From Exterior Porch to Interior Space

If you need additional living space and your home has a porch, you’re in luck!

Enclosing that porch could be a simple, cost-effective way to gain the space you want.

You can gain space without eliminating the yard. Side porches can be easily converted into home offices, play rooms, or den/family rooms. Rear porches are ideal for adding space to extend your kitchen. Sometimes people would like a space for overflow during the holidays. With energy efficient windows, any porch can be converted into a room that you can use all year round.

Give us a call to set up a consultation. The porch’s location, its wall and floor materials, and the condition of the existing foundation will influence the ease or difficulty of modifying a porch. Consider, also, a wood-burning stove. New models are efficient, attractive, and can heat a large room easily. We can help you decide how best to supply heating and cooling to your new space.

If you have a home with a porch and need additional space, you have all the ingredients you need to create a beautiful new room. What’s keeping you from getting started?

Garage organization

Are you spending more and more time outside as the weather warms. Does everything in the garage end being pushed in the corner during the winter? Do you have to shuffle things around to get to the lawn mower, or kid's toys?

There are many different solutions to keep things organized and off of the floor for easier floor cleaning. Modular wall slatting is a popular unit for hanging all those odd-sized items such as tools, mops, brooms, skateboards, extension cords, golf bags and more.In addition, there are baskets and containers that can be freely arranged on the wall to hold balls, toys, and a wide selection of items.

Efficient garage storage designs include a variety of cabinet types and sizes. Everything in your garage can be available at your fingertips. A workbench to hang small hand tools and work on projects. Lighting ususally can also be added easily also.

Screens are available for most overhead doors so you can entertain in the garage while still be protected from the sun or weather.

Spring is the perfect time to give your home a check-up

Spring is the perfect time to give your home a check-up. Every home needs some maintenance each year, and most people do about one home improvement project a year. As you look ahead to the best months for exterior repairs and remodeling, a little planning can save you both money and time.
Change the batteries, inspect, and clean dust from the covers of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

Clean your gutters. Debris in the gutters can clog and cause overflow problems with the spring rains. Put on downspout extensions if necessary to get water away from your foundation walls.

You should also check over your deck once winter starts to fade. The winter can cause decks and railings to crack or split and should be replaced in the spring with new wood. You can also apply a wood protecting finish to the wood to prepare it for rain.

Check for damage to your roof. Signs include missing, curling, cupping, broken or cracked shingles. Pooling or ponds of water that fail to drain from flat roofs may indicate low areas and inadequate drainage.

You can get air conditioning unit checked out and serviced. Some HVAC companies that will offer a yearly service plan. Also, you should replace your air filter.

Inspect trees for broken branches. If the limb is high up, hire a licensed arborist. If you can reach it from the ground, take it down using the three-cut technique, which prevents bark from tearing and creating an open wound on the trunk

Ice Dam

When the weather starts to warm, ice dams can form on the roof causing leaks and ice.
An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and other areas.

What causes ice dams?
There is a complex interaction among the amount of heat loss from a house, snow cover, and outside temperatures that leads to ice dam formation. For ice dams to form there must be snow on the roof, and, at the same time, higher portions of the roof's outside surface must be above 32° F while lower surfaces are below 32°F. For a portion of the roof to be below 32°F, outside temperatures must also be below 32°F. When we say temperatures above or below 32°F, we are talking about average temperature over sustained periods of time.
The snow on a roof surface that is above 32°F will melt. As water flows down the roof it reaches the portion of the roof that is below 32°F and freezes.

The dam grows as it is fed by the melting snow above it, but it will limit itself to the portions of the roof that are on the average below 32°F. So the water above backs up behind the ice dam and remains a liquid. This water finds cracks and openings in the exterior roof covering and flows into the attic space. From the attic it could flow into exterior walls or through the ceiling insulation and stain the ceiling finish.

Some steps to help prevent ice dams:
First, make the ceiling air tight so no warm, moist air can flow from the house into the attic space.
After sealing air leakage paths between the house and attic space, consider increasing the ceiling insulation to cut down on heat loss by conduction.
Roof ventilation can help maintain uniform roof temperatures, but if the long-term actions described here are done effectively, then only small amounts of roof ventilation are needed to maintain uniform roof surface temperatures. If heat transfer has been reduced substantially, then snow will build up on the roof and cover natural roof ventilation systems, reducing attic ventilation rates. Natural attic ventilation systems are needed to dry the attic space and remove heat buildup during the summer. Power fans are not recommended.

Condensation on new windows

Water forming on new windows is because one of several things is happening. The temperature of the inner glass surface is at or below the dew point for the amount of humidity in your inside air. The humidity of your indoor air is quite possibly much higher now with your new windows because the air leaks around your old windows were eliminated once the new windows were installed.
Several conditions can increase condensation problems. If you close drapes over windows, this can cause the glass temperature and the temperature of the air between the drape and the glass to become cooler, making condensation more likely. If the thermostat setting is dropped substantially at night, this will cause an increase in relative humidity and may increase condensation. This condensation should vanish once the temperature rises in the morning.
The best way to deal with condensation on high-quality, double-glazed windows is to reduce indoor relative humidity to no more the 40 percent. You can do this by using kitchen or bath exhaust fans until condensation disappears. The fans will be more effective if you open a window elsewhere in the house to provide replacement air. Be sure that the fans you use exhaust to the outside, instead of going to the attic or just recirculating air within the house.

Questions to ask your potential remodeling contractor

Good question #5: What can I expect for cleanup? That’s really not a very good question, because everyone always promises to clean up thoroughly. It’s finding people who actually fulfill that promise that’s hard. But at least if you ask it, you have the promise to remind the contractor of if he doesn’t live up to it.
Better question #5: Tell me exactly what I can expect for dust protection and cleanup – and put it in writing. Okay, that’s not a question – it’s an order. But it’s the type of order you should give. It beats the heck out of vague verbal promises in terms of getting actual results. Make sure you reach an understanding about what to expect throughtout the project, not just at the end. And, clarify how your contractor plans to keep the unavoidable dust confined to the work area, not drifting through ths space you're living in.