Want more tips, reminders, and ideas for planning your new home or remodeling project? The Difference is in the Details: The Homeowner's Planning Guide to Building a Functional Home will do the trick.

“With dozens of “how to build your new home” books available, what could be left out? Plenty, as author DeCarlo shows in her practical approach to topics often left out, forgotten, or given scant attention. Readers will thank her for raising subjects to consider in the earliest stages of planning a new home.”
-- Carol Smith, Author of "Building Your Home: An Insiders Guide"

I’ve spoken with so many families who spent a year or two of their lives and a large sum of money building or remodeling their home only to move in with a list of “I wish I would haves”. Why does this happen? Because there is an information void in the residential construction industry. Homeowners are missing the tips, reminders, and education needed to thoroughly plan their project.

Unfortunately there aren’t enough hours in the day for anyone, including the builder, architect, designer, or me, to sit down and tell you what you need to know. Nonetheless, this information void needs to be filled.

That’s why, back in October of 2006, I began creating The Difference is in the Details: The Homeowner's Planning Guide to Building a Functional Home. Two years, 400 pages, 400 photographs and over 900 tips later, it's finally here! All the hours and hours and hours of researching the web have been done for you. This comprehensive Guide provides the education, tips, and reminders you need to navigate successfully through the residential construction process.

With this tool you’ll be able to anticipate and deal with a myriad of critical details at the beginning of your construction project. Using this tactic will greatly reduce the number of change orders (and corresponding expenditures) during the project, while at the same time resulting in a home that fits your family’s unique needs.

If you save the cost of a single change order, The Difference is in the Details will have paid for itself many times over! To peruse the Table of Contents, view sample tips, and learn about my free bonus offer, see www.DifferenceInTheDetails.com

More Practical Products that Make Life Easier

Last month’s ezine focused on three practical products that can make daily life a bit easier. To continue that theme, here are a few more unique, functional items.

Indoor Composting: Are you interested in living a less wasteful life? The average family throws away a huge amount of food each year. Just think about what you discard each week. Although composting can take a large chunk out of the food waste that we continually send to landfills, the traditional process usually requires outdoor accommodations for the composting bin, time for stirring and monitoring the contents, and dealing with the resulting odor.

Enter NatureMill’s indoor composter—no odor, no stirring. The unit does all for you and will fit inside a base kitchen cabinet. Here’s the scoop. Food waste items can be deposited in the unit at any time, on any day. "Hot composting" (mixing, air flow, heat, and moisture) works on the vegetables, coffee grinds, dairy, meat or fish deposited in the upper chamber. The energy released destroys odors, pathogens, and seed germination. The compost is later transferred through a trap door to the lower cure tray chamber, where it continues to compost while you add fresh waste items to the upper chamber. Every two weeks you are rewarded with a batch of nutrient-rich compost without having to deal with funky odors or hand-turning the mixture.

According to the manufacturer, a NatureMill composter recycles its weight in waste every 10 days, diverting over two tons of waste from landfills over its life! And energy use is just 5 kwh per month, at a cost of about 50 cents. About 120 pounds of food waste can be composted per month.

The cost of a NatureMill unit is $299 or 399, depending on the model you choose. For more information, visit www.NatureMill.com.

FlatWire: How would you like to add a wall sconce or a flat screen TV without having to settle for exposed wiring or invasive or costly installation measures? Although that may sound too good to be true, it can be done with Flatwire tm.

How does it work? FlatWire is just that – a flat wire. This extremely thin product (wires range from 4/1000 of an inch to 16/1000 of an inch, or about as thin as a business card) is attached to the wall via FlatWire Ready® Spray Adhesive. Don’t worry about getting the location right the first time. The adhesive allows a 10- to 15-minute readjustment time.

Once attached, the manufacturer recommends that installers use a traditional “blending” compound to blend the wire into the wall before painting or wallpapering. The end result: When properly installed, the wiring is nearly imperceptible by sight or feel. See the before and after photos above courtesy for Flatwire.

Flatwire is available for audio, video, data, and low-voltage lighting, with more products on the way. Visit www.FlatWireReady.com for more info.

Energy-efficient Ceiling Fans: Here’s one of those ideas that may make us wonder why we didn’t think of it.

After five years of research, Danny Parker at the Florida Solar Energy Center developed the Gossamer Wind ceiling fan, a high-efficiency fan that uses less electricity to move more air than traditional fans. Because the blades have an advanced, computer-generated shape and airfoil design, this Energy Star® rated fan will move 7 percent more air at full speed than its closest competitor, while at the same time requiring only 22 percent of the electrical energy. (The fan was developed in concert with AeroVironment, Inc., a leading company in advanced technology and aerodynamic design.) The improved comfort will allow you to set the thermostat for air conditioning a bit higher, resulting in even greater savings. Read more about these fans at www.GossamerWind.com

Gossamer fans are reasonably priced and available at Home Depot stores across the nation under the Hampton Bay brand. They are offered in three models: the Antigua, the Industrial, and the Windward (pictured above). The Windward is only available while supplies last.

NOTE: Fans Cool People, Not Rooms! When fans spin counterclockwise, they create a “windchill” effect, cooling people in the room and saving on air conditioning. The air hitting your skin is what provides the increased cooling effect, which means that the fan affects comfort level only when someone is in the room. Leaving a ceiling fan turned on in an empty room does nothing but waste energy.

IS THERE A SUBJECT YOU'D LIKE ME TO COVER? Let me know by sending an email to tracy@tracystips.net.

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? All past issues of this ezine are in the Ezine Archives on our web site. Click here for Ezine Archives !

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Tracy DeCarlo, author of "The Difference is in the Details" publishes the idea-packed, monthly e-zine "Tracy's Home Building Tips." If you're ready to learn how to plan a more durable, energy-efficient, and easy-to-live-in home, get your FR*EE tips now at www.DetailedSolutions.net.

Tracy DeCarlo owner of Detailed Solutions, Inc. and One Stop Green Home Certification, has more than fourteen years' experience in the residential construction industry. As a Home Building Function Analyst, Certified Green Professional, Green Certifying Agent, and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, Tracy addresses the functional aspects of home construction, design, and usage, including items such as energy efficiency, disaster mitigation, air quality, aging in place, green building, plumbing, electrical, lighting, and storage.

By working with homeowners to focus on their daily habits and preferences, she helps them create living spaces that support and compliment their lifestyles, while at the same time teaching techniques to manage the bottom line.

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• How has this e-zine helped you to improve your design or avoid change order charges?

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Tracy DeCarlo, Detailed Solutions, Inc.

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Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, United States

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