Home Construction

Andrew Michler, a passive house designer behind the new project, said the task requires a major shift in his industry. Instead of one-off homes built for committed environmentalists, passive home designers need to start building for the mass market. He said only about 20 homes in Colorado have met international passive home standards.  "It's new for us. Designers are still getting used to building the standard, typical American home," Michler said. Michler partnered with Seattle architect Rob Harrison and Joubert Homes, a local construction company, for the project.  Sam Brasch/CPR News Passive home designer Andrew Michler sits on a window bench at his home above Loveland in September 2022. The hideaway became the first Colorado house to meet international passive home standards in 2016. The final design relies on simplicity to control costs. The exterior looks like two Monopoly homes placed in an L-shape centered around an independent two-car ga...

WGHP/FOX 8 in High Point, North Carolina, serving the Piedmont Triad region (Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point), is looking for a Building and Grounds Maintenance person. Living in the beautiful Piedmont region of North Carolina is more than living right in the middle of everything. Top-tier healthcare, excellent schools, entertainment, sporting events, and more create a bevy of cultural events and a rich quality of life. The Piedmont Triad area is home to more than residents who enjoy a rich quality of life flavored by a vibrant downtown and family-friendly communities, 80 miles of walking and biking trails, close access to prestigious higher education, and cutting-edge Southern cuisine, artisan craft breweries and wineries. The centrally located Piedmont Triad International Airport offers 60 daily flights to major cities or enjoy a short drive to the Blue Ridge Mountains, NC, SC, and VA beaches. The area offers all the convenience you could ask for in a city that also boasts so...

Recently, I came across an article that related the story about an elderly carpenter that was getting ready to retire. The carpenter informed his employee about his intentions to retire, and his employee was sad to see his boss go. As a favor to him, the carpenter asked his employee to build one more house for him. The carpenter's employee agreed with the carpenter's request, but over time, it became very evident that the employee's heart was not in his work. The employee's work was shoddy and he chose to use inferior materials in his construction of the house. It was truly a very sad way to end both the carpenter's and the employee's career. When the work was completed on the house, the carpenter came to inspect it. Much to the employee's surprise, he handed the employee the keys to the house and said "This is your house. It is my gift to you." The employee was both shocked and ashamed, and was faced with the prospect of living the rest of his...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Mike Phillips Remodeling delivers quality workmanship, prioritizes customer service    Myhorrynews

Blackstone-owned 'for profit' landlord Sage Homes delivered 3,287 affordable homes in 2021, up more than 50% on the number built in the covid-hit 2020 year. The registered provider said in a statement issued ahead of the publication of annual accounts, that with a further 1,847 homes exchanged on in the first six months of 2022, it now has close to 20,000 affordable homes in its portfolio. The delivery of 3,287 homes in the 2021 calendar year claimed in the statement is 52% above the 2,162 reported in the 2020 report and accounts, and is a record for the organisation, which was bought by investment firm Blackstone and real estate investor Regis in 2017. Sage, which secured £73m from Homes England last year and strategic investment partner status, said it invested 547m in delivering the homes, up from £397m the previous year. In January the for-profit housing association established a new target to have delivered 30,000 homes by 2030. In July it emerged Blackstone ...

US studio Deegan-Day Design & Architecture has designed a California weekend home to hold strong against wildfire and capitalise on views. Located near the city of Malibu, the 4/Way House sits on a southeast-facing ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains, in a community called Topanga. Joe Day – a founder of local studio Deegan-Day Design & Architecture – bought the property with his wife, Nina Hachigian, in the 1990s following a devastating wildfire in the area that destroyed 20,000 acres of land. The disaster led to a drop in property values, which made buying a 2.5-acre site there feasible for the young couple. 4/Way House sits on a mountainous slope in California Construction didn't begin until 2008, and work happened incrementally over the years. The project was finally completed last year. The design not only makes the most of the rolling landscape and scenic views, it takes a defensive stance against the threat of wildfire. ...

Genova, a 17-acre luxury community in Estero, requested the construction of single-family and villa townhomes on the undeveloped portion of its community. The property, at the corner of Corkscrew Road and Coconut Point, was rezoned for 205 units and six condominium buildings by the Estero Village Council a few years ago. The two remaining undeveloped buildings are now proposed to be 20 single-family homes and 11 two-story townhome units, reducing the number of units to 162. "It's a very different product than what would have been built," said Mary Gibbs, Estero community development director. "But the comprehensive plan says you can have a diversity of different types of residential housing. So even though I think everybody would probably prefer the last two buildings being constructed, that's not going to happen." The applicant, Barron Collier Companies, had a meeting with residents last week, hoping to address any concerns regarding parking, greenspa...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Stylish Starter House Plans from Donald A. Gardner Architects    Builder Magazine

