This is the EWN Podcast Network. While I'm working with my client on all the selections for the interior of the house, our builder is working as fast as possible to close the walls and install the roof. The exterior infrastructure is the topic on today's episode of from disaster to dream home.

Welcome to From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. When interior designer, Jana Rosenblatt, had an 80 foot tree fall in her house, she saw the opportunity to create the customized home of her dreams. From Disaster to Dream Home provides you with the information and resources Jana wished she had during her rebuilding process. Now she's sharing with you the expertise of leading architects and home builders and the newest products and materials on the market. Here's your host, Jana Rosenblatt.

Welcome back to From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that takes you inside the process of building or rebuilding a new home from the ground up. I want to welcome back my guest, Dawn McMaster of McMaster and Hill Construction. Dawn has been acting as the builder of our theoretical project, building a new home from the ground up in fifty two weeks. I want to remind our audience that McMaster and Hill Construction began in 02/2017 specializing in water and fire restoration. Over the past seven years, they have grown the company into a leading full service remodeling and design firm.

McMaster and Hill now specialize in high end remodels and home additions, kitchen and bathroom models, a complete fire rebuilds, plus with over forty years of combined experience, Don and John have the skill set to fit any client's needs. On previous episodes, we spoke to Don about how to begin the rebuilding process, working with assurance adjusters, building a strong foundation, plus framing, plumbing, and electrical installations inside the walls. Today, meet again to talk about the exterior surfaces of our walls and roof and the installation of the doors and windows. Just like in the real process of building a house, as the interior designer, I will spend the time with clients confirming the selection of the exterior doors and windows. The architect has specified the roofing material, and the framing that will support the roof is almost complete.

The electricians and plumbers have been doing their initial running of pipes and wires through the open framing. We have already confirmed the placement of all the interior plumbing fixtures and appliances, and we have confirmed placement of all the electrical outlets and lighting fixtures inside and out. As the interior designer, I am usually very busy working on the interior to do list, so I am not as knowledgeable about the process of closing and sealing the structure. Luckily for us, Don is an expert. Don, thank you so much for being here again.

Well, thank you for having me. It's it's a privilege, and, you do a great job on this podcast.

Thank you. It's, it really helps that you're so knowledgeable about the subjects that I ask you about. When we last spoke, we were working on laying in major plumbing and electrical wiring. As this work is being done, what are your next goals on the building process? What are all the things that will need to be put into place before you begin to apply the skin to the exterior of the house?

Yeah. So I would say one of the things that we you mentioned earlier would be making sure, to the best that you can, your roof is covered. Depending on whether it's rainy season, you may get a, you know, some kind of a a storm even during the summer. So you wanna make sure your roof is papered. May not have the tile on it just yet, but a lot of times when they do paper it, they'll also put the tile up on the roof.

And at that point, the, you know, plumbers, there'll be some electricals that needs to go through the, you know, through the roof, and so that needs to get done. So there's some mechanics for, you know, heat and air, you know, furnaces, let's say, places, you know, any of your plumbing, any of your air, like, you know, heaters or exhaust might go through your roof. So you wanna get that through your roof, get that paper on. So if it does rain, it doesn't wreck everything on the inside that you, you know, just spend all your time getting it in there. So And

so when you say the paper, you mean there's already wood, and then the paper is the is the the wet resistance, is the waterproofing.

Right. So, yeah, we're assuming you already have your plywood up there.

So Got it. Got it.

You wanna do is protect the rest of your house, you know, from, let's say, there's rain coming in, so you're not getting your new ductwork or your, you know, your new mechanical soaked. Yeah. And protect all the wood that you have inside your house from being damaged any more than you have to.

Right.

So you wanna put the paper on, and at the same time, you wanna put up the roof. You may not wanna lay the whole thing

Yeah.

But you might wanna stack up. You know, you see these houses with the tiles stacked up on

top. Yeah. Think it was your the the houses I worked on with you that I first saw that conveyor belt that moves all the shingles, all the, you know, material up into onto the roof. It was really fun. It, you know, starts down on the ground and and it shimmies on up, this team of guys are on the top pulling it off in in stacks.

Yeah. You wouldn't wanna be trying to carry that up a ladder if you can help it. Yeah.

No. I can see how that might get old really quickly. Yeah. What so how long does it usually take from the point that we have the foundation and you framed the the walls so that you can, you know, put something on them? How long does it take to get to that point where you can actually close it up?

