Among the changes since Ocorber’s last quarterly update, we discovered carpet tiles by FLOR, which can be used on the floor, walls or ceiling (e.g. soundproofing). FLOR is neat for a few reasons aside from its array of colors and being made from recycled content. The flexible carpet squares adhere to one another instead of the surface so you can easily replace just one if necessary. The product is also universally designed for multiple applications, tightly woven to promote stability by the very young or anyone with balance or mobility challenges. FLOR is an adaptable alternative for those who don’t want hardwood, ceramic or vinyl flooring.

See this innovative product among many other universally designed applications and features at LifetimeHomeSurvey.com, and please share with those you care about. Lifetime homes serve you, not the other way around.

Follow us @BuilderFish on Twitter

I learn best by breaking down the complex into smaller parts so I decided to teach Universal Design on our Twitter page by posting daily UD tips (i.e. limited to 144 characters for those who don’t tweet). Follow us by clicking here or the graphic to the right>>>>>>

I don’t want you to miss if you aren’t on Twitter so I’m pasting below the tips I’ve tweeted so far and will try to remember to provide here every so often.

• Every owner and renter should learn about Universal Design because UD makes home life easier and more flexible.

• Universally designed homes are  naturally multigenerational/flexible (e.g. people of any age or ability can use a zero step entrance).

• Every home should have at least one zero step, flush threshold entry with 36″ door.

• In a Lifetime Home, no outlets should be lower than 18″ to prevent stooping. You should easily reach both standing or seated.

• Universal Design and “aging-in-place” (a phrase I hate) are also known as Better Living Design.

• There’s no real point in having a curbed shower, and shower drains do not have to go in the middle of the floor.

• Lever door handles are more efficient and flexible to use than traditional doorknobs. Plus kids cannot destroy as easily.

• Universal Design is inherently multigenerational. UD is easiest and convenient for people of all ages and abilities, therefore multi-gen.

• UD is kid-friendly, not only for “aging-in-place”. In Brazil, Universal Design is preferred by their younger population.

• Among solutions for creating zero step entry: via garage, gently sloped earthen ramp or inset rim atop basement wall.

• Real estate investors should adopt UD to make their props convenient, efficient and more marketable to a larger pool of buyers or tenants.

• Socially sustainable housing starts with you sustaining yourself by being able to stay in your home no matter what.

If you’d rather learn everything in one place and/or assess your property inside and out, don’t forget to visit the Lifetime Home Survey, which we update quarterly.

Many of the changes relate to indoor air quality. Now that houses are becoming properly buttoned up for improved energy efficiency, you must be aware of the air you breathe, making sure you mechanically bring in fresh air from outside, and not from a basement, crawl space or attic!

Download for free either the mini-version (2 pages) and/or full 34 page assessment at LifetimeHomeSurvey.com .

One note for those with ratcheted up virus protection, the PDFs include many embedded hyperlinks to examples, resources and supporting information so your virus software may either give you a warning or inhibit the download.

Email me if you’re having problems and I’ll reply with the LTHS as attachments. Comments and questions also welcome.

Think I’m kidding? Serious industry thinkers wonder whether PGH should be a certification or standard, like LEED,  net zero, etc. to inform consumers about what they’re buying. For those who don’t know, building TO code is a minimum legal standard of structural integrity, performance and safety. PGH would be just above that low bar. Sound appealing in exchange for your hundreds of thousands?

Here, read about the idea yourself. At first I thought the post was a gag, but April Fool’s Day is next year. This is where consumerism has taken us, sometimes literally as we recently discovered during demolition of a high-end home that had ZERO house wrap and a hole in the roof (nothing under the shingles).

There is some truth to this supposedly serious debate. People buying McMansions during the construction boom weren’t getting PGH, they bought JGE = Just Good Enough as the production builders raced to finish developments. NASCAR pitstops aren’t much faster and nothing has changed.

But seriously, if PGH becomes a bona fide certification, consideration or fad, my industry is in sorry shape. Instead, might we assume responsibility for educating consumers about what’s ideal instead of barely acceptable?

Meanwhile think of Code Minimum as the worst, legally approved standard. Pretty good wouldn’t be a whole lot better.

courtesy röm architecture studio/Houzz

This project portfolio on Houzz represents a fine example of a few points I make regularly about Universal Design (UD). Now that more people are becoming aware of UD, the traditional misconceptions that it’s “ADA” or “will make my house look like a hospital” crop up. UD is for anyone, it’s kid-friendly and, despite an obvious solution, not only for “aging-in-place”.

Review these pictures, do you notice the UD features? No, not unless someone points out, just as you wouldn’t notice a wider doorway (until you’re moving a couch). UD done well blends in and is preferred for maximum convenience, efficiency and control.

UD also isn’t a “style” of house, any residence regardless of size, can be universally designed. Relate to UD applications as merely smart and proactive for any person of any ability.

So you might wonder, why isn’t every home universally designed and built? That’s what we think too, which is why we’ve adopted our mission of building Lifetime Homes.

image courtesy LIFX

Construction and design are experiencing a renaissance of new products, applications and methods and I’d like to share what we’re discovering as we scout and research for our clients.

The housing bust forced companies to innovate and differentiate in order to survive. We run into all kinds of interesting “new stuff”, our trade magazines are full of manufacturers and vendors advertising everything from futuristic appliances down to reformulated construction glue, most of which is environmentally friendly. Some is proven and now commercially available while others are merely conceptual and just being developed.

