We have all heard those jokes or even seen the movies where the young married couples decide they are going to renovate their homes and undertake their own building alterations. These cause hilarious story lines, but please be warned; there certainly is more than a grain of truth in those stories because many of them are based on factual events! So why do so many people want to undertake a project like this themselves?

The reasons for wanting to undertake changes to your building or home are normally to upgrade it, make it bigger and better for your growing family, adding more value to it and generally making it more comfortable to live in. In fact there are many reasons why people consider doing this, but only a few reasons for undertaking the building alterations themselves. The biggest reason, of course, is to save money.

Having said that, we would never want to put anyone off undertaking a task like this. But before embarking on it, you must do a great deal of thinking and planning with your entire family. Again, there are several reasons for this. But the main one is that more building alteration failures come about through lack of adequate planning in the beginning, than for any other reason.

Some people, who have actually gone through this experience, would say that most building projects they undertook that failed were due to lack of funds or not having enough money to do what they wanted to do. This is only partially true in that if they had planned things properly to start with then, in almost all cases, they would not have run out of money; or at least known what they were letting themselves in for.

Many people have been so conditioned to all the advertising we come to hear about how simple it is to “do-it-yourself”. In fact, there are several market niches or industries based on this. You only have to look at all the DIY building centers and products designed for the DIY enthusiast.

If you are undertaking any building project that involves adding a room to your home, adding a garage, extending an existing room or even adding a room in your basement, then you must plan it from the beginning. This will normally mean having plans drawn up and getting building permission from your local authorities. Unless you are an expert in this field, or have a qualified friend or relation who can advise you, then seek help and advice from experts.

These people will also be able to give you an idea of what you could be letting yourself and family in to as far as the time frame that this building work will involve. Remember this will affect the whole family, as far as the inconvenience and upheaval of their lives go. Do you have young children who could be at risk, or school-aged children involved in exams, or anyone in the house who could be adversely affected during this period? Plan and discuss it.

Once you have covered this hurdle, there are several more steps to cover from where you will purchase the materials to who will undertake the actual work. And of course, all the other minor details; such as adjusting your insurance and seeing how the entire building project is going to affect your local rates and taxes.

These kinds of things are normally only looked at and attended to as the project progresses and that is where the problems creep in! Do not, for one second, be put off by this small wake up call when it comes to making your own building alterations; because there is nothing more satisfying than completing a project like this for yourself and family. And you can really save a bundle of cash. However, just put a great deal into planning how you will go about doing it from beginning to end, talk to people who have gone through similar projects and then go over your entire plan again to iron out any possible eventualities.

Michael Russell
Your Independent building-guided.com/ Building guide

Lingerie is a personal choice and patterns can range from practical to sexy. When a man presents you with lingerie it means he has progressed beyond the casual relationship to something deeper. He knows your taste and is confident that you will not be offended by the gift.

Bras come in a variety of shapes and sizes, the number representing the woman’s girth and the letter the cup size of the breasts. However, bras worn with t-shirts or for sports activities have a slightly different nomenclature. Underwear comes in L, XL, XXL, or XXXL or sizes 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 and so on.

A lingerie shop, whether online or brick-and-mortar, can be quite intimidating. There are so many choices and options. When in doubt or in need of advice or guidance, do not hesitate to ask for assistance. Sales people are well-versed in the subtleties of lingerie and would be happy to help.

Before you buy a pattern find out what babydoll, basque, bodystocking, bustier, garter, gel-filled, padded, wired, hipsters and so on mean. Find out which style will enhance positive features such as beautiful breasts, a sexy derriere, soft skin, or rounded contours. The lingerie style must add to the overall look and not create negative visions like the panty line showing through pants, or breasts that look too full or appear to sag.

While lingerie must be comfortable, it should hug the body without cutting into the skin or flesh. Well-chosen lingerie will help create or enhance body shape so that the clothes then drape well.

There are hundreds of sites like Amazon amazon.com; and Victoria’s Secret victoriassecret.com/ among others that showcase all aspects of the lingerie world.

Lingerie, like other clothing, has styles in vogue for different seasons, offering women a choice of colors as well as styles. And designers invite women of all shapes and sizes to explore their natural sensuality and discover themselves.

e-PlusSize.com Plus Size provides detailed information on Plus Size, Plus Size Clothing, Plus Size Lingerie, Plus Size Swim Wear and more. Plus Size is affiliated with e-PlusSizeClothing.com Plus Size Teen Clothing.

So you are considering building your own dream home? The majority of people building their own homes are often caught off guard regarding budgeting of the project and this always results in a really unpleasant experience for the first time builder.
Being conscious about budgeting can save you a lot of headache during the building process and might eliminate most of the nasty surprises. Following is a few pointers to keep in mind when designing and budgeting for your proposed home:

SIZE
The first thing to consider is to build a single storey or double storey home. Factors that will influence your decision might be amongst others: Stand size, soil conditions, views and of course cost. The cost of building a double storey is not necessarily a lot more expensive than a single storey as the cost of the 1st floor slab might cancel out a big percentage of the cost of the foundations and treating of the ground and ground floor slab especially if the ground conditions are of poor quality.

