Tongue and groove walls, nothing to do with rving,

[GlennWest]

The Lincoln Block look really got me thinking out of the box. Want the look inside and the no maintenance of a pole barn house. Been looking at sniplock and tongue and groove. Then saw a youtube with t&g and they installed it vertically. 8' wall and only support at bottom and top. My thinking is T&G 3/4" should be good at 5' span. Know 1" would. My ceiling will be 10'. I could run a floor stud, one in middle horizontally and a top plate. Would use way less studs than with drywall. Now my inside walls would have to be studded but could save on entire outside and ceiling. Your thoughts.

Edited October 29, 2021 by GlennWest

[Darryl&Rita]

Wood moves with moisture changes. There's a reason flooring is nailed as close as it is.

[GlennWest]

2 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Wood moves with moisture changes. There's a reason flooring is nailed as close as it is.

So you think it would warp with 5' support? If I add another it would be 2.5' spacing

Edited October 30, 2021 by GlennWest

[Kirk W]

I think that it would probably flex under load if you use the 5' spacing for support. Were you thinking of adding siding or just leave the t&g open to the weather? If open I would suspect that wind would at times drive moisture into the walls?

[Pat & Pete]

Glenn , 

Something else to consider and complicate the process :

https://www.everlogs.com/everlog-concrete-log-siding/

[GlennWest]

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I think that it would probably flex under load if you use the 5' spacing for support. Were you thinking of adding siding or just leave the t&g open to the weather? If open I would suspect that wind would at times drive moisture into the walls?

sorry  I wasn't clear. Metal pole house. Spray in foam or other insulation. Sealed from outside. Then support on inside walls for t&g. 

Edited October 30, 2021 by GlennWest

[Randyretired]

The minimal cost of adding some extra support would lead me to do it and not worry about it.  I think supports spaced at 2.5 ft. would be my choice.  Wood may warp over time and that would look pretty funky.

[GlennWest]

5 minutes ago, Randyretired said:

The minimal cost of adding some extra support would lead me to do it and not worry about it.  I think supports spaced at 2.5 ft. would be my choice.  Wood may warp over time and that would look pretty funky.

Ok. Now with that much support I could go vertical or horizontal. One will make room look taller and other  longer

[Randyretired]

Or you can get real fancy a put them at a 45.  Your choice.  My DW would have a lot of input if I were to make that choice.

[Randyretired]

Around here spray foam insulation can get expensive.  Another concern is using the appropriate vapor barriers for your area.

[GlennWest]

57 minutes ago, Randyretired said:

Around here spray foam insulation can get expensive.  Another concern is using the appropriate vapor barriers for your area.

Spray foam is the costly way to insulate. Arguably the best also. My purposed home will be modest. Just me and wife. Have 1 daughter. 24X30'.  So cost won't be as bad a hit due to small area. When time comes will weight costs. Planning on radiant floor heat also. My thoughts are filling the entire cavity with insulation. Overkill for my area but why not? Planning on 1" foam under concrete. 

[Randyretired]

I agree spray foam might just be the best but pricey.  We are building post and beam and the cavity will hold R30 so that is what we plan on.  In-floor heat and probably saw cut a tile look and stain the concrete.  We have ICF for the foundation on structural fill and a drain.  With the garage area and the house it took about 2,000,000 pounds of structural fill under the concrete to meet the engineers specs.  I put additional pex tubing in the structural fill.  There is 4" of EPS foam under the house and 2" under the garage.   Our hope is to pour the concrete next spring and a builder will frame in and finish the outside and I will take it from there.   I plan on subbing the drywall. The garage is big enough for the HDT and 5th wheel a couple of cars and a work area.  It will also be conditioned space.  The house is modest in size. As comfortable as we are in the 5th wheel,  I wonder why I am build the house instead of just a garage.

[GlennWest]

I have been thinking on the floor and what you planning sounds nice. Also thinking on tile. But what you stated would save money also. To build a building tall enough for camper we don't want. Mine plan is 10'. You sound like my DW with your last comment. She be perfectly fine in our Teton, so she says. But she don't get around good now. I just don't believe she will be able to do stairs and steps in a few more years. So my plan is concrete and no steps. No upstairs either. We likely sell truck and Teton once moved in. Cross that bridge then. Could not get much out of either. If lumber don't come down I may look at getting a portable saw mill. Got plenty of trees I want to get rid of. 

[Kirk W]

We really liked our RV port home that was engineered steel with a 900 sq-ft home and RV connections all under one roof. 

The GFRC looks really interesting too. I suspect that it might be just as maintenance free as was our steel home. (We gave it up to new owners 2 years ago but I miss it.) I envy you where you are now. I do believe that you are right on with the single floor, no steps thinking. My wife got to a point where she needed several surgeries that would have made RV living during recovery almost impossible. 

