If you dreamed as a child of someday owning a home with your own dance studio and ballet barre, or a personal game room with a Skee-Ball machine alongside an indoor putting green, then a custom home may be your best option to making that dream come true. While buying a home fulfills a big part of the American Dream, building a home to your specifications elevates…
When it s time to sell, can you show that you ve maintained your residence? Beyond fresh coats of paint, buyers want to see that your home s HVAC is fully functional. Ninety percent of home inspections recommend furnace servicing and certification,says Jeff Hebeler, associate broker with FourStar Realty, Inc. in Boulder, Colo. Stay ahead of the curve with a yearly…
Need to build a house quickly? Or build a lot of houses quickly to shelter a growing population? This plastic mold framework is filled with cement and sand, with plumbing, electricity, window, and door frames placed “between the formwork.” The shell of the house is ready overnight. Moladi, from South Africa, is aimed at the huge need for affordable housing in that…
Jon and Gemma are building a new home from scratch to thatch in Auckland. Join Jon in his diary of all the action - his experiences may hold some good lessons. Or he may need your guidance This is a PS to my blog about our house build in Three Kings Auckland. If you were one of the readsters of my blog who was keen (and in some cases desperate) to see pictures of…
When you decide it s time to put down roots, you may wonder: Is it cheaper to buy or build a house? Unless you re rolling in money, you ll probably want to weigh the pros and cons of new vs. old construction—and the price you pay upfront is only where these considerations start. Here we lay out everything you need to know about buying an existing home compared with…
To begin roofing, first cover the entire roof with a single piece of 15 lb. asphalt-impregnated roofing paper (tar paper). It’s an extra layer of protection that helps ensure the inside of your doghouse remains dry. Staple the roofing paper in place with a hammer stapler or electric stapler, using 3/8-inch galvanized staples. Use a utility knife to trim the edges…
Have you ever considered building your own home? There is a lot to consider if you take on this project. However, just because you build your own home, doesn’t mean that you have to be the one that actually completes every task or even any task for that matter. Usually, it just means that you designed everything just the way you wanted it. So I’d like to explore the…
Brick walls and paths offer that sturdy, old-fashioned, classic quality that will never go out of style or look dated. But it looks so simple that it seems like something you want to do yourself - especially after the shock of seeing an estimate from a professional bricklayer. If you re curious as to whether you can lay your own brick, the short answer is yes. It…
One couple who hired Conley Construction Co. a few years ago to remodel their Colorado home simply gave contractor Tim Conley the keys. “We’re going to Cabo, ” they said to Conley. “Call us when you’re finished.” Sybille Hechtel, on the other hand, has remodeled or built seven homes, including her current house in South Boulder and an Earthship in Silverthorne. She…
In just about every political constituency in the country, there are things you can’t say and expect to get elected. You can’t endorse gun control in Tennessee. You can’t make light of climate change in Seattle. In Arlington, Va., where I live, you have to watch what you say about affordable housing. To question the suburban county’s ambitious subsidized housing goals…
Welcome to our second shipping container home interview of 2017. As always, in these interviews we speak with shipping container home builders to help you. We speak with them about what worked and what didn’t work and how you can learn from their mistakes so you can build the best shipping container home possible. In this episode we speak with Stephan Busley from…
The construction cost of a house largely depends on its total area, type, location, and finishes. Moreover, the duration of the construction can increase or decrease the cost. Unless you have a list of all the materials needed and their respective costs, and the service fee of the builder or workers you will hire, you can only come up with a rough estimate of the…
Built in 2008 in Greensboro, Hale County, Alabama, Pattern Book House, at 396 square feet, is the smallest 20K House. Photo by Timothy Hursley Rural Studio, the celebrated undergraduate program of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at Auburn University, has been educating citizen architects since it was founded in 1993 by D.K. Ruth and…
LEFT: Forms McMeekin used in constructing the walls. RIGHT: John McMeekin tamping a section of wall. MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF Back in the 40 s I was considered an oddball. I wore a beard—revolutionary then—and I started, by myself, to build a house out of (of all things) rammed earth. People wondered about me. Today—as a V.P. and corporation director—I appear Establishment…
