Buying House Plans Online
June 30, 2008
The Benefits of Self Building
Investing in property had always been very popular - and for many very productive and lucrative. However, as the prices on property begin to soar, it is difficult for many to even get their foot on to the property ladder. The alternative is renting, which usually means paying extortionate sums of cash each month to a wealthy landlord - not something that many people particularly want to do, but something that they feel they have to do in order to enjoy their own living space and independence.
However, there is a cost effective alternative for those that really want to get on to the property ladder but feel that they can’t afford it. Self-building with house plans has become an increasingly popular solution for prospective homeowners, enabling them to get the home of their dreams at a fraction of what it would cost to buy a ready built home of the same style and calibre.
How do house plans work?
House plans are designed by top professionals - architects and designers that know exactly what constitutes a high quality, desirable home. These house plans are designed to be as simple to follow as possible, enabling purchasers to see construct their homes with ease and speed.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Garage Conversions - What Value Do They Add?
June 29, 2008
Most conversion works to an existing structure is often more expensive than having it knocked down & rebuilt. The main reason for this is the VAT element that is exempt for new dwellings. There have been numerous examples where extensive extension & conversion work has proved more expensive than rebuilding the scheme a-fresh from the ground up.
However, where VAT is still applicable even for new build within an existing residential curtilage, the conversion route is often still less expensive. This can also have the added benefit of retaining the sites character & charm where as a complete new build can often stand out like a sore thumb.
Garage conversions are a case in point. Converting a domestic garage (normally integral or attached to the main dwelling) is a growing trend that I cannot see declining in the coming years.
Peoples desire for additional living space is by far more important than the the requirement to store a motor car or general household storage which is more often the case.
WIth the general superior build quality of most modern day cars the need for undercover parking in order that they start in the morning has now diminished. This combined with the relative cheapness of cars makes that valuable garage area look very under used.
Planning Permission Tips UK - Is Todays Popular Quest For Contemporary Design The New Bad Taste
June 28, 2008
Can you remember when people used to install slatted louvre windows as replacement units in their Victorian semis or the stone cladding revolution of the 1980’s.
We look back & ‘tut tut’ at these blunders with a comfortable glow of self satisfaction that we would never make such obvious design & development errors in our own projects - we have a far greater sense of good taste haven’t we?
Trends in the residential development world seem to go in huge swings of about 7 to 10 year cycles and it is often not until the end of one cycle we realise what the mistakes were which is usually triggered by the complete abandonment of the previous trend or methodology for another system.
We surge from brass to chrome light fittings, UPVC to aluminium & then back to real wood again for the windows. Carpets to laminates back to real wood block flooring back to laminates again when the real stuff shrinks, warps or splits.
The same is happening in the overall design & refurbishment of whole homes inside & out. We used to be conservation mad but now its total revamp of properties to something akin that we used to aspire to in the 70’s with simple glazed panels, uncomplicated detail and simple finishes.
Incentives for Proper Home Theater Lighting
June 28, 2008
One of the most crucial elements to consider in building a home theater system is also one of the most over-looked. The lighting used in the room has an incredible effect on the movie viewing experience. It can make the difference between a pleasurable experience and a mediocre one.
Better Viewing Environment
Believe it or not, complete darkness is not the best way to watch movies. This is in complete contrast to what most people actually do. You can even see this in practice at many movie theaters; the lights along the sides of the theater are kept very dim during the film but they are still on. The dim lighting helps to prevent the eye fatigue that results from staring at a bright light source in complete darkness. If you have ever had a headache after watching a long movie, it may have been caused by eye fatigue.
Atmosphere
Lighting creates a certain atmosphere inside a room. This is true whether or not the atmosphere created is one that you had intended. When was the last time you walked into a theater that used overhead fluorescent lights? What kind of feelings would that evoke? Would you really feel like you were there to watch a movie or would it feel more like you were about to sit in on a seminar?
Planning Permission Tips UK - Free Design Advice In The UK - How And Where To Get It
June 27, 2008
Isn’t it funny how people shelve projects for the new year - perhaps the new year feels like a fresh canvas or something - I don’t know. Many potential clients I saw in Q4 of last year our now coming through as confirmed commissions - it’s a funny old world with no rhyme or reason…
Providing advice to these potential clients is always a dilemma. On the one hand you want to be helpful & prove your metal in order to gain their trust but on the other hand you are also giving away the family silver without any prior commitment from them that they will actually be engaging your services. Ideas & suggestions on how to achieve a clients building objective is often all we have to offer. Sure there is the technical & craftsmanship element of your service but that’s often taken for granted. The creative element is often the bit that actually makes a good development work.
Fortunately, residential development isn’t exactly within the realms of Richard Rogers stature especially when developing an existing dwelling with well needed extensions.
