Kirk's Housing Links

Home Purchase, rent

Classified Ads
Site Lists
Rentals
- Rent.Net (General, California)
- Virtual Apartment Locator
- Rentals Online (SF Bay Area)
- Bay Area Rentals
- Apartments for Rent On-Line (Nationwide, SF East Bay, SF Peninsula & South Bay)
- Fremont, CA Apartment Guide
For Sale Listings
- Foreclosure
  - Alameda County Forclosures
  - Lender-Owned Homes (for middle-income families)
- MLS Listings
  - SF East Bay Area MLS (Very nice, but not complete)
  - SF Peninsula & South Bay Area MLS
- For Sale by Owner
- Harmon Homes
- HomeGain (check home values and selling prices)
- Homes & Land Magazine (and Rental Guide Magazine)
- HomeStore
- Listing Link
- MSN HomeAdvisor
- National Association of Realtors
- Quicken
- Real Estate Connection
- Real Estate On Line
- Realtor.com
- New Homes Guides
  - CA New Home Survey
  - Coldwell Banker New Homes Guide (SF Bay Area)
  - Homes for Sale Magazine (new developments in SF Bay area)
  - New Home USA
  - New Homes Map Guide (SF Bay Area)
Mortgages
Realtors
- Coldwell Banker (Northern California)
- San Francisco Bay Area
  - Alain Pinel Realty
  - Better Homes Realty
  - Century 21
    - Champion (South SF Bay)
    - Hallmark (South SF Bay)
    - Mission Bishop (Southern Alameda County)
    - Seville/Contempo Fine Homes and Estates (Peninsula, East Bay & South Bay)
  - Contempo Realty
  - John M. Grubb Realtors
  - Homewize Real Estate
  - Prudential Realty
  - North&East Bay
    - Dutra Realty (Southern Alameda County)
    - Realty Experts (Alameda County)
    - Realty One (Alameda County)
  - South Bay
    - Referral Realty
    - South Bay On Line Realty Magazine

