NAHB 1963 Experimental House, The

[Music] today is the day nahb's 1963 experimental house becomes a home it's going to be quite a ceremony and these early arrivals will have a big part in it this is W Evans Buchanan of Rockville Maryland he's 1963 president of nahb he built the house bill blackfield of San Francisco and Hawaii homebuilder and nahb officer Harry Willets of Miami and Larry Blackman mineral Wealth Builders both nahb officers in a little while the house will be swarming with people home builders government officials the Press but right now it's still quiet and there's time for another look around time for a summing up well Bucky it looks like we made it yes I guess we did what do you boys think of it it looks real great I think we've got something here Bucky now that You' finished what do you think about it well we're proud of it I think we all could be proud of it especially the manufacturers and our own research institute people they're the ones that really did a fine job are you glad it's over well in a way yes but just watching it go together was a real experience you know this house was really built in fast time considering everything about it was brand new plus the fact that we had a real horrible record-breaking winner to fight but now it seems like it was started almost 100 years ago it was a Saturday morning as I remember the lot was in the middle of UK canan's Colony North subdivision for this experiment's purpose it was ideal its gentle slope required very little grading but the New Foundation system will work on any lot no matter how rough and Rocky at the beginning the weather was perfect but this was the end of Indian summer and in this part of the country winter can arrive overnight the project was planned to meet specific goals established by the trustees of nahb's research institute and this field trial of many of the new ideas was made possible by the very Progressive attitude of the Rockville city officials primarily they hope to come up with a practical new all- weather building system one that would solve one of the home builder biggest problems the costly seasonal fluctuations in building caused by weather the key to the solution was a radically new All Steel Foundation framework the all plastic plumbing system begins at the street connections the 1-in water service line and the 3-in house sewer or ABS the 1-in gas service is ABS 2 one of the first such installations made by the local gas utility this was a continuation of the successful use of plastic piping started in the East Lancing Michigan and Knoxville Tennessee research houses by The Institute one man can carry at one time all the dwv fittings for the whole house an engineer from marbon chemical division of Borg Warner producers of the ABS plastic used for the pipe and fittings supervised the installation here the plumber makes a plastic to cast iron joint using the conventional lead and okam method for the street sewer connection but all other plastic pipe and fitting joints in the house are made with the solvent welding process the solvent is brought brushed on both surfaces then when the pieces are joined they are welded into a solid fused unit with the utilities in place rough grading is completed and drilling for foundation peers can begin this rental Mobile drill rig put down 15 24in peer footing holes 4 ft deep in 45 minutes at a cost of just $15 a rig like this with carbide bits can drill through frozen ground Shale and hard pan a builder using this system Quinter when most construction is at a standstill Frozen tight he can deliver houses the year round to suit local market demand the lightweight steel grade beams are easily and quickly laid out for assembly of the framework when the research institute and US Steel's applied research laboratory set out to design the perimeter found Foundation components their goals were lightness strength low cost and ease of assembly in any weather these beams are designed to span 14 to 16 ft under average one-story loads their use in a one and a half Story House proved their versatility in this test connections were made with bolts later a new connection was designed by the research institute to eliminate field bolting or or welding after Corner connections are made and interior Center girds and peers are placed the frame is squared and blocked to level to prevent corrosion of the steel grade beams and peers plant applied cold tar enamel Coatings are used concrete pad footings are poured in the pier holes to a depth of several inches above the peer bearing plates a layer of straw will protect the concrete from subfreezing temperatures during the overnight curing period result you can forget about cold weather in scheduling foundation work peer holes are backfilled and the 6m polyethylene film goes down over the entire Plum space area 2in styrofoam perimeter insulation goes between the bottom of the steel grade beam and the rough grade foil enclosed fiberglass placed inside the grade beam completes the perimeter insulation the maber vlock steel joists are snapped into place on 56-in centers and the foundation frame is ready for decking the decking material Potlatch Forest ply Lumber combined subfloor and finish floor in a cross laminated tongue and groove plank the top face is Red Oak the center and bottom Plies Southern yellow pine in Long lengths ply Lumber will span 5 ft between joist to bond the wood decking to the steel an easy to mix allpurpose epoxy adhesive is used in combination with single nailing at each [Music] joist these pipe clamps assure tight joints between planks the platform is ready for you to build any kind of modular house you wish conventional