The finishing touches are being added to the interior of the home in St Petersburg. The appliances are being delivered and installed. The home features an open plan with a modern design. The kitchen, dining, and living rooms are all one open space. This provides a free-flowing atmosphere where everyone can see each other. The space is made up of two containers and the space between the two containers has conventional framing, which creates a bigger space with a higher ceiling for the living area. Off the central hall are four bedrooms, including a master bedroom with its own dedicated bathroom. There are three additional bedrooms and a spacious bathroom at the end of the hall. Drywall was placed on the metal furring strips and then a wood frame was put in place for the windows. Construction adhesive was used to secure the wood baseboards. The interior walls are faced with DensArmor Plus fiberglass wallboard from Georgia Pacific. When building in a humid environment like Florida, it's very important to use material that is resistant to mildew and mold. DensArmor uses a fiberglass mat instead of an organic face. The fiberglass does not provide a surface for mold to grow. The ceiling has a knockdown texture painted with semigloss paint. The interior walls have a satin finish with an orange-peel texture.

Back on site, Bob joins Ray Price for a look at the ISBU's on their foundations. The total footprint of the house is 58 feet from front to back, or 1,800 square feet in total, with 2 ISBU's on each side. Between them, 7 3/4 inch-wide steel floor joists will run 16 inches on center and be welded on each end to the ISBU's, creating a total steel structure that will then get a plywood subfloor. Price shows Bob the floorplans for this Highland model. It has a front entry that leads to a living room, dining room, and kitchen combination that functions like a great room and family space. A central hallway leads to the back of the house and passes between two bedrooms on the right with a bath between them and two bedrooms on the left, including a master bedroom with its own bath, walk-in closet, and utility room. The single-car garage is built of cement block. The exterior will be finished in stucco like a traditional Florida home, and will match its identical, but smaller, prototype down the block.

Bob and developer John Druley walk through a home under construction by Qualker Homes in Falmouth, Massachusetts. This standard design is used for both the market-priced and affordable homes. The overall dimensions of the house are 26 feet by 36 feet. A center-door entry leads to 13-by-18-foot living room on one side and a 16-by-13-foot master bedroom on the other. The back of the house has a 13-by-18-foot kitchen with a back door and a window onto the backyard, a half-bath and laundry, and an entry to the master bedroom with full bath, tub-shower combination, double-bowl sink, and linen closet. The upstairs has two bedrooms with operable skylights and a full bath. This three-bedroom, two-and-one-half bath Cape will be lotteried as an affordable home to eligible families who make between $29,000 and $65,000 per year, and who qualify for a traditional mortgage. The home is stick-built with traditional 2X4 framing, oriented strand board (OSB) exterior sheathing, low-e glass, tilt-in vinyl windows, and gas heat. Bob and Druley point out that an affordable home must be affordable to operate and heat as well as being affordable to purchase.

Bob is joined on the site of the Punta Gorda, Florida, storm-ready home by Jim Crain of Precise Forms. Precise Forms partners with Mercedes Builders to create high-quality, reinforced concrete homes throughout Florida. Precise Forms began in 1967 by supplying cast-in-place forms for subterranean foundations and basements. In 2000 they began to set forms for full wall, cast-in-place houses for Mercedes Homes. Once the forms are set, Bob walks through the layout with Jesse Gonzalez of Mercedes Homes. Gonzalez points to window placements that are encapsulated behind the aluminum forms as they walk past view windows in the family area, past the three bedrooms, bath, laundry, and two-car garage of this four-bedroom home with master suite. Mark Newton of Solid Wall Systems joins Bob as the pour begins. He explains that they are using a 2,000 pound psi, small aggregate concrete mix for the entire pour. We watch as the concrete is pumped into the forms, which are braced at the top by two-by-fours that hold the tops of the forms square to prevent movement as the forms receive the static pressure of the concrete. Newton explains that they will vibrate around all door and window openings before allowing the concrete to set. This will help eliminate voids, honeycombing, or any blowout due to bad adhesion or conformity of the concrete.

…tubs, showerheads, toilets, appliances, furniture, patios, cement and gutters. And, as…
…to harm you or your family. Outdoor Furniture Cleaner is safe to use on all outdoor furniture, cushions, awnings and children’s play…

…Cellular shades are the most popular window shade. They are made in a honeycomb pattern…
…traditionally rise like a flat fold Roman shade, and are made from a variety of exotic…
…so much more than the old vinyl roller shade of yesteryear. Although the vinyl roller…

…condition. Most wood outdoor furniture will benefit from a mild scrubbing…
…type. Today's wicker furniture comes in both natural and synthetic…
…short uses outside and in the shade. Its synthetic cousin of vinyl…
…Putting a new face on plastic furniture has had its problems. It…

Organic foods, hybrid cars and more energy-efficient homes are all moving into the mainstream. As Americans change their habits and lifestyles to adjust to the new greener lifestyle, manufacturers and marketing agencies aren t the only ones sitting up and taking notice.