Premier Homes
By Greg Roberts
The Name Says It All . . .
"Premier" is a new name for a type of construction
that is "old hat" for me.
Most builders start their careers by building standard types of construction and then
they might get involved in a different system later on. But I went about
it backwards. I taught myself to build super-insulated homes
first in 1988, and then learned about standard construction techniques later.
In fact, for the first 12 years I was in business, I built super-insulated
homes exclusively. Over the years I have refined that system of construction
to become a very unique offering to my customers, and now I've decided to give it
a name; "Premier Homes".
Over the last few years, with the blossoming "Green" building movement taking hold across
the country, I find myself expanding into different methods of building. By
using the same concepts that have guided me through my work with super-insulated homes,
I've been able to adapt methods of increasing energy-efficiency, providing better
indoor air quality, and building more durable homes into several different
construction systems.
But I worked so hard, for so many years to refine the super-insulated construction
system that our company had become so well known for, that I didn't want that system to
get lost in the mix of the other ideas that we've been working on. I wanted to
make sure I kept that system aside as a seperate and distinct option, and give it a
special place within the offerings that we present to our customers.
Only a very small percentage of the homes we build now are Premier,
probably because of the high cost of the system. But it is more refined and
higher in quality now than it has ever been, and so it is still a viable option for
those few people who recognize and desire the same things that I do in building a
new home.
So what is a Premier home? It's hard to summarize this system.
There are so many unique little construction details that go into it, most of which
are not even seen when the house is finished. If I had to summarize the
system in one sentence, it would be this: The Premier Home from Design Concepts
Company is built with the greatest attention to detail, offering superior
energy-efficiency, comfort, and durability, as well as a healthier indoor environment.
The key word in that sentence is "detail". That is really what sets a
Premier Home apart from all others. It is my desire and ability to pay close
attention to the details from start to finish that make the Premier system more
expensive, but also provides the greatest level of construction
quality that I know of.
The benefits of owning and living in a Premier Home are profound, and there
simply is no equal in the marketplace. Even compared to other
non-standard methods of construction, the Premier Home excels.
The Premier Home redefines the term "quality construction". Every
builder you talk to will tell you they build high quality homes. Think
about it, have you ever heard a builder say that he builds medium quality?
Of course not, but we all know that most homes built in Maine are built to medium
quality, and some are low quality. So who's building all of them?
It certainly is something interesting to think about. I can say with certainty,
that once you learn about the detailed construction methods that go into a Premier home,
your definition of quality construction will change.
A Premier Home functions better because it
is designed to do so. There are many builders out there who have good
intentions when it comes to building better quality homes, but the Premier Home delivers
results well beyond what is typically provided in the marketplace. It has
taken me many years to refine this system. It is not haphazard construction, it
is a well-thought-out system that has been designed by hands-on work on over 50 homes,
over a 20 year time span. The Premier Home is better by design.
I recognize that a home is a system, made up of many different components, each
of which affects all the other components of the system, and the home as a whole.
To build a higher quality home that performs to a higher standard and provides real
benefits to my customers, I must take into consideration all aspects of all of the
building components and how each one interacts with all the others. Not to do so,
risks the types of problems that are seen in standard homes built here in Maine every
year, like indoor air quality problems, mold and moisture problems, air leakage and high
energy use, durability issues from bulk water damage as well as moisture vapor leakage,
squeaks and creaks, shrinkage and warpage, etc...
The Premier Home is not about being big, fancy or showy. In fact, most of the
Premier homes that have been built are fairly modest, and they have been built as small
as 1000 square feet. Most of our customers
are interested in the practical aspects of owning a home that is built with higher
quality construction methods, not bigger or with fancy features. There are
no limitations on the size or style of a Premier Home.
