Beautiful flowers from a trip to Viet Nam.  A reminder of warmer temperatures to come and flowers soon to bloom.

Spring is here according to the calendar, but wow is it brisk out there today.  As I walked our dog this morning I was reminded of January mornings that were as cold, but with one key difference, the light of the sun!  Today is the vernal equinox and there is roughly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of dark everywhere on the globe.  The light lifted my sprits despite the temperature of 5 degrees F and reminded me of warmer days surely just around the corner and spring flowers.

As spring arrives, let us know if we can help with your spring and summer projects.  Whether it is a full design build project for an addition, kitchen, bath or a project listed below, give us a call and we’ll be glad to help.  Happy Spring!

• Kitchen and bathroom facelifts, including new tile, paint, fixtures, stone counters.
• Energy-efficiency improvements that make the house you have cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in.
• Roofing, flooring, painting, tile, siding, and masonry, including pointing, block and flat work, and slate work.
• Family rooms, mudrooms, entryway enhancements, closets, and other storage solutions.
• Home offices, libraries, work spaces, and entertainment spaces.
• Finished basements.

Tips:

1. Clean ducts once every 5 years

2. Ask if the duct cleaning company has a way to prevent dust from coming out of other vents in your home while cleaning. For example, a company may have magnetic covers for other vents or may be willing to put plastic over openings not being cleaned.  Since your system is largely interconnected, by cleaning one vent, dust will be stirred up in any connected ducting.

3. Be prepared to clean your home afterward, including dusting, vacuuming, floor cleaning and upholstery cleaning if necessary.  This can be a somewhat dirty job, despite the cleaning technician’s best efforts to keep down dust.

4. Change your furnace filter a few days after the cleaning.

5. Remember that this isn’t a perfect way to clean, so there will be minor dust left behind, but it’s a whole lot better than the alternative…see the videos below.

Before Cleaning Video

After Cleaning Video

Now is a great time to start moving forward with the projects you have discussed last fall and over the winter.

We have been busy with some fun projects lately, including a bathroom remodel, a two story addition and an attic remodel.  I’ll be posting photos of recent projects in the next month or two as I get them photographed.  So check back to see some new photos and videos.  You can also friend us on Facebook and see photos and videos as well.

Enjoy moving forward with your projects and let us know if we can help.

Dan Hanson

A 1919 Bungalow remodel in the Kingfield neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Well spring is trying to spring in Minnesota and the lists of projects is growing for many of us.  On that list for more homeowners than in the past 15 years or so, is repairing damage from ice dams and/or determining how to prevent them next winter.

I heard last week from a roofing contractor that a homeowner who had been in his house for 50 years, had ice dams for the first time!  The ice dams we have seen the past two winters in Minnesota have been some of the worst in decades which means that we might not see them for a few more decades in this severe form.  This was after this gracious roofer, turned down an opportunity to talk a client into a $5000 potential fix for future ice dams, but fessed up that the system wouldn’t be worth the $5000.  As the sagacious roofer said during our meeting, “nothing will work for certain when it comes to ice dams.”  There is no silver bullet when dealing with ice dams.

However, it is important to take action to do the things that can be done.  At the end of this post is an outstanding introductory article by Martin Holladay of Green Building Advisor regarding ice dams.   According to Holladay, four things should be done regarding ice dams in order to try to solve/prevent them.  They rank in order from least expensive to most expensive (in general).

• Sealing air leaks between the warm interior and the attic or cathedral ceiling.
• Adding more ceiling insulation.
• Improving ventilation between the top of the insulation and the roof sheathing.
• Installing a rubberized membrane under the roofing.

I would also recommend having a blower door test and infrared scan done, which will allow you to know from where the air leaks are coming, so that you can adequately address Holladay’s first recommendation.

Ice dams are strange beasts and may take several seasons to find a solution, and then again, despite your best efforts the weather conditions may be just right to encourage their development.  Or, they might show up on your house for another 50 years.

Remember the article below!

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/prevent-ice-dams-air-sealing-and-insulation

Thanks for reading!

Dan Hanson