Home Improvement Blog

Tired of that old kitchen and need a facelift for your home? Any of us owning a home will go through this at one point or another and if you don't I'm sure your significant other will make you a part of it. So you have decided you need a new kitchen but don't really know the steps involved. This where you should take a step back and do your research. Realize once your kitchen has been gutted you are at the mercy of your contractor. No joke, I have seen customers in tears and their lives upside down after experiences with a unprofessional contractor. With this in mind you should really inquire about impeccable references from the contractor you plan to hire before you remodel.

.

A few key tips when hiring a contractor to remodel your kitchen:

• Depending on the size of your kitchen average start to finish time can be 2-4 wks. Talk to previous customers to verify because months without a kitchen will be quite the inconvenience.
• Contractor should install the proper blocking in walls to ensure cabinets will have proper support when fastened.(shown in picture above)
• You should obtain a 3-D image of your kitchen before the start of project.
• Ask if your contractor will sub contract any of the work. If so inquire who and what background in the field they obtain. You need your contractor to have an established relationship with their sub contractors to make the job moves faster and more efficently.
• Ensure that your contractor is experienced in all the installation aspects of your kitchen and doesn't rely on sub contractors in differents trades to figure it out. Lighting placement, tile work, plumbing, electrical, sheetrock, etc. Your general contractor should execute the job foreseeing every issue before the completed project.

Most of us with homes have a basement and I'm sure most of these basements have little or no windows for natural light or ventilation. Now a window in your basement probably isn't at the top of your priority list but if you put it in a life and death situation you might have a different outlook on it. In the case of a fire you or your loved ones could be left with no escape and incinerated alive. Many instances of these cases have occurred in the past which has forced the national building code administration to enforce violations to protect people from danger. In any finished basement you must install a egress window as a fire escape. The window must have a minimum net clear opening of 5.7 square feet, minimum net clear opening height of 24", minimum net clear opening width of 20" and a maximum 44" sill height from finished floor. Outside the window you must construct a window well with a minimum net clear area of 9 square feet with horizontal projection width of 36 inches. If the window well depth is greater than 44" a permanently affixed ladder needs to be installed. Exit through a garage is not accepted. Basement egress window installation is an excellent precaution to take before it is too late. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!

.

What you gain by installing a basement egress window:

• Peace in mind that you and your loved ones will be safe during a fire.
• Added natural lighting.
• Ventilation.
• Less mold and mildew problems in moist basements.
• Get your basement up to current building codes.

I find that most of my customers wait until they sell their home, only to be hit in the face with the reality that they are required to have one. When you perform a finished basement now is the time to install an egress window. The installation is way more complex down the road.

Problems when you go to sell:

• 90 percent of customers call me for an egress window because they are in the process of closing. This creates massive holdups that can take up to months to resolve if you are in violation of code.

• If looking to sell and transfer to another home, you may lose your lock in mortgage rate.

• You already closed on your future dream home but need the money from your old home to stay a float.

• Your purchaser may be in the same boat and needs to close to get into their next dream home.

• Inspectors do not care, you are in violation of code and your priorities are not theirs. 

• Buyer backing out of the deal

• Loss of money layed out already

The kitchen area is probably where you spend the most time cooking and entertaining. Right? It is the focal point of your entire home. So with this in mind, why not make this your priority to ensure your guests or just your family will be impressed with a beautiful kitchen design.

.

 When you plan to remodel your kitchen you want to work with a professional company that can design you the kitchen of your dreams. A good company will supply you with kitchen design ideas to enhance the beauty of your new kitchen. Before the start of your kitchen you should be supplied with a 3-D image of the kitchens appearance before any work has been performed. With the 3-D images you can visualize walls removed, cabinets in different areas, different crown mouldings, islands, etc.

A quality cabinet company we like to work with is Kraftmaid. With over 40 years in the cabinet industry Kraftmaid takes pride in their hand made cabinets. They offer over 65 finishes, over 100 door styles and over 200 storage solutions.

Here in the northeast we experience a great deal of ice damming on the roof of our homes during the winter season. A leaking roof, especially during the winter time, is a complete hassle to deal with. Ice damming occurs when heat transfer through your attic begins to melt the snow on your roof. As melted snow makes it over the unheated soffit area it begins to refreeze causing a water back up under your shingles and into your home. The process usaully could take a few days or weeks to occur depending on outside temperature and the R-value of your attic insulation.

