Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

How to create an outdoor entertainment space to enjoy year round

There's nothing quite like a good backyard barbecue to send off a good year. Getting the whole family together for a good backyard grill-up is really what the summer holidays are all about.

If it's your first time playing the host, however, it can be tricky knowing just what you'll need to make sure your summer barbecue goes off with a bang. Sourcing a selection of fancy snags and sauces is really just the tip of the iceberg here.

Here are a few other things worth keeping in mind when planning your first backyard summer barbecue.

Keeping your grill well-stocked and well-organised

Whether you're having a small get-together with a few intimate friends, or a larger welcome event filled with housewarming gifts and great music, having good food is a must.

So, no matter how big or small your party is going to be, your grill station should always be kept well-organised to ensure that no food items go overcooked and burnt and that there will be plenty of active cooking space available to cater to larger groups of people.

To impress your friends by grilling like a pro, make certain that you're cooking with 4 burner gas bbqs, this will ensure that you're serving up the juiciest meat, and thanks to more cooking space, you'll be doing it in record time.

Cooked foods are best kept warm by the grill rack, out of the way of uncooked meats to minimise risks of contamination.

Be sure to also keep an eye on the number of foods on your grill rack too! If you put too many extra patties and snags on the grill before any pre-cooked ones have had a chance to be eaten, you'll find yourself with an influx of food that may end in some food waste.

It's all about maintaining a good balance between cooking and cooked food, as well as keeping track of how many more of your guests may want extra servings.

Establish a dedicated drinks station

Having a dedicated drinks area should be considered a top priority, especially in the height of summer.

You'll want to ensure you have a good selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as well as plenty of ice to keep your drinks nice and cool under the hot sun.

Seating is also just as important for keeping your guests comfortable, so it's well worth investing in a few bar stools for your outdoor bar set-up.

Having an array of seating options will also naturally keep your outdoor entertainment space feeling nice and varied, ensuring that your guests feel comfortable interacting with one another in a selection of different spaces.

Vegetarian options and toppings galore

Of course, organising your grill can become more complicated when catering to groups with food allergies.

What you may find surprising, however, is that taking the extra time to ensure that you have meal options for gluten-free or low-FODMAP individuals, as well as vegans or vegetarians will likely elevate the overall quality of your summer barbecue. How does this work?

A widespread of foods means that everybody has more options to choose from, ensuring that your barbecue transforms into a culinary experience in its own right.

If you're concerned about contamination between veggie patties and cooking meats, you may opt to smoke your meat in a smoker instead, or even decide to invest in a secondary grill top specifically for vegetarian and vegan options.

This same grill top could also easily be used for grilling up some onions, pineapple, and beetroot that meat-eaters can use in their meal too!

Pasta salads can also be a great option for vegetarians and low-FODMAP individuals, but can also provide guests without dietary restrictions with a wealth of other foods to choose from.

If there are any foods that are specifically for those with dietary restrictions, they can easily be accompanied by little notes, or they can be placed on their own table too.

There is a selection of ways that you can keep your barbecue inclusive! It's all about finding the methods that work for you and your outdoor barbecue space.

Outdoor lighting and insect control for evening grills

Summer evenings are best spent outdoors, enjoying the gentle breeze of the season, and listening to the chirping of crickets in the distance.

There are, of course, some caveats that come with alfresco summertime dining, namely the presence of mosquitos, flies, and other insects that may be less welcome than the crickets in the distance.

These backyard nuisances are best dealt with by investing in some mosquito coils and solar-powered bug zappers.

Pest control lights are infinitely preferable to bug sprays, especially around foods, making bug zappers an essential element of your overall outdoor dining space.

Alongside bug zappers, some ambient tea lights and gentle fairy lights may also prove to be valuable assets to your barbecue area and will inspire your guests to stick around and stay celebrating well into the evening.

Having some ambient lights will naturally also help you and your guests capture your evening on camera too. Gold fairy lights provide flattering lighting for taking candid snapshots.

Complete the day with a little backyard cricket

Last but not least, it wouldn't be an Aussie summer barbecue without a game of backyard cricket. Having a few stumps on one end of the yard is really all you need to get the games going.

Even families without yards can still use their driveways to do a little wicket hitting. Just be sure that young children are kept supervised and understand the importance of road safety when collecting stray cricket balls.

Aussie backyard barbecues are a staple of all our summer holidays, past, present, and future. Even if our spreads have somewhat changed from being explorations into the world of pork and beef to including prawns, pineapple, pea protein patties, and corn on the cob, these outdoor shindigs are still undoubtedly an opportunity for families to come together and celebrate good food, good company, and great weather.

Read the rest here:
How to create an outdoor entertainment space to enjoy year round - The Canberra Times

Home House & Components Parts of House Siding

Get professional-looking, watertight results with these residing techniques.

Don't be intimated by vinyl siding. We'll show you how to install it and make repairs. You can save a lot of money by handling a vinyl siding project yourself. And you'll still get professional looking results. In this article, we'll show you everything you need to know to remove and install vinyl siding so it's watertight and looks great.

By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine

You might also like: TBD

Youll need specialty tools, like this zip tool, to work with installing vinyl siding.