So depending on how big the house is or what you're actually you know, it it could take anywhere from, you know, four to eight weeks. Uh-huh. If now if it's a remodel and you're stripping part of the house and doing it, you know, it might take six to eight weeks. You know, a new house may take, you know, even longer. But usually, a pretty good sized house, you could probably get it framed any anywhere in eight to twelve weeks depending on the size.

Uh-huh.

And then then then we wanna go get the paper on it just to protect the rest of the house.

Right. Right. So then are you do you need to get all that plywood on the exterior walls before you get all that weight up onto the roof? Does that helps the stability of it?

Yeah. Once once we have the, you know, framing done, that means we have the plywood on it. And one of the things about putting the weight on it is the house is gonna compress ever so slightly. So you want that weight up on the top. So before you actually lay it out and start putting up drywall and everything, you wanna make sure that weights up there, compresses the house so you don't have drywall and stucco in the future, you know, cracking.

So you wanna get that up there and leave it up there as long as you can.

So it kinda settles?

Yes.

And then and how long do you we need to be sure you let that settle? I mean, I'm sure that it's in the natural swing of things. You have so much to do. But Yeah. You know, how you don't wanna do go too fast then.

No. You don't wanna go too fast. But, usually, you have other things that you need to be doing. You know, you have to be when you're there, you gotta be doing your plumbing, your electrical. So there's time that's gonna pass.

Okay.

And then, you know, then then you would get to that final part.

So the exterior material selections and roof material are called out as a part of the architect's plans, and they must be decided, you know, early on so that they can be budgeted. And so the structure will be built in preparation for that those exact materials. I can imagine after losing your home to a fire, the first consideration for the exterior finished materials should be fire safety. And there are very specific codes here in California. What are the best choices to consider for the exterior walls for fire safety?

Well, for the walls, usually the stucco is the best for the, you know, for the heat resistant and for the roof, the concrete tile, maybe the clay tile. Any any of those kind of things are probably the best that we got going. Other people have some metal roofs. So there are people you see with metal roofs now. On the exterior, they also have fire resistant lumber for siding.

So you you might see some houses that have siding.

So And that some cladded wood that is Right. Fire fire resistant.

Yeah. It'd be fire resistant. And most of it's actually made out of a composite concrete. So it looks like wood. It's actually concrete.

Right. Yes. That's exact yeah. I I've run into that too. And then, of course, there's stone, which is a natural barrier.

Yes. Yeah. For decoration and stuff like that, the stone obviously is is will help.

So so we know that the facade material will have already been specked out, but the homeowners will still need to get really specific as to the exact choices of colors and textures, like exactly what stone to use and what exactly, you know, what, you know, to do with the stucco. When should we be looking at those specific choices that are available in the stucco stone and cladding options? When do you need those decisions made by?

Well, as you know, we'd probably like those made by at the very beginning with the architect so that you can decide what the thicknesses are gonna be, where it's going to be. And, you know, a lot of this stuff now, it's not as bad as it's been a couple years ago, but acquiring the stuff and ordering it so that you don't get something they say, hey. It's gonna be six months before you can even get it. So it's gotten a lot better recently. Uh-huh.

But sooner the better you know anything and everything that that help.

So so we're pretty locked in then once the design has been done by the architect and it's gone through permitting to exactly what it is. And our only decisions are, like, with stone, if it's stacked stone, we have to stay within a certain parameter, but then we can choose what colors and things like that. There's only a little flexibility left once the permitting's done?

Yeah. I think a lot of that just could be, you know, besides the color, you know, the texture. You know? They have all sorts of different looking stone material that you could put on the outside of a house.

Mhmm.

So there's, you know, 50 colors that you could select, but it's still stucco. It's still fire resistant.

Yes. Which is amazing. That's why we see so much use of it here. So then in terms of the walls and the waterproofing of the walls, so you said there's some wood and wood surfaces that are already also fire resistant. And then what are the different kinds of things you have to do to the wall surfaces to take different kinds of finishes, like the stucco versus if there's stone or cladding?

So a lot of the houses that we do, we actually stucco basically stucco the house. Uh-huh. Before we'll put stone on it, we just won't put the color to it. So it's gonna right over the top of the stucco. And so that's what we call a brown coat.

Doesn't have the finished coat on it, but that allows us to go ahead and put the stone on top of that.

So everything's gonna adhere better to that the to the stucco?

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

And then and is there something between the wood and the stucco? Is there anything I mean, what makes the stucco stick to the wall?

So that would be the what we usually refer to, people say, chicken wire, some kind of wire.

