Wednesday, January 11, 2012

What is the Cost to Build a Basement?

!±8± What is the Cost to Build a Basement?

The cost to dig a basement hole on our 1800 sq. ft. house was only 0. However, I have a feeling you want to know more than simply the cost of digging the basement hole.

Some of the other costs that you likely want to know about are:

- You need to dig the basement hole, which as I said was 0.

- How about pouring footings and foundations, which costs to K

- Then there is pouring flatwork cement for a tune of .00+ per square foot x 1800 sq ft = 00.

- Putting in sub-rough plumbing which can be ,000 plus the cost of gravel and the excavator's charges.

- There's the windows for your basement which includes window bucks of close to 0 (4 windows) and the corrugated window wells of 0 ...total 00 + or -.

- The actual windows cost 0+ depending on if you have a walkout basement with sliding glass doors, which would be plus the cost of the sliders.

- Sealing the basement walls to prevent water leakage through the walls will be another several hundred dollars.

- The cost to backfill around your basement adds a few hundred more.

- Now the last question is how big is your basement going to be?

That 0 figure of digging a basement suddenly became a whole lot more didn't it? The reality is, however, that the real cost only involves a few of the above: digging the hole, flatwork cement, and windows, window bucks and window wells.

You still have to either poor a cement slab, or put in footings and foundations, which in the case of the later, go down to frost level. You still have backfill whether you have a basement or not. You still have sub-rough plumbing, with gravel before the slab. With a slab you will have furnace ducting to consider too.

Even though you have all the above items to consider in building a basement, it is still only a few thousand dollars more to add a basement, in comparison to the total cost of building your home.

Considering that your home may be worth 0 thousand to 0,000, your basement will probably only cost K-K+ added to the cost. All things considered, there isn't a better investment for that extra 10K in comparison to doubling the living space of the first level, that a basement adds.

As an example, consider the storage space it adds to your home. If you didn't have to rent storage space, what would it save you each month? Or wouldn't it be nice to park the car in the garage instead of using it for storage space?

In addition, the basement maintains an even temperature of around 59 degrees all year, so the cost of air conditioning in the summer is drastically reduced when compared with air-conditioning an upper story with the same amount of floor space.

If you build your home on a hillside, a walkout basement makes for a nice feature opening up the basement so it doesn't feel so "deep" in the ground.

Many people are putting home theaters in the area of the basement that doesn't have any windows.

The furnace, hot water tank and water softener can all go in the basement utility-furnace room and not take up precious main floor living space.

Some areas of the country are too close to sea level to have a basement, but if you live inland, having a basement is a real advantage when compared to the cost of putting one in. To dig a basement is a an economical way to increase the square footage of your home.

In reality, what is the cost to dig a basement? Very little, and the benefits far outweigh the negatives.


What is the Cost to Build a Basement?

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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Hard Water Stains - Top Tips to Improve Your Well Water Supply and Prevent Water Stains

!±8± Hard Water Stains - Top Tips to Improve Your Well Water Supply and Prevent Water Stains

The water from your well could be costing you hundreds of dollars a year. This is because well water (or borehole water as it is sometimes called) contains high levels of dissolved minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which cause stubborn hard water stains and also stick to the elements on kettles and boilers causing them to be much less efficient.

If your water comes straight from a local well it may contain several components that could be potentially harmful to your family. There are many people in the US and around the world who have the same problem, especially the very common and annoying hard water minerals that cause hard water stains, which end up on fixtures and fittings. However, there are some really simple ways to combat these unwanted minerals and by installing a device to your home that will give you the peace of mind of knowing that your water is the best it can be.

Top Tips To Improve Your Well Water Supply:

One of the simplest ways to improve the quality of your water is to install a water softener. These devices remove the calcium and magnesium minerals that cause hard water stains, and replace them with sodium which makes the water much "softer". The advantage of this is it also prevents these same minerals from sticking to the heating elements of kettles, boilers and other appliances in the home.

Water softeners generally contain an easy to install cartridge that must be replaced every few months, or recharged, to keep it in top condition.

Water filters are also a great way to improve the quality of your well water and there are some great devices available that do an excellent job. Basically, these devices contain a filter that removes the unwanted minerals from your water and makes it cleaner and of higher quality.

One of the best types of filter to purchase is called a reverse-osmosis filters. These filters are often considered the best form of water filtration available today. The water is passed through several types of filters including a semi-permeable membrane, which filters out almost every contaminant.

They are more expensive than other types of filters but have reasonably low running costs, very effective filtration and can also be used to filter water to the whole house. These devices are the industry standard and can help to achieve very high purification, so much so that often people comment that they can actually taste the difference themselves once one of these has been installed.

Electromagnetic water conditioners are another way to reduce the level of minerals in well water and are a relatively new invention. The idea is that by passing water through a magnetic field, the calcium and magnesium ions are altered in such a way that they lose their ability to cause scale.

These devices have a number of benefits and many are used in industry; although the water is not technically soft, it has the useful properties of soft water, that is, it may reduce limescale in pipes and may increase heating efficiency as well as lengthening the lifespan of any clothes washed in the conditioned water.

However, the jury is still out on whether these devices work effectively in a residential environment. The magnetic current that passes through the water does not technically remove the unwanted minerals but simply changes the chemical make-up of them. This is supposed to prevent the minerals from "sticking" to the sides of pipes and fixtures around the home - thus reducing hard water stains and scale formation. However, as they are still present in the water, they can still cause problems around the home and are not particularly effective in hard water stains removal. There was a period of time in the 60's and 70's where many of these anti scale devices were installed in industrial systems, however they are not used as frequently these days.

Summary:

So, if you receive your water from a well water supply then there are some proven techniques for removing the annoying minerals and potentially toxic chemicals that are present in this type of water. Installing a device to filter your water is a great idea and could reduce the formation of hard water stains in your home, as well as making your morning coffee taste even better!


Hard Water Stains - Top Tips to Improve Your Well Water Supply and Prevent Water Stains

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