Build Your House Yourself University

Many DIYers have successfully painted their new homes inside and out. But it’s hard work and it takes some skill. Before you decide to do the painting in your brand new home, consider the painting projects that you’ve done in the past? How did they turn out? Was the trim smooth, without excess caulk?  Were the walls uniform and free of debris and drip marks? If your past results haven’t met the standards that you have set for your new home, you may want to hire a professional painter with good references.  For some advice on what to look for and expect when hiring a painter, take a listen to last week’s episode, episode 50.

Whether you choose to do your own painting or not, you’ll have to decide what paint finishes are best for your house.  This week’s episode will cover what paint finishes that work well for the different areas of the house.  We’ll also cover some quick painting tips for those of you who want to do the painting yourself.  Not a full tutorial, but some helpful tips.  If you have little or no experience painting, first and foremost, I suggest hiring a professional painter.  But if you’re determined to save those labors costs,  in addition to listening to the quick tips in this episode, go over to YouTube and take a look at some painting tutorials.

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Painting is one of the tasks that many DIY’ers tend to take on when building or remodeling a house.  Doing it yourself can save you thousands of dollars in labor costs, but it will also take you quite a bit a time.  And unless you have significant painting experience, your results will probably be less attractive than the results that you would get from a professional painter. 

Because paint affects the looks of just about every room of the house, I say, if you have it in your budget, leave the painting to the professionals.  So, our mini lesson this week will give an overview of what to look for, ask for and expect when hiring professional painters.   If you’re absolutely determined to do at least some of your painting, join me next week for an episode filled with painting tips and tricks.

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This week we're airing an interview that I did with Ben-Adam Smith for his podcast, House Planning Help.  We talked about the BYHYU podcast and about building in the United States versus building in the United Kingdom.  

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This week we have a list of features that many homeowners are requesting in new homes that they’re buying or building.  This is according to an article in Professional Builder magazine where builders, architects, designers and other industry experts were asked about must-have features that today’s homeowners want.  Take a listen and see how many things on the list might be included your new home.  You may not want to include all these elements, but consider the ones that are best for you and your family.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Hey BYHYU. Welcome to Build House Yourself University. I’m Michelle Nelson, your host and fellow student, and together we’ll learn the basics of home design and construction and demystify the building process, so we can build our dream homes, with or without a general contractor.

Most people don’t have the means to pay cash for the construction of their new homes, so most folks will need to take out a construction loan. We’ll talk about the different options for financing new construction in this week’s mini-lesson.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Together we’ll learn the basics of home design and construction and demystify the building process, so we can get the biggest bang for our buck and build our dream homes, with or without a general contractor.

“Build tight and ventilate right.”  That’s a mantra that I’ve heard since I started educating myself about home design and construction.  A tight house is a house with minimal air leakage.  Building a tight house is important so you can save on energy costs and make your home more comfortable.  A tight house also protects the structure of your home.  Here’s how:    If a house is built tightly, it prevents warm, moist air from entering or exiting the home.  The unwanted flow of warm, moist air can lead to moisture within your home’s walls and roof, causing structural damage. Building tight can alleviate that potential problem.  You’ll also need to ventilate right.  We’ll discuss ventilation systems in a future episode. Today, we’ll concentrate one of the first steps needed to build a tight house, which is adding a continuous air barrier to your house to reduce air leakage. 

The Zip system by Huber Engineered Woods is a continuous air barrier that many contractors are using to build tight houses.  Most of them agree that the Zip System outperforms traditional building methods using house wrap.  Today, I’ll review Huber’s Zip System.  I’m not affiliated with the product or company, and have no personal experience with it, but I’ve noticed that over the past several years quality builders in my region consistently choose the Zip system over traditional methods, like house wrap.  Plus I’ve read many contractors’ forums and home building websites for a consensus on the Zip System.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

We’ve made it to episode 45 of Build House Yourself University (BYHYU). I’m Michelle Nelson, your host and fellow student, and together we’ll learn the basics of home design and construction and demystify the building process, so you can build your dream home, with or without a general contractor.

So, what exactly is a Zero Energy Home?  To quote the folks at zero energy project. org, “Zero energy homes are just like any home—except better.”  They are air-tight, well-insulated, and extremely energy efficient homes that produce as much energy as they use, over the course of a year. That means that for heating and cooling, electricity, and water heating, your net payment to the power company would be zero, zilch, nothing!   You’d have no net utility bills with a zero energy house.

Zero energy houses also have very little negative impact on the environment.  If all that sounds good to you, but you’re weary of looking into a zero energy house because you think that it has to be a super modern, minimalist white box of a house, think again. 

These houses can be built in a variety of sizes and styles and for any climate.  If you want a zero energy house that looks very unique and unconventional, that’s fine.  But, you can also build a zero energy house that looks like any other home—like a traditional colonial or craftsman, or a Mediterranean or bungalow.  You could build a large estate house or a tiny house, or something in between, and you could make any one of those a zero energy house.

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Deciding whether to choose a heat pump or a standard heating system and air conditioner for your new home will significantly affect your family’s comfort and your utility bills. That’s why it’s so important to be an informed consumer.  Today’s mini lesson will give you a good foundation for understanding heat pumps, including the commonly used air-source heat pumps, geothermal systems and mini split systems.  It’s a complex subject and you can get much more detailed information online or in books.  But my goal today is to give you enough knowledge so you partner with your HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) consultant to determine whether a heat pump is the right choice for you. 

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The mudroom is one of the most utilized rooms the entire house.  It gets used daily by most family members, but it’s often designed only as an after thought.  The mudroom is the family foyer.  It’s an area where you prepare to face the day and where you’re welcomed back home.  Plus, it’s a place that will serve as the entrance for more than a few guests as they follow you from the garage into your house. So today’s episode will discuss some design features that you may not have thought about, but that you should definitely consider, when planning your mudroom.  Yes, we’ll talk about cubbies, lockers and benches, but we’ll focus on some practical and unexpected things that you can include that will make your mudroom more functional and more attractive.

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This week we have our second mini lesson on windows.  Last week we went over the different window styles.  If you don’t know the difference between a single hung and a double hung window or what a casement window is, take a listen to last week’s show, episode 41. 

Today we’ll learn about the energy efficiency of windows.   A window's energy efficiency is dependent upon all of its components—the window frame, the glazing and the coatings.  We’ll talk specifically about each of those components, including the different materials used for the frames, double and triple glazed windows and low E windows.

Show notes at BYHYU.com