Do home improvements really pay for themselves?

I recently read an interesting article from Forbes magazine—“Ten Best Home Renovations for the Money.” (There’s also a “Ten Worst” list for those who are interested.) The article used Remodeling Magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report to gauge just how much of their investment homeowners can recoup on various home improvements. 

As you might expect, most renovation projects will not “pay for themselves”—meaning that homeowners generally will not recoup all of the money they spend on home improvements if they later sell their home. Some projects are just “plain dollar drains,” according to the article, and shouldn’t be undertaken for the sole purpose of increasing a home’s value.

The article recommends that homeowners who are going to shell out money on improvements should focus on the home's exterior because it offers more decent returns on investment. For instance, both vinyl replacement windows and vinyl siding were shown to recoup 72% of their cost upon resale.

Any homeowners who ars considering a home-improvement project might want to check out this best/worst list before jumping into a renovation—to ensure they’re undertaking renovations like windows or siding that provide a much better value. The article is available at http://tinyurl.com/4rw95qd

Replacement windows—a good way to lower energy costs in warm weather, too!

Most homeowners know that one of the biggest benefits of replacing older, less-efficient windows with newer, high-performance models is energy savings. Today’s replacement windows are much more technologically advanced, and they’re better at reducing home energy usage and improving the comfort of homes.

However, many homeowners believe these energy savings occur primarily during the winter months—when new windows prevent furnaces from running so much. While it’s true that replacement windows can help lower energy bills in cold weather, energy-efficient windows are just as important during the summer months.

Surprised? It’s really very simple: The Low-E coatings that keep warm air inside during winter months also work in reverse—they reflect outside heat away from windows in warm weather. This keeps the inside of homes cooler and results in air conditioning units running much less. Voila—summer energy savings!

When considering new replacement windows, homeowners should ask to see the NFRC ratings for each model they’re considering. Depending upon what area of the country a home is located in, a window’s Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) ratings can be important to consider. SHGC is pretty relevant to areas where warm weather prevails, because this value measures the heat from solar radiation that enters a building. A window with a good SHGC rating can really help reflect that outside heat away from homes and lower air conditioner usage and overall home energy bills.

Replacement windows are a good value ANY time of year, and ANY place in the country. Windows with Low-E coatings are designed to improve home comfort and reduce energy usage—no matter what the weather is like outside!

My Garage Door Won't Go Down!

One of the most common problems we will have with our garage doors are photo-eye sensor related.  You may be asking what in the world are the photo-eye sensors?  In the lamest terms they are the two "eyes" located on the bottom of your garage door and are about 6 inches off the ground.  How these work is one devices shoots an invisible beam that directly points into the optical receiver of the one on the opposite side of that opening.  These two gadgets prevent your child, pet or even a careless driver from being crushed by the operating garage door should it become active while any of those things create an obstruction.  Basically, when there is an obstruction that cuts the direct contact between the two sensors, it breaks the circuit which then tells the operator that the door cannot be closed or that it must roll back up to prevent damage to your vehicle or injury to your pets or family members.  Which is why they are now a government regulation and most operators will not work if they are disabled.  Some of the most commonly reported problems of this safety feature are:

• Sporadic stopping and starting
• Flashing lights
• Door only goes down about a foot and bounces back up
• You have to hold your wall panel button down until the door completely closes

There are a few things you can do to solve your sensor issues and avoid an expensive simple 5 minute service call.

First, you want to locate your two photo-eye sensor devices, then try to see if each one has a lit LED light.  Sometimes you will notice that one is lit and the other one is either off or flickering.  What does this mean?  It means a couple of things.  For one you might try adjusting the sensor height by moving it with your hand because it may be out of direct alignment, they may have been bumped while taking the trash out or even the vibration of the door over time has knocked them out of alignment.  When moving that sensor around and the light goes from off or flickering to bold secure the device in that location and try running the door and it should work!  The other problem that often occurs with sensors is that they get dirty.  Let's face it when was the last time you vacuumed your garage and made your sensor lenses squeaky clean?

If aligning the sensors didn't help, check to make sure the lenses on both sensors are free of any debris, cobwebs or dirt.  If you notice anything go ahead and wipe them clean with a damp cloth and dry the residue with a dry cloth, being sure to not bump them out of alignment.  If you are still having problems, check the wires and make sure none are pinched, ripped or clipped.  Fixing a wire will take a little handy work that most people can perform.

The only bad news is that if all the above have failed, there is problems with your wiring somewhere or your photo-eye sensors are broken.  In some cases people have their garage floors pressure washed and someone forgot to cover the sensors so they are burnt out from moisture.  Sometimes, especially those homes located in rural areas, they can have rodent residents that chew on wires and in some cases the wires have been drywalled over which make the situation a tad more complicated.  An easy fix would be to have the sensor wires run exposed (stapled on top of your drywall).  Another common problem are the garage doors that seem to malfunction at certain times of the day during certain seasons of the year.  That problem is due to the sun directing light into on of your garage sensors at a particular time frame of day.  That problem can be solved by adding sun shields to your sensors and more often than not the malfunctioning garage door sensor problem is solved.

If you have a persistent problem with your garage door sensors and you are in the Peoria/Bloomington area just give us a call at (309) 691-8121 and we can try to help over the phone or even come out and fix the problem!!

How to Winterize your Garage Door!

Tis' the Season! For broken springs, worn operator gears or worse it's 7:30am you need to be at work by 8:00am and your garage door won't go up! As much as we would love to help everyone right away our office is swamped with service calls and when the weather really drops we will be lucky to get to you the next day! 

Here are some thing you can do to help lengthen the life of your door as well as prevent costly repairs:

The first line of defense is to lubricate the moving parts. As shown in the diagram to the right, apply a silicon based spray lube to all rollers and hinges. There are end hinges which hold the rollers in the track, as well as center hinges which pivot as the door moves.  Lubricate all pivot points. DO NOT lubricate the track itself.

While lubricating, you should also check the garage door hardware parts.  With repeated use, the hardware on the garage door will tend to loosen over time. If you notice any loose screws, bolts or nuts, tighten them so hardware parts won't fall out of adjustment.

Garage door springs should be coated about once every season.  Allow the oil to drip down and coat the cables on the side of the garage door.

There are two types of spring systems see below diagram to determine which system your door has.

Extension Spring

Torsion Spring

NOTE: springs are under very high tension due to the loads they must lift

and can be very dangerous.  Do not attempt to adjust spring tension yourself.

The extension spring system will run along the tracks of the door, torsion spring system will run above the actual door itself.  When lubricating the springs be sure to get a good amount on there but not so much that it drips off the spring, you don't want the oil to drip on your door when its open.

You also want to lubricate the Operator Rail, which is the bar that connects to your Operator hanging from the ceiling, again being careful with the amount so its lubricated well but not dripping.

We use SLIPIT Mechanic's Spray Lubricant with Silicone you can find it online or at your local hardware store. 

I hope you found this Blog helpful, please feel free to comment with any questions or any other topics you would have questions on.  As always call our office with any questions you may have at (309)691-8121.  Thanks and look for our next blog 'Things to look for if your door isn't working correctly'!