Home Improvement Blog

it is very common now a days to see most contractors using cement board on the walls in tub/shower areas. It has largely replaced moisture resistant sheetrock which has been used for years especially before cement board was available. Moisture resistant sheetrock is still used everyday and is an excellent product for all the walls and ceiling of your bathroom, just not in the tub/shower area. When sheetrock is used in the shower area it will most likely fail due to the fact that it is moisture resistant and not water proof. Once water infiltrates under the tile sheetrock becomes susceptible to water damage and may crumble.

Today moisture resistant sheetrock has been replaced in the shower area with cement board creating a more sound base that will last. Also a superior product for your floors underlayment before installing tile and can even be installed in thinset and screwed down for a thorough installation. Cement board is a water proof product and will not deteriorate when in direct contact with water. Cement board is made using actual cement with a fiberglass mesh exterior. 

Common cement board uses:

• Bathroom walls and floors.
• Kitchen countertops
• Soffits in bathrooms
• Exterior uses before stucco or cultured stone is installed.
• Kitchen floors.

The conclusion is that cement board is the only product you should be using when there is any chance of contact with water. Many times it's what you don't see behind the walls that has the biggest impact for  longevity of your project. Toxic mold is usually unseen until the damage is too late and run the risk of rotten wall studs that can ruin the integrity of your homes structure and attract unwelcomed insects such as carpenter ants and termites that can do a vast amount of damage. Especially the presence of termites are hard to detect as they tunnel inside of wood rarely seeing daylight leaving appearance of wood on the outside perfect while the insides are hollow. This is mostly a concern with structures on ground levels that are close to the ground as they return to the soil where they live.

Your interior needs an upgrade and new paint is the best way to achieve it. Painting is the quickest and easiest way to upgrade the appearance of your home. Just think, in a few days your home will make a complete transformation from what it was!!!

WMB uses only quality Benjamin Moore paints with every paint application.

What you should know about interior paints:

• All paint companies have many different paint grades. When your painting contractor gives you a price, inform what grade he will be using.
• Inquire if the proper primers will be used. New construction primers or stain killer primers?
• Oil and latex are two different products. Oil is an excellent stain killer and latex is the best finish coat.
• All paint companies offer different paint finishes. Which on is best for you? Flat? Eggshell? Semi-gloss? Gloss?
• Interior painting is a lot more complicated than you might think. The one aspect of painting is your drop clothes. A professional will always concentrate on respecting your home and ensuring no paint will be left on your floors after the job has been completed. Unreversable damage can be done to your home due to an unexperienced painter.

What to look for when hiring a painting contractor:

• I believe that a good painter should have a good personal appearance. The tedious and detailed nature of painting should show in the presentation of your painting contractor.
• Make sure your painting contractor is reputable in the area. He will be working around your personal belongings and your loved ones.
• Ask how he will be applying the paint. If he is spraying, get rid of him quickly. As much as he trys to cover and tape off your belongings, the over spray will still be everywhere. Not to mention the amount of VOC's in the air.
• How many guys will be in your home? Most contractors like to show up in the morning, drop off the help, and return at the end of the day. Find out!
• It is a very common practice for painting contractors to apply the second coat before ever letting the first coat dry. This results in improper coverage and possible paint bubbling.

I am in my own personal home right now in Monroe, NY and it is 5 below zero. It is January and the weather is very unpredictable this time of year. Besides snow, the temperature has been lower than the regular average raising my heating costs above normal. To much of my surprise, I realized that I have been heating my attic instead of my home. The insulation originally installed was an R value of R-13 instead of an R-38. A difference of 13 inches of insulation! Now that is an enormous amount of heat transfer loss within my home!

After realizing that the R-value of my home has been outdated by 30 yrs., I found myself at the lumber yard purchasing R-38 unfaced fiberglass insulation to add on top of my existing insulation. I have now installed it and thanks to Owens Corning, my home is warmer than ever and my heating bills have decreased. Instead of heating my attic, I now heat my living area.

Insulation is the cheapest way to lower your heating costs.

What to look for when determining inadequate insulation:

•  R-38 is 16" thick and is the current building code for new construction. Most older homes only have 3 inches. Adding 16 inches to three inches will increase your R-value beyond industry standards which means even more savings.
• Look for cold drafts and areas of possible heat loss.
• Make sure your original insulation has vapor barrier.(you can check this by making sure the insulation has a paper backing that faces towards your living area.) 
• If you own an older home, Pre. 1940, you probably have wool insulation. Wool insulation was good in its time but very insufficient by todays standards.

Many years in the painting industry have given us the do and dont's for a professional paint job that adds long lasting beauty to your home at a fraction of the cost of vinyl siding. Paint also always leaves the option open to change the color and appearance of your home at any given time. At any given time you can change the facade of your home within days without the mess of a full exterior renovation.

.

Five key factors to a successful and long lasting exterior paint job:

1) Powerwashing surface is a very crucial part of preping the surface to remove all dirt, grime, and mildew from surfaces to be painted. Paint will not adhere to surfaces correctly if this step is skipped.

2) Use of a good exterior caulk holding at least a 25yr. warranty is necessary. Caulk is used to fill all voids before paint is applied and keeps water from penetrating areas that are open to rot. Most rot in homes go undetected for years before noticed usually leaving devastating damage especially if carpenter ant or termites are involved.

3) Before paint is applied it it usually recommended to add an ingredient called Emulsa-Bond to paint. This product increases the adhesion of paint dramatically especially when paint is being applied to aluminum, concrete, or espestos sidings.

4) For the best possible application of paint is still the brush and roller method. Sorry to all the guys that like to spray homes but it is tried and true that by hand you get a better and thicker coat, doubling the life span of the job.

5) The most important is to apply a good quality paint. We always use Benjamin Moore products and have had great success over the years with their product. Just keep in mind that even Benjamin Moore carries different grades of paint with qualities that range in price so inquire which one is being applied to your home. 

A recent customer wanted to replace their entire staircase because of the ugly apperance to the front entrance of their home. WMB Construction also specializes in carpentry so we could have replaced the staircase at a much higher cost. Instead, after inspecting the staircase we found that it was structurally sound.

 Many times we run into decks that are in poor condition and we bring them back to life and get you many more years out of your wood deck. We can inspect your deck and most of the time your deck can be salvaged.

Services we offer:

• Exterior painting
• Interior painting
• Powerwashing
• Concrete staining
• All phases of home improvement