So, like me, you finally decided to venture out of your parents basement and stake it out on your own. There’s so much to worry about and you don’t have the slightest clue what adulting is in your 30s. Let’s discuss the life of living in a house!
This thread is still under construction (I like puns).
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About Me (aka who the hell is Jaybar and why am I listening to a dragoon)
My background is in architecture, and this thread is going to dive into the many aspects of renting and owning a home from the viewpoint of a designer, engineer, and tenant. I have a BA in Architectural Studies and a Masters of Architecture, and a couple exams away from full licensure edit Fully licensed in Illinois now! I’ve worked at design firms focusing on residential low-, mid-, and hi-rise construction with a particular interest in adaptive reuse. My current occupation is with an architecture/engineering firm with a very wide project diversity. My concentration is in historic and contemporary masonry buildings.
We will break down this thread in a few categories listed below:
Locating a home
Inspecting a home
Designing/Renovating a home
Maintaining a home
Selling a home (jk I’m not a real estate agent)
Please feel free to open the discussion to questions outside of these areas - hopefully I or someone in the business can help!
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Locating a Home
Many individuals will have their own wants and needs when it comes to finding a location for a new home. This topic deserves a lecture on its own. It’s up to the individual to discuss with an agent or spouse/partner/roommate the various aspects that affect living conditions. This ranges from regional location such as proximity to school districts, crime rates, and access to transportation to the type of spaces within a home. This OP will assume you have made these decisions and are ready to inspect some prospective properties or plots of land! Feel free to add to the discussion if you need assistance with finding the right home.
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Inspecting a Home
TL:DR Hire an inspector if you plan to live in the house/apt long term.
Ok, you cross listed a bunch of properties on a local real estate website or with an agent and are ready to decide what’s going to be best for you or your family. The problem is how do you know what’s a red flag when looking at these homes?
There are many red flags that can be observed from the exterior alone, and they are a good indication about the condition of the interior spaces. Let’s discuss exterior first and then interior afterward.
Exterior Inspection
The critical point of a home is to protect the dwellers from the harsh elements of the environment. The most deadly element known to architecture is water. Water is pure evil. Do not trust its thirst quenching ways. It will destroy your home. This is why the first thing you should check out is the roof, gutters, and surrounding landscape.
A roof is built to shed water and keep the sun off your head (will not protect against Meteor). There are many types and subtypes of roofs:
The two prevailing types of roofs are gable and flat roofs. Certain locales may prefer one type over the other. In heavy snow climates you may see steeply pitched gable roofs to help shed snow off the structure. The type of roof isn’t critical in purchasing a home, but the material it is made of is incredibly important.
Contemporary gabled roofs and similar subtypes have opted for cheap asphalt shingle roofs. Drive down any neighborhood and I guarantee you will see them. Some areas with distinct styles or vernaculars will employ more traditional roofing methods like slate tile, clay tile, etc. Natural clay and slate tiled roofs have a great life expectancy when installed and maintained properly. Asphalt shingle roofs are notorious for short life spans but have easy and low cost of installation. When looking at a home, it’s imperative you discuss with a landlord/agent the history of repairs and issues with the existing roof. An asphalt shingle roof that is 20 years old is likely nearing its life expectancy and will need to be replaced before long. Since inspecting a non-flat roof is dangerous, it’s a good idea to hire a third party inspector to get a good assessment of its condition. Do this if you expect to be living in your home for more than 15 years.
Flat roofs are usually made from four different types of waterproofing membranes as opposed to shingles: EPDM (black or gray rolls of rubbery plastic stuff), TPO/PVC membranes (white, single-ply membrane), liquid applied membranes (shiny or black tar-like substances), and modified bitumen (rolls of thick black sheets with granules on top). These are harder to inspect from ground level since they are hidden by roof parapets, but much safer to inspect when on the roof. If you do inspect it personally you’ll want to check for ponding water, clogged drains, split seams and membrane laps, properly secured metal flashing along parapets and walls…just hire an inspector nvm.
Gutters and drains act as the transportation of water from the roof away from the home. See “Maintaining a Home” for more. The gutter should be secured to the building and the downspout should allow water to exit and wash away from your building.
The landscaping around your home should be pitching AWAY from the house. However, sometimes neighbors’ homes will divert a high volume of water away from THEIR home that could overwhelm your own local landscape.
It would be a good idea to visit these locations on rainy days to see how the building sheds water, how well the gutters perform, and if there is any local flooding/ponding of water.
The building enclosure and facade of a home are designed to prevent air, moisture, and galkas from entering the interior spaces. My specialty is in masonry enclosures. Thinking about writing about this topic would require a research paper to explain. I’m going to skip over this section, but in general check the walls for loose siding/materials, efflorescence of masonry (white flaky stuff), cracks, well bonded sealant/caulk (not peeling off the surface, no cohesive tears, not cracking or looking scaly). Sealant has a good life of 10-15YRs at BEST. Ask the building owner about repair history.
Interior Inspection
When inspecting the interior of a building you’ll want to make sure it fits your needs spatially, it is structurally sound, and that any damage is cosmetic.
- Are the rooms large/small enough?
- Do you have any disabilities that prevent full mobility through a space?
- Is there any visible water damage?
- What kind of repairs were performed, if any?
- Are windows and doors drafty or tightly sealed?
- Does plumbing run through exterior walls (only an issue in climates that get below freezing)?
There are a lot of other extraneous issues that you can look for depending on your location and type of building. I’m only going into basics, but if you have questions about particular issues please ask away.
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Designing and Renovating a Home
If you are hiring an architect or designer to build/renovate/rehabilitate/etc a home, know that you have three major items to manage:
Time
Budget
Quality
Think of them like buckets of water, and if you want to fill one with more water you have to take it from the other buckets.
If you want to expedite the schedule, it will come at the cost of increased budget or lower quality.
If you want to lower the budget, it will come at the cost of lower quality or longer schedule.
If you want to increase the quality, it will come at the cost of a higher budget or longer schedule.
I’ve come across all too often the owners that want it all, right now, and at the highest quality. You need to be reasonable. If you find that you are going to run over budget you will need to value engineer (hate this) items out of the design. This OFTEN means quality diminishes either in material or labor. Keep contingencies for factors out of your control, such as weather or unforeseen conflicts (labor strikes, tariffs, material supply, etc).
Since this section depends heavily on your personal projects it will be best to bring up questions/concerns in the thread instead of trying to list them out here.
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Maintaining a Home
UNDER CONSTRUCTION