by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 1, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The aerated concrete panels we are using to build our home are not a common system, so few crews are familiar with the materials and method. Aaron Eames, the manufacturer, has spend the past month working on the first two levels and training Brad and his crew in the...
by Alison Moore Smith | Feb 22, 2010 | for Home
Disclaimer: there is no such thing. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me share my satellite/cable experience of the past few years. The major contenders in my area are DIRECT TV and Dish Network (both satellite providers), Utopia (fiber optic broadband),...
by Alison Moore Smith | Feb 12, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
With the walls five block high, yesterday the crew poured cement into the hollow spaces in the aerated concrete panels. The result will be cement pillars surrounded by fibrous, insulated forms. There were two known blowouts (one pictured below) and the system used for...
by Alison Moore Smith | Feb 11, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home, for Money
The man from Questar dropped by and consulted with us about line and meter location. We'll be placing it in between the laundry room wall and the hall wall in the basement. The listed appliances with accompanying BTUs: 1 boiler: 178,000 1 barbecue: 20,000 1 dryer:...
by Alison Moore Smith | Feb 10, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
A window buck is a temporary box installed within a block wall to block out the space where a window will eventually be installed. A door buck is similar but, obviously, in place of a door. Ours were installed. Looking good. The girls' reactions on seeing their...
by Alison Moore Smith | Feb 9, 2010 | Design Your Own House, for Home
A few weeks ago I was at a service project with some women in my neighborhood. One of them asked what kind of floors we were going to have in the new house. “Concrete,” I replied. “Oh, are you going to cover it with carpet?” “No.”...
