Why do you need home extension?

A good contractor would surely ask you the reason of getting home extension done. There are could be many reasons of it. Some of them are listed below:

• There are times when you need to maximize your space to meet your family needs or you wanted to change your building and make it look like your dream house. Under such a case, this project is more about maximizing the value of your day to day experience of your home. For this you would be looking for better quality building.

• Home extension can also add value to your home. If this is your prime aim, you need to discuss with an estate agent as well to get an idea about the potential value of your home. It is really important that you maintain a fine balance between producing high end finishes and not spending more than what will be recouped upon sale.

• You might want to go for extension because you need an extra space for short term because you will be moving in the long run. If this is the case, then you must consider the cost of moving and compare extension cost as well. Do remember to take into account legal fees, removal costs and resettlement costs as well in your budget. Most of the time, the amount spend on short term home extension is dead money. It would be better if you do a very fair analysis. There is a chance that you find it better to save this money for your new home.

Making a realistic budget

Many people want more than what they can actually achieve within their budget. It is very important that you have a very realistic approach when setting up your budget and discussing your concerns with the architect. Once he knows your spending capacity, he will be in a position to come up with a design that would be affordable and practical at the same time. Also consider the legal fees and taxes that would be charged when you begin your home extension project.

Completion time

Usually the home extension projects take:

• One month survey and design time

• Two months in planning process

• Two months to produce working drawings and submitting them to the regulatory authority for approval.

• Up to four weeks to tender a project

• Two weeks for the contractor to start.

Always keep a margin for delays as well that may arise because of failure to get permission from the regulatory authorities. By hiring a good architect, you can avoid this problem easily. It is always better to start your project in summer and spring as the weather is clear. So you need to do the entire homework before spring arrives.

The post Factors To Consider Before Tackling Home Extension Projects appeared first on PK Construction.

Unplug It!

Unplug any items that you no longer regularly use. Do you have a spare refrigerator in the garage that is empty? Unplug it! Do you keep phone chargers plugged in when you are not actually using them? Unplug them! The same applies to televisions that are left on standby. While it may seem like a money saving setting, it can actually still be the equivalent of running a light bulb continuously.

Hibernate Mode on Computers

Another top tip is to change the settings on your computer or laptop so that it automatically goes into a hibernation mode after you have not used it for a set period of time. This hibernating mode saves on energy costs, while it also allows you to instantly access your computer when you need to use it again. Windows users can find this setting in the control panel, while Mac users will find it under the preferences section in the main menu.

Turn it Off!

While this is common sense, it’s amazing just how much energy is wasted due to lights being left on. Always remind yourself to flick off the lights when you are leaving the room. You can also hold a family meeting to make sure that everyone knows to turn the lights off when they are not needed. This small step can save a lot of money in the long run.

Know How to Use Appliances

When using home appliances, there are a few tips that will help you to cut down on energy usage.

● Only ever use your dishwasher and washing machine when there is a full load.

● Try and keep the oven door closed when cooking to prevent heat from escaping.

● Check the seals on your refrigerator to make sure that no cold air is escaping.

● Set your refrigerator between 38 and 43 degrees. Any colder and it will be using an unnecessary amount of energy to cool your food.

Energy Ratings

When purchasing new appliances, always check what energy rating they have. All new appliances should come with an energy efficiency rating that lets you know how much power they are likely to use. By choosing items with a good energy efficiency rating, you will be cutting your energy usage and cutting costs too.

There are loads of energy saving tips available. Follow several of these tips and you will be doing your bit for the environment as well as reducing your energy consumption and saving money on your bills. Good luck!

The post 5 Ways to Reduce Your Home’s Energy Consumption appeared first on PK Construction.

Adding a pool

This can be a hit or a miss depending on so many factors. It will certainly be a hit if you live in a warm area where one may want to take a dip every once in a while during the day. Not so in a fairly cold area. There is also the fact that buyers will always want to take into account the cost of maintaining a pool. If therefore your home is in a middle income neighborhood, refrain from adding a pool. If the home on the other hand is in an upper middle class neighborhood, then a pool would be by all means ideal.

Highly custom designs

Your idea of a modern kitchen may not be everyone’s idea of the ideal, modern kitchen. So unless you have plans to stay in your home for decades, refrain from having so many details in your kitchen design. Simply avoid renovations and improvements that are away too personalized. Keep things simple and maximize on space as much as you can.

Think of it this way. If you go for a backsplash, then chances of recouping the cost are high. That is because the difference between ‘backsplash’ and ‘no backsplash’ is always easy to notice. Buyers may not even be keen on the tile used in your kitchen. The idea of a backsplash in the kitchen may be enough for most buyers. But it does not end there. Be keen on the countertop. It is one of the first things buyers always notice in a kitchen. A beveled countertop that is ornate and complex can turn off buyers. A basic beveled one on the other hand can easily seal the deal for you.

Room conversions

Most home renovation builders in Perth will warn you on the danger of room conversions if you have plans to cash in on your home after some time. Buyers are always looking for specific spaces in a home. They may want a 2 bedroom or a 4 bedroom home with a garage – nothing more, nothing less. You can therefore imagine what would happen where one converted his or her garage into something else. So think twice before knocking down walls to convert rooms. The best you can do is to repaint rooms. That way, you will retain their shape and re-convert them to their initial use when the need arises.

The post 5 Home Upgrades That Should Be Executed With Caution appeared first on PK Construction.

Get an Artificial Lawn

A lot of time and energy is wasted in maintaining a green lawn. That time and energy can be better spent elsewhere. You should invest in an artificial lawn to save yourself the trouble. An artificial lawn may be a bit expensive, but you’ll make the money back in no time. Water is also wasted in maintaining an organic lawn. By switching to an artificial lawn you can prevent water wastage and save the environment. Water is a precious resource and you should try to conserve it wherever you can. Think about all those children in Africa who don’t have clean water to drink.

Insulate Your Walls

Heating and cooling make up most of your electricity bill. This is neither good for you, nor the environment. Insulating your walls can help reduce some of your expenses. Proper wall insulation can keep your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. You don’t need to break down your walls to insulate them, jut opt for exterior wall insulation. It’s a one-time investment that pays for itself in the long run. You’ll see the savings in your annual electricity bill. Go green by insulating your walls and turn off the AC and radiator.

Reduce Your Utilities Usage

The easiest way to make your home eco-friendly is to reduce your utilities usage. Electricity and water are the two main resources that you need to conserve. Installing energy efficient lights can help reduce your electricity bill considerably. Reducing the water usage is also in your hands. Take baths instead of showers and try not to leave the tap on for too long. Simple measures like these will help you reduce your electricity and water usage, thus making your house eco-friendly. There are other things you can do to make your house green. You just need to figure out where you can cut-back.

Install Solar Panels

Perhaps the biggest investment you can make to turn your house eco-friendly is to install solar panels. After all, the only thing better than conserving energy is generating your own supply. All the extra energy produced by your solar panels can be sold back to the electric company to power neighbouring homes. Not only will your house be eco-friendly, but you’ll also help other homes become eco-friendly. Companies like SolarCity allow you to pay for solar panels through monthly payments.

These are just some of the ways in which you can make your home eco-friendly. If you truly want an eco-friendly home, then hire a construction company that builds such homes.

The post 4 Ways to Ensure Your New House Will Be Eco-Friendly appeared first on PK Construction.

Construct high-performance building envelopes

Basically, plant based materials like wood and hemp can be used to create high-performance building envelopes. These building envelopes protect well against external weather to make it more comfortable, energy efficient and healthy to live in. Certain inorganic materials containing optical, electronic or magnetic properties can’t interact with the internal environment. Wood and hemp on the other hand works well in tangent with the aforementioned. Additionally, they can displace oil-based alternatives like polyurethane foam and can be used as insulation materials as well.

Vapour active materials

Vapour active materials are those that can absorb and release water vapour effectively. Usually insulating materials have that ability and they include:

• Wood fibre

• Hemp fibre

• Hemp-lime

Not only can they take moisture out of the air, they stabilise a building’s internal temperature much effectively through latent heart effects. Latent heat effects are energy that is consumed and released during evaporation and condensation processes within the pores of a plant based material.

Well-insulated walls

Building with hemp provides a strong resistance to heat loss. The woody core (shiv) of an industrial hemp plant is mixed with a special lime based binder. Panels that are manufactured in a factory are then pre-dried for assembly in a timber frame building. The walls will be well insulated because the hemp itself is porous. The lime binder protects the hemp and makes it resistant to decay and fire. Also, hemp-lime buildings leave a very low carbon footprint.

Zero carbon buildings

Zero carbon buildings contain plant based materials that absorb more carbon dioxide during construction. It allows the building’s energy use to be reduced to minimal levels even after it has been inhabited. The reliance on renewables such as ground source heating systems or solar panels, may have a limited lifespan and potential for failure. However, the former uses a fabric first approach that passively manages energy consumption.

Improve internal air quality and integrity of buildings

As mentioned, wood and hemp building materials can interact well with the building’s internal environment, which means it can also improve the internal air quality by removing airborne pollutants. Homes that opt for sustainable construction also tend to be more resistant to floods, and this characteristic is valuable when the home is subjected to adverse weather conditions during climate change.

