Some Helpful Tips for Homeowners

With today's trend in architecture, construction, and real estate industries, it is important to know the factors that you must consider whether you are designing, building or buying a new home for your family. As the lands are becoming a scarce commodity, subdivisions are now being cut into smaller parcels to maximize land use. However, this should not deprive the homeowners of the benefits of a real home - a peaceful haven for the family, by just getting a mere house - a dwelling place.

OPEN SPACE - It is ideal to have an open space within the property, aside from your carport/garage, with at least 40% of the total lot area. It can be used for many purposes - garden, lanai, drying area, BBQ area, or a combination thereof. With those features, you can accommodate your guests in a relaxing atmosphere while the kids are playing video games in the living room.

PROPERTY SETBACKS- A setback is a clear distance measured from the property line to the outermost protrusion of the building. Required setbacks may vary from different localities as each may have its own regulations. Most common used is a 3-meter setback on the sides facing the street, and 2 meters on the other sides. At least two sides should have the proper setbacks. If you can't have the luxury of an Open Space due to the size of the lot, the setbacks encourages good air circulation within the area. With this feature, homeowners can still enjoy a sense of privacy provided by the distance maintained between neighbors.

SIZE OF OPENNINGS - Window to Floor ratio shall be kept to at least 15%. This is determined by dividing the total area of windows by the total floor area in each room. This is an essential feature of a home as it is needed for natural lighting and proper ventilation. It is most important in tropical countries, such as Philippines, where we have only two seasons - one is hot and the other is very hot, he he.

HEADROOM - Also referred as floor-to-ceiling height. High ceilings give ample space for air circulation inside the house. You may notice that a loft-type house gives an impression of a bigger space, which you will find more comfortable to have, than a full two-storey unit even if the total floor area is smaller.

PROVISIONS FOR FUTURE EXPANSION - Most of the homeowners here in the Philippines wants to have bigger houses as much as they could build within the lot. But most of the time, the budget is not enough to finish it. So they tend to expand their houses after few years, whenever they come up with sufficient funding. This feature has to be incorporated in the planning stage to minimize costs and nuisance by the time an expansion is being implemented. This is done by placing a particular window in wall in such a way that when an additional bedroom is to be constructed, that window can be converted into a door with minimum trouble in the household. But house expansions should be done not to a point where open spaces and property setbacks are compromised. Otherwise, you will find yourself living in a warehouse.

To everybody who reads this article, it is an appeal to do your share in saving Mother Earth from its deterioration. By incorporating the above features in building your dream homes and improving your houses, you will promote energy conservation as it lessens the use electricity thru Air-conditioning during the hot season and Artificial Lighting during day time. Let us all work hand-in-hand to make this World a nice place to live in for generations to come.