Naples House Building Methods and Construction
Naples house building starts with clearing the home plot. Next comes the laying down of a layer of sand to bring the building footprint up to the elevation required by Florida laws. Trenches are dug for the foundations, forms are laid ready for the poured concrete foundations. Iron reinforcing rods are buried into the concrete and will protrude up through the walls.
In Naples, as in many parts of Florida, most single family house buildings are constructed of rectangular concrete blocks laid on top of poured concrete foundations. It’s a pretty traditional construction material used widely in many parts of the US. Naples house building are designed to stand up to extreme wind conditions, are good for controlling heating and cooling costs, and they keep out noise. They also look great when finished in stucco and combined with tiled multi-toned roofs.
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 | Note where the red arrows in the photo point to the darker cement at the base of the walls. The builder has installed iron rods in the foundation. Where the rods protrude up into the hollow blocks, they fill the space around the rods with cement, thereby tying the foundation to the walls. This method adds enormous strength to the walls. The concrete walls are topped with poured concrete. The builders set forms along the top of the walls and pour the cement. Cement blocks are naturally good insulators because the centers are hollow. In colder northern USA, builder fill the hollow blocks with insulation. In Florida, the differential temperature is much less than up north, and additional insulation is not cost effective. |
| In Naples house building, the contractors use both wood studs and metal studs. Wood studs are needed for load bearing walls. Metal studs are used for non-load bearing walls. The metal studs are less expensive than wood and are termite proof. Though termites are much less of a problem with concrete house than with wood stick built houses. Note that the roof rafters are wooden and firmly resting on the top of, and attached to the concrete walls.The concrete blocks in all the walls are topped with poured concrete. |
| Almost every modern house built in Florida has a heating ventilation air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Mostly we use ac but in winter it gets cold enough to need some heating. There are two units in a HVAC system – an air handler & heater located in the attic and a condenser unit with compressor located outside the house.Air-conditioning tubes are installed through the attic to and from the air handler to every room. Cool, dry air flows out of the air-conditioner to the rooms and warm, moist air flows from the rooms back to the air-conditioner to be cooled and dried.Cooling fluid flows continuously from the air handler to the condenser where the compressor cools the fluid.A variable thermostat mounted in a room of the house, controls the air-conditioner. |
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