Got it.

And then, obviously, you wanna paper obviously, the paper of the house first.

So Yeah.

A lot of the stucco material comes with a sheet of paper attached to it. So you might even paper it twice. So on our houses, we paper the house with a 15 pound black paper. And then we also then add the stucco paper on top of that. So we got, like, two layers of paper on it.

Mhmm.

Some of the other houses you might see down in the desert stuff, they also can put in, like, a quarter inch or a half inch Styrofoam. They might cover the whole house in that and then put paper over the top of it. So

And is this for insulation?

That extra little bit of insulation in the really hot areas.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. And then so if we're you if the stucco is is being used for the wall facade and the the cut the thing that we have to choose is the color selection. Usually, that's what I get involved in.

And, we need to make that decision before you, you know, order it and have it, you know, brought to the house and delivered. It's not like a a pink color that gets applied after. So you usually let us select, you know, three or four color options, and you put samples of them up on the walls to select from. But then there's also the texture variations of stucco.

Right.

What should we consider in choosing the texture?

Well, I think you consider what you like. There's all sorts of different textures. So, usually, we tell people, hey. Start driving around.

Yeah.

See see a house that you like, you know, and then we'll try to match that.

Yeah.

And depending on the style of your house

Uh-huh.

Real modern ones that are just really smooth looking on the outside. You get the Spanish ones that could have the real big texture to them. So it's basically, that's probably a designer element too. Okay. What is it gonna look like?

Yeah. So in most instances, I prefer the smoother options as opposed to the heavier textured stucco. The choice is usually though price get driven. I'm usually told that I can only choose, you know, within the parameter that are that the sandy ones, you know, it doesn't have to be heavily textured, but usually I'm not allowed to go, you know, really smooth. What are what kind of cost variations are there from the smooth to the heavily textured?

So, you know, as far as the cost, I probably off top of my head, I'm saving at least probably another 25% for the smooth. Wow. And the reason is, usually, when you smooth it, they're gonna put on some material to cover know, once they got the brown coat on, they're gonna cover that again.

Yeah.

Gonna come back in, and it's a lot of hand labor.

It's the labor? Yeah.

Yeah. Because, basically, you're gonna do one more covering of the house, one more, you know, layer over the top of the brown coat. Uh-huh. That's where the cost gets driven up. Material, another couple days of labor for a whole crew to really get the house where it's gonna have that smooth look.

So if you're if you're brought drawings of a much more contemporary home, then will you make sure that that they know if they want that slick, you know, finish early on or that just not that you know, the not the sandy finish, will that be worked into the budget from the beginning?

Absolutely. Yeah. We gotta know what what do you wanna what you wanna do because it is, you know, pretty good price difference.

Yeah. I I I am shocked that it's 25%, but I I knew it had to be big because, you know, I feel like I've always gotten hand slapped when I pointed at it. So I've gotta, you know, embrace the sand. Embrace the sand, sir.

So, you know, one of the things so it's already so let's say your house is already brown coated.

Yeah.

You you're scratched and then you're brown, so you put on two coats. And at that point, you could color the house. But if you want that smooth, they're gonna put on a another mesh coat of real fine material, and it's gonna and then blend that in.

Yeah.

And they gotta go over the top.

So that's really two more times around.

Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I I I appreciate that. I might be much, easier going about all that in the future.

So we've spoken at at great length with your collaborators over at Coast Window and Doors. Lynn did a show with us.

Oh, good.

Yeah. She's great. About all the considerations to include in our window and doors, selections. And Lynn has made it perfectly clear that we need to place the orders as early as possible for the windows and doors. When in the process will you be ready to take delivery and install the windows and and exterior doors?

So once we we have it framed Yeah. And we have all the openings framed to you know, for the doors and windows. And that's why we wanna have those up front because they've taken the longest time to get. Yeah. So they're the lead time on those can really be a long time.

But then we know exactly how we're gonna be framing for. I I don't like to put them in too soon because if I have too many workers in the house, I'm afraid someone's gonna accidentally, you know, punch a hole in a window. So I I like to have it done after the plumbing, the electrical, and the heat and air guys. So those are the main three trades that are gonna be in there. But once they have their jobs done, then I would come back and go ahead and put the windows in.

And then at that point, usually, it's ready to start putting, you know, the finish on the outside, you know, paper in the inside. Right.

