Solar Water Heating
Solar water heaters can reduce annual water heating bills by 50% to 80% Water heating can constitute 15% to 25%, or more, of the energy use of a home. The approximate annual cost to operate water heaters ranges from $300…
Harvey
Harvey Juric has been building custom homes for 40+ years and writing about energy efficiency for 20. He’s based in Tiny Township, Ontario, and leads ICFhome.ca, building energy-efficient homes across Southern Ontario.
10 Steps to Building A New Home
By Christine Cooney, Direct from the Designers Staff Writer Many of us dream of one day owning our home. We may purchase an existing home, select a new home in a development or build a new home. Direct from the…
A Step By Step Guide To Formaldehyde in Your Home
What is formaldehyde? Formaldehyde is a colourless gas. At elevated concentrations, it has a strong, pungent odour and can be irritating to the eyes, nose, and lungs. Formaldehyde is released into the home from a variety of indoor sources.…
Dream Home Plans: A Hilarious Blueprint for Disaster:
What 10,000 Pinterest Boards Have Taught Me About Human Delusion After 45 years of building custom homes, I’ve developed what my wife calls a “special kind of patience” and what my therapist calls “occupational PTSD.” I’ve built everything from modest…
House Paint 101 – What you need to know about painting your home…
A gallon of paint can cost as little as $15 or well over $100. What’s the difference? The paint can labels are not very informative. Many companies don’t list their ingredients. Even when they do, you have to be a…
Radiant Floor Heat: Caressing Your Mind, Body and Your Soles…
There is no doubt that radiant floor heat is a superior method of heating your home. Its popularity is steadily increasing as people discover that is it not only the most comfortable form of heating but also the most cost…
Top 5 Things You Have to Know Before Purchasing LED Lighting
By Nick Senofsky, Lighting Unlimited Buying an LED light is very different than buying an incandescent light bulb. An incandescent light bulb is a simple device with a tungsten filament. It consistently produces the same type of light with the…
9 Best Home Improvement Repairs For Your Dollar
If you’re thinking of selling your home in 2015 or just want to ramp up your home value, it’s important to educate yourself on which improvement projects will bring you the most return on your investment. An excellent resource for…
Energy-Efficient Homes Could Reduce Energy Use By 65%
By Diane Swanbrow News and Information Services With high winter heating bills on the horizon in much of the country, a new U-M study shows that the total energy used during the life of a typical home in the U.S.…
Spectacular Sliding Door System: Evolution by Klemens Torggler
Austrian designer Klemens Torggler came up with a spectacular sliding door system. Evolution by Klemens Torggler The designer’s Evolution Door slides open without the use of tracks. As you can see in the photo above and in the video below (in slow motion),…
Housing Starts to Stabilize in 2014 and 2015
OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Feb. 6, 2014) – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) expects the number of housing starts to stabilize in 2014 and 2015. Support from improved economic and demographic fundamentals will be tempered by a combination of a modest…
15 Mistakes Homebuyers Make And How To Avoid Them
Buying a home? Avoid These Common Buyer Mistakes! For most of us, buying a home is the single biggest financial transaction we will make. It’s exciting and fulfilling, but it can also be overwhelming, even downright frightening. The pitfalls are…
Roofing Shingles: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
What you need to know about roofing shingles If you’re buying a tract-built house, the chances are close to 100 per cent that the roof will be asphalt shingles, the most cost efficient roofing material currently available. The builder will…
3D Printing Will Transform Home Building – Contour Crafting
Imagine you’re having a new house built. Workers prepare the building site then a 6-metre tall crane-like gantry is brought in and installed on rails either side of the house. The machine rolls back and forth extruding fast-drying concrete and…
A Ban On Doorknobs – Worst Ban Ever
BY ANTHONY FUREY ,QMI AGENCY One of the most bizarre bans ever is gaining traction in cities across the country. A ban on doorknobs. First passed in Vancouver last November, now Halifax and Pickering, Ontario, are considering it. What could…
What Do New Home Buyers Want In 2014 And Beyond
National Association of Home Builders’s consumer study, “What Do New Home Buyers Want,” takes a comprehensive look at what’s hot and what’s not among prospective home buyers. The 2013 survey was conducted at the tail end of a protracted housing…
The Ultimate Cheat Sheet on Home Construction Loans
How to get home construction loans to build your custom home: A down payment of at least 5-10% of the total value of your building project will be required. If your building project (land and house) is projected to…
Lighter Side of Construction Business
Smartest Dog A structural engineer, an architect and a builder are all standing around arguing who has the smartest dog. The architect says “Watch this. CAD, come here!” And his dog takes a pile of dog bones and makes them…
Home Building Costs Increase
A new report from the National Association of Home Builders shows the costs of constructing a single-family home were much higher when compared to 2011, reaching $246,553 last year compared with just $184,125 in 2011. Much of this cost was…
Building Toward the Home of Tomorrow
The Home of Tomorrow — complete with helper bots and automated appliances — has long been the stuff of science fiction. The tech world is determined to make it a reality. Soon, the vision goes, everything from garden products to bathroom…
The Anatomy of a Great Construction Contract
Warning! Failure to read a written agreement is not valid defense! A well-drafted construction contract clearly sets out the work to be done, the price to be paid for the work, and the terms and conditions of payment. The contract…
It’s Cold and My Car is Buried in Snow. Is Global Warming Really Happening?
For years, climate contrarians have pointed to snowfall and cold weather to question the scientific reality of human-induced climate change. Such misinformation obscures the work scientists are doing to figure out just how climate change is affecting weather patterns year-round.…
49 Things You Need to Know Before Buying a Building Lot in Ontario (2026 Checklist)
Finding a lot • Ontario reality check 49 Things You Need to Know Before Buying a Building Lot in Ontario Buying land feels simple until you discover the “invisible stuff” that controls everything: zoning, setbacks, drainage, septic feasibility, well depth,…
19 Things You Must Know When Choosing House Plans…
Finding the ideal house plan to meet your lifestyle and needs may seem time-consuming or overwhelming, but knowing what to look for can help lead you to success when building your new home. 19 Things You Must Know When Choosing…
2013 PLUMBER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
How does this even get past the planning phase? &%$@# Hmmmmm… Should have measured twice! Apparently, you don’t want anyone seeing your face, but everything else is okay? The oak seat is a nice touch, though. And the purpose…