Latest Houseplans Podcast Episodes
Perfect Placement For Your Dishwasher—BYHYU 172
Build Your House Yourself University - July 24, 2019 07:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsWhere you place your dishwasher can increase or decrease your kitchen’s functionality and flow. And although there is no one exact right place that dishwashers should universally go, this week I have a list of quick tips that you should think about before deciding where to put your dishwasher. ...
Open Shelves… Awesome or Awful?—BYHYU 171
Build Your House Yourself University - July 17, 2019 07:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsIn recent years, homeowners have been opting for fewer upper cabinets to give their kitchens a more open, airy feeling. Some people want completely empty walls, maybe with a window, where traditional upper cabinets would have gone. But many homeowners are requesting open shelves, sometimes cal...
Pocket Doors… Awesome or Awful?—-BYHYU 170
Build Your House Yourself University - July 10, 2019 07:00 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsI have a couple of pocket of doors planned for my new house and when I was talking to a contractor about them, he said: “I hate pocket doors.” That is not an uncommon statement. Some people love pocket doors because they’re sometimes the only small space door solution available, but pocket do...
Custom Home Builders vs Production Home Builders, What’s Better For You?— BYHYU 169
Build Your House Yourself University - July 03, 2019 07:00 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsOne of the first things you’ll have to decide when building a house is whether you want to want to be an owner-builder or use a general contractor for your project. If you are considering building the home yourself, episodes 2 and 7, called “You Can Save Money, Lots of Money, But Should You Bui...
Smart Solution Quick Tip—BYHYU 168
Build Your House Yourself University - June 26, 2019 07:00 - 6 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsReally quick episode this week about something I recently learned about that can make our lives easier, make our homes safer and help us to save on our electricity bills: Smart outlets or smart plugs. They allow you to remotely control and automate the electricity going to that smart outlet o...
What Barndominium Design Features Should We Include In Our New Homes?— BYHYU 167
Build Your House Yourself University - June 19, 2019 07:00 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsIf like me, you’re a fan of HGTV’s Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, I bet you remember the Barndominium episode. They restored an old barn into a beautiful family home. Although barndominiums have been around for decades, that episode of Fixer Upper and the popularity of modern farmho...
Water Filtration Systems—BYHYU 166
Build Your House Yourself University - June 12, 2019 07:00 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsLast week we talked extensively about water softeners and conditioners. Water softeners and conditioners help to alleviate many hard water problems, including limescale build-up in your plumbing. But water softeners and conditioners are ineffective in removing chemicals and contaminants that ca...
How Do You Know If You Have Hard Water in Your Area and What Can You Do About it? Water Softeners vs Water Conditioners— BYHYU 165
Build Your House Yourself University - June 05, 2019 07:00 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsIf your area has hard water, you’ll usually notice. There will probably be whitish, yellowish or grayish deposits on shower heads and faucets and around drains, and sometimes even in toilet bowls. These deposits are called limescale, scale or scaling, and are usually deposits of calcium and/or...
BEST OF BYHYU: My Favorite Homebuilding and Design Tips — What I’ve Learned Over the Past 2 years
Build Your House Yourself University - May 29, 2019 07:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsTo commemorate our 100th episode, I want to give you some of my favorite homebuilding and design tips that I’ve learned over the past 2 years of this podcast. I’ve learned so much, but these are some of the most relevant things. We’ll go over 50 tips in this week’s mini-lesson, but since this ...
BEST OF BYHYU: Hot Water Heaters 101— Learn About the Pros and Cons of Conventional and Tankless Water Heaters
Build Your House Yourself University - May 22, 2019 07:00 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsDid you know that most water heaters use more energy than all other household appliances combined? According to the US Dept of Energy, water heaters account for almost 17% of a home’s energy use. Other sources say it’s up to 30% of a home’s energy. This week’s mini-lesson will help you decide if...
BEST OF BYHYU: Size Matters… But So Does Design. 20 Design and Construction Features That Can Save You Money When Building a New House
Build Your House Yourself University - May 15, 2019 07:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsMost people know that the square footage of a house will affect the cost of construction, but many people don’t realize that how a house is designed and laid out will also affect the bottom line. And since many of us are unaware of what design choices we can make to reduce our construction costs...
BEST OF BYHYU: What Homeowners Would Do Differently If They Built Again— advice from those who have already built a custom home
Build Your House Yourself University - May 08, 2019 07:00 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsAs we plan to build our homes, I thought it would be a good idea to scour several blogs and forums to get advice from those who have built before. I specifically wanted to find out what mistakes people had made in building their homes—what they would do differently if they were to build again. S...
BEST OF BYHYU: You can save money… lots of money, but should you build your own home?
Build Your House Yourself University - May 01, 2019 07:00 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsWe talk about one of the main ways you can save money when building your dream home… by being your own general contractor or builder. But CAN you build your own home, are you allowed and SHOULD you? Some pros and cons of being your own builder are outlined. We’ll also discuss some things that ow...
When Is The Best Time To Buy and Save Money on Stuff For Your Soon-To-Be Built House?— BYHYU 159
Build Your House Yourself University - April 24, 2019 09:30 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsMost of us want to get the biggest bang for our buck, and, if possible, we prefer making purchases when items go on sale. And that goes for things that we’ll need for our homes. So, I read a few articles on the best times to purchase certain homebuilding and household items. To be honest, af...
