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(BPT) - With spring quickly approaching, it’s a good time to begin thinking of home improvement projects that will look great, but also save energy. Window re-placement is one project that will help increase the energy efficiency of your home and improve curb appeal. There are often telltale signs a home may be in need of new windows, including air leakage, difficulty operat-ing, condensation between glass panes, or exterior paint peeling. Homeowners can check for signs of disrepair by visiting each window and testing operation, checking for air leaks and water collection. For homeowners planning to update their home with energy efficient windows, Ply Gem Windows offers five important questions to ask their contractor before begin-ning a project. “Today’s window options go beyond color and style. When meeting with a contractor, homeowners should plan key questions to ask,” says Chris Picker-ing, vice president of marketing for Ply Gem Windows. “Installation methods, energy efficiency and issues such as lead paint should be discussed with a contractor to make the most out of your investment for seasons to come.”

What do I need to know about lead paint? Due to the risk lead paint poses, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting Pro-gram to help protect homeowners. This program requires contractors and personnel be trained to use lead-safe work practices. When meeting with a contractor, homeowners should ask for an EPA certificate. At least one certi-fied contractor needs to be on the job site, with a valid certificate, if a home was built before 1978 and contains lead-based paint.

Can I expect energy savings with my new windows? The window industry measures the energy efficiency of windows using two methods, U-factor or Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC). U-factor, or thermal transmission, measures how well a window prevents heat from escaping. SHGC, or “shading” factor, measures how well a window prevents sun glare and heat from entering the home. The lower the U-factor, the better the window prevents energy loss, and the lower the SHGC, the better shading properties it has. Look for windows that meet ENERGY STARrequirements in your climate region, available on www.energystar.gov. Replacement windows with double or triple glazing are another consideration. Double- or triple-glazed windows reduce the amount of energy escaping from the home, and help keep the home cool in summer months and

warm in winter months.

Can I match the design of my windows to my house style? There are numerous window style options that comple-ment the design of any home. Key elements to consider are operating style and grille pattern. Single or double hung operating styles are ideal for most homes, but case-ment, awning or architectural shapes can provide visual interest, depending on the house style. Consider grille patterns to give plain glass character.

I don’t want white or beige windows. What are some other color options? Today’s options have grown to include a range of light and dark hues for window exteriors, as well as a variety of solid colors and wood grains to match the interior design. Homeowners now can choose from a variety of options to enhance curb appeal and existing architecture. Many window companies offer homeowners a range of color options beyond white and beige.

What installation method will you be using? Poor installation techniques can reduce the advan-tages of window replacement and may result in air or water leakage. Ask your contractor if they will be doing a “pocket replacement” or a “full-frame” installation. Using pocket replacement, the contractor will remove the op-erating sash, but leave the outer frame intact. Full-frame installation removes the entire window down to the rough opening. For both techniques, proper flashing, sealing and insulation help ensure the best performance. To close any gap between the window and frame, low-expanding window and door foam should be used.

Proactively developing a checklist of questions to ask your con-tractor before starting window replacement projects will help ensure you get the correct windows for your home.

Spring window checklist:5 questions to ask your contractor before replacing windows