Home Design, Remodeling, Repair

21st Century Home
Builders Booksource
Do It Yourself Design & Remodeling
Easy 2 Technologies
Frugality Network Home Repair
Hammer Zone
Today's Homeowner
Too Home (online home improvement store)
Virtual Home Tours
Electrical & Lighting
- WWW Virtual Library:Lighting & Electrical (links)
- Electrical Wiring
- Lighting
  - ALADAN GE design software (industrial outdoor)
  - Architectural Acoustics & Lighting
  - Architectural Lighting Links
  - Architectural Lighting Magazine
  - CFL Savings Calculator
  - Computer Aided Lighting Design & Analysis
  - Energy Star Lighting
    - Compact Fluorescent
    - Residential Fixtures
  - IESNA
  - Interior Lighting Design & Energy Conservation
  - Library lighting
  - lightforum.com (design & application; excellent)
  - lighting.com
  - Lighting Design Glossary
  - Lighting Design Lab (energy-efficient design)
  - Lighting Library (links)
  - Lighting Makeovers (energy efficiency)
  - Lighting Products
  - Links on Lighting (links)
  - WWW Virtual Library:Lighting & Electrical (links)
  - Manufacturers
    - Advance Transformer (ballasts)
    - American Fluorescent (some stocked by Lowes)
    - Belfer (architectural lighting)
    - Birchwood Lighting (linear components)
    - CA Architectural Lighting (rep with lots of links)
    - Cooper Lighting Products (stocked by Grainger)
    - Crescent Lighting (stocked by Universal Electric)
    - Elliptipar
    - Murray Feiss
    - GE Lighting
    - Heath/Zenith Lighting
    - Justice Design Group (contemporary fixtures)
    - LBL Lighting (contemporary fixtures)
    - Lights of America
    - Lithonia Lighting (stocked by Home Depot)
    - W A C Lighting (nice "linear system")
Energy Efficiency
- CA Energy Commission
  - CA buydown program
  - Clean Power Estimator
- CFL Savings Calculator
- Energystar
- Green Building Sourcebook
- Home Energy Magazine Online
- Home Power
- Insulation
  - CertainTeed
  - Dow (foam insulation)
    - Pro Site
  - Owens Corning
  - Simply Insulate
  - InsulFoam
- Solar
  - Borrego Solar
  - California Solar
  - California Solar Center
  - Clean Power Estimator
  - Clean Power Research
  - Computer Software for Solar Energy Analysis and System Design
  - ETA Engineering
  - Grid Tie info
  - Guerrilla Solar
  - NorCal Solar Energy Assn
  - PV Array Tilt Calculator
  - PV Systems Assistance Center
  - PVWATTS Performance Calculator
  - Solar Attic
  - SolarBuzz (products list)
  - Solatron (discount panels, inverters, systems)
  - Western Sun
  - PV Inverters
    - SMA (SMA America)
    - Trace Engineering
  - PV Panels
    - Solar Panel Price Survey
    - CA certified PV modules
    - ASE (large 300W panels)
    - Atlantis SunSlates (solar cell roofing)
    - BP Solar (Millenia, etc.)
    - Kyocera Solar
    - Matrix Solar/Photowatt
    - PowerLight (solar roofs)
    - Sharp Solar
    - UniRac (panel mounting hardware)
    - Uni-Solar (solar cell shingles, panels) (more)
  - PV Suppliers
    - Affordable Solar (discount panels)
    - Alternative Energy Store (discount panels)
    - CI Solar (discount panels)
    - Discount Solar (discount panels)
    - Got Solar? (discount panels)
    - MrSolar.com
    - OkSolar
    - RealGoods
    - Solar Depot
    - Solar Electric (discount panels)
    - Solar Hardware
    - SolarTrope (wholesale supplier)
    - Solatron Technologies (discount panels, systems)
    - Witch Well Energy
  - PV Systems/Designers/Installers
    - Akeena Solar (installer)
    - EcoEnergies (installer)
    - M C Solar (installer)
    - MyGen Solar (Kyocera kits)
  - Sun Angle & Shading
    - Aurora Solar Basics: Sun Angle
    - Overhangs for Shading Building Elements
    - Shading/Natural Cooling
    - Shading Diagrams (PDF)
    - Solar Noon Altitude Calculator
    - Solar Radiation Data Manual
    - Sun and Architecture (course notes)
    - Sun Altitude/Azimuth Table
    - Sun Position Calculator
Exterior
Flooring
- Artistic Tile & Stone (also here)
- Bedrosians Tile & Stone
- BuildDirect Flooring (Ceramic/Porcelain, Granite, Marble, Slate)
- CarpetsPlus and ColorTile
- Custom Saltillo Int'l
- Pacific Clay (brick, porcelain, etc.)
- Tile Fantastic
- also see landscaping
Foundation & Structure
- Chance Helical Anchors
- KC Master (mud jacking, pressure grouting)
Furnishings
- Berkeley Design Center (Berkeley, CA and nationwide)
- Danish Furniture
- IKEA (Emeryville, CA and nationwide)
- King Futon (San Jose)
Heating, Ventilation, & Cooling
- Design
  - Duct Pressure & Flow Calculations
- Fans
  - Broan (ventilating fans, chimes)
  - Fantech (central and in-line; sold by Grainger)
  - HVAC Quick (discount Fantech, Tamarack fans)
  - Jet Fan
  - Leviton (switches, controls, etc.)
  - Nutone (ventilating fans, intercoms)
  - Panasonic (air conditioners, ventilating fans)
  - Tamarack (nice whole house fan)
  - Triangle Engineering (whole house fans)
  - Whole House Fans
- Fireplaces
  - American Fireplace
  - Central Fireplace (mfgr)
  - Discount Stove & Fireplace
  - Fireplace Center
  - Hansen Wholesale
  - HearthNet
  - Temco (mfgr)
- Systems
- Thermostats
  - Robertshaw
Kitchen & Bath
- Kitchen and Bath Showplace (San Jose, CA)
- Fixtures-n-Faucets (San Mateo, CA)
- Plumbing-n-things (Redwood City, CA)
- Faucet.com (discount fixtures)
- Faucet Depot
- American Standard
- Corian
- Eljer
- Fowler
- Kohler
- Porcher
Landscaping
- Water Efficient Landscape Primer
- Irrigation
- Plants
  - San Jose City Plant Suggestions
  - Water Efficient Gardening
- Walkways & Patios
  - Acme Brick
  - Interpace Brick
  - Redland Brick
  - Artobrick (nice brick pavers)
  - Belgard Pavers
  - Endicott Brick (full & pavers)
  - Olsen Pavingstone
  - Robinson Brick (pavers)
  - Simons Brick (stocked by Home Depot)
  - Stepstone, Inc.
  - also see flooring
Painting
- Benjamin Moore (IE only)
- Dunn-Edwards
- Glidden
- Kelly-Moore
- Sherwin-Williams
Roofing
- CertainTeed Roofing
- Cool roof materials
- Elk Roofing (fiberglass/asphalt shingles)
- Energy Star roof products
- Florida roofing tests
- GAF
- Green Roofs
- Owens Corning Roofing
- Roofing and Siding Rehabs (energy efficient)
- Membranes
  - Flex Membranes (roof membranes)
  - National Coatings (roof membranes)
  - Polycoat Sprayed Polyurethane Foam (roof membranes)
  - RMI (roof membranes)
  - Sarnafil (roof membranes)
  - Stevens Roofing (roof membranes)
- Metal Roofs
  - Berridge (steel roofing)
  - Classic Products (energy efficient metal roof systems)
  - Decra (stone-coated steel)
  - Metal-Tile (steel tile)
  - MetalWorks (steel shingles)
  - Steelox (steel roofing)
- Radiant Barriers
- Shake & Wood Shingle
- Solar
- Tile
  - MCA Clay Roofing Tile (some have energy star rating)
  - Monier Life Tile (concrete)
- Ventilation
  - General
    - Roof Vent Product List
    - GAF Roof Ventilation (Cobra RigidVent II looks good)
    - Lomanco (Ridge Vents, OmniRidge looks good)
    - Owens Corning Ventilation (VentSure rigid strip looks good)
  - Ridge Vents
    - Air Vent, Inc. (ShingleVent II looks good)
    - ASHRAE Ridge Vent Testing
    - Cor-a-Vent (Raft-a-vent looks good; also have ridge vent with add-on baffle, usable for hip or flash vents)
    - Installing a Ridge Vent
    - Installing Plastic Ridge Vent
    - Radiant Barriers and Ridge Vents
    - RidgeMaster (not baffled, but also have nice hip and flash vents; installation guide)
    - Tamko Ridge Vents (not baffled)
    - Watkins Ridge Vents (not baffled)
  - Solar
    - Solar Attic Ridge Duct
    - Solar Group (Plastic Ridge Vent, Rolled Ridge Vent)
    - Solar Roof Vent (sold by Lowes)

Back to Kirk Bertsche's Recommended Links

Last modified March 7, 2005 by Kirk Bertsche, KBertsche@aol.com