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5.05.2010

People are Starting to Fix-Up Their Homes


The New Rules of Remodeling

by M.P. Mcqueen
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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You may have noticed the lines at home-improvement stores getting longer or heard the whirring of buzz saws in your neighborhood. After years of economic recession and housing-market malaise, people are starting to fix up their homes again.
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      According to an April 15 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, annual spending on remodeling is expected to accelerate this year, with nearly 5% growth over 2009. "This year could produce the first annual spending increase for the industry since 2006," the peak of the housing boom, says center director Nicolas P. Retsinas.
      But the forces driving today's action couldn't be more different from those during the boom. Back then, people wanted to renovate their places so that they could trade up to bigger homes, or because their home equity was soaring and they wanted to reinvest some of the spoils.
       Now, the opposite is happening: Many people who bought during the boom years are accepting the reality that they won't soon be swapping up for a sybaritic spread. Their mortgages may remain above water, but after years of falling home prices, their equity is so low that the transaction costs of buying a new house would leave little for a down payment.
Scott's Contracting, Green Builder StLouis "Renewable Energy" for All Your Green Building Needs. Solar and Wind Power Systems, Geo Thermal, Tankless Water Heaters, check out the Web Site for more Green Building Information and Work Site Pictures. Link

       In short, they are stuck.
"People have seen their down payments kind of wiped out," says Harvard economist Jeremy Stein. "They are locked into their house. They can't really move, even if they thought the other house was cheap and a good deal."
      So these people are making their homes more comfortable for a longer-than-expected stay. Setting aside old calculations of how much a particular improvement will add to resale value, they are making smaller tweaks that can make a big difference in livability. You might call it "psychological return on investment."
     Nowadays, say real-estate agents and contractors, smaller projects like updating kitchens and baths and humble attic-bedroom conversions are more popular, while two-story master suites and $100,000 kitchen blowouts are decidedly out of fashion. Hidden improvements like insulation also are on the rise, as people realize they won't be able to pass on their drafts, leaks and other problems to the next guy. Tax credits that expire in 2010 are enticing people to make energy improvements, too.
     One of the most cost-effective improvements, say contractors, is removing a wall to create an open kitchen-dining area. The project "makes the kitchen feel bigger and the kitchen and dining room more usable," says Sarah Susanka, an architect and author of "The Not So Big House" book series. "It's such a simple thing to do." It can cost as little as a couple of thousand dollars, according to David Merrick, a home remodeler in Kensington, Md., but can run much higher if plumbing and electrical work are involved.
      A surprising number of people fall into the category of being above water on their mortgage but anchored to their property. According to First American Core Logic, at least 24.5 million borrowers in the U.S. have home equity of less than 25%, and of those, 13.2 million are above water. Considering the 9% in commissions and fees that typically come with buying and selling a house, as well as the typical 20% down payment on the new one, it is easy to see why people aren't house-hopping like before.
      This applies even to affluent professionals. Paul Sorbera, an executive recruiter in Greenwich, Conn., is seeing it firsthand among his clients. He says many financial-services executives "bought $2 million homes in the good times and have $1.3 million houses now because of the price decline. They have some money in the bank and can afford their current living standard, but moving is very impractical for them."
    Economists, whose models often assume the rationality of hypothetical consumers, say remodeling makes sense for such people. "If they don't have a lot of equity in their houses and can't move, they should have a propensity to improve rather than move," says Richard K. Green, director of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate. "When you renovate, you save a lot of transaction costs."

Web sites such as Remodelormove.com offer calculators to help consumers make the decision.

Kate Anderson, 42 years old, of Sunnyvale, Calif., a technical writer and homemaker, and her husband, Scott, 43, a vice president at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ, News), say they considered buying a larger place to accommodate their growing children, a daughter, 10, and son, 8. But they surmised that buying and selling now would be too expensive. "We didn't think it was worth the whole sale purchase expense … just to get a few extra square feet," Mrs. Anderson says.

Instead, they opted to fix up their 1950s-era tract home, worth an estimated $750,000. Most houses in their neighborhood with new kitchens and baths sell for up to $850,000, she says. While their home "is a little squished," they chose to "gradually improve it," she says.

In December, the Andersons remodeled their kitchen, putting in hardwood floors, cherry cabinets and stainless-steel appliances, ripping out a closet and expanding a doorway to improve the flow. They also installed new incandescent ceiling lights and under-cabinet fixtures, which Mrs. Anderson says she especially loves.