Regardless, it’s all neat and it occurred to me, as we’re discovering, I should share with you too, especially since our Cool Product of the Week section of our weekly newsletter, The Current (please subscribe to the right >>> ) appears to be the most popular.

So I’m going to start posting here cool stuff, everything from tools to methods we’re discovering during our research. I’ll be sure to point out whether we have first-hand experience using and if the product is commercially available.

image courtesy Electrolux Design Lab

For example, here are two which are not yet but still fascinating.

The LIFX multi-color, LED and WiFi enabled lightbulb is setting records as a KickStarter project, having already sold out its pledges by topping out at $1,312,407 after beginning with a GOAL of $100,000.

And check out the student designed entries in the 10th annual Electrolux Design Lab.

I love the idea of Aeroball, a floating bubble that filters the air, although it could get a little annoying (certainly would keep the cat busy), but cool nonetheless!

Here are a few basic user tips and I believe you can figure out the rest. Email me if you have questions and I’ll describe more advanced features later (after I learn them myself-ha).

There are two primary tabs, Control Panorama and Control Camera. The panorama shot is compiled once daily after the camera completes an entire sweep, its software automatically stitches together all the shots throughout a 360 degree pan.

Control Camera is closer to real time and also takes time lapse photos. Control Camera is fixed to show the main house site. You move the camera by first clicking the plus (+) button and increasing the zoom. You’ll notice the directional arrows light up after you begin zooming. This will make more sense once you see the building construction as you’ll be able to zoom into parts of the home you want to see more closely. Right now it’s zoomed all the way out.

One thing not as apparent, the middle part of the controller, the bullseye if you will, is a joy stick. Put your mouse pointer over and hold-click to move the picture as you’d like.

A few other features I’ll mention, you can socially share multiple ways in the bottom right portion of the Control Camera screen. You can also pick dates and times on the calendar to see what was there previously.

These are some basics. I’ll share more cool features later. Email me if you cannot wait.

At one time this was brand spanking new and the owners beamed with new house glow. How long will your house last? How long will you stay? Wonder whatsoever about the quality of your home?

These may seem like dumb questions. I’m certain you at least care, maybe even worry, about maintaining and paying for your residence.

But I wonder more deeply about what I presume most people rarely consider. Is your current home just a roof over your head or do you intend to never leave? In any case, are some parts of your home a hassle to use or maintain? How will you adjust or rectify, or will you settle?

Have you considered how you and your family will change over the coming years, and decades, and whether your home is convenient, efficient and safe enough to meet your future needs? How will you use all the parts of your home, for instance a second floor, if you cannot for some reason manage steps? Do you bank on one day moving into assisted living? Can you afford?

If your current residence is temporary, where is the last place you’ll live and what does it look like inside and outside? I wonder how many people imagine their “last house”, or do they simply move with fingers crossed and hope for the best?

Two things occurred to me as I’m shopping for a new vehicle, I believe most people consider longer term needs more for their cars than their houses because people simply assume the house isn’t going anywhere, is good enough and they’ll continue to be able to use and enjoy the same no matter what.

I’m also watching large tract builders throwing up houses two and three at a time in a race to completion, and I wonder about the buyers of those houses. What’s their expectation of quality and how long those buildings will perform? How many decades will they be accommodated or will they have to adapt in order to stay? How important is the quality of the materials, systems, skilled labor AND the design?

I’m curious, have you given your present home much thought?

Just released our quarterly update of the Lifetime Home Survey^©. Review and download a PDF at LifetimeHomeSurvey.com and see examples in our Universal Design gallery.

(For first-timers, the “LTHS mini-” is a 2-page general overview while the full version covers in grand detail every area of a property, even the yard.)

The full version remains 33 pages and covers every area inside and outside your home. Any text you see in a different color is a hyperlink either to additional information or an example of what we use on our projects. Mouse over and click the text and you’ll be taken to that website.

(Because the PDF is loaded with links, you may get a virus warning depending on your security settings or vendor. Email me if this worries you and I’ll directly email you the PDF.)

Most of the changes in this revision deal with indoor air quality, home automation, use of natural light and treatments for yard/garden. Weekly I learn something new keeping up with building science and UD, which together are gaining increasing consumer awareness, acceptance and demand.

Please share with others, especially anyone building or remodeling their “last” or “dream” home.

From the Suggestion Box, here are direct links to the PDFs. Click respectively to view and download:

Lifetime Home mini-Survey (LTHS) | BuilderFish 7-17-12

Lifetime Home Survey (LTHS) | BuilderFish 7-17-12

Quality, and we refuse to do anything inexactly.

In construction, there’s EXACTLY and not exactly. You’ll hear others say we do things “right” (to them or you?) or “correctly” (I sure hope so!). But there’s no arguing exactly.

For example, air sealing and painting. You’re either exact or inexact. Being exact takes time, care and triple checking. If you’re not air-sealing exactly, then you’re leaching air, which technically isn’t “sealed”. (You’ve likely seen inexact painting so I won’t elaborate.)

Another example, here’s the framing lumber we use, here’s what most others use, Southern Pine #2, including large tract builders whose names you see on signs along the highway.

What would you prefer for your home? Exactly or not exactly?

You get what you pay for in design and construction, and most often you get less.

Email me and I’ll gladly answer anything you’d like to know about how things work and our standards. We’re proud of our thoroughness and transparency.