Renovating a home is great, and using plant based construction materials with zero emissions is even better! If you wish to renovate your home and want it to be a stress-free experience, contact our PK Construction team to ensure minimal disruption to your lives. Whether it is a major renovation or outdoor addition, we will assign a personal supervisor to your project and ensure that we exceed your expectations.

The post Building Homes With Wood And Hemp Fibre appeared first on PK Construction.

1. Completely replacing the front door with a new one

A study done by a reputable manufacturer of doors found that changing a front door can enhance the value of a home. In this study, it was found that replacing an entryway with a modern variety upped the value of a home by more than ten times the cost of a new door. Apart from this, a properly installed new door increases the curb appeal of your entryway. It is however recommended that you opt to make bigger the entryways by installing doors that have windows on either side or above.

2. Decorating it

When it comes to front door decoration options, they are almost limitless. Some of these options include:

• Having the door painted in different colours.

• Adding a uniquely designed house number above or to one side of the door.

• Hanging a wreath in the centre.

• Installing long shutters on either side of the door.

• Adding a historic, playful or decorative specialty door knocker. From poodle- to chilli pepper -styled knockers, there is a wide range of door knockers online that can be opted for. These all will put a smile to your face when come back at the end of a long and tiring day.

3. Adding planters

The addition of planters with an assortment of different textured and coloured flowers and plants on either side of an entryway is one of the smartest ways to enhance the physical appearance of a front door.

4. Going high tech

Though a front door is not a technologically advanced section of your home, the inclusion of a video or audio door responding system, a phone and doorbell combo, and the likes systems can make all the difference.

5. Lighting it up

If there is insufficient natural light coming in, then it is recommended to have additional lights installed at your front door. And if you already have the lights installed, consider replacing them with updated version so to modernize the look of your entryway. If for example you have a porch, installing a hanging lighting fixture to cast a welcoming pool of light on the front door can make all the difference.

While budgets and styles are major considerations when it comes to updating the front door, any improvement that can be made to a most prominent feature in a home is always a worth investment in both money and time. While at it, it is good to note that the front door is the first thing that most people notice when they come to your place. As such, it is important that it makes a lasting impression on all those who come knocking!

The post 5 Remarkable Front Door Renovations To Try appeared first on PK Construction.

Choose to get it done during the summer

If you are planning on home renovation, it’s usually encouraged that you try to get it done during the summer. It’s usually much easier to do it then based on many things. For one, the fact that the weather will be very conducive will make it much easier for everyone to work. In addition to that, it also means that you can actually vacate the home easily if you need to. During the winter, having to find alternative accommodation if the renovation is extensive will be more difficult and time consuming.

Consider getting it done when most of the household members are away

One of the challenges that people face when doing home renovation is having too many people in the home. To avoid this, you should consider getting the job done when your household members are away. For instance, if most of your children are in boarding school, you could choose to get the renovation done when they are in school. This way, there won’t be any risk of having too many people in the way during the process. This will not only make them safer, but will also ensure that the project proceeds at the pace that it needs to as well.

Way before you decide to put it on sale

If you think that you will need to put your house on sale sometime soon, you should consider doing the renovation early on as well. You should avoid doing home improvement just before you put the house on sale, since it may be obvious to the potential buyers that you spruced it up just so that you can sell it. Having some time between doing the improvement and actually putting the house in the market will mitigate this effect, and will make the house more appealing to the potential buyers.

Choosing when to do your renovations will have an effect on the cost of the project, how easy it will be to undertake and a host of other things. Thinking carefully about when to do it should therefore be part of your planning. The above are just a few of the tips you can use to make a better decision regarding this, and it will also ensure that you don’t leave this aspect of planning to chance.

The post When Is The Best Time To Schedule Your Home Renovation? appeared first on PK Construction.

Building a house that is too much

An eco home is supposed to be the right fit thus building too much of this house will mean committing a grave mistake in the process. Take note that a large house will take up too much space and with that space, you will need more not just in terms of the cost of building it but eventually for managing, cooling and heating it later on. You can add some space in case you are planning of expanding your family in the future.

Not thinking ahead

Green homes are supposed to be built to provide you with shelter not just for the next couple of years but for at least the next 10 to 20 years (or even beyond that). When thinking ahead, make sure you take your lifestyle and future needs into consideration.

Building a home on the wrong lot

Many times, you might be enticed to buying a lot in a new site as these ones have not yet been used for any other construction projects in the past. Well, if you want a green home, you have to consider the plot where you are going to build it. A new site must have been a peaceful ecosystem and building a new home on it will mean disrupting that peace. In line with this, do not commit the mistake of building your home in an area that does not have access to your daily needs.

