Does my basement need a grinder pump? Your new home’s sewage system may need to have a grinder or ejector pump in the basement.  In our last blog post we covered all the major quality requirements for installing water and sewer service lines to your new home.  Some of you had questions about the elevation […]

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How to Build a Home, Step 29 Believe it or not, backilling your new home foundation requires careful attention to detail.  Carelessly pushing dirt up against the foundation wall can create structural and water problems with your new home.  Here we will cover the essential elements for a proper backfill while building a house. Backfilling:  […]

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How to Build a Home, Step 28 The drain tile around your new basement or crawlspace is a key component for keeping water out.  Here we continue our blog series on how to build a home by sharing tips for making sure your drainage system is installed properly.  Foundation drainage is not rocket science but […]

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How to Build a Home, Step 26 What are the important items to consider in your new home foundation quality check?  To say that your foundation is a major element in your new dream home is an understatement.  Not only does it support the entire structure and its contents, but it also is responsible for […]

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  The next step in our blog series, How to Build a Home, is the foundation excavation activity. This is the first major activity in the construction of your new dream home. The old saying, it all starts with the foundation is only partially true.  In fact, it all really starts with the excavation of […]

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A vaulted ceiling can be a great architectural detail for any room.  It can really make a space feel bigger without adding a lot of cost.  While it can be a great addition to any space, a vaulted ceiling can also create big problems if it’s not designed and built properly.  So before adding this […]

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I want to build my home the right way….can you give me some tips to do that?  This was a recent reader question here at the Armchair Builder blog.  The short answer is…Yes, we can.  One of our goals here is to provide unbiased, quality information to those of you that are planning to build […]

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When it comes to building a new home, is it better to use rafters or roof trusses?  You may be wondering what the difference is between these two.  Here we will discuss the pros and cons of each.  We hope to give you some guidance as to which will be a better fit your new […]

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There’s a lot of talk lately about hiring contractors to work on your home.  When you’re in a pinch, like with the devastation from hurricane Sandy, you might be tempted to hastily hire contractors to get your home back in order.  Be sure to take the time to hire the good guys to prevent problems […]

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You can easily prevent shower leaks in your new bathroom.  Unfortunately, many contractors take shortcuts when installing tile.  There are so many things that can go wrong if you don’t follow certain quality practices and when they do, the damage from shower leaks can be costly.  Let’s take a look at some best practices so […]

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