 

[Randyretired]

I agree on the no steps and our new house will not have any.  The garage through the house is all one level.  In the garage where there are 16' walls there will be a small 2nd story storage area and I will build a lift for that.  Our current house has stairs everywhere.  Cutting the concrete and staining will save a lot over tile.  I will probably grout the cuts to make a nearly flat floor.  Our current house has a lot of tile and I don't want to even try that again.  It was difficult many years ago.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Randyretired

[GlennWest]

I may not even cut design in it. We could put a rug in if wanted. Want to keep costs low as possible and still be nice. Just priced r30 fiberglass $800 for 24X30

Edited October 31, 2021 by GlennWest

[Randyretired]

27 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

I may not even cut design in it. We could put a rug in if wanted. Want to keep costs low as possible and still be nice. Just priced r30 fiberglass $800 for 24X30

I believe in cutting to try to keep small cracks in the cuts⁹.  In the garage I will have it cut in 10' squares.  In the house I plan on 3' squares at 45 to the walls.   It is quick and not very expensive.   They usually do it 24 hours or so after pour.  The larger the area the more it helps.  I am also a believer in rebar.  

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Randyretired said:

The garage through the house is all one level. 

I wasn't the original owner of our RV port house so can't claim the credit for the difference but the person I bought from had the entire house area of the concrete pad 1" higher than the remainder of the pad. That was done to insure than no water from melt or anything on the vehicles could enter into the house or under the bottom plate of the walls. With so little change it wasn't noticeable at all with the door sills at the entrees, yet was effective. That did add a bit to the cost of forms but I found it a good thing.

[Randyretired]

I did a similar thing in the garage we have now.   All of the garage slopes to the outside doors except the work area is flat and at the highest point.  To accomplish a seal of sorts in our new house I plan to use treated wall sills and caulk and glue these to the floor.  I will also caulk and seal the base of the door into the house.  The wall protrusions for electric and any plumbing will also be sealed.  In fact every protrusion in the house walls will be sealed. For instance where wire enters an electrical box it will be sealed and any additional opening  will be sealed.  After drywall the boxes will be sealed to the drywall.  I don't want garage fumes or water to enter the house and I don't want air to freely  move in the walls.  Air sealing like this is becoming a way to save energy and use the insulation to its fullest.  Since heat rises if there are holes that allow air movement in walls the insulation becomes more of an airfilter than insulation.  Then a heat recovery system will change the inside air at a determined rate and filter the air..  All of this is to try to say whoever built your building was thinking and I am going to try to accomplish the same thing in a different way.  Hopefully it will seal the house  as well.  Sure hope it works because the hot water heater along with a 1,100 hot water solar tank will be in the garage.   If (maybe when) one of these fails I hope to keep the water confined to the garage. Thank you for the post.  It helps me try and be prepared for things.  As an amateur it is hard for me to think of all of these things.

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, Randyretired said:

I agree on the no steps and our new house will not have any.  The garage through the house is all one level.  In the garage where there are 16' walls there will be a small 2nd story storage area and I will build a lift for that.  Our current house has stairs everywhere.  Cutting the concrete and staining will save a lot over tile.  I will probably grout the cuts to make a nearly flat floor.  Our current house has a lot of tile and I don't want to even try that again.  It was difficult many years ago.

The one level house on a concrete pad we owned was very hard on my knees. I think it accelerated my need for knee replacement surgery.

Linda

[GlennWest]

I worked many a job on concrete. Yes, standing all day is rough on knees. But only time really spending time up is cooking. yes, washing clothes but that is not long up. 

[Kirk W]

10 minutes ago, GlennWest said:

Yes, standing all day is rough on knees.

I never really thought much about the concrete floors for standing as compared to the wood frame floor homes, but concrete slab houses are by far the predominate design in locations with expansive soils like much of TX. We have had slab construction in all 3 of our homes in TX. I wonder if there aren't composite flooring materials that might improve on that?

[GlennWest]

1 minute ago, Kirk W said:

I never really thought much about the concrete floors for standing as compared to the wood frame floor homes, but concrete slab houses are by far the predominate design in locations with expansive soils like much of TX. We have had slab construction in all 3 of our homes in TX. I wonder if there aren't composite flooring materials that might improve on that?

On our jobs a simple rubber mat make a huge difference. Thicker the better. Rubber matts were what we had available.

[GlennWest]

More I have studied on insulation I do believe going with good vapor barrier and Rockwool. I can get r30 easy in walls. Actually 2 runs of R15. One run behind wall studs and other between wall studs. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by GlennWest

[Pat & Pete]

2 hours ago, GlennWest said:

More I have studied on insulation I do believe going with good vapor barrier and Rockwood. I can get r30 easy in walls. Actually 2 runs of R15. One run behind wall studs and other between wall studs. 

Are you talking about Rockwool insulation ?