Planning Permision Tips UK - 6 Common Design Mistakes When Extending a Residential Property
June 26, 2008
Don’t you just love the design of some of these alpine chalets??!!**??
One year we were given a loft bedroom that you couldn’t stand up in with no wardrobe space and another chalet only had 2 bathrooms for 18 occupants. Still, skiers are the kind of people that can ruff it for most times so its no major hassle. But what if these kind of deficiencies were commonly found in ordinary homes in the UK? Surely no one would make such glaring mistakes on comfort and amenities when extending or developing their own homes would they?
OK, setting that little seed of doubt lets explore 6 of the most common design mistakes people can make when extending their homes. Most professional developers understand their market and fail to make these errors but most ordinary homeowners on the other hand have a totally different set of criteria and motivations when developing their own homes which can lead to some costly mistakes.
When Is It Time To Call The Professional?
June 25, 2008
For most Do-It-Yourself (DIY) home project managers, the most difficult decision is to know when to give the professionals a call to come complete a task and when to complete it yourself. The reason we like to do our own home upgrades or an addition is always a pretty internal and selfish reason. We want to save money and we want to be able to say, "I did it myself." How many times have you been to a friendly dinner party and the topic of home improvement projects come up? Ultimately, it becomes a barrage of sentences that all contain these simple statements, "I did it myself." or "We did it ourselves." I must confess that I am also guilty of this. This is why we always have the more informative conversations with people at the local hardware and supply stores. Both parties in the conversation understand the need to DIY and the communication process flows without any issues.
Have you ever had complications with a project and wished you had called someone instead of finishing it yourself? I have, here is an example:
An Inspirational Poster Can Really Help!
June 24, 2008
An inspirational poster can really inspire us!
Its benefits to us are based on scientific principles of how our minds work. Almost every inspirational poster has both images and words. Once in a while, one may just have words, but when that happens, the words are usually done in a very artistic way.
Different parts of our minds respond to words and to images: generally, the left side of the brain is more logical and word-oriented, while the right side of the brain is more global and image-oriented. So an inspirational poster can easily speak to us in two different ways.
Another principle that allows inspirational posters to help us is that of repetition. The more we are exposed to something, the more it can affect us. Advertising works on this principle, but here we’re talking about how we can use posters to help ourselves. When you get a new poster, at first you may stop and look at it a lot, but over time you become more accustomed to it and probably pay less attention to it. But even when you walk by it and glance at it with your mind totally on other things, the message of the inspirational poster is registering in your mind.
Sliding Glass Door Replacement
June 23, 2008
This article is going to be about replacing an old sliding glass door with a modern Vinyl frame sliding glass door. If you currently have french doors and you want to replace them with sliding doors, or vise versa, future articles will cover that topic.
The first thing we have to do is measure for the replacement door. You want to measure across the bottom, center, and top of the existing door frame to find the narrowest dimension. Start outside and measure at the point where the old door frame stops and the exterior material starts. That material can be stucco, siding, or brick. Measure across in the 3 places: bottom, center, and top. Record the smallest dimension. Then go inside and do the same thing. You want to measure where the frame ends and the drywall, plaster, or sheetrock begins. Take all six measurements, find the narrowest one, and deduct 3/4″. That is the width of the new door. Now, when you measure the height, you can do it just on the outside. Measure the left, center, and right side from the ground where the bottom track sits, up to the top where the old frame ends and the exterior material begins. Take the narrowest dimension and deduct 1/2″. That is your height of the new door. Then, determine which side the sliding panel should be on. The fixed panel is designated by the letter “O”, and the slider is an “X”. In most areas of the country, you call it out by looking at the door from outside and reading left to right. So, if you were outside looking at your door, and you want the sliding panel to close to the right wall, you would ask for an “OX”. However, because i have recently discovered that not all parts of the country do it this way, my suggestion is to ask the dealer how they read the opening before placing your order.
Installing Retrofit and Replacement Vinyl Windows
June 23, 2008
In previous articles i explained to you how to determine whether your windows are candidates for vinyl replacement style frames or retrofit style frames. This week I’m going to explain the installation techniques for both frame styles. Let’s start with the retrofit frame.
Retrofit window installation is really the easiest of all. The retrofit window already comes with an exterior trim attached. That’s the flush fin that goes against the outside surface, usually stucco. Prepare the window by drilling 3/8″ holes in the areas of the frame where you want to screw it in place. Normally, there will be 3 holes on each side and 3 more across the top. Don’t predrill any holes in the bottom track. After removing the old panels, you want to run a heavy bead of caulk on the face of the old aluminum frame that you left in place. Then you and a helper set the bottom of the vinyl window onto the old aluminum bottom track and raise it into position. The flush fin or retrofit lip will act as a “stop” to hold the window in place. Have your helper hold the window while you go inside.