Because they made no major structural changes, they kept the cost to about $50,000, a bargain in the pricey Silicon Valley market. It wasn't easy to hew to that budget, though; the couple decided to ditch a garden window over the sink and self-closing drawers, which would have added several thousand dollars to the cost.

      Even in the ever-grander suburbs outside Washington, people are thinking smaller. A few years ago, Mr. Merrick, the contractor, says, more people were doing two-story additions, and most people who remodeled kitchens made them larger. Now, "four of the last six kitchens I did, the footprint stayed exactly the same," he says.

     Home-improvement retailers are seeing a clear trend toward smaller renovations. Craig Menear, executive vice president of merchandising at Home Depot (NYSE: HD, News), says there has been strength recently in projects involving simple décor updates such as ceramic tile, interior paint, faucets and bath fixtures. At Lowe's (NYSE: LOW, News), customers were drawn to products to update flooring, cabinetry and countertops during the last few months of 2009, the most recent period for which data are available, spokeswoman Maureen Rich says.

    Part of the reason, of course, is money. With home prices slumping, there is less equity for homeowners to tap. An April 20 survey by American Express (NYSE: AXP, News), the first of its kind, found that 72% of affluent homeowners planned to make improvements to their houses in 2010. But they expected to spend an average of just $11,500. And most respondents planned to pay for their projects with cash; just 16% planned to use debt.
Banks also are making credit less available than they used to. Keith T. Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a mortgage-data firm, says that before the housing bust, banks would often lend for projects based on the value of the house after completion of the project, but they are less likely to do so now because "there's no guarantee the improvement or the market will lead to price appreciation." The result: even affluent homeowners aren't able to borrow as much as they used to.
     With little reason to expect huge price gains in the housing market in the next few years, some homeowners are thinking especially long-term. Diane Ausavich, a remodeling contractor in Milwaukee, says a pair of physicians, as part of a bathroom renovation, recently installed a barrier-free, walk-in shower and higher countertops in their three-story lakefront home built in the 1890s. They did it "so that as they get older they can wheel in and out with a wheelchair if they should have to," Ms. Ausavich says. The homeowners are in their mid-40s and, "being doctors, I'm sure they see the gamut," she says.
     Likewise, Marge Kumaki, 57, a marketing and public-relations consultant who resides in Silver Spring, Md., says she and her husband decided to do some basic upgrades on the post-World War II split-level home they have owned for 21 years after their two children left the nest for good in 2007.
     She says she would prefer to move to a new high-rise condominium in downtown Bethesda, but that they decided to stay and renovate because it is more cost-effective and they like where they live now. Last summer's severe thunderstorms, which flooded their finished basement and required repairs, spurred them to get started.
     Ms. Kumaki says they are planning to spend in the low $30,000s to update the upstairs bathroom, kitchen and family room.
     But the couple have decided to hold off on another dream. "I've always wanted an addition, since it is a split level and you can go up or down," she says. "I'd like another level on top, but that's the future."
The New Remodeling Rules
During the bubble, homeowners sought the biggest, splashiest home improvements to boost resale value. Now they're doing smaller projects that deliver a similar result for far less money.

Supplied by Scotty, Scott's Contracting.  Green Build Design's from Start to Finish. Contact

  Article Found Here:http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109389/the-new-rules-of-remodeling

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5.02.2010

$10-Per-Square-Foot Earth Sheltered House

Mother's $10-Per-Square-Foot (or Less!) Earth Sheltered House
Is it possible to achieve food and energy independence on one acre? Well, with imagination, hard work, and the right one acre, we think it can be done . . . and that's what this project is all about. Of course, providing most of the basic needs for four people from such a small piece of ground is a tall order. Still, we think it's a goal worth pursuing, and we're hoping that in this series of articles about our lowcost homestead we'll be able to help some of you in your struggles to increase your self-reliance . . . by doing some of the experimenting for you.


In previous installments, we discussed our initial plans for the project,the construction of the building's shell, and its waterproofing and insulation . . . as well as some special energy-related "extras". This time, we'll concentrate on the interior, specifically the fine cabinetry which complements our home's kitchen.

Until you've actually built, or been involved in "costing out", a residence, it's hard to comprehend how much cash it actually takes to finish the heart of a home. Yet in dealing with a dwelling as personal as our Lost-Cost Earth Shelter (and who'd deny that any owner-built home absorbs some of the character of its creator?), we felt it would be almost sinful to skimp on the soul-pleasing amenities, even when faced with a very stringent budget.

We also believe (and we're confident that this opinion would be shared by many owners-to be) that the kitchen area serves as a significant focal point for our home's entire communal zone . . . not just in that it's traditionally a place where the family gathers informally, but because—considering the openness of our dwelling's design—its use as such is more a matter of fact than choice.

