Scott Homes

Mainstream builders are taking a look at what builders like Scott Homes, Inc (that’s us) have been doing to stay in business during these challenging years. They’re looking at us closely because now customers expect a higher level of energy performance, quality indoor air and green building material. They’re asking how we’ve successfully sustained a higher standard for so long.

How did we get here and how have we stayed ahead of the pack for two decades? There are five things that every quality custom home builder does to create homes worthy of a good reputation.

1. We Pay Attention
Before we even dig your foundation, we make sure that your designer and your project manager are on the same page (sometimes they are the same person!). While your home is under construction the whole crew meets once a week as a team with Scott and the designer. Through it all, you are updated and your questions are answered. You are part of this, too, you know. The idea is to know where we’ve been, where we are, where we are going and why we are doing what we do.

2. We Know Our People
We’ve been building for our neighbors for 30 years – nearly 20 with SIPs. There’s no way we’d stay in business this long if we weren’t confident in our employees, our suppliers and our sub-contractors. Every new employee gets intensive training on how Scott Homes builds.  We know which suppliers have the best, most consistent products. After thirty years, we have a long list of subcontractors we know can do the job right.

3. We Analyze Our Work … and Improve
Before we begin building, we have an idea what your home’s energy efficiency performance should be. And when we try new techniques, we ask WSU Energy Extension Programs and/or NAHB to do computer modeling on your house. After your home is finished, we test to see how accurate the modeling predictions were (usually pretty darn close). Once we know how well we did, we get to work figuring out if and how it can be done better/cheaper/faster. We’re always looking to improve.
By the way, since we’ve completed the Far Reach House, we are actively looking for a client to build a Passiv Haus the Scott Homes way. Hint, hint …

4. We Get Certified
We build extremely energy efficient homes. The best way for us to show you our homes are built to a high standard is to get each home certified by a third-party verifier. All of our homes are Energy Star certified. Most are Built Green certified (usually five star!). And the EPA recently started an indoor air quality programs so now our homes will be Indoor airPLUS certified.
Certifications are not the goal when we design and build your home, but they are excellent guidelines. As the industry learns more about building science, the certification guidelines change. This raises the bar which in turn raises our standards.

5. We Keep Learning
This is the most important element. The more we learn, the better home we can build for you. From certifying in Aging-In-Place design to learning about building for Multiple Chemical Sensitivities sufferers, we strive to know all we can about building a healthy, long-term home for you.

For further questions about how we build, give us a call or drop us a line. We like talking to you!

We’re thinking about changing the name of The Far Reach House to Less-Than-a-Latte House.

Why? Becaaaause …

“All totaled [our utility bills] add up to about $2.45 a day. … it is really cool to live in a house where we spend less per day on utilities than an average person spends on a latte.”

The Far Reach House owners moved in April 1st (check out the finished interior!). Since then we’ve been waiting with baited breath to learn what the energy bills are like. Last week the owners dropped off copies of their utility bills along with a note. My favorite part is how they summarize their daily utility costs (electricity, water and propane). Their latte example was a bonus. Read the rest of this entry »

What a great way to start the week! This morning my inbox was full of messages with this video forwarded to me.

DIY Network's Deconstruction featuring SIPs

“Deconstruction” is hosted by DIY Network’s Matt Blashaw. Matt explores the science behind home building/improvement. On the framing episode, they cover SIPs and how SIPs stand up to high winds, snow loads and projectiles.

The segment is about 11 minutes long. For those of you who don’t have an extra 11 minutes in your day (I know, I know) here’s a summary. But I would take time to watch it, it’s pretty entertaining and full of good information.

The “Deconstruction” Framing episode starts with how SIPs are made at …  PREMIER BUILDING SYSTEMS in Fife, WA! These are the guys that build our SIPs! We’re famous by association!

In manufacturing portion they:

• show how two guys can frame up an entire SIPs house pretty quickly and effectively
• demonstrate how they make special cuts (love the chainsaw)

Read the rest of this entry »

I got a blast from the past in my mail box yesterday. SIPA sent a video they did about SIPs and the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. I haven’t seen this in years. With all the lethal ground shaking that’s been going on this year, this is pretty timely. We thought we’d share it with you.

In the aftermath of the Sendai earthquake we had several people asking how SIPs houses stand up to earthquakes. We here at Scott Homes don’t know yet if any SIP buildings were in the Sendai area or how they may have fared. We can offer information on SIPs homes and a couple major seismic events. Read the rest of this entry »

If Thicker SIPs Have Higher R values, Why Don’t You Build with Thicker SIPs?
The short answer is that we can and do build with thicker panels. However, we’ve found through experience and WSU’s computer modeling that sometimes the increased cost of a thicker panel outweighs the performance of a thicker panel.

Here what we’ve learned:

6-Inch SIPs
Typically the industry builds house walls with 6-inch SIPs and radiant heat floors. This results in a well-built, energy efficient homes that cost around $200/year to heat. Pretty darn good, right?  But we are continuously striving to build better houses. So we asked WSU’s Energy Extension department to run some ideas through their computer modeling program. Read the rest of this entry »