7 Excellent Alternatives to Solid Wood Flooring

Do you want an alternative to solid wood flooring? Although solid wood is a classic choice, some may have better options. There are numerous alternatives, whether you want a less expensive option or a more durable and easy-to-maintain flooring material. In this blog post, I will discuss some of the best solid wood flooring alternatives, including their benefits, best uses, technical specifications, and what distinguishes them from solid wood.

Photo by Kelly from Pexels

How to Check a Property for Geohazards in the Philippines

If you are looking to buy a property, one of the first things you should do is check for any geohazards in that area. Doing your due diligence before making a decision will save you from headaches in the future. Geohazards are intangible factors of a property that buyers frequently overlook. When you visit a property, there is usually no way for you to determine whether the property has a geohazard risk.

Photo by Pok Rie

AI Art - Minimalist House on Top of a Waterfalls

AI Designed architecture of a Minimalist House on top of a waterfalls. I created the initial image with Craiyon and enhanced the details with Nightcafe.

Residential Septic Tank Calculator

I've been considering making a spreadsheet calculator to calculate my plumbing and electrical requirements for my design. Although I hire an electrical engineer and a master plumber to calculate the final requirements for my designs, I usually create the initial layout based on my calculations. I decided to create a series of spreadsheet calculators based on Philippine codes to help me work more efficiently. I will share these calculators once I have finished streamlining them. These calculators will only serve as a guide for your needs, and I still recommend that you hire a professional to avoid any future issues.

Link for a copy of The Revised National Plumbing Code of the Philippines.

Awe-inspiring artwork created by AI-assisted applications

I've always believed that in order to create beautiful art, you needed talent and creativity. I never imagined a time when technology would be able to create art. I saw an advertisement earlier today for a web-based app that could generate art by simply typing words into the program. I decided to give it a try, which led me down a rabbit hole of ai art generator apps, where I spent several hours researching and testing AI Art generator apps. I tested three AI Art generators, and each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Cubo Modular Houses Made of Engineered Bamboo in the Philippines

Cubo has gained a lot of attention after its founder has been featured in mainstream media both local and abroad. The multi- awardee founder of Cubo Engr Earl Patrick Forlales, aims to solve the Philippines' housing problem by providing affordable modular houses. To achieve low construction costs, he uses bamboo, a widely available and renewable material in the Philippines, as his building material.

Cubo treats and processes bamboo into engineered bamboo that is standardized, making it a more workable material than raw bamboo. Cubo then manufactures standard panels, which can then be assembled on-site by the Cubo team. The prefabricated modular construction system Cubo implements allow them to assemble a house in a matter of days. 

House DL15 - Modern Three Story Residential Building

Project: House DL15

Year: 2015

Lot Area: 363 m²

Floor Area: 440 m²

A modern three-story house in Cebu City draws inspiration from Modern Scandinavian and Bauhaus designs. The house's layout was designed to maximize the steep downhill slope while minimizing excavation to the existing terrain. 

The house has an open floor plan layout that connects the living, dining, and kitchen area into one open space. Upon entering the foyer, a double-height ceiling in the living room is the first thing you see. Large sliding windows and doors engulf the interior with natural light. The sliding doors in the dining area and kitchen connect the interior to the terrace, increasing the ground floor's usable floor area. All the bedrooms are on the second floor, and each bedroom has its bathroom.

The lower ground floor has a large lanai with a dining and living area. The ground floor covers the lanai, which provides a spacious outdoor space protected from the heat and weather. The lanai is open on three sides, allowing natural breeze to flow. The project was completed on 2018.

5 Smart Apartment Designs That Maximize Space

One of the key design solutions for a well-designed tiny apartment is multifunctional spaces. Assigning several functions to an area minimizes wasted space and maximizes every inch of space. Hiding unused components also declutters the area, making it appear larger than it looks. These are just some of the clever solutions designers implement to create beautiful and efficient interiors. Below are seven well-designed tiny apartments that will capture your interest.  

1. 24 in 1 Transformer Apartment

Designed by: Architect Gary Chang

Area: 24 sqm / 258 sq. ft.

