You Can Do It!

Do You Know The Only Home Improvement That Pays for Itself?

Hello again, if you don’t remember me, I’m Craig Osterhoudt the General Manager of InstallPro Windows and Doors. Today, I want to share something very interesting with you. Due to falling home prices and increasing building supply costs, there is only one home improvement you can make anymore that actually returns its cost in increased home value. Do you know what it is? Take a wild guess. . .

Usually my customers say, “A patio cover, or a concrete slab in the backyard, NO, a swimming pool?" When I tell them, NO, those aren’t it, they usually start with other things like bathroom remodels, kitchen remodels or room additions. Wrong again.

Then, keeping in mind the green movement and rising energy costs, they start to mention energy efficient remodels like, a new air conditioner or solar panels and wind generators. Well sorry, that isn’t it either. It turns out that the best home improvement you can make for increasing your home’s value is, drum roll please . . .

Replacing your front entry door!!!

According to a survey by Remodeling magazine, an entry door project that costs $1,172 to complete returns 128% of its cost. But, is it really that hard to believe? Look at all the benefits you get from replacing your front door.

• Increased Curb Appeal – The front door is noticed more from the curb, than the lawn, the roof and the driveway combined.  A beautiful new door will really make your house stand out among the others on your street.
• Increased Security – Believe it or not your old entry door is not very secure at all. Remember 100% of all home invasions occur through either a window or a door and more often than not, it's through the front door.
• Increased Energy Efficiency – Yes, your old door is EXTREMELY inefficient. New entry doors are more energy efficient than ever and it really helps. Why replace all of your windows and seal your home up tight, just to have the air pass underneath and through the gaps in your old entry door? And guess what else????

We are having a special on entry doors only until the end of this year, and only for InstallPro Blog Readers! That’s right for a limited time we are offering the following special. . .

$150 Off of any entry door installation

            That’s right, as long as you call before the end of 2010 and order your new entry door, we can save you an additional $150 off our already great pricing. And the best part is we have over 7 styles that we can install 100% complete, including taxes, delivery and installation for less than $1,000. With your coupon for $150 off, that means . . .

You can get a new Entry Door installed for less than $850!

            I know it sounds too good to be true, but we are experts at entry doors and have installed hundreds of them in the past 5 years we have been in business and all of our installers have over 10 years experience so we know what were doing. Here are a few reasons to let InstallPro do your entry door. . .

1. We guarantee the installation for as long as the manufacturer warranties the door. Most other contractors will try and give you a 1 year warranty on labor. Not us, we match the manufacturer warranty.

2. We can supply an ADDITIONAL SECURITY PLATE that makes the entry door one of the most secure points of entry to your home instead of the most vulnerable. Ask us about this feature when we come out to take measurements.

3. We save you money by allowing you to pick out your own hardware at your favorite home store, and then we will install it for free. Sure, other contractors will sell you a door for around a thousand dollars but they make you buy the hardware from them for triple the normal price and if you don’t buy it from them, they won't install it. With InstallPro we can do the hardware however you like, either we can supply it or you can pick out something you like and our installers will install it free of charge.

So, CALL US RIGHT AWAY to set up an appointment for us to get started on replacing your front entry door and remember the entry door is actually an investment and the only one that returns more than the cost of the job in increased home value. Call today 642-6669

Thank you for reading and I hope to hear from you soon.

Red French Doors

French doors make a great home improvement. Many homeowners forget that there are literally thousands of options available when it comes to French doors. Here is an example of French doors in a brick red. Be sure to examine all of your options if you are going to invest in new doors. If you want to set your home apart don't just grab the first door off the shelf at the local home store, make it a custom door, you'll be glad you did and your home value will increase that much more.

Multi-Slide Doors

Be sure to watch for my next post about multi-slide doors and pocket doors. It should answer any questions you may have about these doors that seem to be popping up everywhere!

