Northern Calif Coast - coastal

Should break ground within 45 days.  House will be dried in by this fall and then construction will cease, until I can pick it up and finish off the interior my self over the next few years.

Standard 2x6 outer walls, OSB sheathing, Tyvek Drainwrap WRB.  Cement fiber siding. Crawl space on foundation footing walls

I've instructed the builder that all breaches/penetrations in the exterior walls or rim joists need to be wrapped with a butyl rubber flexible membrane (i.e. Tyvek FlexWrap) before siding is installed. I have specified all window openings be wrapped accordingly too.

Areas that I'm obsessing about:

Dryer hood vents,
ERV/HRV hood vents,
fireplace fresh air inlet,
main water inlet (which will probably enter through the first floor rim joist?)
Main Electrical inlet (where the meter will install)
Heat pump power and refrigerant lines

Should I really obsess that much about all of these outer wall breaches? The contractor probably thinks I'm a little compulsive about these areas, and maybe he's correct. I sent him this You Tube video of what I want done

I'm also worried about siding mounted electrical receptacles and outdoor lighting that I'll be installing down the road when I trim out the house.  I will air seal the interior of the exterior walls (before insulating), so cold air infiltration is not as much a concern as water getting behind the Tyvek Drainwrap at these breaches. I hate the fact of outdoor wall receps and outdoor lights (required in several areas by code) being a breach where moisture can get in behind the WRB and kick start rot.

Should I relax about these areas, or stay vigilant, or enter a 12 step program?

"Should I really obsess that much about all of these outer wall breaches?" yes! here's a good dryer vent - Heartland 2100. Look at EFI.org for good HRV intake/exhuast hoods..

"contractor probably thinks I'm a little compulsive" which is why so many contractors are still building crummy houses.

On a similar line of inquiry.... what is a good kitchen exhaust vent... The standard one with a wimpy ill fitting spring loaded hinged metal closure lets in a lot of cold air...

Is there a better unit

the best kitchen vent is one that recirculates the air combined with a (separate) HRV system..

the best kitchen vent is one that recirculates the air combined with a (separate) HRV system..

That works for some kitchen cooking tasks but when cooking spaghetti or potatoes or anything that creates big steam or odor there is a need to vent the moisture out of the house...is there a recirculating unit that can deal with those situations.
Does anyone make a selectable unit...that can recirculate most of the time but can be selected to exhause outside if need be?

is there a recirculating unit that can deal with those situations.

Not really. Recirculation is pretty much a failure.

Should I really obsess that much about all of these outer wall breaches?

Hard to know what you mean by "obsessing". Openings in your shell need attention in terms of air sealing, water intrusion, insulation and heat loss and animal and insect adventurism. You can "instruct" the contractor all you want, but the only way you can be sure details like that are actually addressed is to do it yourself. See to it yourself.

That would be nice, but I'm almost 1900 miles away and cannot be there during this phase of construction.

I've instructed the builder on how I want the penetrations flashed and I will go over it again as it gets closer. I plan on having him take pictures of all the openings and text them to me before siding is installed. So I guess I can confirm it has been performed. In today's world of smart phones, that will only take him 10 mins of his time, so I don't feel like I'm asking him too much.

And it was in my specifications that I asked him to bid.

I don't get the sense that he is put out by the detail I'm asking for, but who knows what he really thinks. He might be rolling his eyes when we discuss it on the phone and I'd have no way of telling, as he might be pretty good at biting his tongue and not telegraphing his feelings.

I just wanted to know if I'm crazy for being so particular about this. I'm not as worried about air infiltration at the penetrations, as I will be air sealing the interior of the outside walls...but I am concerned about water penetration to the wall sheathing (behind the WRB). Flashing all penetrations can go along way to stopping that.

Being obsessive about air-sealing is NOT a waste of time- it's the cheapest performance upgrade you can ever have, and in a windy coastal area infiltration drives can be considerable! (And being obsessive about flashing details is even more critical for the long-term resilience of the house.)

Performance house builders usually have to train their subs on the drill, pounding in the importance of sealing up those penetrations as they make them, not leaving it as an afterthought for somebody else to chase.

Specifying a not-to-exceed cfm/50 or ACH/50 number is probably easier than spelling out a gazillion details, but builders who aren't used to dealing with it may not fully grasp what it takes and how easy/hard it is. If they leave the air-sealing as an afterthought it'll usually either be impossible or very hard to hit a number like <500cfm/50 or <1ACH/50, but those numbers can be realistic & inexpensive if everybody on the job site is taking responsibility for it, and looking after their own details as the house comes together. But the industry as a whole just isn't there yet. Hitting the IRC 2012 3ACH/50 can usually be done after major assemblies are already together (barring major screw-ups like skipping the wallboard behind bath tubs, etc.), but getting some margin on that is worth it in a windy area. The Canadian R2000 air tightness standard is 1.5ACH/50, which has proven to be fairly straightforward to achieve, with a bit of forethought and attention to detail as it's coming together.

Well I'm just having this contractor "dry" the house in. I will be doing the entire interior myself, including air sealing, insulation, duct work, electrical, plumbing etc. I did contract the builder to do all side hood penetrations at this stage, as I felt it important to do now, before siding. He is also installing all my roof jacks (drain vents, attic vents, fireplace vent, etc) as that clearly needs to be installed before the roof shingles. and I am having him install all drains, tie it into the septic as well as drain vents.

Later down the road, I'll obsess about how I penetrate for outside electrical (lights and receptacles). Anyone have any thoughts on best methods to perform that (since I will be doing that myself)?. Normally the electrician drills through the wall sheathing and siding and relies on the insulator to seal the cracks around the romex with expanding foam (from the inside), etc. But that expanding foam does nothing for water penetration getting behind the siding and WRB.

I don't even like lag bolts going through the side of the house to attach the deck ledger boards, but that is how it is accomplished most everywhere.  Their argument is that there is flashing above the ledger board that directs water away from the wall.  In theory correct, but still..... I did ask the contractor to drill at an angle upward with the lag bolts so that any water might at least weep down the lag and away from the wall.  That is a technique that smart deck builders in Seattle and Vancouver do it.  And I think the also put .5-1" spacers between the ledger board and the side of the house.  I'm sure that got an eye roll out of the builder.

That dryer hood looks interesting. I assume a standard hood is recommended for an HRV inlet and exhaust hood?

Here is anther option to consider for a dryer vent hood, especially if your dryer vent hood will be exposed to sunlight that will degrade plastic over time:

http://www.dryerwallvent.com/

Check out the vents at www.seiho.com