The concept for the apartment is a time-based design that uses shared space one function at a time.

Several movable walls hide everything out of sight, decluttering the space. Everything slides against the wall to open up center space. By layering several movable walls, the apartment has abundant storage space hidden within the wall.

Shifting the center wall panel to the center allows access to the hidden bathtub, which also has a folded murphy bed for guests. Gary Chang utilizes murphy beds to hide the beds against the wall.

A retractable projector screen on the window also doubles as a curtain. The mirrored ceiling makes the tracks less conspicuous and also creates the illusion of a bigger space.

4 Reasons to Choose Exposed Pipe Showers

Exposed piped showers are becoming a trend for several reasons. Asides from aesthetics, these showers have functional advantages over their embedded counterparts. Below are some of the benefits exposed shower systems have over embedded showers.

Exposed Shower System from Grohe

Factors to Consider Before Acquiring a Hillside Lot

Logan Hillside Houses by Brian Stansberry

People choose hillside lots for the cool breeze and stunning views. The cold atmosphere is especially desirable in tropical countries such as the Philippines. When picking a hillside lot, it is necessary to determine the lot's inclination before making a decision. Hillside lots either have an uphill or downhill slope, and each has its unique characteristics. Understanding the distinction between the two grades can help you make a better decision when acquiring a rolling lot. It will help you select the ideal lot that is suitable for your needs.

HOUSE CD08 - SPLIT LEVEL HOUSE WITH POOL

YEAR: 2008

FLOOR AREA: 138 SQM

House CD08 was a concept house I made back in 2008. I utilized a split level house design that follows the downhill lot's contour to minimize site alteration. The split level design makes the house look smaller than its actual size.

It has two carports, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a spacious kitchen and dining area. Upon entering the house, an infinity pool greets you. The home features a swimming pool with a fixed glass window that is visible from the inside.

 

The Home of The Future, How Technology Can Improve Our Homes.

A few weeks ago, I found a mini-series created by The Verge featuring the house of the future, hosted by the late Grant Imahara of Mythbusters. The series explores what our current technology can do to improve the efficiency of our home. There are six episodes in the series, and each focuses on a specific aspect of the house.

The series begins with the building of the house. They use prefabrication to reduce costs and speed up construction. This unconventional construction method has been around for quite some time, but the industry has not yet fully adopted it. The show discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this method.

How Technology Allows Us to Explore Famous Structures

Technology has brought us several ways to explore our world. The advancements in Internet speed over the last decade have allowed us to share an enormous amount of information that was only a dream a few decades ago. Virtual reality is one exciting technology; while it's only in the early stages, the way we view the world has changed. It helped us to explore places in three-dimensional space without leaving the comfort of our home.

Create Fast Architectural Walkthroughs Using 3D Photospheres

3D rendering is one of the tools architects generally use to present designs to their clients. Renderings are two-dimensional representations of a building, and it allows clients to see the structure before construction. The limitation of this method is that clients won't comprehend how space feels even with furniture installed because there is no continuity between the view in front and what's behind it.

4³ - Tiny Farm Staff House

The first design problem given to me back in college was a cube house. We were allowed to solve the problem in any way as long as we were limited to 4 m x 4 m x 4 m. I had no experience designing back then, and I had no background in standards and minimum requirements. I had to research it all within a week, and this during the pre-internet days. I had to do my research in the library and jot down all the information I gather.

Ground Floor

Loft

Another method I did to gather data was to measure the spaces in my house, which allowed me to experience the actual dimensions. This experience made me realize the complexity of designing small spaces. I had some difficulty arranging all the essential amenities in the limited area. It took me several schemes before coming up with a design.

Amazing Cebu City Timelapse by Garyl Paras

Timelapse videos are a technique used to compress time by reducing the number of frames per second (fps). The standard video frame rate is 30fps or 60fps. On the other hand, Timelapse shoots video at a significantly lower frame rate that speeds up and reduces the length of the video. This technique produces stunning results and is often used to compress hours and days in a few seconds. Timelapse photography needs patience and discipline to deliver quality results. Unintentional movements, exposure variations, and focus can ruin the final output.

