Home Improvement Articles

Every since early first used stones or clumps of clay as building units the art of masonry construction has existed. The first builders found that mud aided their construction by binding the pieces together thus sealing the walls from outside exposure. This early mortar was replaced by sand and limestone paste and this became the main binding mixture until the invention of Portland cement in the 1800's. The building blocks were varied in size and material with stone and brick being the most popular.

For creating surfaces with unrivaled beauty and durability, natural stone such as marble and granite have been preferred choices for thousands of years. Precision-cut slabs or tiles of either are synonymous with royalty, wealth, and elegance.

With the price of a barrel of oil topping $100 the home renovation industry is steering hard toward energy conservation, solar power and many other ways of minimizing energy use to decrease the strain on the household budget. However, while this surge toward efficiency in the home steps into high gear one of the most cherished commodities in the country is not getting the attention it deserves.

The Log Cabin Home and American History Log home construction using nothing but the most basic in hand tools is a time honored folk art. An aspect of American life first undertaken by Swedish immigrants during the 1640s, in what is today Pennsylvania.

So, a licensed electrician has already been selected and aspects of your business or home electrical wiring project have been agreed upon. What should your next step be? To get details of the electrician work orders (also known as work agreements) and electrical work cost in writing.

For those homeowners ready to do construction remodeling on their present home, or build a new one, the heart of the entire process is the certified or licensed contractor. In many states the licensing requirements are different but almost all areas of the country require contractor licensing of some kind whether through the trade or a business license. In either case it shows to the homeowner that the person pitching the project is qualified to plan the project, purchase materials and see the job through.

As far back as twenty years ago many prominent builders began to realize that if building practices and choices of materials continued along the same track the environment would be affected before the first decade of the new century. In addition, the energy sources that were abundant at the time might not be as plentiful a couple of dozen years later. This meant that many of the mechanical and electrical systems would be extremely expensive to run as the price of energy went up. In 1993, this concern led to the formation of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) whose aim is to promote the sustainability of the design, building and operating of structures.

One of the biggest reasons homeowners renovate the bathroom is to gain or rearrange space. If more space is what you need then you better start looking for it in other areas of the home (or outside the home) because in a finished house there just isn't any. This is where bathroom design companies come in handy.

Change happens very quickly in home renovations from the advent of huge, multi-room bathroom facilities to patios that resemble a kitchen and living room without a roof. There has been a flurry of cocooning whereby a man's, or woman's, home is the castle. These trends have not been lost on landscaping either because to enter a castle the modern king and the courtesans want something more than a moat to greet them.

Landscaping is not only the finishing touch for your property it is the welcome mat for your home. For years many homeowners have spread out large, lush green lawns that take bags of fertilizers to and thousands of gallons of water to keep up. In addition most of these lawns are mowed with gasoline-powered lawnmowers that require yearly maintenance.