Your home's chimney needs to be properly constructed, regularly maintained, and annually cleaned to avoid chimney fires. This may sound like it is a hassle but really it's fairly simple and painless.

1. Proper Construction: This is a little tricky for a homeowner to determine but generally you will know if the construction is substandard since the chimney will fail inspection at closing. If you have someone build you a chimney make sure you are dealing with a professional mason and DO check references of other home owners they have constructed chimneys for. If there is anything your not sure of call your local building inspector and ask their opinion.

2. Regular Maintenance: Your chimney and fireplace will tell you a lot just by looking at them. Are there cracks? Are there areas of missing material? Did the chimney cap fall off? Take a critical peek at everything at least once a year. If you can, take a look at the flue pipes from the roof. There should not be separation or cracking in your flue pipes. Similar to the fire brick your fireplace should have flue pipes are the first defense against heat escaping your chimney. 

3. Annual Cleaning: Have a pro clean your chimney annually. Set it up for the same month every year. Usually the guys who do this work are pretty savvy with being able to spot problems so be sure to ask questions. If you'd like to DIY this part a good source of info on how to do it will be your local fire department. 

Also: Do not dispose of hot ashes without first watering them down. The wind can, and will, blow them around and start fires. Your best bet is to let them become cold before disposal. Visit our Chimneys page for more information.

1. If you have any concerns about your fireplace or chimney, contact us. We will be glad to give you our professional opinion.

2. Hire a great chimney sweep for a thorough chimney cleaning. 

3. Monitor your chimney and chimney cap for any changes during the burning season. If you see something concerning, call us.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

For the full list of top home improvement projects for 2016 go to ​http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2016/middle-atlantic/

5 Tips for preventing frozen pipes:

1. Drain the entire house's systems if you won't be using it for the winter and the heat will be off.
2. If your home will be unattended and you'd like to keep the heat on - keep it at a minimum of 55 degrees.
3. Drain all unused outside lines such as hoses and hose spouts.
4. Insulate or add heat tape to all hot and cold water lines in unheated or poorly heated areas of your home.
5. Keep access doors and windows close but do open cabinet doors under sinks.

5 Tips for dealing with icicles:

1. Whenever possible remove snow from your roof with a snow rake.
2. Keep gutters, drains and downspouts clear of buildup.
3. Knock icicles down with a long pole and use personal safety precautions.
4. Do not use open-flame or electrical heating devices to melt the icicles.
5. Consider roof ice melt systems the next time your roof is replaced.

Wood burning fireplaces are a common upgrade to many Pocono homes. Proper chimney care will protect your home's value and enhance its appeal.

This stone chimney was in need of some repairs to bring it back to its natural beauty and proper functionality.

While our freeze/thaw cycles will affect all areas on the exterior of your home, in this case, the lack of a proper cap had accelerated water penetration in the joint areas between the stones. This made the chimney more vulnerable to the elements. 

Previous joint repair attempts needed to be removed, so we dug pretty deeply to remove the joints. Straps were used as a safety measure to be sure the stones stayed in place.

​Then a proper chimney cap was formed and poured while the joints were repaired in a more long lasting manner. Both of these measures will greatly enhance the lifespan, and therefore the value, of the chimney. 

​At this point, our portion of the project is completed. The only area of concern, from our point of view, is the chimney cricket. That particular cricket is small for the placement and chimney size. A better design should be considered when there is roofing work done. 

​Do you have any problems with your fireplace or chimney? Give us a call, or email some photos. We will be glad to take a look at it for you! 

As we see in the image above, masonry repairs are usually more specialized and benefit from more advanced skills. The handyman who repaired these steps before us only succeeded in adding additional costs to the repair work.

Proper repairs of masonry materials far extend the lifespan of the improvement and therefore maintain its value over a longer period.

1. Once you notice problems don't ignore it. They are not likely to go away. If your busy, or just not sure if you need to pursue it, just take some pics and email them to us. We will be glad to give you a free opinion.

2. Water penetration is one of the biggest concerns in freeze/thaw cycle areas. This is where proper masonry repairs are essential. Short term repairs, such as caulk, will only increase the costs of, and possibly complicate, a proper repair.

3. Masonry projects have an incredibly long lifespan. Don't be easily persuaded to rip them out in lieu of newer materials. That 1960's chimney, properly maintained, will still be beautiful and functional for our great grandchildren at minimal cost.

