10 Questions for . . . Marianne Cusato

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico speaks with Marianne Cusato, author, architect, and number four on Builder magazine's "Power on 50" list of the housing industry's most influential people. Cusato talks about the rise of the McMansion, what makes a great neighborhood, and why the green movement still has room to grow, and gives her opinion on "no-maintenance materials.

When did the McMansion era begin?
It all started in the 1980s. McMansions were a natural reaction to other bad architecture: cookie-cutter homes. Someone came in and said, "These houses are ugly. What can we do?" And the answer was, "Let's add this, let's add that, let's make them bigger." Little by little the houses kept growing and growing. There was an "I see your gable and raise you two" attitude. At the same time money and gas were really, really cheap. So it was easy to expand outward.

It's not just the architecture then. It's also the location?
The issue is that the farther out homes get from stores and other amenities, the more we depend on the home to meet all of our daily needs. We used to be able to meet our needs with a 5-minute walk, then a 5-minute drive, now it's a 45-minute drive. That means if you want to watch a movie, you need a media room. A developer in Texas told me recently that he can't sell a home without a room called the "hair salon."

But aren't developers just giving people what they want?
Everybody is responsible. Everybody is held hostage by what they think everybody else wants. I'll have this conversation with a builder, and he'll say, "I agree with you, but I can't sell it." This is why the McMansion movement got so big. It happened a little bit at a time, and nobody stepped in and stopped it. It's taken a major intervention—that being the cost of oil and the mortgage crisis—to shake everything up to a point where we come in and say, "Actually there's another way to build and it's more efficient."

What role can home buyers play?
The key piece of the puzzle is telling home buyers that they can have something other than the default setting. An educated homeowner walking into the builder and saying "I will buy something other than what you are offering" is the key to releasing this endless cycle.

You use the term streetscape in your book The Value of Design. What do you mean by streetscape?
It's the feeling of an outdoor room. When you walk out your front door, you should feel like you're in a place, not just a space. The front door in many American homes is just a giant garage door. A street of garage doors is usually quite wide and is not designed for pedestrians to share. I fully acknowledge that the vehicle is an essential part of our society, but it's not more essential than the people who drive it. What we've done is turned the design of our streets and our homes into 100 percent vehicle-dominated areas.

Is this where the term "snout house" comes in?
Yes, a snout house is a house that looks like a pig. It has a big nose out there—the garage—and nothing else. Who lives in this house: a person or a car? A front-loaded garage is perfectly fine, but make it a secondary element that's attached to one side of the house. Push the garage back a little and you'll even have room for parking. You can avoid a snout house by making the portion of the house that people live in more important than the portion of the house where the car lives.

If people only remember one of your eight components of a valuable home, what should it be?
Common sense. For example, using materials according to their physical properties. Brick and stone are both load-bearing materials, which means historically they supported their own weight. So you wouldn't have vertical strips of either of those materials going up high into a gable surrounded on both sides by siding. Avoid materials that make the house look like a patchwork quilt and design elements that look like they could take flight off the building—enormous gables, three-story entrances, etc. All of this adds unnecessary cost to the home and actually detracts from the value. Real value comes from elements that make sense, like windows on the side of the house that allow cross ventilation, making the home more comfortable and efficient to heat and cool. (Download Cusato's eight_components of a valuable home.pdf)

Q&A: Are synthetic materials any good for outdoor decks?

We desperately need to replace our rotted-out wood deck. Are synthetic decking materials a good choice?

While most people who put in a deck use real wood, some synthetic planks can offer good looks that will last—with less maintenance. Check out our latest report and watch our video (right) to learn about synthetic decking materials.

Also read about the different decking types, check your outdoor space to make sure its safe, and find out which fastener to use.

International Builders’ Show Product Preview: QuietRock Soundproof Drywall

Dedicating a room of a new home theater with the latest flat-panel TV and state-of-the-art sound system? Then the last thing you want to do is wake the kids while you’re watching the DVD or have your entertainment ruined by your neighbors’ noisy central-air compressor.

QuietRock drywall is a soundproofing wall and ceiling panel that manufacturer Quiet Solution claims will reduce up to eight times more noise than ordinary gypsum board. The QuietRock comes in varying thicknesses in 4x8-foot sheets, with additional sizes up to 4x12 feet.

QuietRock 510 (shown), suitable for DIY installation, according to the manufacturer, costs $40 for a 1⁄2-inch 4x8-foot sheet; the same-size panel of the 5⁄8-inch 530 costs about $130. The highest-performance panels are 1-3⁄8 inches thick.—Ed Perratore

Toilets can last forever

While your toilets might clog from time to time, it’s unlikely you’ll ever need to replace them since they ought to be around at least as long as your house is. That’s just one of the findings of a study recently released by the National Association of Home Builders that details how long you can expect dozens of appliances, fixtures, materials, and other elements in your home to last.

Gas ranges (15 years), dryers (13), and refrigerators (13) top the list of the most durable appliances, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Bank of America Home Equity Study of the Life Expectancies of Home Components, conducted during the summer of 2006. Dishwashers and microwaves, at nine years apiece, don’t hold up quite as long. Many types of flooring could last you a century, the report says, but not carpeting, which is good for about a decade.

(Download NAHBLifeExpectancy.pdf.)

