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Show 20 Ways To Cut The Cost Of Building Your Home L from SMALL HOMES GUIDE J There are many ways that you can save in the costly business ot building your home in design, materials, and the like. Here, the editors of SMALL HOMES GCIDE magazine list a series of economies and practical "compromises" that may help you make your homebuilding plans meet the budget you have set up. 1. Shape Of Plan Affects Cost. The simple, rectangular design is the ultimate in economy because be-cause it's easier to build. 2. Use Of Stock Sizes. Such ready-made materials as wall panels, stock kitchen cabinets - and counters that fit exactly into modular-sized rooms, save cutting cut-ting time and labor cost. - 3. Glass Walls Are Cheaper. Floor-to-ceillng window walls, even of double-paned insulating glass, canusually be installed for less than standard wall construction. con-struction. 4. The Expansible Plan. It is a long-run saving to include all the space you will forseeably need at the outset. Interior finishing fin-ishing of some rooms can be deferred to cut initial outlay. 5. Reduce Maintenance. It is wise to select natural woods, aluminum, stainless steel and masonry, especially for exterior surface. Once installed, they can be virtually forgotten. 6. Costs Vs. Room Size. Don't try too hard to save on room sizes. Two similar home plans, but one larger, may cost almost the same to build. Development project builders report they can lengthen or widen houses for as little as $2 or $3 a square foot. 7. Use Inexpensive Materials. 'Jfothing but the best" may not be practical. Properly used, such items as hardboard and concrete con-crete block can save material and labor costs. 8. Use Native Materials. You'll save a great deal on freight alone. Local lumber and stone can knock many dollars olT costs. 9. Big Panels Are Cheaper. Materials in large-panel form insulation-board, plywood, hard-board, hard-board, gypsum-boa i-d, plastic-tin-lsh and other decorative panels all cut labor costs. 10. Use Of Copper Tubing. Copper tubing can cut costs because be-cause it bends around corners, fits into diilicult recesses. Sweat-fit Sweat-fit connections are easily nj speedily made. li"""""""""'1' ' n , : 11. Low-Voltage 'Wiring. A fcj bell-wire requiring no protective conduit is run from switches to junction box. High-voltage current cur-rent is turned on by electrons-netic electrons-netic switch mounted on the junction box and actuated by the low-voltage current. 12. Heating Shortcuts. New small ducts and registers save labor in warm-air instaEati:. With wet heat, -new baseb.is.-d radiators save similarily. Tie new combination steam-warm air heating, using copper tubing tub-ing heat runs, also saves rr.an hours. 13. Perforated Hardboard For Storage. With special inexpensive inexpen-sive hooks for hanging i'.e-ts, this reduces need for built-in;. 14. Use Of Roof Trusses. A trusscd-roof eliminates r.eei of I load-bearing partitions. Also. 3 house can be entirely roofed over quickly, expediting interior finishing greatly. 15. Larger Floor Joists. Builders Build-ers cf smaller houses f.r.d savings sav-ings by spanning an entire basement base-ment with large - dimension joists, eliminating necu for I-beams I-beams and columns. 1G. Production Framing Methods. Meth-ods. Entire wall frames are buut on the floor, covered with sheathing sheath-ing and siding, doors and windows win-dows are installed, and the wall is raised into placo. 17. Cheaper Partitions. With ' a trussed roof, interior partitions bear no load, can be framed with lx3's instead of Zx-l's. IS. Save On Door Framiitf-It Framiitf-It is time and money-savins w let rough door openings run to the ceiling, then till in spa above a standard door with s short portion of another door. 19. More Framing Saving A double 2x6 or single 4xS-;.noS header as the top plate tni'. around the perimeter of the siu-wall siu-wall ot a frame house clim'"",:f costly framing; of openings. "0. Economical HuiU-In l'-tors. l'-tors. Formed glass liber and gutters made by cxtoww faeia board upward reduce eos . .m. |