House NA10 - Modern 2 Storey Residential Building

Location: Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City

Year: 2010

Floor Area: 236 sqm.

Lot Area: 1,291.71 sqm.

Located at an interior lot at Barangay Basak San Nicolas, the site was suitable for a residential building. The house is directly accessible to the national road but is far enough that there is hardly any traffic noise entering the house. The initial plans for the project were to retrofit an existing structure into a home. Due to the existing structure's constraints, we presented a proposal that would optimize and maximize space use. 

Unique Solar Artwork by Jordan Mang-Osan

Artists express their art through a wide variety of mediums. In my previous post, I covered several artists who use unique mediums for their artwork. There are a few artists who can make art from unconventional materials. Some choose these unusual mediums for experimentation, while some use these materials because of the availability.

I found a documentary about a talented Filipino artist a few years ago. He creates art using a Pyrography technique, which is the art of decorating wood by controlled burning, creating beautiful patterns or portraits. What makes his style unique is that he harnesses the sun's heat, using a magnifying lens, onto a piece of wood to create beautiful masterpieces.

Can a Smartphone Camera Outperform an Old DSLR?

Huawei P30 vs Olympus E30 + Zuiko 14-54mm & 9-18mm

Smartphone cameras have seen dramatic improvements over the last few years, with image quality and low light performance way ahead of what cameras offered a few years ago. The image quality of current smartphones is adequate for casual photographers, and even entry-level phones have decent image quality.

Capable of taking high image quality in low light, I decided to replace my phone with a Huawei P30 last year. Since the bulk of my shots are taken indoors or in low light, a camera's low light performance is essential to me. I also needed a backup camera if I left my camera at home and needed to take a photo.

Since purchasing my phone back in December, I noticed that I seldom use my camera anymore. The quality of the photos I take from my phone is decent enough that I no longer need to use my camera. The only time I bring out my camera is when I need a shot that requires a shallow depth of field. 

The LCD of my main camera malfunction a couple of weeks ago, and I haven't decided if I should buy a new one. Impressed with my phone's performance, I am now having second thoughts about buying a new camera body. So I decided to test and compare how the image quality of my Huawei P30 compares to my 11-year-old Olympus E30 DSLR, which will help me decide whether or not I should buy a new camera.

The Olympus E30 has a 12-megapixel sensor and was released back in 2009. The lenses used are the Zuiko 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 (28-108mm equivalent) and Zuiko 9-18mm f4.0-5.6 (18-36mm equivalent). The E30 needs both lenses to match the Huawei P30's range. The Huawei P30, on the other hand, was released back in 2019, and it has a 40-megapixel f1.8 27mm primary camera, an 8-megapixel f2.4 80mm telephoto camera, and a 16-megapixel 17mm ultra-wide camera.

Online Tools to Help Improve Your Writing Skills

Writing great articles is a skill that was never one of my strengths. Even though I love to share my ideas, I always struggle to convey my thoughts. Although I have a fundamental understanding of English, I find it difficult to arrange my thoughts. I find it hard to put words and sentences, and I have a little background in making complex sentences. I also tend to have grammatical errors, and despite knowing my weaknesses, I hardly read my articles.

That's why I've been using online tools to help me with my work and blog posts. These tools have greatly improved the way I create and structure my writing. I've been reviewing my past articles since the beginning of the quarantine. Now, I appreciate the importance of creating readable articles. It's a challenge to get your message across if readers don't understand what you're saying. 

My articles may not be equivalent to a skilled writer, but it is an improvement compared to my previous output. These are the tools that I am currently using, and as a result, my grammar and vocabulary have improved.

 

Grammarly

 

Grammarly offers a free version that checks grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary. It has an integrated thesaurus that provides alternative synonyms that would fit your sentence better. Grammarly also alerts users to intricate text, misplaced words or phrases, word choice, incomplete sentences, monotonous sentences, and passive voice misuse.

The free version only provides notice of these issues. To remove these flaws, users need to correct the sentences manually. On the other hand, the premium version notifies which sentences need corrections and gives better options to fix these issues.