HowToDoThings.com Recent Building Articles

How To Get Financing for New Homes in Iowa

kcarrillo — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:57:59 -0600

Getting financing in any state can be troublesome and Iowa is no exception.

How To Choose the Right Style Home

Youshouldown — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:38:40 -0500

Homebuyers often confuse one style of home for another. When searching for your next home or trying to determine the style that matches your needs, it's important to know the different styles of homes available and on the market. Below is a breakdown of the many styles and their descriptions.

Bi-Level: A bi-level style home is typically a one-story floor plan that has been raised above ground level, where another level of living such as a basement or additional rooms resides. They are often considered ranches or split-level homes. In fact, when you enter the front door and have to climb stairs to get to the kitchen or main living space, you're typically in a bi-level style home.
Bungalow: A bungalow style home is a compact 1-1/2 story house that contains smaller rooms. There will typically be 2 or more bedrooms on the main floor, along with a bathroom and living space.

read more

How To Choose Plumbing Fixtures for Your Home

Tonya249 — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:30:00 -0600

The plumbing fixtures that you choose for your kitchen or bathroom can alter the entire style of the room. After all, a plain white sink and a ordinary bathtub don't really have a style, right? Add elegant faucets with a high arch in a polished stainless steel finish. You now have the beginning of a formal, possibly contemporary, look. There are many other things to consider when choosing plumbing fixtures, too, such as finish, function and installation method.

How To Create a Spa Bathroom

Tonya249 — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 10:06:00 -0600

Building a new home or remodeling an existing one should be a fun and exciting process. Unfortunately, it's usually not! It's a lot of hard work - after all, you have to pay attention to every detail, communicate with your architect, general contractor and various subcontractors, and generally spend a lot of time to be sure that your home is exactly the way that you want it. So if you're going to all of this trouble, you deserve a space of your own where you can sit back, relax and shut out the rest of the world. Creating a spa bathroom can fulfill all of these wishes!

How To Choose Windows for Your Home

Tonya249 — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:28:00 -0600

You probably already know that if you are building a new home or remodeling your current one, the windows that you choose will significantly affect the overall look. What you may not know is that they will also affect how energy-efficient your home is. However, it can be difficult to know what the difference is between the R-value and the U-factor. And what about all of those windows that claim to be low-E? It's time to clear up all of the confusion!

How To Choose Flooring for Your Home

Tonya249 — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:50:00 -0600

There are many important factors to consider when deciding on flooring for your home. Lifestyle, budget, climate, style, comfort and degree of use all play a part in determining what your flooring choices should be. Once you've answered these questions, the choice of flooring should be almost easy!

How To Choose Kitchen Cabinets

Tonya249 — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:19:00 -0600

Choosing cabinets for your new kitchen can be a bit overwhelming - stock vs. custom-made, wood vs. stainless steel, natural finishes vs. painted finishes - the list of choices seems endless! Narrow down your preferences one at a time, and you'll soon find that choosing the perfect cabinets is as easy as pie!

How To Choose a Kitchen Countertop

Tonya249 — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 19:11:00 -0600

Whether you are building a new kitchen, or remodeling an existing one, you'll need to give careful consideration to your choice of countertop materials. Your countertops will be the first thing that people notice about your kitchen, and they can set the tone for your whole design scheme! But with so many choices now available from which to choose, where do you start? Why, right here, of course!

How To Design a Kitchen

Tonya249 — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:03:00 -0600

Designing a kitchen can be one of the most frustrating tasks when building a home. After all, it has to be uncluttered, but inviting; efficient, but with enough space for many people; and a workspace, as well as a place to relax. Quite a lot to ask of one room! No matter how impossible it seems, it is possible to design your dream kitchen in just a few steps.

How To Find a Building Site for Your New Home

Tonya249 — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:26:00 -0500

The first step in building a new home is to find a piece of land on which to put it. There are many ways to find a potential building site and many factors to consider once you've found it.

How To Find Used Dozers

Tonya249 — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:18:00 -0500

If you're starting your own construction business, one of the first items of heavy equipment that you will need is a bulldozer. The most practical way to purchase a dozer is to locate a used one in good condition, which can save you as much as $200,000 over buying new. Locating used dozers can be a bit tricky, though. You can't exactly head over to the bulldozer dealership downtown, as you canwhen buying a car. Here are a few places to begin your search:

How To Control Corrosion

Staff468 — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 11:02:00 -0500

Corrosion is the deterioration of the properties of a material due to its interaction with the environment. Corrosion occurs everywhere from your teeth to your batteries. A common place that we want to control corrosion-besides our teeth-is in metal or ceramic materials. Metal typically corrodes due to the oxidation of iron atoms as they react with water or oxygen while ceramics typically corrode by exposure to the sun's ultraviolet light. Some metals better resist corrosion than others, which is why, for example, brass is frequently used in plumbing.

How To Choose Construction Estimating Software

Tonya249 — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 12:33:00 -0500

As any construction professional knows, you must be able to bid a project accurately in order to run a successful business. Bid too high, and another contractor will probably be awarded the job. Bid too low, and you risk not being able to turn an adequate profit. Fortunately, there are dozens of construction estimating software programs designed for this exact purpose. Knowing which one to choose just requires evaluating how you'll use it.

How To Build Your Own Home

Tonya249 — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:14:00 -0500

Building a new home is an exciting, challenging, and sometimes frustrating process! By staying involved with every step of the process, you can help ensure that your new house is exactly the way you imagined it. But first, you'll need to know what those steps are.

How To Use a Home Builder Guide

Tonya249 — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:21:00 -0500

Okay, you've decided that it's time to build a new home. You've purchased the land, you have some ideas for your house -- now what? A good place to start is by reading your local community's Home Builder Guide. For some small towns, this could be just a brief pamphlet, while for larger or planned communities, it could be as long as one hundred pages. Regardless, all Home Builder Guides should answer these basic questions:

How To Find a Custom Home Builder

Tonya249 — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 18:01:00 -0500

If you're building a home, you may think that hiring a custom home builder is only for those who are very wealthy. However, a custom home builder can customize any home so that you get exactly what you want. A custom home builder is, by definition, a builder who designs one-of-a-kind homes on specific lots for specific clients. They usually build only a few homes each year. In addition, they may take classes or attend events specifically arranged for custom home builders. They may work with an architect, or they may provide design services along with their building skills. It's important to find a custom home builder with whom you feel comfortable and who listens to your ideas. If you've decided that your new construction requires a custom home builder, you may be a bit bewildered about how to find such a person.

How To Find an Architect

Tonya249 — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 18:45:00 -0500

You've decided to build a new home - congratulations! Building a home is an exciting adventure. If you're like most people, you'll live in your new home for quite a number of years, so planning it carefully is very important. There are many factors to consider. You'll want your new home to be exactly the way you want it, but without wasting space, time or money. Some other factors to think about are how your new home will fit in with the rest of the houses in your neighborhood and how you will maximize its resale value should you ever choose to sell it. An architect can help with all of these details and make the process of building much less stressful and time-consuming for you.