The Towing Path

This is by no means an exhaustive list of what’s available in the area of prefabricated homes and buildings. This article is to introduce you to the world prefab. If you’re in the industry, you’ll probably be cringing about now at the word “prefab”. But, the word is one that has become synonymous with homes and buildings that have been partially or fully assembled in a factory setting.
I for one am excited to see the latest versions of modern prefabs emerging globally. They’re well thought out, beautiful, and energy-efficient.

And to anyone who has any doubts about the quality of today’s prefab homes, I’d ask, would you rather buy a house whose parts have all been crafted outdoors exposed to the elements — by hand. Or, would you rather buy a house built in a factory setting to tight specs exceeding that of site-built homes. I say exceeding, because a normal site-built home doesn’t have to endure the rigors of transportation.

For your review, here are quick descriptions of 10 of the many categories of prefab homes available for exploring at http://PrefabExpo.com - in no particular order:

1. Manufactured

Single-family residential dwellings consisting of one, two or more sectional units and constructed to Federal HUD code. Zoning regulations and ordinances of the local Municipality or County might not permit use of mobile and manufactured homes in all areas of their jurisdiction.

2. Modular

Modular refers to a method of building a home, rather than a type of home. A modular home can be built in a factory from a stock modular home plan or from a customized plan, to the state, local or regional codes of where the home will be set up. Modular homes have not typically experienced the zoning restrictions and discriminative ordinances applicable to manufactured and mobile homes.

3. Panelized

Panelized homes are factory-built homes in which panels whole walls with windows, doors, wiring, and outside siding are transported to the site and assembled. Panels are made from insulating foam sandwiched between two layers of structural material. The panels are lightweight and might already be filled with insulation when they arrive on the site. The homes must meet the state or local building codes of where they are sited.

4. Steel-frame

Steel framing is an equivalent to conventional stick frame or post & beam home design where the structural lumber is replaced by steel studs and trusses or steel posts and beams. Light-Gauge Framing System features screw-together, galvanized stud-and-truss, grid-type construction system built on 4-foot center.Red-Iron Metal Post & Beam Systems features bolt-together, pre-engineered post-and-beam-type framing system that uses the red-iron steel “C” beams on 8-foot center. The prefabricated home built with this method can be single-story, two-story, and even tri-level home.
Unlike conventional wood framed home that requires interior walls to support the roof, the higher strength-to-weight ratio of steel house allows to span greater distances with less material and fewer supports. The result is higher floor layout and interior design flexibility.

Unlike wood, steel won’t shrink, rot, warp, buckle, split, or be attacked by insects. This results in greater durability, lower long-term maintenance, higher energy efficiency and overall greater quality of this prefabricated home.

5. Precut

This category includes wood-framed factory-built houses or cabins where building materials are factory-cut to design specifications and transported to the site to be assembled. PrefabExpo.com presents prefab building kits designed as wood-framed (also known as balloon-frame, 2 x 4, 2 x 6 or stick-built construction) as well as prefabricated home kit / cabin kit using post-frame method. The homes or cabins must meet local or state building codes of the area where they will be sited.

6. Cedar

According to Katahdin Cedar Log Homes, cedar is aromatic to people, and problematic to insects: The heartwood of northern white cedar produces organic compounds called thujaplicins - which create that fresh, pleasant cedar aroma. But to insect pests, such as moths and termites, cedar just plain stinks. They’ll avoid cedar homes and instead search out inviting, tasty pine structures.

Cedar home kits include everything you need to build the home, itself. That is to say, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the windows and doors. But your foundation, plumbing and electrical system are not usually included in a kit.

7. Timberframe

Timber framing is a specific type of post and beam construction in which a frame is created from solid wood timbers that are then connected by any one of the following wooden joints: mortise and tenon, dovetails, or scarfs secured with hardwood pegs. The frame is covered with any one of a number of enclosure systems. Normally the timbers remain exposed to the interior of the building.

Timber frame structures exhibit a strength and aesthetic quality not found in conventionally framed houses. The timbers are pre-cut, shaped, and finished at the factory, then sent to the construction site, where they can be quickly assembled by a crew, routinely using cranes to lift the bents and beams into place. The use of quality wood, enhanced by joinery that compares with fine cabinet making, maximizes the strength of the timberframe structure. Joinery is the heart of the entire structure.

