Northeastern Homes

Some Wild & Whimsical Carpet Ideas

Jerrald Hayes — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:07:00 +0000

I was playing around this evening checking out the new Google Reader Play and one of the sites it toolk me too gave me a link to wild and whimiscal collection of rug ideas on a website called HomeTone.org:

30 inimitable carpets/rugs that you won’t want to step on!

If the floors of your home are looking a little tired and worn out, you can think of getting an unusually cool carpet or rug to enhance your home decor. If you actually are on look out for the inimitable rug/carpet designs and you’re not sure where to start from, we at hometone are ready to help you out in checking out the best of the rest designs. Contemporary rugs are defined as art for the floor and the designers around the world are continuously exploring different designs and coming ….[read more>]

The 28th Annual Spring Westchester County Home Show

admin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:19:24 +0000

Saturday March 27th from 11am to 6pm and Sunday March 28th from 11am to 5pm Jenks Productions Exhhibitions and Trade Show Management present the The 28th Annual Spring Westchester County Home Show

The home show offers a diverse array of home products and services, with a metro flair, featuring local, state and national vendors, presenting innovative and imaginative displays. Bring a non perishable food item and receive $1.00 off admission. All proceeds to be donated to the Food Patch of Westchester.

Hours: Sat: 11:00am to 6:00pm, Sun: 11:00am to 5:00pm
Cost: $10 Adults $8 Seniors
Children 12 & under FREE

Accessibilities: Accessible Entrance, Reserved Parking Spaces, Accessible Bathrooms

Location : Westchester County Center,198 Central Avenue, White Plains, NY, 10606
Contact : Wesley “Wes” Jenks: 860-563-2111 ext 303 or (914)-995-4050

Fine HomeBuilding Magazine Online

Jerrald Hayes — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:30:44 +0000

I’ve began collecting and tapping into all the great information on homebuilding and remodeling techniques, materials, and tools from Fine Homebuilding Magazine way back with Issue #2 April/May 1981 and have built a special dedicated bookcase in my home to house all the issues I collected over the years along with issues from their sister publications such as Fine Woodworking and Fine Gardening too.

In addition to that legacy I’ve also been a regular visitor to the FineHomeBuilding.com website and an active participant and contributor to the excellent online forum they run their called BreakTime "where you can learn from the veterans, share your own secrets of success, and simply chat about all aspects of home building."

Below you’ll find lists of the most recent articles appearing on the Fine Homebuilding Magazine web site with links to take you there.

FineHomebuildings Featured Blog Posts :

Fix everything. Install it all. Our experts show you how with step-by-step projects, how-to videos, skill builders, tips, and more.

The Caution: Hard Hat Area’ Blog:

Why is it that we all love to gawk at other people’s stupidity and idiocy? Because it’s fun, that’s why. Caution: Hard Hat Area is a blog from FineHomebuilding.com that highlights dangerous and ill-conceived acts of home building.

The There’s a Better Way Blog (Quick Tips from FHB Readers):

‘There’s a Better Way – winning tips from the Quick Tips’ Contest at Fine Homebuilding magazine. Quick video tips on everything from hanging drywall to fixing plumbing to finish carpentry and trim.

The Video "There’s a Better Way" – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

Quick tips (video) with Chuck Miller.

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The ‘Build A Deck – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

Catch the latest on how to design and build a deck from the editors of Fine Homebuilding magazine.

The ‘Tool Hound’ – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

An insider’s guide to tools and materials for home builders .

The ‘Deans of Green’ – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

The Web’s most credible green building and design blog from industry experts .

The ‘Daily Fix’ – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

Free homebuilding advice from the experts .

The "Chalk the Line" – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

Ramblings from the editors of Fine Homebuilding magazine.

The New "Digital Job Site" – Fine Homebuilding’ Blog:

Where the boards are straight, the weather’s great, and there really is a board stretcher .

The Stone Walls of Westchester & Fairfield Counties

Jerrald Hayes — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:41:05 +0000

I don’t think its possible to drive through Westchester County (or Fairfield County too for that matter without seeing and thinking about stone walls. Indeed as we’ll see there are a lot of books that have been written (and photographed) on the subject. A couple of year ago when Martha Stewart was moving in up the hill from where I live in Katonah there was a little bit of local controversy and criticism as the masons rebuilding the stone walls that encircled her 153-acre Cantitoe Farm property built the stone wall "too perfectly." It seems despite the excellent craft and artisanship in the rebuilt stone walls they no longer had the aged patina, rustic appearance and character of times gone buy we see everywhere here in Bedford and Katonah.

If we can say anything about our passion and New Yorkers and New Englanders it is that we certainly love our stone walls. I can recall thirty years ago (at the time I was working as a stone masons helper) reading about local legislation being enacted to protect the historical stone walls that resided on public land from being stolen! In some towns doing any work on any kind of exiting stone wall requires applying for a permit.

