptops) use Li-Po batteries. Franklin uses lithium iron phosphate batteries “LiFePO4”. This is actually the chemical formula for these batteries. They are not nearly as energy dense as Li-Po’s, but are MUCH more stable.
LiFePO4 should also endure more charge cycles before losing capacity, therefore more cost effective. Make more sense for stationary packs than LiPo.
That homeowner is a man after my own heart. Durability, Simplicity and Maintainability. And he even managed to make it look pretty good.
Mats build show saved my home.
River shack full remodel. Alll the homes on the water have rot on the river side but not the road side. Build show inspired me
Zip baord with liquid over the tape in prone areas
Rockwool 80 exterior for extra waterproofing and insulation. Helped make code with old 2x4 walls.
Metal standing seam roof
Attic is conditioned space all closed cell foam
2 mini split heads 1 on each side of the house.
ERV and constant air recirculation system so ever room gets freah air. 1 mini split head can maintain the entire house and the run on the lowest quietest setting. The ERV pulls from thw bathrooms 100% of the time.
I have a cavity slider door.
I chose sheep wool for sound proofing because no PPE is needed to work with it.
Fiberglass windows.
The home is lifted for flood plane and we noticed becuse the openings are so large there is enough natural ventilation moisture/rot is not a problem. Removal of the old insulation exposeing prone areas proved everything was ok.
Tankless heater, valve tree .
Floating slab sink base.
Tons of nice detials in this home.
From old river Shack to mini Mansion!!!!.
nice! what areas of the home and how did you sound proof it with wool?
@@utpharmboy2006
Have lock wool.
I did simple test using cardboard box and phone, it seemed better than cellulose, very competitive anyway.
I couldn't be there when the drywall was going up so they installed it. I noticed some sections of wall are not as good as others so I assume they didn't pack every bay 100%. You need to pack it tight. Stuff that wall.
If I had time to do the walls my self I would use 2 sheets of 1/4" joined using the sound caulk 5o maken1/2" sound board. And I would pack the wool extra tight.
The wool is so clean and safe to work with.
I've been messing with Ruxol and spray foam and I hate it. It has its uses but sucks to work with. I had to use Ruxol on the exterior and sprayfoam in the roof and floor because of the type construction.
@@cableguy130 perfect. thank you!
Effort like this makes the world better
Thank you!!
It would help to create a playlist with all of the videos from this (or any) project in one place, and then link to it on each video so anyone who stumbles across one of the videos can access the entire project's video library if interested.
I am married to a European. I feel in love with their human interface stuff. Glad not the only one who likes it! It just feels nicer, looks nicer, and better put together. Also love the minimalist design the home owner went with.
Thank you
@ 19:20 Steve is referring to a flitch beam for anyone who might be curious. A steel plate is coupled with dimensional lumber on either side, and all 3 pieces are held together with (usually) staggered rows of bolts. This sandwich of wood-steel-wood makes for a lightweight but strong composite beam that can be accept flush joist connection similar to a normal wood beam. It's handy when you need the extra stiffness and/ or strength but don't need a full steel beam.
The stringers are basically a inverted flitch beams with steel on the outside and a core made of wood.
You can do similar with W-section steel beams (aka I-beams) by just packing the webs out with wood. There, the wood doesn't really do anything structural. The steel I-beam carries all the load, and the wood pack out allows for traditional wood joists or trusses to attach with face-to-face (flush, dropped a bit, raised a bit, etc.) connections. Often one or more oversized pieces of wood are cut to size to fit the web 'bay', including the concave joint between web and flange, and then bolted thru to transfer loads from joists into the steel.
Flitch beams are sometimes more common on single family homes, but also used in commercial and multi-family projects. Really, I've rarely seen them used in my market though. Packed out I-beams are very common, though.
I'm currently about to start building my own house and after seeing this I kind of just want to slink into a corner. The homeowner is amazingly talented.