Well, thanks for that clarification. As I said, I'm usually inside by this point running around like a crazy person, so I I don't always see the outside process. So then with the roof, I imagine it's always, your goal to get the house sealed up and and the roof on as quickly as possible, so that that more of the work can be done inside, without worrying about the weather. About when in the schedule are you usually ready to get that roof installed?

Well, at that at that point, it kinda depends on how many people need to be running around on the roof. If let's say your roof nobody needs to be up there. You could lay your roof up. But a lot of times, you'll see that there'll be second floors where there's stucco up on the roof, and so you can't lay it up. You gotta provide paths for the stucco guys to go up there and work and walk around.

So you don't want them walking on top of your tile. That you just have. So you wait till everybody's done and off the roof, and then you would put that go ahead and lay the roof up. But once you have the weight up there and it's papered, you don't really need to panic too much about the rest of it.

Right. So if so you want the weight up there in this in the stacks before you do the stucco so that the settling happens.

Yes.

Then you do the stucco and get everything sealed up around the perimeter, and then you can get the the make it pretty. Right. Right. My part of the job. Yeah.

A lot of time, paper yeah. They'll paper the house and then be you know? And then you do your drywall and your stucco a lot of times, you know, almost at the same time on the inside.

Yeah. Yeah. Now we have a few conversations to have before we drywall the inside, but it's great to know that simultaneously that comes at about the same point. And that's really when it starts to really come together. I mean, all of a sudden, it's like at one point, it's a it's a real house instead of a Swiss cheese.

Right. Correct.

And you can no longer, you know, walk anywhere you wanna go in between the rafters. Okay. So common roofing materials include asphalt shingles, metal, tile, clay, and synthetic roofing products like molded and tinted concrete, which we've used recently, which can imitate tile and clay without the heavy weight. And I'm sure that the budget and the weight can be a huge factor as you'll need, the framing to hold the weight and, you know, and the roof material. So what in the design process are all those selections made with the client and and is it while you're working with the architect?

So the architect needs to know what the finish is gonna be because design, like the beams that hold the house up, and he needs to know how much weight he's gonna try to support. Mhmm. So those things, that roof material and what that weight is, he needs to know that right off the bat when he's when he's designing it. So we're not talking about the layout of the house, you know, rooms and all that kind of stuff. We're talking about, You know, headers, headers for the windows, doors

Yeah.

Rafters. You know, how much weight are you putting up there? And he has to be able to figure that in right at the beginning.

Yeah. So I so they're really you need to kinda narrow in on the style of the house and the look of the house, and then everything else is gonna fall into place under those decisions.

Right. Right.

Okay. And so then will will will you be included that early, or does the architect know what things cost? Like, you know, because at that point I mean, like, for example, if you're doing a Mediterranean style house and you you want the red clay look, but the red clay is one price and the, you know, and the cement version of it, you know, is another price. Who who knows that answer?

Typically, the, architect would know that. Mhmm. He but he's he's gonna spec to put up on that roof.

Yeah. Okay. So so you're not necessarily consultant about that, but, when they get to you, have you ever had to say, well, you know, if if you wanna cut the budget back, consider this or consider that. I mean, are the exterior, the materials sometimes things you you need to bring up to negotiate?

You know, some sometimes we do if someone has, let's say, a you know, we just did a house where it had a tile roof, and it was a lot of weight up on the on the roof. And they wanted to replace some of it, and then they decided to replace all of it. They went with, like, a fifty year comp. So, yeah, it it it just kinda depends on how much money they they wanna spend on on the roof.

Right. And, hopefully, you know, as as you said, they've been guided in a direction that's already included in the overall budget, but but the budget doesn't really get made until it's until it's in your hands. So, you know, that's when I thought, you know, I wondered if sometimes people get carried away with a dream in one direction and they have to be kinda guided in another direction.

Yeah. Sometimes if we already are working with somebody right at the beginning, you know, if let's say it was a fire or partial fire or something like that, we'll be we'd be advising them as to what they could do or or not do. Mhmm. Some of the plans that we do get, let's say it's a completely remodel and the architect comes up. They've already decided all that.

And so they plan and say, you know, here's what we got. And a lot of times we'll make suggestions

Uh-huh.

To them and say, okay. This this will cost x amount, but, you know, could you consider something else or a different kind? Mhmm. Either save money or to say, we think this might look, you know, better for the house. But Mhmm.

Yeah. Most of time, the architects got that one figured out.

Mhmm. Yeah. But you're you're knowledgeable in that area to prepare for, you know, if things have to shift and and, you know, move side to side at all. So we talked about the the the stages of the wall. What are the stages of the roof in terms of the decking and the underlayment and flashing and waterproofing and all that stuff?

