In homebuilding, picking out the right materials can be a little tricky.

    I talked yesterday about the value of painting out larger samples of your wall and trim paint selections to verify that the colors were right. The same principles applies to the other materials you plan to use. Don’t pick bricks from a photo or even from a brick sample card with several thin bricks on it. Without mortar, the bricks will look different than they will on your house. Stone is even tougher. I can’t imagine being confident in a stone selection from a handful of loose stones. Stones come in a very wide range of colors, textures, and sizes. And there is no good way to describe stone in words. Photos of other walls help, but you need to be sure your builder can reproduce the wall you want. (more…)

    Here’s a photo from famous Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California. This was the site of this year’s U.S. Open golf championship, famously won by Tiger Woods who played on an injured knee. Not only did he have ligament damage in his left knee, Woods had stress fractures he had not mentioned. Still he played on and eventually won the biggest tournament of the year on a course that meant so much to him.

    His knee wasn’t the only thing that was out of whack at Torrey Pines. Check out the brickwork on the masonry posts around the first tee. It reminds me of Tiger’s pained follow through on some of his shots! (more…)