Dont let the fact that you have vinyl siding installation deter you from that repair or remodeling project. If you want to shift a window, replace a door or even put on an addition, you can remove, alter and reinstall vinyl siding much more easily than any other type of siding. In this article, were going to demonstrate how to rework the siding around a new set of windows.

Well show you how to remove it, and learn tips for installing vinyl siding new parts. Well also show you how to cut vinyl siding, fit it and nail it back up. Most important, well show you how to make the installation watertight.

While well cover the basics, we wont cover every detail you might run into with your own project. Most manufacturers offer complete instructions; ask for them wherever vinyl siding is sold.

Working with vinyl doesnt require special skills, but you do have to understand the system. The only special tool youll need for reworking areas is an unlocking tool, often called a zip tool. (Youll need a snap-lock punch if you intend to cover new areas.) Youll probably need new vinyl siding trim pieces. We bought two types-J-channel to go around the new, larger windows (Photo 9), and undersill trim (see When to Install Undersill Trim.). You may also need additional siding.

Vinyl siding installation is designed to hang loosely on the sheathing so that it can expand and contract with temperature changes. To prevent the relatively thin panels from buckling, observe these fitting and nailing rules.

Youll need a zip tool to remove siding.

Slide the zip tool under the butt edge of the siding, hook the locking edge and pull down. Then slide the tool horizontally along the lock to release it. Lift the unlocked siding to expose the nailing hem of the siding piece below. Draw a line on the wall along the top of each siding course before you pull the nails.

The zip tool slides under the siding to unlock it

Drive a flat bar between the nailheads and siding and carefully pull the nails. Then slide the piece down to unlock and remove it. Number each piece and set it aside. Remove siding until you expose enough wall to replace the window.

The beauty of vinyl is that you can remove a piece anywhere on the wall. Locate the piece you want to remove and unlock the one above it with the zip tool (Photo 1 inset). It might be tricky hooking the zip tool onto the locking edge if your siding is tight. Try starting at an end or look for a loose spot. Sometimes you can unzip it just with your fingers. If youre having difficulty with a particular lock, try moving up a course. New vinyl siding is quite flexible, especially in warm weather, but older siding becomes more brittle with age, so work carefully.

It should be easy to slide a flat bar behind the nailheads since theyre not driven tight (Photo 2). Dont slide the flat bar behind the siding itself. Youll risk breaking it. You may have to bow each length of vinyl to release its ends from the trim moldings, and you may have to slide short pieces up or down past the window to release them from the J-channel.

Level and tack the new window in place then cut a piece of aluminum flashing to width so it extends from the new window to overlap the nailing hem of the siding below. Slide the top edge under the window fin, then nail off the fin with roofing nails.

Slide 5-in. wide vinyl siding flashing under the windows nailing fin. Make sure it laps over the bottom flashing at least 2 in. and extends 2 in. above the windows top. Nail off the window.

Slit the building paper about 2 in. above the window and slide 5-in. wide flashing behind it. Lap it over the side flashing and window nailing fin. Drive roofing nails at each corner to secure it.

Building paper is an important part of the walls waterproofing. Its a barrier to any water that may work its way behind the siding, so be sure upper pieces lap over lower ones. Tape any tears or holes with housewrap tape (available at home centers).

Flashing is critical for a watertight window or door. Aluminum works best with vinyl. Buy a 10-in.wide roll of aluminum (at home centers), and cut it into 5-in.wide strips for the top and sides of the window. The width of the bottom flashing will vary. It must go under the window nailing fin and lap over the nailing hem of the vinyl siding (Photo 3). This will direct water to the front of the siding.

When youre done flashing the window, stand back and imagine water running down the wall. Start above the window and visually check that all building papers and flashing lap over the piece below it so water cant run behind.

Cut a section of new J-channel 2 in. longer than the width of the window. Mark out a notch 1 in. in from each end and deeply score the inner cutting line with a utility knife.

Make the last two cuts with snips. Bend the tab back and forth to snap it off (see Photo 8).

Position the J-channel under the window. Cut and position an undersill trim if necessary (see When to Use Undersill Trim.). Drive roofing nails every 8 to 10 in. through the middle of the slots. Dont drive them tight. The vinyl siding trim pieces should slide back and forth slightly.

Cut the side J-channel 2 in. longer than the height of the window. Make the miter cut on the bottom with shears. Cut a 1-in. notch on the top end as you did on the bottom J-channel. Lap the side over the bottom as shown. Drive roofing nails every 8 to 10 in. to secure it.

Cut 45-degree miters in the side J-channel

Cut the top J-channel 2 in. longer than the window width. Cut and bend the profile shown (see detail) on both ends. Lap it over the sides as shown and nail it into place.

Cut and notch J-channel to fit over the top of the window.

You have to wrap the window with vinyl J-channel to divert water and to cover the ends of the siding (Photo 9).Youll probably have to buy new strips for this. Start with the bottom piece and work up to the top (Photos 6 10). Make sure the pieces overlap to keep out water.

Mitered corners give a clean and finished appearance. Be extra careful to fit the top channel correctly over the side pieces (Photo 10) because a lot of water can run over these joints.