What what does that consist of?

Mainly what you just what you just mentioned.

So Okay.

Yeah. Wanna make sure your sheet metal's good before you put any paper down. So if you have, like, areas where the house has a valley, you know, you wanna make sure you got good sheet metal. If you got places that need to be covered with metal, let's say a parapet or, you know, which is basically a short wall that's up. You wanna make sure you have all that metal in place.

So your metal goes up first and then you then you go to your paper and the paper goes along with the kind of material that you picked out. So some of the roofing tile you know, some people like to put two layers of paper on the roof, and some people do a lot of the specs are only just for one layer, but a lot of people go, hey. You know what? For the paper, because that's your real waterproofing, I think I'll go two layers before I put my roof on. Sometimes people will up upgrade that a little bit, give yourself a little bit of extra protection on your roof.

It's kind of funny that the underlayment is refer is called paper because it it isn't paper. I mean, it's a synthetic. It's almost like a plasticky, polymer y. I mean, what actually is it?

Most of it. So I couldn't tell you the science of it, but it it paper, but a lot of it has I would call it mud. What would you

Uh-huh. Is it like resin? I mean, it's like, you know, it's like it feels like there's, you know, like, it's plastic layer or something.

Yeah. It's like, if you're familiar with hot mop.

Yeah. Yeah.

So so they have, like, it's an oily substance that's Yeah. Give it a, you know, a weight.

Uh-huh.

But it is, you know, it is basically a paper.

Yeah.

They they do also have now some other kinds that come in giant rolls, and I'm not off top of my head, I'm I'm not thinking of what it is.

But Uh-huh.

There are some new and different things that are coming out, and a lot of people are using those. Mhmm. And they giant sheets of plastic.

Uh-huh.

But a lot of people are using that too to cover the roof.

Uh-huh. Is that any different in terms of fire retention?

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that yeah. It does probably doesn't have the fire, but it probably has, you know, insulation part to it, a little bit of too.

Right. Right. And, of course, in different parts of the country, there must be different, you know, layers of things that they're gonna add into this mix to insulate for, you know, cold, which we don't have. But as you were talking about the the heat issues

Right. Yes. And some of them, you'll see those are usually white. So if you see a roof that's covered in white material

Yeah.

It's a it's a newer thing than the the older part was the, you know, black Yeah. Black paper.

Oh, interesting. Okay.

So this is all, you know, fairly recent within the last fifteen years.

Mhmm. So selection of the actual roofing materials, you know, should really be a subject of a of a whole episode. In talking about specifically rebuilding after a fire, what are the best materials to consider? And and what qualifies a class a fire rating, you know, will be included in that rating?

I'm not sure how exactly they, you know, classify them.

Uh-huh.

But there is agencies that for the government, you know, that you do get a classification for your roof. And, obviously, the best ones are probably the concrete and the thicker composition, you know, roofs.

Uh-huh.

City of LA, they also have colors, you know, picked out for insulation too. You have to pick a certain color so that you radiate the heat that's coming onto someone's roof.

Surface. It's the color of the surface that you see or the underlayer?

No. The part that you actually see.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So they some of those in City Of LA, they make you put signs up.

Yeah. I think I mean, they're trying what they're trying to get us to lighten the surfaces.

Right.

Right. So they reflect and they don't absorb.

Right. So yeah. The the black ones, if you do get a black one or a dark one, they have to have that extra protection or layer inside to, you know, reflect the heat that's coming in.

Interesting. So I live in a mid century ranch with an asphalt roof, and asphalt is probably the most budget friendly roofing option. The two homes that we recently finished together in Newbury Park used a composite material which imitated slate. Very beautiful. But what are the the most common materials that you've seen used in your area since the Woolsey fire?

So the most common and because of the fires are the concrete tiles

Yeah.

And the clay tiles. You know? So if embers embers from a nearby fire land on them, they're not gonna start up a fire, you know, on your roof. So they'll they'll die out on your roof. So the the most is the concrete and the clay.

Mhmm. It'll actually stop the flame from penetrating.

Right. Right.

And and are people you know, most of the houses I've been working on are much more contemporary now. Are people still doing Mediterranean style homes in your area

We have, yeah, we have not been seeing a lot of that. Yeah. Even even on the ones that that were were remodeling

Yeah.

They usually wanna update it and make it look a little bit more modern looking. So

Yeah.

See people pulling away from that design style.

