Preparing For Winter

Summer has definitely left us! We have had cold rainy days for over two weeks now and they are calling for a chance of flurries tomorrow! That's why I thought this would be a good time to share the following information. It's fall and that means it's time to get your home ready for the upcoming cold weather. Check out the tips below for ideas on how to keep your home more comfortable and efficient this winter.

Seal Drafts - Seal holes, cracks, and openings in your home to stop the flow of heat through the walls and ceiling.  Replace worn weather stripping and those worn out door threshold sweeps.  Caulk the exterior doors and window frames to reduce drafts and water penetration.

Keep Your Pipes Pumping - Pay less for hot water by insulating pipes. This will also decrease the chance of pipes freezing especially if plumbing runs along and outside wall or in a crawl space. 

Clean Those Gutters - Once the leaves fall, remove them and other debris from your home's gutters so that rain, melting snow, and ice can drain properly.  Install downspout extensions to water drains away from the foundation.  Install window well covers to keep leaves and snow out and reduce leaks.

Roof Tune Up.-  Secure curled shingles with roofing cement,  caulk the flashings at the chimney and step wall.   There are reputable companies that will clean the gutters and do a roof tune up.

Turn off and drain the exterior hoses.  -  Turn off the hose valve in the basement,  open the small drain on the valve to drain the water.   Open the exterior valve and remove the hose.

Furnace Care - A simple way to keep your home warm while cutting down on energy waste is by replacing your furnace filters or cleaning them as needed. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.  Gas and oil furnaces and fireplaces require annual cleaning and inspection by a qualified contractor.

Insulate - One of the most effective ways to keep a home warm is to install adequate insulation. This is especially true in attics and crawlspaces. Insulation helps keep the home cool in summer and warm in winter.   There is some government funding available until March 2012 for upgrading obsolete furnaces, windows and adding insulation.

Check the exterior grading.  - It is a long winter and lots of snow is anticipated.  Make sure the grading is sloped to drain water away from the foundation and basement windows.  If there a lot of snow built up and a quick thaw or rain occurs.  Good grading could save you from water penetration into the basement. 

Install Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors.   These can literally save your families life. 

This wonderful information was provided by:

David Wall, B.Sc.
david.wall@pillartopost.com

www.pillartopost.com 

10 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Your Basement

 I was recently contacted by Ann Douglas of Doorfly.com who posted the article below. She thought my readers would enjoy the article and I fully agree. Feel free to visit their blog at :http://blog.doorfly.com . Thanks! Rebecca

 

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Basement

If your home is built on a full basement, then it makes sense to make the most out of that space. Most people don’t think of it this way, but your basement foundation is actually one of the most expensive portions of your house. That, in itself, should be reason to give it a little more priority than simply seeing it as additional storage space.

1. Plan ahead: Too often, the basement area is neglected when designing a home. Plenty of attention is given to the upper floors with little or no thought given to the basement area. To get the most out of your basement, some thought must be put into how you intend to use the space and then design it accordingly
2. Floor plan: Many homes have a lot of wasted space in their basements simply due to inadequate floor plans. Taking some time to determine natural traffic flows in the space can be important when drawing up a plan for division of the basement area into rooms.
3. Ceiling: Many basements have ceiling heights less than eight feet. Designing your home with a full eight foot ceiling height can make the basement rooms feel much bigger and more comfortable for taller individuals.
4. Mechanical area: Generally your mechanical center for your home is located in your basement. This includes items like water heaters, electrical panels and furnaces. Keeping all these in one location where they do not interfere with the practical use of the rest of the basement space can make a big difference in your floor plan.
5. Stairs: If you have a basement, then you will have stairs that provide access to that space. The width and landing space for those stairs may be more important than you initially realize. How difficult it is to bring appliances and furniture into your basement area will be determined by the ability of those pieces to negotiate their way down those stairs and out into the basement area.
6. Windows: In order to have a bedroom area in your basement, most building codes require that you have at least one egress window located in the bedroom area. Also, the more natural light you can get into the basement area, the more livable the entire space will feel.
7. Wall finishes: The bare concrete block walls of many basements are a visual reminder that you are in a basement room. Furring out the block with stripping and finishing the walls with sheetrock or paneling can make the basement rooms much more inviting.
8. Flooring: Concrete floors can be cold, as well as hard. Installing carpet with a good padding underneath it can provide warm and comfortable floors for your feet to walk on. Again, you have taken away the basement feel by covering the concrete.
9. Humidity control: Dampness is another common association with basements. To keep the humidity under control in the basement area, a dehumidifier can be a wise purchase. This inexpensive appliance will pull the extra moisture out of the air and help prevent any musty odors from developing.
10. Bathroom: In order to make your basement a truly liveable space, a bathroom should be made a part of your floor plan. Having to climb the stairs to use the bathroom is not only inconvenient but also is a negative selling point when it comes time for you to list your home for sale.

As you read through the list, you may have recognized a common thread. That thread was the need to make your basement a welcoming and functional living space, as much so as the rest of your house. If you approach your basement space with this attitude, you will find yourself creating a basement that is used just as much as the rest of the house.

