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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
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Now displaying: August, 2018
Aug 29, 2018

After discussing outdoor cooling methods, including outdoor fans, in last week’s episode, I realized we haven’t really talked about indoor ceiling fans.  So, this week, I’ll give you some quicks on how to select, use and maintain your ceiling fans.

The right sized ceiling fan will keep you cool and save you money. Ceiling fans cost very little to run as compared to air conditioners. Running a fan will allow you to set your thermostat at a higher temperature when it’s hot outside so you can save money on your monthly electric bill.  According to Energy Star, you can save 3-5% on air-conditioning costs for each degree you raise the thermostat.

Unlike air conditioners, ceiling fans don’t lower a room’s temperature or remove humidity from the air. But what we learned last week is that fans make us feel more comfortable by blowing humid air away from us and allowing the moisture on our skin to evaporate more readily.  That’s what cools us down, making us feel 4-8 degrees cooler.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Aug 22, 2018

In this week’s episode, I have some helpful strategies that we can use to keep the inside and outside of our homes cooler and more comfortable during the hot summer. I did some research on what we can add to our homes that will make high outdoor temperatures more bearable.  I’m talking about things we can include in and around our homes beyond an energy efficient air conditioner for our houses that have been sized according to Manual J calculation.  We’ll discuss things like awnings, outdoor solar shades, solar screens and other shading products, outdoor fans, misting systems, swamp coolers and outdoor portable air conditioners.

And since not all cooling systems work well in all climates, I’ll tell you which ones are best for dry heat and which are better for hot, humid climates.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Aug 15, 2018

This week’s episode is inspired by one of my favorite resources for homebuilding and design ideas and advice: Houzz. Houzz is spelled and it’s short for House buzz.  That site not only gives you access to thousands of inspiration photos, but also short blog posts and a helpful forum called Gardenweb. 

When I was looking through the “building a home” section of the forum and saw a couple of valuable discussions that inspired this week quick tips — one discussion having to do with the inclusion of a job site visitation policy in the contract and one discussion regarding deleting items from the initial specifications list.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Aug 1, 2018

After I finished last week’s episode, I thought of a few more design features you should consider for your home if entertaining friends and family is important to you.    If you didn’t get a chance to listen to last week, check out episode 126 called Designing your Home for Entertaining and Family Gatherings.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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