Residential construction costs are not that complicated unless you really want to make them that way. There are some general broad stroke pieces of information that if you know them, you will not be surprised when it comes time to planning your budget. I get asked these questions all the time, it makes me wonder if doctors get asked to look down people’s throats…
Red House is an award-winning custom design-build remodeling and construction firm specializing in custom-built home additions and full-house renovations. Our services include residential design, new construction, historic restoration, and kitchen, bathroom, and master suite remodels. We also provide design, construction, and installation of custom cabinets and…
“Can you see me now?” I yell, through the floor. I’m pantomiming a sexy grandma taking a shower, in front of the tub. The overhead lighting isn’t doing me any favours. Why do people keep putting fluorescent lights in bathrooms? “Oh hey! There you are! My husband Scott waves from the bottom of a built-in step stool, positioned in front of the bathroom sink. When…
A real estate developer wanted to increase affordable housing in Denver, trying to make fiscal sense out of a plan to build rental apartments for people making only 30 percent of the area s median income—the kind of housing America desperately needs. He discovered that, no matter what lever he moved or compromise he made, he was going to need some money from…
Sketch the Framing Eric Brownstone/E+/Getty Images Start by doing a sketch of the building to be framed including the roof. It is important to identify the location of doors and windows and any other vent opening. Having the right dimensions or working with standard measurements will provide additional savings at a later stage, as waste material will be minimized…
Not everyone wants to live in a planned development, so if you are one of those homebuyers, our Build on Your Land building program was designed with you in mind. We are often approached about building one of our homes on a customer s own lot or by those who want to build a home with their own plans. Others do not own land yet and would appreciate help in locating…
Life consists of the choices we make and is built by the things we do, every single day. But how do you know if the life you’re building is secure? How do you know that your world isn’t just going to fall to pieces when the going gets rough? “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the…
Before building an accessory dwelling unit on your property, consider these legal, design and financial implications. Those tiny, often very cute homes that people are adding on their properties seem to be popping up everywhere these days. The tiny buildings can provide extra rental income, offer a less-expensive housing option or provide a home for a relative…
1. Don’t Chuck Plots Away Year after year there are potential self builders who drive past plots they have rejected and see that somebody else has taken up the opportunity. There are very few perfect self build plots out there. All of them have some drawback or other. Learn to look past what’s in front of your eyes and think about what the plot can be and what…
If I were building my own house, my requirements would probably be simple: I want hallways about 50% bigger than you would think you would need and doorways a couple inches wider. One look at my current walls would tell you I’m a really bad driver of my own wheelchair. That and automatic doors would be nice. I do look at Pinterest, though, and I’m sure many of…
In an effort to conserve space and energy for the homeowner, we choose a tankless water heater (sometimes called an on-demand water heater, an inline water heater or an instant water heater ). What is a Tankless Water Heater? A tankless water heater operates by heating water as it passes through, on it s way to the shower, faucet, laundry or other point of…
I picked a neighborhood at random – eeny-meeny-miney-moe – and rented the first listing on Craigslist. I struck gold. I moved two blocks from Atlanta’s most beautiful park, a rolling greenscape with spectacular skyline views. It hosts huge outdoor concerts, festivals and farmer’s markets, and it’s less than a 5 minute walk from our front door. I immediately thought:…
I am a sophomore at Western Washington University. When I enrolled at WWU, I was undecided on what major I would like to pursue. During my Freshman year I took mostly math and physics classes because I those are my strongest subjects and I was fairly confident that I would end up deciding to pursue a major relating to one of those two fields. Recently I have…
All gardens have paths, planned or otherwise. A well-designed one keeps your feet dry and provides safe, easy access to your house. A great one does more. Whether it directs you and your guests under an archway of jasmine or around a bend to a reflecting pool, a path that works makes the garden more inviting. A successful path also shapes and defines garden areas…
Make a plan. How big? How many rooms? What services do you want? Where are the windows and doors going to go? Draw up the floor plan. On your diagram, you should roughly sketch the room layouts and locate the drain lines precisely (for concrete slab) where the shower, bathtub and toilet drain connections will be (wood floors with a crawl space allows easier changes…
Of course, it helps that Piers is an architect by training, a former design fellow of Cambridge university and currently co-presenter of the BBC series, The House that ÂŁ100k built, but many of the jobs were as new to him as to any budding self-builder. “My steep learning curve is reflected in this building, ” he says, “and the flaws in it are the things which…
All building work is controlled by the Building Act 2004 and the Building Amendment Act 2008 and the various building regulations which include the Building Code. The purpose of these Acts is to ensure that buildings: are safe, sanitary and have suitable means of escape from fire; contribute to the physical independence and well being of people who use them;…
Good marketing is built upon a strong foundation. A belief in your product or service. A desire to build something durable and lasting. And of course, the motivation to make a profit. Start with the blueprints Just like building a house, you need plans to guide yourself along the way, and to keep everyone working towards the same goal. It doesn’t mean you can’t…
Can you suggest a source for kits that provide either two dimensional or 3D material to plan a home in miniature? Scale size wall cutouts, furniture blocks, etc. that permit planning floor layouts and traffic ways. Any help would be appreciated. Instead of trying to find a kit, why not create your own with some cardboard, white glue, scale drawings All you really…
Students from the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center finished building a house this week as part of a school project. The house on West Possum Road was built using unpaid student labor. The homeowner only had to pay the material cost of the project and was selected by a random drawing. It’s a positive for both the buyer and the students, carpentry instructor…
13 Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor s services without pay And does not give him his wages, 1415 Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.… Cross References that the king…
It’s getting cold out, so naturally you’ve been feeling like building a cozy fire in your fireplace – a warm, crackling oasis you can sit beside in your man chair while you read thick, leather-bound books and ponder manful thoughts. There’s just one problem: whenever you fire up the fireplace, things start out okay, but then seemingly without any rhyme or reason…
The Simple House Acceptable Solution is for single storey framed construction using limited roof spans and claddings. It contains Acceptable Solutions for single-storey, stand-alone houses that meet the definition of a simple house. A simple house sits within Category 1 of the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme, and has a reduced weathertightness risk (where…
In our last post we discussed how products with similar features (e.g. a roof, a foundation, a bathroom, a kitchen, etc) can have widely different costs per square foot when building a house. If you didn’t read Part #1, I highly recommend you read that post first as it will give you the general basis for our discussion going forward. In my way of thinking the…