MASONRY
When 1st time builders are planning and designing their new home they often try to save on the masonry and frequently compromising on the comfort or aesthetics of the house. Typically the masonry work in a home building project only amounts to about 8-10% of the total project cost and therefore does not make sense to try and cut costs by cutting on the brickwork. One can of course argue that all these walls needs to be finished with plaster & paint or other finishes, but for the most part there does not really rest a cost saving in the brickwork.
Remember, a great design can be created really inexpensively with only using brick features or niches in and outside the house.

MASONRY SHAPE
One thing one might want to consider is the shape of the floor plan. If you really need to save on the masonry, there can be a substantial saving in keeping away from long rectangular or complex shapes with a lot of direction changes. Where possible, try to keep the shapes as square as possible and eliminate unnecessary internal walls and direction changes in walls.
As a guideline, consider the following: A 10×10m square shaped home amounts to 100sqm using 40m of wall. A 20×5m rectangular shaped home also amounts to 100sqm but the length of wall used to create the same area now being 50m.

ROOF MATERIAL
The different roof material considerations might be one of the following in approximate order of descending cost: Waterproofed concrete slab, Thatch, Clay roof tiles, Sheet metal, Concrete roof tiles. Other roofing materials like Natural slate tiles or Copper sheeting are available as well but less commonly used and expensive.
In South Africa, a double roman concrete roof tiled roof at 26 degree pitch might be one of the most cost efficient roofs. Using sheet metal roofing might add between 20-80% to the cost and a concrete slab or thatch roofing might be as much as three times the cost.

ROOF SHAPE
When designing your home also keep the shape of the roof in the back of your mind. If you are looking at building a double pitch roof, having a lot of unnecessary valleys and ridges as apposed to a very simple roof can work out as much as double for the same area of roof. Thatch roofing, being a lot more of a freeform in its construction, a lot more complex designs can be designed without it being significantly more expensive than as is applicable to a rigid tiled roof. A concrete slab roof might be expensive, but there would be almost no limit to the shapes that can be created in the floor plan, without an effect of the cost. With concrete roofs the size is directly proportional to the cost.

PLUMBING & ELECTRICAL
These two items might be the most overlooked cost items for 1st time home builders. The installation and labour cost of these without the fittings could be as much as 15% of the total building project cost depending of the complexity of the design and number of points for fittings supplied.
When designing the bathrooms & kitchen try to place them together as close to the sewer connection point as possible but don’t let this control your overall design.

FINISHING
The choice of finishes in your home would noticeably be the dominating factor in the total project cost. If you are a really cost conscious 1st time builder or perhaps a developer, this is where the most savings could be made, but be careful to take it beyond the point where it starts to compromise re-selling value of the home.

Written by Jere Botes, architect & founder of dreamhouses.co.za www.dreamhouses.co.za, a website dedicated to provide home builders, home renovators, home owners & developers with free professional advice on all aspects of home design, building & diy. Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must include a link pointing to dreamhouses.co.za www.dreamhouses.co.za

Homeowners with acoustic asbestos ceiling question about the effects of asbestos contained within its materials that if inhaled would cause serious health hazards.

If material contains more than 1% of asbestos, EPA defines as it’s containing. However, asbestos can only be positively identified by microscope. Many of the homes built prior to 1980s observe acoustic asbestos ceilings, and the removal of acoustic asbestos ceiling has become commonly done for environmental safety precautions.

Many homes contain acoustic asbestos ceiling in their bedrooms, living rooms, with spray-applied textures. However, asbestos materials are also in pipe insulation, shingles, floor tile, mastics, roofing, structural steel fireproofing, etc.

University of Arizona Dept. of Risk Management and Safety explains the hazards of asbestos in the following manner.

“Asbestos is a respiratory hazard and espiratory/gastrointestinal carcinogen. Exposure to asbestos occurs when reparable fibers are released into the air and then inhaled. Since exposure occurs when asbestos is inhaled, the best way to prevent exposure is to prevent asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.

Asbestos containing materials are therefore divided into two categories: friable and non-friable. Friable means that a material is able to be reduced to powder by hand pressure. Asbestos containing materials that are friable, by their nature, have a much greater tendency to release fibers. They require specific control measures to prevent releasing fibers into the air. Conversely, non-friable asbestos containing materials, by their nature, do not want to give up their fibers into the air. This class of materials must be mechanically impacted (power tools such as sanders, drills, chippers, saws, etc.) to release fibers. Asbestos containing textured ceiling materials is a friable material.”

Is Asbestos Ceiling Removal Hazardous?

Although breathing of asbestos fibers post threats to human health, unless air contamination occurs to cause releasing of asbestos airborne and becomes friable, it would not affect environment. Moreover, several layers of paint applied to the ceiling over the years serves to “seal” acoustic asbestos ceiling and withhold materials from dangerously contacting occupants.

Homeowners should not unnecessarily impact the ceiling by placing fixtures onto the ceiling or by moving objects surrounding the environment. When done improperly, asbestos becomes into airborne and increases the risk of releasing its fibers to be inhaled. Because asbestos fibers are small and light, they can be suspended in the air for long periods of time. Therefore, unprofessional management of acoustic asbestos ceiling removal should not be preceded and a licensed asbestos abatement professional must conduct removal.

To find out more, please visit acoustic-asbestos-ceiling-removal.com/ acoustic-asbestos-ceiling-removal.com/