2008 Parade of Homes

Last night I had the opportunity of attending the Preview Party of the Parade of Homes at the Saluda River Club presented by the local HBA. The parade officially opens tomorrow and runs through November 2. There are six fully-furnished and decorated homes open for tours. As usual in a parade of homes, there were some "over the top" features including a water closet with its own tv and a dedicated massage room.

The Parade is a great place to get ideas on home layouts, built-in features, interior design, landscaping, etc. I was looking for more green building materials and practices (since 5 of the 6 homes were obtaining the local Green Council's certification) but they didn't appear to be blatantly spelled out. In a way, its a good thing for people to see that green built homes don't have to look odd or futuristic. However, I think it would have also been good to highlight what makes the homes green. To give the Parade credit, they are hosting a "Green Day at the Parade" on October 29 where they will be presenting the green features of the homes.

I hope you get the chance to attend the Parade of Homes this year. And feel free to share your comments about it here if you'd like. I'll be at the ticket gate on October 29 from 2:30 to 7:00pm so maybe I'll see you there!

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In The Field

As Jon says, "we like to divide and conquer". But there are times when we will work side-by-side for the benefit of putting two sets of eyes on a project. For us, this usually happens at project proposal meetings, site location meetings, construction rough-in walk thrus, final walk thrus, etc. We feel this is a benefit of working with two licensed residential builders.

Last week we had the opportunity of investigating a lot for someone. This is often a great time to ask questions in preparation for breaking ground. Selecting a lot and envisioning your house on that lot can be a difficult task, but it's one that we like to participate in.

We are Jonathan (Jon) Foster and Salim (Slim) Khalil. We build in Lexington & Richland Counties. We are Master Plan Homes Inc.

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What is a Footing?

Many people that build a custom home find that the process is also an education. There are so many choices to make and things to consider that you end up learning a great deal.


One of the unseen components of a new home, and one of the most important, is the "footings" which are a part of the home's foundation. Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines a footing as:

"an enlargement at the lower end of a foundation wall, pier, or column to distribute the load."

The most typical footing is made of concrete supported on undisturbed natural soils or engineered fill. This concrete footing's purpose is to support the slab, crawl space foundation, or basement walls that sit on top of it.



Footings are usually dug out of the ground with an excavator. The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings specifies the minimum width and depth required based on the soil type and construction dwelling type.



Reinforcing bars (steel rods, also called rebar) are then placed inside the footing to reinforce the concrete.


Finally, concrete is poured into the excavated area.



Footings are so important in the construction of a new home, that both Richland and Lexington County require footing inspections before the concrete is poured to make sure that they are constructed properly.



At Master Plan Homes Inc., our footings exceed the minimum requirements for width and depth to ensure a solid foundation on which to build. If you have other questions relating to this post or about construction in general, contact us.

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