Uh-huh.

And then they're also pulling away from, you know, years ago and on you know, forty years ago, you see the English Tudor houses.

Yeah. Yeah.

So over the course of time, the wood on the outside of those things have, you know, started to rot, and people will be pulling those off

Yeah.

And sucking their houses and updating them.

Yeah. We're using cladding to contrast and things like that. Yeah. Yeah. So when if someone does still want the Mediterranean look, what's the more cost efficient?

To actually go with the real clay or the comp or the composite versions?

I would say probably the composite, which is, you know, basically, the concrete that's sprayed.

Yeah.

You know, sprayed red.

Yeah.

To get a real clay roof

Yeah.

It's, you know, a little it's more expensive. It's a little bit harder to to work with.

Yeah.

But, yeah, they look fantastic.

Yeah. I mean but isn't it considerably heavier also than the composite? Yes.

Others are heavier. And then they also to make that look Yeah. They add concrete between some of the tiles.

Right. Of course.

To give it that authentic look, and that that a lot of weight too.

Right. Yeah. So that would you know, it really would filter through adding some bucks to many different, you know, aspects of the framing and the support and things like that.

Correct.

So I've been reading just a little bit about emerging technologies in roofing called smart systems that can detect fire and extreme heat and that the systems may either trigger, alarms or activate sprinklers or take other preventative measures to mitigate the impact. Has that come through to, you know, the common man, you know, to the the houses that you're working on yet?

No. We really haven't seen anything. I know they're working on this stuff, but Yeah. You know, we have not put a roof on like that. We don't I don't know of anybody that has.

Uh-huh.

I'm I'm sure they have somewhere, but we're not seeing a lot of that yet.

Yeah. Are there any other, you know, smaller innovations that have come through? I guess the cement, you know, the cement version of slate and, clay is an innovation, but those have been around a little while.

Right. Well, some of the other things that are happening here that we do see are and I I think we'd see, you know, people talk about having a Tesla roof, you know, for electricity. Uh-huh. Companies are coming up with not only the Tesla look, which looks kinda like a a slate. Some of the companies for the like, you say you have a composition roof.

There's companies that are coming up with roofs that would be electrical that look like that. And so they're mixing it they're mixing that into the composition roof. So when you look at, oh, that looks like a composition roof. And, really, it's it is a solar collector. So I'm I'm interested.

I think those are gonna be we're gonna start seeing a lot more of those because they do look like a regular roof where it doesn't look like you have a giant panel solar panel on your roof.

Uh-huh.

It is basically the whole roof is a solar collector.

Yeah. Actually, I do have a client with a Tesla roof. It is pretty phenomenal, although it took them a long time to you know, there were some leaks, and they had to track down where the leaks were that affected the interior, but I'm sure that was a fluke. It it looks pretty amazing, and it is it is a kind of deeper, darker, surface. So it's quite contemporary looking, but I'm sure that there are options.

Yeah. I haven't but I haven't had anyone on a new home make that choice, so I don't know much that much about them and how to plan for them yet.

Right. So we have tried to work with Tesla, some of my folks, and so I I think Tesla has to pick up their knowledge and and working. Yeah. You know, it's just not getting done.

Yeah.

I hate to bag on somebody.

But So you've had you've taken a look in with someone that wanted to use the material but realized that you couldn't because of the timing or, you know, you know, aspects of production?

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. It's the timing and then trying to communicate with them. We're finding that, you know, I'm talking to people and they're going, this is not going well.

Don't do it. You know? And I'm sure that that have had a great experience, but the majority of people were were hearing this. There's a real problem with, you know, actually getting it getting it done, maintaining it. So

Yeah. That's interesting. So and there there's no one else that's doing that that's that far along with that solar the actual solar roofing material yet, is there? I mean, have you heard of it?

No. I think so, but I I do think in the next couple years here, there there will be people that are catching up to it. Because some of the build the real big companies that do, like I say, the composition roofs, and a lot of this is back, you know, back east type stuff. They are coming up with some solar stuff, like we say, mixed in with their comp to make that work. So we're I do think we will start seeing that.

Cool. Now so since we're kinda talking about the the fire issue, I just wanna kinda tuck in even though it's it's gonna happen inside the house. The sprinkler systems, of course, are code requirements inside newly constructed California homes. When in the building's process are the spring is the sprinkler system laid in?

