By Sarah Tumwebaze On a hot Tuesday, I sat in a conference room for nearly nine hours but the whole time, all the occupants of the room did not feel the need to either switch on the wall fans or the lights because the lighting and cooling in the room were sufficient. According to an architect who was part of the conference, the room was about 7 by 14 feet but…
The House Designers understands how exciting it is to build a new home! In an effort to make the process easier, we have put together this step-by-step home building guide to help you understand the different building phases and how it all comes together. 1 FOUNDATION: The foundation of your home is a critical element in the building process because it is what…
Want to buy an incredibly cheap house in Detroit? You re in luck - just make sure you read the fine print first. A new program introduced by Mayor Mike Duggan Monday addresses one of Detroit s largest problems - thousands of vacant and blighted houses - by auctioning off some of the nicest ones to people who want to live in a Detroit neighborhood. (Scroll down…
The first thing most lenders look at when you want to buy a home is your credit history. Most people have traditional lines of credit such as credit cards, auto loans or a current mortgage that form a track record of how they manage debt. But if you have no credit history or what’s sometimes called a nontraditional credit history, which is one with no credit…
Building your own house can be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for many people – but it can also be a long and expensive process. Most people can’t afford to pay for the cost of home construction up front, and getting a mortgage is usually not an option. After all, you’re asking a bank or a mortgage lender to give you money for something that doesn’t even…
Every build is different so you won’t find anyone who can give you an accurate ballpark figure (a contradiction in terms) and this page is definitely not it. The more accurate you want, the more work and detail you need to put in. It’s so hard to create an accurate guide that Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment – Building and Housing Group have removed…
Yes. We take care of everything it takes to build your custom home – tractor work, septic, well, driveway, permits, construction – you’ll see all the details in the package we prepare, with your very detailed estimate. Can I use my lot as a down payment? The new construction lenders we work with offer a variety of programs. We’ll be happy to provide their contact…
If you build a concrete house (which has less maintenance than a wooden house), depending on where you are, you would pay US $75 to $85 per square foot. The most significant difference in price has to do with what is in the foundation and also where the house is located. For example, building a house in Placencia is far more expensive than building a house in…
If it takes a village to raise a child, what’s it take to raise a house? With earthbags, it actually doesn’t take as much effort as you might think (though having a village would certainly help). Earthbag construction is a method of building in which tubular bags (usually made of polypropene or canvas) are filled with clay or sand and then stacked in concentric…
A couple of years ago, we made a decision to build a home by hand. The primary reason is the savings from doing the labor ourselves. We ended up building a tiny cabin that we’re putting the finishing touches on this summer. It was a pay-as-we-go project, no construction loan, and absolutely nothing charged on credit cards or store credit. The total cost for materials…
Many styles of homes can be built from kits: domes, timber-frame homes, log homes and panelized houses. This house was made from a steel frame kit. JOHN HOUSE/KODIAK STEEL HOMES There’s one sector of the homebuilding market that seems to be weathering the recent economic storm better than the rest of its industry — kit homes. Kit homes are houses built from packages…
Whenever the problem of providing low-cost houses for the Indian urban dwellers is discussed, it generally arouses feelings of dismay and pessimism. For when the requirement is presented in concrete figures, its cost seems impossibly high compared to the spending capacity of the people and the government. This staggering disparity between the means and ends is…
Credit: Adobe Stock Research by Iman Khajehzadeh, who graduates with a PhD in Architecture next week, explores the significance of housing decisions on the use of resources and impact on the environment. The average floor area of New Zealand houses almost doubled from 1974 to 2011. Over the same period, occupancy rate decreased—meaning fewer people are living…
If you think that you cannot cope with self-installation or repair of electrical wiring, it is better to call an electrician . First, the specialist will do everything safely. Secondly, an experienced electrician will be able to offer you a more suitable wiring option, which will save money on the purchase of materials. Thirdly, at the end of the work, the wiring…
My dream is to own a second house. I cannot afford much, so I am thinking about buying a vacant lot and building a tiny house. The land will likely be in California. Can you build a tiny house on a vacant lot California? Does it matter whether I build the tiny house on a permanent foundation or put it on a trailer with wheels? Answer In California, whether a…
When it comes to quality building materials, no one does it better than The Home Depot. Check off everything you have on your to-do list with our wide variety of materials and supplies that will meet every need you have for your building project. Whether you are a professional contractor looking for specific tools and materials you need for your project, or a…
Last week a prospective client asked us how BoardEffect users typically measure organizational cost savings from using our product. This is a relatively common question, which isn’t surprising given that virtually all organizations today operate with budget constraints. But this frequent and seemingly simple request implies a range of related questions centered…
Mulching with a mix of manure and wood shavings attracted more slugs than these gardeners could deal with. PHOTO: FOTOLIA/ ANDI TARANCZUK Dear MOTHER : Knowing how not to do something wrong is as valuable as knowing how to do it right. Books should be written on mistakes: Perhaps then they d be repeated less often. That s why we d like to share a goof or two…
Before you decide whether to buy or build a home, you should weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each scenario. The advantages to buying a home are convenience and cost. Pre-approved buyers can shop around, and a qualified real estate agent can identify appropriate properties and help with paperwork. You can even move in only a month or two after an offer…
Marquette, Kansas, is one of several small Midwest towns that give lots away to anyone who will come, build a real house (not a trailer, in most cases), and live there for at least a year. Camden, Maine, will give 2.8 acres to anyone who can bring a business to town that will employ at least 24 people after five years. The city requires a down payment of $175…
By Tom Thigpen The first few days can be a rough time for any new Sim - skilling, struggling for LTHP, and figuring out how to optimally spend that $16, 500 wad in your pocket. Naturally, most of those simoleons are going towards your first house, whether it s pre-built or something of your own design. At the start of their journey, new Sims will spend a great…
If you want to build a house in Japan you will be faced with a lot of decisions. For most people, the most time-consuming issue is finding and acquiring the rights to a suitable parcel of land in the area of town they want to live in. However, even if you nail down the right location, there are a plethora of other issues that have to be resolved, for instance…
Contact information For more information on bats and bat houses, contact: Conservation biologist 608-266-2576 Bat house expert Kent Borcherding builds a bat house. Photo by Dave Redell, Wisconsin DNR. Bats are important predators of mosquitos and night-flying insects and can reduce these pests around your home and garden. Help keep these valuable mammals in your…
Part of the appeal of tiny house living is being able to avoid spending your whole life paying off a huge mortgage. Many people in the tiny house community are also minimalists who endeavor to live simply and debt-free. But, while building or buying a tiny house does cost way less than building or buying a regular house, it still doesn t come cheap. I ve had…
