Submitted by: C. J Mackey

For many, the thought of building their dream home is too attractive an option to pass up. But if you haven’t been through the process of building a home, there are a lot of things you can miss that can cost you unexpected money and time. Here a few items, that years later, still make me crazy because we didn’t know what we didn’t know.

1) Have your builder specify an allowance for options – Your builder should always provide you with a specification sheet that outlines what is included in the price of building the house, for example, Andersen Windows, or stainless steel sinks. What we unfortunately learned was that what sounds great on paper doesn’t always translate to quality items you would want in your home. Anderson Windows may be brand recognizable but Anderson makes a wide range of products from contractor grade to premium. When trying to look at the stainless steel sinks offered by our builder at the plumbing supply store, we were told that they were too cheap a grade of steel for them to display. It’s far better to get an allotted allowance from the builder upfront, so that you know how much you have to spend for your options. You can also negotiate that amount if it seems too low.

2) Don’t make selections too early in the building process – However exciting it is to go select tiles, or carpeting, or hard wood floors, don’t do so too far in advance of when they are needed by the builder. Two times, tiles that we had spent many painful hours debating over, with frequent trips back and forth to the tile store, had become discontinued by the time the builder was ready to purchase them.

3) Nothing is ever as big as it seems on paper or unfurnished – Before you select a building plan make sure you understand the proportions of the floor plan you choose. We had no frame of reference to compare against, so 11 X 11 foot bedrooms sounded spacious. Ask the builder if he has a model home you can see or try instead to find furnished rooms of similar size before deciding what will work for you.

4) Don’t assume your builder has your best interests at heart – While we’ve had great experiences too, some builders look for the path of least resistance. If something is going to require a change of plans, or additional work they may try to convince you that what you want isn’t feasible. We fought to have a larger bathtub put in our master bath that would require shifting a wall about half a foot. We were told by the builder that we would never use the bathtub and shouldn’t make the change, and that it would make moving through the bathroom difficult. Hundreds of bathes later we are thrilled we pushed the issue.

5) Maximize Space In Your Basement – Our builder never discussed the use of Steel I-Beams in the basement to remove the standard Lally columns that are used to support the structure above. When we wanted to finish the basement, the columns cut through every possible configuration we could make. We ultimately ended up going to a structural engineers to put steel plates on the wood support beams to remove the columns and free up the space. Also, when we added an addition to the side of our home, we were told that we would have a crawl space. The crawl space turned out to be a poured cement foundation that is only 2 feet short of our original basement depth. Had we known, we would have asked the builder to excavate to the depth of our original basement so that we could leverage that now unusable space.

Finally for a bit a fun, I highly recommend that anyone considering building their home watch the timeless black and white classic starring Cary Grant, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. It’s a hysterical take on someone without experience going through the building process, and for us, hit very close to home, pun intended.

About the Author: C. J. Mackey is a working mother of three, balancing a full time career while taking an active role in her children’s lives. She has an advanced degree in engineering and over twenty years making technology decisions for fortune 500 companies. For more information visit

cjmackeypress.com/

Source:

isnare.com

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Aluminium Ladders Evaluation: The Domestic Aluminium 3-Way Combination Ladder

by

Joe Keith

Some of us consider installing loft ladders regardless of whether or not we have something to be stored in that area because there’s plenty of other space available. Others need something more than the usual two-step platform aluminium ladders for getting to those bookshelves which aren’t so high up, or for switching out bulbs which aren’t high enough to have to use a really long extendable ladder to get to. In short, for common and routine domestic use you certainly need a ladder that can both withstand an average man or woman’s weight, be made of light enough materials for easy moving and storage, and easy to use so that retired elderly people will have no problems with it. This is why you should have the domestic aluminium 3-way combination ladder. This is an amalgamation of a stairwell ladder, an extension ladder and a step ladder rolled into one solid and very hard-wearing piece of equipment.

Aluminium Ladders: Key Features of the Domestic Aluminium 3-Way Combination Ladder The domestic aluminium 3-way combination ladder, essentially, is three rolled into one. It’s a stepladder that’s easy to set up even elderly people can do it. If you have to do inside painting, it can be an extension ladder. It is also a stairwell ladder. You don’t have to put in a loft ladder. Residential aluminium ladders are made for heavy-duty application, are firm and strong, have slip proof treads, and feature a wide splayed base and durable feet for overall steadiness. It has a safeguarded grip, this means that mounting it causes no wobbling, just a strong safe foothold. On the other hand, keep in mind that this ladder can only be utilized for domestic application. Aluminium Ladders: Why the 3-Way Combination Ladder is a Great Investment Except for the fact that you are an practiced house painter, a long time handyman on assignment, or a contractor employed to revamp the interior of buildings, you are in all probability, not going to be utilizing a professional extension ladder. One problem could be that the distance up from your floor to the floor of the loft may be too short for an extension ladder. After becoming worn out trying to use other ladders, a number of people who have purchased the domestic aluminium 3-way combination ladder are thankful for its flexibility. They realize that a full-sized extension ladder isn’t required, and that that it isn’t necessary to stack a two-step platform or a chair on a table in order to execute particular jobs within the house. Aluminium Ladders: Additional Particulars That Are Essential For You To Be Acquainted With Each ladder is required to have a maximum safe work load and for the 3-way combination ladder, it is 95kg. For very heavy-set men, the average size treads may not supply ample footing. The frame, although designed for moving and easy assembly, should never be subjected to a weight that exceeds the recommended amount. Regarding aged people, who’s weight is average, this is entirely secure. No need to agonize over the ladder looking tricky. After you have found out the way to change it from one kind of ladder to the other, it is really easy to move about, erect, or to speedily fold up and place in storage. All told, the domestic aluminium 3-way combination ladder is among the most excellent aluminium ladders around.

Do you wish to find out more about some great benefits of

aluminium ladders

? Are you ready to upgrade that worn out wood ladder in your garage or basement? For this and also the best money saving deals on

ladders

take a look at what’s offered by the Midland Ladder Company.

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