Why Don’t We Use Awnings Anymore

When you look at old black and white pictures of cities from before the 1950s you may notice something on most buildings that are no longer there today. Awnings. They were ubiquitous over nearly every window of buildings from the most basic single family home to massive buildings like The White House.

Where did all these awnings go and why did they disappear? Before we answer that let’s look at what an awning actually does for a building.

How Do Awnings Work?

Awnings were and still are extremely effective at blocking solar heat gain through windows. We often look at

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4 Ways to Give Your Kitchen Personality

Kitchens are showing more personality these days. As they’ve become a hub, they’re not just for cooking and eating. We’ve been using them for all kinds of activities. We want our kitchens to reveal our interests and taste but still blend with the rest of our home. Here are four ways — little and big — to do that by designing a creative kitchen. 

#1 Aim for a Creative Kitchen

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Image: MarioGuti/Getty

You love looking at posts on Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration and saving them for mood boards or focused aesthetic. But because of your urge for individuality, you

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Reusable Flood Bags for Fast Bulk-Water Control


Whether it’s a substantial indoor leak or flooding from heavy rainfall, water is a force to be reckoned with and can wreak havoc on even the best home assembly. As for the latter, incorporating systemic climate-adaptive building practices is the best way to prevent the kind of costly damage water can cause to homes and communities. In the meantime, homeowners and builders need a way to deal with water issues—and fast.

Flood Bags from Quick Dam evoke the common image of the sandbag, except for a few important differences—they are not filled with sand, are reusable, and are easily stored.

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The 4 Most Unanswered Questions about

photo 1560448204 e02f11c3d0e2?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwzNjUyOXwwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fHJlYWwlMjBlc3RhdGV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNjQwMjAwNDIy&ixlib=rb 1.2What are the Benefits of an ADU in Real Estate

Are you having deep thoughts on what we mean by the ADU? You need to know that nowadays we have an increased value for houses and hard economic times and this has made a majority of people share rooms for accommodation and homeowners deciding to come up with great ADUs for accommodation reasons. You should have an understanding that an ADU is just an extra space that is built close to a homestead. Mostly, the ADUs are built attached to a home or away from a home.

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New Interior Laminate Collection Incorporates Sophisticated

Elevate from Within with New Wilsonart® Interiors

Functionality is more important than ever as the home has become a true 24/7 operation over the last two years. But after a long season of casualization, many are looking to combine functionality with beauty and style. Wilsonart, a world-class innovator of engineered surfaces, introduces Wilsonart® Interiors, a new collection specifically designed to bring the magic of function balanced with beauty to homes and commercial spaces.

Wilsonart Interiors is a curated collection of Thermally Fused Laminate (TFL) designs and finishes that bring sophisticated style to the inside of cabinets, drawers and

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5 Tricks to Get Insurance for an Old House

If you’re looking to buy an old home you may be stuck in a common problem of finding homeowners insurance for your property. When most insurance companies hear about a home that is more than 40-years-old they often prefer to pass, and when you tell them your house is 100-years-old they run screaming and tell all their insurance friends not to return your calls.

If you are a cash buyer then you can go without insurance (if you dare!), but if you have a mortgage like the rest of us then you are required to have insurance in place before

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5 Ways to Keep Severe Weather from Doing a Number on Your

Landscaping climate change hardscaping groundcover dead grass overgrown fence

Contrary to what many may believe, severe weather doesn’t just beat up on the other guy. Mother Nature can wallop anyone’s home and yard.

That doesn’t mean you’ll have to watch your house reduced to briquettes by a wildfire or flooding test your home’s capacity for flotation. But your yard may lose some of its curb appeal if you let nature take its course and you experience events like drought, flooding, hail, high winds, or other uninvited elements. If severe weather is persistent or paired with deficient maintenance, it can set your yard back years. 

It may be time to

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FHB Podcast: Special Edition With Neil Freidberg of


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Neil, Kyle, and Patrick talk about how sheathing panels with an integral WRB and matching tape are an easy, long-lasting, and reliable way to keep out water and air-seal buildings.

This special edition of the Fine Homebuilding Podcast is brought to you by LP.

LP Structural Solutions is a leader in proven performance—and our portfolio of premium products is just a glimpse of where we’re headed. At

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Why Aren’t As Bad As You Think

photo 1619301694734 811fbbbaddb3?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwzNjUyOXwwfDF8c2VhcmNofDI0fHxiYWNreWFyZHxlbnwwfHx8fDE2NDAyMjY4MTU&ixlib=rb 1.2What to Know Before Building a Bed And Breakfast in Backyard Prior to you construct a bed and breakfast in your backyard, there are several things you need to recognize. First, you require to recognize your intents. To read more about this company view here! Do you intend to use the bed and breakfast for leasings or for prolonged family? Is it for individual use? What dimension do you want? What amenities do you need? What will your visitor anticipate? These are a few of the questions you will need to answer prior to you begin building. If you intend … Read More

Where Have All the Tradesmen Gone?

Running a business in the world of construction and restoration fields I am often left asking this question. Where have all the tradesmen gone? In years past it wasn’t a problem trying find an able-bodied man or woman interested in working a good paying job doing manual labor, but after the Great Recession of 2008 lots of skilled tradesmen left the job market and just never returned.

An it’s not like the work I’m offering is ditch digging. My company employs skilled and unskilled workers restoring historic windows and doors. We are blessed to work on some of the most

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