HOME DESIGN IDEAS

Basement Finishing - The Cost of a Mistake
Home Improvement Ideas

Basement Finishing – The Cost of a Mistake

- by Christian Harris

If you’re considering a basement finishing project, one thing you might be questioning right this moment will be the important things about a professional basement plan. In any major construction project, this is regarded as an utter requirement. In fact, without professional plans stamped by way of a licensed architect and/or engineer, you’ll be also struggling to obtain a permit! But with a basement finishing project, many owners think the size and style and complexity in the project doesn’t warrant construction plans.

Well, consider this to be…

Your basement finishing project will probably involve the efforts of 50+ individuals: you, your basement finishing contractor, his employees, and subcontractors, designers, city officials, etc. Your vision for your finished project is paramount in importance towards the vision of the others. Yet without plans that can effectively communicate this vision, you take the potential risk of being disappointed.

Another consideration could be the cost of a mistake. Mistakes will occur in the course of a basement finishing project. A mistake obviously due to the error or inadequacy of a contractor could be his responsibility. But a blunder occurring as a result of ineffective communication will likely be the responsibility of the homeowner.

Finally (and you will love this), an experienced will have multiple tricks of the trade for hiding unsightly beams, pipes, posts, etc. which are always present in a basement. Making your basement look and feel as being a part of the house (instead of your basement), is worth every penny.

From …

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The Building Process Roadmap
Home Improvement Ideas

The Building Process Roadmap

- by Christian Harris

The other day I was reading an article from your Builder lamenting about his Homeowner who refused to try out from the rules which are stated within the Building Contract. It was obvious in the tone of the piece how the Homeowner was ‘one of these clients’ – we have all seen them before. But suppose we’re able to ensure that the Homeowner did play through the rules and turn into section of our system and a part of we as opposed to an adversary? Maybe the Homeowner wasn’t following the principles because we never clearly defined those rules.

Looking back on this problem client, what could we now have done better? As a professional Homebuilder we all know the required steps to successfully make a home, but why do we assume the Homeowner understands? They are certainly not a Builder. Homes are not their business. That’s why they hired you.

Most Builders have clear procedures spelled out inside the Building Contract. They have probably added paragraphs and addendums as time passes to cope with specific conditions have arisen inside the past. But once that contract is signed, how many Homeowners (or Builders for that matter) have a very copy of the contract designed for quick reference? The contract is normally filed away and rarely described once the ink is dry. Under the best of circumstances, ‘quick reference’ might be an oxymoron because the contract is written inside the language of legalese.

So what’s the solution? As experienced professionals, we …

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How Much Will Building a New Home Cost Me?
Home Decorating Ideas

How Much Will Building a New Home Cost Me?

- by Christian Harris

Quoting an amount for construction of a new house is amongst the hardest things to complete because every house is unique and truly there isn’t any two houses exactly alike, regardless of whether it is simply everyone that makes them different.

Perhaps one of the most significant factors to price of new home construction is the local region. Local building codes and labor play a serious role in the cost of home construction. Local building codes vary widely by region. For example, in warm climates building codes often do not require high-performance windows, higher insulation values or advanced heating, ventilation and ac (HVAC) systems. Strict building codes or lack thereof is really a significant effect on the cost of constructing a home.

Local labor in certain areas can also be more than in other areas of the continent. In places that unions are prominent in residential new construction, prices will generally be higher too. Strong unions tend to set the top cost for skilled labor also it seems non-union wages are higher in areas with stronger union representation. As a general rule, places that have excess labor can have lower labor rates. Because in the recession and also the real-estate new construction depression, the cost of labor has become generally falling around the nation the past decades. This trend will continue before supply and demand of labor reverses itself.

Although not included inside the cost of building directly, land cost is easily the biggest aspect in home and lot package. …

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Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home Construction
Home Improvement Ideas

Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home Construction

- by Christian Harris

As a real estate professional, I can remember the time when at the top of a homeowner’s wish list were things like a master bedroom suite or a gourmet kitchen, but times have changed, and so has the buyers wish list.

While buyers still have these wonderful amenities on the list, they are asking for energy-saving options as their must have items on their list.

Here is a list of options that are affordable and provide immediate savings. Some of these items are: 2×6 walls, house wrap, energy-efficient windows and energy-efficient appliances.

Construction:

Make sure the walls of the home are framed with 2×6 lumber. Using 2×6 lumber for framing allows extra room for more insulation, which will keep the home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

House wrap:

It is installed right after framing, and it literally “wraps” the entire house to create a thermal barrier that keeps the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The wrap also acts as a vapor barrier between exterior materials and the framing lumber.

Windows:

More home buyers today love windows, as they bring in more natural light, open up rooms and provide a connection to the outside. But there is thermal transfer with windows. A quality builder will know how to balance the homeowner’s desire for “walls of windows” while still meeting the new more stringent code requirements.

Appliances:

Appliances account for for a sizeable percentage of electric usage in a home, especially the refrigerator, …

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Designer Kitchens and Bathrooms
Home Decorating Ideas

Designer Kitchens and Bathrooms

- by Christian Harris

No matter how you furnish your home styles are constantly changing so it is no surprise when you take a critical at your home and realise that it is looking very dated.

Kitchens and bathrooms seem to take the brunt more that any other rooms in the house, this would not matter so much but both the kitchen and bathroom cost a fortune to renovate.

Designers seem to constantly come up with new ideas on how your kitchen or bathroom should look and when you thought you had a really up to date bathroom or kitchen after spending a fortune a couple of years ago, they are egging you on to change it to keep up with the new styles and designs.

Think back to when the new coloured bathroom suites came out, everyone had to have one. But the bathroom designers were not content with that, every twelve months or so they brought out a new colour and it felt like your lovely new bathroom was already going out of fashion.

When all the colours were exhausted they decided that white was back in fashion and your coloured bathroom suite stood out like a sore thumb, and to make it worse you had got rid of a white bathroom suite to install the coloured one in.

Next on the agenda the old fashioned look was back, those old fashioned cast iron bathtubs that we got rid of years ago are now the in thing and they do not come …

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