Guest Writer, Jeraemy Meador, gives first-hand personal experience in buying a new home. Give it a read!
Growing up we were all given the typical white picket fence image for “living the American dream.”
We were given an image to follow (white picket fence, craftsman style home, red door, etc.) but never taught what to look for when it comes to efficiency.
My entire life I have been a habitual renter. It’s all I’ve ever known. So, when my wife and I were married, we decided to break that and buy our first home together!
My parents have owned no less than 9 homes in the course of probably 20 years. One thing they told me was that the one thing you think you can live with in a home you are purchasing, will become the reason you dislike or even hate the house 10 years down the line.
For me, having an efficient home was non-negotiable. My wife and I are raising teenagers, and as such they are terrible at closing doors and turning off lights.
So, when we decided it was time to buy, we came up with a process for determining whether a home was suitable for our needs.
We went in knowing what we wanted in a home (3br, 2bath, large yard, landscaping, lots of parking, fenced in, etc.) but we needed a way to determine if the house we were buying was high enough quality to stand the test of time, and our inefficient teenagers.
The first thing we did was check for a good seal in the structure.
We all know the jump-scare of someone slamming the front door with the back door open. The air pressure changes from the front door slamming should slam the back door in a well-sealed house. But the first few homes we visited just didn’t do that. In addition to that it was immediately apparent that the houses were drafty as soon as we walked inside. When you have a well-sealed structure, the home should be like a box with all the windows and doors closed. Even on the windiest of days, there should be no circulation inside the home.
The next thing we looked for was a solid structure.
If you have ever been inside of a single or double wide trailer, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Someone goes to close the front door a little too hard, and everything on the wall sounds like it is going to come off and join the land of broken toys.
So, my next test was just that, slamming the door. Imagine the look on my realtor’s face going through all of these houses and slamming the doors as we walk through the house. After the first few times I think she got the idea of what I was looking for, because the next few houses, she would slam the door behind us as we all walked in. There is nothing more annoying than one of your children coming into the house and slamming the door and seeing all the picture frames slightly shifting or even looking like they are trying to join you on the couch below them.
The next test is checking good heat/cool insulation. Any seller or even builder can claim your home is going to have the best insulation possible in your new (or new to you) home. The real test is on cold, drafty days. No one wants to come home and walk into a house that is 10F or even have to leave the heat going all day to keep an empty house warm.
This one is a little more difficult to test for, but it comes down to ensuring the heater is turned off and waiting to see house the home feels after about 30 minutes of being inside the house. If it is well sealed and has passed test number one, you shouldn’t be able to feel a temperature difference inside the home no matter what the weather is like outside. After a couple hours is acceptable, but after 30 minutes, not so.
Finally, the last test is to check for good sound insulation.
No one wants to be relaxing after a long day at work and listen to their neighbor working on their Harley, and having teenagers, no one wants to hear exactly what their son is playing on his PlayStation from 2 rooms away.
This test was a fun one. I walked around inside, while my wife walked around outside, and we just sang a song. If I could hear her from outside, we knew this house wasn’t the one. If she could hear me outside from the inside, we also knew it wasn’t the one. To test the sound deadening in between the rooms, we just put a cell phone in a room, closed the doors, and called the phone. Most houses will have very minimal, if any, insulation between rooms. Insulation is typically reserved for separation of interior and exterior climates. But on a higher quality home there should be minimal noise transfer due to better quality drywall and framing.
This list may not work for everyone, and it may not suit everyone’s needs. But it worked for us, and it suited our needs just fine.
When building a new home, all of these tests should be a breeze to pass, but not all builders follow the same quality and standards of a new construction project.
What ends up being important is finding a builder you can trust. Quality is everything in this industry, as your home will likely be the most expensive item you ever own.
And for most of us, the dream of buying a home just seemed impossible for so long.
Take the leap of faith, build the home of your dreams. Then, try my little test. You’ll be glad you did.