[caption id="attachment_11297" align="alignright" width="320"]iStockphoto iStockphoto[/caption]

Do you know the insulated concrete method for formwork? It consists in replacing the wood formwork with a polystyrene foam formwork (rigid insulation), for the foundation and the above-ground walls. The framework is an integral part of the wall because it stays in place after the concrete work.

This method offers several benefits: increased fire resistance, noise reduction, improved energy efficiency, strength and long-term profitability.

Energy efficiency may be the most obvious benefit. The walls are insulated without air space or thermal bridges inside and outside, from the footing to the roof. The building is impervious to heat loss and air infiltrations if the caulking around the openings is done properly.

This type of construction ensures sustainable development. In ideal conditions, poured concrete in an insulated framework provides a practically indestructible product that will resist humidity, insects and any type of degradation for a long time.[……]

Read more

AD

There are some projects, such as buying a house, that cannot be turned into reality over night. In addition to having to consider a number of factors, you must also be able to save sufficiently, all the while ensuring that the financial repercussions do not affect your lifestyle.

Whether you’re dreaming of a trip around the world, purchasing a new car, retiring under the sun, or acquiring a second home, your project must begin with a plan!

Advice… from the comfort of your home

Financially, it’s always wiser to save sufficiently to avoid having to rely on financing to accomplish your life projects. However, there’s no denying that in some instances, such as buying a home, it is quite difficult – and often, impossible – to save all that you need to pay it all in cash.

This however doesn’t mean that saving is futile. By saving as much as possible, you thereby minimize both your future monthly payments and the interest that accumulates on your loan. In turn, this will free up some considerable room in your budget.

But how and how much should you save? [……]

Read more

Handymen are always looking for ideas, while renovators are seeking advice and techniques. If you have handymen and renovators among your family and friends, why not offer them a guide as a Christmas gift?

Among the new items in bookstores is One-Board Woodworking Projects. You have to admit that it’s a great title. Author Andy Standing describes the steps to take and shows the material and tools required to build each object.

While some of you are pure handymen: dish holder, clothes dryer, laptop table, lamp base, miniature rocking chair, others are renovators: wall consoles, kitchen shelves, corner shelves.

[caption id="attachment_11226" align="aligncenter" width="580"]iStockphoto iStockphoto[/caption]

[……]

Read more

Are you crazy about high-tech? Do you find each innovation to be a gift from heaven? You will be thrilled over the next few years.

Jump ahead a few years. It’s three days before Christmas. You’re in front of the bathroom mirror. You slide a finger along the mirror equipped with a camera and transformed into a touchpad connected to the house’s wireless network.

The mirror recognizes your voice or face. You check your emails or watch YouTube. You check the latest news or road conditions while brushing your teeth, shaving, doing your makeup or cleaning the vanity and sink.

[caption id="attachment_11225" align="aligncenter" width="580"]iStockphoto iStockphoto[/caption]

Curious, you check your body mass in the mirror. Very useful when you want to maintain a healthy weight during the holiday season.[……]

Read more

Collectable books always make nice gifts for the simple reason that we refuse to buy them ourselves, under the pretext that it’s an unnecessary expense. A foolish waste of money we would say.

Sometimes we tell ourselves that we will buy ourselves the coveted book one day. Time passes by and we forget and never buy it.

Are you wracking your brains trying to figure out what to buy for your loved ones for Christmas? If someone on your list has a decoration bug, why not offer a coffee table book?

Even better if they’re about to redecorate. They could study ideas, compare styles, put their imagination to work.

There are so many new books and reprints that here is a short list of what’s available.

Ros Byam Shaw proposes his coffee table sized book English Eccentric. It’s dynamite! In this work, we are immersed in the dizzying heights of the British imagination. The book features 14 residences whose owners include an artist, designer, a documentarian, a politician, a hairstylist.

[caption id="attachment_11229" align="aligncenter" width="580"]iStockphoto iStockphoto[/caption]

The editor emphasizes the courage of these owners when it comes to interior decoration. That says it all. This book contains a wealth of ideas as the author avoids trends and unabashedly seeks originality.[……]

Read more

Buying a home is a major purchase that most people pay off over a long period of time. However, certain easily accessible choices can help you save on interest and speed up your mortgage repayment. Here are five tricks to pay off your National Bank mortgage more quickly.

[caption id="attachment_11111" align="aligncenter" width="580"]iStockphoto iStockphoto[/caption]
  1. Increase the frequency of your payments

This option is often considered the easiest option to incorporate into a budget. Simply increase your payment frequency from monthly to weekly or biweekly. And why not time your mortgage payments to coincide with when your salary is deposited? [……]

Read more

[caption id="attachment_11113" align="alignleft" width="320"]Siège de la télévision d'État CCTV à Pékin appelé aussi Le pantalon. Photo: iStockphoto Siège de la télévision d’État CCTV à Pékin appelé aussi Le pantalon. Photo: iStockphoto[/caption]

Imagine the scene: Stephen Harper stands in the House of Commons and asks Canadians to put a halt to constructing buildings with weird shapes. Too much is too much, he says.
This is not likely to happen for two reasons: Stephen Harper is not a dictator and Canada is a rather conservative country when it comes to architecture. The streets aren’t filled with grotesquely shaped buildings.
In any case, it would be delirious. Such a scene is impossible. What leader would dare do it? And which country in the world can boast having a surplus of strange architectural buildings on its territory?
We have the answer: China.
It happened in mid-October. According to the Agence France-Presse, Chinese President Xi Jinping took advantage of a speech in front of a delegation of artists to request that the multiplication of weird constructions in China come to an end.[……]

Read more