Category Archives: Decoration

3 Ways To Reduce The Cost Of House Construction

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It’s the dream of every person to own a house. Unfortunately it’s expensive to construct a house. Despite the high cost of construction you don’t have to give up on your dream of construction. Here are tips on how to reduce the cost of construction so that you can afford it:

Have a simple design

Money saving starts from the design you use. To save money you need to work with an experienced professional who will not only give a great, simple design, but one who will also help you in finding a contractor and materials that will save you money.

To come up with a simple design you need to get rid of any rooms that you don’t need. For example, if you don’t have children and aren’t planning of having them in the future there is no point of having bathrooms in every room. You also don’t need a basement if you have nothing to store there.

You should go for a rectangular design in order to take advantage of the many rectangular building materials. This aids in reducing wastage through trims.

Remember that a two storied house is cheaper to construct than a one-storied house; therefore, you should go for a two storied house.

Take advantage of cheap building techniques

If you are new in construction you probably don’t know that there are many techniques that you can use in constructing your house. The truth is that there are many techniques that you can use. One of the cheapest is optimum-value engineering (OVE) technique.

To save money you should hire a professional who understands how to use the technique. The technique also aids in reducing the framing technique while maintaining the integrity of the house.

Make use of reclaimed building materials

If you live in an area with many older, abandoned homes you don’t have to buy new materials-you can buy the old materials and use them in your house. While you should use reclaimed materials, you should avoid materials that are in a horrible condition.

When installing the materials, you should use them in areas that you can easily replace them. Great places to use them are staircases and fireplaces.

Conclusion

These are tips on how to lower the cost of constructing your house. In addition to these tips you also need to ensure that you finish the construction on time. This calls for you to work with a time-conscious contractor.

Successful Skills For Life Programs in the Construction Industry

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10 years ago the construction industry introduced CSCS as a form of self regulation principally aimed at reducing accidents on site. All workers are required to hold a CSCS card commensurate with their level of skills which needs to be renewed on a regular basis. A requirement of the CSCS cards is the touch screen Health & Safety Test, which must be passed in English, using the computer to satisfy contractor’s health and safety policies. Today, the CSCS card is mandatory on most constructions sites run by the major contractors and has become the ‘passport to work’ for many construction workers.

By embedding the CSCS test into the Skills for Life learning, Learning and Skills Solutions (LaSS) have seen extremely positive results. Adrian Bouckley, Director of Training for LaSS explains; “The CSCS test can be a frustrating bridge to cross for thousands of construction workers, as well as costing the worker money, poor literacy, language and computer skills can make it difficult to pass the test. Our skills for life program quickly bridges this gap, and provides the learner with a nationally recognized qualification. We also fund the CSCS card and test, which takes a bit more pressure off the learner”.

In fact, the skills for life benefits reach much further than just aiding CSCS carding. In so many cases by improving basic literacy and numeracy skills LaSS sees improved motivation from the learner. Often people
complete the courses and see the benefits of developing their skills and look for other ways to become more qualified. Skills for life can create

the initial motivator to do so. LaSS is accredited to deliver construction NVQ’s and refers many of its learners onto these courses after Skills for life.

Donna Hamblion, Tutor Manager comments “In one instance I heard back from one of our first learners who said that the Skills for Life course opened up so many doors to him that he continued learning and is now studying for a degree”.

Historically it has been very difficult to deliver Skills for Life training with construction workers despite there being a real need to raise the standards of literacy/numeracy and language. As migrant labour has become more and more prevalent within the industry Health and Safety issues have been raised to a critical level.

Attendance at college for evening classes has until recently been the only avenue available to construction workers and this environment is normally unattractive to a typical construction worker.

Recognizing the need to raise basic skills and also the importance of Health and Safety in the workplace LaSS have adopted the model of embedding the training as part of the preparation for the CSCS Health and Safety Test. This training is normally delivered on site, to ensure minimal disruption to the working day.

Using Granite Counter Tops in Construction Work

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Granite counter tops are very popular in home construction works. They provide perfect finish to the overall construction work. The contribution of granite counter tops cannot be overlooked in construction of homes. There are several variants of marble and granite counter tops available in market with different colors, textures and finish. All these variants are able to provide a different look to the most important and popular sections of our homes.

Kitchen and bathrooms are the most popular places of a home. These places are among the list of most favorite places of all members of family. In fact, there are some components used in home construction for which granite is the most obvious choice. For example, wash basins, kitchen sinks, bathtubs and different slabs being used in home constructions are generally made of high quality granites and granite slabs. Granite objects are not only attractive and good looking, but they are also easy to clean and maintain.

The best features of granite slabs and counter tops are that, they are available in different colors, textures and print styles making it ideal for finish with different home color schemes. You can easily find a matching bathtub or washbasin for your favorite colors scheme for your bathroom and restrooms. Thin granite slabs are also used as borders during marble flooring of homes. Colored granites provide excellent finish during marble flooring. It is easily adjustable with any kind of marble tiles. However, you can always have a choice from one of several available options of granite slabs. The use of granite as borders are now becoming more and more popular due to the excellent finish being provided by the exclusive look.

Another popular use of granite tiles is during construction of stairs. People use granite tiles along with printed images of various deities and God in corners at stopping places of stairs. It gives an extra attractive look to the place as well as provides a different touch to the architecture.

There are various other uses of granite slabs and tiles. Most of the world’s renowned monuments are made of granites and they are still survived. This is a simple proof of its durability, which is a most significant reason behind its popularity in building construction.