Energy Efficiency Report

In order to determine and plan the overall energy consumption and efficiency of the whole state, applying for a permit for a home remodeling or room addition in CA may require a Title 24 Report, showing the performance of its units like the central air and heat, lightings, and other energy consuming devices. It is definitely more additional work and complication for a home flipper or contractor in order to obtain such report to get a permit approved. Just like a home inspection, a Title 24 Report requires a licensed or trained HERS Provider to analyze the report and such report will further undergo documentation review for accurrary before it will be forwarded to the city hall during the permit application process for approval making sure that the home remodeling or addition is in compliance with the energy efficiency standards. I guess the Title 24 Report will help ensure that each dwelling will be more energy efficient and consume less energy specially with the growing concern of global warming nowadays. Oh well, never filed for a Title 24 Report before, so its gonna be a learning process, as we go along.

Written by Jazevox
All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or republished without written permission.

Knocking Down Walls

People love the feeling of openness in their homes. A lot of times traditional rooms are separated by four cornered walls, but sometimes, walls separate you from the things that are happening in other rooms! There are times that a wall feels more closed in and makes you feel missed out from the fun and family activities. Nowadays, a lot of family wants an open feeling in their home, being able to see the kids or participate in the conversation with friends in the living room or dining area while cooking in the kitchen. Having a nice flow in foot traffic and having the house visually look larger is ideal for a lot of people these days, and one way to achieve these goals is by knocking down few walls that separate one room to another, and give it a new open feeling and smooth flowing. But before you get so excited and start knocking down walls, wait, knocking down walls maybe the design solution to eliminate the cramp and closed-in feeling, but be sure to consult a Structural Engineer first, to verify that the wall you are removing is not a load bearing wall! Bearing walls are functioning integral part of the whole house, so it cannot be easily remove without resupporting everything else that relies on those walls. Bearing walls maybe supporting your whole roof above or your second floor. So if you will blindly remove a load bearing wall without resupporting those loads first, it may cause your roof or second floor to collapse or sag, which you don't want to happen. So before getting so excited above removing those walls in order to achieve those open feeling, make sure that you properly consult with a license Structural Engineer in order to help you decide how to resupport all the existing loads that the existing bearing walls are carrying. Bearing walls or non-bearing walls, there is a way to knock them down, it just have to be done right and properly. One popular way to resupport all the loads of a bearing wall is by installing the right size beams. But beams installation can be a lot of hard labor and heavy task, and needs knowledgeable manpowers. Installing huge beams requires manpowers and requires temporary supports of existing loads while the beams are being placed. If you are willing to spend these extra costs and works of removing a wall or two, you can possibly achieve that open feeling in your home that you are aiming for.

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Written by Jazevox

Saving Those Original Hardwood Floors

When you buy older homes, lets say, houses that were built around 1960s to 1970s, it is more likely the you will uncover a genuine hardwood floors underneath those headious carpets! Nowadays, hardwood floors are a crowd favorite flooring for a lot of homeowners and buyers. But real hardwood floors nowadays cost a lot per square foot, easily ranging from $3 to $10 per square foot, and if you are lucky to have a hardwood floor hidden underneath an old ruined carpet that had seen better days, repolishing those hardwood floor maybe worth all the works to save it. There maybe a lot of other alternative as far as recreating the look of those hardwood floors like using laminate flooring or vinyl flooring with wood designs, but nothing can compare to have the original hardwood floors that originally came with the house when it was first built! If you are selling the house, hardwood floors that comes originally with the house is definitely a great selling feature and it is a definite hot item for many prospective buyers! You gain a lot of benefit by saving the original hardwood floors, not counting the cost you save if you have to recreate the same material, nowadays, this type of flooring will easily cost you a fortune. By saving the original hardwood floors and putting it back to its original glory can be quite a task for a house flipper or a house investor or a homeowner, but if sanded and properly stained or protected, all the effort that is put into saving those real hardwood floors maybe all worth it, not only because it looks great and natural, but also because it could save you tons of money trying to replace it with the same exact materials. So, if by all means, you uncover an original hardwood floors, it might be all worth it to save those genuine stuff!

Written by Jazevox
All Rights Reserved. Do not copy or republished without written permission.