Green Valley Academy

07/27/2023

Residential Construction - 12 Types of Roofing Materials!


Credit: The Spruce https://www.facebook.com/thespruceofficial

Roofing materials vary greatly in their costs and expected lifespans. Learn about 12 types of roofing materials to consider for your next reroofing.

05/04/2023

Arlington County ends single-family-only zoning!

The Northern Virginia county’s "missing middle" plan will allow buildings with four — and in most cases six — units in any neighborhood!

Arlington will become the first locality in the D.C. region to loosen zoning rules and make it easier to build “missing middle” housing in any neighborhood.

03/02/2023

Buydown: A Way To Reduce Interest Rates! Home builders can help the buyers to reduce the interest rates.

Buydown refers to methods used by buyers and sellers to lower interest rates in the early years of a new mortgage. Find out if a buydown makes sense for you.

02/17/2023

Friday wisdom on investment! This is not really a real estate related, but I thought this is something to learn from the horse mouth directly. This is what Charlie Munger had to say about Crypto. I am huge fan of Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger!

Billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger speaks at the Annual Shareholders Meeting of the Daily Journal Corporation.

02/02/2023

How much does it cost to install a home elevator? This is a good read.

Interested in adding a residential elevator in your home? Check out our complete guide to the cost of adding a home elevator so you can be prepared.

01/22/2023

11/14/2022

Green Valley Custom Builders standard home features in McLean!

Some of our standard home features in McLean!
1. 2x6 wall construction.
2. 14" deep floor joists at 16" OC with 23/32" thick OSB sub-flooring glued, nailed and screwed to minimize deflection and squeaky floor.
3. Pella Lifestyle black windows.
4. Recessed LED lighting throughout the home.
5. Structured wiring system at selected rooms.
6. E/V charging station at garage.
7. Speaker prewire at selected areas.
8. Wi-Fi access point at each floor.
9. Main entry IQ PRO video/automation system with a video doorbell and IQ PRO control panel with a built-in touchscreen and siren.
10. Kwikset keyless front door entry system.
11. Security cameras prewire.
12. 7.2 surround speakers system prewire with HDMI/CAT6 connections in media room in basement.
13. Ecobee or Nest thermostat with a Wi-Fi remote connectivity.
14. Epoxy garage floor.
15. Heated master bathroom floor.
16. TOTO toilets.
17. 7" baseboard at main level and 5" baseboard throughout the home.
18. Direct vent gas fireplaces.
19. New construction home warranty included.
20. Many more....

10/26/2022

Feasibility study of a lot or teardown consists of the the following.
1. Lot study. Is lot big enough to fit the house? Schools. Cornet lot. Busy road. Cul-de-sac. Proximity to shopping centers, airport and so on.
2. Zoning (R1, R2, R3, etc.) and setbacks. RPA, Flood zone and covenant restrictions. Historic district. HOA and/or civic associations. Bad soil (heaving clay soils having a poor drainage quality). Clay is always bad. It can also create foundation heaving. BMP (infiltration trench, planter box, rain garden and so on). Building height restrictions.
3. Easements (storm water and/or sanitary sewer). County records and deed research.
4. Public water and sewer.
5. Well and septic (needs health department approval).
6. Natural gas, propane tank, and power/electric.
7. Land topography. Flat. Slope. Fully buried basement. English basement. Walkup basement (areaway and window wells). Walkout basement.
8. Soil percolation test (colloquially called a perc test) is a test to determine the water absorption rate of soil (that is, its capacity for percolation) in preparation for the building of a septic drain field (leach field) or infiltration basin. This helps to determine how many bedrooms we can build.

09/01/2022

What is a flitch beam?
A flitch beam is a composite beam built up of steel plate/s (commonly referred to as flitch plate/s) and wood/lumber beams. The steel plate/s is sandwiched between the wooden beams connected together using through bolts.

Flitch beams are typically structurally stronger than regular wooden beams. They can span longer and can carry more loads. This is one of the options to avoid using steel beams/columns for longer spans and more loads.

06/05/2022

Open house today, Sunday, 06/05/2022, 2pm to 4pm! The builder will be there to answer any questions you may have.

05/20/2022

The majority of the structural failures in a house happens at the deck. Typically, and almost all the time, the pressure treated wood is used to build a deck. The life span of a wood deck is about 20 years if properly maintained. Some of the common structural issues are:
1. The deck beams are not properly connected/bolted to the posts.
2. The deck joist hangers are loose or are not properly attached to the ledger board or corroded over time.
3. There are not any or enough cross braces or tension ties.

The local county or city jurisdictions have their own version of slightly modified deck construction guidelines that you can download from their website. Simpson has nicely put together a booklet that you download for free, link below. If you have any questions or comments, please comment below. Happy Friday!

Simpson Deck Connection and Fastening Guide:
https://ssttoolbox.widen.net/view/pdf/mlauxumqxk/F-DECKCODE22.pdf

Fairfax County Typical Deck Details:https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/landdevelopment/sites/landdevelopment/files/assets/documents/pdf/publications/deck-details.pdf

04/29/2022

Public and private water and sewer connections! Public means house water and sewer laterals are connected to the county or city main lines. If you are demolishing the old house and building a new one, you will have to disconnect the utilities including water and sewer during construction, and reconnect later on. If the public water and sewer lines are available in the neighborhood, but they are not currently connected to the property, you can request to the county or city for connection. There will be a connection fee. Please note. If there are no public water and sewer lines available in the neighborhood, your typical options are septic and well (for water). For septic system, you need to hire a civil engineer for further investigation to find out how many bedrooms house you can build. You need to conduct a perc test by a geotechnical engineer, and get a health department approval for how many bedrooms. Again, this is something you will have to discuss with the civil engineer.