Concrete Home Building Council - 04/21/2005 (Plain Text Version)

CHBC Chairman
Michael Weber

View Graphical Version | Subscribe to NAHB Publications | Email our Editor...
NAHB Home Page| Browse other NAHB e-publications |Search back issues

In this issue:
Concrete Technologies Tour — Just Around the Corner
Do You Want to Learn More About ICF Construction?
Basement of the Year Awarded
Building Green with Pervious Concrete
Thomas Edison's Vision of Concrete Homes
Home Plans for Better Living
CHBC Cements Two New Nationwide Relationships
Tune In to See CHBC Members
Working Safely with Concrete
Concrete Briefs . . .

Tune In to See CHBC Members

"The Basement"
Airs on Tuesday, April 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET

Tune in to see three members of the Concrete Home Building Council featured in The History Channel's upcoming Modern Marvels, "The Basement". ABI Corporation, American Polysteel and Superior Wallsall worked with the production company to film the construction of basements today.

"The Basement" will bring the audience down that creaky staircase to explore the most misunderstood room in the house! From Pompeii to Pittsburgh, the dark, cool, and forlorn spaces beneath our living quarters have always contained things that helped us live comfortably. Ancient Hittites, Phrygians, and Persians carved subterranean rooms for food, water, and wine storage, and for shelter from weather and marauders. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a basement greatly increased a house's value.

Ruins of homes at Pompeii reveal the importance of basements in providing both heat and storage for rich Roman families. Renaissance architects placed kitchens, servant quarters, and laundry rooms there, hidden from the eyes of their aristocratic patrons! Colonial Americans expanded the practice, and by the 20th century, the basement was a routine feature. Come along as we demystify this domestic underworld, which turns out to be an area of innovation, imagination, and creativity.

Tune in, Tuesday, April 26, at 10:00 p.m. ET on The History Channel.