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Prevent Frozen Pipes – Extreme Cold Options, Plus Construction Tips

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When cold weather strikes, water damage from frozen water pipes or no running water is the last thing you need. We'll explain how to prevent frozen pipes when abruptly cold weather hits, and list construction or remodeling options that reduce your risk in the future. If your pipes are already frozen, please see 3 Ways to Safely Thaw Out Frozen Pipes.

pipes under kitchen sink [Read more…] about Prevent Frozen Pipes – Extreme Cold Options, Plus Construction Tips

Rural Internet Options – A Comparison of Rural Internet Services

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Living in the country has its benefits, lower cost per acre, fewer regulations and more freedom. But with those benefits comes a distinct disadvantage, slow or no rural internet options. Finding stable, fast rural internet can be like looking for a unicorn, but for the homesteading commuter, farmer or rural entrepreneur, high speed rural internet access can be a necessity.

What options are available for rural internet, plus 3 main factors that you need to ask about when you're contacting internet service providers.

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ICF Construction – What You Need to Know About an ICF Home

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ICF Construction (Insulated Concrete Form) - building with ICF, ICF energy efficiency, ICF cost, living in an ICF home and ICF durability. #ICF #greenhome
Back when we were researching our “forever home”, we chose ICF construction for a number of reasons. It's tough, energy efficient and should last a lifetime with minimal upkeep. In this post, I'll discuss:

  • what ICF construction is
  • how it differs from conventional construction
  • why we chose Insulated Concrete Forms
  • how much energy is saved (for heating and cooling) by using ICF construction
  • how an ICF home performs during emergencies
  • ICF costs
  • whether it's suitable for the do-it-yourselfer
  • what it's like living in the house
  • recommendations for potential ICF problem areas

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Aging in Place – Making Your Home Livable for a Lifetime

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We built our home to be a “lifetime” house, serving our changing needs throughout our lives. We planned to have the option of aging in place. In this post we'll present our Aging in Place Design Checklist, and then highlight how to apply this checklist to different areas of the home.

We built our home to be a “lifetime” house, serving our changing needs throughout our lives. We planned to have the option of aging in place. From children, to injured family, to possibly multiple families or live in relatives, we tried to cover likely scenarios. In this post we'll present our Aging in Place Design Checklist, and then highlight how to apply this checklist to different areas of the home. [Read more…] about Aging in Place – Making Your Home Livable for a Lifetime

Best Ways to Keep Your House Warm – New Construction and Remodeling Tips

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The best ways to keep your house warm in winter combine preventing heat loss and generating heat. Building smart will save money for the life of the home.

We aren't at the North Pole, but we get plenty of cold weather here in Northeast Wisconsin. We're in USDA hardiness zone 4/5 and we have wind 9 days out of 10. (Our area is one of the windiest in the state.)  Our home is built with the local climate in mind. We did a lot of research before building, so we put together a post to share what we feel are the best ways to keep your house warm in winter.

This post is part of our Winter Home Heating Series, which includes:

Keeping Warm – Winter Prep Check List for You and Your Home

25 Cheap Ways to Keep Your House Warm in Winter

Emergency Heat During a Power Outage and other Winter Storm Preps
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