About Me

Getting the Most Out of Your General Contractor

If you are thinking about hiring a general contractor, you should read my blog before you pick up the phone or send that email. I am not a general contractor myself, but I have just finished restoring my home. It was a big project that involved working with multiple contractors over an extended period of time. Although I am not a professional, I learnt an awful lot about how to get the most out of a team of contractors and how to keep a project on schedule and under budget. I also learnt a thing or two about the work they were carrying out.

Search

Categories

Archive

Latest Posts

Getting the Most Out of Your General Contractor

Blog

Go Beyond Drywall: Why Choose Plasterboard Instead
If you're building your new home, you have two options for the finish work. When it comes to the finish work for your home, you have two options. You can choose drywall. Or, you can choose plasterboard. You might think that drywall is the best option, but that's not necessarily the case. Plasterboard offers benefits that you might not have considered. Before you choose drywall for your new home, read the list provided below.

Tips for Remodeling a Small Kitchen
Renovating a small kitchen can be challenging. However, you can formulate a design that makes the area appear larger and work better. Here are some pointers. Natural Light Allowing more daylight into your kitchen will make it appear larger. Consider viable ways to do this in your room. For instance, is it possible to expand vertical windows? Alternatively, if the kitchen door faces the yard, you could place glass panels in the door frame to create an extra opening.

Contemplating On Building Supplies for Cladding Installation? Opt for Veneer Stone!
The moment the exterior of your house starts to look worse for wear, it is time to call in a general contractor to spruce up its appearance without having to spend an exorbitant amount of money on an extensive renovation. Although painting is one of the top exterior enhancements that homeowners gravitate towards, it does not offer the same wow factor as cladding would, more so when you choose the right building supplies for this project.

5 Reasons Why You Must Opt for a Built-in Custom Wardrobe
Indeed, almost all freestanding closets have space limitations and are probably unfit for your room. However, a built-in custom wardrobe is robust, offering more space for your clothes, shoes or accessories, and it can fit in any area. Built-in wardrobes are virtually integrated closets custom-built for any space in your home.  If you are still on the fence about choosing built-in custom wardrobes, here are five reasons why you should consider them:

Three Reasons To Install A Retaining Wall In Your Garden
One way to upgrade your yard is to install a retaining wall. Bringing structural and aesthetic benefits, you can configure these barriers in various ways to organise your garden space. Here are three reasons to consider constructing one in your outdoor area. Stabilises The Ground On sloping gardens, rainwater rushes down the incline, lifting topsoil and nutrients as it goes. Over time, this degrades the quality of the earth. Additionally, as the rain doesn't have a chance to soak in, the landscape dries out.

Four Types of Earth Movers For General Contractors
General contracting firms seldom require the really big earthmoving equipment you find on large civil engineering projects, such as bridge building and skyscraper construction jobs. Nor do they need the supersized earth movers that you will find being used every day in the Australian mining industry. However, general building contractors of all kinds will often be in need of vehicles and semi-automated tools that can shift reasonable quantities of earth, even if they only need to dig a few metres down for a foundation trench.

Why it pays to get help with your subdivision
If you own a large piece of land, you can often realise more value from the property by splitting it into subdivisions and creating a number of smaller lots. One of the reasons why more landowners do not take advantage of the benefits that creating land subdivisions can bring is that they believe that the process of creating subdivisions is too complex and time consuming to make it worth their while.

Ways To Save Money Cooling Your Home This Summer
During the summer, air conditioning costs can really add up. But if you don't want to be stuck with an uncomfortably high bill, there are steps you can take. See if the following 10 tips will cut your air conditioning costs this summer. Turn the air conditioning down.  It makes sense to have your house cool when you are at home. But, why waste money on the AC when you're at work?

Darn Those Drafts: 2 Ways To Make Your Windows More Energy Efficient
Buying your first home often means buying the worst home on the best street. Spring has arrived in Australia, which means now is the perfect time to tackle renovations that were not possible during winter. One of the first on your list must be making the windows of your aged home more energy efficient. You want to install air conditioning after the window project, so you need to eliminate all drafts which could make your air conditioner work harder than it needs to.

Tips to Sprucing Up your Interior Brick Walls
One design trend taking Australian homes by storm is interior brick walls. Not only are bricks sturdy building materials, but you also can create a unique aesthetic to your living space depending on how you choose to finish the surface of the wall. Nonetheless, just because bricks are a durable material does not mean that they should be neglected. A little care and maintenance will go a long way in keeping your interior brick walls appealing.

How to Choose a Road Line Marking Contractor
Whether you're trying to perfect a sports field for your school or you need to create an easy-to-use car park, finding a road line marking contractor that's appropriate for your project means the difference between success and misery. In addition to ensuring the company you choose has the right equipment, you'll also want to consider their experience and the array of services they offer. Do they have the right vehicles?

Comparisons to Help Choose Between Engineered Timber Vs Laminate Stairs
When in search of materials to construct your internal stairs, you will find two alternatives are creating a buzz in the flooring industry. Engineered timber stairs and laminate stairs have had their popularity steadily increase over the years, as they provide homeowners with the beauty of hardwood but still have the versatility of other inorganic materials. Moreover, they are more affordable when compared to hardwood materials, making them perfect for people looking to install new stairs on a modest budget.

Tips and Tricks for DIY Home Fire Equipment Maintenance
As a homeowner, you may already know that most areas require you to have at least one fire extinguisher in the home. In many cases, you may have to have several in the home depending on the size of the home. You will also want to have certain pieces of fire equipment if you will be entertaining outdoors during the fall and winter months as well. All of these items need to be maintained and checked on a routine basis.

Incorporating Stonework in Your Residential Hardscaping Applications
Stonework is one of the versatile building supplies that are not only functional but will add some dimension to your landscape when utilised appropriately. Structures made from stonework are not only visually appealing, but they are capable of withstanding gruelling weather changes without succumbing to damage. Nonetheless, homeowners will frequent seek out the use of stonework when they are contemplating paving and flooring applications on their property. Although stone does suit these projects, it is not the only way that you can make the most of it.

Cladding Materials You Could Choose For Your Granny Flat
Initially, cladding was incorporated into construction for the primary reasons of keeping the structure protected from the changing elements. Most recently, homeowners are becoming aware that the cladding they choose can provide them with additional functionalities depending on the material that it is made from. Whether you would like enhanced insulation during the summer and winter or if you would like your cladding to function as a design element, you will find a host of options to choose from.

Various Ways Recycled Plasterboard Can Be Reused
Plasterboard is one of the highly versatile building materials used in construction. This material, made from gypsum, is utilised for a myriad of applications such as moisture control, fire protection and general insulation against thermal loss and sound. Nevertheless, do you ever consider what happens to this material when a building is demolished? What some people are unaware of is that waste that is generated from the use of plasterboard almost always ends up in landfills.

Should You Request for a Pre-Purchase Building Inspection?
Numerous individuals purchase homes before a complete building inspection is performed. In general, this is one of the most tedious processes encountered during the property purchase procedure. Moreover, this element increases the total amount of money spent. If you are wondering whether you should ignore extensive pre-purchase inspection not, consider these crucial reasons for investing in the assessment work. Identification of Structural Problems Homes are the most expensive investments made by most individuals.

Good Foundations: Finding the Right Bricklayer
If you're thinking of embarking on a project involving brickwork in your home or are already midway through one, then at some stage you will need to think about choosing a contractor to actually lay those bricks for you.  As such a major part of your construction, however, you're going to want to make sure that you choose the right company or person.  If you're not frequently around this type of work, it may be hard to know what to look for.