Spring Home im

provement

| Friday, march 22, 20133

35TH

YEAR

(BPT) - The busy home remodeling season is a great time for homeowners to focus on increasing curb appeal. The percentage of homeowners who feel now is a good time to spend money on home improvement has doubled since 2009, according to a recent survey among Better Homes and Gardens readers. Considering two of the top four features consumers have on their wish lists for their next home are low maintenance exteriors and a private backyard, high-performance products that come in a variety of colors, textures and designs are expected to be in high demand this year. “Based on these survey results, we’ve found that many of our readers want to refresh what’s already there,” says Jill Waage, editorial director for home content, Better Homes and Gardens. “Perhaps they’re looking to dig out that hidden sophistication of a mid-century home, or they might have a classic and want to bring out the character a bit more. Beyond the facade, our readers also really love outdoor living spaces; they see their yard as an extension of the indoors.” From small touch ups to large renovations, projects such as replacing boring and beige with colorful vinyl siding and trim, updating entryways with bright front doors and shutters, and sprucing up outdoor living areas can make a big difference in the look of your home and neighborhood. “Homeowners want it all in 2013; low maintenance products that perform and style that breaks the cookie-cutter mold,” says Jerry Blais, vice president of marketing for Ply Gem Siding Group, a division of exterior building products manufacturer Ply Gem. “Colorful vinyl siding options in different styles, combined with complementary trim, stone veneer and designer accents that set your home apart are in demand for home improvements.” Consider these upgrades to get magazine-ready looks for your home exterior.

Make a grand entrance

For experienced DIYers considering a weekend project, painting the front door or replacing shutters is a simple solution with dramatic results. These small changes create a focal point for the house and provide a warm, inviting appearance with a modern feel. Other subtle improvements like adding modern lighting fixtures, detailed railings, a new mailbox, stone columns or house numbers can also go a long way in enhancing a home’s custom look.

Whole-home overhaul

For those ready to create a whole new style, installing new siding and trim can infuse life into a bland exterior. Vinyl siding, stone veneer and designer accents have evolved over the years, with vastly expanded color palettes, easy maintenance and a natural look. By incorporating cellular PVC trim as an accent to vinyl siding and stone - around windows, on dormers, eaves and gables - even the most discerning homeowners can enjoy a sophisticated look that’s also low maintenance.

The great outdoors

The perfect addition to any exterior design renovation is an outdoor living area to entertain friends, enjoy a summer barbecue or just relax with the newspaper. To extend your interior space to the outdoors, consider projects such as in-stalling an outdoor fireplace or kitchen with durable stone veneer, or a low maintenance vinyl privacy or picket fence. Whether you’re looking for a small refresh or a com-pletely enhanced look, many of this year’s hottest home design trends are waiting outside.

Curb appeal: 2013’s hottest home improvement trend

This home was remodeled to create instant curb appeal. A new entry, windows, siding and stone veneer were added to transform the home’s bland exterior into a magazine-ready home.

The perfect addition to exterior renovations is an outdoor living area. Add-ing a low maintenance, vinyl fence is a great option to extend interior space to the outdoors.

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(BPT) - As temperatures warm, many of us can’t wait to get outside and rediscover the joys of our outdoor spaces. One of the best ways to ensure the enjoyment of your space all season long is with some spring cleaning and upkeep of your yard and outdoor living spaces. There are a few spring cleaning projects that benefit every homeowner and make spaces much more invit-ing for the hours you’ll spend enjoying the summer sun. The following checklist of improvements will have your outdoor space looking great in no time:

* Take the time to prune. Before the season heats up and the first leaves start to appear, it’s the perfect time to shape up your trees and shrubs. Doing so before the grow-ing season is less stressful for your plants, easier to clean up and will promote the type of growth you envision to keep your greenery looking great all season. Make sure your tools are sharp, as cleaner cuts are easier on plants.

* Clean up leftover leaves. While you probably spent much of the fall raking and mulching fallen leaves, strag-glers collect throughout winter, clogging gutters and drains. In addition to cleaning areas of your yard blan-keted with leaves, rake your lawn to rid it of matted leaves that can inhibit healthy growth. Break these chores into separate days so you don’t have to do it all at once. Using a blower also helps you clean up your yard in short order.

* Bring out the power washer. Winter tends to leave

its mark, and the exterior of your house, deck, sidewalks and driveway can all show grime once spring rolls around. A pressure washer is a convenient way to clean these surfaces.

* Check in on your deck. Once it’s been pressure washed, it’s time to see if you need to re-seal it. If you drizzle water on your deck boards and it beads up, your seal is still effective. If not, it’s time to apply another coat of sealant. Pleasant spring days are ideal for re-sealing and staining and once you’re done, you can enjoy the whole season without worry.