Because the siding is beveled, the cut edge under a window may end up about 1/2 in. out from the wall. If it falls 1/4 in. or less away, add the undersill trim to lock it in place (shown). If it falls more than 1/4 in. away, skip the undersill trim and simply rely on the J-channel.

If youre working over foam sheathing, place a piece of plywood between the foam and flat bar to avoid crushing the foam.

Position the siding to be notched below the window. Mark it on each side of the window, allowing an extra 1/4-in. gap on each side for expansion. Measure from the locking tab of the siding below to the undersill trim to determine the depth of the notch.

Cut through the nailing hem with shears, then score deeply along the rip line with a utility knife. Bend back the piece to snap off the notch.

Position the notched piece under the window, sliding it into the undersill trim and pushing the butt edge against the locking tab in the lower siding course to snap it in place. Make sure the top edge is on the layout line, then drive roofing nails at each stud.

Drive nails so that the exposed shank equals the thickness of two layers of siding (1/16 in. to 1/8 in.). Dont drive nails all the way in.

Measure and notch the top piece over the window. If necessary, put a butt joint above the window to make it easier to install these final pieces. Lock the piece to the one below it, then nail it into place.

Finally, pull the last loose piece down and over the lock with the zip tool. Using your hand, push or pound the piece to lock it back into place. Work the piece into the lock down its length.

Maneuvering long pieces of vinyl into place can be tricky. Push one end of longer pieces into the trim, then bow the siding slightly and guide the other end into the trim.

Then slide it up and snap the butt into the locking edge of the piece below. Feed the shorter pieces alongside the window into the channel at the top of the window, and slide them down into position. Installing the piece above the window (Photo 15) was especially tricky because it was also the last piece (it would have been easier to remove one more course above).

We had to cut the piece and put a joint directly above the window. Then we cut a long length of extra siding to complete the row. Be sure to overlap butt joints 1 in. This method wouldnt work if you had to splice in new vinyl, because the colors wouldnt match.

Remove a piece of siding and identify it. Take it to a siding retailer or distributor. Theyll identify the brand and style and should be able to direct you to the right source. Unfortunately, vinyl siding fades with age, so an exact color match may be impossible.

Be sure to save and reuse all the siding you remove. Thevinyl siding trim pieces arent as critical. If you have to add new siding, position it in an obscure spot, like the base of a wall or behind the garage. In fact, you may want to re-side an entire wall with new vinyl.

Have the necessary tools for this DIY project lined up before you startyoull save time and frustration.

Avoid last-minute shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Heres a list.

Originally Published: May 06, 2019

Read more from the original source:
How to Install Vinyl Siding (DIY) | Family Handyman

Hours before I began to write this column, I was backing my car into a parking spot at church. Just ahead of me was an older garage on the church campus that was being remodeled. New vinyl siding is being installed, and my guess is all of the trim is going to be wrapped in pre-painted aluminum coil stock.

New trim boards had been installed around the garage door because the remodeler had enlarged the opening. I was aghast to see he had placed the bare cedar trim boards in direct contact with the asphalt paving and the soil at the building corner. In his defense, this garage had been built too low to the ground decades ago.

I think the original builder has just poured a concrete slab just an inch above the ground around the garage. Such a sad mistake (as Queen Cersei says to Lord Stark in "A Game of Thrones").

Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle

My sweet wife had walked ahead to get out of the blazing sun as I stopped and took photographs and looked closely at what was going on. As I turned and walked across the macadam driveway, my tiny gray cells started to fire off, asking all sorts of rhetorical questions:

My mind then drifted to how lucky I was to grow up in Cincinnati, surrounded by older homes built by builders and carpenters who treated their trade as a vocation, not a job. They passed down to apprentices decades of building experience and what they knew about how to prevent wood rot.

One building technique you'll often see in older homes, and I'm referring to ones built it the late 1800s and early 1900s, is the top of the foundation was often two or more feet above the ground. This kept the wood siding well out of the splash zone of falling rain.

This technique also saved money on excavation, as the basement holes didn't have to be as deep. Tall foundations like this also had room for operating windows to be incorporated into the foundation, allowing ventilation and light into the basement spaces.

By the time I was at the church door, I was relating all of this to the current building code. I then thought about the great writing of J.R.R. Tolkien in his "Lord of the Rings" book series. He wrote, "And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge."

So much accumulated building knowledge is taking the path of the ring. The current building code allows wood siding to be extremely close to the grade around homes. I constantly do phone consultations with people that have water streaming into their homes because the top of the foundation is far too close to the ground. When this happens, it can be hard to achieve great sloping positive drainage away from a foundation.

I thought about some landscapers and clueless homeowners who pile mulch up in planting beds, creating dams that allow water to leak into homes.

I pondered why grade schools and high schools don't teach home improvement and the basic science of what is going on inside and outside your home. Can you imagine the magic of doing a year-long experiment in grade school where children just take untreated pieces of lumber and lay them on the ground for months? In the spring they examine them and note how they've started to rot.

If you feel the same way I do about all of this, it's time for you to get active. Once a month you need to attend your school board meetings and speak about this void in the curriculum. Give real-life examples of why boys and girls all need to be taught how things work in and around homes. This knowledge is invaluable.