We're here to demonstrate, one last time, that energy-efficient housing can be inexpensive....

Given these circumstances, it wasn't too difficult to justify the expenditure of time, in lieu of monetary resources, required to handcraft the kitchen cabinets you see in these photographs. Believe it or not, much of the foundation material that went into the cupboards could be termed junk, with the remainder being dressed from rough lumber or, in the case of the surface laminate, purchased outright.

On the other hand, please note that we're not about to suggest that a novice woodworker with a minimally equipped shop could easily duplicate the caliber of craftsmanship revealed in these furnishings. So, in an effort to accommodate the beginner on a budget, we've come up with an alternative cabinet plan. Though not quite as pleasing to the eye as the former design, it is a whole lot easier and less time-consuming to build yet results in a serviceable and attractive fixture.
ONE SLICK. . .
To make the most of our 240-odd square feet of kitchen space, we decided to install an 8'-long counter along the southwest wall, adjacent to the line of windows. Rather than just build a straight row of cabinets—which would have encroached on the usable floor area, leaving an all but useless gap behind the counter—we chose to facet each cabinet module so that, as a group of three, they would match the contour of the wall behind them. continued



Part 8: 1st Floor Weatherization

Part 9: See the Difference a Little White Paint Makes

Part 10: Interior Framing-Plumbing-Laundry Room

Part 11: Kitchen Framing Tip #36-Benton Rehab Project

Part 12: Water Main Repair- Benton Rehab

Part 13: Benton Rehab Project Drywall Installation and Tip: Number 1172

Best Options for High-Efficiency Toilets

With inexpensive new designs, you can flush less water and money down the drain.

With water shortages becoming more common, numerous states and nations are enacting regulations to conserve water. The efforts have centered primarily on water efficiency — ways to meet our needs using the least amount of water. One popular approach is the installation of high-efficiency toilets to replace old, water-intensive ones, which consume as much as 7 gallons per flush. If your home has an old toilet, it makes sense — economically and environmentally — to replace it with a water-conserving model that will use about 55 percent less water than a conventional toilet.
 
Installing a high-efficiency toilet can save you a substantial amount of money by reducing your water bills. Water-efficient toilets also reduce our collective pressure on limited water supplies and, in urban areas, the amount of waste flowing to sewage treatment plants. Less waste lowers the plants’ operating energy and costs.


In rural areas not served by municipal wastewater treatment plants, water-efficient toilets reduce the amount of waste flowing into septic tanks and leach fields, extending the lives of these systems. If you use well water, an efficient toilet will also cut down the run time of your well pump, reducing electrical consumption. Plus, the less your pump runs, the longer it will remain in service.

Single-flush toilets using 1.6 gallons per flush are now required by law in most new home construction and bathroom remodels.

Contact Scott's Contracting for all your Green Building Needs.

Choosing the Right Siding

When selecting siding, there are six basic issues to consider:
1. Water Resistance. Water-resistant types of siding will have longer lifespans.

2. Ease of Installation. If you're installing the siding on your own, make sure it is within your skill set, requires no special tools, and creates no harmful dust when cut.

3. Energy Efficiency. Check the R-Value rating for energy savings and understand what will be needed as far as insulation beneath the cladding.

4. Aesthetics. Your siding will be in full view as you come and go, so make sure it is beautiful to you.

5. Versatility. Make sure the siding has the versatility to meet the varied needs of your specific project. If there are aspects of your home's exterior that will make using a particular type of siding more challenging than others, make sure you understand what the added costs or necessary adjustments will be.

6. Durability. Does it have the strength to resist temperature shifts present in your climate? How does it stand up to everyday wear and tear?

Scott's Contracting installs Siding. email scotty for your free Quote.

solar energy in the Midwest

Solar power heats up as costs drop, electric rates rise


By Steve Everly, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Apr. 26--The prospects for solar energy in the Midwest are brightening.

Surprised? You shouldn't be.

The Midwest gets plenty of sunshine -- more than Germany, which uses more solar power than any other country. Kansas City has the same percentage of annual sunshine as San Antonio, for example, and Dodge City, Kan., has as much as Miami.

And the big cost considerations that for years have held back solar power in the region have changed. The price of solar panels has dropped substantially, and the Midwest's traditionally low electricity prices are on the rise.

Those factors came together recently for Tom Lawler, a Commerce Bank vice president. As coordinator of the bank's sustainability efforts, he has crunched the numbers on solar power for years. But this time he got a big surprise. They made economic sense.

