HEATING AND COOLING YOUR LOG HOME

Posted April 30th @ 30 April, 2012

Needless to say, our forefathers didn't worry too much about heating their log cabins. Big fireplaces had no problem warming up the one or two rooms they lived in. Of course now that log homes are family-sized, people often have the impression that there is something different about how they are heated, and the good news is that a standard system will work as well in a log home as a traditional structure. Almost all log homes are built with at least one fireplace. Initially, we thought that our ...
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Homebuyer Survey Reports A less rigorous survey & valuation, providing you with a good knowledge of the property

Home Improvement with Bay Windows

Posted April 29th @ 29 April, 2012

It was the perfect spot. Our California ranch style house had a large picture window in the front room. The window extended from a few inches above the floor to only a few inches below the cathedral ceiling. The walls and ceiling were redwood stained knotty pine and the floor was a matching hardwood. The window looked out over a flower bed, shrubs and the expanse of front lawn. It was the perfect window to be replaced with a bay window. The window was nearly square. It was 72 X 72 inches. ...
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Home Security The Doors to your home.

Posted April 28th @ 28 April, 2012

In part 3 of this occasional series on home security we are going to look at the main points of entry to your home the doors. It makes no sense to have flimsy weak doors on your house, what you really need is something that a House Breaker will bounce off when they try to force it. In the next article in the series I will deal with the locks and hinges fitted to your doors but for now I would like to concentrate on the physical construction of the actual doors themselves. The back and front ...
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DESIGNING YOUR LOG HOME

Posted April 27th @ 27 April, 2012

Every Log Home magazine has a section dedicated to floor plans, where the aspiring owners start their search for the perfect dream home. I did it too, and dutifully ordered piles of plan books, while starting my comparison shopping based on the beauty of the photos. Little did I realize - until later - that what was really drawing my attention was the third dimension: the roof lines, the porches, and the soaring great rooms. At the beginning, we think we need to choose a manufacturer based on ...
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Special Baby Gifts For A Special Baby

Posted April 27th @ 27 April, 2012

As an alternative to the universal high street baby presents, which may often be duplicated or look 'department store' you could choose a special and more unusual gift, which shows you have put your time and thought into selecting a unique gift for the new arrival. These unique and thoughtful presents are often kept as mementos and can be put in keepsake boxes and kept as mementos of baby's earlier years. Personal and special gifts are our ethos, whilst adhering to stringent ethics and ...
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Prepare your home for inspection

Posted April 26th @ 26 April, 2012

Get the most out of your inspection with some very basic preparation Before the inspection Before visiting the site, check with your local jurisdiction to determine: ·The site's zoning, setback, height, and building coverage requirements, ·Grandfathered uses and conditions, proffers, liens, and applicable fire regulations. ·If the site is in an seismic zone. ·If the site is in a hurricane or high tornado-risk region. ·If the site is in a flood plain or other flood-risk zone. ·If there is ...
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reading with kindle

Posted April 26th @ 26 April, 2012

The Kindle Fire is less a note and more a window into Amazons storefront. The 7-inch slate that shares its DNA with the BlackBerry PlayBook lacks any mortal features shut out a micro-USB port, headphone jack and speaker. Internally, that 1GHz CPU is paired up with 512MB of RAM and 8GB storage, with no choice allowing for regarding increased size, Bluetooth, 5GHz WiFi or 3G. Performance was amercement up the river the companys carousel sandbox, but journeying remote and things became ...
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Save Money On Home Improvement Projects

Posted April 25th @ 25 April, 2012

Many of us avoid home improvement projects due to their expense. Granted if you are contemplating a "second-story" addition to your home, or the construction of a new "game-room", then most likely you will need to hire a general contractor to complete this task. However, if you are interested in projects like painting a room, removing acoustic texture from the ceiling (I just did this), installing laminate flooring, wallpaper, landscaping, etc. then you may be able to accomplish the task(s) all ...
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CONSTRUCTION LOAN BASICS

Posted April 24th @ 24 April, 2012

It might not be too big of an exaggeration to say that the construction loan is one of the more daunting aspects of building your custom home. Before we started our project, I had nightmares about trying to pay two full mortgages at the same time (our existing mortgage and the construction loan), and I didn't see how it was at all possible. However, the reality ended up much more reasonable than I dared hope. COLLATERAL: Many - but not all - mortgage companies require you to own your land first ...
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Inspecting Your New Home - 17 Areas You Must Inspect Before

Posted April 23rd @ 23 April, 2012

Congratulations! You've made your decision; you've chosen your new home and your builder. So what needs to happen next? Once you have a firm contract and you have selected the features that will go into your new home, it is time for the builder to turn your dream into reality. You will undoubtedly want to visit the building site from time to time during construction to check the progress of your home. Professional builders welcome your participation and enthusiasm; however, for safety reasons ...
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