4. Improper chimney repairs can, and will, burn your home down with your family in it. The kicker here is, it is NOT costly or complicated to maintain a wood burning chimney. You simply need to maintain it in a timely manner with a knowledgeable chimney mason.  

5. Only hire a mason with experienced. Don't pay someone who says they do masonry. Hire an ACTUAL mason who is experienced in the repairs you need.

Call us today!! 

Everything you do, and don’t do, to your real estate can affect its value somehow. This principle makes it imperative that home owners have a sense of awareness about how their home’s value will change when they decide on, or decide to forego, home improvement projects.

One of the many long term perks of masonry construction is the lifespan of the materials. Well installed masonary materials have an incredibly long lifespan compared to wooden, or newer composite materials.

The lifespan is important to appraisal value, for example:
Home Owner A

• Installs poured concrete walkway
• Lifespan of material 75 years
• Total cost $4,000

Home Owner B

• Installs concrete paver walkway
• Lifespan of material 15 years
• Total cost $2,000

Both home owners maintain their walkways in a sufficient manner and in 10 years both decide they want to retire to a sunnier climate. Who can blame them!

Anyway, here is what happens at home appraisal time when the walkways are considered:

Home Owner A

• Lifespan left on walkway = 87%
• Current value of walkway = $4,000 x 87% = $3,480
• Loss on investment = $520

Home Owner B

• Lifespan left on walkway = 32%
• Current value of walkway = $2,000 x 32% = $640
• Loss on investment = $1,360

In all likelihood Home Owner B may need to replace the walkway, to satisfy potential buyers, since it would be so close to the end of its lifespan.

While the initial project budgets are different, in both scenarios the loss on the investment is greater when insufficient materials and installation methods are used. 

Careful spending on your home improvement projects will benefit you greatly in the years to come.

​Have a project idea? Contact us!

We recently found that a mouse had chewed electrical wires running through our floors from the basement. We had live bare copper wires running through the sub-flooring. Not good! So we started thinking about installing a fire sprinkler system in our own home.

Watch this video about the effectiveness of residential sprinkler systems. Pay close attention to the time lapse and watch how fast the smoke detectors fail and how fast the temperatures become deadly.

This video is just one of the hundreds of public service announcements that fire departments have produced to discuss the benefits of residential fire sprinkler systems.

Given the potential benefits, it is rather shocking that more homes are not built with, or retrofitted with, fire sprinklers. It feels like common sense to do this. So, why are residential fire sprinklers so rare? Here are some of the myths we learned about:

1. Myth - The cost is to high. 
Fact - In years past the cost of these systems were in fact quite higher. Right now the average costs in new construction is roughly $1.35 per square foot sprinkled. That is one of the cheapest home improvements EVER. Retrofitting can run about $2.00 per square foot sprinkled.

2. Myth - My well pump won't handle it. 
Fact - Residential sprinkler heads are not designed the same as commercial heads. The reason they require less water per minute is because the room sizes are much smaller so less water is needed. Many existing water supplies produce enough water to handle the needs of a sprinkler head. To reduce costs while retrofitting a home, a stand alone tank can be inexpensively installed to boost the water supply. 

3. Myth - All the heads will accidentally go off and flood my house!
Fact - This is not even remotely possible regardless of what movie you saw it in. Sprinkler heads are heat activated, BUT, each unit must experience approximately 150 degrees before it goes off. The heat creates a physical change in the head that allows the water to flow out. Only heads that reach 150+- degrees will go off.

4. Myth - They won't look nice in my home.
Fact - You have less than 4 minutes (per my firefighter friends) to get everyone out of your home! The concealed units are less unsightly than smoke detectors are! Don't risk your family's lives by thinking this way. Here is an example of a concealed sprinkler head.

Some videos about residential fire sprinkler systems.

Newly constructed homes:

The retrofitting process. A three part video series:

A few more words on protecting your community with home fire sprinklers.

For further reading and videos visit: 
http://www.homefiresprinkler.org/index.php/home-fire-sprinklers

Post a comment below! We'd love to hear from firefighters/EMTs as well as fire survivors and home owners. Let us know, if you are interested in a home sprinkler system, if you have one (we'd love to hear your experience with it), or if you'd like to follow our progress while we install sprinklers in our home.

Stay safe everyone! 

Before you rip out that concrete walkway or patio read this entire blog! A good majority of concrete products do not need to be completely ripped out to beautify and improve them. 

