If you’re thinking of starting a remodeling or building project, one of your worries might be how to control costs. This is without a doubt people’s biggest fear. Ask anyone who has built a house or remodeled one and you’ll probably hear scary stories about cost overruns and unexpected expenses. And they’ll tell you that you’re in for the same fate. But you could prove them wrong if you do two important things.

Cost overruns come in two forms. One type is due to insufficient planning before the project begins. Often people view hiring an architect or house designer as a luxury. But a good architect can help you define the project on paper before you sign a contract for construction. With many things undefined, there are ample opportunities for unexpected added costs to come up. Make you materials, finishes, and fixture selections early on so you don’t get unpleasant surprises later. Think through the entire project and try to anticipate as much as possible. Make sure your drawings and specifications describe the work to be done so there is little ambiguity. Unclear construction documents will open the door for extra charges from your builder. An experienced design professional can help you with this. It’s not just their skill you are buying when you hire them. You are also buying their experience.

The second type of cost overrun is actually more common and is self-inflicted. (more…)

If you enjoy reading short, witty, and often humorous musings, take a look at my son’s blog.

Dan’s blog is called Sometimes, Sometimes Not.

Dan has a Dave Barry-ish way of writing and looking at things. He writes about everything from Home Improvement to Goats (Not his goats. He doesn’t have any, thank goodness). And life with his two kids, Bella and Grey, and his lovely wife Melissa, give him plenty of material. Like any typical family, odd things happen, both funny and distressing. And you can count on Dan to give it a spin that keeps you reading.

Take a look and let him know what you think. I’ll bet you find your self bookmarking his blog or subscribing to it and coming back over and over to see what going on in the Dan Hirsch household.

Why do manufacturers of synthetic wood interior doors insist on stamping a wood grain into their products? Doors made from pressed board are the worst culprit. The door panels in traditional wood interior doors are planed and sanded as smooth as possible. If you bought a solid wood door and found it to have a raised and prominent grain, you would send it back as being inferior and unacceptable. Pressed board doors are certainly less costly than solid wood doors and have the advantage of not swelling and shrinking as much as wood doors. The panels do not “pull back” from the stiles and rails so the paint does not crack away at that point. But the raised wood grain can make them look cheap.

I do know why manufacturers of pressed wood and synthetic wood doors favor the embossed wood grain. (more…)

Do you notice the direction hardwood flooring runs when you walk into a house? It can make a big difference in how it looks and how it behaves over time. Rule number one in laying hardwood flooring is the wood boards should run perpendicular to the floor joists below. This allows the boards to “span” from one joist to the next and be much more solid. If the boards were run parallel to the floor joists, most of the boards would sit only upon the plywood subflooring and not on any of the joists. The plywood is flexible and will “give” fractionally when walked upon. This is a recipe for squeaks and large gaps.

But another rule in laying wood flooring has to do with the aesthetics or look of the flooring. (more…)

Selecting interior trim for your house can be a challenging task. But there’s a good trick you can use to help you make the right choices.

Trim is known as “casing” and “crown molding” in the business of construction and architecture. It includes the pieces of wood around windows and doors, baseboards, chair-rails, and crown molding. Modern style houses usually have a minimum of casing or trim. But more traditional style homes might have quite a lot of casing and crown molding. Sooner or later, you will have to select and/or approve these items. (more…)

Are some of your bedrooms too hot or too cold? This is a common problem in new homes. Often the master bedroom will be fine, but the other rooms get too cold or too hot during the night. The culprit is not necessarily your Heating and Air Conditioning unit. The culprit is the closed door.

Your guests won’t tell you if you have a problem. They’re too polite. Your kids probably have their door open when they are small and don’t have a problem.  Your teenagers probably don’t talk to you much anyway. How can you know if there’s a problem? It’s a good idea to spend a night in each of the other bedrooms in your house, particularly the guest room, if you have one, to see how the temperature goes with the door closed for eight hours. And do this on a cold night and a hot night. You might be surprised at what you find. (more…)

As this cold winter wears on, we all think of ways to warm our chilly bones. One great way to do that is to spend some time in a sauna. Not only will you warm your body to the bone. You’ll enjoy the emotional and health benefits the dry heat can bring.

I have designed many houses that included a sauna. It can be an important part of a complete home spa experience. The easiest way to build one is to buy one of the prefabricated units, such as those offered by Finlandia Sauna or Cedarbrook Sauna. These are easily assembled and can sit in the corner of an existing room. They are great to have in your exercise room or as part of a nice luxury bathroom. (more…)

Your Family Room or Great Room may be difficult to design if you want to arrange furniture to view television and your fireplace at the same time. You are presented with what I call the Television and Fireplace Location Dilemma.

Traditionally, fireplaces were placed in the center of the wall. The furniture was then grouped around it. When television first entered the American home, the screens were small and the television was simply another piece of furniture. Today, television screens are large and arguably the most prominent feature in the room. Usually the television is placed on another wall, so it has enough space. But this means your furniture arrangement must “aim” at both the fireplace and television at the same time. This is pretty hard to do. One poor solution that often is presented is to place the television above the fireplace. This helps with the furniture arrangement, but placing the television at this height only works if you are lying in bed while watching. If you are seated in a sofa or a chair, this is too high and puts an uncomfortable strain on your neck. Are there any other solutions to this dilemma?

Here's One Way to Solve the Television and Fireplace Location Dilemma. The Television Is Behind the Cabinet Doors.

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It’s the holiday season and that means your house must adapt to accommodate a different number of occupants than normal. When design your new house or design your remodeling project, consider making your house flexible by thinking through how your house will live during the holidays.

I know that in our house, with four adult children and their family and friends visiting, we often have a packed house. We wanted a house that was not too big, but would be able to adapt to different needs. We wanted a house that was flexible. (more…)

I’m very pleased to hear that my book, Designing Your Perfect House, is proving to be valuable to people who are building or remodeling. When I wrote it, I really hoped it would become an important resource for people and help them feel more “in control” of the building process. So it heartens me to receive questions like this one concerning the wood floors shown in the book photos.

We are starting to select the different materials around the house.  Your beautiful pictures have been a great inspiration…  I particularly like your wooden floors on pages 114

Page 114 Photo from "Designing Your Perfect House"

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