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Build Your House Yourself University

Wish you knew more about the biggest investment you will most likely ever make? Build Your House Yourself University (byhyu) will teach you to save money and make smart decisions about the construction of the place you and your family will call HOME. We will help you understand residential construction— simplify and demystify the design build process. You’ll come away with successful strategies for building your own house, with or without a general contractor. Become an educated consumer, even if you prefer to buy, rather than build a new house. Complex construction jargon and best practices will be explained in easy to understand terms. It’s not the typical DIY (do it yourself) show. You will learn how to MANAGE the labor, not DO the labor for your new house. Join me, Michelle Nelson, host and fellow informal residential construction student. I’ll share the research I find on home design and building as I prepare to build my home. Together, our community of future home builders, will learn the tips, tricks and trends of experienced contractors and industry experts. I’ll interview owner-builders and construction professionals. During our mini lessons, I’ll inform you about framing, flooring, windows, insulation, kitchen cabinets and countertops…almost anything having to do with new construction homes. You’ll hear about energy efficiency and green building too. There will be product reviews in which you will be introduced to cutting edge, as well as, tried and true products and services. And in keeping with the university theme, episodes will end with short, fun quizzes. If we do our due diligence BEFORE we start construction, we will actually start construction with the most difficult part of the project behind us. Let’s put in the time, effort, preparation and research BEFORE we break ground and building our homes will be much easier and more enjoyable.
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All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: July, 2017
Jul 26, 2017

If you’ve decided to hire a builder to be a general contractor, site supervisor, or even a consultant for the construction of your new house, there are a whole slew of questions that you’ll want to ask him before you commit to working with him.  There’s the basic list of questions that you’ve probably heard before.  These are questions that most people ask when they are vetting, or investigating, a builder.   I bet you can guess many of them:

Are you licensed and insured?

How many years have you been building?

What kind of warranty do you offer?

How do you handle change orders?

So, there are also a few other questions that I came across last week that go beyond what the average homeowner typically asks. This list of questions is from one of my favorite websites, energyvanguard.com.  That blog post was called “10 questions to ask your prospective builder.”  We’ll cover 9 or those 10 question today.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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Jul 12, 2017

I know what you’re thinking… Really, Michelle? A full mini lesson on kitchen sinks?  White or stainless steel.  What else is there to think about?  What’s the big deal? 

Well, even if, like me, you don’t cook most days of the week, you do probably use your kitchen sink every single day, and probably several times a day. 

The kitchen sink is one the hardest working fixtures in the entire house.  So, we need to choose the best sink for our kitchen routine and our kitchen design.

Some sink materials are tougher than others.  Taking the time to become familiar with different sink features and materials will help you find a sink that will make your kitchen look great and function well. This week we’ll go over the pros and cons of the most common kitchen sink materials, then I’ll give you a few tips for choosing the best sink size and style for your home and habits.  Plus we’ll go over our Pro Term: Farmhouse sink.

Shownotes at BYHYU.com

Jul 5, 2017

Learning about kitchen faucets probably won’t be the most exciting thing you do today, but it’s important that we get a basic understanding of the features we should be looking for.  Because we use our kitchen and bathroom faucets so often, we’ll want to choose those that will last for a really long time without problems and that work with our house design and preferences.  Here are 12 kitchen and bathroom faucet quick tips.

Show notes at http://BYHYU.com

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