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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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Now displaying: 2019
Dec 18, 2019

What’s the best place for your washer and dryer? I’m a fan of putting them near bedrooms and bathrooms where there is easy access to where dirty clothes are taken off and clean clothes are stored.  But there are also some benefits to locating the laundry room in other parts of the house, such as the near the kitchen, in a mudroom, in a hallway closet or even a basement. This week we’ll talk about the pros and cons of locating your laundry room in different areas of the house.

Show notes at BYHYU 191

Dec 11, 2019

As I was going over the lighting plan for my new house, I wondered if there were different rules for lighting rooms with tall ceilings as opposed to standard 8 foot ceilings.  Is ok to use the same type and average number of recessed lights throughout your house, no matter a room’s function or ceiling height?  Does a 2 story foyer or rooms with vaulted ceilings need special lighting considerations? 

Worse than not installing enough canned lights and lighting fixtures is wasting money by having an appropriate number of fixtures, but fixtures that don’t put out adequate light in specific situations, like rooms with tall ceilings.  So I did some research about how to light rooms with tall ceilings, which many of us will have in our new builds. The information was much harder to find than I anticipated.  But, after days for searching lighting design, electrician, lighting manufacturer, and retail lighting websites, I came up with a few tips for some basic guidelines for lighting rooms with ceiling greater than the standard 8 feet.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Dec 4, 2019

This week I have a rebroadcast of one of my most popular episodes.  It’s a mini lesson packed full of information.  It covers lighting design basics and lighting terminology.  This is a good review for next week when I’ll have a brand new episode that will discuss lighting specifically for rooms with tall ceilings, that is ceilings that are  9 feet or higher.  Basic lighting design principles need to be tweaked a bit for rooms with high ceilings, and we’ll talk about that next week. But have a listen to Lighting 101 now, so you’ll be ready for next week.  And quiz yourself, if you’ve listened before.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Nov 27, 2019

This week we’ll review a previously built, energy-efficient home so we can consider some of the materials and methods for our own homes.  The case study house is an affordable greenhouse that cost $114 per square foot and is located in Seattle, Washington, where the average house is $200 per square foot.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Nov 20, 2019

Whether you want to hire a professional to design and install the landscaping for your new home or do it yourself, there are a few basic tips and rules that will help you plan outdoor spaces.   

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Nov 6, 2019

This week we’re going over a list of features that many homeowners are requesting in new homes that they’re buying or building.  This is according to an article in Professional Builder magazine where builders, architects, designers, and other industry experts were asked about must-have features that today’s homeowners want.  Take a look and see how many things on the list will be included in your new home.  You may not want to include all these elements, but consider the ones that are best for you and your family. 

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Oct 30, 2019

How should you coordinate your backsplash and countertop?  Should they be a match or contrasting?  What should you choose first?   And how much influence should your flooring and cabinet choices have on your choice of backsplash and countertop?  This week I’ll give you a few quick tips to help with making choices for these two major surfaces of the kitchen.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Oct 23, 2019

It’s one thing to see small samples of countertops, tile, paint, and flooring in a showroom or retail space, but to see those design features displayed in new houses is so much more helpful. Not even full-sized samples such as doors, plumbing fixtures, and lighting fixtures have the same impact in a showroom or a photo as they do up close and personal in real-life applications.  That’s why I take as many opportunities as I can to go to new homes around the country.  I want to stay on the pulse of what's new and trending and what design features seem to be here to stay for the foreseeable future— the ones that emerged several years ago, but don’t seem to be going anywhere, like linear fireplaces.   

I recently went to 2 parades of homes— in Kansas City and one in the Memphis TN area.  I visited about 30 different brand new homes— about 6 in Memphis and the rest in Kansas City. Many of the features that I saw, we’ve talked about on other design trend episodes, but I think it’s important to keep revisiting the topic of home design so we don’t build and decorate a brand new house in a way that looks dated soon after we move in.  Here are some of the top design elements that I saw in those parades of homes…

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Oct 16, 2019

The Energy Information Administration says that home appliances produce the third-largest energy expenditure in the home, representing about 9% of the typical energy bill.  Only heating and cooling, and water heating use more energy.   

