Types of Homes That Are Easy to Maintain
I've talked to homeowners for years about how to maintain the typical Arizona house. I give out hours and hours of advice on roofing, insulation, air-conditioners, painting, termites, cracking stucco walls and more.
But then, a couple of years ago, a home was built in my area of Scottsdale with many features that can make it extremely easy to avoid all the problems that the usual style of building can create. I view this home as a great example to all of us. Of course, not everyone can pay for custom construction to do all these things, but many features in this home may make homebuilders take notice and try to integrate similar construction into desert developments. My family often calls this home "Rosie's favorite house."
The owners, Jerry and Marilyn Bidinger, had lived all over the United States, including Virginia, Connecticut, Illinois and Utah, as well as briefly in Saudi Arabia, before buying a home in Arizona.
"We wanted to downsize, but we downsized too much, and so we decided to build a larger house," Marilyn said.
They had other goals as well, she said: "Everywhere we had lived, the houses required so much maintenance, and we wanted to avoid all that."
When the couple started drawing up their plans with local architect Michael Rust, they had 11 pages of detailed requirements for the house.
"It took us longer to work out the plans for the house with the architect than it did to build the house," Jerry said.
Building contractor Emilio LoCascio of Gemini Development was brought in about halfway through the planning to advise the couple and architect on how to achieve various goals.
"I wasn't looking for the lowest bid," Jerry Bidinger said. "We wanted someone who could do what we wanted."
Among special features in the plan was a living room/concert hall for Marilyn, who is a pianist with two grand pianos. The couple did research in books about famous concert halls and determined that a shoebox shape or rectangle would provide the best possible acoustics. Another unusual request was for a horticultural "grow room" next to the kitchen where they could grow wheat grass and sprouts. The Bidingers eat mainly a plant diet.
Inside and outside the home, they incorporated many low-maintenance ideas that other homeowners might consider. To name a few: a metal roof; landscaping with sculptural metal artwork outside to make an irrigation system unnecessary; porcelain-tile floors throughout with no dirt-catching carpeting; tile covering many walls to avoid repainting. They also requested a media room that allows access to all the electronic entertainment equipment wiring from two sides to speed up repairs or changes. Kitchen walls are mainly covered with metal surfaces or porcelain tile for easy clean-up. Much of the house is lit by glass-block windows, solar tubes and extensive LED lighting.
Particularly striking on the exterior are the rugged split-face block walls. The gray blocks sprinkled with reddish-brown flakes pick up the red color on the metal roof. The blocks are a concrete-masonry product but have the look of stone because they were literally split in half to give them a rough texture.
"We didn't want wood used outside the house, and we didn't want stucco on the outside," Jerry Bidinger said.
I have always recommended masonry construction like this for Arizona because of its structural strength and resistance to fire and termites. Back in the 1960s and '70s, masonry homes were the standard in Arizona. But eventually homebuilders — hoping to stay competitive in their sales price — have mostly converted to wood frame and stucco, a less expensive option to build and buy but requiring much more maintenance.
Inside the block walls of the Bidinger house, a system of 2-by-4s supports the drywall. The exterior walls and most of the interior walls are insulated with foam to provide more quiet and privacy. Foam helps block traffic noise from outside as well as noise from elsewhere in the house. Foam has also been sprayed between the roof and ceiling.
"Most homes have insulation laid on top of the drywall ceiling," Rust said. "That creates a big attic space that gets really hot and has to be vented. You can't store anything in that kind of attic. But because of the foam at the top of this house, you create an attic space that is a much cooler environment. The ducts that run through their attic don't have to work as hard and the whole house is much cooler as a result."
The metal roofing, of course, will greatly outlast asphalt shingles or concrete or clay tiles. It is generally low in weight and reflects the sun, making a home more energy-efficient. A ribbon of LEDs under the edge of the roof can be lit at night, making the roof look as if it is floating in space over the house.
"Homeowners don't often choose metal roofs in the Phoenix area because it's a distinct architectural style often associated with contemporary design," Rust said. "It's also expensive. But it's top quality: It's a forever roof; it's the Cadillac of roofs."
The house has three separate heating and cooling zones, each with its own gas furnace and air-conditioning unit. The equipment is in mechanical closets in the house and garage rather than in the attic as is the case with many homes. By closing off unused parts of the house at times, the Bidingers can limit heating and cooling to just one of the HVAC systems, lowering energy bills.
Although the house is 4,800 square feet in area, the couple's typical electric bill in summer totals only about $300 a month. It's the kind of number you would expect when you consider the great insulation and the thickness of the home's walls.
If you're thinking of building a house soon, it's worthwhile considering Jerry Bidinger's advice: "Before you start building, take several weeks to sit down and write a plan for what you want to have in your house. Don't let the house dictate what you want."
Because Jerry did this and built the low-maintenance house that he did, he can spend his weekends exploring Arizona. Imagine a nearly maintenance-free house. What would that do for your quality of life?
Next week: Termites in Arizona and how to get rid of them.
For more do-it-yourself tips, go to rosieonthehouse.com. An Arizona homebuilding and remodeling industry expert for 25 years, Rosie Romero is the host of the syndicated Rosie on the House radio program heard in Phoenix from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturdays on KTAR-FM (92.3). Call 888-767-4348.
Source: https://www.azcentral.com/story/life/house-garden/2014/08/13/ultimate-low-maintenance-homes/13965639/
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