House plans, home builders & dreams

Issue No 1:
17 September 2007

Welcome to our first Building Chit Chat.

Here is our news:

• I have finished writing my e-book House plans, home builders and dreams and it is now available for sale (see the bottom of the page for details).
  
• The house I was having built is now completed. See pictures below.

• 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:

• House plans, home builders and dreams e-book
• Photos from the construction of my house.

House plans, home builders and dreams e-book

It has taken a number of years to complete, but my e-book House plans, home builders and dreams is finally ready. It has been a difficult task as I wanted to produce an e-book that would be useful, but not one that would be too many pages to print. I hope you will find that I have achieved that.

I also wanted to make it personal by relating my experiences of having a house built, but also general enough to cover a range of different types of houses and climates.

Although this e-book isn't a guide to building a "healthy-house", I wanted to alert you to some of the things to consider if you do want to reduce the chemicals in your house. Then it is your choice.

Having a house built is an emotionally demanding project and I hope this book will make you realize that everyone finds it challenging. Hopefully this e-book will give you the courage to continue as the final reward of having a house that you are happy with is worth the effort.

Here are some unsolicited comments by some of the people who have read (and in some cases contributed to) the e-book:

Such a thoughtful book. It's marvelous! Connecting dry technical info with the practicalities of your own personal experience works really well. I really like it!

Kurt Hansen

I think it's a good combination of the personal and technical, so that it's not too dry! I wish I'd had such a book to read before and while we were building.

Rosalie Ellis

Photos from the construction of my house

Comments:

The house was difficult to construct because the roof had a very steep pitch and wide eaves. This is the south side of the house.

Comments:

This is the north-east corner of the house. It shows the wooden shutters and the thatched outdoor eating area. It also shows the gold Kalash which is a feature on top of the roof.

Comments:

The foyer has parquetry flooring. The screen door was made with the same design as the bars on the shutters. Wooden louver windows into the kitchen allow for greater airflow and keep the house cool. As it is in a tropical climate, this is very important. The carpenter made the built-in wooden shoe cupboard out of salvaged timber.

Comments:

Some spare marble tiles were used on the wall in one room to add an extra feature. Marble tiles add coolness – once again an important thing to consider in a tropical house. They were also used in the bathroom and on the floor in the study.

All the best

Stephanie
Director Merri Mysteries Inc. - New House Building
www.newhousebuilding.com