We all sit in different seats on the learning curve
Watch stuff, take notes, work out what you do want to apply to your own build and what's interesting but not applicable. We don't all have pristine river views and we don't all need acres of glass in a single pane.
The very best part about designing and building your own house is that while there will be mistakes, and even this chap Carl will decide in time that some of his choices were a mistake, when it's your own build, you're living with your own mistakes, not somebody else's mistakes. Living with the consequences of somebody else's mistakes is infuriating.
If any construction dorks were wondering, the framing member Steve was referring to at 19:15 is a Flitch beam, the old sandwiched dimensional framing lumber with plate steel in the middle, held together with fasteners. Obviously very strong, but heavy and limited and basically don't get used much anymore due to engineered lumber being better in nearly every metric. 👍👍
Architect here, some of the structural engineers I've worked with don't like them simply because the stress capacity of the steel is so much higher than that of the wood and they would rather use one material or the other and not mix. For something like a stair stringer where you need just a little more strength to accommodate the deflection this is a good application for them.
Another arch here. They are are also a bit fussy to make. On the other hand if you can see the steel they can be fairly expressive. @timmmahhhh
@@timmmahhhh I place a 2x4 on either side of a stringer except outside stringer, just below the cheek cut to stiffen the stringer. Amazing how well this works. I am PE Mech. and Structural.
This should be the standard for all new homes in the U.S. in 2024 for and beyond.
Amazing house - the detail in the mechanical room is stellar. I'd love to get that type of door hardware in my house. So clean.
Thank you
I did a basement shop on my last house. It was supposed to be my last house but had to move for work - that's happened twice now. I leave nice shops wherever I go lol.
Let me know when you get your next promotion, I'll buy your basement shop w/ a home attached.
Me Too!@@MaximusMerideus
What a cool and well thought-out home. This is template for "all the most elegant and useful" features.
Thank you
Wife and I bought 60 acres in the Berkshires last year and are really excited to build an amazing house there in the next few years with a lot of the features in this house. Currently working with the forester on logging the part of the property where we plan to put the house, barn, stables
60 acres is a lot, I guess I'll do you a favor and build a barndominium on an acre or two so you and the wife will have a friendly neighbor. You have to admit, that's pretty nice of me. Lol-
Hah. Will already be building a house for each of our kids, a guest house, a barn, a stable… 60 acres goes quick when you have multiple generations and horses.
I grew up in the Berkshires, gimme a call if you need an Architect
@@stevenbaczekarchitect9431 Will do for sure, I think i might have shot you an email on your website a few years back when we were still hunting for a property. We're working with the forester now to clear space for the house and barn. There's a good chance we get some nice views once we clear the trees.
@@christopherhughes7970 you know where to find me - the Berkshires is my home!!
Appreciate the shop Carl! Thanks for sharing your work!
I could swim across the Bearing Strait in a speedo with the thought of having a place+shop like this, awesome.
Would love to see more of this and an interview with Carl.
Two of my favorite 20-something TH-camrs
So cool to see that magnetic door hardware. I am always on the lookout for unique solutions.
it is cool - no staining the door jamb
Where can I buy it?
@@synewparadigm I thihnk they mentioned a european supply store that might have it. Wish he had linked the Franklin batteries, I thought he said he would.
I really don't understand the advantage to a strike plate? Like we're worried about wear on a strike plate? Don't they cost like 5$ and last for decades?
Yeah, stained door jambs make life not worth living!!! @@stevenbaczekarchitect9431
I do like the shower valves away from behind tile… easy to maintain or replace.
They actually require that if you read the spec sheet on that . They propose putting it in the vanity which might be even more convenient. However mine is also in the basement
If I ever got the opportunity to have a home built, I would be exactly like Carl. I need a shop and I would be building a lot of it myself. Love this
Agreed
Franklin batteries are 13.6kWh. Current Tesla Powerwall is 13.5kWh. Franklin bumps up peak power which is nice for single stage AC units. Franklin is more expensive from my quick look.
But if you consider the price and feature, I will say it make sense.
