You don’t hear (pun intended) much about residential acoustics unless you are talking about houses in airport flight paths or along busy highways. However, during a recent interview for the Chicago Tribune, I starting thinking about sharing what we know about sound issues in residences. Even if you don’t have offensive noise generation outside of your house, it is entirely possible you may have ... Read More
Here is the latest video blog post I did with Matt Risinger. This time we are discussing hot water systems for residential construction. In this post we talk about using an AO Smith Vertex tank heater versus a tankless water heater and using a demand pump and a trunk line system for hot water delivery. Read More
Here is a video Matt Risinger and I shot for his video blog on Residential Green Building. In this video we are looking at using as separate dehumidification unit to help control humidity and thus use the house AC units more efficiently. Here is a link to his blog. He has lots of really useful information here--and if you look carefully, you can see more of me as well! Risinger Blog Read More
Given that is is August and Austin has hit 107 the last couple of days (not to mention over 100 for the past 19 days), I am not sure it will ever be used, but the new house has a couple of interesting features to help coax in a nice cool breeze. They probably work now, but that would basically turn the house into a convection oven... View of the house from the Southeast -- the direction of the ... Read More
We often run into the problem of how to place the fireplace and the TV in a family room or living room so that you can arrange the furniture to focus on both properly (This is even more complicated if there is a view). Judging by many of the houses we walk through--lots of people are working through this issue. One solution is to pick either the hearth or the TV to focus on and let the other work ... Read More
Right before they began to close up the walls in our house, I walked through the house with my Flip video camera and captured almost every wall in video. The 15 minute long clip with some incredibly dry commentary by yours truly is not going to the Cannes Film Festival anytime soon, but it has its uses. When the drywall installers come through and cover the walls, they occasionally forget to cut ... Read More
Real vs. Study Shot of the Solar Shading on May 28 at 3:00 Part of designing green buildings, whether it be residential design or commercial design, is properly shading the windows so that you let the sun's heat in when you want it and block it when you don't. Fortunately (or not, as we have already hit 100° this summer), in the Texas climate, it is mostly a battle to shade the windows. The ... Read More
Residential Design: The Difference a Truss Makes The two in-progress shots show the great room before and after the trusses were added. The first shot is a much more modern open space; however, that was not the look we were going for in this particular house. The second shot shows how the trusses make a more intimate space, without lessening the volume and connection to the second floor. When ... Read More
Much of what designates a home as modern style, craftsman style, victorian style, georgian style, etc. are the details--especially how the windows are treated, how the juncture where the wall meets the ceiling and where the wall meets the floor is treated, and how special items are done. By the way, if you ever need a good book on this, pick up a copy of "A Field Guide to American Houses" by ... Read More
What is this? A two-piece Hohmann and Barnard Masonry Tie! Why do I care? Keep Reading! I am sure that most people look at a stone or brick facade and think not only of how aesthetically pleasing it is but how strong and stable masonry must be. Stone and brick are great materials for the exteriors of building—they require little or no maintenance, they are very durable, and the last forever. ... Read More