It's unacceptable that all of this cumulative knowledge might shift from history, to legend, to myth. This is why every word I've ever written is stored on my AsktheBuilder.com website. It's there for you and for all those unborn in the future so what I know does not pass out of all knowledge.

Subscribe to Tim's free newsletter at AsktheBuilder.com. Tim now does livestreaming video at 4 p.m. Monday thru Friday at youtube.com/askthebuilder.

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Ask the Builder: Lost building secrets that prevent wood rot - Citrus County Chronicle

In a sobering trend for homeowners, natural disasters are getting costlier, stronger and more frequent. Eight of the nine costliest wildfires on record have blazed since 2017, the Insurance Information Institute says. In Hurricane Alley, five of the six most devastating hurricanes to hit the U.S. have made landfall in the past decade. And three of the six nastiest tornado outbreaks on record have occurred since 2019.

Why is the toll from wildfires, storms and other catastrophes rising? Disaster experts point to a combination of changing weather patterns warmer waters in the tropics mean more intense storms, while drier conditions in fire country feed wildfires and to development patterns that bring more people than ever to live in disaster-prone areas.

In California and other parts of the West, soaring home values have pushed more people to seek out affordability by living in fire country. Historically, these areas were prone to burn, but more people are living there, says Robert Hartwig, director of the Center for Risk and Uncertainty Management at the University of South Carolina.

The trend is similar in hurricane-prone areas. Florida and other coastal states have seen continued population growth for decades. That simply means more people in harms way, Hartwig says.

Indeed, more than a quarter of Americans live in three states California, Texas and Florida that are nearly synonymous with natural-disaster risk. Here are some of the most catastrophic events that can strike a home, plus strategies for protecting your property.

Unfortunately, devastating wildfires have grown common in recent years. The worst was Northern Californias Camp Fire in 2018. That inferno killed 85 people, destroyed 14,000 homes and caused insured losses estimated at more than $10 billion.The map of fire-prone areas overlaps with many of the nations hottest housing markets: California, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Nevada all have experienced sharp increases in home prices in recent years. The housing affordability squeeze has boosted demand for properties in new suburbs and exurbs. Increasingly, those developments are in fire-prone canyons.

California officials have responded to the risk of fires by making building codes stricter. The new rules require such features as double-paned or multi-paned windows with tempered glass, metal screens over vents and fire-rated roofs. During the Camp Fire, 51 percent of houses built to the tougher standards remained standing. Only 18 percent of homes not built to the new fire code survived, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Homeowners in fire country should be sure to have ample space between their homes and clear any vegetation in their yards, Hartwig says. That sort of maintenance makes it harder for a wildfire to reach the house. Meanwhile, insurers have begun to avoid wood-shingle homes, and new houses are being built with more metal and less wood.

For older homes not built with fire safety in mind, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes offers this list of upgrades:

Tornadoes are especially terrifying for homeowners because they can materialize so suddenly, and destroy so thoroughly, packing winds in excess of 100 or even 200 miles per hour. The most powerful storms can have gusts as high as 318 mph, according to the Fujita Scale, which measures the intensity of tornadoes on a scale of EF0 to EF5.

In 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded 1,376 tornadoes in the United States that claimed 103 lives, up from 1,082 storms and 76 deaths in 2020.

Tornadoes can happen just about anywhere, and almost without notice wide swaths of the Midwest, Southeast and Mountain West have been hit by damaging twisters. Insured losses from tornadoes in the U.S. average about $17 billion each year, nearly equal to the losses incurred by hurricanes, the Insurance Information Institute reports.

Its practically impossible to build a home that can withstand an EF-4 or EF-5 tornado, Hartwig says. Youre talking about winds approaching 200 mph and a tremendous amount of flying debris. Its more about protecting your life and your family at that point.

The risk that any given house will be leveled is low enough that homeowners in Tornado Alley typically dont harden their homes with impact-resistant windows and roof tie-downs. But one thing you can do to protect yourself is build a safe room in the house. These structures are bunkers built of concrete or steel and located away from windows and exterior walls. The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes estimates the cost at $3,000 to $9,500.

Unlike tornadoes, hurricanes give homeowners plenty of advance warning. Property owners in coastal areas of Florida, Texas, Louisiana and the Carolinas know theyre at risk, and the storms themselves typically form days before hitting land.

Property insurers, building officials and homeowners were put on alert three decades ago when Hurricane Andrew struck near Miami. Andrews $16 billion in damage ($30.8 billion in 2021 dollars) made it the costliest storm ever to hit the U.S. Andrew ushered in a new era of costly storms six major hurricanes since 1992 have eclipsed its toll, according to the Insurance Information Institute, most notably the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.In the days and weeks after Andrew, photos of wrecked, shoddily built suburban homes spurred local and state officials to harden building codes. These days, new homes in Florida are built with a variety of hurricane-resistant features the shells are concrete block rather than wood, windows are either impact-resistant or protected by storm shutters, garage doors are heavily reinforced, roof lines are designed to be aerodynamic.

Over the past 30 years, Florida has made enormous strides, Hartwig says. More recent homes built to more stringent standards do indeed withstand hurricane winds better than older homes.