Among parts of your home exposed to the elements, your deck could last 20 years under ideal conditions, says the study. (Lifespan will be shorter in the humid South and a bit longer in dryer regions.) Treating your deck to reduce the effects of weather is key to its longevity. Your roof’s survival, which also varies by the weather it is subjected to, varies widely depending on what it’s made out of. Asphalt shingles should last 20 years while slate, cooper, and concrete could hold up for half a century.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can count on these products to endure as long as the report says nor expect them to fail in the same time frame. Every appliance, for example, is affected by care and maintenance. Other factors influencing product lifespan include the quality of manufacture materials used, as well as usage conditions.

An even more valuable resource than the NAHB study is the Frequency of Repair, or FOR, information Consumer Reports has compiled, like this report for ranges (available to subscribers). Our FOR data, based on tens of thousands of replies to our Annual Product Reliability Surveys and compiled by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, will help you choose a reliable brand and avoid future headaches with problem products.

Tankless water heater recall

If you are among the increasing number of people using a tankless water heater at your home, check your model to ensure you’re not facing a potential carbon-monoxide problem.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on February 20, 2007, announced a recall of 42,200 Power Vent 199,900-Btu-per-hour tankless water heaters because of the risk of carbon-monoxide poisoning. The CPSC says you should stop using your unit immediately. The water heaters ($800 to $1,300) were sold between May 2004 and December 2006 under the Paloma, Rheem, Rheem-Ruud, and Richmond brand names.

Pieces inside the water heater can move around during transport, causing an air-filter door switch to malfunction, according to the CPSC. If the switch fails and the door cannot close properly, dust and lint can accumulate and lead to a CO-poisoning hazard. As of the recall date, no injuries had been reported.

For more information and to find the model number of recalled units, contact Rheem at 866-369-4786 (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET on weekends) or go to www.tankless-recall.com. The company will repair your water heater at no charge.—Mitch Lipka

Essential information: Read  “Protect yourself against carbon-monoxide poisoning” for expert tips on avoiding CO poisoning. Also see our report on CO detectors and our exclusive interactive on smoke detectors. (Both are available to subscribers.)

A way to prevent home break-ins?

It turns out that the urban legends you might have read about "lock bumping" and "bump keys" are not myths at all. Just check out this primer on bump keys at Google Video.

One product we covered at the International Builders' Show last week, Kwikset's Smartscan dead-bolt door lock, might hold some promise as a way to prevent would-be burglars from getting access to your home. Also check out our video, shot on location at the IBS, of this innovative home product.—Steven H. Saltzman

Low-VOC paints still lagging

Low-VOC paints are supposed to be better for the environment, but they’re not necessarily best for your walls . . . yet. “You’re still paying more for less product,” says Randy Schuetz, general manager at Valspar, a large paint maker that supplies to Lowe’s. “[Low-VOC finishes] are still not as easy to apply and they aren’t as durable, but they cost more than regular paint,” he explains. Schuetz believes the chemistry of low-VOCs will progress in the next couple of years and the prices will drop as more companies offer the products and their sales increase. Consumer Reports will continue to test these paints and report on their performance.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Essential information: For expert advice on choosing an interior paint, read our buying guide.

Hard-wiring made easy

Installing lighting fixtures or wall-mounting a flat-panel TV without unsightly exposed wiring usually is a job best left to an electrician. FlatWire, however, is designed to allow homeowners to get a pro-look job on their own. The manufacturer makes several different products, including versions for low-voltage electrical wiring and lighting and a range of audio/video applications. (A 110-volt version is due out next year.) Once you've covered the thin-profile wire with drywall tape and joint compound and then painted it, for example, the FlatWire is nearly invisible. You can order directly from the manufacturer. By later this year, it might be available at retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s.—Ed Perratore

Windows with a better view

From what I’ve seen at the International Builders’ show, much of the innovation in windows has to do with screens. Two major players, Andersen and Pella, are offering screens that, they claim, improve your view of the outdoors. Andersen’s TruScene screens, made of microfine steel mesh, and Pella’s Vivid View screens, composed of an ultrafine material, are designed to let in more light and fresh air and keep pests out.

Andersen has also unveiled the high-performance Low-E4 glass (shown). A titanium-dioxide coating on the exterior glass is activated by sunlight and is supposed to spot 99 percent less than regular glass. We’ll report on how well the glass works in our October 2007 report on windows.

Finally, low-e glass and gas fills have become the industry standard for energy efficiency, according to several major window manufacturers.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Throw away your front-door keys

The Kwikset SmartScan door lock eliminates the key and allows access to your home with a swipe of your finger. Bob Markovich, editor of the Consumer Reports Home and Yard franchise, tries out the new entry system at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando.

Product preview: Keyless Door Lock Reads Your Fingerprints

Kwikset’s SmartScan dead-bolt door lock still accepts a key, but there’s no need for one since swiping your finger over a sensor is all it takes to undo the lock. Locking is just as easy, according to Kwikset: Just tap the tiny sensor below the key lock three times. A keypad and screen on the inside of the door lets you provide access for up to 50 people; scanning a finger three times enters the fingerprint into the SmartScan’s memory, says the manufacturer. The $199 SmartScan fits a 2 1/8-inch hole, so it should be able to replace a standard dead bolt in most doors. Bronze and satin nickel are among the many finishes available. Power comes from four AA batteries, which the manufacturer says should last for about a year. SmartScan should be in hardware and home improvement retailers by June.
Web site: www.kwikset.com

Essential information: While a good lock is your first line of defense against burglaries, there are lots of other low-cost steps you can take. Read our advice on ways to make any door secure and our reports on entry doors and door locks. Finally, learn how to protect your home and family and boost the security where you live.