Cold Weather Problems To Watch For In Your New Home

Its Fall and with the real estate market being so hot as it has been in the last year there are a lot of people that are in newly bought homes that have never been through cold weather together.

There are certain things that you need to pay attention to (now that the cold weather has started to arrive) in your newly acquired home;

• Drafts. Unless you have a brand new home your older home will probably have drafts. They could come from many different locations. You need to document them so that when you renovate the home later you will know where to tell your contractor to focus on.
• Windows/Doors. With the weather change you will now start to see if your windows and doors still open and close properly. This is the time when wood shrinks and things move in older homes, sometimes it's just an adjustment that needs to be made and sometimes its a bigger repair. Also look for fogging of windows that doesn't go away.
• Leaks. From top to bottom you need to pay attention to see if there is water penetration happening. It could come from the roof, it could come from windows or doors and it can happen in the basement. It doesn't have to be a lot of water, any amount is a warning sign of things to come.
• Debris.After large fall and winter storms you should look around the outside of the house, look for debris. Your looking for things that have fallen or blown off the house, things like shingles, eavetrough or facia can come unattached in big winds from the house. Sometimes trees can dislodge this as well, repairing it without fixing the root of the problem will just waste time and money.
• Cold spots. Even if you have central heating, that doesn't mean that every part of your home is heated evenly. Look for rooms or area's that are colder then the rest of the spaces in the home. If you are resorting to space heaters then you should think about a more permanent solution that will save you money on your heating bills in the future.
• Heating system. Does your heating system sound like its running properly? Does it sound like its labouring or does it have a funny noise? Does it react to the house when it is cold? Do you have a hard time finding a proper temperature in the house? A lot of these things can be fixed simply but not if your contractor doesn't know they are happening and where in the house they are happening.

These simple observations will help you direct your contractor when you go to renovate your newly bought home. When contractors are on site renovating other parts of your home it's easier, quicker and cheaper for them to fix it as they are doing your other work then getting them to come back at a later date just to address a certain issue.

Your contractor wants to help, they know that you the homeowner have a limited budget, that means that they want to help you spend that money in a way that helps you the most and doesn't cost you more money down the road when something has to be redone because of a certain issue that was never resolved during the first renovation.

Simple observations on you the homeowners part will go a long way in saving you money later.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.

Renovating that house you just bought

Here's a typical scenario, people buy a house and from the time it takes for the offer to be accepted to the day that it closes and you get to move in you are dreaming about what changes you are going to make to the home.

Everyone wants to change something in the home that they just bought, whether its wall colours or larger more extensive changes like kitchens and bathrooms. My advice to people is that you should start by repairing anything that requires immediate repair and work from there.

For example; if there is a leak in the roof or the foundation then have that fixed, or if the furnace doesn't work properly then have it replaced or repaired. Painting is another thing that you can do as soon as you move in as it doesn't create a lot of dust and the cost is relatively low compared to other renovations. Besides the best time to paint is before you have hung your pictures.

If you can have the major problems fixed before you move in then that is ideal, but most people don't have the luxury of getting their home early and not having to move their furniture in until the demolition and repairs are completed.

Once you have the immediate problems fixed or repaired then you can start to concentrate on other things like storage, kitchens, bathrooms, floors, additions, fences and decks. These are all things that should be thought about and planned out before you go ahead with them. 

What you will find is that if you live in the home for any length of time you will find that the answers, designs and styles of what you want to renovate will come to you organically. The best way to find out how a home will function best is to live in it.

Once you have a plan in your head then you can talk to a contractor about the cost of the renovations and the timing for them.

Bathroom and kitchen renovations can be disruptive but only in small parts of the house, these types of renovations tho inconvenient can be easily worked around while you are living there.

The best advice I can give is that you should take your time to plan properly before starting any major renovation, the old saying "fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail" is correct in this case.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.