Forgetting about solar electricity

Not going solar defeats your purpose of living in an eco home. It will be good then to consider building your home in a place where there is direct access to sunlight at least from 9 am to 3 pm. The perfect spot is one where your front yard is on the southern part. You can also consider placing windows on the southern side. When you do this, you will definitely reduce energy cost and lessen your carbon footprint.

Doing the project on your own

You might be so excited with the idea of saving money with a green home and that turns into an obsession that you will consider lowering the price for every aspect of the project. This may be the reason behind why you will rather do the project on your own. You might assume that it will take some time but it will definitely be cheaper.

Well, we encourage you to trust reputable eco home builders in Perth to do the job for you. These experts know what they are doing and they can have your green home built in no time. The time they will save in the process will mean you will enjoy your green home at a lower cost as well as sooner than later.

The post Mistakes To Avoid When It Comes To Eco Building appeared first on PK Construction.

While signing the contract with the custom home builder you have hired, it is good to have all the facts about the contract with you. Home building is an intense work order that requires a lot, especially in monetary terms. Therefore, it is obvious that you will need a home builder who can be able to deliver. However, a custom home builder will only deliver what they signed for and so it is up to you to find out all the details of the contract before signing it. This will legally protect the expectations you have about your house.

Have you found a home builder?

The first and very crucial step in signing your custom home building contract is determining the worth of the home builder. Conduct a thorough investigation about your home builder. Determine if they are licensed and insured. Also, they should be well experienced. Here you can verify by asking for other homes they have built before, their references and reputation. If they are expert custom home builders, they should be at least well known in your local area. Note that experienced and reputable home builders build high quality houses and focus and strategies with the least risk involved.

What is entailed in a home building contract?

After a thorough investigation of your home builder, the second step is to determine the details in the contract. Remember a contract is legally binding and hence no turning back after you sign it. This should alert you to be cautious while finding out the contract terms and conditions.

• Payment methods: The contract should list the fixed amount the client owes, when it will be due for payment and how the payment should be made.

• The schedule: There should be a clear time frame that explains how the project progresses till completion.

• The scope of work: This should state the labor, materials, and other costs and requirements needed for building your custom home.

• Exceptional terms and conditions: The clauses accounting for potential changes in case of unexpected events made by the client.

• Design plans: They are plans and specifications showing the layout and design of your house

Benefits incurred in a fixed price contract

In case you choose a fixed price contract, you are likely to enjoy some benefits. The fixed price contract usually determines the cost of the whole project before the signing of the contract. This means that there are no additional costs to expect after you sign the contract. As a result, you can be able to plan for your finances without the worry of underestimations or unexpected costs. In short, a fixed price contract allows you to be financially stable during the building process.

Understanding your custom home building contract can be of great help to you. Since a contract is legally binding, do not take risks by making assumptions. Always make sure that your custom home builders are trustworthy and capable. This will protect you from regrets when the home builders you have hired are not meeting your expectations.

The post What Does A Home Builder Contract Entail? appeared first on PK Construction.

Granite

Granite countertops are considerably beautiful and unique, but they require regular sealing since they can stain badly. With proper maintenance, it will serve you well for many years. The most amazing thing about granite is that you can get it in a variety of colors. It is also a rather heavy material so be sure to get it the right kind of support.

Marble

Marble is elegant, and particularly tolerant to heat. This means that you will not need to be too careful about what you place on your countertop. However, the best choices in marble have to be dark owing to the fact that they can stain easily. This also means that you will need to pay more attention to the kind of spills that occur there.

Concrete

Concrete is not exactly the conventional choice for a table top, but it is slowly gaining popularity particularly in the modern home designs. It is heavy and thus more durable. However, you will need to seal it more often in order to avoid staining. With the right maintenance routine, a concrete countertop will be a really good choice. Find the right support for its weight too.

Quartz

This stone, probably makes the most beautiful of all countertops. It also has a finer finish than the other stones, meaning that your countertop will be fully protected from bacteria growth. If you go for a quartz kitchen countertop, you will be buying yourself a beautiful and safe workstation that will be worth your while in all contexts. You’ll also have to mind the support since quartz is also a heavy stone.

Tile

Tile is versatile and inexpensive. It basically gives you a lot of options when it comes to color and texture. The grout, however makes it tricky to maintain in terms of cleanliness, and the gaps created between the tiles will make your surface uneven. If you go for tiles, you’ll need a strict cleaning routine to keep the bacteria away. Aesthetically, it is one of the prettiest choices you may have.

Solid surfaces

These are popular because they are synthetic and thus mostly easy to maintain. They are also versatile in terms of color and design. They may not be as elegant or resilient, but they come in very great color schemes that will certainly brighten up your kitchen.

And now that you know, make sure you pick out one that actually works for your needs!

The post Do You Know Which Type Of Countertop To Use? appeared first on PK Construction.