The payback time for a solar panel project had plummeted from 25 years to just 10 years. As a result, Commerce this month is installing photovoltaic panels at its branch at 135th Street and State Line Road in Kansas City.
Area interest
Solar power still isn't a bargain, but many other Midwest businesses and homeowners are agreeing with Commerce: It has become a viable investment.

New solar customers range from a couple in Lee's Summit to Posty Cards, a Kansas City greeting card company that later this year will install the largest solar installation in Missouri. Kansas City Power & Light plans to have its first solar power installation up and running next year.

Ray Baisch of Lee's Summit is a retired custodian who worked at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City. He believed President Jimmy Carter when he gave a speech in the late 1970s warning that the U.S. was wasting energy and relying too much on imported oil.

Baisch looked for ways to conserve and became a believer in solar energy, but he was put off by the cost. As recently as three years ago, a system for his home cost $38,000, but that price has come down to $30,000. Various government and utility incentives now cut that price in half for him. Baisch was the first KCP&L customer this year to take advantage of the utility's solar-installation rebates.

"If I had my way, every new house would come with solar already installed," he said.
Gaining traction
To be sure, solar energy remains in its infancy in the U.S., providing only 1/1000th of the country's electricity generation. But the amount of solar-generated electricity in U.S. homes doubled last year, and a growing number of businesses are jumping in. FedEx recently installed the largest rooftop solar installation in the country in Woodbridge, N.J., and Wal-Mart has solar installations supplying power to about 20 of its stores.

Overall, solar capacity for the first time moved above 2,000 megawatts, enough to power 350,000 homes, convincing many in the industry that solar is at a turning point.

Last year was the best ever for the U.S. solar industry, and 2010 is expected to be even better.

"We expect a breakout year," said Rhone Resch, chief executive officer of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Solar has always been a tough sell in the Midwest, but several trends are helping make it more competitive:

--The cost of photovoltaic panels, which account for just over half of a solar installation, have plummeted 40 percent in the last year, thanks to cheaper prices for silicon and ample manufacturing capacity.

--Available incentives have never been more generous. Federal tax credits or grants are cutting the cost of commercial and residential solar installations by 30 percent. Businesses also can accelerate depreciation of their investment, helping recover their costs faster. Other incentives include the KCP&L rebate for its Missouri customers, which can lower a system's cost an additional 25 percent or so.

--The Midwest's low prices for conventionally generated electricity are going up. KCP&L, for example, will have raised rates about 40 percent in just a few years if its most recent rate request is granted.

--Several states, including Kansas and Missouri, are encouraging use of renewable energy, including requiring utilities to use more. Missouri's law specifically requires some solar use, and both states require utilities to buy excess renewable energy produced by households and businesses.
Evolving business
Solar power has had some success in the past, but mainly with solar thermal products such as water heaters and devices that provide warm air to heat homes. Those applications account for most of the solar energy used in the U.S., with paybacks of six to eight years.

But the idea of using nonpolluting sunshine to generate electricity has gripped the imagination of environmentalists and others for decades. The enthusiasm is easy to understand, given that all the energy stored in Earth's reserves of coal, oil and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine.

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy," Thomas Edison said in 1931.

A big step toward making that happen occurred in the early 1950s when a Bell Laboratories scientist found that a wafer of silicon exposed to sunshine produced electrons. That was the start of the photovoltaic panels used today to produce power.

Through the years, the technology improved, the price dropped, and the government and utilities have increased their incentives to adopt solar power.

The federal government has had a 30 percent tax credit for solar, but it was capped at $2,000. When that limit came off more than a year ago, inquiries increased, said Susan Brown, vice president of business development for the Energy Savings Store in Lenexa.

Her company has offered photovoltaic systems since it opened seven years ago. The first two years, it sold none. Since then it has sold 100, with the majority installed in the last two years.

Commercial property owners also are showing interest -- a big change from the past, when some who bought solar-equipped buildings had the panels removed because they didn't want to mess with them, said Phil Thomas, president of A.L. Huber.

His company constructs commercial buildings and recently installed photovoltaic panels at its Overland Park headquarters.

"Everyone now is interested in sustainability," Thomas said.

Commercial projects now are eligible for grants in place of tax credits, so they can get their 30 percent break on costs much sooner.
Taking the plunge
Erick Jessee, president of Posty Cards, was considering a solar project to meet 7 percent of his business's electric needs. He said the grant helped him decide to go for an even bigger installation, able to supply 11 percent of his electricity.