Meanwhile, soaring premiums for windstorm insurance in Florida all but force owners of older homes to make upgrades. Homeowners can earn discounts on their windstorm policies by installing shutters or hurricane-rated windows, by adding roof tie-downs and by upgrading to garage doors and sliding-glass doors that meet the high standards of Floridas building code.

The U.S. has been spared a major earthquake since 1994, when the Northridge Earthquake caused $44 billion in property damage in Southern California. But severe earthquakes have continued to devastate other parts of the world, serving as a reminder that this risk remains very real.

The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes and the Insurance Information Institute suggest these improvements to homes near fault lines:

Flooding is tricky: If your house is in a flood zone, theres not much you can do to harden it. In many beach communities, homes are built on stilts to raise the living areas out of harms way in case of storm surges.

But there is something homeowners should do: buy flood insurance. Private insurers long ago stopped insuring against rising waters, outsourcing that responsibility to the federal government. The National Flood Insurance Program is the only provider of flood policies.

Yet many homeowners are unaware of this reality, realizing only after a flood that they arent insured. The biggest mistake people make is not purchasing a flood policy, Hartwig says.

If your property is in a high-risk flood zone and you have a mortgage, the lender will compel you to buy coverage. If youre in a lower-risk area, flood insurance is optional, but definitely worth considering.

Thunderstorms might sound like small potatoes compared to the disasters listed above. But lightning strikes are no joke. Homeowners insurers paid out $1.3 billion for lightning damage in 2021, per the Insurance Information Institute.

The costliest damage comes from fires caused by lighting. However, homeowners can also suffer losses from power surges caused by lightning. New homes are equipped with a type of surge protection known as a ground fault circuit interruptor, or GFCI. If your house has an older electrical system, its worth hiring an electrician to add one.

It can be installed relatively inexpensively, Hartwig says. You should have a surge protector to protect your electronics. Thats become even more important as more people are working from home, and have even more electronics.

Natural disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes can be devastating for homeowners, and climate change is making them ever more destructive. But there are ways to protect yourself, and your real estate investment including specific insurance policies and home upgrades that make a home better able to weather the storm.

Read this article:
Homes that can withstand hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters - Bankrate.com

American Framing, an exhibition now on view until July 30 at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago, is on a missiontwo, to be preciseit concisely tells the history of softwood construction in the United States and through its original installation triggers our imagination for how this ubiquitous building system that rarely deviates from reliable building industry standards could be diversified and reinvented by architects and homeowners. In late June, while visiting the city, I had a chance to attend this beautifully assembled provocative show.

Right upon entering this Tadao Ando-designed private gallery in Lincoln Park, which since 2018 consistently has been staging the most photogenic exhibitions focused on architecture and socially engaged art, visitors are greeted by a full-scale exposed wood-frame structure made up of standard studs and beams. The frame, a trapezoid in its plan, takes much of the perimeter of the gallerys soaring three-story atrium formed between a gorgeous amber-colour brick window wall on one side and an object-like exposed concrete stair on the other. The frame is topped by an inverted gable roof that either did not fit in its traditionally upright position under the buildings own roof or intentionally was turned upside down to try something extraordinarily novel.

What looks like an unfinished single-room house can be entered through a wide portal. A few pairs of Shaker-inspired chairs designed by Chicago-based design collective Norman Kelley and made from2 x 4 (5 cm x 10 cm) wood studs with varying degrees of finish and assembly are congregated in corners and provide a welcoming repose for visitors and a chance to calmly inspect the frame from within. Lit from every direction, it appears to be airy and graceful, even though it is unpretentiously rough in how its parts are nailed together. Look up and you may think you are looking down on what could be a typical American house right before being covered by amundane asphalt shingles roof. And when you look down at it from the top of the stair it may seem as if you are looking up to the ceiling from the inside. This ambiguous playfulness encourages us to think not merely about what meets the eye but what a typical house potentially could be if we were not as conservative when it comes to building a family house.

The exhibition continues on the third floor, adjacent to the top of the stair, and is sandwiched between other simultaneously held exhibitions on the floors directly below and above. The third-floor gallery features several structural scale models of historical wood-framed buildingsa round barn, a church, a suburban house, and a tiny doghouseall reproduced by students at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture (UIC), benches designed by local architect Ania Jaworska, and a series of photographs by visual artist Daniel Shea and photographer Chris Strong. These process-depicting photos illustrate various wooded scenes in North America; they document the techniques, contexts, and labour that typically goes into fabricating the wood framing.

This open-plan gallery, distinguished by an elegant stair in the back that leads to the top floor, is now enclosed and framed by a straight open-stud wall that brings here the aesthetics from the structure in the atrium. The see-through wall contextualises the material on display and, in a way, brings closer the refined gallery space and the construction industry matters that are questioned here. Some images are attached directly to the studs. Being visible from both sides they are turned into curious artifacts. Many other photographs that hang on white walls are uniquely framed and can also be viewed as three-dimensional objects; one has a corner that splits open, another has a corner missing, and yet another one has its bottom edge peeling down. These provocatively artistic frames send a messageexpect the unexpected and although all building components in the show are standard, they can be put together in a myriad of distinctive and artistic ways.