Specifically, refrigerators and clothes dryers have the highest operating costs per year.  To decrease the amount of energy used in our homes, we can choose Energy Star appliances and products.  This week, we’ll learn more about the Energy Star program and how much more efficient its certified appliances are.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Oct 9, 2019

Because most of us want not only a beautiful, well-designed house but also one that is energy efficient and/or sustainable, over the coming months I’ll be doing several episodes where we’ll talk about noted high-performance houses that have been covered in the media.  I’m a big believer in learning from others and may able to incorporate into our own projects some of the design elements and materials used in other recognized green, energy-efficient homes.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Oct 2, 2019

Because of the popularity of white interior walls, and white backgrounds in general on blogs and social media posts, we have grown accustomed to thinking of white as a go-to backdrop for many of our interior spaces.  White is familiar, bright and offers a clean background for highlighting home furnishings and features.  The fresh, clean background is why most museums and galleries use white walls to showcase artwork. White can be a great choice for traditional and contemporary spaces. But to some people, white can come off as cold, boring and overdone.  This week we’ll talk about the pros and cons of white walls.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Sep 25, 2019

Did you know that the average home build produces about 8,000 pounds of waste?   And with increasing landfill and building material costs, reducing job site waste could both help the environment and save you a significant amount of money.  The less you have to throw away, the less money you have to spend getting rid of your construction waste.

When renting a dumpster for a construction site, you’re charged based on the size dumpster.  The more waste you accumulate, the larger and more expensive the dumpster you’ll need. In addition, the weight of the debris will also have some bearing on waste management fees.

This is an unexpected line item that ideally we want to avoid.   In this week’s episode, I’ll give you some quick tips on how to reduce job site waste so those overage fees are less likely to occur. Plus we’ll hear from Angela Phillips of ZTERS, the waste management solutions company that I’ve been working with.  Angela will give us a little more insight into how we can manage our waste more efficiently.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

ZTERS.com

ZTERS DUMPSTER SIZING TOOL

Sep 18, 2019

This week’s episode is based on an article that I read in Houzz called “10 Home Design Trends on the Rise”. They made this list based on trends that they see in photos that designers and homeowners have submitted and based on their conversations with design professionals.   This list includes things that I too have been seeing in the past few years that I think we’ll continue to see in new homes as we go into 2020.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Sep 11, 2019

Don’t call it a comeback, marble’s been here for years.  But in the last decade, marble has become more popular than ever, especially in bathrooms and kitchens.  But… how good of an idea is that?  In this week’s mini-lesson, we’ll look at the pros and cons of using marble in our new homes and the difference between 2 of the most widely requested types of marble: Calcutta and Cararra marble.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

BYHYU.com

Sep 4, 2019

For decades, the standard ceiling height was 8 feet tall—a dimension that resulted from two 4-foot-wide drywall sheets laid together horizontally.  But homes are now being built with standard 9 or 10-foot ceilings on the first floor, and ceilings at 8 or 9 feet tall on the second floor. 

With today’s taller ceiling heights, the potential space above standard upper kitchen cabinets has become larger and we’ll have to decide how far up we want our cabinetry to go.  Should we leave an open space between the upper cabinets and the ceiling, or should we fill that space with a soffit or with additional cabinetry?   This week we’ll talk about the pros and cons of cabinets that extend all the way to the ceiling.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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Aug 28, 2019

Last week, we began a mini-lesson on the pros and cons of different exterior door styles. We went over 2 of the most common styles—single, standard doors and French doors.  Plus, we talked about a new kid on the block, bifold doors. In this second part of our list, we’ll discuss some more old school and new school door styles, including sliding doors, pivot doors, and dutch doors, and we’ll be answering the burning question “Are storm doors still a thing?”

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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Aug 21, 2019

Whether you’re deciding on the style of door you want for your main front entry, or to your patio, or to any other area that leads to the outdoors, there are several door styles to consider. It’s not just a matter of choosing a traditional single or double, French doors for your main entrance. You could also install a pivot door or a dutch door.  And for patio doors, there are French doors, sliding doors, and bifold doors.  This week, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of each style of exterior doors. 

