Maine Modular & Custom Home News

Some green building has hidden benefits - the incentives, tax rebates and tax credits that are hard to keep track of.  The Green Made Simple website lets you search for all kinds of free bonus and incentive programs for making your home more green.  All you need to do is put in your zip code and search by category and you will be enlightened to all kinds of savings and benefits you never knew existed.  It’s like shopping a super sale…gotta love that.  Check it out at Green Made Simple.

Well, not really…just a little friendly competition.  When two celebrities try to make their homes more green, it becomes a contest to see who will do the best job.  Read the story about Begley vs. Nye to find out who’s ahead.  What a great way to bring attention to the importance of trying to make our planet healthier, and have a little fun, also.

Or VOCs as they are fondly referred to.  VOCs are found in the off gassing of harmful chemicals and pollutants commonly found in solvent-based finishes, adhesives, carpeting, particleboard, and many other building products.  One of the more common ways that VOCs escape into our living habitat is through paint, stains and sealers.  Safecoat paints and primers offer a full range of ecologically safe enamel paints as well as other safe sealants and stains.  The paints are taintable with zero VOC colorants in a variety of shades.  Their products are fully LEEDS certified and they are available throughout the U.S.  The air we breathe is polluted enough with everyday toxins.   Check out the Safecoat website at www.safecoatpaint.com, to view their full range of environmentally safe products.  They offer downloadable spec sheets on their products so you can compare them to other products you might be considering.   Using zero VOC paints and stains can help our immediate surroundings to be a little more healthy - and that’s a good thing.

I post articles on green building all the time.  In my travels on the internet to find reliable sources, I ran across this: My Green Journey.  Ok - so it’s not about building, but it is very helpful information for each and every home owner.  There are green things growing around our homes that definitely are not good for us.  While gardening or exploring your lot, be very careful not to encounter poison ivy, poison oak, or any of the other poisons that are out there.

If you are a first time shopper for home owner’s insurance, here are a few tips for saving money.  These are common areas that most all insurance companies will allow discounts for.  First, you will need to decide how big of a deductible you are comfortable with.  In general the higher deductible on your policy, the lower the cost.  After you decide your deductible ask about discounts:

• Discount for using same insurance company for both auto and home insurances
• Discount for having smoke detectors
• Discount for having a burglar alarm
• Discount for have a sprinkler system
• Discount for not living in a flood zone
• Disccount for being 55 or over
• Discount for a radon or natural gas detector

 Of course you should shop several insurance companies and find out which ones offer the best deals. And finally, make sure you ask for an explanation for anything that is in fine print.  It’s better to not have any surprises.  Know what to expect before that incident occurs - the one that causes you to call your insurance agent.

Some of us are better at saving money than others….I happen to fall into that “others” category.  Everytime I save twenty dollars I seem to get an unexpected bill for fifty dollars.  Always one step forward and two steps back.  After reading Saving For A House Ain’t That Hard, I learned some very practical steps for saving money.  A lot of it appears to be just attitude; convincing yourself that you really can do it.  Apparently once you get started it doesn’t take as long as you would think.  I have to admit, for my first home I did follow one of the recommended steps - I asked my mother for the money.  Back when I was trying to get into my first home, there were no such things as on line savings accounts and automatic payroll deductions.  These are great tools to use, and I do feel that it makes saving for a down payment much easier.  Get started today, and while you’re waiting to get all that moolah together, follow another recommendation - come to one of our Home Buyer’s Seminars in either our Oxford or Bethel Maine location. You can sign up by clicking right here.  Along with all the great tips you will learn, It will help you keep a focused goal in mind and keep you excited about building your very own new home.

What do they have in common?  Not a lot.  But what we have discovered at Schiavi Home Builders is that they make a perfect complement to one another.  Timber framing is a beautiful building process that has been in use since Midieval times, and was used in building many of the great cathedrals throughout Europe.  Gorgeous exposed beams add grandeur to the interior of any building and allow for an interior design like no other building process.  While timber framing is strong enough to support the largest buildings, as with everything today, cost is a factor.  That’s where the complement comes in.  One of the ways to keep cost manageable, yet still incorporate the beauty of timber frame construction is to do a combination of modular and timber frame.  One idea is to start with a timber frame great room and add other rooms in a modular building process.  That way you can incorporate the timber frame aesthetics into a shared area where you spend a lot of time, yet keep the cost down by using modular building on the other areas of your home.  If you can’t picture these two building processes together, make sure to visit our Bethel, Maine Model Home Center.  We have added a timber frame mudroom to one of our model homes, so you can visualize just what it looks like to combine the two technologies.  I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Building is more than picking up a hammer and nails and let’s have at it! Modular Home building is becoming more and more specialized with detailed carpentry added to customize your home just as you envision it. To help you communicate with your builder, here is a quick guide to a list of building terms. Referencing the correct terms can help insure that you and your builder are talking about the same thing. As far as I know gusset, mullion and lintel could all be part of tonight’s dinner recipe - yet there they are on this list of building terms. Check it out for yourself.

Should green building be mandated by the federal government? The state government?  Any government?  Advisors for both presidential campaigns attended the 2008 Energy Efficiency Forum last week.  Jason Grumet, speaking for Senator Obama said, “We have to invest in our infrastructure.”  Sounds good, but I’m not sure exactly what that means.  George Allen, on behalf of Senator McCain, “emphasized government’s responsibility to ensure it’s own facilities are energy efficient.”  I agree, but I don’t think there was any follow up on just how that might happen.  As the presidential candidates start to debate on the hot topic of “green”, a lot of ideas are being thrown around, without a lot of specifics on how to achieve the desired results.  Read the article posted on the U.S. Green Building Council site that summarizes the two positions.  Energy Efficiency Forum.  After reading it, I wasn’t really all that clear on what each party proposes, however, it was fairly evident that the government, whether local, state or federal, wants to begin to legislate how we do the “green thing.”  Makes me wonder who is profiting the most from building green?

Here are a list of 10 very important questions to ask your builder and/or contractor - courtesy of HBAA - part of the National Home Builders Association. If you are uncomfortable with any of their answers, dig a little deeper, or find a different builder.
1. What types of projects do you do?
2. Can I see some of your projects?
3. Can I talk to some of your favorite clients?
4. Are you licensed and insured?
5. How long have you been in business?
6. How do you handle call backs?
7. How much do you charge?
8. What is your payment schedule?
9. With whom will I be working on the jobsite?
10. Do you belong to any type of professional organization?
It is important that you, your builder and contractor can all work together. If your builder is not willing to take the time to answer your questions, ask yourself why? You will be working with them for several months before your project is finished, so make sure you have the right person for the job.