Quick Tips Learned At My PreConstruction Meeting—BYHYU 158
Build Your House Yourself University - April 17, 2019 09:30 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsAs I go through my homebuilding process, I’ll be letting you know what I learn in my preconstruction and construction meetings and what tips I pick up on the job site from contractors. Last week I met with my architect and construction manager to clear up a few last details before sending plans...
Permission Granted--Project Update—BYHYU 157
Build Your House Yourself University - April 10, 2019 09:30 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsWell, we’ve made some progress. We finally got our foundation and structural plan from the engineer and our building permit has been approved. Hallelujah! I’ll tell you more details about our progress, plus review a couple of construction terms. Show notes at BYHYU.com
Organizing Information for Your New Build— BYHYU 156
Build Your House Yourself University - April 03, 2019 09:30 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsPutting in some time and effort to get organized before we break ground will help the construction process go more smoothly and be less stressful, for us and our contractors. It’s important to get information out of our heads and out of our numerous piles of magazines and papers and off of our ...
9 Cool Things that Caught My Eye at Design and Construction Week 2019—BYHYU 155
Build Your House Yourself University - March 27, 2019 09:30 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsDuring Design and Construction Week, the International Builders Show (IBS)and the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) come together for one huge trade show that showcases the newest products and materials for residential design and construction. This year the show was in Vegas and despite the...
Heated Driveways Are Not Just for the Snowiest States—BYHYU 154
Build Your House Yourself University - March 20, 2019 09:30 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsRadiant heated driveways, also called snow melting systems, are installed just beneath a driveway’s surface and used to melt snow and ice without having to shovel, plow, snow blow or salt the driveway. They keep the pavement warm enough to melt falling snow so it doesn’t accumulate. They also...
Things You Should Never Say To Your (Sub)Contractors, Part 2—BYHYU 153
Build Your House Yourself University - March 06, 2019 10:30 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsLast week, we went over 8 things you should never say to your contractors. I’m a little hoarse this week, but I want to do a brief episode so we can complete our list. This is, by no means, a comprehensive list. If you can think of some other things we should never say to a contractor, let me...
Things You Should Never Say To Your (Sub)Contractors, Part 1— BYHYU 152
Build Your House Yourself University - February 27, 2019 10:30 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsAlthough communicating with our contractors is an important part of successfully building our homes, there are certain things that we should never say to them. This week, and next week, we’ll discuss some of those taboo phrases and questions that should never be uttered to our contractors. Sh...
Should You Buy Extended Appliance Warranties?—BYHYU 151
Build Your House Yourself University - February 20, 2019 10:30 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsLast week we talked about whether a buying an extended home warranty is a smart idea. Those home warranties are offered by third party companies that will help pay for repairing, and, if necessary, replacing, covered appliances and home components, such a
Should You Buy an Extended Home Warranty?— BYHYU 150
Build Your House Yourself University - February 13, 2019 10:30 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsIf you’re like me, you’ve been seeing commercials for extended home warranties and wondering if they’re a good investment. These home warranties are supposed to go beyond the coverage that you get with the usual homeowners insurance policy. They are warranties that are offered by third party c...
Houzz’s 32 Home Design Trends That Will Rule in 2019—BYHYU 149
Build Your House Yourself University - February 06, 2019 10:30 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsThe information in this week’s episode comes from an article that was recently posted on Houzz called 32 Home Design Trends That Will Rule in 2019. Houzz chose those 32 design trends after analyzing data from photos and articles that have been saved on the site, plus interviewing professional ...
We Still Haven’t Started Construction ☹️—Project Update BYHYU 148
Build Your House Yourself University - January 23, 2019 10:30 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsI was trying to wait until we actually started construction before I did another project update, but I know you guys have been wondering what’s been going on since my last update back in September. Well, as you know from the title of the episode, we still haven’t started construction. Our ...
3 Kitchen Island Quick Tips— BYHYU 147
Build Your House Yourself University - January 16, 2019 10:30 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsAs with most features in your home, the way you design your kitchen island should be a matter of functionality, personal taste, your budget, and your lifestyle. This week’s quick tips will help you design an island that is not only on trend style-wise but also functional and comfortable. Show...
Central Vacuum Systems: Do They SUCK or Are They Worth the Money?—BYHYU 146
Build Your House Yourself University - January 09, 2019 10:30 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsYou may or may not have heard of central vacuum systems, also called “central vac”. People who know of them generally love them or hate them. This week we’ll talk about the pros and cons of putting a central vac in your new home. We’ll also go over the cost of the system and who would benefit...
What is a Rainscreen and Why You Might Need One—BYHYU 145
Build Your House Yourself University - December 26, 2018 10:30 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsThis week we’ll talk in more detail about a rain screen, which is a moisture control measure that can be used in new construction. I briefly introduced you to rain screens in episode 134 called “Learn to Control One of Your Home’s Biggest Enemies: Moisture”. But in this week mini-lesson, we’ll...
What’s Trending in Metal Finishes and Hardware—BYHYU 144
Build Your House Yourself University - December 19, 2018 10:30 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsHardware refers to all the metal knobs, levers, latches, pulls, hinges, and handles in a house. When building a new house, we’ll need to decide what style and color hardware to choose for the cabinets, windows, drawers, and doors. So, in this week’s episode, we’ll go over what’s trending in ha...
What’s Trending in Tiles—BYHYU 143
Build Your House Yourself University - December 05, 2018 10:30 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 390 ratingsMost of us will include tiles in several rooms in our homes. Tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms are most common, but new homes today might have tiles as the main flooring in our living rooms, on fireplace surrounds, as feature walls, and as outdoor flooring. As a material that will be used r...
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