Archive for the ‘Home Improvements’ category

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Wood Floors and Moisture Don’t Mix!

November 23rd, 2011

Many homeowners that are looking to add value and beauty to their home add wood floors to one or several rooms. This is a wise investment for many and could end up increasing the selling price of the home down the line. However, if you don’t keep these floors in good shape, it could have an opposite effect. Repairing wood floors is much more costly that simply protecting them from damage in the first place. Moisture and lack of moisture are a couple of your wood floors biggest enemies and unless you can maintain proper moisture levels in the home, you may find yourself spending more than you wanted just to maintain or repair this large investment.

Moisture Levels and the Changing Seasons:

  • Summer’s Moisture: The summer months in most areas of the states are plagued by extremely high humidity. This is the kind of moisture that can creep in between your floor boards and cause warping, discoloration, and rot. A fully functional central air conditioning system can remove this humidity from the home if used on a regular basis during the summer. You could also consider a whole house ventilation system coupled with a dehumidifier if you do not want to invest in central air conditioning. Either way you will be able to bring the humidity level down to a tolerable and safe level. » Read more: Wood Floors and Moisture Don’t Mix!

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Posted in Air Conditioning, Air Quality, Heating, Home Improvements, Home Repairs, Home Services

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Garden Windows, Green Thumbs, and Brighter Homes

November 14th, 2011

For those of us that love to garden, Chicago’s weather isn’t exactly cooperative with this hobby. We may try to squeeze a few extra months in every year, but the first frost usually sneaks in and destroys our plants before we have any say in the matter. Some homeowners will move their hobby indoors and attempt to coax the sunlight in to keep their indoor gardens alive. However, older homes don’t have a lot of areas where the sunlight pours in, but you can change all that with one simple window replacement. Consider replacing an existing window with a garden window, and you can enjoy an indoor garden all year round!

Benefits of Installing a Garden Window

Garden windows are three dimensional structures that extend out from the home. They can fit in nearly any window opening and the larger the opening the better. Many come with shelving units that can hold the various plants you wish to grow indoors. Those of us that like to cook with fresh herbs can grow our very own herbal garden right in the kitchen and harvest our herbs as needed. Some homeowners will use the space to grow bright colorful flowers that bring spring-like beauty to the darkness of winter. Even those that aren’t big gardeners find uses for these windows. They are specially designed to bring more light into the home, and they could be just what your home needs to update the indoors. » Read more: Garden Windows, Green Thumbs, and Brighter Homes

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Posted in Go Green, Home Improvements, Home Services, Information

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An Impressive First Impression

November 9th, 2011

When it comes time to sell your home, they say that the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the home’s exterior are what sell the place. The kitchen and the bathroom are important for obvious reasons, but the appeal of the exterior may not be so obvious because it doesn’t have much of a function. However, your home’s exterior and landscape provides the first impression for your home. It is the first thing that family and visitors will see, and from a buyer’s perspective, this aspect of the home needs to be impressive. Beef up your home’s exterior with a few small improvements, and it could make a huge difference when you decide to put your home on the market.

Curb Appeal Improvements

  • Window Replacement: Rotting or warped wood framed windows have to go! You will be hard pressed to sell the home with them in that condition anyways, so opt for an affordable and energy efficient alternative. Choose new vinyl windows that complement your home’s design.
  • Entryway Remodel: The front door creates a first impression on its own, so if should be a beautiful focal point not a distraction. Consider having elegant double doors installed or simply upgrade the door to a higher quality energy efficient entrance that looks clean and pulled together. » Read more: An Impressive First Impression

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Posted in Contractors, Home Improvements, Home Repairs, Home Services, Remodeling

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Do It Yourself or Call a Pro

October 17th, 2011

“Do it yourselfers” have the best intentions at heart. They want to be hands on when it comes to taking care of their home and they want to save a few bucks along the way. For some projects, a homeowner truly can save some money by manning the work on their own, but for others, attempting them without professional experience could be disastrous. Knowing when the home repair is out of your league may be hard for some, but not assessing this possibility could cost you more than a little extra cash when you have to call in a professional.

Electrocutions and Floods

My father was one of those “do it yourselfers” that didn’t know the limits of his abilities. Many times, he would attempt a project with little more knowledge than that which he gained from a book. Sometimes he got lucky, but once he started messing with the electricity and the plumbing, things got ugly. It wasn’t until he electrocuted himself a few times and flooded the upstairs bathroom that he called a professional. I’m sure many of you are reading this thinking that you or someone else in your home fits this description of a determined “do it yourselfer,” but I am here to encourage you to take a step back and assess your limitations. » Read more: Do It Yourself or Call a Pro

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Posted in Consumer Protection, Home Improvements, Home Repairs, Home Services, Safty

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Spots on the Ceiling, Moisture in the Attic

September 5th, 2011

The last time you painted your ceiling did you notice spots around the outside walls? Those spots are usually an indication that the insulation in the attic is starting to loose its R value, and condensation may be the source of your problem.