Like many of you fans on this show and industry, these videos, learnings are always interesting helpful and its greatly appreciated when builders, homeowners, etc come together to share and exchange ideas with the average person! One hope from a big fan base is that there will be more and more content offered on pre-existing homes and how to solve bring them up to standards to match and get close as possible as some of these new homes built for durability longevity with strong R value.
It's always a great video when you guys post. You've inspired me to build my own house in the future and while I have a million questions, your videos have answered countless already!
Name of the game - thanks for sharing your kind thoughts
Love your coverage of the mechanicals.
I have a similar Waterfurnace Series 7, 3 ton geothermal system. And I use an Emporia energy monitor. At peak hot and cold, I've measured a max energy usage of 2 kW @ 8 Amps. That is without the emergency heat coils, which I don't believe have turned on in my 2 years of ownership. Love this thing.
For me this home is absolute…Fantastic work by all those involved!
Thank you
As an Architect I can appreciate the approach of using ground source heat pumps, battery systems, various controls, etc as presented.
But I'm also well aware of the initial costs and maintenance issues . Many projects killed this approach after the owner saw the costs, maintenance and payback.
The Mechanical Engineer was reinded in for simpler cost effective solutions.
Sometimes " keep it simple" ends up with livable solutions.
We need a full interview with Karl. I'm spelling it the German way because it feels right.
I need to know if Karl is in the market for a new best friend.
I love this house not only because of its quality features but because of how simple the design is, my only concern is cost, especially given such a great plot of land, would be interesting to see how much it costs and how to achieve similar results but at a lower price point
The front door isn't just a meet and greet door. It actually performs as an entry door. In all of Europe those are entry doors. They just don't have door knobs like the US. Put the key in the lockset and use the key to turn to unlock and push forward.
I love so much about this home. The kitchen is glorious but my wife would absolutely undermine everything about that kitchen. She loves countertop appliances and is a pack rat. I built our home to be open and comfortable and that plan ended within the first year. She’s emotionally stable and very kind so it’s a bit of a compromise.
Matt, in your video, you mention you will include many things in the description, and unfortunately they are missing.
"[Carl] is the most amazing man I've ever met." Direct quote by Matt towards end of video haha. Carl......absolute legend.
BEAUTIFUL!
Thank you
absolutely fabulous.
Thank you
Looking at doing something very similar, except with ICF, all electric, heatpump everything... My current want/wait is Sodium Ion batteries, to bring the cost down for stationary storage. My workshop will be in a pole barn, and will go with Ikea cabinets, while I build/make my own cause my projects usually take 5-10 years to complete, lol at least that's the dream/goal...
actually, just viewing the complete build videos, it is ICF, so this is more or less my same thought process, glad I'm not the only crazy nut thinking this way, lol
@@abel4776my goal is to retire and worry less about utilities gouging, be more self reliant and sustainable for the long term.
ICF puts the fragile flammable toxic insulation on the surfaces where it's most vulnerable to mechanical damage, vermin, or fire, and puts the concrete in the middle where its strength has the least leverage and its thermal mass is useless. If you can build a sandwich with the structural concrete on the interior surface of the wall, and then your insulation, and then enough concrete on the exterior surface to protect your insulation and back-brace the main concrete, you'll be well ahead.
ICF is easy, but that doesn't make it good.
An added advantage of the heat pump hot water system being inside is that it extracts moisture from the air while it is running.
I would like to see the build show network build a home from start to finish and how energy efficient it will in northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, or northern Minnesota. Don’t know how many videos it would include. Do you think this could happen?
Awesome house and excellent craftsmanship by the homeowner. I have my shop in my walkout basement like that too and it’s wonderful. Being a retired electrician I couldn’t help but notice the code violation in the garage. The batteries are installed within the required working space for the electrical panel in the wall, that’s illegal.
You are correct - the batteries are slated to slide down the wall
In China the “bank vault” style front doors are even more extreme. In addition to the large security latch there are also numerous metal pins throughout the entire height that extend into the frame when the door is shut. It was crazy to witness. They also had fingerprint and code entry, and video when you ring the doorbell.