8. Log

Log homes provide their owners with a comforting and relaxing sense of informality and simplicity. The mass of logs produces heating and cooling benefits, and reduces noise transmission into and throughout the home. These are very attractive characteristics, but there are also challenges in construction and limitations in decorating. These aspects require special design considerations and have unusual maintenance requirements.
Basic Kits Are…

WALLS ONLY: The walls-only log home package includes all the logs for the outside walls, including fasteners. Roof beams and staircases may be added.

STRUCTURAL SHELL: Shell This package includes everything that’s in the walls-only package, plus all components necessary to keep the weather out, such as exterior doors, windows, and the roofing system.

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE: Complete packages also includes interior components required to finish log homes. Such items include interior walls, stairs, closets, interior doors and trim.

9. Circular

The circle is the strongest geometrical shape we recognize, and this factor likely influenced builders of circular homes for thousands of years. Prefabricated circular buildings have been built as cabins, studios, homes, offices or community halls and convention centers.
Most of today’s prefabricated circular homes and cabins offered across the country use conventional wood-frame or post & beam construction method. These homes and cabins are ideally suited to take the full advantage of locations offering exciting panoramic views, and to incorporate factor of the surroundings into the home design.

10. Dome

Geodesic Dome is using triangular networks forming hexagons and pentagons and creating a free-span, spacious environment of spherically shaped structure requiring no internal supports. This results in large flexibility for utilizing interior space to implement floor designs not limited by structural restrictions. Because of the structural strength of the shape, the domes have a far better record of withstanding tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes than cube-shaped structures of conventional homes.
Advantages…

MATERIAL COSTS: Geodesic domes provide the greatest amount of floor area with the least amount of surface area, reducing the quantity of needed building material by as much as 30-50%.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY: As a result of the shape, the dome has approximately 30-50% less roof and wall area than cube-shaped home of equal floor space. This results in lesser area being exposed to the elements, resulting in reduction in heating and cooling costs of dome shaped structures. Also, the spherical shape of the dome facilitates natural air flow yielding more even temperatures maximizing overall interior temperature comfort.

Disadvantages…

As a result of complicated angles, the interior and exterior finishing of the dome (after speedy assembly of the prefabricated shell) is significantly more labor intensive than finishing the conventional house. Also, the finishing work requires highly skilled or specialized tradesmen which might not be available at every location. These factors might present welcoming challenge for skilled handyman - homebuilder, but would create substantial cost outlay if the hired labor is considered.

This piece was originally submitted by Diane Takahashi,who can be reached at prefabexpo@yahoo.com, or visited on the web. Diane is co-creator of http://PrefabExpo.com a subscription-based online database of prefabricated homes, cabins and buildings and their vendors.

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I am so confused about the different breeds of dogs there are these days. Recently I found out about these teacup sized dogs because a few celebrities have them and take them with them everywhere. While I thought that would be so much fun to have a small dog that I could take with me everywhere I did not like the hairless breeds that I saw. Then after a little research I found that there are teacup poodle puppies that have hair and are still, well, the size of a teacup. I think that I will get one of these and take it with me everywhere too.

I have always bought a more expensive brand of food for my dog because I heard that it helps to eliminate waste. While I do care about what kind of food my dogs are eating I was not too worried about it because I bought the higher quality stuff. Now I am scared about what to do next because there has been a recall on my food. What is the next best thing to homemade for teacup poodles? I want less waste and I want to make sure what I buy is quality. I especially do not want the item recalled after I begin using it.

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Yes, there is such a thing as a free ISP or internet service provider. An internet service provider is a company that provides internet access, usually for a nominal fee. However, you might be surprised to find that there are Free ISP’s. If you are wondering if I am referring to the discs you receive in the mail that offer you free internet for 30 days, think again. The ISP’s I am talking about are not offering just a free trial.

So, how are these ISP’s able to offer free internet access? The answer to that will not come as a surprise. In fact, advertising is the funding source behind many free products. For instance, you can find many sites offering free MP3 downloads. However, just like the free ISP’s, these sites come with a great number of pop-up advertisements. In fact, these pop-ups can be so numerous on free internet connections offered by these ISP’s that it can become a real nuisance. It may even stall your computer and make it difficult and frustrating to surf the net.