He considered other energy alternatives but settled on solar because his property didn't have the right soil for a geothermal heat pump, and wind turbines don't perform as well in urban areas.

His company's solar project, to be finished later this year, is part of a $6 million, 25,000-square-foot expansion of the company's plant. It will consist of 198 photovoltaic panels and is expected to be the largest solar installation in Missouri.

"We just want to do the right thing," Jessee said.

Still, Posty and others have to look at the economics. A 10-year payback was a bit longer than Commerce Bank would typically accept, but it was close enough to get the project serious consideration. The branch that is getting the solar panels will be a test to see how it works in "real world conditions," but Lawler doesn't think there will be many surprises.

"I don't think there are a lot of unknowns," he said.

Some of the toughest converts to solar could be the utilities themselves, in part because a generating-station-size project takes a lot of land.

Westar Energy, Kansas' biggest electric utility, hasn't rejected solar energy outright but says its preferred alternative is wind energy. The state ranks No. 2 in the country for wind-energy potential, and costs are lower.

"Right now, solar is still five or six times higher than with wind," said Don Ford, a project manager for Westar.

KCP&L doesn't disagree about the cost, but it's still going ahead with 4 megawatts of solar power next year. That will go toward meeting Missouri's renewable standard, and it will give the utility a chance to work with solar, which could become more important in the future.

The federal Energy Information Administration projects wind will be a tough competitor for solar for utility-scale installations. But it sees more growth for smaller solar installations in residences and commercial buildings.

KCP&L is pursuing that angle as well. The utility is installing 180 kilowatts of solar power in Kansas City's Green Impact Zone on schools, businesses and residences as a pilot project.

"In the future, this is going to be significant," said Kevin Bryant, vice president of energy solutions for KCP&L.
------
Part of an occasional series Wind farms and ethanol are familiar fixtures in the Midwest. But the region has little-known potential for virtually every unconventional energy source, from solar, geothermal and hydropower to cleaner ways to power our cars and trucks. In occasional stories throughout the year, energy reporter Steve Everly will explore and explain those possibilities -- and what's already under way.
------ Solar electricity in the Midwest Big advantage: The fuel is free, and the Midwest has sunshine to match Texas, Florida or just about anywhere in the country outside the desert Southwest.

Big drawback: Upfront costs, though those are coming down. Conventional electricity is still needed, especially at night.

Economic factors: Solar-panel costs are way down, and federal tax credits or grants can cut costs 30 percent. More utilities are helping with rebates, too. And with conventional electricity prices on the rise, the payback time for many solar projects has dropped by more than half.

Short-term potential: Electricity from home installations doubled last year, the best year so far for the industry, and 2010 is expected to be better.

Long-term potential: Promising for small scale, but uncertain for large-scale generation. Midwest utilities are focused more on wind power for their own alternate-energy electricity generation. ------
@ Go to KansasCity.com for a photo gallery.
To reach Steve Everly, call 816-234-4455 or send e-mail to severly@kcstar.com.

GE introduces Durathon battery for utilities

GE introduces Durathon battery for utilities


New Orleans, April 26, 2010 — GE Energy Storage Technologies, a unit of GE Transportation unveiled its Durathon battery technology for utility companies.

As part of a simple energy storage system, GE’s Durathon battery provides an alternative to costly new power structures, which enables energy to be used when needed.

“Utility companies are facing unprecedented challenges and we’re working with them to create a better energy system, one that can bring energy to customers where it’s needed, when it’s needed, efficiently and for the best price,” said Prescott Logan General Manager GE Energy Storage Technologies. “GE’s Durathon battery technology has been developed to change the future of power generation, transmission and distribution for end users around the globe.”

Because of its proprietary chemistry, the Durathon battery has the ability to last up to two decades while providing optimal charge and discharge times. Durathon batteries are suited for applications in extreme temperature environments because the need for an expensive controlled environment is not required to deliver peak performance.

This minimizes installation costs along with the batteries high energy density. The Durathon battery technology has been developed to support a broad range of utility-oriented applications, such as: transmission and distribution upgrade deferral, time shifting, congestion relief, peak shaving, load following and reserve capacity.

Additionally, it will support end-user applications such as time of use (TOU) management, demand charge reduction, and power quality improvement.

GE’s new battery plant will be located in Schenectady, New York, and is expected to create 350 new jobs in the region.

The facility has the advantage of being in close proximity to GE Global Research in Niskayuna, where researchers will continue to work on enhancements to the battery chemistry and related systems technology.

GE is making a $150 million investment to build upon the Durathon battery technology through the development of new materials, new manufacturing technologies and intelligent controls.

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