So it would typically be one of the first things that we would do once we we frame it. And just because we would probably get our heat and air guy and our plumber, and then the sprinkler guys because it's a hard material. It's not it's not like your wires. You could wrap that around, you know, studs and move it. Basically, it's it's like putting a sprinkler system out in your yard.

You know, you're you got hard Yeah. And so there's only certain spots that it is allowed to go to Uh-huh. To cut the room. So it has to be located in a certain area of a room.

Uh-huh.

If the sprinkler comes on, it covers the whole, you know, the whole room. It's got each sprinkler head can cover x amount of square feet. So depending on the size of your room, might need two, you might need three, or you might need one. Mhmm. So

And are the sprinklers called out on the architect plan? Is there a plan that includes that layout, or is it a specialty that comes in after framing and says, oh, this is what we have to do?

Yeah. Some it depends on how elaborate your plans may be.

Uh-huh.

Some might have that. But, typically, we would give the plan, you know, the floor plan to the guys doing the Sprinklr company. Uh-huh. You know, Sprinklr company. They would look at it and then draw on it and say, okay.

We need one here. We need one here when he you know, and then they would come out and take a look at and verify. Yeah. We, you know, we didn't miss a spot.

Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm guessing that the client that that the homeowner doesn't have very many decisions to make around this particular area because it's never included me. So no one's ever come to me confused and said, which sprinkler head should we choose?

Yeah. Yeah. You you don't get to pick on that.

No.

They have to cover the area. And the other the other part of that the a major part of the sprinkler system is your your water meter.

Uh-huh.

And your water meter supply to the house. So you have to have let's say it's gonna your it's gonna go off. You have to have enough water coming to your house.

Yeah.

So maybe you have to upgrade your your line to your house, and you also may have to upgrade your water meter. So you gotta figure out how much water is coming through your water meter, how big the line to the house is. So a lot of regular track houses might have, you know, three quarter inch pipe running to their house. But if it's a decent sized house, they might have to redo that and add it up to an inch or inch and a half.

Uh-huh.

You know, just depending on the number of sprinkler heads that need to get, you know, powered up.

So if it's a new house construction, you're already gonna start out with that with that one inch, with that bigger

pipe? Yeah. They'll spec that out. Yeah. They spec that out what size needs to come and and what size meter you have to have.

And if you're doing a major renovation where the client has moved out of the house, at what level of amount of work that you're doing are do you have to include you know, retrofit in a sprinkler system? I mean, if you're just going in to do a kitchen, even if it's permitted, right, you're you're not gonna be expected to put in sprinklers, are you?

No. You're you're not. But what the it usually, apparently seems to be up to each individual city Uh-huh. That's gonna, require. I'm sure there's a state, you know, law, but I think a lot of it just depends on the cities and the state.

And if you if you remodel, like, a certain percentage of the house, then you have sprinklers.

Right.

You know, kind of a hit and miss thing. But if you're doing a major teardown, typically, they're gonna there'll be a note on there, provide, you know, sprinklers.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. So so if you're going in and doing a lot of removing of the wall surfaces, and that's probably when, you know, when you're gonna have to go in and and add the sprinklers in.

Yeah. When your when your plans are in plan check, they'll let you know.

Yeah. In all uncertain words. In all uncertain terms.

They will let you know.

Yes. I'm sure they will. So I have a little bit of extra time here. So I'm gonna, at some point, do a whole, you know, exterior design, aspect. But while we're talking about the outside of the house, you know, usually, the architect's plans have, you know, certainly put in where the pool will go and a couple of major things, but there's still some flexibility about an outdoor kitchen and all of those kinds of things.

When do we need to you know, with all the decisions going to the interior, do you let kind of let it slack a little bit until you get those kind of choices made, or do you really need that stuff earlier on as well?

You know, as always, the earlier you can get the information, the better. You know? But if you have a general pool plan or, you know, backyard plan, when you're doing the house, you wanna make sure that you have either in your footings, let's say there's gonna be some wire or you need to run some gas. You know, you wanna make sure that that's incorporated into your house so it's easy to connect to. Mhmm.

And decide, okay. How am I gonna run? Let's say you're putting in a pool and, you know, my gas is on the side of the house. I don't want a blocking. I gotta run a gas line around the house back to the pool Mhmm.

The electrical in, you know, for different aspects. How am I gonna get water back there? You know, whatever it may be. And, you know, drains, how are you gonna drain this?

Mhmm.

A lot of the but then a lot is outside.

Yeah.

But you wanna make sure your infrastructure is ready to handle the next phase.

