Jan 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 1

IS A NEW HOME IN
YOUR FUTURE?
Follow along as we take you through the entire process of
purchasing a new home from DR Horton.
PART TWO: Framing & Roof Complete, Drywall & Brick Next
Construction of a new home
can be overwhelming and
stressful whether you’re building
your own custom 4-level
$5 million home on beach front
property or simply following
the construction of your own 1/2
million-dollar track home.
Why? Because one trade crew
could care less what the other
crew is doing, should be doing,
or is going to do. If you’d built
your own home or doing what
I’m doing and that’s following
DR Horton along as they build
our new home, you know what
I’m talking about. If not, let me
explain.
In last month’s article, my
builder had just poured the slab
and began framing the house.
Now 30-days later, the house is
completely framed, the roof has
been installed (at least most of it
anyway) and within days of this
writing, they will begin installing
insulation and drywall.
Outside, the brick has arrived,
and the brick masons will start
laying brick, while the drywall
guys do their thing. But before
any of this began, my builder
Mike and I walked the entire
house again, going over every
detail of what was to come.
Most in the industry called this a
pre-drywall inspection. It’s your
opportunity to inspect every
inch of the framing, electrical
and plumbing to spot any irregularities
that might become BIG
problems later.
Before I met with Mike, I had
my friend Marc walk the property
with me the day before. Marc
has over 20 years’ experience
building everything from large
steel buildings, to strip shopping
centers, to stick homes just like
mine. His experience is invaluable
when inspecting a build prior
to drywall and brick. It’s not
impossible to find problems after
your house has been built, but it
sure isn’t the same as seeing it
‘naked’ before it’s all covered up.
Marc’s assessment of the build
so far, was DR Horton had built
a well-constructed home. Given
this home is in a windstorm area,
Horton’s engineers have followed
the code to a T and installed all
the required strapping, brackets
and securing to keep your home
from blowing away in a Cat 4 or
5 hurricane. (see pics)
In addition to the windstorm
requirements, DR Horton also
builds the home to meet HERS
energy standards. This means
foam sealing all the windows,
adding a seal barrier around the
top of the framing to prevent
air from the unconditioned attic
from penetrating the drywall
layers of the home. (see pics)
Of course this is in addition to
the double-pane windows, R-13
insulation in the walls and R-30
in the attic and R-19 insulation
in the sloped areas of the ceiling.
Also, every opening that has
been created in either the framing
or sheeting to the outside,
has been sealed in foam as well.
In other words, DR Horton does
a great job of keeping the hot
96 96 The BLUES The Blues POLICE - January MAGAZINE
‘24