Home Home Designs Building House Home Maintenance Lifestyle Buy/Sell/Rent
Building House
Building Your Home
Building Your Home - Who is the Right Builder?
Building your home is the next step after you implemented home design ideas in preparations, went through home design plans.
The first thing in the process of building your home is the frustrating time to find the right builder.
Better homes are not built by the cheapest builders.
However, the more expensive builders may not provide the standard you need.
To build your home builder must have a valid license.
If you consider a green home design then a licensed builder with green training and accreditation should be used.
Builder must organise and be responsible for waste management and recycling while building your home.
Solid experience with site management is also a must for your contractor.
Ask your builder for previous work portfolio.
Get information from previous customers and do not rely on 'happy' website statements from non-existent John Smith from Melbourne.
The process of payments for your home design plans is vital. You should never pay in advance.
Payments must be divided into increments called 'progress payments'.
Builders who renovate, extend, build your house or put together modular and kit homes must finish the stage prior getting their money.
Only licensed builders should implement structural home design plans.
For home interior design you may still need licensed plumbers and electricians.
Building Your Home - Building Material
The material used in construction should help create energy efficient homes.
Builders, home designers and owners should consult each other about the building materials in the process of building the home.
Clay bricks offer sound insulation and thermal mass.
Clay bricks are easy to implement and relatively inexpensive.
Recyclable materials, good R-value insulations and passive lighting all can be advised by the designer and the builder in the process of building your home.
Implementation of home interior design must use approved paints (ask for low VOC) and materials.
Light timber is advisable here but do not be afraid to also use clay bricks and even bamboo.
Laminated or wooden flooring is always ideal in building your own home. However, lamination is by far cheaper and less prone to damage.
If you have small children then avoid carpets in building your own home.
Yes, carpets are warm but they wear off easily and collect dust.
Use durable tiles with high friction index. Thus, keep your home design ideas simple, cheap and fun.
Building Your Home - Plumbing, Lighting, Heating and Storm Water
Energy efficient homes will definitely save you money. Therefore, your home design plans must include passive energy storage.
Home design ideas must consider house orientation for passive cooling and heating in building your own home. Mechanical cooling and heating should be used as a backup during severe conditions.
Electricity and heat can be supplied by solar panels. Only during winter the energy can be used from the main electrical and gas supply.
Stormwater tanks should efficiently collect water from rooftops. The water can be used for gardening and flushing toilets.
In Australia stormwater tanks are part of landscape design. Thus, water tanks are encouraged as a financial investment for the future.
Always look for appliances with good energy ratings. You can save a lot of money by simply choosing more efficient washing machine, dishwasher or even TV set.
Your microwave may not need to have good energy savings. However, your fridge is a real energy consumer.
Choose wisely, simply and get the savings you deserve.