Additionally, these free ISP’s may not offer internet, or free internet, in your area. If there is not a dialup number in your area, you may have to go without. These ISP’s may also limit the amount of time you can spend surfing the net. The amount of features that commercial ISP’s include may be lost when going with a free ISP. Most ISP’s that charge for their services are constantly coming up with new features. This is not the case with ISP’s that offer free internet services. Free ISP’s may also provide a poor quality connection with more interruptions that commercial ISP’s.

If you are looking for an ISP that is a step up from the free ISP’s, the answer might be right in front of you. You see, a lot of ISP’s that offer free internet services also have a premium package available for a low cost. In fact, offering free internet access can be a way for these ISP’s to attract customers. Once a customer sees that they enjoy using the ISP, they may decide to purchase unlimited access from them rather than their competitors.

Before accepting the terms and conditions of your ISP, always be sure you have read and understand every thing. When you are agreeing to free internet access you want to make especially sure that your ISP is truly offering the free internet access you think they are. You also want to make sure you know how much your internet time is limited to, if that is the case. You also want to look for any additional charges or long distance charges that may apply for your ISP.

About The Author:

Neil Shevlin is the owner of UK Cheap Broadband which is a great place to find broadband links, resources and articles.

For more information go to: UK Cheap Broadband

http://www.ukcheapbroadband © Copyright 2005

Please feel free to copy and paste this article and it’s resource information.

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If you write and publish eBooks, sooner or later youwill probably be faced with a dilemma - should youcreate your eBooks as .exe files or .pdf files?

PDF, which stands for Portable Document Format, is thefile extension for files created with Adobe Acrobat.

Exe, which stands for ‘executable’, is the extensionfor files created by eBook compilers.

PDF is widely considered to be the ‘industry standard’for eBook publishing, and for good reason. Here aresome of the advantages of PDF files over exe files:

(1) With most eBook compilers you have to set up eachpage of your eBook as a separate web page. With AdobeAcrobat you can use a single MS Word file as thesource document.

(2) PDF files automatically number each page - exefiles don’t.

(3) PDF files are very easy to edit - you can insertpages, replace pages and delete pages (and the pagenumbering is automatically adjusted).

(4) Printing from a PDF file is much easier thanprinting from an .exe file.

(5) The ‘bookmark’ column on the left side of a PDFfile makes navigation very easy - much easier than inan exe file.

(6) PDF files compress better than exe files, so youend up with a smaller, more manageable file.

(7) It’s virtually impossible to transmit a virusthrough a PDF file - exe files are susceptible tovirus transmission and can become corrupted duringdownload.

(8) Finally, by using PDF you automatically expandyour potential market because PDF files can be read onboth a PC and a Mac (exe files can only be read on aPC). Over 8 percent of the online population in theU.S. are currently Mac users(www.nielsen-netratings.com) - not a huge increase inyour market, but nevertheless significant.

But exe files do have some advantages over PDF files.Until recently, one of the most important of these wasprice - most eBook compilers are a fraction of thecost of Adobe Acrobat.

However, a number of PDF creators have recentlyappeared on the market with price tags similar to thoseof eBook compilers. Here are some of them:

http://pdfcreator.com/http://www.jawspdf.com/http://www.win2pdf.com/

Another advantage of exe files over PDF is therebranding feature. The following eBook compilers allhave a built-in rebranding function:

http://www.ebookcompiler.com/http://www.ebookgenerator.com/http://www.ebookedit.com/http://www.ebookpaper.com/

If you use free eBooks as a viral marketing tool,rebranding is the key to success, because people aremuch more likely to promote your free eBook if theycan customize it with their own affiliate links.

————————————————————
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
————————————————————

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Businesses miss on growth opportunities and even close their doors every day, not because they aren’t profitable enough, but because they are strangled by poor cash flow. The problem is that while their profit and loss statement shows success, their bank account cries poor. Excessive money tied up in delinquent receivables, bad checks, and bad debt write-offs, rob businesses of valuable cash flow, handcuffing their ability to grow or even stay in business at all.

It doesn’t take long for a business to get caught up in a spiraling trend of increasingly late receivables, only needing a few additional delinquent accounts to start the process. Most companies lack the expertise and manpower needed to handle a spike in delinquent accounts. Soon, their staff is doing more work chasing late receivables, and they end up neglecting the easier to collect, more current accounts. Eventually, a higher and higher percentage of accounts become delinquent and more and more accounts become uncollectible, forcing companies to employ expensive collection agencies to recover at least some of their money at a big loss or they write off the debt completely. The end result is a loss in profitability and a serious strain on cash flow.

