MAY 2011

Tips for better comfort in your home 

Ways You Can Help Make Your Home More Comfortable and Efficient

• Get an energy audit.
• Check caulking around windows and doors.  If it is peeling off, completely remove it and   replace with new caulk.   
• Look at the seals of exterior doors, especially at the bottom.  If there is not a tight seal, you can use foam tape weather stripping and attach a door sweep at the bottom.
• If you have a basement or crawl space look at the joist end areas and seal any holes with great stuff can foam.
• Install a new programmable thermostat.

Ways a Professional Can Help Make Your Home More Comfortable and Energy Efficient

• An Insulation professional can check your attic area to see if there is enough insulation or if the insulation has settled over the years and is therefore less effective.
• Attic access doors can be huge leakage areas.  Have a professional install an attic tent or similar attic access sealing unit.
• Attics and crawl spaces can be retrofitted to be conditioned areas.  Utilizing spray foam, a pro can dramatically decrease air infiltration, and thus increase comfort and efficiency.
• Bonus room walls that have attic areas behind them tend to also be large leakage areas.  Most home owners, with bonus rooms complain about them being hot in the summer and cold in the winter.  This is due to the fact that there is usually no air barrier on the back of the insulation in the bonus room knee walls.  Fiberglass insulation without an air barrier on one side can be up to 40% less effective.
•  Sealing around drywall ceiling penetrations.  A pro can vacuum out the blown insulation in your attic, find through ceiling penetrations (such as can lights, tops of walls, and bath fans), seal them, then blow insulation back in your attic.  The less airflow from the interior of the house into the attic, the more effective your insulation will be.

Why DIY may cost you more. 

• Available Time. One customer took 2 weeks off work to remodel his own bathroom. He still had to work in the evenings for another 2 weeks to complete the job. Now wouldn't you rather take your 2 weeks vacation with your family and relax at the beach?  
• Quality & Speed. DIYers discover that when they try to sell their home, they have trouble because prospective buyers notice the the quality is lacking in a remodeling project  
• Cost of Mistakes. We have come in to numerous projects to fix the errors of those who didn't know the proper building codes or techniques.  

• Experience
• Relationships
• Solving the problem
• Clean-up
• Time
• Guarantee  
• Long term effects
• Avoid physical strain
• Avoid projects outside your abilities 
• Overall easier 

"In Your Words"   

Venture Builders was great about listening to our ideas and concerns then working it through with many suggestions to enhance our ideas.  They had great coordination of the subcontractors, always kept us informed, and worked very clean.    

Terri - McGaheysville, VA