See some of our residential and commercial projects in progress, as of the end of April.

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Posted by Ray Cox at 4:07 AM | Link

 
Last Thursday night I participated in a transportation forum hosted by the Northfield League of Women Voters. It was a good forum, with Dale Maul from the Minnesota Department of Transportation Region Six, Dennis Luebbe the Rice County Highway Engineer, and Randy Peterson the City of Northfield Public Works Director all making presentations. I gave an overview of state funding from my position as State Representative from District 25B.

It is clear to me that people are wanting to see something done about both statewide transportation and local traffic concerns. There seemed to be good support for a sensible approach to mass transit from Northfield. I talked a bit about the new PRT's....personal rapid transit system being developed right here in Minnesota. The group also talked about the need for another river crossing in Northfield....most likely at Jefferson Parkway and Highway 3. Randy Peterson presented information about the process being started to finally attain another river crossing....a lengthy, costly process.

One item that was brought up by people in attendance was impact fees. They asked that the Legislature look at allowing the collection of impact fees for transportation improvments. They reasoned that growing residential developments put the pressure on existing roadways, but the current property tax structure does not allow the City accesss to the funds it requires to meet the needs of larger transportation projects, such as a bridge over the Cannon River and railroad tracks. Impact fees have been in use by several states for many years. They are quite common in western states such as California, Oregon and Washington, as well as many eastern states. In California impact fees are used for roads, schools, parks, libraries, etc. The overall price tag for impact fees on a residential building lot may be $10,000 to $25,000. This is in addition to the normal infrastructure and land cost of the building lot. I have a concern that adding impact fees on residential lots creates a real class stratification in our society. Only wealthy people can afford to live in an area that includes such high impact development fees.

If you have thoughts on impact fees, please share them with me. Have you bought a lot and built a home in an area that includes impact fees? Do you feel there is economic diversity in areas that have impact fees? Impact fees are something builders and developers are talking about in Minnesota...I need to learn more about them.

Posted by Ray Cox at 6:11 PM | Link

 
Many of you may have read the article in the Saturday Minneapolis Star Tribune about stucco problems. I thought it was an informative article on some of the issues surrounding the use of stucco for an exterior wall finish on homes in Minnesota. As I have said at other times in this weblog, Minnesota's climate provides real challenges to both builders and homeowners. Builders need to make sure homes and additions are being constructed properly and homeowners need to care for and maintain the homes properly.

There are two types of stucco used in Minnesota....standard, old fashioned Portand cement stucco and the newer synthetic stucco, commonly called "Dryvit", the name of one of the major manufacturers,

or EIFS, which stands for Exterior Insulation and Finish System. Both types of stucco can and do perform well when properly installed. Let's look at the two products first.

Standard Portland cement stucco consists of a three part cement-based plaster finish. In a typical installation, expanded galvanized mesh is nailed or stapled to the house wall sheathing on top of a water membrane. Three separate troweled cement applications are applied to this mesh fabric. The first cement coat is called the "scratch coat". It is applied evenly over the mesh, generally about 1/2" thick, and is finished off with a raked or scratched surface. This rough scratched surface provides bonding and holds the second cement coat, or "brown coat" of stucco. This brown coat is about 1/4" thick and is finished to a sanded smooth, level finish. The stucco is generally kept damp and allowed to cure for 10-14 days at this stage. A colored finish coat is then applied. The finish coat can be either a cement-based product or an acrylic product. There are several types of finish for the final coat, from a rough, dashed finish to a smooth sand finish.

Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS) stucco is a relatively new product, first widely used in the early 1980's. It consists of a very thin two-part application, installed over expanded polystyrene insulation which has been glued or fastened directly to the exterior wall. The product was developed as an insulation method for existing commercial buildings where it is difficult or impossible to add insulation on the interior of the walls. It also allows great flexibility in architectural design, since the insulation can be built out in curves, ridges, slopes and so forth. EIFS is a very strong, flexible material that does not crack easily. In high-wear areas a synthetic mesh is installed over the foam insulation to provide greater impact protection. It is essential that proper details be followed at all wall openings (windows, doors, vents, etc.).

