Small things that get forgotten. When the contractor puts down the plywood subflooring, be sure that you request him to use screws, and no nails I cant tell you how noisy the floor in my house is with creeks and pops. The edge of the plywood should align over a floor joist so that it does not flex or bend and make sounds as it ages. Make sure water drains away from the foundation of the house. It should be gently sloped. Make sure that under the house if there is a crawlspace that a moisture barrier is put down. Its like a giant roll of trash bag plastic but much thicket. You can do it after the fact, but its nice to know every nook and cranny is covered, and no moisture will warp your floors from the ground below. For areas of the home which are not easily accessible by attic in the case of cathedral ceilings, tray ceilings etc you may want to add a conduit channel or prewire for security system. I added a security camera system to my home, and the worst part is that I could not place the cameras where I wanted them because the wiring into the eves of the house was not easily accessible because there is no attic above those corners of the house. Avoid landscaping that is too close to the house. Small bushes planted by a builder look great the first year, but they should be a couple feet away from the foundation, so that you can get behind them to wash windows, and make sure the foundation has air space for vents. Gutter downspouts Make sure that if your home has a gutter system that the downspouts are adequate. If the lot is heavily wooded with trees, you probably want gutter guards or similar system. Consider adding a underground cistern and connect the gutter downspouts fill the cistern. Its a great way to save water. The Home Depot was founded in 1979 by Bernard Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and Pat Farrah in Atlanta, Georgia. They had the goal to build homeimprovement. Best Buy sound bars. Upgrade your TVs sound with one of these fantastic, easytoinstall sound systems. You can put in a small pump connected to a hose that allows you to water the grass or plants without having to use city water or well water. Harness the power of rain water. If you dont want a cistern, then make sure that the downspouts connect to a french drain, or at least pipe the water far away from the foundation of the house so that it doesnt create a moisture problem for you. Plumbing access for showers. Make sure that if your shower backs up to an interal wall that you cut a hole in the sheetrock and put in a plumbing access pannel. You can put the panel under a bathroom cabinet to hide it, or in a closet. Insulte attic openings. If you have a pull down stair case, maybe have the builder make a lightweight box to cover the pull down stair, and line it with insulation. Stellar Homes Inc. 21 Wellington Street East Suite 202 Aurora, Ontario L4G 1H4. There is a plastic model available at Home Depot Lowes that looks like a plastic sled which sits atop pull down stairs to help seal the heat and cold out. There is a zip up model that makes an air tight seal but it was quite pricey. I made one with styrofoam insulation lining a lightweight wooden box to cover the stairs. For attic doors that go into the eves of the house, say in a bonus room over garage, or in top floors where the celing is slanted, make sure the door shuts tightly, and is well insulated, since the attic is right behind the door and is going to be very hotcold in seasonal temps. Window tinting in todays larger suburban homes with windows, consider a reflective mirror window tint. During the daylight, it blocks harmful UV rays that fade furniture and carpet. The mirror finish means you have extra privacy since you can see out, but others cannot see in. At night it offers little protection, since the mirror finish doesnt block the vision when there is no daylight to reflect. Mister if you have a hot patio or pool side, consider installing a misting system to cool off on a hot day. Leave an extra irrigation zone or two for drip irrigation for your deck and patio areas. If you forget, you can retrofit a timer and small drip hoses, one to each pot and planter. This keeps your flower pots looking good all summer long with hardly any manual watering. On the homes outdoor spigots, I added a battery timer to turn the water on for 1. The 14 inch hoses are cheap to buy, and the drip heads are inexpensive too, available at your local home improvement store or online at mrdrip. Plan your irrigation zones to save water If you have broad patches of grass, try to zone your sprinkler system so that if your city or state requires water conservation during droughts, then you can turn on the system to water only the most important beds and borders where you have made annual plants, but skip the grass, or water grass less frequently. This is something I cant fix now that my system is installed. The zones in my yard are mixed, so for each important flower border, it waters grass, so I feel like Im wasting water. Drill a well or get separate water meter for irrigation. Cities and Counties charge a lot for water meter installations, but its easier to do before your new lawn is established. Cities charge a sewer fee for each gallon of water that you use. If you separate your irrigation system from the household water meter, then you can be billed a much reduced rate on the irrigation water since they do not charge for the sewage treatement. Sewage is usually twice the price of the water itself. Wells may be more efficient and better for your pocket book long term, but they can run dry. Designate an area in a detatched garage or shed for storing lawn equipment and gasoline and oils. I have seen too many house fires around town from a propane tank, gas can, or paint can exploding if it gets too hot. Dont put storage near a water heater, especially gas appliances. Keep yard storage in a shed far enough away from the main structure of the house to keep smells away and minimize fire risks. Add cabinets and countertops to your garage. My neighbor has a basic set of large cabinets installed in the garage, with a cheaper formica countertop. This makes for such a clean looking garage, and a great working area for potting plants, or a small woodworking project, or car repair. Its worth buying some weatherproof cabinets and plan the garage as part of the home, so that the bill is put into the mortgage payment, and not directly out of your checking account. Finish the garage floor paint the garage floor with an expoxy seal or garage paint so that car oils dont stain your garage. Plan to mop every couple of months, or wash out the garage with soap and a light spray with the water hose. Its so nice to be able to walk into the garage and know its clean, and not worry about pets and children getting dirty in oil and leaked radiator fluid lethal to pets and people because I know my garage floor is cleaned regularly. It looks great too Seal your tiles in some of the bathrooms in my house the builder used lower end tiles, and white grout. But the grout was apparently not sealed, and now its stained and dirty. A spill or two later and it just looks bad. This is a case where prevention is the key if the grout is sealed when it is brand new it will look great for a lifetime. Let it get dirty and you will spend many hours cleaning it to try to restore that like new appearance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
Categories |