International Building Code

Wow, that sure brings us one huge step closer to that "one world goverment control" system they have in place.

Has anyone used the IBC for residential construction? If so do I need to order more than just the main 2006 IBC book? If not, what supplement code books do you suggest for general residential construction? CMU(block) with open beams on both buildings.

From what I see there's $814 worth of supplement books, just on residential construction. And people wonder why it costs $200k to build a simple box home.

T_Bone

• IBC

Noah in 2006 In the year 2006, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.

Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans."

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.

"Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.

Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!

When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me.

They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.

I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew.

Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work.

The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience.

To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

I used to carry a complete set of the Code Check books in my service truck.
I found that I could find the information and the section of code that applied very quickly and if more information was needed I looked up the appropriate section in a code book or called the Inspector for that particular function and ask for clarification of the code section.

Not enough depth for an architect or design engineer but covers most of what a tradesman would want know..

I will post the publishers link; but I have also bought them at Home Depot.

• Code Check

I've never used the code check books but I prefer to have the code book and look up the info for myself as then if I draw a know it all inspector, I can show him or there boss where in the code it's stated.

T_Bone

I had many problems with inspectors, but the general rule is to not yell at them, treat them poorly or even shoot at them, no matter how great the temptation. (my wife was digging a shallow grave for one of them)

When it came down to final inspection, the guy came out...I had to drive him up to the house because of snow (they drive 2wd Ford Rangers here). He failed me for a few small things. My home is log and so is the handrail on the staircase. He made me make one that was normal so small hands could grab it. I made the changee, he approved them, and as he was driving down the lane on his way out, I was ripping those changes out.

I believe in building codes for safety concerns alone. Bad wiring, plumbing and such can be a danger, a/c smoke detectors and egress are all valid concerns, but some of the things they come up with are just silly.

I really do think they would like to get rid of owner built homes and also contractors from other counties.

Our community well was going to run a 1/4 mile of 4" pipe from our new well and storage tanks to a fill station. I strongly suggested to the man in charge send everyone home the day of inspection. Well he didn't heed my advice and $7000 and 3mths latter that we paid a piping design engineer, we got to cover our pipe.

Seams like one of the yahoo's on a shovel made a smarta$$ comment to the inspector.

T_Bone

Gee's I could spend several days on this topic. We have 350 active members and 500 non-active. The key to new wells is staying in the exempt well status, under 35gpm, by using storage tanks. We store 45,000gal at most well sites, 5 sites. This lets us handle the heavy week end demans without over pumping.

We also have one 50yr old 12" well pumping close too 75gpm as it's "grandfathered" in before the rule change in 1969,1984. That one well has saved our bacon more than once as we have a 3" main line 3 miles away to another well site that's central located to all owners.

10yrs ago a 20 home tract got caught pumping 55gpm on a spot check visit, and AZDWR didn't even hesitate to shut the well down and leave the people without water at the start of summer time. All because they didn't put in enough storage tanks.

Our last well we sunk in 2002, cost us $100,000 when we were done. It will cost us another $10k a year in Attorney fees to operate the well as the land owner keeps trying to break his 99yr lease. Again just because someone pi$$ed off the land owner. Same well that the inspector got us on. LOL

T_Bone

The county had some pdf's I DL and see that now we can build a 200sft roof surface without a permit, about a 14 x 14 building. Used to be 10ftx12ft. Fence, awnings, car ports, spa covers or livestock buildings(200sft), no permits needed. So things have changed for the better in some respects.

I found that most codes state that there the minimum requirements and you can always build it stronger or better than code requires.

T_Bone

Often a code works to perpetuate classic materials and union shop ways of working, especially in plumbing, and to reject new materials and procedures. That happens more often in the state and local variations than in the base code, but it happens both places. That raises costs calling for cast iron or copper drains instead of PVC and copper or threaded iron pipe instead of PEX. It saves the plumbers from learning new tricks and from having to stock a wider variety of tools and except for the many added hours the home owner pays, it produces a conservative product that should last well. But sometimes the home owner gets none of it becuase the bids are so high the home owner can't afford to start and never builds.

Gerald J.

The NEC will probably remain as is. It is changed about every 3 years and is quite comprehensive and covers more than just residential construction, as it includes commercial, industrial and just about every different kind of electrical service except "planes, trains, and cars". It notes that even though it does not cover boats and ships, it is referenced in the CFR's (Code of Federal Regulations) 110-113, and thus made law for some ship applications.