component or prefab the wood framing system was designed on a twoot module for the main elements studs second floor joists and Truss cords framing Lumber is delivered bundled using pre-cut studs exterior walls are laid out and assembled on the deck vinyl aluminum windows made by kadco are nailed directly to the studs these windows are modular for either 16 or 24in stud spacing exterior plywood sheathing Factory laminated with DuPont's tedlar plastic film provides a combination of structural skin and weather finish no painting is required at the factory or in the field one leading plywood producer will offer a 15-year guarantee on the tedlar finished siding materials the coated sheathing is nailed directly to the studs with rust proof Nails matching tedlock bar coated batons are applied at 2T centers with these double pointed nails front and rear wall panels are 38 ft long the length of the house side panels are 28 ft the depth of the house so with only four wall panels to handle tilt up goes fast with the installation of catco's new entrance door frame and application of the tedlar corner battens the outside walls are completed with final color and finish no weather delays no field painting required next step is interior structural partitions this Center bearing partition comes first special ring Nails provide rigid connection between studs and plates to resist uplift forces at the other end of the house nahb's new steel wood ibeam supports the second floor joist at midpoint its design was thoroughly tested at nahb's research laboratory 2x4 wood flanges are nailed directly to a 14 gauge strip steel web with hardened masonry Nails labor and materials for this 14 ft beam cost $17.50 the 2x8 second floor joists are stress rated at the Mill by a new non-destructive electromechanical process developed by Potlatch Forest to provide accurate grading for lumber as an engineered structural material later these joists will form the bottom cords of the truss system the CER lever is 4 ft making for more usable space on the second floor the second floor ply Lumber decking is both glued and nailed One Nail per plank per joist clamping makes for a tighter joint when the nails are driven when it's finished the deck provides a work platform for Gable wall and Truss assembly Gable ends are built in two sections using Potlatch glue lamp a combination sheathing and siding Product Cedar face glued to soft wood sheathing board and up they go [Music] trusses are built right on the second floor deck with pre-cut members the first one serves as a template for all the rest the story and a half trust design chosen is one of the major Innovations in the house the total system incorporates the second floor joists and deck rafter and SE ceiling cords King posts knee [Music] walls and roof does it work nab's lab tested them to failure crushing of the grain it came at 132 lb per square ft of roof load with a 35lb floor load in place this provides a safety factor of over five times that required by assumed load limits you can see that this new design makes for plenty of usable space with two rooms available front to back on each side of the plan the Douglas fur plywood Association and Dupont work together to come up with a folded interlocking Bermuda Roof System 2T X 10t panels of 1/2 in AC grade exterior plywood is covered with a 10m holon film laminated in the plant the long edges are Mill so that the hypalon acts as a continuous hinge for the folded roof joints installation is started at the eaves with concealed nailing successive courses are nailed and folded up to the ridge butt joints come at rafter cords and are sealed with pressure sensitive rubber tape it's a little tricky but once you get the hang of it it goes up in a hurry [Music] suets are made of the same material as the sidewalls tedlar covered plywood a continuous metal Eve ventilator runs from one end of the house to the other a notched Gable rake adds a Finishing Touch people came from all over the country to watch the experimental house going up this group included technical staff Personnel of the central FHA office Owen's Corning fiberglass came up with an experimental molded plastic component design for the first floor powder room this wall which includes the Basin and housing for the toilet flush tank is all one piece so is the shower [Music] stall the solvent welded ABS plastic piping is carried throughout the house for the drain waste and vent System including the stack and connections for the second floor wall mounted toilets all interior hot and cold water supply lines are goodrich's highte Geon with fabricated fittings and extruded rigid pvdc plastic pipe all solvent welded with plumbing out of the way the rest of the first floor Powder Room can be assembled the big components just Bolt [Music] together heating ducts come next these are fiberglass assembled at the site with a staple gun and tape there's no metal work at all at this stage a number of different wall and ceiling systems are being tested in the experimental house this ceiling is 1/2 in conventional drywall but with a big difference this is a true onday system a development of US Gypsum the first coat dries in a few hours taping is done with the first coat the second coat is completed the same day and that's all it [Music] takes surfaces are ready for painting the second day another important use of pre-finished materials ceramic tile bathroom floors are prefabbed on plywood by tile Council of America and laid with an epoxy adhesive in the field a molded fiberglass tub and shower combination by plasticon provides a onepiece tub and enclosure second floor petition panels are a US steel development they're