French Doors - Part One

If you don’t want a new sliding glass door, then next option for patio doors would be French doors. The range and options available for French doors are almost daunting so we will discuss them in broad terms and I will discuss the individual features later in subsequent posts. There are three main parts of a French door that I want to discuss. Frame material, hardware and glass.

The first section is the frame material. French doors are available in many different frame types. Starting from least expensive to most expensive they are steel, fiberglass, vinyl, aluminum, wood and aluminum clad wood. There are some small variations but for the most part these are your options.

 

I would recommend that you stay away from steel unless you are simply flipping the house and don’t plan on being there too long. It doesn’t last very long and has poor energy efficiency. Vinyl is a new product and hasn’t been tested in the market and has had issues standing up to wear and tear so I would stay away from that as well.

 

Your best bet is to go with fiberglass. It’s the best material to make a door out of; it doesn’t warp, twist peel or crack. Ever. Usually the frame is still wood, so the door panel itself (called a slab) will usually last much longer than the frame. In some cases you can get a fiberglass frame as well. See Milgard’s Ultraline Series doors at www.milgard.com

 

If you really want the look and feel of a real wood French door then by all means they are there for the taking. Expect to pay quite a bit more, but the options available with these type of doors as well as the quality, craftsmanship and energy efficiency, they are definitely worth it. This is what I put in my house.

 

So as always, you need to decide what is most important to you when choosing a French door, then make you decision based on those criteria. If price is your only concern, but you are living there awhile, your only real choice is fiberglass.

 

The next section is hardware. Whatever you do, make sure you buy a door that has a multi-point lock system and both the active and inactive door panels. Multi-point locks on both the active and passive panels are sometimes only available on higher end products so you may have to look around a little bit.

 

There are also hinges, hardware and thresholds to remember. There are several colors and finishes available but these have more to do with preference and design, rather than making sure you get a great product at a fair price and these things can be discussed with your product supplier at the time of purchase.

 

Just make sure you get ball bearing hinges and an adjustable sill. Also when go to put hardware on your door, you may want to consult a locksmith. Much of the hardware available at home centers and standard hardware supplied with French doors isn’t always the most secure. Just look up the term “bump key” on You Tube and you will see what I mean.

 

The last section I want to discuss is the glass. Just about every French door offered now comes standard with Low-E glass. However, this just isn’t enough. If you live in a warm climate like the sunbelt you need to make sure you get “Soft Coat” Low-E. You need “Hard Coat” Low-E if you live in the opposite.

 

If you are concerned about security, you may want to consider that French Doors are the easiest way to get into a home. The glass takes a split second to break and now a burglar can walk in and out of your home easily. You may want to consider placing laminated glass on one of the panes of your dual pane glass in your French door. Laminated glass takes awhile to bust through even with a baseball bat. This additional 4 or 5 minutes of swinging a bat at your door will usually deter most burglars.

 

Another option is security film. This film is applied to the glass and makes it extremely difficult to break through as well. They cost about the same, so if that is something you want to consider, you will have to get a few quotes and make that decision for yourself.

 

So there you have the basics for French Doors. Check back for more detail about French doors in future posts.

Follow Up

Just a follow up to my last post, here is a picture of a sliding glass door lock that you should be looking for. Make sure there is a section of the lock that faces up and a part that faces down. Sorry for making the picture so big but I wanted to make sure you could see it. Talk soon.

Part One - Sliding Glass Doors

Sliding glass doors should be very, very, very close to the top of your home improvements wish list, if it’s not consider the following facts.

1.                          You lose a lot of heat in the winter and gain a lot of heat during the summer through glass. Most likely your sliding glass door is the biggest piece of glass in your home. , so I want to tell you specific things about sliding glass doors that you may or may not know that will help you in your purchase decision. There are three things I want to talk about, energy efficiency, security and quality.

2.                          Your patio door is the most likely target for intruders, burglars or anyone who wants to get in your house that doesn’t belong there. I actually know a window and door consultant that upon visiting a prospective customer, walks directly to their sliding glass door, hands the customer a stop watch, opens the door(most times not very easily) walks outside, instructs the homeowner to lock the door and start the timer. The consultant then proceeds to wiggle, twist and push on the patio door until it opens, without breaking the glass. Usually in under a minute.