A few annotations throughout the gallery provide a bare minimum of factual information about the wood-frame construction that originated in the early 19th century and is still widely used today. In fact, this method of wood-house building technique represents more than 90 per cent of all single-family house construction in the United States. An abundance of southern pine and Douglas fir forests and simplicity and speed of construction make it possible to assemble wood framing easily, quickly, and economically, particularly because its construction relies on unskilled labour and the most readily available building components in the country2 x 4 (5 cm x 10 cm) and 2 x 6 (5 cm x 15 cm) wooden studs.

Yet, however, ingenious, egalitarian, and so emblematic of one-to-three-story America, this building technique is quite banal as it typically falls into a very limited and predictable range of formal expressions and is entirely covered by tiresome vinyl siding that comes in a selection of colours thats just as dull. By removing all these layers of finishes, the shows curatorsarchitects Paul Andersen and Paul Preissnerfocus our attention on the hidden beauty and the potential of this overlooked but very flexible and potentially handsome building system, if only more creativity was applied. It is necessary to mention that both curators head their own practicesAndersen in Denver and Preissner in Chicagoand they teach at the already mentioned UIC, which cooperated with Wrightwood 659 on putting together this show.

The exhibition in Chicago was originally made possible by The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State, and the University of Illinois Chicago for presentation at the US Pavilion at the last years 17th Venice Architecture Biennalewhere it was curated and designed by the same team. Having visited that exhibition as well I would add that it was among my favourite national pavilion presentations, both for its bold visual impact and the ambitious goal of the curators to revitalise Americas huge home-building industry. The wood frame there transformed the building by obscuring it entirely from its familiar neoclassical faade and the exhibition itself declared its intention to transform the most common building practice in the curators home country. This was the premise for both shows. In Venice, however, the result was more refined, both in its striking design and execution. The curators installation was built as a building addition that could be climbed extensively, reaching different levels and enabling visitors to see the original pavilion and territory around it in entirely new ways.

In contrast, the Chicago iteration is about the object itself and interacting with it purely visually. Still, it succeeds in making quite an impression due to the gallerys own layered design. It is a building within a buildinga newly constructed interior placed within the shell of a historical building. This means that the new frame is inserted within two other buildings; all three are wonderfully intertwined. Both in Venice and Chicago, the temporary interventions radically transformed their mother buildingsin Venice from the outside and in Chicago from within. It may be suggested that the curators used these two historical buildings as metaphors, meaning that what they really intended to challenge was the wood-frame building industry itself. And they have done it from two different endsby transforming these buildings and by exposing the structures that they used in the process.

However, what remains unexplored in both exhibitions is the analysis of relevant precedents of engaging with standard wood frames by architects. We are not presented with any such interventions other than by the curators themselves. Yet, it is an array of examples from different times and regions that could provide a meaningful cross-section for potential directions in terms of challenging the expected geometry of forms, the solidity of walls and roofs, or, for example, mixing wood with other materials. It is by comparing and contrasting these unorthodox case studies, either subtle or cutting-edge, that the building industry can be truly reinvented. That challenge is the curators homework for all practicing architects, which is to work creatively around all standards, whatever they may be.

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'American Framing' challenges the wood-frame construction traditions by exposing it - STIRworld

BBC/Darlow Smithson Productions

Interior Design Masters winner Banjo Beale is joining Scotland's Home of the Year as a new guest judge when the series returns in 2023.

Australian-born Banjo, who won series three of Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr, will join Scotlands Home of the Year alongside series stalwarts Anna Campbell-Jones and Michael Angus, while lifestyle blogger Kate Spiers takes a break from filming to welcome her first child.

Filming for the new seven-part series has begun, with Banjo, Anna and Michael hitting the road in search of outstanding homes across Scotland, from bijou properties to grand conversions and city dwellings to rural havens, all celebrating design, style and incredible architecture.

Banjo, who lives on the Isle of Mull with his partner Ro, describes himself as 'an Antipodean Hebridean' who settled in Tobermory in 2014 after backpacking around the world.

He won over the viewing audience and judges, including head judge Michelle Ogundehin, to win Interior Design Masters earlier this year, in a finale that saw him head to head with textile designer Amy Davies.

IWC Media/BBC Scotland/Andrew Jackson, Curse These Eyes

'What an honour to be joining Scotland's Home of the Year,' says Banjo. 'I'm always inventing reasons to snoop through people's homes now I get to peek into the best homes in Scotland! I had a fabulous time designing homes on Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr and now I get to be the judge.

'I have opinions and I ain't afraid to use them! But I cant wait to uncover the spaces and the people behind them. Im an Australian living on the Isle of Mull and Scotland has been my home for eight years. I think as a nation were seriously underestimated for our design, heart and bravery which we show in our houses and Im chuffed to showcase the best of the best.'

Since its launch in 2019, Scotland's Home of the Year has fast become one of BBC Scotland's most successful brands, captivating audiences across TV and online. The most recent series saw New Tolsta, an early 20th century croft house owned by artist Tom Hickman, crowned as the winner.

The new series will broadcast on BBC One Scotland, BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer you can catch up on series four here.

