Building Green
By David Porter AIA - Consulting architect to the Garlinghouse Company since 1989
By now, you have probably heard loads about everything "green" - building green, living a more "green" lifestyle, and on and on. "Green" is the new, overly used, buzzword thrown at you from twenty directions each day. What ...
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Choosing a Real Estate Agent
By Julie P. Hawkins
It's a tough real estate market. Finding a good agent will make all the difference.
When the time comes to sell your home or purchase a new one, the amount of information to sort through can be overwhelming. It is worthwhile to have a licensed professional on your side ...
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Being Well Insulated
You know it's there, but you rarely give it a thought-unless the temperature inside your house won't stay at a comfortable level.
We're talking about the insulation in your home's walls, attic, and beneath its floors. If there's not enough insulation, it can be added to an existing home. However, ...
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BACKYARD DECKS THAT LAST
This two-tiered, ground-level deck is made entirely out of ChoiceDek, a composite material created by mixing wood fibers (red cedar or some other type of softwood) with polyethylene, which comes from recycled consumer waste. Photo courtesy of ChoiceDek. Backyard decks are great because they offer level and stable platforms for ...
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Insulated Concrete Forms
by Bruce Arant, Editorial Director for The Garlinghouse Company
I've lived in "Tornado Alley" all of my life. That being the case, wailing tornado sirens, along with the chirping of birds and the buzzing of bees, have become just another familiar sound of springtime (although, not quite as calming). At 2:30 ...
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OUTDOOR FURNITURE
If you think your living room furniture takes a beating, imagine what your outdoor furniture goes through. The "elements," as we call them, will really do a number on any unprepared thing left to their mercy. Outdoor furniture has to take this beating, remain useful, and still look good.
Creating Backyard ...
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The Backyard Kitchen
Today we cook outside for fun more than ever. It is estimated that Americans will cook and consume three billion-that's 3,000,000,000- meals outside this year on 80 million grills, at about 37.5 meals per grill each year. But like nearly everything else we do today, we tend to "supersize" things. ...
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Free Home Plan Books
by Bruce Arant, Editorial Director for The Garlinghouse Company
For those of you who don't already know - we're currently providing all of our home plan books for free. (All you pay for is shipping) This is definitely something that's worth your time to check out.
As popular as home plan websites ...
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Swimming Pools
The Coolest Thing in New Home Construction
A pool surrounded by a sturdy deck of either concrete or wood and set in a nicely landscaped yard can provide hours of recreation and a beautiful backdrop to your home. Photo courtesy of Donna and Ron Kolb, Exposures Unlimited.
We’ve all heard that a ...
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Avoiding Common Problems with Your Builder
Building a house is a lot of work for the builder, but it's also a lot of work for the homeowner. Here is some seasoned advice to help smooth the construction process.
The homeowner's work begins with hiring the builder, or general contractor, which is where many projects start to go ...
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