Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

Wilmington, NC remodeler Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share an article from BankRate.com’s Paul Bomberger with tips on how to approach remodeling your home without a home equity loan. Bomberger addressed the points below as well as pointing out that almost one-third of the country’s homeowners have near negative equity on their home. To read the complete article, click here!  

• Personal savings
• Credit cards
• Hold a garage or yard sale
• Sweat equity
• Borrowing from family

Last year we shared with our readers an article from the World Floor Covering Association on how to care for your pre-finished hardwood floors. Now Wilmington, NC luxury home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share the WFCA’s reasoning for opting for hardwood or bamboo flooring, complete with links to more of their helpful articles. Visit www.WFCA.org for more information on all flooring options!

Why hardwood?

It’s not hard to answer. This flooring product offers many features and benefits to the home. And, perhaps, to your home.

Come along and let’s find out! Read more to learn if hardwood is the flooring solution for the way you live. Hardwood certainly answers the need for beauty in your home.

The elegant look of a hardwood floor can add warmth and character to any room. In fact, the natural characteristics of wood add depth and a visual appearance that many other types of floors try to duplicate.

Rich, inviting hardwood floors are not only beautiful to live with, they can also add value to your home at resale time. Plus, today, hardwood types, options and applications are more diverse and delightful than ever.

As the consumer demand for hardwood floors has grown so has the manufacturer’s ability to produce better quality finishes and superior construction techniques.

The result of those advancements is that wood floors can now be installed throughout the home and over a wide variety of subfloors.

Why bamboo?

The answer is easy, exciting and environmental. Unlike hardwood, bamboo is not a product of trees, it’s a fast growing grass.

Bamboo can grow from sprouts to harvesting in three to five years, thus an acre of bamboo can provide more flooring than an acre of trees.

When bamboo shoots are cut the roots remain intact and fresh new sprouts grow in their place.

The dense root mass of bamboo helps prevent soil erosion and provides a viable crop opportunity in hilly acres where other crops cannot grow.

The species used for flooring is harvested from selected groves in Southern China. And, good news — this species is not eaten by Pandas.

Bamboo can be an attractive alternative to hardwood because it is eco-friendly, is dimensionally stable, 27% harder than Northern Red Oak, 13% harder than hard Maple, can either be nailed-down, glued-down or floated, and it’s resistant to flammability.

Bamboo flooring comes in planks and is installed just like engineered hardwood floors. These floors can be installed over many different types of subfloors.

If you think wood rules, we invite you to come explore the other sections on beautifying your home with hardwood.

Wilmington, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages those in the area to take advantage of FREE ADMISSION to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, NC. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. day the Fort Fisher aquarium will waive all admission fees on January 18, 2010. Exhibit gallery highlights include alligators, sea stars, stingrays, sea turtles, clownfish and a rare albino alligator! For more information, visit their website!

Last week Wilmington, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes introduced their readers to the Phoenix Employment Ministry and now encourage those in the area to attend their latest fundraiser, the “I Survived 2009 Party”. This is an event to celebrate surviving with fellow business professionals in one of the toughest years on record! Tickets are $35 and include food, fun, wine, beer and dancing. Purchase your tickets securely online at www.ISurvived2009Guide.com. The party is this Thursday, January 14, 2010 from 6-9pm at the Coastline Conference & Event Center.

On the second Wednesday of each month, Airlie Gardens and their Environmental Educators host the Airlie Gardens’ Bird Hike. Wilmington, NC home remodeler Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages those in the area to take advantage of the coastal site on the North Carolina Birding Trail this January 13^th, 2010. Airlie Gardens provides habitat for over 145 species of birds that vary seasonally throughout the year. Water birds such as egrets, herons, kingfishers, cormorants, and ospreys are common. Woodpeckers, buntings, cardinals, chickadees, swallows, bluebirds, and titmice are also found on the grounds. On any given day it’s possible to see more than 30 species of birds while traversing the Gardens! The hikes are free to members, or free with payment of garden admission. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for Children (ages 6-12 years). Birders leave at 8:00am from the Garden Services Center and return at 9:30am. They ask that you please bring your own binoculars if you have any; bird guides will be provided. For more information, visit their website!