Attic Insulation and Year Round Condensation

During the summer and winter the poorly insulated attics will accumulate condensation. In the summer this moisture can leak into the lower level ceilings of the home once it soaks through the insulation, and it could also become a source of mold growth. Once wet, insulation is useless and no longer carries an r-value. In the winter this moisture becomes frost in your attic that further diminishes the effectiveness of what little insulation you may have up there. This situation can be corrected by adding blown in insulation to your attic. This blown in insulation will help to minimize future spots from occurring on your ceiling, but more importantly it will help cut your heating and cooling bills. » Read more: Spots on the Ceiling, Moisture in the Attic

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Posted in Home Improvements, Home Repairs, Insulation, Maintenace

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Improving Rain Gutter Performance

August 17th, 2011

Fall is a beautiful season, and it is just around the corner. As summer nears its end, proactive homeowners across this great country are considering the necessary maintenance that will have to be done before winter does arrive. When it comes to fall, leaves, although they may be pretty when they change colors, can create a huge mess in our yards. We can rake the lawn and pick them out of bushes, but there is one spot in the exterior of your home that you must not forget to clean out once the leaves have fallen. It’s your gutters, and clogged gutters can cause major problems for the exterior of your home. Now is the time to protect your gutter from the mess that these next few months are sure to bring and you could prevent these problems for years to come.

Why Do My Gutters Need to be Cleaned?

The purpose of having rain gutters on the home is to carry rain water as far away from the home’s foundation as possible. Without them, water would run off the roof and collect in large amounts at the base of the home. Over time this leads to erosion of the foundation and flooding. » Read more: Improving Rain Gutter Performance

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Posted in Home Improvements, Home Services, Maintenace

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Outrageous Electric Bills!

August 15th, 2011

The heat wave is over but some people are still hot under the collar. Why? They just got the electric bills. More than one couple is sitting there drinking their morning coffee and blaming each other for the outrageous electric bill that just came in the mail. In most cases it wasn’t because they had their thermostat set too low it’s because they have problems with the efficiency of their air conditioner or their home isn’t insulated correctly.

How Much are You Wasting?

These two simple problems that no one seems to see until we get extremes in weather will causes high electric bills and homes that are uncomfortable in the late afternoon. This wake-up call shouldn’t be ignored. If your air conditioner is using that much electricity in extreme weather, how much is it wasting in moderate weather? » Read more: Outrageous Electric Bills!

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Posted in Air Conditioning, Go Green, Home Improvements, Home Repairs, Insulation, Money Saving

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How Much Heat Gain Do You Have?

August 1st, 2011

Do you have a room that isn’t cooling as well as it should? Is there air coming from the vent? If you answered yes to these questions, chances are you have too much heat gain in that part of the home. Now the other two questions you should be asking yourself are: where is that heat gain coming from, and when did it start?

Time and Your Attic Insulation

Time is your attic insulation’s number one enemy! Over the years attic insulation has a tendency to settle and compact. This is a major factor of heat gain in older homes. As time rolls on and your insulation becomes denser (more compact), and the R-Value decreases. A decrease in R-value is a decrease in efficiency, and excess heat from the attic will seep into the rooms below.

The air flow from the vents in the effected room may not have changed over the years, but the amount of heat it has to over come may have. If you think your air flow has been diminishing with time, duct cleaning could be a solution, but chances are the problem is heat gain. » Read more: How Much Heat Gain Do You Have?

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Posted in Air Conditioning, Home Improvements, Insulation, Money Saving

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Heat Wave Problems: Overheating the Attic

July 25th, 2011

During the high 70 and mid 80 degree days, many of us can easily ignore temperature differences throughout the home. It isn’t until we get a week long string of 90 to 100 degree days that the temperature difference becomes terribly noticeable. Many people that have this problem notice a difference between the temperature on the main level of the home and the upstairs. Since the upstairs is where most of us sleep, a 95 degree bedroom can be very difficult to sleep in. Most automatically jump to the conclusion that the air conditioner is to blame, but we would challenge you to make one other check during this hot week before you call your HVAC technician.

Feel the Ceiling!

Feel the ceiling! Yes, it sounds crazy, but get out a ladder, if you have to, and touch the ceiling that makes a barrier between your upstairs rooms and the attic. How does it feel? Odds are its pretty warm, or maybe even hot! Poke your head up in your attic and we are sure that our suspicions will be confirmed. You attic is gathering loads of hot air during this heat wave, and you don’t have the insulation or the ventilation needed to keep it from seeping into the floors below. » Read more: Heat Wave Problems: Overheating the Attic

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Posted in Air Conditioning, Home Improvements, Home Services, Insulation

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Sun Powered Air Conditioners

May 30th, 2011

Are you still making excuses not to “go green” in your home? Of all the complaints we have heard about going green, cost has got to be number one on that list. However, we think that in the case of sun powered air conditioners, the money you will save defiantly outweighs the cost of installation. Grid tied sun powered air conditioners are more affordable than ever, and installing one this summer will cut a huge chunk of your electricity costs for years and years to come.

Saving Money by Going Solar

Building a solar powered system in your home is best done in pieces. Adding a couple panels at a time will help spread out the cost of insulation, and the first appliance you should hook up to the panels is your air conditioner. Of your home’s entire energy consumption, the air conditioner usually eats up about 12 to 17% of the energy you pay for. That percentage translates into a lot of money just for a little relief from the summer heat, but you can cut that cost by having the sun generate energy for your air conditioner. » Read more: Sun Powered Air Conditioners

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Posted in Air Conditioning, Go Green, Home Improvements

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