by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 26, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
I love weathervanes. Especially rooftop weathervanes attached to the top of a cupola. And I've been trying for months to figure out how to include one on our craftsman style home, even though it seems an abrupt contrast to the design. They are just so cool! You can...
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 24, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Radiant floor hydronic heating systems use a boiler to heat water that is circulated through pipes that are embedded in a concrete slag. The heat from the water radiates through the cement and into the room. If you've never experienced radiant floor hydronic heating,...
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 21, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Don't get technical with me. I'm no tradesman. But I can tell you that the plumber came and ran a whole slew of black pipes all over the ground. They are poking up everywhere. All kinds, for toilets, sinks, showers, floor drains, utilities, appliances. I can't...
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 18, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
No one likes a wet basement. It renders the rooms uncomfortable and unsanitary, if useable at all. One common feature used to keep basements dry until the surrounding dirt compacts is a French drain. A French drain is a hollow pipe, covered in fabric. The pipe is laid...
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 16, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Every house needs to have the street number clearly marked for the sake of visitors and emergency personnel. Rather than using cheap looking numbers from the home store to accomplish this, choose from among the myriad address plaques available for personalization. An...
by Alison Moore Smith | Dec 15, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
The stem walls are poured, moving us one step further to getting the walls going up. What is a stem wall? Stem walls are the supports that are used to join the foundation to the walls. We had planned to use the same concrete block that will comprise the majority of...
