A Few Prehung Door Terms Prehung doors are the most common doors for your home if you are house building. If your are remodeling, you may use prehung doors or just slab doors (without the frame). Before heading out to shop, however, it will help to familiarize yourself with some basic terms for a prehung [...]
Door Models-Sorting it All Out Door models vary from one door company to the next. One door company might call a certain panel door- Mission style- while the next door company may call it something flashy like N410. I know that a homeowner can get confused, in a way, by the verbiage used so I [...]
Managing Your Money during Building or Remodeling Allowances are a critical part of managing your money during a home building or remodeling project. Homeowners often get sort of hung up by allowances because they don’t really understand what they are and how they work. I will attempt to clarify how allowances are used in home [...]
A Schedule of Values is the Only Way to Pay On all renovation, home improvement or house building projects, there is only one correct way to pay your contractor or builder. Use a Schedule of Values. Money is the primary way for a homeowner to stay in control of a project and the Schedule of [...]
A Must Have Clause in all of Your Home Improvement Contracts For any home improvement project, an important clause to include in the contract is “Owner needs at least 24 hours to review all invoices.” In addition to the written contract, be sure to verbally discuss this with any contractors you hire. Tell them-face to [...]
There are many terms to know during any construction and home remodeling project. The terms below are used throughout the Builder in Your Pocket books and articles. They are listed in the order that you are most likely to encounter them during your building or home improvement project. Beyond just technical terms, I’ve also outlined [...]
Make sure to Seal All the Connections in your Flex Ductwork Some of the connections to pay attention to are: the pressure box, registers, collars and boots. Connections at the junction box should be sealed with a heavy layer of mastic. Mastic should be applied with a paintbrush around the entire perimeter of the collar [...]
Relationships Count in Home Improvement Projects The most essential rule of construction is this: good relationships make a good building experience. A good relationship with your contractor means more than just a few quick meetings – there must be clear, on-going communication and trust on all sides. Likewise, your contractor should have solid relationships with [...]
Door Company-Manufacturers The following is a list of just some of the larger and more popular door companies that manufacture doors. Your local door supplier will probably offer doors from one of these companies. They have very good photo galleries for ideas and more information. Here’s a list of door companies that actually sell doors [...]
Seal Ducts for Enhanced Energy Efficiency Depending upon the size of the leak, tremendous amounts of air can be lost from the duct work. Repairing those leaks and making sure that they don’t return is relatively easy. Sealing the connections between flexible ducts, plenums, junction boxes and boots/registers keeps the HVAC system running clean and [...]
Glass Doors are also called French Doors Glass doors should be considered in at least one place in a house. They are unique, beautiful and let in so much light. The photo on the left is a ‘decorative’ glass door. The photo on the right is a ’15-lite’ door. There are only 4 general door [...]
A building or home improvement project that goes from beginning to end without a single hitch is a rarity. In almost any project there will be periods when things move along swiftly and smoothly and times when holdups and snags upset the flow of the schedule – and disturb your peace of mind. Stops, starts [...]
Step by Step Planning (for the homeowner) All build or remodeling of homes requires a sequence of steps. There are those the builder must follow and those for the homeowner. The homeowner must make all of their selections and choices in a different order than the building of the home. The following sequence is not [...]
Builder In Your Pocket-Buying Guidebooks A. What is a “buying guide” and why do I need one? How can it help me? BuilderInYourPocket buying guides are comprehensive with everything you need to know about your purchases: doors, cabinets, flooring, lighting, windows, roofing, paint…and more. You have dozens of selections to make at (possibly) more than [...]
