5 Construction Tips & Upgrades from a Firefighter

Will King gives Matt 5 construction tips & upgrades from a firefighter. They tour this new build and give some smart ideas of what you can incorporate on your next build.
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[bwillan]

This is something I think most people designing and building houses should keep in mind. Design the house as if you're 75-80 years old with bad arthritis. So minimize the number of steps to get to the front door. Have flush transitions on your floor materials. The recessed shower idea is a great one. His last point of access for having 3' wide doors all the way to the master bath is great. Just do that every where. Sooner or later someone in your family may need a walker or end up in a wheel chair. Think of these acessibility items up front is a small amount extra to the budget, but it is a huge savings if you have to retrofit after the house is already built.

[hifiandmtb]

Will is super comfortable on camera - and very listenable.

[MyersRacingChannel]

Will seems like an absolutely awesome guy! Well spoken.

[lentztu]

Will is great at explaining stuff. He’s an excellent guest that you should have on more often.

[dozer]

Great video, here are some more ideas that I wish more people would do.
Installed a NFPA 13d fire sprinkler system. Use all concealed sprinkler heads to minimize the risk of accidently breaking one. This type of head is hardly noticeable because all you see is a flat cover plate. That plate can be factory painted to match the paint in the room. Install a full fire alarm system with smoke and heat detectors that is monitored 24/7 by a monitoring company. Connect a water flow switch on the sprinkler system to the fire alarms. This will notify the fire department if a sprinkler head activates. Connect all HVAC to the fire alarm system so they shut down when a fire alarm activates. This will prevent all the toxic smoke from spreading through the house. The smoke will incapacitate a person before the fire gets to them, so you need the HVAC to shut down. Install a Knox box or some kind of key box so the fire department can get in quickly without causing damage to a door.
The water shut off is nice if you happen to be home when something breaks. I would go with one that ties into the alarm system and install water detectors in key areas (wash machine, under sinks, by toilets, etc.) so if water is detected, it automatically shuts the valve off on the domestic water line.

[jimsubtle]

Matt, please get more episodes of this amazing Will on this channel. So good !

[jtderby]

In addition to the door width and front steps for access, I’d add another thought. Have closets stacked on each floor that can be converted to an elevator shaft down the road if needed. Cheap to frame in during the design phase and you can always use the closets if you never need the elevator.

[leesharp]

Great video and clearly well-thought-through "pre-issue" solutions. One additional suggestion - (9:49), put the receptacle for the hot water supply "parallel or above" the unit. If it leaks, it will flow into the receptacle - it's probably a AF/GFCI but a simple thought. Keep these coming!

[adrielrowley]

12:50 When Dad unexpectedly deceased home alone, so much stuff in the residence the funeral home had to get extra staff to remove him through the bedroom window about six feet off the ground, cost a stiff additional fee.

Tried getting him help, though being out of state and him stubborn, wasn't possible.

[roadkillraker]

Its the little details that make a huge difference in value and piece of mind.

[ryansoo]

Great video! It’s always nice to hear from someone who has a wealth of experience in another field like fire-fighting and then they explain how to apply their knowledge to home design and construction.
With regards to Will’s comment on the vulnerabilities of garage doors in a high wind event, is there a product (like a brace) that could be installed up against the inside of the garage door to help stiffen it and prevent the door from being blown in during a tornado or hurricane?
The brace would probably have two or three diagonal struts running from the top, middle and bottom of the vertical door support down to a metal anchor set into the concrete garage slab. In the event of a hurricane or tornado warning, the homeowner could put the brace in place, anchor it to the floor and quickly improve the strength and durability of his overhead doors.

[TRYtoHELPyou]

one of the best videos in a long time. recessed closet tip is great.

[SeanBlader]

Hey Build Show team, I'm constructing my tiny house on wheels myself, and thanks to you I have the confidence to have a vague idea of what I'm doing, and what I can do better along the way!

[tlangdon]

In the UK, every home is required to have a water shutoff valve inside the property. For about $75 we can get ones that have a remote on/off switch that operate on water pressure alone. No electrical connection required. These are really handy for older people, tenants, and anyone that wants to be able to turn off there was with the press a switch located somewhere convenient.

[mykarma]

Would love to have you do a walk through of this house and it’s features, aside from what you’ve covered, once it’s done. The styling of the house looks beautiful!

[JamesJackson-Hailey]

If you have and google devices in the home, you could always broadcast to them, either as a whole, or separate rooms just by telling google to broadcast. Pretty handy when my kiddos are upstairs at dinner time.

[bobjoatmon]

Yup, I'm no big custom builder like Matt but I figured out in my mid-20s due to just having situational awareness of older people that sooner or later everyone ends up in a wheelchair so the couple of houses I built and all the ones I remodeled I put in (where the mod was possible) wider doors. And I grew to love pocket doors for the space they free up since they don't have swing when doing these widening mods.

[Richie_]

Using type X drywall! Better finish, better durability, less sound transmission, and fire rated! Slowing down the spread of fire from room to room.

[jakeaurod]

After experiencing cardiac arrest at home, I can appreciate his suggestion to have easy access for EMTs. I'm better now, but if I ever own my own place in the future, I'll be looking for that.

[littlemanwithglasses]

This house is amazing!!! Beautiful work