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Scotland's Home Of The Year: Banjo Beale Replaces Kate Spiers - House Beautiful

If you're a fan of color, you might be looking for new, inventive and adventurous ways to use it in your home. Step forward Summer Thornton, a Chicago-based interior designer known for her fearlessly colorful interior design schemes. Summer's work features in her new book, Wonderland: Adventures in Decorating. This inspired a sumptuous feature in July's Homes & Gardens magazine, not to mention the issue's iconic cover.

Here, we bring you our pick of Summer's best room color ideas featured in the book, alongside interior design tips from the lady herself. If you scroll down, you can find out where to get the book for yourself.

(Image credit: Thomas Loof / Rizzoli)

Blue room ideas are traditionally classic, but you can super-charge them with a bold color.

'When it comes to color, I believe the more experimental, the more arresting, the better. The trick is not to hesitate and never be formulaic.

'Luckily, the couple behind this renovation are my boldest clients. The original 19th-century boiserie wood wall panelling, though glorious, was far too serious. It needed levity and playfulness. We decided to be very theatrical and paint the walls a spectacular hue. My mind jumped to the sacred Blue City of Jodhpur in India. If a whole city can be swathed in blue, why not just one room?'

(Image credit: Thomas Loof / Rizzoli)

In a monochromatic color scheme, using different tones of the same shade is key.

'Through the blue-panelled living room, we can see into the dining room, where a beautifully busy pattern is introduced on the walls. I needed a wallpaper that could hold its own against the uniquely concentrated color in the living room.

'The pretty flora and fauna of this Schumacher (opens in new tab) paper provided the perfect respite. With it, I was able to segue from blues to bluish greens.

'The dining chairs used here are intentionally less formal than the mahogany Regency table they surround. They add a whimsical and light-hearted touch to the space.'

(Image credit: Thomas Loof / Rizzoli)

Colorful wall mural ideas can be used for drama. 'A secret garden waits for you inside this apartment. My whole design concept started in the living room, with an enchanting, hand-painted Japanese mountain-scape wallpaper covered in a riot of cherry blossom.

'This apartment is one of my all-time favorite projects, in part because I was able to work with a palette of super-saturated greens. My design relies on shades that are a little off. Every color I used here is powerful: jades, teals, aquas, cinnamons, citrons and ochres. I want people to be enchanted at every turn.'

(Image credit: Thomas Loof / Rizzoli)

'For a little role reversal, unlike the colorful walls in the rest of this apartment, thewalls here in this teenage boys bedroom are white and the casings and mouldings are blue.

'The rest of the apartment has a sexy 1940s appeal, but we wanted to switch gears for this room. Burnt-orange accents and pattern make the blue and white sing.'

(Image credit: Thomas Loof / Rizzoli)

It pays to invest in surprising bathroom ideas.

'With its stunning architectural details, this apartment ran the risk of being a little uptight so I had to unwind the seriousness with something over the top and wild in the bathroom.

'The birds are way too big for the space, and thats why they are perfect here. Everything else is so meticulously done and incredibly polished that we needed the birds to ruffle a few feathers. The paper pushes the design to the edge perhaps even over the edge!'

(Image credit: Thomas Loof / Summer Thornton / Rizzoli)

Pink room ideas can create surprise and scandal.

'The lady of the house is a fair blonde and pinks look so pretty on her. I just had to use that color in her bedroom, but we added lots of red for a stronger hit that ties this whole house together. Now the room is more of a nod to Rothko than Sleeping Beauty.

'Each shade of red is slightly different and none of them match exactly its that kind of slightly off-kilter palette that invigorates me. This space gets great light and we wanted to take advantage of that by using super- saturated, feel-good shades.'

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6 tricks with color designer Summer Thornton uses in her interiors - Homes & Gardens

To the Editor:

Citizens of The Villages have indicated that they support the concept of a new special fire and rescue district and they will get to vote if they want it on the November ballot. This article is not about the potential benefit of having this district only about the potential cost of it. I am writing this to inform that that there has been little information to date on how to figure out what each person could pay to have that fire district. You will need three pieces of information: your homes Market Value, Land Value, and Taxable Value. All three numbers are available from your property tax record on the county website. https://www.sumterpa.com/record-search/. For illustration purposes we will use a Designer Home in The Villages with the following values: Market Value: $539k; Land Value: $154k and Taxable Value: $488k. It is important to note that every household pays a different rate depending on the value of their home.Currently, fire and rescue service costs are financed on a two-tier system. The first is a direct assessment on each household ($124 a year which is what you see on your tax bill). The second is from general real-estate taxes. The county determines how much it needs in its fire/protection budget and assesses all homes in Sumter county a portion of the total real-estate tax. That real estate fire protection cost amount varies by a household as it is an assessment of 71 cents per thousand dollars of taxable value. So, in our example a home with a taxable value of $488k it would be assessed $346 ( $346k x .71) for a total protection cost of $470 a year ($124 + $346).The new fire and rescue services will be funded on a three-tier schedule and, according to the Daily Sun, the total cost will be borne by the homeowner in the special fire district. Tier 1 will be the $124 per household as is currently assessed. Tier two will be a direct assessment of the homeowner instead of the county. This assessment is the Market value of the home minus the land value of the home times 75 cents per thousand. In our example the home market value was $539; the land was $154 and the taxable amount was $385k which will be multiplied by 75 cents per thousand for a total cost of $288. To this point, the comparable costs would be $470 to $412. In this case, there would be a reduction in cost. This would mean a special fire district resident would get better service at a lower cost. However, it must be noted that IF the County Supervisors do NOT lower or eliminate their fire protection assessments from the real-estate taxes, the $288 would be an increase in cost. In addition, the fire district has the authority to charge a third tier which would be UP TO 1 dollar per thousand taxable values. In the example $488 x $1 = $488 extra. In a worse case scenario with no country tax relief this taxpayer would pay $124 + $288 + 488 = $900This year, this taxpayer today pays a maximum of $124 in direct cost and $346 in hidden cost in their real-estate tax for a total of $470. With a special fire district, it could be anything from $412 to $900 depending on house market value, assessment milage, and third-tier discretion costs. The actual cost will probably be somewhere in the middle but it would not be unreasonable to project a cost to the Villager taxpayer higher than today as new governmental organizations start-up and maintenance costs almost always cost more than original estimates.