This door may have had that as well, it seems the high end Euro doors have this and he's shown it on other videos. Seems like a much more secure door other than the two large windows on either side!
And a window next to the door makes all those "security" features completely useless.😅
Proud to see FranklinWH in the video.
12:05 that door can be opened with the key from the outside as the key will turn twice - once to retract the multipoint , twice to retract the latch
I did a few custom things on this home, nothing like this, but even in my small scale I wonder if the next owner is going to have the understanding to maintain it. I saw a video on a rotating house in California that the owner designed/engineered and he was pretty much the only one that understood it. I guess we do these things for ourselves and don't really look down the road that much, but seems one man's dream may be another man's headache someday.
The Tom Scott video on the rotating home is great.
13:58 Should add a recessed outlet under the toilet for a Bidet toilet seat.
True! Though mech room is right below, at least it would be an easy retrofit!
Just amazing.
Thank you for joining in
What a totally amazing house
Thank you
Did Carl do a build diary? I would be happy to read how and what he did and the time line.
3:45 I have same door locks in my rental, was surprised at first too. Not quieter just different
Really cool house, and I love the Japandi vibe. Love the workstation sink. Those cabinets will be annoying to close though. It's the one design feature I can't seem to work around in my kitchen design. Hardware ruins the look, but push open requires you to carefully close each door, which is annoying when your hands are full.
I would of loved to see more of the door, didn't show how the hinges are hidden.
Great house
Thank you
12:51 the door should actually unlatch with the key from the outside, if it’s German for hardware. It should also have a latch disable feature if you have prior going in and out the front for a while.
Steve says 'as an Architect' more than George Costanza
Next thing you'll see Steve pulling a golfball out of the great beast as the waves crash down upon him.
Hey, have either of you two seen the new addition on the Guggenheim?
@@MaximusMerideus Till I ever tell ya about the time of the coast of Maui in '92 ........
Didn't hear any pant swishing though as they walked around. But all kidding aside, or in addition to the humour, I'd love to know what type of plywood they used for the stairs!
yea, the bank vault front door makes so much sense. A criminal is going to look at that door and say "what an idiot, you gave two man sized window panels to walk through"
Or I can go in the back yard, out of sight and go through that door
Your not getting thru those sidelights. I have seen demonstrations of big guys with an axe and a triple glazed window with the films on them - it was embarrasing
Is there a link to the door hardware in the garage? Clean look and looks like it will last for many years. Keep up the good work. I enjoy learning about new products.
European Doors Burlington MA
Beautiful custom home, but I get a kick out of the super secure front door with two windows on either side. You can't kick in the door but you're more than welcome to kick in the glass.
I'm assuming he bought high-security glass.
Those are triple glazed units with film.....I have seen guys my size try to break them with an age, and lose......you are not kicking those windows in
You come by - I will set up the camera and you have at it - you are not getting thru that glass.
Super-minor: 9:37, 11:04 I would have expected the induction cooktop to have been recessed so its top was flush with the top of the countertop, rather than proud by 3/32″ or so. Is there a reason not to do that? (I am thinking about this detail in my own kitchen, so it's on my mind!)
An electronic shower valve is genius.
until it doesnt work, the more complicated something is the more likely it will fail
@@tombrady8716 Except, it is way less complicated and so much easier to repair. You realize the controls aren't built into the wall, right? They mount on the wall like a thermostat. You can remove the controls and replace them without undoing a single screw, it snaps on and off the wall. The single wire from the control panel down to the valve uses an RCA jack behind the control panel, not a screw terminal like a thermostat. Swapping the control panel if it fails takes less than 30 seconds of work.
Obviously any repair to the valve that is easily accessible in the basement is also super easy.
I don't think you have ever worked on a shower valve before if you don't see how simple and better control by wire is.