Ice damming can all be prevented with ice dam material that is applied to the roof deck before shingles are applied. It prevents water from penetrating your roof deck and seals around the nails used to fasten your shingles. Ice dam material is applied on the lower edge of your roof and three feet up(sometimes doubled to six feet). It should also be applied in valleys and around chimneys and skylights. In some areas building departments have made it code to install ice dam with your new roof. It is the cheapest and most effective way to eliminate the chances of ice damming. If you experience ice damming the best course of action is to leave it be and correct the problem when it warms. If you try to break the ice on the roof you will 99 percent of the time do more damage to the roof shingles and not to mention a dangerous practice.

.

You have finished remodeling your bathroom and now you are looking into shower doors. With many different brands, styles and finishes on the market you may become easily confused what direction to go in. From my personal experiences it pays to spend the extra money for a quality shower door. I have found that Century makes a very quality door that will give you many years of use. With the many different styles and finishes they offer, your bathroom design ideas become unlimited. Also highly recommended is a DFI glass treatment that protects glass and cuts maintainance time in half. To learn more visit www.centurybathworks.com

Considering a new facelift on the exterior of your home? Well vinyl siding is a good choice for a almost maintainance free home. While greatly improving the appearance of your home you will also increase the value of your home. So once you have decided you want to reside your home the next step is finding a qualified contractor to install your siding.

Here are a few tips for a quality installation:

• Removal of all old siding is the best method. Many contractors go over the old existing siding saving time and dumping fees. Removal of all existing siding will reveal any water damage and/or dry rotting that lies hidden. If any damage is found contractor can correct the problem. Problems will not dissappear with new siding, like capping a rotten tooth.
• Determine if your home could use more insulation. If the exterior walls are constructed of 2x4's your home is only carrying a R-11 or R-13 insulating value. Styrofoam insulation installed on the exterior of your home will give you an added R-value cutting down your heating and cooling costs.
• Find out what siding will be installed on your home. We use Certainteed siding "Mainstreet" or "Monogram" brands. All siding companies carry different grades of siding. Differences include thickness of siding, quality of locks, UV protection, wind ratings, studfinders, etc. The product you choose will greatly have a result in the final product. Visit www.certainteed.com
• Tyvec paper is used to wrap the exterior of home before siding is installed. Excellent product that I strongly recommend. It protects the home from any water and is also a vapor barrier. You can check out this product @ www. tyvek.com
• Inquire that your contractor knows how to bend aluminum well. A bad aluminum job can be hard to tell if not fimiliar. An installer must understand the flow of water in order to protect the surfaces being protected. This is extremely important because water damage will go unnoticed for years until severe damage has been done. I have had many experiences where capping and/or flashing has been installed incorrectly and the damage is usually severe and insurance will not cover damages due to a poor siding job.

In my field of work I have seen many tile floors fail due to improper subfloors and wrong glues used during installations. Most tile floors when finished always look great unless the work was done half fast. What you dont know is what was done before and during the installation of the tile. Subflooring is the most important part for the longevity of a floor. All ceramic tile companies recommend a minimum of 1 1/4" subflooring before any tile is set. Most all of homes are built with 3/4" plywood flooring through out the house so an extra 1/2" where ceramic tile is to be applied is necessary wheather you use plywood or cementboard. Since ceramic tile, like concrete, is a solid product that does not do well under any movement is very likely to crack if the proper steps are not taken. What we do at WMB Construction is make sure the original subflooring is properly secured to the floor joists using 2 1/2" screws.(screws always hold better that nails that builders use during new construction.)  Next we install 1/2" cement board(Perma Base) over original subfloor setting the cement board in Sturdi-Flex adhesive and using 1 5/8" screws every 3" to secure the cement board down. Now tile is ready to be set on top of a subfloor that is completely indestructable. Some might say my methods are a bit over the top but a little extra material and labor is well worth a great installation so that I can sleep at night

Across the United States the three tab shingle has widely been replaced with architectual shingles which offers a better look to your home as well as many more features. Call wmbconstruction for your next roofing project.

Five key factors you should know:

• Architectual shingles carry a standard 30 yr. life span which can be upgraded to 50 yr. as opposed to a 20-30 year life span.
• Architectual shingles have higher wind ratings which means less to no more blow offs.
• Quality starts under your shingles. The first part of your roof that is extremely important and commonly overseen is aluminum dripedge. Aluminum dripedge is installed around the entire perimeter of the roof to eliminate capillary action of water coming back up into your house.
• Next is ice dam material which is installed along lower edges of your home and three feet up to prevent winters harshest toll on a roof, ice damming. Ice damming is when snow begins to melt on your roof over the heated sections of your roof, when it hits the unheated sections(soffit area)it begins to freeze causing water back-ups back inside your home. Ice dam material greatly reduces the possibilities of this occurance.
• For the longevity of your roof, ventilation is key. There are three factors in roof ventilation; gable vents, soffit vents, and ridge vents. With all three vents installed you will have the necessary airflow in your attic to get the most years.