Here's a detailed list of specifications for
a Premier Home:
We use lots of insulation! At least twice as much as the average 2 x 6
wall house, (R-45) walls, (R-100+) ceilings. My customers will never
have to pay to retrofit their homes with more insulation. We do it
once, the right way. We use literally tons of high-density, blown-in
cellulose that we install with our own machine. This is a superior
insulation made from recycled material. We protect all that insulation,
and the structure of the house itself, with a complete air/vapor barrier on the
warm side of the insulation. This meticulously sealed barrier is what makes sure
that our Premier Home never has uncontrolled air leakage. I've used foam
insulations of all kinds, including ICF block and the very expensive spray-in-place urethane,
and I like foam a lot. I believe Straw-bale even has merit. But
none of those systems is the equal of our super-insulated walls and ceilings in terms
of energy use. The Premier system is a step above even the best of what
others have to offer.
We always build foundations that are completely insulated. COMPLETELY!
Completely insulated means that every square inch of concrete surface
area that could come into contact with the ground or is exposed to the outside air is
covered with foam insulation. Think about the average basement built in Maine and
the lack of insulation used. Of course this will change eventually as our
building codes begin to change. Just recently (2011), there have been
building code changes that are causing quite an uproar with Maine builders not used
to the idea of completely insulating a new home.
We always completely waterproof our foundations. I'm not talking about
a little black tar slapped on the concrete, I mean real waterproofing by actually
eliminating concrete to ground contact with proper barriers and foam insulation.
Our monolithic slab foundations easily meet the highest standards for insulation and
waterproofing, and they are simply the highest
quality foundation that a home can be built on.
We always properly ventilate the inside of our Premier homes with a
mechanical ventilation system that includes an air-to-air
heat exchanger. Not because we build them so tight that they "need"
ventilation, but
because ALL new homes and their occupants can benefit greatly from the
addition of a mechanical ventilation system that is thoughtfully incorporated
into the design of the house. Once ventilation is part of the design,
the responsible builder can then go to work tightening up the envelope of
the home to improve energy-efficiency. The ventilation system greatly
improves the indoor air quality of the house, controls moisture, and
recovers heat. This is a completely ducted system that is
controlled by the owner.
We seal all uncontrolled air leaks in the heated envelope of the house,
including the potential air leaks from the foundation. We do this
by using advanced air-tightening construction techniques and a complete
air/vapor barrier throughout the entire house. We use only the
highest quality materials for this, such as, Tu Tuff cross-linked vapor
barrier, Venture poly tape, Pur-Fil spray foam, and Tremco acoustical
sealant.
The superior framing system of the Premier Home uses engineered wood
components throughout.
These components, like wood I-beam floor joists, laminated veneer
lumber (LVL) headers and beams, and roof trusses provide a stronger,
straighter engineered frame for your house. Some parts, like the
"DCC Stud", are unique to our company.
The Premier Home uses a high-efficiency, sealed combustion, heating appliance
to produce hot water for domestic use as well as for heating. These
units operate quietly, and feature stainless steel tanks and solid-state
electronics for long service life. They are so efficient, they
vent through 2" P.V.C. pipe, and they burn so cleanly, that we
"set them up" to operate at only 11 parts-per-million of carbon monoxide
directly in the vent stream. That's one-third the amount that OSHA allows in the
air of a workplace! Perhaps you've heard the ads on the radio for the
tankless water heaters and how efficient they are. Well they aren't as
efficient as you might think, and the clue is in the vent system used.
Next time you're at the Common Ground Fair and you go into one of the trailers there
that has the tankless water heaters setup, and note that they are using a metal
vent. Why would they need to use a metal vent? Because the
flue gases going up the vent are hot enough that they require metal for the vent, and
that is because there is quite a bit of heat being lost up the vent, and that translates
into a not-so-efficient heater, no matter how, to the contrary the advertising makes it sound.
The heaters that we use only require a plastic pipe, because the flue gas being
expelled is cool enough, and that means the heat is not being wasted up the flue, and that
is REAL high-efficiency and not just smoke and mirrors.
