Posted by admin | Exterior | Posted on March 10th, 2010
During the development of your custom home design, there are numerous floor plan features that should be considered. Maximizing the enjoyment of your custom home can be accomplished by devoting ample thought to key areas of the overall floor plan. Areas of consideration for your custom home design should include and open layout concept, ceiling heights, traffic flow, recreational areas, sight lines and exterior views.
Becoming a key feature of almost every custom home design, an open floor plan concept allows better flow between spaces. A good custom home design floor plan will maximize the useful square footage of the custom home while also creating a sense of special separation. One way to achieve this effect is implementing half walls as a design element between rooms. Maximizing the open concept for your custom home design can also be done by separating each space with a change in floor treatments. The open concept can also have some influence on how the ceiling heights affect the whole design.
Varying ceiling heights or changing the design elements of the ceiling can also create an open feeling throughout the custom home. Tall ceilings and vaulted ceilings are popular trends used to create the open concept of the custom home design floor plan. It is common to see ceilings in great rooms achieving heights of 20 feet either by vaulting or 2-story space. Additionally you will find ceiling heights of 9 to 10 feet in kitchens, dining rooms and bedrooms of new custom homes.
Particularly in an open concept custom home design, the floor plan must cater to the overall traffic flow throughout the home. Single story custom homes typically have bedrooms adjacent to a family room or media room. When designing these areas, Design Alternatives also makes sure too much traffic flow doesn’t cross over one another since the kitchen is usually located in proximity of the family room as well. Although the importance of traffic flow is often neglected in custom home design, experienced designers will also give much consideration to the location of stairways in the overall traffic flow scheme.
Home technology and home theaters have also increased the necessity and importance of recreational areas as a key aspect of custom home design. Adequate thought must be given to not only identify where the television screen will be located, but also how the furniture will lay out around the home theater speakers and components. If the recreational area is not attached to the kitchen, consideration must also be given to including a wet bar as part of this floor plan concept.
As previously mentioned the open concept has become an increasingly important feature of new custom home design. By creating an open floor plan, it opens up sight lines between spaces and to the outside. A quality custom home design incorporates wall openings and doorway locations to utilize critical sight lines. Limiting sight lines not only creates a mundane space, but will also make the whole house feel smaller due to the visual obstructions. These sight lines should open up all the way to the exterior surroundings as well.
Locating the house on the building site is just as important as the custom home design itself. Care should be given in considering how the sun will enhance the natural lighting throughout the home. If there are certain views that should be maintained, window type and positioning are also critical features which need to be planned out. Design Alternatives Custom Home Design incorporates all these important aspects when designing each and every floor plan. Your dream home is a big investment, so your custom home design should be completed by a designer who knows how to maximize all these important features.
Posted by admin | Exterior | Posted on March 10th, 2010
When listing your home for sale, it must be in the best shape possible. This may mean spending some time and money bringing some aspects of the home up to par. This article is going to explore in further detail some of the things that can be done to improve the appearance and selling power of your home’s exterior. Sometimes it’s the small details that get noticed and you never know what someone’s favorite aspects of a home will be. You would be remiss not to try to create as many of these points as possible.
The first item on the list is an easy one. The paint. Paint jobs can deteriorate and fade over the years as environmental factors tend to cause wear and tear on the surface of your home. New paint is a great way to take years off the home and revitalize its look. Of course, if you have a home made of brick or siding, there is really no need or want to paint. With a brick home, try power washing the bricks to bring them back to their full glory. A simple wash of siding can make it look like new again. Make sure to use a cleaner that is safe for your siding surface. When painting, you will want to stick with neutral colors as a more personalized paint choice can alienate certain buyers and you need to draw as many buyers as possible.
The yard also plays an important role in the sale of your home. The yard is one of the prime elements in the curb appeal of any home, and as such should be a high priority area in terms of upgrades. Is you lawn kind of patchy? Perhaps some new lawn is in order. A lush and rich lawn is a huge attraction factor for buyers and sets a great frame for any home. When this is coupled with well-tended gardens and some nice flowers, it creates a picture that is both beautiful, and attractive to buyers. The more attention you pay to the scenic elements of your home, the more buyers will notice the care and time you have spent on your home. If time has shown anything, it is that buyers like to purchase homes that have been well cared for.
Posted by admin | Exterior | Posted on March 10th, 2010
Maintaining the concrete hardscaping around your home will help retain your home’s beauty and value and it is something that it usually well within the skill range of most home do-it-yourselfers.
Even well-laid concrete can develop cracks, chips and broken patches. If left untreated, those damaged areas can contribute to other areas of your walkway, patio or driveway deteriorating as well. Water can seep into small cracks and openings and when it freezes, the pressure created can increase the size of the cracks and even create new ones or cause surface areas to lift away. It is vital to find and seal the cracks and openings before this happens. The best time to check for cracks is in the spring, when the weather has warmed.
Deciding on which concrete repair product to use can be the most difficult part of the process. Check with the experts at your local hardware or home center for their recommendations but basically you will want to use a patching compound if the cracks are large or if surface patches have broken away, or a sealant product if the cracks are small, one-eighth to one-half inch wide. Sealants work well with both horizontal cracks, like on a patio or walkway surface as well as vertical cracks that may have developed along the foundation of your house or garage.
If the concrete you are repairing has been colored, now is the time to buy a colored sealant or patch, or to buy a colorant to add to the product you will apply so that your repair will match the existing surface.
Do your repairs on a warm day when no rain is expected. Begin by cleaning the area well. Use a wire brush to remove any debris from the area. Leaves or grass that have gotten into the crack or loose cement will keep the sealant from getting into the cracks and bonding to the cement. Next clean the area with concrete/asphalt cleaner to remove any grease that could also prevent a good bond.
Create an opening in the tip of the sealant tube no bigger than the width of the crack, which will assure that you get the sealant into the crack and not beside it on the surface. Using a caulking gun, slowly squeeze the gun trigger so that a slow, steady stream of the sealant goes into the crack, filling it only to the surface.
If the crack is very deep, fill it a quarter of the depth with sand and then apply the sealant to fill the crack halfway. Add more sand to fill to a depth of three-quarters of the original depth and add more sealant to fill the crack to the surface level.
For vertical cracks the procedure is similar. Clean the area with a wire brush, then use the cleaner to remove any grease, followed with the sealant, applying it at an angle just until the crack is filled.
Once the sealant is dry, use a fine-grit sandpaper to remove any overfill and to feather the edges. Your concrete surfaces will give you many more years of good-looking service with a little tender loving care.