All airplanes are control by wire and cars are starting to be too. All hvac is control by wire. How is this simplification and reliability improvement for showers not a good idea?
@@tombrady8716have had one for four years and its worked flawlessly.
When my ship comes in…I want Steve and Carl to help design my house.
First few moments of video...he slides dust collection filter on ceiling over...rough cut Sheetrock and no apparent fire barrier. .. ooh 😮
It's a private residence and the code doesn't require a "fire barrier" as you call it.
Great build. Kudos Steve and Carl. I’m in the middle of specifying Franklin batteries (Matt would love a video on Franklin’s aGate integrating with SPAN). Given the building code complexities of garage battery placement I noted the protective bollards. Steve was this detail required by the inspector or was Carl ahead of the game?
Nice touches and overall build! I like the idea of charging the Franklin batteries from the grid at a reduced rate. I wonder if the Franklin batteries could be charged by a small backup generator while it is powering the house.
I am surprised the Carl failed to insulate the hot water lines. I insulate the entire hot water line and then use either a 1-hole or 2-hole strap sized to allow for uninterrupted pipe insulation to secure the water lines. This also allows for the PEX lines to expand/contract due to the changing water temperature flowing through them.
Running a generator, if you factor in all costs (purchase price, fuel, maintenance, depreciation etc.) is expensive. It's a great idea in an emergency, but as a rule utility power is almost always going to be cheaper. I do exactly what you do with my water lines; they can't be too well insulated and it sounds as if you are just as meticulous as me.
@@paulmaxwell8851: I already own a 7KW/8.5KW Peak generator that I use to power our house when the grid is down. Currently this is a very inefficient setup as the generator needs to run 24/7 until the grid comes back up. Rarely are we using 7KW of power at one time (because my generator is not large enough to run our home's air conditioning). This means I am wasting a lot of gasoline and not utilitizing my generator's power output capabilities wisely.
My thoughts are a whole house battery system could power my house while the generator is also charging it. Once the battery reaches a full charge, I could shutdown my generator. This would make the setup far more efficient, save wear/tear on the generator and save gasoline used to run the generator. A bonus would be no power interruption when it is time to re-fill the generator's gas tank or if it runs for many days and I need to change the oil.
If the overall cost difference was reasonable, I would install a whole house battery system that could handle the entire house load.
Yes, I am very meticulous. Sometimes a person's OCD can be of great benefit. I believe it makes me better at my job and contributes to my projects.
Fabulous!
Thank you
The more gadgets in your house, the more repairs and maintenance you have to do. I get it, the guy has an unlimited budget to work with but is any of this necessary in the first place?
When you build your own home, nothing is about necessity.
I am building mine and I've been removing as much as possible to avoid as much maintenance as possible, only keeping what's needed and useful. You must consider you'll live there in your 60s and will have less energy to maintain all this...@@branchandfoundry560
Not really true though, we have a house with these things built over 20 years ago and still going strong with very little maintenance required.
A lot stuff is imported, like the door hardware.
It will last way longer in the long run.
There are houses in Europe hundreds of years old and still in great shape. Kinda like power tools, buy quality up front, save in the long run
I would love for you to cover EV charging for the home. I have one EV, and I know I’ll have at least one in my house for the rest of my life. It does 95% of what I do, then I pull out the truck for the remaining 5%. It such a better experience. I just plug it in like my phone when I get home.
Lipo is lithium polymer as used in drones. LFP, LiFePO4, LiFe are typical abbreviations of Lithium Iron Phosphate. It's the onoy chemistry that should be used in a home IMO. Pretty bad error in the video about a pretty sweet and unique home. 10/10 Carl/Karl!
Por favor! Necesitamos subtitulos al español🙌
curious where this house is built....was that Wegman's seltzer in the frig? The home owner has a design/performance mind like me....one day I hope to have something similar...WOW
Damn some nice features...
