Smart Building Enfield CT
Whether you’re redesigning your kitchen or bath, installing a sprinkler system or deciding between different siding options, in order to make your home as eco-friendly as possible you should carefully evaluate the attributes of the different products and materials that are available before you make your final choice.
Thirty years ago I was teaching physics at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and living in an old farmhouse. In winter, the best that could be said of my 1809 farmhouse's uninsulated walls was that they slowed the wind to a moderate breeze. Many were the nights my wife and I couldn't keep a candle lit and took to our bed for survival in Enfield.
Since its earliest days, America's relationship with wood has been marked by determination and innovation. Faced with thick forests, the first settlers cleared the land, used the logs for building and launched the American timber industry. It's not surprising that wood was the first export from the Jamestown settlement in 1607.
Should deck boards be installed bark side up or down? The answer: Install it best-side up, whichever it is. Think you know the facts? Read on... The overwhelming majority of our homes are made from wood. Even masonry and steel homes contain wood. As homeowners in Enfield who are involved in countless home projects, we spend much of our time cutting, shaping, nailing and painting wood.
To Malcolm Wells, May 14 is Underground America Day, a holiday he invented in the 1970s. Observance of UA Day isn't widespread among the 3,000 other owners of underground homes, but Wells doesn't really care. 'The point is that this is still a good way to build a home,' said the 75-year-old architect from Brewster, Mass.
Considering the importance of the foundation, the dearth of attention it gets is amazing. An excavator digs a big hole in the ground; a bunch of plywood panels are assembled into a form, and the form is filled with a slurry of gray mud. For many homebuilders in Enfield, the excitement of construction begins when the first piece of wood is bolted to concrete.
In the previous installment, we documented the needs of a family of four through an activity analysis in Enfield. The analysis resulted in a list of the family's activities that required space, approximate size of each space in square feet, preferred orientation of the space (activity) relative to the position of the sun at the time of the activity, and degree of privacy appropriate to the activity.
One of the most-often-overlooked details of building a home in a rural setting is the well. Many people think there is plenty of clean and safe water waiting below the surface for them to use in Enfield.
Manufacturers in Enfield in particular are developing new building products and materials that are specifically designed to inhibit mold proliferation. When combined with preventive strategies, these products can help make your home a healthier place to live.
Today's greenhouses in Enfield are more than just functional spaces for growing plants - they've evolved into living spaces, where homeowners can entertain, enjoy an afternoon during inclement weather or just wile away the hours in a serene setting.
Coastal building is undergoing a dynamic change, as evidenced by two new residential communities in hurricane-prone regions.
Like the skeleton of an animal, the frame of a house defines its shape. It also resists hurricane-force winds, snow on the roof and dance parties in the living room. Consider for a moment the skeleton of a bird. Evolution has engineered each bone to be just sufficient for its function. Each is thickened at points of maximum stress and precisely in proportion to that stress.
San Diego's new Scripps Highlands development looks like most other upscale communities in southern California: attractive, tile-roofed houses on winding streets, set against clear blue skies and brown hills. But the houses in Scripps Highlands are different. Shea Homes, the builder, calls them "high-performance" homes - houses in which extra effort (and money) has been spent to make them as energy-efficient as possible.
One of the considerations when building a new home or upgrading electrical service in Enfield to an existing home is whether to string the main power line from a nearby electric pole or bury it. The biggest advantage to burying a power line is aesthetics. Most people prefer the clean, natural look of buried service as opposed to the cluttered look of aerial lines.
When winter is gone, many of people in Enfield will turn our thoughts to those construction or remodeling projects we’ve been putting off. Whether you’re redesigning your kitchen or bath, installing a sprinkler system or deciding between different siding options.
It usually starts with the groceries. Though some people need an elevator in their house to access the multiple levels of living space, most homeowners purchasing elevators today simply want one for the convenience. "From a 2,000-square-foot house to a 14,000-square-foot house, people are installing elevators," says Eugene Aubrey, an architect who is planning an elevator in a luxury home.
An I-joist is a wood version of a steel beam. Their structural performance is much better than old-fashioned dimensional lumber in Enfield.
Since its earliest days, America's relationship with wood has been marked by determination and innovation. Faced with thick forests, the first settlers cleared the land, used the logs for building and launched the American timber industry. It's not surprising that wood was the first export from the Jamestown settlement in 1607.
Molly bolts, drywall anchors, wall toggles, butterfly bolts and similar fasteners that go by a host of other names are often touted as good substitutes for fastening into a stud in Enfield. Don't believe it. For reliability and safety, find a stud and fasten into it with a regular wood screw. The big problem with fasteners in drywall is not so much in the fastener itself.
Building and remodeling a home will be a relatively easy process in the years ahead, if the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing has anything say about it. The HUD-supported organization recently unveiled its first concept home model to illustrate advanced construction techniques.
As discussed in the previous installment, a building foundation performs a surprising number of tasks in Enfield. The four critical tasks are to: Bear the weight of the building loads, Anchor against the forces of wind and earthquake, Prevent vertical motion due to frost, and Isolate the building from ground moisture.