* Design your dream outdoor room. Once you’ve cleaned up your space, you might realize there’s more that could be done to enhance it. Spring is the perfect time to consider a new patio set, or even a patio extension using decorative pavers. Dress up existing patio furniture by staining wood furniture or buying fresh new covers or cushions. This is also the perfect time to buy that new and improved grill you’ve had your eye on. Spring is an exciting time to get back outside and take care of some of the improvements you’ve been dreaming of all winter.

Set yourself up for the perfect season of outdoor entertaining

Spring Home im

provement

| Friday, march 22, 20135

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Homeowners take on projects to improve their homes for a variety of reasons. Some may do so to make a home more functional, while others may do so to improve their home’s resale value. Some homeowners take on a home improvement proj-ect to make their homes more eco-friendly. Such projects are often mistakenly assumed to be costly undertakings, but there are several cost-effective ways to make a home more eco-friendly.

* Upgrade your appliances. A home improvement proj-ect does not have to require the use of a hammer and nails or the hiring of a contractor. A simple home improve-ment project like upgrading older appliances, including the washer and dryer, to newer, more efficient models can give a home a fresh look while reducing energy consump-tion. That reduction in energy consumption is a byprod-uct of the stricter standards placed on manufacturers who must adhere to guidelines to produce products that are more energy-efficient. For example, the Natural Resources Defense Council notes that today’s energy-efficient refrig-erators will use less than half the energy of models made as recently as 15 years ago.

* Add more insulation. Adding more insulation or replacing older insulation used to be an especially labori-ous process. However, in many instances insulation can now be added or upgraded to a home without any major reconstruction or demolition, reducing the cost of the project considerably. Adding more insulation to a home can reduce energy consumption in the winter, when the home will feel warmer and allow you to keep the thermo-stat at a more reasonable number.

* Install high-efficiency water fixtures. Few people think about how much water they consume over the course of a typical day, but the figures might be eye-open-

ing to those who hope to adopt a more eco-friendly life-style. According to the United States Geological Survey’s Water Science School, it’s generally accepted that the average person uses between 80 and 100 gallons of water each day. Showers seem to be especially wasteful, as older shower heads might be using as much as 5 gallons per minute, or 50 gallons of water during a 10-minute shower. Older fixtures that consume such massive amounts of water can be easily and affordably replaced with newer, more efficient fixtures. Today’s high-efficiency low-flow showerheads can provide a strong shower stream while reducing water consumption. Such showerheads are also less taxing on your water heater, reducing your energy consumption as a result. Homeowners can also install high-efficiency toilets that use as little as 1.3 gallons of water per flush (compared to older models that consumed as many as 5 gallons per flush). The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that installing water-efficient fixtures and appliances would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion annually.

* Install a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats present another affordable way to improve a home and benefit the environment. Some of today’s programmable thermostats can record personal prefer-ences and usage and determine the best course of action for heating and cooling your home. Temperatures can be adjusted room-by-room, and the programmable ther-mostat allows homeowners to control their heating and cooling while they’re out of the house, ensuring they’re not paying to heat or cool an empty house and wasting energy in doing so.

Cost-effective and eco-friendly home improvements

Installing high-efficiency water fixtures, including a low-flow showerhead, is an affordable and eco-friendly home improve-ment project.

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(BPT) - On any given weekend, hom-eowners can be found climbing around in attics to add insulation, repairing shingles on the roof, installing new floors in kitch-ens and bathrooms, and handling many other home improvement projects that, with a little elbow grease, they are able to do themselves. This trend is crossing many generations. Forty-four percent of millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) and 57 percent of Gen Xers (born between 1960 and 1980) prefer to do home improvement and renovation projects themselves, according to Iconoculture researchers. One popular project that affects both the exterior and interior of the house is replacing a drafty old entry door with a stylish, energy-efficient one to transform the look and feel of the home without breaking the budget. Fiberglass entry doors are a popular choice. They look like wood, but without the ongoing maintenance needs of wood. Plus, fiberglass offers exceptional energy ef-ficiency, weather-resistance and outstand-ing durability to resist dents and dings.

