Who lives in a Landan?

Hi Everyone,

We live in a Washington Homes Landan model and I see there are a lot of them around here.

Just curious as to what options everone has (bump outs, french doors, firplaces, half walls), what problems you have encountered, if you finished your basement, any other improvements that you have made?

rlab

 

I have a "Leaky Landon", and you're right there are quite a few of them in Broadlands. The layout is really good.

A common problem in Landons is leaks (rain and air). Most of them are minor, mostly just a lack of thoroughness in sealing windows, roofs, and so on. The first floor powder room is always cold in the winter, as is the bedroom over the garage. I think it is due to a combination of poorly placed heating vents and lack of insulation. Washington Homes doesn't use any Tyvek wrap, so wind can go right through the siding into the house. Feel around on your west wall and you'll find cold spots when the wind blows.

I'm currently finishing my basement and it has really stiffened the first floor. Before you could stand in the kitchen and feel the floor flex and buckle when the kids romped in the family room. After we put up some framing in the basement, that problem is gone. We still have a few flex points, but I'm going to put some struts between the joists to cut down on that.

Another common problem is creaking floors. Like most production houses, the floors are nailed down. If I had it to do over again, I'd put in my building contract that the floors are all to be glued and screwed and that my house is to be built with the same construction techniques and quality materials as used in the model (i.e. acoustic insulation in the interior walls, good quality carpets/wood/vinyl floor instead of the cheap stuff, and so on) Live and learn.

--- John B.

 

I agree about the powder room and the room over the garage.

Has anyone added insulation to the garage walls and to the crawl spaces on either side of the room over the garage and has it helped to keep these 2 rooms (Powder room and room over the garage) warmer?

 

I insulated the garage and added a little bit more insulation to either side of the bedroom over the garage. This only helped a little bit. The main problem is that the exterior walls of the house are just drywall, insulation, plywood, and siding. There is no sealant of any sort applied to the joints between the plywood boards, so wind can seep around the siding and come right into the house. Other builders put Tyvek wrap around the house, and that cuts way down on wind intrusion.
Inside the walls, insulation is the only defense against the cold. If the outside temp is 15 degrees like it was the other day, then the siding and plywood is just a shade above 15 degrees. If the insulation is not snug against the joists or has any gaps (especially around electrical boxes) then you have an easy path for the outside temp to affect the inside of the wall.
A year or so ago, someone posted on this board that a section of his house had no insulation in the exterior walls! A good test is to wait for a very cold and windy day and run your hands along all the exterior walls to find cold spots. If you have a lot, you may want to open the walls up and fix the problems.

One problem I have is that the 2nd floor is cold. I'm betting that there are gaps between the external plywood sheets that correspond to the space between the 1st floor ceiling and the 2nd floor floor. Outside air can then get into that space and make the floor cold. If I knew how to remove and replace vinyl siding, I'd pull off the siding in that area and seal up the gaps. Maybe that will be a spring/summer project after I finish the basement.

The basement has a few airleaks of its own (especially behind the front door steps). However, these are easily fixed by squirting some of that foam stuff into the cracks and crevices.

--- John B.

 

I noticed the builder is now using TYVEK it's cheap of VAN M. not to have done it. This is my first house, so I did not even think about it until after the fact. Now I see most new construction going up with it and really wish VM had put it in.

 

Hate to revive this thread but was this common for all Landan homes? and are there any recommendations on fixes?