You might think your house only becomes watertight when the siding, brick or stone is completely installed. Actually, sidings of any kind, including masonry and stucco, are not as watertight as you might imagine. They are not the last line of defense against water.

I refer to siding, brick, stone, stucco, and other sidings as the “weatherproofing” of the house. These materials keep the bulk of the wind and water out, but even perfectly installed siding material will still let in small, but significant, amounts of moisture. There is no effective way to stop this and it does not indicate the house is poorly built. (more…)

If you’ll pardon the bad pun, it saves dollars and makes sense to stay in your house and remodel it in the face of today’s economy and the dismal state of the real estate market. It’s very hard to sell a house right now and even harder to get a decent price for it. The equity you might have had has shrunken. It’s a buyer’s market so you aren’t going to get top dollar. But if you can wait out the market, the value will eventually come back. Remodeling can allow you to enjoy your present house while you’re waiting. (more…)

I received a question asking about putting tiles on a shower ceiling or not. The person asking the question said they were tiling the walls all the way up to the ceiling.

Tiles on shower ceilings are somewhat optional these days. They add cost, so often they are not done. But tiles on the ceiling are a step up in quality and make the ceiling easier to maintain. If you do not tile the ceiling, be sure to use moisture resistant drywall, sometimes called green board. It’s designed for use in damp locations. As you would imagine, steam will tend to cling to the shower ceiling, especially in the corners. If you have a nice gap at the top of the shower door to let the steam vent out, a drywall ceiling, properly painted should work fine. (more…)

Here are a few guidelines that might be helpful. (more…)

A number of the houses I have designed have included home gyms. There are a number of considerations to keep in mind when designing a home gym.

First and foremost would be sound. I think it’s best to place the home gym on the lowest floor of the house to reduce the noise transmission from the exercise equipment. If this room can have a concrete slab floor, as you might have in a basement space, that would be best of all. Treadmills, stationary bikes, and other exercise equipment such as that produce droning vibrations that can be transmitted through a wood framed floor/ceiling assembly. (more…)

Congratulations to Joseph Truini on a great and timely article entitled “5 Reasons Architects Are Worth the Money When Redoing Your Home.” If you missed it, it was posted by Popular Mechanics and MSN Real Estate. I was impressed enough to post the following comment on the article:

With the state of the economy right now, remodeling makes a lot of sense. It’s hard to sell a house, but with construction costs way down, remodeling your current house into your dream house is a great idea. Plus you don’t have to pay real estate commissions or moving costs. That money can help buy you your new kitchen cabinets and countertops or the screened porch you’ve been wanting. (more…)

We all know how important first impressions can be. Our opinion of something or someone is formed quickly upon our first encounter. That’s one reason you should pay attention to the design of your front door, entrance, and the entire arrival and entry experience when designing your house. You won’t get a second chance. So be sure you present the image and feel that is consistent with the overall house.

One aspect of the entrance to a house that you may overlook or under-appreciate is the concept of transition from public to private. This is a concept I discuss in some detail in Designing Your Perfect House. The minds of human beings seek order. Our minds don’t like abrupt changes. We are most comfortable with gradual transitions. If you consider the sensation when you step from your dark bedroom in the middle of the night and turn on the light in the bathroom, you get a pretty good idea of how harsh a change can feel. Our psyche reacts to changes in spaces, albeit subconsciously, the same way. Sudden shifts from one type of space to another can be jarring and disconcerting. (more…)

It seems that kitchen design continues to trend in the upscale direction. People are looking for better cabinets, granite or solid surface countertops, and professional looking appliances. One of the icons of the upscale kitchen is the Sub Zero refrigerator. The name Sub Zero has come to symbolize not just a high end kitchen. Having that Sub Zero label on your refrigerator can influence a buyer’s opinion about the entire house. I’ve often joked that the label alone is worth tens of thousands of dollars in the resale value of the house. That’s how effective the brand identity campaign has been for the Sub Zero people.

And just what’s so appealing about a Sub Zero? Obviously it is a very good product. They have great features such as two individual compressors, one for the freezer side and one for the refrigerator side. Many of their super deluxe models have specialty features you probably didn’t even know you needed until they told you. But I think the single most valuable feature of a Sub Zero is the fact that it is “cabinet depth.” This means the front of the refrigerator sits even with the face of the lower cabinets and front edge of the countertop. It doesn’t stick out several inches like standard refrigerators and look like a big bulky box in the kitchen. With a cabinet panel installed on the doors of the Sub Zero, the bulkiest object in the kitchen, the refrigerator, can take a less intrusive position in your kitchen and give the entire kitchen a more unitized and cleaner look. (more…)

It wasn’t long ago that the standard ceiling height for a house in America was eight feet. This was the height of standard wood studs and gypsum board (also known as drywall or sheetrock) came in four foot wide sheets, so abiding by the standard height meant less material waste when building. (By the way, drywall is installed sideways on the studs with the four foot dimension being vertical and the eight or twelve foot dimension running horizontally). But times have changed and the trend is toward higher ceilings. It’s rare to find even a mid-priced new house with ceilings less than nine feet high. And most high-end houses have ten foot or higher ceilings. (more…)

Have you ever been walking or driving along and had your attention grabbed by a house? It happens to me a lot. Maybe that’s because I’m an architect. But I think it happens to everyone. There is something about a good house form that can really catch your eye.

You might not know exactly what I mean by a “good house form.” We architects often use the word “massing.” This refers to the overall shape and bulk of a building. It’s the shape of the structure and roof line in its gross form. It ignores the finer details. It relates to composition, balance, visual flow and a lot of other artistic terms that even professionals have trouble expressing in words. But a good house form is one we know when we see it. One way to evaluate a house form is to stand back and squint at it. This will keep the details from confusing your mind. A good house starts with a good house form. The details will further enhance it, making it even better. But it’s hard to save a bad form with expensive materials and details. A house has to have “good bones.” (more…)