For the DIYer interested in installing a new entry door, keep these tips in mind:

* Proper installation is critically impor-tant to ensure the door opens and closes smoothly and seals correctly to prevent air, light and noise from passing through. Take time to read and follow installa-tion instructions. Pella products feature comprehensive installation instructions to make it easy to properly install them.

* Take inventory of the tools you cur-rently have. Determine what you will need for the project. If you don’t have all the necessary tools, check with family and friends about borrowing items or consider renting them.

* Ask for help from a family member or friend to help you complete the project. Extra hands can come in handy.

And of course, once you’ve finished install-ing your new entry door, be sure to show it off to family and friends by inviting them over for a gathering.

Homeowners tackling more home improvement

projects themselves

Spring Home im

provement | Friday, march 22, 2013

7

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When renovating a home, many homeowners look to increase the home’s curb appeal. “Curb appeal” is a term used to describe how the home’s exterior appears to buyers the moment they pull up to the curb. A home that impresses prospective buyers before they even go inside is said to have a strong curb appeal, and that curb appeal can add significant value to a home.Homeowners looking to improve the curb appeal of their home can do so in a variety of ways. One often over-looked yet effective way to make a home’s exterior more appealing is to revamp the driveway. Driveways may not be high on a homeowner’s renovation totem pole, but a cracked or unsightly driveway can give prospective buyers the impression that a home has not been properly taken care of. When addressing a driveway, homeowners

have a host of paving materials at their disposal.

AsphaltAsphalt is an affordable paving material, which likely plays a role in its popularity among homeowners. Asphalt is also easy to install and requires little maintenance, two ad-ditional benefits to homeowners who don’t have much time to install or look after their driveway. Asphalt is made from a combination of concrete, gravel and tar, and though it’s easy and affordable to install, asphalt, as any kid can tell you, can get awfully hot un-der the summer sun. Asphalt can also crack rather easily, so homeowners must weigh its immediate affordability against the likelihood that perhaps it will need to be replaced sooner than other materials.

BrickBrick is among the more expensive paving materials, as brick is a labor-intensive material to install. But brick allows homeowners to create distinctive patterns that can add quite a bit to a home’s curb appeal. Once installed, brick driveways don’t require much maintenance, though cracked bricks will need to be replaced.

CobblestoneCobblestone can be very pleasing to the eye, but that aes-thetic appeal won’t come cheap. Among the more expen-sive paving materials, cobblestone can also be a handful to

maintain, as weeds can penetrate the cobblestones rather easily. Loose or missing stones can be unsightly and will need to be replaced.Many homeowners who love the look of cobblestone choose to use it along walkways or on their patios, as these areas won’t require as much materials, saving both money and the time it takes to maintain the cobblestones.

ConcreteConcrete is perhaps the ideal paving material for the

homeowner who wants to express his or her individual-ity. That’s because concrete driveways can be laid in

a variety of colors and designs, adding a touch of personality in a place many homeowners likely thought such expression was impossible.Though affordable, concrete can fall victim to the elements, as extremely cold temperatures can cause the concrete to shift and ultimately crack. Concrete pavers can remedy this prob-lem, though that will add to the overall cost of

the project.

GravelA gravel driveway can give a home a historical look that

few of today’s homes can boast. Gravel is an affordable material that requires little maintenance, though weeds can grow through gravel and must be removed to main-tain the driveway’s appeal. Washout is a concern for some who want a gravel driveway, but edging the driveway with a material like timber or bluestone can prevent the gravel from washing away should heavy rains fall.

Various materials can be used to pave a driveway

A well-maintained driveway can add to a home’s curb appeal.

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