The Premier Home has radiant floor heating and we
have over 75 of these systems in operation in Maine. Our
considerable experience with these systems has resulted in a level of
refinement that is unmatched in the industry. For instance, we
always separate the water in the floor from the rest of the system with a
heat exchanger, we use controls that sense outdoor temperature and set up our systems for
constant circulation, resulting in superior comfort.
The Premier Home uses the Uponor Aquapex plumbing system,
with individual lines to each
fixture to distribute water with a very even pressure and
temperature. This contrasts sharply with most copper systems that
are branched, causing pressure and temperature differences throughout the
house. The quality of PEX tubing offers a corrosion resistant,
lead-free, durable, clean, healthy, quiet plumbing system with a 25 year
warranty.
We use Tyvek housewrap, tape and seal all joints, and use proper
flashing details around windows and doors on the outside of the
house. This provides a superior "drainage plane" beneath the siding,
and also blocks bulk air from getting into the house shell.
Any type of siding will work on our Premier Homes, but we specialize in custom
cedar shingles and fiber-cement clapboard. We always use a
rain-screen behind all of our wood siding to provide an airspace and a drainage
area for moisture to escape. All of our exterior wood trim is premium,
finger-jointed, factory-primed, pine which is a superior quality, knot-free, wood
product. We also use PVC trim when the budget allows.
We use high-quality fiberglass/asphalt architectural roof shingles as our standard,
with ice and water membrane in all valleys, roof to wall intersections,
and around skylites. We use Aluminum Rite-Flo drip edge for
superior edge protection that won't rust.
We offer many different grades of finish trim and doors inside our
Premier Home. While we much prefer to spend our time concentrating on
the functional quality of the home in the parts that are not seen when the home is
finished, we recognize that the finish work is what people see when it's all done.
To that end, regardless of the finishes chosen, they are always installed correctly and
completely. We do not offer partial completion of a Premier home.
The fit and finish of a Premier Home is unsurpassed.
How many times have you seen a completed new home that still has window stickers on
the garage windows? How detailed do you think the rest of the finish
was on that new home? If you're going to hire someone to build a home for you,
you need to seriously think about these things if you want to get a high quality home.
There's a lot of things missed out there by the average builder.
I believe a new home should be delivered just a like a new car is delivered, brand new,
clean, and I mean really clean, and detailed. That's what we expect when we
buy a new car, but so many people don't get a new home delivered this way.
With a DCC Premier home, we use detailed punch lists at the end of the project to make
sure that every square inch of your home is completely cleaned and finished.
We wood-fill all nail holes with color-matching putty, we wipe down all
woodwork, we fill gaps behind base trim, we use lights to spot minor
imperfections in the drywall to repair, we touch up all paint, we clean
all window glass inside and out, we clean all cabinets, we clean all
floors, we clean all plumbing fixtures, and we even clean the mechanical
area. We test the operation of all components like doors, locksets, windows,
drawers, faucets, and electrical devices. In short, when we deliver a home to you,
it is probably in the cleanest and best condition it will ever be in.
So now you're asking yourself:
Well I'll tell you!
Because it's expensive! There's just no way around it.
The system is labor intensive, and labor is expensive these days.
There are also some
limitations with what we are willing to do with this system. Call me and we'll
talk about them.
The Premier system isn't for everyone, and I know that.
I've actually had some people who were really turned off by the technical nature
of the system. I understand.
If that's how you feel, please don't give up on us!
There are lots of other options available to you.
We've developed some great "green" methods of building with conventional systems
that aren't nearly as expensive or technically challenging.
A lot of this "Green" stuff is just plain common
sense, it doesn't always have to be complicated or even more expensive.
But if a Premier Home sounds like what you're looking for, there's only one place
you can get it!
Ask for Premier construction . . . available only from
Greg Roberts and
Design Concepts Company, New Home Construction
Click below for other relative Premier webpages:
Super-Insulation
Owners Manual
Building Science
Design Concepts Co., Inc. Home Page
Maine Home Builder Design Concepts Company Inc. -- Offering
environmentally friendly, energy efficient homes by Maine based home
builder Design Concepts Company, Inc.
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