Mason,

I just purchased a home in the Bon Air area.  It has a nice screened porch on the back which I simply love.  My only concern is that it is built on piers.  It appears to be structurally sound but it concerns me that it does not have a complete-solid foundation.  Am I over-reacting or is this something I should be concerned about? 

- BP, Chesterfield, VA 

Congratulations on your new home!  It is so exciting to make a move!

One question:  When you refer-to "piers", are you talking about something like pressure-treated 4x4's? 

Mason

No-they are brick piers.  B

Dear BP:

There is nothing

The current issue of dwell magazine includes an essay entitled "What We Talk About When We Talk About Good Design".  What, indeed, is good design? 

The piece aptly points out that the term is as naïve as it is loaded (surely, too, the same might be said of "good taste" but we'll leave that argument to Martha Stewart and Charley the Tuna).

To prime your pump, quoting from the article:  It suggests such an apparent universality that any of us should be able to spot it.  But implicit in "good design" is a system of values, aesthetics and objects that demonstrate that the seemingly innocuous

The current issue of dwell magazine includes an essay entitled "What We Talk About When We Talk About Good Design".  What, indeed, is good design? 

The piece aptly points out that the term is as naïve as it is loaded (surely, too, the same might be said of "good taste" but we'll leave that argument to Martha Stewart and Charley the Tuna).

To prime your pump, quoting from the article:  It suggests such an apparent universality that any of us should be able to spot it.  But implicit in "good design" is a system of values, aesthetics and objects that demonstrate that the seemingly innocuous