Home Building

Fewer Twirlers Are A Sign Of The Times

Hey...you know what I haven't seen in a while (due to the home building industry woes)?

Real estate advertising sign twirlers.

You know...those guys that you see standing at the side of a busy intersection holding, tossing, twirling, flipping and spinning real estate directional signs to get your attention (and other types of businesses, as well). 

You might have a different name for these guys:

• Street Corner Twirlers
• Human Sign Holders
• Sign Jugglers
• Sign Spinners
• Coroplast Manipulators (or is that Corocel they're twirling around?!)
• Cirque du Sign Guy
• (in Real Men of Genius style) Mr. Busy Intersection Real Estate Advertiser Guy (I just made that up)

...or WHATever.

Some of them are actually quite entertaining and look like they practice their craft in order to maintain their gig. I don't know what the going rate for a sign twirler is (probably $8 - $15/hr) but I'd imagine that the more highly skilled you are at spinning, tossing and flipping signs...the more your rate of pay is and the more in demand you are. If that's not how it works then there's an error in the system. The guy shown above looks like a beginner. Ain't no action goin' on there. Although, he did manage to catch my eye enough for me to take his photograph...only for a different reason...this article.

Continue reading: Human Sign Holders

The Makings Of A Mudroom

Just like laundry rooms, mudrooms are often times an afterthought by some builders. Obviously, there are house plans which do not incorporate mudrooms into the plan. I applaud the architects that incorporate a mudroom when drawing up the blueprints for a house. It just makes sense.

It's one of those features that's really nice to have in a house because it gives the residents somewhere to store their gear and outerwear in an organized fashion upon entering their home, not to mention giving muddy boots a home without tracking mud into the house. 

Continue reading: Mudroom Essentials

Laundry Rooms Deserve Great Design

Laundry rooms come in all shapes and sizes. Some are built with convenient cabinets to keep everything out of sight and some with just a wire shelf, or two, to store your laundry essentials. Builders almost treat laundry rooms as afterthoughts, it would seem, in some cases. I just don't get it (shaking my head to and fro).

Doing laundry is enough of a chore without having sufficient elbow room to fold laundry, hang up delicates and shirts, and all the other tasks that go along with it. I should know. I live in a home where the laundry area is an over-sized closet just off the kitchen. Not exactly ideal but we've managed.

Continue reading: Laundry Rooms

Ideas For Hidden Bookcase Doors For Use In Home Libraries (and throughout the home)

If you have a library in your home and shelf space is getting tight, or if you're about to become an empty-nester and want to remodel a bedroom into a library, then you might want to consider some of these options for bookcase doors. Bookcase doors provide an added dimension to any room as well as hide a secret room, home gym, wine cellar or hallway. You get the idea.

Bookcase doors come in a variety of styles and shapes dependent upon varying factors such as door frame dimensions, architectural styles, and personal preferences. Homeowners with library rooms might want to consider bookcase doors as a means to maximize shelf space in a home library as well as shutting off the outside world for a period of time.

Continue reading: Hidden Bookcase Doors

Top Selling House Plans - 2009

What are the top-selling house plans?  How do I know what house plans consumers are buying? Simple. My source is Builder House Plans (Builder Online) and they have announced the Top 10 Best Selling Consumer House Plans for 2009.

photo credit: Builder Online

**Builder House Plans is the largest supplier of house plans in the United States.**

An interesting fact about the top 10 selling plans for 2008 vs. 2009 is that the top plans for 2008 were more budget-minded designs and had a slightly less average square footage (2,584 sq. ft vs. 3,075 sq. ft for 2009).
 

Continue reading: Best House Plans For 2009

Spruce Up Your Walk-In Closet. Get Organized!

I was out looking at new houses again recently (no surprise there). As I was walking around to check it out, I opened a door to a walk-in closet. What I discovered inside was a pleasant surprise that I don't see very often these days in moderately priced homes. A solid wood closet organizer with a red mahogany stain. (A definite improvement over those ugly wire shelving systems!)

It's a kit sold by John Louis Home. As it turns out, they have some really nice looking shelving and organizing systems.

Continue reading: Wood Closet Organizers

How To Keep Your Condensate Line Flowing Freely

If you've got an air conditioner cooling your house, you've also got a condensate drain line leading out of your house somewhere (hopefully) whether you knew it or not. The drain line requires a little maintenance about once or twice per year in order to avoid the possibility of thousands of dollars in water damage repair bills. It can happen if you don't stay on top of this simple annual task.

You can easily keep your condensate drain line clear and here's how:

Continue reading: Maintain A Condensate Line

How To Remove Paint From Windows Quick and Easy

I spent this past weekend painting our foyer, including the muntins around the window panes on the sidelights and the transom window overhead. All that remained was the cleanup.

If you're like me, you don't bother to tape off your window panes prior to painting the muntins and sash. In my opinion, it's easier and quicker to remove the paint with a glass scraper or wallpaper shaver after the paint has dried. I'm really not a sloppy painter by any measure, but for painting windows I can let loose for a change.
 

Here's what you'll need to get the job done and a few great tips to remember when you're ready to remove the paint from the window panes.

Continue reading: Removing Paint From Windows

Remember Clotheslines? Simplicity and Eco-Friendly Come Together

Okay...so I'm wandering through all of the booths at the Go Green Expo this past weekend and I take notice of quite a few products that have a lot of technology and innovation behind them to make them green and to have them stand out amongst the competition down the row.

Then I came upon the BreezeDryer booth. Nothing very technical here and not a competitor in sight. Just a bunch of different styles of clotheslines to line dry your clothes on. Now THIS is eco-friendly! Imagine enjoying the great outdoors and doing your laundry at the same time.

It brought a big smile to my face for a couple of reasons.

Continue reading: Eco-Friendly...Clotheslines?? Yes!

Pros and Cons of Ceramic Coatings (Paint) For Your Home

The Go Green Expo - Atlanta 2009  was chock full of interesting green products, services and solutions for home, lifestyle and then some. My interest was focused on homebuilding products and services (of course) and anything that would improve my lifestyle while at the same time lessen my impact on the environment. Basically, like many of you out there I'm trying to live greener as time goes on. This means putting into practice all of the green homebuilding products and services at my disposal whenever possible.

One of the products on display that interested me a great deal was a product known as Eco Seal. It is a ceramic coating applied to the exterior of your house. It is also known as ceramic paint or insulating paint. In this case, Vickie, with Southeast Coatings was demonstrating the benefits of Eco Seal, green and otherwise.

Continue reading: Pros and Cons of Ceramic Paint