Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Home Building Tips


Having your home built is an exciting time no matter whether it is a basic home or one chosen from a range of luxury homes. It is easy to get carried away by the fancy things that can be seen such as fittings and furnishing and not pay much attention to those things that are invisible when the home is finished.
But home builders in Perth know that things like the foundations and structure are the most important things in building a home. Custom home builders understand that if these are not done correctly, then no amount of plush carpeting or fancy wallpaper will make that home a good one.
Building a home involves a massive amount of money – all paid by the home owner – and so you must feel satisfied with the construction of your home. You have a legal right to expect a good quality home that is soundly constructed. And just because you signed on the dotted line doesn’t mean that a few things cannot be changed. However the watchword here is communication – and keeping a list of things added or deleted. You will have to pay a bit extra for added things, but the reverse is true if you delete them.
Costs should be kept in perspective. It may not cost as much as you think to change those bricks to some you like better. Even if they cost something like $10 per hundred extra, the whole cost won’t work out that much more overall. What is more likely to cost the earth is if you want something unique or far out, new technology or using untested materials.
Another thing you might want to look at is add-on features such as extra rooms or another garage. Some people may consider leaving room to add on things at a later stage, but it might end up being cheaper to have them added on during the building stage. At least you will have all the building over and done with rather having to endure noise and building dust at a later stage. And how much better would your life be to have that extra space right now?
Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/customer-service-articles/home-building-tips-3271318.html#ixzz0zfJdO7ZO

Friday, September 10, 2010

Home Construction Alternatives

Throughout history humans have constructed shelters from branches, mud, hides, and wood. The Green Movement has led to increasing interest in older, construction alternatives as opposed to our traditional rectangular structures made with processed lumber.
Adobe, rammed earth, dome homes, and even houses made with tires are being built, though local building codes in many areas have not caught up with the interest in alternative construction methods.

Adobe Homes

Adobe homes have been built in the American southwestern desert for over 1,000 years. Adobe uses local clay to form bricks that are small enough to avoid cracking while drying. The dried bricks are then laid up with mud mortar and the walls are plastered with mud to smooth them.

This method results in thick walls with a large thermal mass, which keeps the home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Rammed Earth Homes

Rammed earth construction is extremely simple and has been used for thousands of years. The process consists of pounding moistened dirt a layer at a time until a wall is formed. Obviously, the construction materials are available for free and on-site. Thick walls with a high thermal mass are produced with this alternative construction method. Modern rammed earth projects sometimes incorporate water and Portland cement into the dirt and employ a hydraulic tamper.
Another variation is cast earth construction, using earth, water and gypsum plaster to form walls that are cast like traditional concrete. The advantage to this is that the walls are stronger and set faster, while the economy of using earth is still realized.

Domes

Buckminster Fuller, an American architect, author, and inventor, popularized the geodesic dome as a possible alternative home construction model. The dome is based on a series of triangles which form a semi-circular dome enclosing a living space. Since triangles and circles are extremely stable forms, the dome home is an extremely strong structure, resistant to earthquakes and high winds.
Commercial businesses sell do-it-yourself dome kits, as well as turnkey structures. A new variation on dome construction employs a huge balloon which is blown up on-site, covered with sprayed concrete, and then deflated, leaving a concrete dome for finishing into a home.

Cordwood

Building with cordwood is a simple process of stacking logs held in place with mortar. This is another method that has been used for thousands of years. Most cordwood homes today are made by stacking short logs width-wise, held in place with mortar. Cordwood construction is economical and results in an energy-efficient home.

Earthships

Michael E. Reynolds (Guitar International/Earthship Visionary of Taos/2009) looked at the approximately 250 million tires discarded annually as a resource for building Earthships. Earthships are constructed by piling steel-belted radial tires packed with dirt to form the walls of a building. They are usually backed into a hill on the north end and face the south. This orientation, along with the very thick walls, produces a tremendous thermal mass to moderate outdoor temperatures. The walls are plastered with stucco and the whole structure looks like adobe when completed.
As people become more concerned about saving resources and energy, many are looking to the past for alternative home construction methods. Adobe , rammed earth, and cordwood construction have served many generations in many cultures well. Newer innovations like the geodesic dome apply scientific principles to alternative construction. Still others look to the by-products of our civilization for recycling into living spaces.

Read more : http://www.suite101.com/content/home-construction-alternatives-a279892#ixzz0z6m78cFu


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Ideas on Building a New Home in the Scottish Highlands

Over years property always gains, this isn't like an auto or a ship, the home worth will always increase. Excluding some major dips in the market. This could be an element that is considered when contemplating the benefits of Building a New Home in the Scottish Highlands. It is a superb statistic. In Britain, about twenty-five % of new detached houses are self-built.

This doesn't , naturally, mean that you do all the work yourself - but it means being in control from design to construction. A sort of bespoke answer to your accommodation wants.

Think about your standard payments on your place as rent. By doing this it'll help you pay off your home. Each cent that you put against your house loan, it increases the equity on your house. Firstly, you may have a place to fit your approach to life - you will have 6 kids and a live-in mother-in-law. This set-up would have space and privacy implications that might not be found in a developer-built estate house. Self-build will give you more for your cash. As an example, after you complete your dream house it should be, often valued between 25% & thirty % more than the cash you have spent. Selecting your fave location is also a powerful factor with many and where is more pretty in the world, than indeed the Scottish Highlands. Building your own residence is a perfect dream for almost all of the people. It conjures up thoughts of perfection, elegance and excellence in a world where such qualities appear increasingly deficient. The downsides are few and far between, while the advantages are copious. There will be obstructions to conquer and compromises to make along the trail but these will pale into insignificance once the job is done and you are sitting in your new home, content and pleased with a dream satisfied. 'If you would like something doing well, do it yourself.' This proverb is true when applied to self-build. Nobody will supply more care or attend more entirely to your necessities, wants and standards than yourself. Builders must approach the development of home property in the confines of commercialism. They are limited by time and incentivized by profits. You are free to develop such restrictions according to need and so can identify the number of time and money spent on achieving the quality you want.

0.5 the battle when making a decision whether to build your own house is, quite simply, having enough want and aspiration. If these are available in sufficient quantities, all things can be done. Your own non-public abilities are supreme to the success of the venture and in lowering the price troubled. By taking a major and practical look at yourself, you can identify strengths that may help you in achieving your goal and recognize those areas where pro help is going to be needed.

Your property worth will be turbo-charged by the undeniable fact that you have selected to build the house yourself. The buying public are getting increasingly mindful of self-build homes and recognize that these dwellings often benefit from having a higher plan than others on the market. They have a desire to be made rigorously with better materials and, importantly, with attention to detail.

The worth is sometimes also enlarged as the property is an one off. Even though it may be comparative in size to neighbouring houses, it's likely to have a style and appeal all of its own. The house you may finally live in will be one that meets all of your desires. Your house will satisfy everybody worried because you could have made it with your own requirements in mind. It will fit your method of life and the demands of you and your family like a glove. No other property will compare to the one you design and construct.

Only by building it yourself are you ready to prove you can get everything you were always desiring in a home. If you do decide to build or extend your new home in the Scottish Highlands then a great couple of builders to contact are Gary & Drew of Highland Builders.

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/
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