Esentially, it works too well like it is to change it.

Charles

I asked our building dept. about buying a code book when I was starting our place. They told me not to bother, come ask when I had questions. Not that they want to explain in detail every step of building, but if you only need a little help, like how far between elec boxes or which size drain pipe, they're happy to help.

Here, the building permit application requires one page that shows structurally what holds up the roof. As you know, my houses aren't exactly standard construction so they look at my crude drawings very carefully. I have to submit engineering tables for my 300 ton roof structures.

When the plan's approved here, it's generally full of notes about required window size and height (egress) and other details easily missed by non-GCs. They want the same thing you do, a house built according to code with no mistakes or arguments.

If your building dept hasn't taken the step of discouraging owner/builders, shouldn't be much of a problem. CMUs are still standard construction there? I wouldn't.

Man if you haven't looked at all the new styles and colors of CMU available your missing something. I consider it close to building with brick but bigger and more eye appealing with the 8x16x4 sizes and finishs.

Wood just doesn't hold up well here in all the heat athough I'm planning a solid wood plank roof so I don't have to insulate.

T_Bone

But it's your house.

Ya if I'm lucky I have 20yrs left in me and the bugs can't eat that fast...lol

I didn't want any man made insulation on the roof and in our climnate I can get away with 3.5" of solid wood on the roof and never have a worry.

I had never considered CMU's before as the cost is a little high but since I'm getting to where I can't do all the work, I'm going to have to hire labor. CMU's are not bad priced for what concrete would cost me to finish.

The wife may live another 30yrs so I want something that last her a life time with very little repair or upkeep. I'm still in the design phase. I think what I will do is pull a premit for a normal CMU frame with a engineered roof truss with shingles then change my mind when I get the final design done. The electric utility is running ragged trying to keep up as were in a serious building boom here. Schedualing a new meter pedestal will take probably 2mths and by that time I will have my frame design complete and resumit the premit for a update. I need the electric changed before I can start construction as the old load center pole is in the middle of the new house.

My main concern right now is finding insurance to cover libility and construction labor. Since we don't have a fire department, insurance is next too impossible to get.

Unless you have another idea that I haven't thought of?

T_Bone

I found Allstate very friendly when I was building my first place. They carried HO"s insurance from my footings pour. The underwriter had to come out to see what I was building, couldn"t understand an all-concrete house with dirt on the roof. Wanted to know why I wanted "fire insurance" at all. Fire protection isn"t a lot out here, a small volunteer operation. So the rate"s higher than if there was a hydrant on the corner.

Fire wasn"t much concern in a house that won"t burn, but I wanted the whole package, as do you. Particularly, liability coverage. I was owner/builder with no GC involved. Not a lot of hired labor and it was all unskilled. HO"s insurance is a bargain for that.

A house should keep you dry, warm in the winter, cool in the summer, have no exterior maintenance, be inexpensive to build, and cost nothing to operate. I"m very close. If yours will do the same, you"re on target. But as you know, I grew up in a CMU house there and it didn"t work all that well. Better to have a higher-mass (preferably insulated) house.

BTW, that heat pump water heater you helped me with still isn"t automatic, but has done a great job these last years. Paid for itself in just over 1 season due primarily to the free byproduct, cool dehumidified air. Give it some thought for your place. Works great until the air temp drops below 70�. What"s that, 10 months/yr for you?

I'm going solar HW for central heating and domestic water, geothermal for cooling for total utility costs of $30/mth. I want 30% fresh filtered outside air at all times or the costs would be lower. I can't do the summers here any longer so am moving to the mountains 5mths a yr, so my cooling load will be fairly light with the CMU's filled.

I talked with a couple block layers at the store and they have been getting $1 to $1.20/block for fence. He said that equals about $10 to $15/hr.

I'm not going to use any back fill under the required 8x16 footing or under the concrete slab as the soil is so dry here. I'm only going to use a 2" layer of sand under both. Do you see a problem with that?

They want two No4 in the footing and a single No5 vertical spaced 32"OC with H-ladder every 16", with a No4 horizontal tie on the cap. 12" below grade.

The floor I'm going to use No4 spaced 16"OC. They don't spec anything for the slab for this area.

Suggestions?

