Konza Construction

04/19/2026

🎶 "Go'n and do the two-step, then cowboy boogie..." 🤠

Many houses on basements have just one tall step into the house. This makes for an uncomfortable and relatively unsafe stair. Two steps (three risers) can make each step closer to a comfortable 7".

01/23/2026

This was a fun one. Robert and Justine of Circle Sustainability needed a passthrough between their new rooms. A closet on one side of the wall provided existing doors. After Rick's cut the wall we used the plywood from the shelving of that former closet to resemble the door trim in the rest of the building. Making best use of the limited edge-banded pieces was a challenge. The project fit perfectly with Full Circle's ethos, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ♻. Check out their new store, I highly recommend the apples!

01/12/2026

12/15/2025

I’m launching my business as a custom home builder and offering a commission to an agent that lands me a custom home build. Come meet me, Thomas Varney, at my latest speculative build listed by Kelley Hughes of Better Homes and Gardens - Wostal Realty. Enjoy Qdoba on me and enter to win a smart water leak detector!

11/06/2025

The siding on this spec house was hung on furring strips that create a 3/4" space between the back of the siding and the wall sheathing.
This gap is called a "rainscreen" and allows for the draining and drying of any moisture. This is best practice and is beneficial to the longevity of the structure, the siding material and the paint on the siding.
Though rainscreened siding is unusual in our market, a deliberate airspace within an assembly like this exists all over residential construction. Examples include a vented attic or crawlspace, crushed stone beneath a slab and behind sheet sidings, brick veneer and EIFS.

10/27/2025

These floating shelves are merely a 3/4" thick board with a length of threaded rod recessed into both the board and the stud in the wall. I think this makes for both the strongest and most minimal floating shelves. If one were worried about thermal bridging, wooden dowels could be used instead of metal rods.

10/18/2025

Sheet sidings are often seen as cheap but there's a lot to like from a performance perspective. The corrugations in the vinyl, steel or aluminum create an air gap that aids in the draining and drying of any moisture that gets behind the siding. This gap is known as a "rainscreen" and requires another material to create with other sidings. The horizontal courses of lap vinyl siding provide an excellent opportunity to flash without the need of sealant that will require maintenance. This is one of the rare instances in which building science and building affordably intersect.

09/26/2025

Keeping ductwork out of an unconditioned crawlspace or attic improves indoor air quality and energy efficiency but when building on a slab instead of a basement there is no obvious place to put ductwork that's inside. This home was built with air-sealed and insulated chases above the ceiling that protect the ductwork from the extreme temperatures and humidity of the unconditioned attic above.

09/23/2025

At the Modern Farmhouse on Dawdy Ct, 1” thick XPS foam protected by EPDM wraps the edge of the slab foundation and insulates the floor from potentially freezing air temperatures in the winter. Though 1” of XPS is only about R-5, concrete has an insulating value of approximately R-1 per foot. An occupant standing next to the exterior wall would only be benefiting from about R-0.33 so an upgrade to R-5 is a huge improvement in both comfort and energy efficiency.
Ezell-Morgan Construction in Lawrence inspired this assembly. Neal Ezell details it in this BS+Beer podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrvlH0CabgI

09/08/2025

09/04/2025

New balustrade (newel posts, handrails and spindles) on an existing set of stairs. Big thanks to Spencer Lewis of for sharing your techniques!