Charles VaughanVillage of Sunset Pointe

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You may be surprised by the cost of the new proposed fire district - Villages-News

Anne Klein brand to introduce furniture collection this winter.

NEW YORK WHP Global has entered into a long-term licensing agreement with Nova Design Inc. to develop and distribute a home furniture line for the Anne Klein brand. The Anne Klein Furniture Collection is slated to debut in Winter 2022 and will be carried in select stores and e-commerce retailers throughout the U.S.

The collection will include upholstered sofas, loveseats, sectionals, daybeds and ottomans, occasional tables, bedroom and dining furniture, home office as well as outdoor furniture. The collections designs will be influenced by Anne Kleins homes at Sutton Place in Manhattan and the Hamptons. Prices are planned to be in accordance with the budget of the average Anne Klein customer without compromising the quality, according to the company.

We have experienced success in the home category for Anne Klein with our bedding and bath products and look forward to partnering with Nova Design to offer customers a new way to incorporate the classic style of our iconic brand into their homes, said Stanley Silverstein, chief commercial officer at WHP Global.

We are more than excited to see the outcomes of combining the rich experience of Nova Design in the furniture industry and the power of Anne Klein in the fashion industry, said Orhan Ilhan, president of Nova Design Inc. This partnership will offer elegant and stylish trends in furniture to the American consumers. We believe that Anne Klein Furniture will have a distinguished place among the respected furniture brands in the near future.

Anne Klein was a groundbreaking fashion designer who founded her own brand in 1968. The only American female designer represented at the famous 1973 fashion Battle of Versailles, Kleins brand is now owned by WHP Global, with products being sold in more than 15 countries across multiple categories.

WHP Global is a private-equity licensing firm that acquires global consumer brands and invests in high-growth distribution channels including digital commerce platforms and global expansion. WHP Global bought the Anne Klein brand from Premier Brands Group three years ago.

Nova Design is an importer and distributor of home furnishings for interior designers, real-estate developers, more than 300 retail stores and for online retailers.

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Iconic fashion brand wants to style your home - Furniture Today

Lighting maker Mitzi has partnered with designer Tali Roth to offer a new lighting collection.

NEW YORK Lighting maker Mitzi has launched the companys second Tastemaker collection for 2022, called Mitzi and Tali Roth. As an an interior designer and the founder and principal of Tali Roth Interior Design, Roth is known for her distinctively unfussy and exuberant style.

Mitzi has partnered with a group of influencers, interior designers and artists to bring their perspectives to light through a series of new collections. Launching throughout 2022 and into 2023, the Mitzi Tastemakers series features trend-setting pieces from the design world, all with a Mitzi twist.

One of our goals of this program is to invite customers to see Mitzi products in different ways, said Sarah Speck, Mitzi director of product strategy and design. With each tastemaker partner, you will notice, they all have a completely different aesthetic, from bold whimsy to muted coastal, and everything in-between. The tastemaker collections are full of unique yet usable pieces that double as works of art.

The Mitzi x Tali Roth collection features a mix of sculptural pieces, ranging from chandeliers and sconces to table and floor lamps. Roth set out to create a collection that is both fun and functional and will elevate any space.

The collection is inspired by my clients and the years of experience in peoples homes working with a variety of styles and architecture, said Roth. I wanted to create something that speaks to the past and my love of vintage lighting but also that relates to the real-life pieces I find myself looking for in the market place and not finding.

Roth believes that lighting changes everything in a room, with really bright lighting making people feel seen, alert and removing a sense of privacy. Dimmer lights create more of a sense of mystery, according to Roth. She invites her clients to use lighting to highlight the things they want and to hide the places they dont want to showcase.

Think about lighting in layers. Try lighting vertical planes to highlight dimension and dcor. Use floor lamps and table lamps as an opportunity for art or sculpture. Pendant lights are always better than a sea of recessed lights, Roth added.

The 2022 Mitzi Tastemakers include Dabito which launched in March.

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Lighting maker Mitzi partners with designer to offer new Tastemaker options - Home Accents Today