There are some more obvious, common sense practices that companies can employee to maintain a healthy accounts receivable portfolio. A few examples include:

1. Perform a credit history check before extending credit.

2. Set and adhere to credit limits.

3. Establish your credit terms in writing on statements and invoices

4. Require all sales and money management staff to know and follow credit policies.

As for maintaining or restoring a healthy accounts receivable portfolio, companies may need to invest in additional personnel or outside services with expertise in delinquent debt collection. If a company’s receivables are large enough and they have a budget which allows them to add experienced, full-time debt collectors to their staff, they should make the investment in additional personnel. If a company can’t afford it or their delinquent receivables don’t require full-time attention, outsourcing would be a better alternative.

National Revenue Corporation is a collections agency that specializes in “preventative maintenance” collections strategies. They offer variety of low, fixed fee solutions that make it attractive for businesses to employ their services to perform collections on delinquent accounts right as they become delinquent. They provide the necessary expertise to collect on the harder, delinquent accounts, while their client’s staff focuses its efforts on the more current, easier to collect accounts. With this approach, both current and delinquent account collections improve yielding improved cash flow and a well-balanced accounts receivable portfolio.

Marc Eskew is widely recognized in the area of accounts receivable management. For more information on preventative maintenance approach to accounts receivable management or to contact Mr. Eskew, please visit http://www.fmxservices.com/cashflow

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Many a borrower has gotten hung up on mortgage lingo and financial jargon. When brokers and lenders take the time to explain one can only be more confused.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that one mortgage is not like the other. Exactly what do home mortgages purport to be? Is a mortgage a loan? Is it a contract? Is it the deed? What parties are involved and how is actual property ownership defined? As home loan borrower, are you the actual owner of the property being financed? We need only look closer at the definitions for each party involved in the process.

Mortgages by definition are devices used to create a lien on real estate properties by contract. Such device is used as a method by which individuals or businesses can buy residential or commercial property without paying the full value upfront.

Mortgagor Defined
The mortgagor (borrower) is the borrower of money for a mortgage. The party of a mortgage agreement who receives financing for real estate property. The person who gives a mortgage in return for money to be repaid. Sometimes spelled mortgager.

Mortgagee Defined
The mortgagee (Lender) is the party lending the money and receiving the mortgage. The creditor or lender in a mortgage agreement.

Therefore the borrower uses a mortgage to pledge real property to the lender (also called the mortgagee) as security against the debt for the rest of the value of the property.

Defining Other Types of Mortgages Defined

Conventional Mortgage: With a conventional mortgage, the lender obtains a lien or defeasible legal title to the property in return for the payment of the amount of money lent.

FHA Mortgage: An FHA mortgage is a conventional mortgage which is insured in whole or in part by the Federal Housing Authority.

Purchase Money Mortgage: A purchase money mortgage is one given to secure a loan used to buy the property.

Senior Mortgage
The first mortgage. A first (senior) mortgage on the property has priority over any second or subsequent (junior) mortgages on the property; the senior lender has a more secure interest in the event of a default since the senior obligations are paid first in the event of foreclosure and sale.

Adjustable Rate Mortgages: An adjustable rate mortgage (also called “ARM”) offers a fixed initial interest rate and a fixed initial monthly payment. After the initial period is over, the rate and term of the mortgage can be modified at predetermined times under the agreement to reflect the current market mortgage rates.

For more help defining mortgage and loan terms I recommend the following sites.

Google.com has implemented a number of dictionaries in its search results. Simply begin each search with the term “define” followed by the financial keyword you are seeking a definition to. Example: “Define Mortgages”.

The Blogger mortgage glossary dictionary at http://mortgages-glossary.blogspot.com has basic mortgage terms defined. Take time to do research on financial terms your not familiar with. Notice updated or clarified definitions by using more than one online dictionary or mortgage glossary. When trying to understand the mortgage process remember that it’s all in the word.

Mark Askew is the founder of the Mortgage Loan Search Financial Network. A network of mortgage related informational resources and portals centralized at http://www.bcpl.net/~ibcnet The network features highly recommended, helpful, financial decision making tools, mortgage guides and refinancing tips to save time and money when contemplating home mortgage financing or refinancing.

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