3.                          Due to high gas prices, the economy and other reasons people are staying home more. If you are staying home for Labor Day weekend, inviting some friends and family over for a barbecue, what door (besides the refrigerator door) do you think will get used the most? Especially if you are doing upgrades in the hopes of one day moving to another house and selling your current home; realize that home buyers are looking for elegant patio doors more than ever. They know they are going to stay home more often than before and they want to enjoy their backyard.

Now all of that being said lets address each topic one by one.

Energy efficiency – if you have an old, drafty, rickety single pane sliding glass door you are losing A LOT OF MONEY everyday. Many people can’t even sit by their sliding glass because it is so drafty. Bugs, dust, allergens and of course the weather strolls through your old sliding glass door like its not even there!

You really need to replace that old sliding glass door right away. You will notice immediate energy savings. You will help the environment, reduce your power bills, have a more comfortable home and most importantly you will save money so you can afford Rib-Eye’s instead of hot dogs at your next barbecue.

Security – If you have an old sliding glass door, your home is not secure. You can not put a price tag on security. Your door will pay for itself from energy savings in a few years, but the lost of family heirlooms, jewelry and such are irreplaceable and you cannot put a price on that. Even homes that have alarms do not deter burglars. That sign in front of your home that says, Alert One Alarm, Armed response, just lets the burglar know they only have 20 minutes to rob you instead of 40 minutes. No, they won’t get the big screen TV, but anything they can fit in their pockets or a small bag will be gone in less that 60 seconds.

          New sliding glass doors are more secure than ever. They have limit stops in the header track to stop the vent or sliding panel from being raised and removed. Many feature double locks that protrude up and down into the strike plate. Even if the door is raised, pried, bowed or whatever it still remains locked.

There are also a variety of relatively cheap add-ons that can make a door virtually impossible to open without breaking the glass. There are foot operated secondary locks and Charlie bars that cost less than $50 and add an extra level of security. You can even get laminated glass, or security films applied to the glass, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes to try and bust through even with a baseball bat. Laminated glass can be expensive but like I said you cannot put a price on security.

Home Beauty – A new sliding glass door will beautify your home like nothing else. Old glass gets scratched from pets and kids constantly scratching at it. The old aluminum tracks are the epitome of an eyesore and unfortunately most of the old sliding glass doors are mill finish aluminum! Ugh. No amount of cleaner, polish or interior decorating can make that look nice.

          A new sliding glass door will be a focal point to a room, not an eyesore. There are options available that create equal sight lines with the glass or even a French style door that looks like a French door even though it is a sliding glass door. There are other decorative options like grilles, glass designs and in some cases wood veneer interiors.

          If you replace your sliding glass door, not only will you love the looks and feel of it, it will also increase the value of your home. If you go to sell your home, it will sell faster than your neighbors home who has the old rickety eyesore. But I think the best part of your new sliding glass door in it will actually work! No screeching sounds when you slide it, no loud clank when you shut it, and it doesn’t take a team of furniture movers to get it open and shut. It slides nice and easy, opens and shuts quietly and effortlessly.

So in conclusion if I haven’t convinced you to replace your sliding glass door, I don’t know what else to say, maybe some of these other points will help.

·         Reduced Noise – The neighbors barking dog will actually be almost ignorable.

·         Reduced Glare

·         Available with blinds between the glass (get rid of verticals that constantly fall off and twist up)

·         Improved view to the outside. New glass is clear and free from years of pitting and fading. Enjoy the view of your backyard.

·         Brings cool light into a room! You don’t have to hide the door with solar screens, drapes and aluminum foil; you can open the drapes and let the light in. New sliding glass doors let the light in without the heat.

The fact of the matter is no other improvement will have as dramatic effect on your home than replacing your sliding glass door. It’s the one improvement that you can be sure will pay for itself with energy savings, make you home more secure and definitely a more beautiful place to reside