Please visit the link below to see this article and many other useful articles. Thanks go to Doorfly.com for allowing me to publish this article to my blog! Cheers!

http://blog.doorfly.com/

Hwy 407 RAMP it up! Campain

MEDIA RELEASE

The Corporation of the City of Oshawa

For Immediate Release

February 7, 2011

If you have been waiting for the 407 to be extended to Hwy 35/115, now is the time to speak up! Please read the press release below and have your vote heard!

Hwy 407 RAMP it up! campaign continues to drive forward

Oshawa Mayor’s road tour takes him to Markham on Tuesday, February 8

OSHAWA – The City of Oshawa’s RAMP it up! Hwy 407 East Extension campaign continues to drive forward.

Week three begins with Oshawa Mayor John Henry visiting the Town of Markham on Tuesday, February 8 to ask municipal Council to support the expedited construction of the Hwy 407 East in one continuous phase from Brock Road in Pickering to Hwy 35/115.

The campaign calls for residents and businesses across southern Ontario to join the City of Oshawa, Durham Region, Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes in urging the province to honour its commitment – as originally promised and planned – for the benefit of southern Ontario.

Community members can show their support by adding their names to an online petition (www.oshawa.ca/407) or by completing a postage-paid petition postcard. Postcards are available at businesses and municipal buildings across Oshawa, as well as in southern Ontario communities that Mayor Henry is visiting during the road tour campaign. The City of Oshawa is gathering all petition postcards for delivery to Queen’s Park in March 2011.

Since the RAMP it up! launch on January 24:

• Nearly 750 names have been added to the online petition at www.oshawa.ca/407;

• 50,000 postage-paid postcards are being distributed to communities across Ontario;

• over 50 municipal/regional governments (Durham Region Municipalities, GTA Regions and GTAH Municipalities) have received a campaign toolkit; and,

• 106 Ontario MPs and 107 Ontario MPPs have been emailed, asking for their written support.

Public and political pressure surrounding the Hwy 407 East Extension project has been building since the province unexpectedly announced it would build the extension in two phases – contrary to years of preparation, study and promises for a one-phase extension from Brock Road in Pickering through to Hwy 35/115. Currently, the province plans to stop Hwy 407 at Simcoe Street in Oshawa using a two-phased approach, which will ultimately mean higher costs for all provincial taxpayers. In addition, it will cost the residents of Durham Region and the City of Oshawa approximately $329 million in unplanned capital road work plus ongoing maintenance costs.

For more information, visit www.oshawa.ca/407 or follow the campaign on twitter @oshawacity.

What Are Ice Dams?

As the name would suggest, an ice dam is a dam of ice that has formed along the lower edge of the roof line or inside the gutters. This dam prevents the water caused by the melting snow on the roof from traveling to the gutters and downspouts. When the water hits the ice dam it refreezes to form even more ice. These dams can be quite a concern to the home owner because sometimes the water backing up behind the dam can actually leak into the house damaging walls, ceilings, insulation and other areas!

Ice damming generally occurs when there is significant accumulation of snow on the roof. If the attic temp. is above freezing often due to inadequate insulation, venting or heat leakage from the house, it will warm the roof sheathing which in turn melts the snow on the shingles. When the water reaches the roof edge which is not warmed by the attic and is below freezing temperature, it will freeze, which begins the ice dam.


The next time you take a walk through your neighbourhood, take a look at the roofs. The homes with a full roof of snow are probably well insulated and properly vented. If you see a home that has vertical sections of visible roof chances are it is not vented and insulated properly allowing the heat from the house to warm the roof between each of the ceiling rafters which melts the snow creating an ice dam.

You can see the bare roof area in this picture. It seems as though there
is significant heat loss around the chimney area which has melted the snow creating the icicles.


The best way to protect your home from ice dams is to seal all attic air leaks and increase the ceiling/roof insulation to reduce the heat loss. It is recommended that the insulation should have an R-Value of at least 30.

I want you to sell my house

                                                         This is pretty funny although dealing with potential clients like this bear..... is NOT so funny. Hope you enjoy the humour!

Changes To Canadian Mtg Rules

On January 17, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty brought down the hammer in a pre-emptive strike of sorts as a result of the increasing concern over the growing Canadian household debt and attempting to support long-term stability in the housing market. Flaherty said at a news conference: “"The main reason we're taking the action is for the longer term, that we avoid even the beginning of the development of the kinds of issues in some other countries that have been very damaging to families.”

As of the 17'th there are three new changes to the rules for government insured (default insured) mortgages. 


The three changes to default insured mortgages are as follows:

1.  Lowering the maximum amount consumers can borrow when refinancing their mortgages
   This change will lower the maximum mortgage amount to 85% of the appraised value of the property from the current 90%. This change will help to promote savings in homeownership and ensure that homeowners don’t become overextended by using all the equity they have built up in their home when refinancing.(effective March, 2011)
2. Reducing the maximum amortization period for new government insured (default insured) mortgages. The maximum amortization for all new default insured mortgages will be reduced from 35 years to 30 years. This change will help reduce the total borrowing costs for the consumer. (effective March, 2011)
3. The federal government will be withdrawing its' support of Home Equity Lines of Credit, (HELOC). (effective April 18, 2011)

This is the second change to mortgage lending rules in the last two years- showing an aggressive stance from the government not to leave household debt to chance. There is speculation that interest rate hikes are in the future, and the government is acting on concerns over what higher interest rates could mean for Canadians in terms of managing their own debt load, especially as debt levels are currently growing beyond incomes.