Shownotes at BYHYU.com

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Aug 7, 2019

In part 1 of the mini-lesson, we talked about how many homeowners and house designers pay too little attention to roof overhangs because they think of them as purely aesthetic. But overhangs have several important functions: they can protect exterior doors, windows, and exterior walls from rain and snow; they can shade windows from hot summertime sun rays, and they can help keep basements and crawl spaces dry by directing rainwater away from the main structure of the house.

This week, we’ll go over whether you need deep roof overhangs for shading on the north, east and west sides of your house.  Plus I’ll tell you what you can do to protect your house from the sun’s heat and rain if you either don’t want overhangs or can’t have them because of building code.  Yep, building codes in some areas don’t allow overhangs.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Check out ZTERS Waste Solutions, your one-stop source for job site dumpsters, portable toilets, fencing, and storage units.

Jul 31, 2019

Although you may have thought about the color and material you want for your roof, the typical homeowner puts little thought into the actual design of their roof.  And roof overhangs specifically, forget about it.  Roof overhangs haven’t even crossed most people’s minds.    

In this week’s mini-lesson, I’ll tell you why overhangs shouldn’t just be an afterthought.   And why almost every new home should include them, where possible.

Check out ZTERS.com  for all your construction site services 

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Jul 24, 2019

Where you place your dishwasher can increase or decrease your kitchen’s functionality and flow.  And although there is no one exact right place that dishwashers should universally go, this week I have a list of quick tips that you should think about before deciding where to put your dishwasher.  If you haven’t heard our Dishwasher Buying Guide Quick Tips, you might want to go to episode 80 and take a listen.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Jul 17, 2019

In recent years, homeowners have been opting for fewer upper cabinets to give their kitchens a more open, airy feeling.  Some people want completely empty walls, maybe with a window, where traditional upper cabinets would have gone.  But many homeowners are requesting open shelves, sometimes called floating shelves, in place of some or all of their upper cabinets.

People are typically either adamantly for, or adamantly against open shelving in the kitchen.  You’d be surprised how much emotion is stirred up by the subject of open shelves. Some people claim they are one of the most beautiful and most functional features you can put in a kitchen, and others say that open shelves are not only unsightly but unsanitary.

So let’s get a bit more insight about when open shelves are a pretty and practical solution for a kitchen, and when they should be avoided.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Jul 10, 2019

I have a couple of pocket of doors planned for my new house and when I was talking to a contractor about them, he said: “I hate pocket doors.” That is not an uncommon statement.    Some people love pocket doors because they’re sometimes the only small space door solution available, but pocket doors also have some problems.  So let’s talk about the pros and cons of pocket doors and let’s briefly discuss some pocket door quick tips.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Jul 3, 2019

One of the first things you’ll have to decide when building a house is whether you want to want to be an owner-builder or use a general contractor for your project.  If you are considering building the home yourself, episodes 2 and 7, called “You Can Save Money, Lots of Money, But Should You Build Your Own House?” and “Build Your House Yourself, But Not All By Yourself” will give you some insight on acting as your own general contractor. 

If, however, you want to use a builder to construct your new home, you’ll have to choose between a custom home builder and a production builder.   Much of your decision will rest in how many choices you wish to make and how much input you’d like to have during the construction process. In this week’s episode, we’ll talk about the differences in production home builders and custom builders and I’ll give you the pros and cons of each.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Jun 26, 2019

Really quick episode this week about something I recently learned about that can make our lives easier, make our homes safer and help us to save on our electricity bills:  Smart outlets or smart plugs.

They allow you to remotely control and automate the electricity going to that smart outlet or plug.  Smart outlets and plugs work pretty much the same way, but smart outlets are built-in and electricians can easily add them to newly built houses.  Smart plugs might be a better option for existing homes.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

Jun 19, 2019

If like me, you’re a fan of HGTV’s Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, I bet you remember the Barndominium episode.  They restored an old barn into a beautiful family home.   Although barndominiums have been around for decades, that episode of Fixer Upper and the popularity of modern farmhouse and rustic chic decor have made many homeowners decide to build a barndominium for themselves.

They are an alternative to traditional stick-built new homes for homeowners who love a barn aesthetic and who want to live in an unconventional house.   And although this style house is not for everyone, there are a few homebuilding practices and features of barndominiums that most of us can incorporate into our homes and homebuilding experience,  no matter what style we choose.

Show notes at BYHYU.com

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