fabricated at the plant framed with 2in steel Channel studs with wood top and bottom plates the non-load bearing petition panels are are covered with/ in vinyl faced us gypsum board bonded to the studs with a special adhesive and walls are also US Gypsum vinyl face panels glued directly to the wood studs note the expressed V joints in rhythm with the 24-in framing module the first floor study is paneled with pre-finished cherry plywood it's attached to the framing with us Steel's new wire Pusher The Pusher is loaded with a coil of high strength wire the wire is fed by pushing on the handle and then automatically cut off flush with the surface nail setting puttying and finishing are eliminated outside the house the car porch is beginning to take shape the structural system is based on these nailed plywood box beam bents the beams were designed by nahb's laboratory and Shop [Music] fabricated beams are attached to the posts at the site making rigid bents and tilted into place in pre-drilled peer footing holes [Music] the research institute designed an all-weather house and the elements helped them test it the car porch walls are off-site preassembled split block masonry curtain wall panels bonded with epoxy mortar they're bolted between the framing members the day these walls went in the temperature was exactly zero and no wet mortar masonry work could have been done with the car porch wall in place the site is ready for final grading a few more finishing touches and the 1963 experimental house is ready for inspection let's join project manager Bill Stacy on a guided tour well we might as well start here with the plant fabricated masonry privacy screen developed jointly with the national concrete masonry Association the car forch roof is ply Lumber decking covered with fiberglass reinforced asphalt shingles we tried to make the car porch as functional as possible with its own intercom lots of storage a fireplace and motor operated plastic convertible wall enclosure for bad weather between the car porch and the house is a pleasantly secluded patio as you come into the kitchen you'll notice ABS molded plastic pant entry doors we tried to keep countertop Heights consistent with people this adjustable height wall hung cabinet system is designed to fit people of all sizes Stanley shelf Hardware is used kitchen appliances are all GE except for the food blender and transistor intercom both by new tone the electrical service entrance is Handy but hidden kitchen cabinets are based on the modulo system developed by nahb and The standle Works in previous research houses the family room acoustical ceiling is ens corning's new selt with a vinyl surface large 4tx 14t panels are glued directly to ceiling Joys the furnace and air conditioning unit for the first floor zone is off the family room floor registers Supply conditioned air from the underfloor plenum to all rooms we kept wall switches and door knobs at child level and the ladies all noticed and liked it this wall in the living room is US Gypsum vinyl covered glued to the framing members as in most other rooms the vinyl baseboard which functions as a Raceway for electrical wiring and Outlets was developed by BF good rich and Johnson Plastics the Stanley sliding patio doors have safety cross members at 3T height for [Music] reinforcement Kad CO's aluminum reinforced extruded vinyl framed modular Windows included Jam liners and vinyl casings which were also used for interior door openings back toward the front of the house through the center Hall [Music] and into the completed first floor fiberglass powder room with its luminous ceiling [Music] system into the study and you will see another adjustable wall hung work surface the stainle hardware used is now available over the counter the study has a hung acoustical ceiling made of 4T x 10 ft Vin faced 2-in fiberglass panels supported on Redwood beams here's an example of the vinyl casing katco used on the frame of their experimental melamine plastic door reinforced with the [Music] lock heading upstairs the first thing you see after the US Gypsum pre-finished vinyl wall surface is a thermostat for the second floor zoned heating and cooling system the furnace is in here this Kiwani panel fit door frame is steel designed for the US steel partition panel [Music] system for convenience the laundry Center is here on the second floor where laundry accumulates into the master bedroom and you see complete closets and built-ins Under The Roof slope again based on the modulus system [Music] back in the [Music] hall and into the second floor bath and a good look at the plastic on one piece fiberglass plastic tub and [Music] enclosure and that's about it the high spots but any HB will be glad to send you its full published report and that's about the story now let's see what the rest of the industry thinks about the house won't have long I see them coming now and some they did by the hundreds on that opening day Dr Robert Weaver administrator of the housing and Home Finance Agency arrived in a style that seemed to fit in with the idea of a they listen to a few [Music] speeches but the house was the big star today it's the home of an American family a family that probably never heard of it before the day they saw it and decided to buy it [Music] and that's where the payoff comes in a house like this do home buyers like it can a builder afford to use the new ideas at a price they can pay the answer to both questions is a definite yes [Music] [Music] this 1963 nahb experimental house is another big step toward the research institute's goal of more and Better Homes at greater values for America's home buyers [Music] oh [Applause] [Music]