Whether part of a repair project or part of a home improvement project, concrete stains and sealers can be used on virtually any concrete surface regardless of its age. These products can be customized to incorporate the general aesthetics of the home and durable enough to withstand heavy traffic areas. They are also a wonderful option to camouflage repaired areas. 

If you are undecided about where to spend your home improvement money in 2015 this report breakdown can be a great tool for you. 

These annual reports are the result of a collaboration between Remodeling Magazine and the National Association of Realtors.

For Middle Atlantic (PA, NJ, NY) home owners, here are the lists of projects, with the percentage of investment return at resale, with our notes, for midrange and upscale projects. 

$$ Midrange Projects $$

1) Steel Entry Door Replacement - 88.5% - This is the least costly of the listed projects and has been #1 for three years running. Pair it with some stone veneer and you can't go wrong.

2) Manufactured Stone Veneer - 78.1% - This is the first new addition to the list in at least three years and with so many wonderful options and applications it is a must do project!

3) Garage Door Replacement - 77.5% - Similar to front doors, this is a very visible project and also a less costly one to undertake.

4) Wood Deck Additions - 69.9% - More cost effective than composite decking and also consistently holds a better value. I would argue that this would be #3 in our area.

5) Vinyl Siding Replacement - 68.6% - A very good choice when upgrading from T1-11 and beautiful mixed with Manufactured Stone Veneer.

6) Attic Bedroom - 68.5% - A consistently decent return on investment over the last three years. Probably this is a good project to undertake when you already need roofing work done. This is the most costly project in the top 10.

7) Minor Kitchen Remodel - 68% - No change from last year with the return and still slightly higher than 2013's number of 66.2%.

8) Fiberglas Entry Door Replacement - 66.4% - More costly than steel and less desirable. This option consistently performs lower than steel doors. 

9) Wood Window Replacement - 66.1% - Slightly more costly than vinyl with very similar returns over the last three years. It's a toss up.

10) Vinyl Window Replacement - 64.8% - Slightly less expensive than wood with similar returns. Consider overall aesthetics with these choices.

11) Composite Deck Addition - 62.2% - Much more costly than wood and consistently has a lower return. Not as popular as wood in our area so this would probably rank lower locally.

12) Major Kitchen Remodel - 60.6% - Consistently returns in the lower 60's over the last three years but took an also 4% hit from 2014's report. For the amount of money involved that translates into a decent pinch but if your kitchen is circa 1975 it is probably a good way to go.

13) Bathroom Remodel - 58.3% - ROI is lower than 2014 but still higher than 2013. Like kitchens, if your bathroom hasn't left the disco era than it will be money well spent.

14) Basement Remodel - 57.9% - The average job cost on this will fluctuate wildly based on what you have now. If you have ever seen water in your basement or have mold, those issues need to be addressed first.

15) Roofing Replacement - 57% - If you have a chimney make sure it is flashed correctly and the roof has an adequate chimney cricket.

16) Backup Power Generator - 56.3% - This project took a huge hit from 2014 when it was 77%! Unless we have another storm like Sandy in the near future the money spent for this project (avg. job cost $12,445) is probably better spent on other things.

17) Garage Addition - 55.4% - These are tricky if you will only have your home a short time and it's not something you need. If you not going to use it for yourself but your resale value demands it, absolutely add a garage. 

18) Family Room Addition - 55.3% - You usually will not go wrong with adding additional living space. This one has hovered in the mid to upper 50's for three years so it is no exception to that rule.

19) Two-Story Addition - 54.4% - The most costly of the midrange projects. As with any project you need to be sure you will get value for the money. If this is improperly done the ROI will be extremely lowered and due to the average cost ($169,889) that will translate into a big dollar loss.

20) Master Suite Addition - 53.9% - The second most expensive project on the list comes in with a dismal return compared to the others. 

21) Bathroom Addition - 47.1% - Locally I see this one as being much higher on this list. It is not uncommon to find a three bedroom one bath home locally. Adding an attic bedroom (or basement remodel) and a bathroom addition would greatly increase the value of those homes.

22) Sunroom Addition - 41.3% - This should be, in my opinion, also higher on this list in our local area. Due to our abundant natural beauty, a sunroom (or 'Pocono Room') added onto a wood deck is NOT a 41.3% return. It is practically expected. 

23) Home Office Remodel - 38.7% - This is consistently the lowest returner. Better bets would be to add an attic bedroom and use that as an office or finish the basement and use that area. Both of those items will perform better for you than a dedicated office area.