Last spring I discovered an excellent article in Yankee Magazine on Robert Thorson, "New England’s Stone Wall Defender" (whose book Stone by Stone is linked to below) and an accompanying video VIDEO: Stone Walls of New England which featured views of stone walls from the book by William Hubbell Good Fences: A Pictorial History of New England’s Stone Wallswhich I’ve also linked to below. In the video we learn about just how important to us those walls are not as architecture but as archeology.

As it turns out that Robert Thorson runs The Stone Wall Initiative at University of Connecticut "a web-based resource for stone wall enthusiasts" where he explores the archeological and historical aspects of stone walls here in the northeast and the threats to their preservation.

In the coming month we’ll continue to look at stone walls but expand our view from the historical farmer’s wall to examine more architectural designed compositions and forms and learn about Random Rubble Masonry, Coursed Rubble, and Coursed Ashlar walls and more.

Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York

by Susan Allport (Author), David Howell (Illustrator)

In 1871 there were 252,539 miles of stone walls in New England and New York—enough to circle the earth ten times.
What do we actually know about these structures? About the people who built them, and why they were built? Stone walls are not simply monuments to the skill of Yankee farmers. The historical record makes clear that many were built by slaves, Indians, indentured servants, and children.

Sermons in Stone is the surprising history of the walls, a story that begins in the Ice Age and has been shaped by the fencing dilemmas of the nineteenth century, by conflicts between Native Americans and colonists over land use, by America’s waves of immigration and suburbanization. Beautifully illustrated by David Howell, this is an illuminating and entertaining work of the first rank.

Stone by Stone: The Magnificent History in New England’s Stone Walls

by Robert Thorson

From Publishers Weekly
"To know New England well, one must know its stone walls," writes the author of this authoritative paean to the structures he calls the "signatures of rural New England." There were once approximately 240,000 miles of stone walls in New England, and Thorson, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Connecticut, combines natural history and human history as he tells the story of the walls and how they were built…

Good Fences: A Pictorial History of New England’s Stone Walls

By William Hubbell

For this stunning new volume, photographer William Hubbell has turned his lens toward New England’s ubiquitous stone walls. Beginning with the basic geology of the region and why New England has so many darned rocks, he presents a chronological overview of the varying styles and methods of wall building, and includes conversations with six contemporary wall builders. The result is a surprising and refreshing look at stone walls and at the history of New England.

Exploring Stone Walls: A Field Guide to New England’s Stone Walls

by Robert M. Thorson

The only field guide to stone walls in the Northeast.

"Every stone wall is unique and every stone tells a story," says Robert M. Thorson, the author of the first field guide to historic New England stone walls– one that helps you identify and appreciate those in your yard, neighborhood, and throughout the Northeast.

Exploring Stone Walls is like being in Thorson’s geology classroom, as he presents the many clues that allow you to determine any wall’s history, age, and purpose. Thorson highlights forty-five places to see interesting and noteworthy walls, many of which are in public parks and preserves, from Acadia National Park in Maine to the South Fork of Long Island. Visit the tallest stone wall (Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island), the most famous (Robert Frost’s mending wall in Derry, New Hampshire), and many more. This field guide will broaden your horizons and deepen your appreciation of New England’s rural history.

The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of Building New England Stone Walls

by Kevin Gardner , Susan Allport, & Guillermo Nunez

n this elegant, literate primer, a master stonemason imparts the fundamentals of building traditional New England dry stone walls, along with thoughts on the history, aesthetics, and philosophy of the craft of placing stone. Author Kevin Gardner defines "the granite kiss" as "that instantly discouraging, and inevitable, experience in stone work when a fingertip or two fails to escape the contact point between two large stones on the occasion of their first meeting." In this eminently readable primer on the fundamentals of placing stone, Gardner distills 25 years of experience in building and repairing New England-style dry stone walls into clear, step-by-step instructions. In addition to directions on building basic stone walls, he also demystifies steps, wells, ramps, walkways, and many other forms of dry masonry. Detailed illustrations throughout by Guillermo Nuñez bring the stonemason’s craft to life. Along the way, Gardner considers the history, aesthetics, and philosophy of placing stone in a book that will bring as much pleasure to armchair craftsmen as it does valuable instruction to the beginning wall builder. 30 black and white illustrations • Glossary • Bibliography • Index.

In the Company of Stone: The Art of the Stone Wall

By Dan Snow

Dan Snow builds stone walls without benefit of mortar or other binding material. This ancient dry-stone method is experiencing a revival, and Snow’s In the Company of Stone is full of moody photos of recent landscape projects, some of which look as if they’d been part of the scenery for centuries. Snow’s poetic commentary and a helpful appendix of design detail make for an inspiring, informative book.

On The Newsstand: The March 2010 Issue of This Old House

Jerrald Hayes — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:40:47 +0000

The March 2010 Issue of This Old House magazine just arived in it we’ll have a quick preview look here at what’s inside.

