Build Your House Yourself University

Because most of us want not only a beautiful, well-designed house but also one that is energy efficient and/or sustainable, over the coming months I’ll be doing several episodes where we’ll talk about noted high-performance houses that have been covered in the media.  I’m a big believer in learning from others and may able to incorporate into our own projects some of the design elements and materials used in other recognized green, energy-efficient homes.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Because of the popularity of white interior walls, and white backgrounds in general on blogs and social media posts, we have grown accustomed to thinking of white as a go-to backdrop for many of our interior spaces.  White is familiar, bright and offers a clean background for highlighting home furnishings and features.  The fresh, clean background is why most museums and galleries use white walls to showcase artwork. White can be a great choice for traditional and contemporary spaces. But to some people, white can come off as cold, boring and overdone.  This week we’ll talk about the pros and cons of white walls.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Did you know that the average home build produces about 8,000 pounds of waste?   And with increasing landfill and building material costs, reducing job site waste could both help the environment and save you a significant amount of money.  The less you have to throw away, the less money you have to spend getting rid of your construction waste.

When renting a dumpster for a construction site, you’re charged based on the size dumpster.  The more waste you accumulate, the larger and more expensive the dumpster you’ll need. In addition, the weight of the debris will also have some bearing on waste management fees.

This is an unexpected line item that ideally we want to avoid.   In this week’s episode, I’ll give you some quick tips on how to reduce job site waste so those overage fees are less likely to occur. Plus we’ll hear from Angela Phillips of ZTERS, the waste management solutions company that I’ve been working with.  Angela will give us a little more insight into how we can manage our waste more efficiently.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

ZTERS.com

ZTERS DUMPSTER SIZING TOOL

This week’s episode is based on an article that I read in Houzz called “10 Home Design Trends on the Rise”. They made this list based on trends that they see in photos that designers and homeowners have submitted and based on their conversations with design professionals.   This list includes things that I too have been seeing in the past few years that I think we’ll continue to see in new homes as we go into 2020.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Don’t call it a comeback, marble’s been here for years.  But in the last decade, marble has become more popular than ever, especially in bathrooms and kitchens.  But… how good of an idea is that?  In this week’s mini-lesson, we’ll look at the pros and cons of using marble in our new homes and the difference between 2 of the most widely requested types of marble: Calcutta and Cararra marble.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

BYHYU.com

For decades, the standard ceiling height was 8 feet tall—a dimension that resulted from two 4-foot-wide drywall sheets laid together horizontally.  But homes are now being built with standard 9 or 10-foot ceilings on the first floor, and ceilings at 8 or 9 feet tall on the second floor. 

With today’s taller ceiling heights, the potential space above standard upper kitchen cabinets has become larger and we’ll have to decide how far up we want our cabinetry to go.  Should we leave an open space between the upper cabinets and the ceiling, or should we fill that space with a soffit or with additional cabinetry?   This week we’ll talk about the pros and cons of cabinets that extend all the way to the ceiling.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

www.facebook.com/BYHYU

Last week, we began a mini-lesson on the pros and cons of different exterior door styles. We went over 2 of the most common styles—single, standard doors and French doors.  Plus, we talked about a new kid on the block, bifold doors. In this second part of our list, we’ll discuss some more old school and new school door styles, including sliding doors, pivot doors, and dutch doors, and we’ll be answering the burning question “Are storm doors still a thing?”

Show notes at BYHYU.com

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU

Whether you’re deciding on the style of door you want for your main front entry, or to your patio, or to any other area that leads to the outdoors, there are several door styles to consider. It’s not just a matter of choosing a traditional single or double, French doors for your main entrance. You could also install a pivot door or a dutch door.  And for patio doors, there are French doors, sliding doors, and bifold doors.  This week, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of each style of exterior doors. 

Shownotes at BYHYU.com

https://www.facebook.com/BYHYU

In part 1 of the mini-lesson, we talked about how many homeowners and house designers pay too little attention to roof overhangs because they think of them as purely aesthetic. But overhangs have several important functions: they can protect exterior doors, windows, and exterior walls from rain and snow; they can shade windows from hot summertime sun rays, and they can help keep basements and crawl spaces dry by directing rainwater away from the main structure of the house.

This week, we’ll go over whether you need deep roof overhangs for shading on the north, east and west sides of your house.  Plus I’ll tell you what you can do to protect your house from the sun’s heat and rain if you either don’t want overhangs or can’t have them because of building code.  Yep, building codes in some areas don’t allow overhangs.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Check out ZTERS Waste Solutions, your one-stop source for job site dumpsters, portable toilets, fencing, and storage units.

Although you may have thought about the color and material you want for your roof, the typical homeowner puts little thought into the actual design of their roof.  And roof overhangs specifically, forget about it.  Roof overhangs haven’t even crossed most people’s minds.    

In this week’s mini-lesson, I’ll tell you why overhangs shouldn’t just be an afterthought.   And why almost every new home should include them, where possible.

Check out ZTERS.com  for all your construction site services 

Show notes at BYHYU.com