Home Building/Remodeling

Evaporative Air Conditioning vs Traditional Air Conditioning: 4 Reasons To Choose Evaporative Cooling

Lynnette Walczak — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:41:32 +0000

Air conditioning is expensive, power guzzling, germ breeding, and completely necessary in some climates unfortunately.

Evaporative cooling, as the name suggests, is a device that cools the air through the evaporation of water.

Traditional air conditioning operates using refrigeration.

This differs from evaporative cooling which uses vapor from water to lower the temperature of the air. It works by sucking in hot dry air, passing it through a wet pad which then evaporates and passes the air out through the other side.

Here are 4 reasons to use evaporative cooling in your home…

Finished Basement: The Pros And Cons Of Doing A Basement Remodel

Curtis Carper — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:30:45 +0000

When I was growing up, the large house we lived in had a full basement. It was basically one large open room.

Today, basements have become valued resources. They are often used as full-fledged living spaces, with additional bedrooms, bathrooms, and home entertainment features.

This brings to mind one important question if you’re considering investing in an extensive basement makeover:

Is a finished basement a good investment?

Charleston Style Homes Exude Southern Luxury

Randy Boerstler — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:44:19 +0000

Stalking, specifically house stalking, is an ugly and unseemly term. But, that’s how this blog of mine started back in 2006 and I’d like to get back to what I am passionate about, unashamedly stalking houses.

Basically, I enjoy house stalking:

new houses that are under construction from groundbreaking up to completion in order to view where and how all of the pieces come together to make everything work.
move-in ready homes. They almost always have the fixtures and appliances installed and I also get to see different styles of flooring at this stage.
designer-decorated (or model) homes, including landscaping and hardscaping ideas.

It’s all very, very cool and interesting to me and I have learned an awful lot over the years.

My house stalking recently brought me to The Grove at Cooper’s Point in the Smyrna Vinings area of Atlanta. New meshes with old in this eclectic part of town. The Grove is a small collection of large homes that sits atop a hill with views of the Atlanta skyline. These are Charleston-style homes with loads of square footage (5,000+), top notch craftsmanship and high quality materials

10 Home Theater Room Essentials For The Do-It-Yourselfer

Jakob Barry — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:58:55 +0000

Have you ever thought about converting that extra room into a home theater room or doing the same with part of the basement or attic?

It’s not like the room has to be rebuilt from scratch or needs movie house chairs, a slanted floor, a projector popping out of the ceiling, or little blue hued LED lights marking an aisle.

Sure, you may need a carpenter or local handyman for a few things, but for the most part home theater rooms can be the ultimate viewing spaces created on a simple budget where family and friends settle in watching great films without having to go far.

After a short while, that odd room will quickly turn into a cozy place to hide away on cold nights during the winter or sizzling days in the summer.

If this sounds like a DIY project for you, here are a few essentials to consider when transforming that empty room into a useful space:

How To Choose The Best Air Filter

Randy Boerstler — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:29:46 +0000

Have you ever found yourself scratching your head at all of the different types of furnace filters to choose from at the home improvement store?

If so, you have lots of company wondering and staring at the shelves along with you.

In an ideal world you’d like to see an apple-to-apples comparison when you shop for HVAC filters, but in my experience it is somewhat similar to buying mattresses. You’re not certain if you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck unless you look closely at the nuts and the bolts of the product under consideration. Model numbers have no meaning.

I’m going to break down all of the different ratings and media types to help you choose the best air filter for your home HVAC system.

Modular Green Homes: GreenPods Designed By Ann Raab

Randy Boerstler — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:30:43 +0000

Modular homes have been around for decades.

Green homes have been around for awhile, too, and they’re getting greener all of the time.

When you combine those two types of homes together you get modular green homes.

Enter GreenPod Intelligent Environments.

How To Repair Screeching Faucet Problems

Randy Boerstler — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:10:32 +0000

Do you have a water faucet that whines, screeches or squeals when you turn it on? There are a few reasons why this annoying little problem occurs.

By the way, I love that my son is such a willing participant in front of and behind the camera. The photo you see is him, while the angle and expression were all his idea. Got to love him!

Is this a DIY fix-it project for able-bodied homeowners? It most certainly is, so pay attention, y’all.

There are several possible reasons why your plumbing is talking to you when it should be a silent servant. First and foremost, I’m talking about pipes that whine, screech or squeal. I’m not talking about banging pipes…that is a different set of problems altogether.

Why am I talking about screeching pipes? Because my hot water faucet (and sometimes the cold faucet) in the kitchen has been begging for attention lately and I find myself faced with yet another DIY project. I think my problem will be fairly easy to fix compared to most, though, because the noise being made is localized to my kitchen faucet

7 Awesome Custom Garages

Randy Boerstler — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:29:54 +0000

Having a really cool garage with tons of space for your 2 and 4-wheeled, prized possessions is the stuff dreams are made of for many a guy out there…and many of you girls, too.

I was surfing around for cool garage ideas and found a great Forbes article about amazing custom garages and knew it would be a fun topic to share. I’m not going to talk about every garage in the article they posted, just the one’s that really stand out, in my opinion.

The homes that some of these garages are a part of are quite the spectacle themselves with crazy amenities like a life-sized chess board!

Some of these garages used the ol’ adage “money is no object” as their model

7 Reasons To Install Radiant Barrier Roof Sheathing

Randy Boerstler — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:29:15 +0000

Radiant barrier roof sheathing is a great product that will reduce your power bill. There are just a few manufacturers that make this unusual type of roof sheathing that has a shiny, perforated aluminum foil/craft paper laminated to one side of it.

For simplicity’s sake, I’m focusing my attention on Georgia-Pacific’s Thermostat® radiant barrier product, not to mention that all Georgia-Pacific wood product samples are available to me.

I happen to manage the facility that sends out all of the samples and marketing collateral to sales representatives and their customers. That makes it kind of handy for me to get my hands on “sample size” pieces that you can easily hold in your hand.

I’ve got a sample unit of GP’s Thermostat 7/16″ OSB product and it’s pretty cool. The specially designed aluminum foil/craft paper that is laminated on one side of the OSB has tiny perforations every ¼” to allow the product to “breathe”. This deters mold growth.

Thermostat radiant barrier sheathing is available with two different substrates

Swap Out Your Boring Doorbell Buttons For Some Style

Randy Boerstler — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:54:12 +0000

Are you trying to think of ways to add a little pizazz to your entryway by installing a new doorbell button? Okay…maybe not. But, if by chance you were thinking about it or you’re gathering ideas like we like to do, then read on happy homeowner.

Even if you’re not thinking about doorbell buttons, you might think about swapping your old, boring push button for one of these far more interesting decorative ones.

Whether you are looking for something modern, cool, rustic, or just off-the-wall, you’ve got to check out these awesome choices of doorbell buttons.

Obviously, prices will vary widely depending on the source, style and materials, but that’s the price you’ll pay for a doorbell button that will make your visitors stop and admire your excellent doorbell button.

Doorbell buttons are obviously not on the top of most homeowners’ to-do list. It’s more like way towards the bottom of the list, in fact, it should be one of the final touches for your home decor