Considering the importance of the foundation, the dearth of attention it gets is amazing. An excavator digs a big hole in the ground; a bunch of plywood panels are assembled into a form, and the form is filled with a slurry of gray mud. For many homebuilders in Enfield, the excitement of construction begins when the first piece of wood is bolted to concrete.
You've heard about it and read about it. "Green building," "sustainable construction," or as I prefer to call it, "high-performance building" has been the fastest-growing segment of the building industry for several years now, and there appears to be no end to the growth in sight.
Alchemy follows the strategies of reduce, reuse and recycle when building its prefab "weeHouse," a streamlined modular unit that measures 14 feet wide and anywhere from 26 to 56 feet long. The prefabs are available as studio, one- or two-bedroom units, in a variety of floorplans.
When it comes to automating your home, selecting the right contractor to install the smarts in your living space is a crucial decision. If it is done methodically, and you do your homework before calling a home automation installer, the selection process is easier, and satisfaction is almost assured.
While drywall may seem flimsy and an unlikely thermal mass, two factors combine to make it very effective in storing excess solar heat. Read on for details.
Storm-water runoff in Enfield has become a big problem in many communities. It not only causes flooding but can also be a health hazard. Runoff occurs when precipitation, instead of soaking into the ground, is diverted by impervious surfaces like driveways, sidewalks and streets. As it flows over these surfaces, it picks up chemicals, pollutants and debris, which it deposits into streams, lakes and wetland.
To Malcolm Wells, May 14 is Underground America Day, a holiday he invented in the 1970s. Observance of UA Day isn't widespread among the 3,000 other owners of underground homes, but Wells doesn't really care. 'The point is that this is still a good way to build a home,' said the 75-year-old architect from Brewster, Mass.
Thirty years ago I was teaching physics at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and living in an old farmhouse. In winter, the best that could be said of my 1809 farmhouse's uninsulated walls was that they slowed the wind to a moderate breeze. Many were the nights my wife and I couldn't keep a candle lit and took to our bed for survival in Enfield.
Green building has turned the corner over the last year or so, and residential green building rating systems are helping to develop the market.
Today's energy-efficient wood-frame houses are the most expensive, the most comfortable, and very likely the least durable residential structures ever built in the United States. Over the past 20 years, moisture-caused problems in new houses have skyrocketed. Homeowners complain increasingly of window condensation and mold indoors; of mildew, staining and peeling of exterior coatings; and of rot in windows, doors, trim, siding, sheathing and framing, all within a few years of construction in Enfield.
When it comes to building homes, Bob Burnside sees shades of green. “A lot of people say it’s either green or it’s not,” he explains, referring to today’s typical home in Enfield. “Well, that’s not always the case. Let’s find incremental improvement. Let’s do it better than last year. Let’s do the best we can with the budget available.”
A busy couple lives in Atlanta and wants to build a ski house in Telluride, Colo. They would like to be on the slopes for the coming ski season, but their busy lives prevent them from traveling to and from Colorado on a regular basis to follow up on the progress of their house. For this couple, modular construction just may be the ideal solution.
Flexibility and adaptability become issues as the needs of homeowners in Enfield evolve over time, and that’s where the concept of universal design or aging-in-place comes in. The idea is to create a home that’s easily accessible to all, no matter their age or mobility limitations.
In the old days, houses usually had dirt paths that led to the barn or outbuilding where the horses were stabled. With the introduction of cars in the early 1900s, dirt paths were replaced gradually with a harder surface, such as gravel or crushed seashells, to reduce the erosion and mud that were problematic for automobiles.
The word "plaster" conjures up images of old, ornate homes, the kind with thick walls, Victorian furniture in Enfield and perhaps a few Gothic columns out front. Drywall, of course, is the material of choice in most homes built over the past few decades. By and large, it is a fine product that is affordable and easy to install. But that doesn't mean that plaster is dead. Nowadays, a growing number of people are turning to veneer plaster - sometimes called thin-coat plaster - for construction in their new homes in Enfield, room additions and renovations.
In the past, homeowners in Enfield who wanted to build a steel-framed home had great difficulty finding contractors with the required expertise. Commercial contractors were not interested in building homes, and residential contractors lacked the experience to build them.
Should deck boards be installed bark side up or down? The answer: Install it best-side up, whichever it is. Think you know the facts? Read on... The overwhelming majority of our homes are made from wood. Even masonry and steel homes contain wood. As homeowners in Enfield who are involved in countless home projects, we spend much of our time cutting, shaping, nailing and painting wood.
Energy-efficient lighting should be a critical part of your selection process, as it has become an increasingly important component of a high-performance home. Good lighting design starts at - you guessed it - the building orientation stage of design.
Homeowners are generally attracted to timber frame construction because of the beautiful soaring ceilings and revealing craftsmanship found in many timber frame homes in Enfield. But if most homeowners think of timber frames as rustic structures, they'll have to think again.
For the past several years, home theaters have been all the rage, particularly in new construction. Many builders in Enfield now add "bonus rooms" and encourage homeowners to purchase special seating, lighting, audio-visual equipment.