Building our Dream Home 9 | Plumbing, HVAC, and Electrical are in

My dad is a framing contractor and he owns a roof truss plant. I grew up my entire life on job sites like this. I had to work every summer on these sites as a boy scrapping out all the wood cuts and sweeping the floors after the framers left then as I grew up he put me on the framing crews. Fun work. Later on I became a wood fireplace, wood/pellet/gas stove installer. When I installed stoves I always tacked metal flashing over that zero clearance heat shield box in the attic. That way after the insulators are done I would just climb up and remove the flashing instead of having to dig out all that insulation that blew in around the pipe. I would do that at the time I came back to install the actual stove after sheetrock and finishing. Much easier than spending more time up in that hot attic with a shop vac getting that stuff out.

I ❤ new construction! I like how you’re figuring out your needs as you go along. Trust me, you’re going to appreciate all those outlets in the future. Good for you for not opting for metal studs!

Your house is so big and will be beautiful when the drywall is up and painted. It is hard to picture with no solid walls. You and your family will really enjoy living there. Congrats! Can't wait to have you share how you are going to landscape the outside.

The multiple outlets are required to prevent use of extension cords which can be dangerous. Put dimmers on the switches for your can lights. Nice, subtle lighting in the bedroom!!😊

The electrical is done with care and pride of workmanship! Very nice! It's going to be beautiful Mike! Blessings! Hugs 🤗❤ Mike, it's more expensive to build a house than ever before and you don't want to go into debt right now so do as much as you can yourself. Even if you have gravel in the porches for now, you guys decide! God bless you 🙏🙏❤️

That front porch is gonna look so inviting with a couple of white wooden rockers sitting there underneath a ceiling fan. Oh I can see Shellie & you sitting there right now!!! WELL DONE Mike!!!

I love that you still have a sense of humor through all the decisions and changes involved with building a new home. It's going to be wonderful! Look forward to watching the progress and the landscaping. Wishing you and Shellie the best!

Mike I love it, it is beautiful, you and Shellie have made the right decisions so far keep on doing it, love to you and the whole family💖💖💖

In my new built home, I'm grateful for all the outlets. I have a livingroom and kitchen connected, an open floor plan. So I had installed a floor outlet in the living room. I'm so very glad!! I love my canned light in my living room and kitchen. I put a dimmer in the living room only. Love it! Boy, I sure hope you can put down concrete in front and back. I have that and really appreciate how it's no fuss for me. No maintenance.

Looks great! A few things I noticed or that I wish we had done. With your porch, concrete doesn't rot. Just do it and you will never have to think about that again. In the living room a floor outlet for lamps or phones or whatever is nice to have. In the crawl space put down some thick mil black plastic so if you ever have to get down there for maintenance it is so much nicer than crawling in the dirt. For the crawl space access, build a box on the bottom side so you can insulate it. Congratulations on an amazing home.

Michael, you are building such a wonderful home!! This is so darn exciting!!! So many positive comments I could make here on all the various things you showed us!!! And yes, you are doing a great job of "spoiling the girls" just like a great DAD does.

Mike, I'm absolutely delighted for your family that your new home will be ready to move into soon! Thanks for giving us a house tour, even though it's not ready for you to move in, it is going to be perfect for your sweet family. If you put in the concrete porch now, you won't have to worry about redoing it 10 years down the road, so my advice is just to do it! Mike and Shelley, you are both hard-working intelligent people who know what you want and how to save for that future. My husband usually got what he wanted at the time, and I always saved for things before purchasing, however, my perspective changed drastically when he was diagnosed with cancer at age 46 and died at age 49. I don't overspend, but I allow myself to add conveniences that will help me now, and in the future. Blessings to all of you, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Oh, by the way, it looks like you have a decent start on No Shave November, lol! ~Margie🤗🦋💐

THANK YOU! FINALLY GOT "OUR" HOUSE "FIX" FOR NOW! LOOKING FORWARD TO THE COMPLETION! PRAY EVERYTHING GOES EXCEPTIONALLY WELL FOR YOU GUYS!

Magnificent! I think you will be glad you have all those outlets. Our 1936 house has way too few. Dimmers on all the overhead lights would be perfect. I think you will come to love them if you can dim them. Are they all LED? They look like incandescent. If you are 2”x6” exterior framing and lots of modern insulation your heating and cooling is going to be easy and inexpensive. The wood stove will do it all for heat with the circulation fan. There are so many rebates and tax credits now on high efficiency heating/cooling, triple insulated windows, doors etc. worth looking into, it’s free money. Thanks so much for your comments on our videos! Much appreciated! Can’t wait to see the next episode! Be well! 👍🙏🏼🌲👍🙏🏼🌲

Mike, have electricians install a light and switch under the house. You will not regret it. Also same at attic access points.

It's coming right along! So excited for you!

You handled the conversation about "those people" well. House looks great, It's crazy how varied our country is on codes, inspections and requirements.

Well on its way to being a home, cant wait to see the siding go up and paint slapped on. you be you and do what you need to do we will always be here.

Triple pane windows??!! That's insane! I'm envious of all of the outlets. My house doesn't have enough and breakers are constantly tripping. The foundation, framing, etc went so fast; I bet all of this down time now is killing you guys - I would be so impatient now. I see that you decided to go ahead with your original plan of concrete for the porch. You are probably right to bite the bullet now otherwise it might never be done. I wish I could find laborers with as much professionalism and attention to detail as you have. I am sending you a bucket of patience to make it through to the end lol Thanks for updating us!

I’d like to make a couple of recommendations. 1. Put some power in the crawl space for lights! At some point you will need to work in the crawl space and having light will be a big plus. 2. They make access panels that look great but give you access to the plumbing behind your showers. Trust me you will have plumbing issues with them at some time. This will make your life a lot easier when that time comes. 3. Sealing up any punctures in you ceiling will make a huge difference in your home efficiency. Seal all light and electrical boxes in the ceiling, vent penetrations, and especially attic access openings. Doing this before the insulation is put in will save you tons of money down the road.