Yeah. So you kinda consider the finishing of it the next phase. But, is it is it already a part of the architect's plan? Is all that kind of laid out initially?

Sometimes it is and sometimes it's not. We're doing we're doing it right now. We just finished remodeling the house, but we did know. And about the time we were about, you know, three quarters through it

Yeah.

They're like, okay. We wanna redo the pool and redo the backyard, everything. So beef you know, we we wanted to make sure that we had, you know, quote, stubbed out an electrical Yeah. So that we could power that up at the future. So we wanted to make sure that we had everything ready.

So no matter what they decided to do, we're we are ready to surface that.

Yeah. So so you ask a lot of questions, I imagine, to make sure that you're providing for future evolution of the property.

Right. You wanna make sure that you don't put something in the way, you know Yeah. That you're gonna tear out, you know, three months later. Oh, by the way, hey. We did that, but, oh, now we gotta take it apart because you wanted to add a, you know, you wanted to add a pool or something.

The reason I'm confused about that timeline of of these exterior choices is because it usually is about three quarters the way through where I get a phone call like, you know, they really needed to know what we're gonna use for pavers yesterday. And I'm like, well, we didn't talk about what we wanna use for pavers yet. So you know? And then we have to start running around looking at pavers, you know, and whatever the materials and the choices are gonna be. So I feel like it lags behind, but, essentially, I should maybe be asking questions sooner.

Yes.

You know, it just it it depends. But like you say, anytime you get more information, the better. Yeah. If if someone hasn't made up their mind, you'd they you know, you do try to push them and go, look. You gotta tell us now so that we can prep this thing Mhmm.

And be ready. Otherwise, it'll just they can drag it start to drag on for a long time. And you don't wanna spend money doing something over that you just did because you didn't say, but make up my mind.

Right.

And now you're gonna come back and have to tear something apart Yeah. To fix it.

Yeah. I I have seen that happen.

Yes. We've all seen it happen. It's not good.

No. No. Not our favorite day on the job.

Yeah.

So as an interior designer, is there anything I've forgotten to ask you about the exterior building of the house and the things that need to be considered?

You know, maybe the only thing you would say, like, anything that might attach to the house.

Uh-huh.

So, we we are adding a lot of, patio, you know, big patio covers.

Right.

People say, I'm gonna I wanna entertain outside. You know, I I think I want a TV out here.

Right. Real living spaces interior. Yeah.

And I want, you know, 10 recessed lights, and I want fan in the middle. Yeah. I want two heaters. You

know? Right. Yes.

Yeah. So you want you wanna know that kind of stuff.

Uh-huh.

Which is you know, even though it's outside, it's incorporated should be incorporated into the structure of the house as you're doing it.

Uh-huh.

Because it you know, if you build a house and then someone said, well, now I wanna have a you know, this patio added to it. Oh, wish you would have told me a long time ago.

Well, yeah, especially because it it can it can need more electrical requirement than an average interior room.

Yeah. Especially when you're adding, you know, some of these are gas or electric heaters.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No. That can be that can be huge.

So we wanna make sure to be considering all of that from the beginning. So anything else you can think of?

With your you know, mainly with your pools and any any of the exterior areas where you wanna have kind of that living space.

Yeah.

Just knowing having a good idea of what, you know, what you're gonna be doing with it.

Exactly. Alright. So, Dawn, I cannot thank you enough once again for your time and your wisdom. It's on our website from disastertodreamhome.com. We've posted twelve month timeline where you can see pictures of the process of what you will need to do month by month to stay ahead of your contractors when building a new home.

Many of the photos are of the two homes we worked on with McMaster and construction while our clients were rebuilding after the Woolsey fires here in Southern California. Dawn's company is located in Westlake Village, California, and you can find out more about McMaster and Hill Construction at McMasterHill.com and through the link on our website, which is from disastertodreamhome.com, where you can find all of our previous episodes and reach us to out to us with ideas and questions. Gina Design Interiors is a full service interior design firm working with commercial and residential clients. If you are thinking about a company move or a major home renovation and are in the Southern California area, please reach out to jana@janadesigninteriors.com.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of From Disaster to Dream Home, the podcast that takes you inside the home building and rebuilding process. Each week, we bring you time tested practices and the latest trends through conversations with top professionals building industry. You can find other episodes of From Disaster to Dream Home at ewnpodcastnetwork.com as well as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, and most other major podcast streaming services. Need design help? You can contact us or find out more about our guests at from disaster to dream home dot com.

Until next time, let us guide and inspire you as you create the home of your dreams.