T_Bone

As you know, you've got a primarily cooling climate. 2511 cooling degree-days (base 70�) to 1576 heating degree-days (base 65�). Drop off the warmest 5 months, May-Sept., and your cooling load goes down to 169 degree-days, essentially nothing. And you've lost the one period when you want both cooling and dehumidifying. As you suggest, solar hot water is better for you. For those of us with considerable dehumidification needs, it doesn't compare.

You turn your Arizona climate into mild heating-only. Pretty good trick. LOL

Which means that you don't have much of any heating/cooling requirement no matter what you choose. Ground source heat pump will certainly work very well. Amortize, I'm not so sure about unless you can avoid the normal installation costs. Actually, I'm sure normal installation costs will never amortize, but that's your call.

Your plan sounds fine. Although, why you'd want rebar in the slab I have no idea. As you know concrete's plenty strong in compression and if you don't put it into tension, you don't need rebar at all. That's why they don't spec it, not that it's much of an investment. With 8.39" average annual rainfall and zero frost line, there really isn't an issue.

We do a total air change every 2 hrs (.5 ACH) which I'm told is overkill. Sure is great indoor air. Don't forget the heat exchanger and pre-filter to remove pollens, dust, smoke before you bring in that outdoor air.

I built my own heat exchanger and put in uneven fans to pressurize the house. All leaks go out. Works like a dream.

The house I grew up in there was block on the slab, no sand. Structurally fine and cheaper than a separate footing under the walls. You lost me on the CMU specs, but that's not something I know much about. Cap 12" below grade?

Oh, make sure there's no termite path available. That was one problem we had. Turned out the contractor routinely saved some concrete under the tubs. Left a hole.

You're on top of it. Have fun.

What, did you forget that I was a refrigeration engineer for 35yrs...LOL

I'm not talking about geothermal heat pumps. I'm going to use the ground temps to chill water in my storage tank. At 8ft down, the temperature is stable at 50� in most of the USA or more than enough to dehumidifiy air. Here in AZ I have to work at it a little longer but it can be done.

We design residential HVAC for 3ACH as that's what most codes call for and where people feel the most comfortable at. However that 3 ACH is not required to exhaust or supply make up air and that is the down fall of most homes. Too many building products "off gas" including yours/mine method of construction (ours are less than other types). Thats where I'm supplying 30% of outside make-up air with a HEPA filter just like you described, positive pressure thru exhaust duct.

At the top of each CMU wall, code requires a horizontal tie rebar over the entire perimiter, then caped with grout.

I've only poured one slab here and used 4x4x 14ga wire. The truck driver did give me a funny look. lol Any way my slab in 15yrs only has one small hairline crack where some of the neighbors pads have some pretty good size cracks. Rebar costs $284 for the slab.

T_Bone

Using ground temps without a heat pump gets far more interesting. Might bore the sox off everybody else, but it's a large list. 8 ft isn't quite deep enough to get a constant ground temp and well water temps are going to be a good approximation of that temp, which isn't 50�, but not a long way off.

If, however, you don't want air temps affecting your shallow storage, you need to insulate it. I use insulation, a lot of it.

I posted a graph in Community Album here of the relationship between depth and ground temp, but it's too small to read. The reason you have to go deeper is that it takes heat 6 months to move through 10 ft of dry dirt. Dirt's not a great heat storage medium, just cheap and readily available. That's why I use it. If you, or anybody, would like a readable chart I'll have to send it privately.

Rebar on top of the wall makes sense. A cathedral ceiling would generally require it. That 12" must be footing depth.

Here, the code ventilation requirement is considered met if there's an operable window. Totally ignoring that most folks never crack a window. I presume you're not ignoring that you want ventilation when your heating/cooling system isn't blowing air.

3 ACH would be considered wildly excessive by everybody I've ever talked to, not that it wouldn't provide great air, just costs a more. You sure that isn't .3? Efficiency of the exchanger gets very important out there somewhere.

Our ventilation system is totally separate, but then our passive heating/cooling system has no ductwork or blower- or maintenance for that matter. We use a cheap pleated filter, removes particles down to 5 micron which is small enough.

With 1576 heating degree-days and your winter insolation, you'd also have no difficulty getting all the btus you need from passive solar as long as you provide reasonable storage (which also prevents over-heating).

