1. Your home plan is reviewed before construction and during the construction process for design elements that may help improve the overall floor plan and also maximize the look of the finished details in your new home. Areas considered may include overall house flow, door swings, window locations and sizes, basement utility room layout, staircase types, stair headroom, interior trim design, cabinet layout, etc.
2. Your home's concrete foundation will be back braced with a very strong foot lock system. This system is chained in before the dirt is backfilled against the concrete walls. This procedure will minimize potential cracks and will keep your foundation wall straight and strong.
3. During the backfill process the dirt is compacted in areas such as garage floors, sidewalks and front stoops to eliminate any possibility of the concrete surfaces from settling in the future.
4. We apply a sprayed on rubber membrane over the concrete foundation walls to assure your basement will stay
clean and dry - even in the worst soil conditions.
5. We use lasers that will square in your foundation, leveling your walls to tolerances less than 1/16”. This important process takes more time but will assure your flooring, cabinets and millwork all fit properly to give you the best quality job possible.
6. We use 3/4” plywood subfloors vs OSB (oriented strand board). We cut drainage slots in the plywood and apply Thompson’s water seal to protect the floor from the elements during construction. These extra steps will help to assure the floor system stays flat and squeak free.
7. Wood blocking is installed in areas where towel bars, handrail brackets and grab bars will be installed during the finish stages of your new home. Towel bars, grab bars, etc will not become loose as they do when just attached to sheetrock.
8. During the roof framing phase, strings are pulled, and rafter tails are trimmed to assure the roof lines are straight and strong. Aluminum roof edging is also applied using chalk lines.
9. We use ½” 5 ply fir plywood on our roofs (joints will not swell and plywood is very strong).
10. Tyvek house wrap is applied to all surfaces including the house, garage and gables. Tyvek joints, window perimeters and door perimeters will be taped to seal out air and moisture. Tyvek is applied carefully and will extend below the top edge of the concrete foundation to complete the drainage plane. “Tyvek” brand is the most expensive and best house wrap on the market.
11. We Build to High Efficiency Standards.
Mike’s Custom Homes believes that building a new home offers a one time opportunity to incorporate great design, sound building techniques and high energy efficient standards. Mike understands insulation products and how a home will perform during our cold winter months. Mike’s is a certified Energy Star Builder and can build your home to standards that will assure the least amount of air leakage, the lowest possible heating and cooling costs and a maintained high indoor air quality.
See www.focusonenergy.com for more information
12. We upgrade wall insulation from the standard R-19 to a high density batt at R-21. We also upgrade attic insulation from the standard R-44 to a higher density R-50.
13. We will apply a layer of spray foam in the box joist system around the perimeter of the basement. This will keep moisture from condensing on the wood that may lead to future mold growth. Foam products are also used to insulate the interior side of the concrete walls that helps assure a dry basement.
14. Your attic will be air sealed to keep the cold air from the attic from filtering into the interior living space. The attic space is still well ventilated to the exterior to remove any moisture.
15. Heavy duty aluminum clad frames are installed on your overhead garage openings vs wood or the lightweight
aluminum wraps.
16. Interior stair rail posts are sunken and anchored into the floor system for maximum long term strength. Stair posts will not loosen after years of family use.
17. If you have a garage staircase to the basement, the railing system will be made of steel posts that are imbedded in concrete and will never loosen.
18. We do the best custom woodworking in the Chippewa Valley (reputation proven) including specialty cabinets,
built in library shelves, entertainment / media centers, window seats, cubbies, etc. They are all designed and
built by Mike’s.
19. The job site is kept clean at all times (A dumpster container is set at the building site).
20. A temporary porta-potti is placed on the job site during the construction process.
21. Your home will be professionally cleaned before move in.
22. Signed lien waivers are supplied to you during the construction process (Lien waivers are a signed document stating that a company has been paid for work completed).
23. We keep our paperwork very well organized.