Just WOW
Thank you
No mention of the toilet seat :D
looks like a cool 🆒 airbnb
Amazing... and about 3 minutes in, I knew the homeowner had to be an engineer. LOL
He's the epitomy of an engineer
They can recover heat from the bathroom drain water and transfer it to the water heater inlet lowering the delta.
If only most guys had the funds to use these ideas.
Oh you didn't hear the latest news? We are all millionaires
I look at shows like this as showing what's coming 10-15 years down line for everybody. Just in the same way that the tech channels show computer hardware that are utterly out of reach of the average consumer, it still shows you where things are going.
Plan your life, set long-term goals, and have fewer children. I started planning my retirement when I was in my early twenties and, although a divorce set me back a little bit, it went roughly according to plan. I retired early, bought a nice place in the country and, together with my wife, designed and built an off-grid solar home. We don't have the money Karl obviously has but we're comfortable, and that's result of a life-long modest lifestyle and careful money management. Anyone can do it, barring serious health setbacks of course.
@@abel4776 I agree
Everything in this house is scalable, it's your job to take the concept and provide an alternative, I have many lower cost homes using many of these concepts....
could you do a video on how to do a multijet rain forest shower system? w pressure tanks and all? building my own dream home now.
Clean those windows!
I'll never understand a heavily reinforced door but half your walls are glass. Are the windows bullet resistant at least?
I noticed the same myself.
I would wager there’s at least some thick Mylar film on it. That should at least contain the fragments for a brief time and give a few seconds delay if someone smashes them trying to reach in and open the door.
Speaking from an architectural perspective here, so I apologize for the mini essay lol:
There is impact rated glass. It's a safe bet that is used in the sidelites for the front door. At least, it would be a shit product if the glass wasn't high impact rated. The other windows are usually not as highly rated, but can and sometimes are impact resistant to some degree as well. Usually there will be 'normal' tempered glass used for larger windows anyways. But for security reasons, it all can and should have some improved impact resistance, but that gets expensive.
Robbers usually go for the doors anyways and not windows, because broken shards of glass is asking for them to cut themselves going in and out. And carrying thick enough blankets to drape over the openings would attract too much attention in most busy enough neighborhoods anyways. Likewise, if the first floor is raised off the ground, the windows are likely too high to reach without a step ladder or ladder, which would also attract attention and slow you down if you have to run.
Most robbers are gonna be looking for targets of opportunity and an easy get away, so doors are the preferred target over jumping thru a window. That's not always true, of course, but if someone is willing to smash and climb up thru a window each way... reinforcing both the doors the windows probably wasn't going to stop them anyway at that point.
But I agree, all potential points of entry should be reinforced. But also, when you go down that rabbit hole, if the doors and windows are reinforced, is it easier at that point to just get a chainsaw and cut your way in thru the siding, sheathing, and stud wall? Because most homes are stick framed in the US, someone who wants to get at you bad enough could easily just do that. It's suuuuper unlikely, but if you have enough of a target on your back to warrant all that added security at your doors and windows, you'll want your exterior walls to be concrete also at that point. From a cost-benefit analysis, for most folks it makes sense to just reinforce the front door and maybe some select windows, not everything, unless they have a huge budget. Cameras, motion sensors, alarms, and automated lights will provide extra protection if not more than reinforcing all the non-door openings.
I don't think it's so much about the security of the door as it is the super seal you get when all of the bolts engage and pull the door tight. These kinds of doors are pretty common in Europe. They're very conscious over there of constructing as airtight as possible (and in doing so energy efficient) buildings. Also, the door typically can be opened from outside with a key, and there is usually a small latch that can be flipped up on the jamb that allows you to push the door open from outside when you're home going in and out.
It’s not really about security cause this door is not even close to a european safety door, this door you see in the video is that thick and sturdy to get a well airtight and insulated seal between the inside and outside, that’s also the reason why you can’t open them from the outside cause it’s a European style door.
@@miles5600 If it's like any door I've used as a European you can get in from the outside with the key which first retracts the security bolts and if you continue to turn it also retracts the latch. It does have a higher resistance once you get to the latch though since you then also have to work against the spring of said latch.