We're considerably colder here, requiring more storage. 4166 heating and 1131 cooling degree-days. And we can be careless with window coverings. We don't bother with any. Heat loss/gain isn't important enough to us. House only changes 13� annually anyway.

That welded wire does the same thing as fiber, controls the tiny curing cracks. Rebar is for strengthening concrete in tension. Like my rear wall which acts like a retaining wall with 15' of dirt behind it. Large slab cracks are from either uncompacted base under the slab (usually fill) or excessive water in the mix which creates a very weak concrete. Flat slabs are an art, not one I'm good at. But concrete's something I do understand.

Don't get buffaloed by someone who should have more knowledge. I was actually told by the ready-mix salesman that I shouldn't vibrate my walls, too much risk of snap tie failure. Truck drivers generally only know what everyone else does, and probably not that it resulted in substantial cracking.

Fortunately I'd read everything I could get from the American Concrete Institute and the Portland Cement Association. Then when I hired the structural engineer for my walls/roof I used the opportunity to pick his brain. Got a good education.

BTW, I knew an engineer near Camp Verde who was planning a huge heating/cooling system with water tank storage (built with ferrocement). Never heard if he finished it. He was also trying to change the world with tilt-up ferrocement walls. Didn't convince me to change the way I do things.

Assuming a 20ft x 20ft x 8ft ceiling:
20x20x8=3200cft x 3ach=9600ach/60min=160cfm x 2(unit run time)=320cfm required at the register.
The uint run time would allow for 15min on, 15min off, or about the industry standard for typical unit cycles per hour for typical constructed homes. Your type of home requires some different engineering.

Yes please send me a copy of your chart. I tried to enhance the photo but it was no use as the pixel count was too low. Note the new e-mail addy as I changed ISP's.

I ruff figured my active solar heating requirement at 1200gal of 170� water which is very easy to obtain in most areas. Since the system only requires a circulating pump, operating costs are very small. The cooling side appears close to the same.

Your correct as I wasn't there when the neighbors poured and they may had of used extra water or??? I was taught at a young age to ad something to concrete pads to control cracking but it appears all the info now days say different. I haven't ran into the Portland Cement Assc. and will look them up. I need to find some hard data on thermal tranfer of holow walls VS filled walls. I'm still in my infinate stage on concrete. lol

I'm also planning on buying a viberator as I seen the benefit on the commical jobs that I was on.

You mean using the walls to store water in ferrocement walls?

I'm using underground storage tanks for both heating and cooling as the heat loss is realitive small on the hot tank and very small on the cooling tank.

T_Bone

Regarding ACH, we're talking apples and oranges. You are not thinking fresh air changes, which is the only thing I've ever heard ACH applied to. You're only moving your air around with your handler, not bringing in fresh air. This method does very little to alleviate indoor pollution, as the only fresh air comes from leaks.

I'm bringing in outside air such that I get .5 ACH. That's what I meant when I said we have a total air change every 2 hrs. Changed with fresh air, not just recycled indoor air (plus leaks).

ASHRAE calls for 10 cfm/room for living spaces, 100cfm for kitchens, and 50cfm for baths. This is very much less than .5 ACH for most rooms. I followed then Canadian code, now relaxed. Sweden requires .5 and California is .7 under some abnormal conditions. All talking about ACH as fresh air changes.

There's a good DOE booklet on the subject, "Heat Recovery Ventilation for Housing".

Concrete vibration's critical only in thick or tall pours. Generally not done for slabs as they aren't poured with extremely small slump concrete and usually aren't more than 4-5" thick. I've got 2 vibrators. Once was pouring some walls and the lone vibrator failed. Major PITA.

The ferrocement was used to make the walls/top of the otherwise normal water tank. Guy in Calif. wrote a nice little book describing the process. Donnie Shatzberg's "Build Your Own Ferro-cement Water Tank" is self-published. I no longer have his email address but he shouldn't be hard to find.

You planning on using septic tanks for storage/burial? You seem to be anti-insulation, but I'd invest in a few sheets of extruded polystyrene to make the system much more efficient. Remember, you're turning your climate into a heating-only one. That ground near the surface will get pretty chilly, particularly if it's shaded.

The chart I'll send shows a colder climate than yours, average annual air temp of 45�. At 8 ft down, the dirt temp ranges from 25� to 62�. Not very stable. You can take your average annual temps and the correlation would be the same. Pretty large swing. Easy to fix with insulation.