Update Your Home With a New Covered Front Entance

Do you have a simple square box home, that looks boring when you drive up to it?

Maybe you should think about changing the look of the front.

One of the simplest ways to do this is to build a covered entrance on the front of the house that covers the front door.

You can make your entrance any style you want, it can be as fancy or simple.

A covered entrance serves many functions;

• It gives a welcoming feel to the first impression of your home to guests.
• It gives people waiting to come in the house shelter from the weather.
• It sheds water away from the front door and the front walk. This is good for the longevity of the doors,siding and walkway of the home.
• It protects people coming in and out of the home from falling snow and ice.
• It can be made so that it is a covered sitting area for outside enjoyment.
• It is a sheltered place in an age where everyone has packages delivered to their front doors.
• Its a nice place to leave a baby stroller for quickly getting the child out and going.

Front entrances can large like the one above; Or small like the one below.

When you are thinking about renovating the exterior of your home, think about the front entrance and what changing it could do to not only the curb appeal of your home but the functionality.

You won't be disappointed.

Rob Abbott
Great Lakes Custom Homes Inc.

Should I Water Proof The Foundation When I Raise The Grade On My House?

A reader of my blog asked me a question the other day and I thought it was worth writing about.

The question was as follows;

"I am raising the grade on one side of my house, do I really need to extend the waterproofing up that side of the building? The grade will have good slope away from the house."

The simple answer is yes you should, you should always waterproof foundation walls below grade even though you don't think that there will be a lot of water in the ground.

Adding a waterproofing to the wall like a blueskin or something else is not that expensive and in small area's can be done by yourself or a contractor that is doing the raising of the grade. All that you have to do is the following;

• Makes sure you clean the foundation wall of any dirt, rocks or mildue. The adhesive on the back of waterproofing needs clean surfaces to stick too.
• Make sure the foundation wall is dry, better adhesion for the waterproofing.
• You can add a dimple board in front to give the waterproofing some protection from rocks and debris.

When your contractor back fills over the waterproofing makes sure there aren't any large stones or stumps that will be pushing on the foundation. This can damage the waterproofing.

The reason that you should waterproof the are isn't just to stop any kind of flooding into your foundation its also to keep all the moisture out of the foundation. When water saturates either block or concrete overtime it will start to break down the foundation, especially with freezing and thawing. This will crack and shift the foundation until it starts to crumple and then you are into a big repair bill.

A little bit of waterproofing goes a long way.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Time To Change The Exterior Of Your Aging Home?

Do you have one of those bungalows built in the seventies, with the old white siding and maybe a little bit of bed brick. The windows are original, the soffits are the original wood and everything requires constant repainting and even after it looks tired and aged.

What you need is an exterior face lift for you home. This type of face lift isn't simple, it takes a while for a contractor to complete and also takes a lot of planning, but when it's completed you will look at your home and think that it's a brand new home. Not only will it look good but with adding new windows and some foam sheets of insulation it will perform better in the winter and in the summer. The great thing about doing a big exterior face lift on your house is that it instantly adds value to your home for resale.

There are many different types of windows and doors that you can choose from that are made to be installed as a retrofit. Also your choices for an exterior products can range from wood siding, to vinyl, to manufactured stone and even to cement siding. As long as they are installed properly they should last longer then you will in that home of yours.

The adding of insulation has an up front charge but it easily pays you back in the long run with the savings that you receive on your heating and air conditioning bills.

The changing of soffits to either aluminum or vinyl from the old style of wood means that you will never have to paint them again! New soffits made from aluminum and vinyl also allow the attic of your home to breath better as they have more penetrations for air to move through. This helps the overall performance of your home.

Overall if you choose the appropriate materials you should end up with an exterior for the home that requires little to no maintenance. That's not only good for you but it's also really good for the resale value of your home.

If you are thinking about changing the exterior of your home give us a call 705 466-3202, or visit our website www.villagebuilders.ca

We would be glad to help you with all of your renovation needs.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.