Construction Planning

The cost of building a home can vary widely, depending on the size of your house, geographic location and interior finishes. However, we have a breakdown of average costs for you.

By Dave Roos

Many homes in rural parts of the U.S. rely on well water rather than city water. But well water has pros and cons that city people may never have considered.

By Nathan Chandler

The deck is the perfect outdoor entertaining space in any home. But what happens when furniture and house guests take up too much space? It's time to stretch that deck out a little.

By Jane McGrath

Choosing the right person to make major changes to you home can be daunting. How do you know where to start when you're looking for a remodeler?

By Jane McGrath

If you study a brick wall, it looks simple enough. It's just a stack of bricks and some mortar to hold everything together, right? The job takes a bit more experience than you'd think.

By Jane McGrath

Sure, you can remove most walls, but if you try to remove a load-bearing wall, your entire house could come crashing down around you -- or will it?

By Allison Wachtel

To be your own GC or not to be? That is the question. We'll explore why some people decide to oversee their own home renovation projects -- and why others choose to leave it to the professionals.

By Kate Kershner

More than just a couple nails here and a few screws there, a construction project is a complex commercial enterprise that draws on a variety of workers, tools and materials. At the helm is a construction project manager.

By Chris Opfer

The real estate market has been shaky for a while now, and homeowners are doing everything they can to get their homes on more solid financial ground. Is a remodeling project the way to do it?

By Ed Grabianowski

Cleaning gutters is certainly no fun, but it's a job that has to be done. Unless you have gutter guards, and then it's a job that you have to do a lot less. We'll show you how to install them.

By Mark Boyer

The simplest ingredients -- stone, gravity, ingenuity -- still create, for some of us, the most perfect solution for building. Get ready to assemble your own long-lasting stone masterpiece.

By Jacob Clifton

Dreaming of busting up that large room you never use and turning it into two smaller ones? Here are some best practices for putting up an interior wall, no matter what sort of space you're starting out with.

By John Kelly

Home remodels can range from the extensive (can you say money pit?) to the everyday (a new roof, perhaps?). When fixing up your digs, do you always need to pull a permit? We'll explain why getting approval is prudent in this article.

By Gerlinda Grimes

If you've outgrown your home but don't want to (or can't) move, it may be time for a "renovation intervention." Here are some ways to expand your existing floor space.

By Colleen Cancio

Is your new home proceeding on schedule or is your contractor just blowing smoke at you? Here's how to tell.

By Becky Striepe

Is your contractor buying shoddy materials, then pocketing the remainder of the dough you gave him for quality materials? Yep, it's time to fire him.

By Garth Sundem

The identical ranks of cookie-cutter neighborhoods have been immortalized (and often satirized) in American pop culture, but who first came up with the idea for these "little boxes on the hillside?"

By Kate Kershner

These days, homeowners have add-on options that previous generations could only dream of. From integrated electronics to secret rooms, we'll scope out 10 of the best.

By Shanna Freeman

While some people use the terms "general contractor" and "construction manager" interchangeably, these are actually two different jobs. What specific role do construction managers play in building projects big and small?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

It's tough to read house plans when they're thick with seemingly cryptic symbols. How can you interpret their mysterious language?

By Garth Sundem

Renovating your home is a big job. But making a mistake before or during construction can make the job even bigger. Here are 10 to avoid.

By Becky Striepe

The Guaranteed Maximum Price Contract passes any cost savings back to the contractee rather than the contractor but it's popular with both parties. Why is that?

By Chris Opfer

Building permits are the way counties, towns and municipalities enforce their codes to ensure that all buildings meet minimum safety and structural standards. When do you need one, and what does the process of getting one entail?

By John Kelly

Before any major remodeling job, you have to accurately measure the work space. Learn about how to square a building in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

You need to level a rough concrete floor. Find out here just how to level a concrete floor.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors