House plans, home builders & dreams

Issue No 2:
28 January 2008

Welcome to our second Building Chit Chat.

Here is our news:

• We have reduced the price of our e-book House plans, home builders and dreams to $9.95 Australian (around $9 USD). See our website for the sample chapters.

• We would like to hear your stories about the planning, construction and completion of your new or remodelled house. Please email us via info@newhousebuilding.com. Prizes will be awarded for the best stories and for the best photos. See Competition for further details.
• We would like to hear your suggestions for Building Chit Chat and for the website in general. Please email us via info@newhousebuilding.com.

In this issue, we have articles about:

• Construction and planning tips.

Construction and planning tips

If you plan well and think of the future, you can avoid a lot of problems later on. Try to think in 3 dimensions. Imagine the finished rooms. Look at your existing home and identify the things that have always annoyed you. Don't make the same mistake again with your new home. Buy our e-book House plans, home builders and dreams for more tips on how to plan your house and what to watch out for during construction.

Basement Ceiling Height: It costs more to build a basement wall 2.85m (ie 9 feet 6 inches) tall. But it is worth paying a bit more because in future you might need to put in full height finished ceilings in the lower levels.

Blocking: It is worthwhile doing your own plan of each wall showing exactly (with measurements) where you want items like toilet roll holders, towel bars and picture hooks for large paintings. Otherwise, your carpenter will mark them on the timber itself or on the floor (like mine did) and later on these will be covered and his marks will not be visible. You have to have a solid wood block behind the drywall or plaster for each of these items. You may also like to take photos of where the wood blocks are before the plasterboard/drywall is installed so you can give these to the fit-out carpenter to help him find them.

Ceramic Tiles: Make sure your builder puts cement board in the wet areas not just water resistant plasterboard/drywall. In the USA, this is the drywall with the green paper. It only lasts 5 to 7 years whereas cement board is 100% waterproof and will last much longer.

Conduits: It is worth installing a few extra blank conduits. For example, even though you might not be having a room in the attic, you should install a blank conduit to it. This will make it easier to connect the electricity and phone lines to the attic later on if you need them. Otherwise it will be very difficult and costly to install the wires. Blank conduit are not expensive.

Doorways: Think about the items you will have to get through the doors once the house is built and make sure all the doorways and doors leading to this room are wide enough to allow for the easy passage of the items that will be in the room (eg large desks, fridges, washing machines etc).

Driveways: When the driveway to your new house is being installed, make sure the concrete is at least 125mm (5 inches) thick and has 12.5mm (1/2 inch) reinforcing steel bars. Otherwise, it will crack.

Fire Safety: Electrical fires lead to many deaths each year. You can help reduce them by asking your electrician to install arc fault circuit interrupters/breakers.

Flooring: It is a skill to create a hardwood floor that isn't stiff, springy or bouncy. And make sure your flooring is installed over the correct sub-flooring system no matter whether you are installing a hardwood floor or vinyl, tiles etc. Get the installation instructions from the flooring manufacturer and check what is required.

Garages and sheds: Check that your cars, garbage cans, bikes, lawn mowers, etc will fit. If you have a tall vehicle, make sure the door height is sufficient.

Hallways: Make sure they are wide enough so that your furniture etc can pass easily through them when you move in. Or create your plan so you don't have hallways.

Taps/faucets: How will you repair the bathtub tap in years to come? If you insist that they install an old-fashioned access panel, this will be easier, quicker and less expensive.

Wall Water Barriers: There are lots of builders who either don't know how to build or are just wanting to cut their costs. Bricks and cladding/siding materials will not to stop water. Make sure proper water infiltration barriers are installed in all external walls.

All the best

Stephanie
Director Acture Pty Ltd - New House Building
www.newhousebuilding.com