I comment on other websites from time to time. One very good website that deals with homebuilding and remodeling is www.askthebuilder.com. Not too long ago I commented on an article about building stairs. Another comment was posted there this weekend from a person who seems to be pretty frustrated with his builder. He wrote:

I’m having a townhouse built in Philadelphia, Pa and think the contractor is giving me a line when it comes to the steps going from floor to floor.
This is the problem as I see it. The contractor is telling me it’s OK for the steps to be open on the left side as you go up. He installed a hand rail on the right side (going up) but nothing on the left. There is nothing there until you reach the ceiling height of the next floor.
I have searched the codes and can’t seem to find anything about what I think is a No….No. I think there should a rail to keep people from falling off the steps on the left hand side as you go up. Who is right? Me or the contractor. Can you point me to the code so I can print it?

 I feel bad for this fellow. He needs an architect to speak up for him and provide an unbiased opinion so the house gets built right. Here’s how I answered him: (more…)

Good house design is something we can feel, but often we have trouble putting into words. When I set out to write Designing Your Perfect House, I was presented with this challenge of putting feelings and impressions in written form. I wasn’t sure how well I could do it, so you can imagine how gratifying it was to receive this comment from a reader recently:

“Mr. Hirsch, I love your book, it puts into words all the things I couldn’t when viewing houses!” Cathy B.

Thanks, Cathy. You made my day.

House design is very intangible. Many times we can feel that things are not right in one house and comfortably perfect in another, but it is hard to explain why. However, there are principles architects employ to make a design cohesive, flowing, and appropriate. Architects deal with scale and composition. Good house design is about much more than putting one room next to another. It’s about balance, proportions and sequencing of spaces. It’s about optimizing space and making spaces fit their purpose. These are things architects study and understand.

In my book, Designing Your Perfect House, I explore these concepts and try to explain them in plain English. I’m delighted that Cathy felt I managed to do that. You can download a few chapters, for free, on my website. Just click here.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

When you get dressed in the morning, do you consider passive solar design principles? Probably not. At least not conciously. But I’ll bet you consider the weather as you choose what to wear? I do. If it’s going to be hot and sunny, I usually choose a light colored shirt that is made from a fabric that breathes.  Experience tells me to avoid black because it will soak up the sun’s heat and avoid a tightly woven fabric because it will trap air next to my skin and make me feel hotter. This is a principle of passive solar design that we use without even labeling it or thinking about it. And you can use these principles in your house design.

Metal roofs, now often referred to as “cool roofs,” can act like your light colored, open weave shirt and keep your house cooler in hot weather. They do this “passively”, that is they use no electricity in the process. Here’s why they work. In an article posted at Classic Metal Roofing Systems website, they list four energy benefits you’ll get with a metal roof. (more…)

Today’s question is, “Does the door from my garage to my house have to be fireproof or different from the other doors in my house?”

The answer is definitely, “Yes.” Garages along with kitchens, are the places most likely to initiate a fire. Think about it. Your garage has gasoline in it along with paints, thinners, cleaning fluids and other flammables. If your car leaked some gasoline onto a hot engine, a fire could start. Or a bundle of rags with paint thinner might spontaneously ignite when bundled up on a shelf or in a cabinet. It happens all too frequently. You need a good door to keep the fire from spreading from the garage to the house too quickly. (more…)

Just yesterday, I was meeting with a client and the subject of the color grey came up. We were looking at stone and what mortar color we should use with various colors of stone. You might automatically think of mortar as being grey. But there are many shades of mortar and many shades of grey. Some of them can clash and result in a mismatched look.

Greys, and actually all colors, are grouped into two types, cool and warm. Cool greys have underlying blue tints. Warm greys have underlying tan or yellow tints. It’s easy to remember the terms if you think of ice being cold and blue while wood is brown and warm. (more…)