Building a new house is exciting and challenging. With a production builder like Richmond American, you have little control once the contract is signed. You can monitor progress and leverage the contract to get desired changes but you have virtually no control over the quality of the building materials or workmanship. After four months, Richmond … Read More
New House Painting Done Right?
Painting is probably the most common DIY project a homeowner tackles. Painting an entire house is an entirely different endeavor. In Arizona where ceilings went as high as 16 feet (above), we decided to hire professional painters. House painting is even more challenging with a new house so you’re glad that the builder is responsible … Read More
New Construction Punchlist Tells a Story
Everyone who buys a new construction home needs to understand the role of the punchlist! If you don’t find problems and make the builder correct them before you close on your new home, you’re going to waste money due to poor construction and/or materials. You’ll spend money on higher utility bills, repairs due to faulty … Read More
Bathroom Shower Tile Done Wrong!
When you build a house, one of the most exciting things is picking your finishes. Your big choices are cabinets and counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms, flooring, lighting, paint colors and tile for your shower/bathtub surround. Given that I love a long, hot shower in the morning, I happily paid for my dream … Read More
Home Building Companies & Production Builders
Florida isn’t a place I ever expected to live. But once my children put roots down there, you could say … my perspective changed. Over the last 10 years, I’ve watched the building of thousands of new homes around Orlando. Visits to model homes and open houses were made out of curiosity and/or photo taking for … Read More
Rebar, Short for Reinforcing Bar
You probably know where there’s concrete in your house. Your foundation might be poured concrete or you house might sit on a concrete slab like my house being built in Florida (pictured above). What you’re probably not as familiar with are the somewhat strange, thin metal bars that are buried in the concrete to make … Read More
What are Lintels & How They Hold Your House Up
The exterior walls of a house and some interior walls are known as load bearing walls. That’s because they support the ceiling, the floors above and everything up to the roof of your home. Where there are doors and windows in these walls, lintels are the structural support beams that span the opening in a … Read More
Building vs Buying a Home: Can You Do Both?
Buying a home is a huge decision and the biggest investment you’ll ever make. Building a house is a much BIGGER decision because you’ve got to understand a lot more about home construction. Fortunately most people who decide to build a home don’t realize how many decisions they’ll have to make. So I invite you … Read More
Building a House & Picking Your Building Lot
Most people dreaming about building a house start by looking at house plans. The question many don’t realize is how important it is to pick a house style that fits the neighborhood and/or building lot where the house will be built. As with many decisions, you’ve got to prioritize and make trade-offs.
Building Costs, Carpentry and Corners?
Building costs are closely tied to the number of square feet in a house. As the size of a house increases, the cost per square foot goes down as you’re now able to spread the costs. Things like excavation, the foundation and exterior envelope, heating and cooling systems are more cost effective when shared across more … Read More
