Durability

Health, comfort, and sustainability are all important but one thing people often forget about when building a new home is long-term durability. If your house isn’t durable, you’re eroding your equity, working harder to maintain it, and reducing your enjoyment of the biggest purchase you’ll probably ever make. This is perhaps why the typical homeowner moves every seven years, right around the time that they start dealing with window replacements, siding repair, and other common durability concerns.

So what would it take for you to avoid such headaches and expenses with a solidly built, durable home carefully constructed to last a century or more? The answer can be found in high-performance design and building principles, which put a premium on enduring features, high-quality materials, and thoughtful practices that protect your investment. 

WHAT DRIVES US

Ground-Up Durability

Creating a durable home starts with situating it right on the site, which is often the high point, always on solid ground, and in a spot that will prevent water from running toward it. The entire building envelope impacts durability from the ground up. Isolating the footings with a capillary break to keep moisture at bay, creating a tight seal with the vapor barrier to prevent air and moisture buildup, sub-slab and foundation wall insulation help to isolate these surfaces from touching any other layers of concrete. The devil is really in the details, and long-term durability starts with the things you don't see on the finished product.

DON'T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT

On DURABILITY

Weatherproof Walls

The exterior of every high-performance home is fashioned to manage water first. As such, the walls have a more durable outer layer than typical siding that rots over time. A rain screen helps keep moisture at bay and if it does find its way in, a space behind the wall channels water down and allows it to dry out, preventing mold and mildew buildup. Meticulous air sealing prevents excessive air and vapor exchange, making it easier to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity level inside your home. Continuous, thick insulation wraps around the structure to keep warmth in and the elements out. This also prevents thermal bridging, which makes surfaces inside the walls cold and condensates to cause mold and rot. 

Doing the Roof & Attic Right

Sealing your living space off from the attic to make it airtight helps you maintain the temperature of the upper level and prevents costly energy leakage. This is enhanced by a generous layer of insulation that keeps warmth in and cold out. When combined with a strong seal between the roof and attic that prevents moisture from leaking into the sheathing layer, keeping the attic warm also prevents condensation from forming. High-performance homes can accommodate contemporary design elements but avoid roof angles that encourage water accumulation. Roof overhangs take rain and melting snow away from the walls, as do longer, wider downspouts.

VERIFIED AIRTIGHT

Acing the Durability Test

To be effective in creating an airtight home it is important to understand how all six sides of the home can be connected without air leakage starting at the slab and foundation, that windows are see-through sections of walls and must be meticulously installed to ensure continuous and comprehensive protection from the elements, and that the envelope of your home must be designed to control not just for air, but also vapor movement, thermal bridging, and bulk water intrusion. And it ultimately requires dedicated craftsmanship in the areas of your home that you will never see.

Kala ensures every home with our name on it is effectively sealed. A blower door test is conducted on every home we build irrespective of local building code. We also test the ERV system and monitor airflow at each vent and return. All of this provides peace of mind that the indoor environment will be healthy and safe, and that the air and moisture buildup often leading to costly durability issues in regular houses won’t be a problem.

Kala homes are always associated with energy efficiency, and for good reason. But the benefits of building better homes go far beyond using energy wisely. Yes, you’ll pay less to heat and cool your home, but you’ll also pay much less in maintenance costs due to the care taken in air sealing and other durability design considerations throughout the construction process.

“You have houses that you manage, and some you just live in. Others add to you and help you carry out your values. This home does that, and it has become a part of us.”