Durability

Health, comfort, and sustainability are all important when building a new home but one thing people often forget about when building a new home is long-term durability. If your house isn’t durable, you’re eroding your equity, working harder to maintain it, and reducing your enjoyment of the biggest purchase you’ll probably ever make. This is perhaps why the typical homeowner moves every seven years, right around the time that they start dealing with window replacements, siding repair, and other common durability concerns.

So what would it take for you to avoid such headaches and expenses with a solidly built, durable home carefully constructed to last a century or more? The answer can be found in high-performance design and building principles, which put a premium on enduring features, high-quality materials, and thoughtful practices that protect your investment. 

WHAT DRIVES US

Ground-Up Durability

Creating a durable home starts with situating it right on the site, which is often the high point, always on solid ground, and in a spot that will prevent water from running toward it. The entire building envelope impacts durability from the ground up. Wrapping the inside and outside of the footings and applying a vapor barrier provides further water and air resistance, as does tightly sealing the slab and isolating it from the ground floor. A sump pump with a battery back up extracts any moisture that does get in and expels it to a safe space, which is enhanced by capillary breaks that keep water away from the foundation walls. The slab sits on compacted gravel, making it even more stable and has a vapor and water barrier below it, while a dimple board outside foundation walls sends moisture down to the interior drain system and lowers the pressure on the walls. 

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On DURABILITY

Weatherproof Walls

The exterior of every high-performance home is fashioned to manage water first. As such, the walls have a more durable outer layer than typical siding that rots over time. A rain screen helps keep moisture at bay and if it does find its way in, a space behind the wall channels water down and allows it to dry out, preventing mold and mildew buildup. Meticulous air sealing prevents excessive air and vapor exchange, making it easier to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity level inside your home. Continuous, thick insulation wraps around the structure to keep warmth in and the elements out. This also prevents thermal bridging, which makes surfaces inside the walls cold and condensates to cause mold and rot. 

Doing the Roof & Attic Right

A high-performance home is also durable from the top down. Sealing your living space off from the attic to make it airtight helps you maintain the temperature of the upper level and prevents costly energy leakage. This is enhanced by a generous layer of insulation that keeps warmth in and cold out. When combined with a strong seal between the roof and attic that prevents moisture from leaking into the sheathing layer, keeping the attic warm also prevents condensation from forming. High-performance homes can accommodate contemporary design elements but avoid roof angles that encourage water accumulation. Roof overhangs take rain and melting snow away from the walls, as do longer, wider downspouts.

Durable from the Inside

A high-performance home needs less interior maintenance too. Rooms that typically have moisture-related issues like mold and mildew don’t anymore because continuous ventilation airs out those spaces. This means there’s less need to replace grout, caulking, and tiles in bathrooms and the kitchen. While the ERV system continually brings in clean, fresh, filtered air, removes stale air, and maintains temperature and humidity, it is far more efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems, helping you avoid costly HVAC replacements. Premium natural materials age well, further reducing maintenance costs. 

A house should not be an enemy that you’re constantly battling and worrying about wearing down, but rather a reliable, safe, secure haven that’s conducive to your lifestyle and gives you peace of mind. You can even feel and hear the durability of a high-performing home when a door is solid in your hand or there’s a storm raging outside but nothing is rattling inside. 

The time you would have spent on repairs can be directed to family, friends, hobbies, and living a full life when you build a low-maintenance home.

“You have houses that you manage, and some you just live in. Others add to you and help you carry out your values. This home does that, and it has become a part of us.”