Suprised he didnt do a de-superheater off the geothermal, in hotter climates during cooling it is basically free hot water.
I’ve never heard the term “desuperheater” (for domestic hot water), so I went and looked it up. As shown in the video, with the water-heater heatpump taking its heat from the indoor conditioned space, during the cooling season, it is providing some additional indoor cooling. During the heating season, the geothermal heat passes through a total of two heatpump systems to be put into the domestic hot water. As you say, a desuperheater is mostly of benefit in the summer cooling season, and the nice thing about it is that it’s just a simple heat exchanger, not yet another heat pump, but at best it could only be an adjunct to the “primary” water heating method. As I recall from Steve’s channel, this house is in Massachusetts, so it’s not a hotter climate.
@@kc9scott Correct I'm in Texas so they are really apealing to us, since I anywhere I can dump excess heat and make it useful is great. So I'm thinking a large holding tank, with maybe a tankless to feed it in the rare weeks we are not cooling.
Great stuff. I really enjoy you videos and it gives me inspiration for my build. Where can one find a good “bank vault door?”
European Architectural Supply - Makrowin is the manufacturer
Great decisions!
Thank you
Question about the heat pump water heater. What did the inspector say about it? Here they made me duct the air intake and exhaust to outside.
Ours was good with it - there is a vent in the wall connecting it to the larger basement
@@stevenbaczekarchitect9431gGood to know thanks for responding.
This must be a Boston Dynamics guy. Lots of money, great engineering.
Pretty standard in europe for new builds especially. The US is just behind.
No entry from thr front door? Talk about feeling stupid when you run out to meet a friend and the door closes and you have to walk around to the garage. I really never use my front door for entering but i would not give it up. Nice drill press and huge jointer.
It seems more questionable from a first responder perspective. Firemen are gonna have a helluva time getting in that door.
@@wg8304 "Flex Karma" maybe?
@@branchandfoundry560 yes maybe sprinklers should have been on this engineer/ owner’s mind.
@@wg8304 Cheapest insurance one could ever buy, especially in a rural or remote location. In plan revision phase now for our (hopefully) final home and workshop build. It's fairly remote. Fire sprinklers were first thing on the "Must Have" list for both the home and shop.
@@wg8304no, they can break the windows and in europe they use a hydraulic clipper to break the door open.
Great video and beautiful home but man that was some intense ego stroking for ol’ Carl.
Everyone has a brain fart every now and then. The beam Steve was thinking of is a Flitch Beam (usually steel plate sandwiched between dimensional lumber, but could be plywood).
Beautiful home. I’m just confused about the crazy bank vault door. Was the point of the meet and greet style and 3 axis hinges purely for air sealing or to keep people from breaking in?
Are the walls plywood rather than sheet rock at the start of the house tour?
in the basement workshop yes
I loved the magnetic latch doors with the hidden hinges, unfortunately I missed the name of the Italian company which manufactured these items.
eUROPEAN dOORS bURLINGTON ma
Naming my first born son Carl after watching this 😂
Not a bad dream there
nice
How do emergency responders get in the front door if needed, assuming the inhabitant cannot answer the door?
Thick bank vault secure front door. Puts a massive window on either side.
Wicked smaht!
It’s not a secure door lol. It’s a well built, long lasting, airtight and insulated door. In europe we like quality, not our fault the US is still stuck with decades old building norms.
@@miles5600 using a sarcastic comment as an opportunity to “dunk” on the Americans. How does it feel to have us dumb Americans live in your head rent free?
Wow, talk about a HOME. Some people want a house, Carl wanted a home.
With or without guardrails, I don't think those stairs are child safe.
OK, but they meet code requirements
As per usual, you say you’re gonna put a link to something, but never do. Integrity matters.
What do you want a link to?
We want Carl :)
I still wonder why the outer doors open inward the house. It is easier for burglars to break in and harder to get out in case of emergency because of those inward opening doors.