On virtually all of our residential stucco projects, we use the standard Portland cement stucco. This has been used for centuries....my own home, built in 1923, is cement stucco as are many in my neighborhood. We generally finish the stucco with an acrylic color coat. The acrylic top coat has excellent color retention and bridges any small surface checks in the brown coat. On some of our commercial construction projects we use an EIFS stucco. Architects often select this product as it allows them the ability to easily add design features to the walls. A recent example of this is the Bierman building on Highway #3 south of Northfield. Commercial projects employ the proper design details that allow EIFS to work well as a wall finish.

The article in the Saturday Star Tribune pointed out the importance of exterior water membranes under cement stucco. Our building code requires application of two layers of Grade D asphalt felt over the wall sheathing. Two layers of other products, such as stucco building wrap may also be used. The purpose of the membrane is to protect the wall from any water that gets through the stucco. The wall is supposed to be designed to provide an exit path to the bottom of the wall for any water that gets behind the stucco. (EIFS stucco systems do not use the same drainage plane, as the synthetic stucco is bonded directly to the polystrene insulation.) A drainage plane for bulk water is very important. If there is no drainage plane, or it is blocked, water getting through the stucco can find its way into the exterior wall cavity.

However, I feel a more important issue relative to stucco is how the interior of the wall is treated. If warm, moist air is allowed to penetrate the wall from the interior, the moisture will condense on the cold back surface of the stucco, or on the back of the exterior wall sheathing. If the moisture condenses on the exterior wall sheathing it cannot get out of the wall cavity and the moisture may create rot, mold or mildew. This is why it is so important to insulate and seal interior wall surfaces properly. Northfield Construction Company uses a blow-in-blanket fiberglass insulation product, covered with 6 mil polythylene. The polythylene is caulked and taped at all openings, as well as sealed at every electrical, window and door opening. It is very important to seal this air barrier in all homes, as moisture in an exterior wall cavity will cause problems for any wall. I do not feel it is fair to blame either stucco or polythylene for any wall failures.

I suspect in virtually every home with a problem, the cause can be traced back to either failure to use proper products or failure to install products properly. Improper installation of one of many parts of a wall system can create moisture problems. I do not think it is fair to blame stucco for these wall failures. It is up to builders to see that products are installed as designed by the manufacturer. Stucco is an excellent material that serves as an excellent exterior wall covering. You should not be afraid to use it on your home. You should make sure your builder is aware of concerns about stucco installation and follows all recommended procedures when using stucco. A good builder generally has employees who are working on-site every day, and are there to supervise the installation of all products. If your builder does not have this kind of trained employee supervision, I would question the building process. Lack of supervision of subcontractors is probably the number one cause of building-related problems....and it is easy to correct with full time, on-site employees.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:37 AM | Link

 
As we enter into the rainy, wet weeks of building, it reminds me how important water control is for the basement or foundation of a building project. No one likes to have water seep into a basement, especially if there is finished living area in the basement.

Basements are constructed on most residential projects. We need the basement foundation to support the house structure and usually locate mechanical systems there as well. However, the big, open spaces that look great in December and January can become problematic in April if water seeps into the basement.

Northfield Construction Company employs many construction details to try and make sure our customers basements stay dry. Some of these methods include making sure the foundation is coated with appropriate dampproofing materials, covering the dampproofing with polytheylene sheeting, covering the polyethylene sheeting with a rigid foam insulation, setting a positive sloped drain tile at the exterior building footings in a bed of washed gravel, setting a positive sloped initerior perimeter draintile in a bed of washed gravel, ensuring that the draintiles are cross connected, installing a bed of gravel or sand under all concrete floors, installing a polyethylene vapor retarder sheet under all interior concrete floors, etc. Each of these processes has to be installed correctly and watched for the duration of the construction time to see that no damage occurs. For example, it is easy for a plumber to disturb a draintile line and forget to reinstall it correctly.

You should also know that the Uniform Building Code and Minnesota Building Codes do not significantly address water control issues. Some type of dampproofing is generally required, and many communities call for a draintile line. But like so many parts of the Building Code, these requirements are a minimum level. If a dry basement is important to you, I urge you to carefully discuss what methods your builder employs to get that result.

Over our 32 years of construction, Northfield Construction Company has found a system that seems to work for most sites. However, it is very important to evaluate each building site and analyze soils, ground water elevations and surface water directions before starting construction. A well thought-out plan for water control at the start of a project can eliminate years and years of headaches later on. If a basement water control system is not put in place properly from the start it is very difficult and expensive to try and correct the situation.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:22 AM | Link