Custom Home411

Site Work and Layout

Henry Moreau — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:06:00 GMT

By August the construction documents were developed and we were ready to begin the site work. I had visited the site several times during the plan development phase to check the topography and solar orientation. Thick underbrush and woods made this a bit of a challenge, but we were able to get a good general idea of a ridgeline that would provide a good natural elevation above some otherwise low ...

Getting the Details Right

Henry Moreau — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 23:43:00 GMT

A couple of months ago I was presented with an opportunity that has taken all of my time, focus and effort. I was contacted by a couple who were in the process of having a home designed, which they wanted to evoke the look and feel of a popular Natchez Antebellum home, The Rosalie. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for me) the designer they were working with was used to churning out basic stock type builder plans, and really didn't understand or listen to what her clients were telling her.

Three thousand dollars into this process, ...

3-D Home Plan Images

Henry Moreau — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:29:00 GMT

No matter what your taste or budget, I can help you get "there" if you tell me where "there" is. Why settle for a stock home plan, when a custom designed plan will fit your site and your life so much better? Especially when all design fees are refunded when I build for you!

Its good to finally get around to posting another article here! I've been keeping busy with custom plans ...

Dealing with Expansive Soils (Yazoo Clay)

Henry Moreau — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:37:00 GMT

Yazoo Clay is a common term used to describe what engineers would call soils with small particles and high plasticity, and therefore a great propensity to expand and contract due to changes in moisture content. Much of what is referred to as foundation problems is actually an underlying soil problem.

As I alluded to in the previous article, the usual recommended practice ...

Mississippi Yazoo Clay

Henry Moreau — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:21:00 GMT

I imagine everyone in Mississippi has heard of the issues with the expansive soil known as Yazoo Clay. As a builder or a homeowner, it is the stuff of nightmares. I have always insisted on a soil boring to determine its presence on a building site. The common remedy is to have a 5-7' barrier of non-expansive soil between any Yazoo Clay and your footings. When the site requires a great deal of excavating and hauling off of expansive soils and then importing and compacting non-expansive soil in its place, the costs can be exorbitant. I have recently talked ...

545 People

Henry Moreau — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:35:00 GMT

I really dont intend to turn this into a political blog, but I ran across this and just had to share it...

545 PEOPLE

By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal ...

Designing to cost (continued)

Henry Moreau — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:07:00 GMT

So if building costs can be such a moving target, how in the world can you custom build and be able to meet your criteria for your house, and stay within a budget?

This is a problem that the typical design-bid-build process addresses very poorly.

Too many designers will be glad to ...

Designing to Cost

Henry Moreau — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:33:00 GMT

A recent client has prompted me to address again a subject I have tried to convey on my website regarding cost to build and designing toward a target cost.

The amount of disinformation regarding building costs being perpetuated by the housing industry and real estate market is beyond my belief, and ...

LEED

Henry Moreau — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:27:00 GMT

Check out this link for more about sucess of government involvement in building practices

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/5872/is-the-leed-program-a-fraud ...

Local "Green"

Henry Moreau — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:03:00 GMT

O.K. folks, I wasn’t going to do this, but I suppose I’m about to “let my slip show”.

Let me state my personal opinion and position on green, particularly the governments co-opting of the environmental movement.

Let me start by clarifying that I have always been an advocate of sustainable, sensible and healthy utilization of resources. ...

Energy Efficient Doors

Henry Moreau — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Therma-Tru Exterior DoorThe issue of entry doors is another case where I find I’ve been “green” for years without calling it such. The typical wood entry doors used in many homes have always caused me some concern. Even when installed in complete compliance with the manufacturers’ recommendations, there is always the likelihood of swelling, shrinking and warping. They can be a maintenance nightmare for the homeowner. I’ve also noticed that often times the glass in any lites on these doors is single pane. Add to this the fact that wood only has an R-value of 1.25 ...

Elliptical Arches

Henry Moreau — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:38:00 GMT

I recently ran across an article from the Fine Homebuilding website regarding methods for laying out a true ellipse. As many of the commenters noted, the method shown did not produce a true classic ellipse, but an arc segment. In riding around looking at the arches constructed on many new homes, more often than not a rather poor job was done in creating nicely proportioned arches, and true ellipses seem to be about nonexistent. Here is a method shown ...

Another Look at Cost Effective Energy Effeciency

Henry Moreau — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:41:00 GMT

The results of the energy efficiency of my last project has prompted me to look further at information available. I’ve always been a little skeptical of manufacturers claims of energy savings, unless it is supported by outside sources. There is plenty of support for taking a fully integrated approach to planning for energy efficiency. When I read this article, I found some vindication in my mantra of starting with the planning stage, particularly the site. The average homeowner is inundated with companies selling their systems and ...

Energy Efficient Sucess Story

Henry Moreau — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:44:00 GMT

I had the opportunity to visit with the client of a home completed around the end of May, and got some great feedback on the energy efficiency for the cooling costs during the month of June here in Mississippi. The home is 4437 square feet of heated and cooled space, sited on an open hill with no available natural shade. In accounting for the views and solar orientation, we worked in wrap around porches on the south and west exposures, and included soffit returns on the gables to help shade the second ...

Building the Envelope

Henry Moreau — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:39:00 GMT

As I began to do some background research for this entry, I was both impressed and humbled by the vast quantity of information available, and a bit disconcerted over the lack of clear consensus regarding actual best practices and an all to common lack of attention to building envelope integrity in actual field work. All too often the needed detailing of building envelope systems “fall between trades” and consequently if the general contractor is not assiduous in ensuring that the building envelope is treated as an integral system, that needed detailing is ...

Sun Study of Model

Henry Moreau — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:51:00 GMT

By entering the compass direction and geographic location of a proposed home, a sun study can be performed. Unwanted solar gain can be reduced or eliminated, or passive solar heating can be accomodated. ...

Designing for Energy Efficiency

Henry Moreau — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:18:00 GMT

In the past number of years here has been an increasing interest in "Green Building" and energy effeciency in home design and construction. I have found that when the rubber meets the road, however, the average client is most concerned with the "Green" in the pocket, and understandably and justifiably so. The good news is that a great deal of benefit can be gained with a relatively small amount of expense. In the region of the country where I work, the primary ...

Designing for the 21'st Century

Henry Moreau — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:36:00 GMT

Visualizing a three dimentional object from a series of flat elevation drawings is not nearly as easy as one would think. Even professionals who work with construction drawings on a daily basis have to scratch their heads at times. It comes as no suprize then that there is often a sense of disappointment in clients who build homes from these drawings without ever having seen a model of the home. Thats the reason architectural firms would spend the time and money to build scale models of projects in the planning phase. However, for the average ...

Cyber Scale Model of Home

Henry Moreau — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:29:00 GMT

The representations we can present of your proposed home are light years ahead of the average local designer. You can actually see from every angle what your home will look like. ...