For those fortunate enough to have a pool at their residence, swimming can be a great way to to unwind during the summer months. While swimming pools are an excellent way to relax, stray voltage in the pool can pose a significant threat. Stray voltage typically occurs through improperly grounded pool equipment. What is Stray Voltage? Before you can figure out how to stop stray voltages from happening, you need to know what it is. In most layman of terms, stray voltage exists when unconstrained currents leak from an electrical source. When swimmers or pets come in contact, stray voltage can even prove fatal. Most first shocks from stray voltages are less than 10 volts, which is not very strong. When a person gets into the pool or touches a handrail or ladder that is connected to the pool, they may feel a small tingling or stinging sensation. Children are more sensitive to sensory input than adults are, so they often notice these small shocks before adults do. A faulty transformer or ele...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Stunning sea views up for grabs at £1.5 million home in Beadnell Northumberland    Chronicle Live

KENNETT SQUARE — Ground broke for new luxury apartments on West State Street during a windy afternoon ceremony on Tuesday with executives from Berger Rental Communities uniting with borough officials to mark the moment. Berger Rental Communities, a family-owned and operated business founded in 1972 and baked in Wayne, is bringing 166 luxury apartments to 600 South Broad Street. Construction is anticipated to take two years to complete with the first renters potentially being able to move in by the spring of 2024. Berger Rental Communities is working with MV+A, Montrose Environmental, and Harkins on the project. Kennett Square Apartments will feature 15 floor plans including studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. The apartment community is set to feature 166 apartment units within two, four-story residential buildings totaling 160,000 square feet. The two apartment buildings will be built on West State Street between South Washington Street and Mill Road. This land was previo...

SALINAS, Puerto Rico — When Leida Rodriguez started building a house in Villa Esperanza, neighbors suggested she lift it because the nearby Rio Nigua rose a few feet during Hurricane Maria — nothing these weathered coastal souls hadn't seen before. So she built the house four feet off the ground, hoping to mitigate coastal flooding in southern Puerto Rico, where she found an affordable spot in a beautiful community to live out her retirement. Never did she imagine that a Category-1 cyclone would bring so much rain that the beams of her white-and-blue trim home would buckle and slide into a deep mud hole. "It was my refuge, my place of peace," said Rodriguez, 50, who along with her husband used their life savings to build the home block by concrete block. "We thought it wasn't going to happen. No one had ever seen flooding like what happened." Hurricane Fiona dumped at least half as much rain as the coastal town of Salinas — where most residents live in flood...

Photo: etsy.com Home kits that include all the plans and materials needed to build your own home are now an economical solution for many DIYers. While these kits cost much less than purchasing a pre-built home, they can still be quite expensive. And because the materials are supplied and ready for you, it provides less flexibility for you to customize and tailor your home to your needs and tastes. Purchasing an inexpensive set of wood or log cabin plans, on the other hand, gives you the freedom to choose your materials and modify designs to fit your exact requirements. Below, you can discover some of the best cabin plans for building your own personal sanctuary. RELATED: 6 Things to Know About Small Cabin Kits—And the Best Ones You Can Buy 1. Saltbox Cabin With Loft Photo: etsy.com These downloadable cabin plans with a loft can help you create a 12-foot by 20-foot saltbox cabin. The digital packet includes building plans, exterior elevations, foundation information, framing plans, and ...

Houses in South Bend Last summer, interns with the University of Notre Dame's Center for Civic Innovation (CCI), in collaboration with the University's Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate (FIRE), helped evaluate the historical pattern of residential development in South Bend to illustrate how prototypes for new infill housing might fit into existing neighborhoods — part of a plan to offer pre-approved building plans to prospective homebuyers and developers free of charge. Now, after more than a year of additional design work, including revisions and approvals, city leaders are heralding the end product — an online catalog of pre-approved building plans designed to encourage new infill housing by narrowing the gap between the cost of a new home and its ultimate value in areas of the city with relatively low property values. The catalog offers a range of contextually appropriate building types — carriage house, narrow...

The economics of the housing market, and the local rules that shape it, have squeezed out entry-level homes. The American starter home has been a bungalow, a shotgun house, a rowhome. Library of Congress Emily Badger likes talking to home builders about economics and to historians about architecture. She's done that at The Times since 2016. As recently as the 1990s, when Jason Nageli started off, the home-building industry was still constructing what real-estate ads would brightly call the "starter home." In the Denver area, he sold newly built two-story houses with three bedrooms in 1,400 square feet or less. The price: $99,000 to $125,000, or around $200,000 in today's dollars. That house would be in tremendous demand today. But few builders construct anything like it anymore. And you couldn't buy those Denver area homes built 25 years ago at an entry-level price today, either. They go for half a million dollars. The disappearance of such affordable homes is cen...