Building a 5,400 sf house in 106 hours is a daunting task on its own. Now add a geothermal system, clay soil, and four days of unrelenting rain, and it becomes clear why ABC considers the Pecoy Extreme Makeover in Suffield CT one of the top three builds they have ever experienced!
Pecoy Signature Homes & volunteers come to the rescue
When Kent Pecoy of Pecoy Signature Homes in West Springfield and Avon, got the call from ABC, he thought it was a joke! Yet, just five weeks later, he and his company were about to begin a round-the-clock Extreme Makeover project that would turn the formerly quiet Mather Street in Suffield into a mud-soaked battleground of cranes, bulldozers, cement mixers, hauling trucks and shuttle buses.
“This was probably the worst week of weather for building a home that I’ve ever seen,” said Mike Fournier of Sapazzarini Construction Company. “Our guys were bringing in sand and top soil every day just to keep the site workable. One of our guys, Scott Richardson, was there 24/7 from beginning to end.”
The site was like grease, and Spazzarini made the build happen.
- Kent Pecoy
The clay soil was a big problem, and the most hair raising moment of the build, according to Kent Pecoy, was when one of the Artesian well trucks skidded on the wet clay and kept going. “We nearly lost it,” said Kent.
Extreme Makeover Goes Green with Geothermal
To really complicate an already monumentally challenging build, Kent Pecoy decided to go geothermal.
“We had big concerns for the family, who were clearly financially strapped. They were going from a 2,200sf to a 5,400 sf home, and we wanted to make it easy to maintain, and affordable for them to heat and cool.”
While the house was being built on the front of the lot, a road was built to access the rear, where Connecticut Valley Artesian Well Company of East Longmeadow used two drill rigs and two service tenders to drill 1,300 feet of vertical bore hole for the heat exchange in the ground source heat pump system.
“The rain was a fight all the way,” said Kent. “At one point, there was a river flowing in the backyard from the well drilling, and it flooded the neighbors yards, so we had to suspend drilling temporarily.”
“We built and assembled the entire house in the warehouse, so we knew things were going to work,” lead framer Keith Modesto explained. “Then we disassembled it, and loaded it on trailers with crane picks in order. After everything was transported to the site, we craned the 48’ X 8’ panels up and dropped them in place.”
Sanford & Hawley had a hand in everything
As part of their 125th anniversary celebration, Sanford & Hawley made the first lumber delivery to the site with a horse drawn wagon like what they used in 1884, followed by one of their trucks.
Sanford and Hawley provided over $40,000 in materials, including all of the material in the wall panels, the Huber donated Zip system wall and roof sheathing and AdvanTech flooring, Nordic I-joists for the floor and roof trusses thru Truss Engineering, all interior doors, Taylor exterior entry door, Wellcraft window wells, Kohltech egress windows, painted HB&G columns, and the entire NuCedar siding and trim package, which was a donation by Nu Cedar at $38,000.
Thanks to Pecoy Signature Homes and 5,000 volunteers, the small, fire-damaged and deteriorating home was replaced with a beautiful 5,400 sf Federal style classic with finished basement and lit basketball court for the seven boys.
Jason Pecoy, Kent Pecoy, Suzanne Clarke and Scott Poulin
Kent Pecoy summed it all up!
“I may have been the captain of the ship, but I couldn’t have done it without all of the volunteers. I would not have wanted to miss this experience. It changed my life and the life of every person involved.”
Lessons Learned
Beyond the incredible spirit of the 5,000 volunteers, and the organizational ability of Kent Pecoy and his team, there are valuable lessons to be learned. Kent Pecoy says he walked away with a new perspective.
- In this economy, you must consider the cost of money, the cost of time and the cost of carry.
- If I can shorten the amount of inventory I carry by even one month, I can cut the risk, and reallocate the interest I save.
- The homebuilding industry is evolving, and there will be far less hours spent assembling homes on site, and more hours utilized off site, where the skill set required is lower.
Frank Sanford of Sanford & Hawley offered the following important observations:
- Anything that saves time and labor on the job site is going to be a big deal in the future.
- Wall panels offer speed and less labor, but they require careful coordination for rough openings and bearing points.
- A product like Zip System structural wall and roof panels eliminates the need for felt and housewrap, which saves time, labor and material.
- In the future, with labor a big issue, interior and exterior trim and siding are going to be pre-finished. Pre-finished products like NuCedar Classic Clapboard® and Trim is a perfect example.
- Warranties continue to grow in importance. For example, NuCedar offers a lifetime finish and substrate warranty and Huber provides a 15 year Zip System limited warranty and a 30 year Zip System panel limited warranty.
Tips from Jack Kemper on Smaller Floor Plan Design
In the second in a series of tips on smaller floor plan design, Extreme Makeover architect, Jack Kemper, had these recommendations:
- Don’t design repeat spaces, for example: a living room in addition to a family room or a dining room and a breakfast room.
- Make sure the house is more important than the garage.
- Set it back from the main body of the house
- Diminish its height.
- Try an L-shape design.
- Bump it back about four feet.
- Concentrate on details.
- Make the entry to the home special.
- Don�t try to accomplish too much. Simpler is better.