Curb Appeal

Paint Ideas—Use contrasting colors to make up your entryway a neighborhood knockout
Secrets to Graeat Curb Appeal—Six exterior makeovers with inspiring ideas for turning you home into an eye-grabber

Idea File

Before & After: Kitchen— Major changes make a period kitchen useful again while leaving it’s character intact.
The Best Places To Buy An Old House—Check out six neighborhoods where you may find the finely ccrafted house of your dreams.
Reader Remodel— A couple turn transforming their American four-square into a family affair.
Garden Junk—Use a buggy, funnel, or other vintage castoff to enhance your yard’s flower power.

TOH TV

Household Wisdom: Richard Trethewey—The veteran plumbing and heating expert’s advice for keeping your hhome’s lifelines clear.

UpGrades

Shopping—Standout switch plates
Price Wise—Ergonomic bypass pruners
Get This Look—Vintage-style home office
Build It Or Buy It—Compost bin
All About— Wood Windows

Home Solutions

Wallpaper the risers on your front stairs; how to banish bad nes bugs; lime a table; spruce up a stacked stone wall; and more

How-To Projects

Landscaping— Follow this maintenance checklist to help your yard spring back to life
Weekend Remodel— Belgian block driveway edging

Ask This Old House

Q&A— Determine the right size and wood for bookshelves; create edging for a walkway made of gecko shaped pavers; reinstall a toilet with the proper alignment; and more.
Step-By-Step— Keep your water heater humming
Norms Tricks of the Trade— Plug latch and knob holes to get an old door ready for new hardware
Reader Tool Test— Power multitools

When these articles come online we’ll revist this article and post the link s so check back again soon.

Get your own subscription to This Old House magazine via Amazon.com.

A D.I.Y Video on the Installation of a Insulated Basement Floor System

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 06:14:29 +0000

A good video from Extreme How To Magazine on how to Install an Insulated Basement Floor consisting of an insulated subfloor, tongue-and-groove natural cork panels, and modular carpet tiles.

Coming Soon – A Video Interview with Alan Krawitz of Bath Fitter

Jerrald Hayes — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:13:46 +0000

Coming Soon!!

A video interview with Alan Krawitz of Bath Fitter who will discuss with us the bathroom remodeling options that Bath Fitter provides and take us through their techniques and offerings.

A Upturn for Remodeling & Home Improvement in 2010?

Jerrald Hayes — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:35:11 +0000

One of the remodeling industries trade journals Quaified Remodeler reports that:

LIRA [Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity]Suggests Remodeling Upturn in 2010

Home improvement spending is likely to reach a cyclical bottom in the current quarter and steadily increase through 2010 according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), released by the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. (Read more…)

Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University which researches and publishes a steady stream of reports and anyalsis of the building, remodeling and home improvement sector says: "Sales of existing homes are on the rise and home price declines are moderating in most markets across the country,…Financing costs are also favorable, although credit availability remains tight for many households.”

Green Building Advisor Article: Pro/Con: Is Vinyl Green?

Jerrald Hayes — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:19:14 +0000

Thanks to Green Building Advisor editor Daniel Morrison we have two articles with contrasting opinions highlighted in the blogs over on the Green Building Advisor website: Pro/Con: Is Vinyl Green?

Yes, Vinyl Is Green
By Patrick Moore
Expensive green products will remain niche products with little chance to have a positive effect on the environment. Vinyl is affordable and versatile. Read more…

No, Vinyl Is Lethal
By Bill Walsh
The environmental, health, and social equity effects of vinyl over its life cycle make it the worst plastic for the environment and the antithesis of a green building material. Read more…

Personally I have an aesthetic bias against vinyl. Even when it looks good you touch it or tap it with the back of your hand and it sounds like it’s plastic and that has always bothered me. Getting beyond that bias I still find myself agreeing more with Bill Walsh and his Vinyl is Lethal arguments but I do find the Patrick Moores arguments worthwhile listening to and considering.

Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live

Jerrald Hayes — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:48:34 +0000

Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live while the title for latest book from the talented and renowned architect by Sarah Susanka is also one of project specialties and part of the way we think at my company Paradigm Projects, Ltd..

Many of us in the trades first took notice of Sarah Susanka ten years ago with the release of her now seminal book The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live and saw it spark a movement in a direction away from the over-sized ‘McMansion’ direction that so many builders anxious to make money selling square feet over quality were pushing on the market in the late nineties and the first part of this century.

With the downturn of the housing market in 2008 a lot of people find themselves now thinking of remodeling rather than buying or building expansive new homes.

Sarah Susanka is famous for having said “build better, not bigger” and while we have longed believed in that sentiment that thinking is particularly relevant today and looking ahead into the future.

The book is packed with ideas and inspiration that can help the homeowner in identifying the small things we can do that deliver the greatest bang for the buck and have the most visual and aesthetic impact.

"It is my fervent hope that you’ll discover that the house of your dreams is actually hiding right where you live today." — Sarah Susanka, Not So Big Remodeling

Susanka is the author of eight books that collectively evoke the “not so big” approach.

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