Home Improvement / Construction

This blog is an announcement and the body of text that follows is copied from NAHB's website:

UNIVERSAL DESIGN/BUILD

This two-day course focuses on integrated home design features and product specifications that account for client differences due to circumstance, physical characteristics, health issues and aging. Universal Design/Build expands on the previous CAPS (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist) courses by changing the focus from specific modifications to meet the needs of one person to

The building craze is over, but is a new craze underfoot: subditions? The housing boom lasted so long, it foiled us into a malaise of thinking that it was normal. “Oh yes, we’ll be breaking ground on another addition next week,” was spoken at many a dinner conversation. That or, “We’ve simply outgrown our 3,000 sq ft home and are moving to a bigger place.”

Well, those days are over and more frequently heard are remodeling conversations: new cabinet faces in t

This article comes full circle to end where it began, with universal design. When designing for the full spectrum of life, universal design is most easily and inexpensively accomplished at the onset, not mid-way or as a retrofit. When building or modifying a home, one can do much to make the challenges of winter simpler and more manageable. Use the following list to help guide your designs at the planning stages of construction.

New Home Construction

• As a general guideline, make your ho

The best design for getting around during the season of snow and ice is to set yourself up so that your mobility is as safe and easy as possible. For starters, try not to be out and about when conditions are treacherous. This means having what you need before the bad weather strikes (see the section on preparation). If you must go out, allow extra time – no rushing or mad dashes; go slower and with added mindfulness. Travel during daylight, not at night. Give snow and ice removal services

Snow and ice spell trouble, maybe danger, probably extra work, and certainly limits to mobility. Hardest hit won’t be those who live in snow country and are used to it, but those who live in the marginal areas that rarely get snow or ice. Overcoming the inconveniences of snow requires preparation. This series of posts provides checklists to help you create and prepare for a better winter experience.

Snow Removal

The snow is falling (a lot this winter) and you are inside all cozy and rela

PREPARING FOR WINTER

Overcoming the inconveniences of snow requires preparation. This series of posts provides checklists to help you create and prepare for a better winter experience. The posts in this series are: Universal Design for Winter, Preparing For Winter, Snow Removal, Getting Around, and, New Home Construction.

Preparing For Winter

No matter how well we design for our survival (and comfort), nature can always out-do us, reminding us to be humble, thoughtful … and prepared.

Do you have a five-year plan? As it is close to New Years, how about a one-year plan for 2011? Those who make a plan are much more likely to achieve their goals than those who don’t. What about your company, what’s their plan? How about your country? Still with me? Or have you clicked outta here?

Go have a look at India’s Five Year Plans (Wikipedia link); maybe just look at the recent plan, the Eleventh 2007-2012 (scroll down). This is a country on the move. This is a country

In May 2008, I wrote the following:

“One day, there will be the ultimate universal design handbook. It will have well conceived answers to every design quandary, each achieved cost effectively and with elegance. No. That would be as if universal design was a destination, a place we arrive at where solutions were the intention of its creation. This notion that a checklist can be created pervades the present consciousness of legislators and building inspectors alike. We will have measures b

See it in video: Living Large in the 70's

Ahh, the 70’s. Muhammad Ali, Mark Spitz, Vietnam, China and Watergate. What about Star Wars, disco, Atari and video cassettes? How about the New York City blackout, Son of Sam and Guardian Angels? A pretty amazing decade, but, I’m not talking about those 70’s. I’m talking about you and your seventies!

Becoming seventy is far away, maybe 10, 20, 30 or even 40 years off. When it comes, I’m sure you want to be living a great

Stepping back from a focused view on universal design, I see that there are other ways to achieve an environment that disappears the effects of many conditions that would otherwise be considered disabling. What is it and how is it possible?

A new and beautifully illustrated book, Restorative Commons: Creating Health and Well-Being Through Urban Landscapes, not only values that calming experience we all feel after time spent in nature, it looks at how to bring nature back into our urban settings

Hooray! I am a CAPS graduate. What’s so different? Through manuals, instruction, discussion and testing, I added to my knowledge (even me, Mr. know-it-all). And, I am very excited.

CAPS is an acronym for Certified Aging In Place Specialist. It is a three-day training and certification course offered by NAHB, National Association of Home Builders. One day is devoted to general business management for builders; the other two days provide aging-in-place training in both marketing and communi

Once upon a time there were three little boomers and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Before they left, their mother told them, "Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world."

The first little boomer built his house out of straw because it was the easiest and cheapest thing to do.

The second little boomer built his house out of sticks. This was a more expensive and beautiful house but lacked any amenities for later i

Laura Claridge has just published a biography on Emily Post. To the delight of fans, Emily Post was quite the woman living in quite the time. To her detractors, Emily Post is still no more than an arbiter of manners including the extended pinky finger while quietly sipping tea.

It was in 1922 that Emily Post wrote her famous guide to social etiquette. Some people now perceive it as an obsolete set of behavioral rules for people in high society. However, this interpretation misses its theme: the

“I did not know that!” There are many steps one takes toward becoming a universal design environment and many are as simple as a trip to the store or a few simple changes in the home. Many are common-sense improvements which contribute to your home working with greater ease.

• Increase light output by using highest wattage bulb allowed by manufacturer; have two-bulb fixtures as often as possible and you will still have light even when one bulb burns out.
• Create a place where you ca