Wilmington, NC Green home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to introduce our readers to the latest in Green technology! Green Footstep is an online calculator that helps architects, designers and builders note the carbon emission reduction goals for new construction and remodels. Below is an excerpt from the Custom Homes Online article by Stephani Miller and to read more, click here!

“Green Footstep gives designers the tools to make more informed design decisions by allowing them to estimate a building’s life cycle carbon footprint. The program accounts for a project site’s intrinsic carbon storage and weighs it against the carbon emissions generated by site preparation, construction, and operation of the building. Users can see the areas in which their projects fall short of carbon reduction or energy performance goals and make changes accordingly.

‘Green Footstep allows designers to adjust design targets, such as building energy use intensity and incorporating more renewables, that will get the building out of carbon debt, edging the building closer to carbon neutrality,’ said Michael Bendewald, the Rocky Mountain Institute analyst who developed the calculator in a statement announcing the online tool.

RMI recommends designers, builders, architects, and other users employ Green Footstep for a project as early as the pre-design phase and then test multiple target design changes, as necessary, throughout the design process. Users simply input project information—including location, site characteristics, and building characteristics—and the program generates a carbon emissions building performance report.”

New Hanover County, NC remodeler Mark Johnson Custom Homes is excited to share that the University of North Carolina at Wilmington has been ranked as one of Kiplinger’s “Best Values” among public universities in the nation and one of the top four in North Carolina! Below is the press release from UNCW’s Dana Fischetti and to learn more about UNCW, visit their website!

“Kiplinger’s ranks four-year schools that combine outstanding economic value with top-notch education. For 2010, UNCW is ranked 27th nationally as a ‘best value’ for in-state students and 25th for out-of-state students.

In North Carolina, Kiplinger’s ranks UNCW as the fourth best value in public education for 2010. Kiplinger’s has rated UNCW in the top 5 public universities in the state since 2003. Other UNC institutions that made this year’s rankings were UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and Appalachian State.

Of UNCW’s 15 peer institutions, which are determined by the UNC Board of Governors, 10 appear in the 2010 listing of Kiplinger’s top 100 best values in public colleges. The top four best values among UNCW’s group, comprised of public master’s institutions, are James Madison University, the College of New Jersey, Truman State University and UNCW.

Selected from a pool of more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities, schools in the Kiplinger 100 were ranked according to academic quality, including admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and four- and six-year graduation rates, as well as on cost and financial aid. The complete list is available at www.kiplinger.com.

This year, UNCW also has received top rankings from U.S.News & World Report and The Princeton Review. For the twelfth consecutive year, UNCW was named one of the top 10 public master’s universities in the South in the annual college rankings by U.S.News & World Report. U.S.News ranked UNCW sixth in its 2010 edition. UNCW also received the 2010 ‘Best in the Southeast’ designation by The Princeton Review.”

Wilmington, NC new home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages our readers to take advantage of all that Wilmington and the Cape Fear area has to offer! A press release from the Wilmington/Cape Fear Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau outlines nearly every event, festival, sporting event and award-winning restaurant in the area and more! Click here to read the press release for more information, including details on the 63^rd Annual North Carolina Azalea Festival, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, the North Carolina Jazz Festival, Wrightsville Beach Surf Camp!

Wilmington, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages anyone planning a wedding to attend the largest bridal event in coastal North Carolina, the Bridal Expo 2010, when it comes to Wilmington on Sunday, January 10th, from Noon-3 p.m. It is the 20th anniversary of the Expo and tons of prizes will be given away, including: a four-day, three-night honeymoon at the luxurious Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia; a three-day two-night romantic Savannah getaway at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Savannah, Georgia’s historic district and more! Over 80 of the area’s finest bridal professionals will be on hand at the Schwartz Center at Cape Fear Community College, 411 N. Front Street. For more information, visit www.CarolinaWeddingGuide.com or call 910-259-8323.

Wilmington, NC home remodeler Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to introduce our readers to the Cape Fear Housing Land Trust. The CFHLT was formed after members of the City of Wilmington and the Affordable Housing Coalition of Southeastern North Carolina saw the need for more affordable housing options in our area. Below is an excerpt from their website outlining what makes the CFHLT such a valuable organization to the Cape Fear area and to learn more, visit their website!