How to Make Your Home Greener When Doing a Remodel

If you are planning to remodel your home in the near future why not take it one step further? That extra step is adding some greener features into your home that you do not currently have. This will not only help you feel a little better about your environmental footprint but it will probably offset some of the expense of your remodel in the long run too. Here are some of the ways you can affordably accomplish making your home greener as part of a remodel. 

Ways to Make Your Home a Little Greener During a Remodel 

Here are some greener home solutions that most people find are affordable options to add when they do a remodel. 

• Add solar panels 

This is a great choice if you have a home that gets a fair amount of sun each day. With the advances in solar panels and their support accessories, you can almost completely get away from using grid electricity during the day. In the very near future, efficient solar storage batteries are expected to come down significantly in price and they will even further lessen your dependence on expensive grid electricity. 

• Add ceiling fans and a solar attic fan 

Fans, fans, and more fans; they are a very affordable solution to lower home energy consumption. When you circulate the air in the rooms in your home from top to bottom with ceiling fans, it greatly reduces the amount of time you have to run your heater or air conditioner. In addition, a solar attic fan costs nothing to run once purchased and will keep heat from building up in your attic. Once again, because of this your air conditioning system will not have to work as hard to keep your home cool.

• Add new insulated vinyl siding 

Most people are really good about making sure their attics are sealed and well-insulated but they completely neglect their exterior walls. Nowadays there are a large variety of vinyl siding products that also add insulation value. By adding insulated vinyl siding, your home will look better and become even more energy efficient too. 

• Make sure your new appliances are more energy efficient 

Get rid of those old energy gobbling electrical appliances and find yourself some much more energy efficient appliances. These days’ appliance manufacturers tend to be very conscientious about making their new products energy efficient because buyers focus on that more than ever before. 

Not only will these things help make your home become greener during your remodel but they most likely will also add value to your home. 

Where to Start? 

If you are getting ready to do a remodel and you have decided on a contractor they can help oversee any environmentally friendly changes you want to make to your home. General contractors such as Evergreen Renovations & Roofing out of Beaverton, Oregon can even install some of these greener products for you such as insulated vinyl siding. So talk to your general contractor about your wish to have a greener home and let them help you out. 

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Deciding Between Repainting or Adding New Vinyl Siding to Your Home

When the painted exterior of one’s home starts to look worn and faded, repainting your home may not always be the best decision. Why is that you may ask? It’s because with the improved quality of vinyl siding these days, it makes switching over to vinyl siding instead of repainting a tempting proposition.  So how do you make the decision whether to install vinyl siding or repaint? We feel it helps to compare the pros and cons of both and that’s exactly what we will do in this article. 

Vinyl Siding Versus Repainting: Pros and Cons 

Here is what we feel are the main pros and cons to be considered when deciding between repainting and putting new vinyl siding on your home. 

Re-Painting: 

Pros: 

• On the average painting will most likely be slightly less expensive. That can be up to half of the cost of adding vinyl siding or more in some cases. 
• Without a doubt, you have far more color choices when it comes to repainting your home.  

Cons: 

• Home repainting has to be redone every 4 – 7 years depending on the quality of the paint you use. 

• Repainting requires a large amount of prep work. This includes sanding, stripping, pressure washing and more. 

New Vinyl Siding 

Pros: 

• Siding is a very durable material that should last 20 years or more. 
• Insulated vinyl siding will pay for some of its cost over time with energy savings.  

• Other than an occasional washing, vinyl siding is virtually maintenance free. 

Cons: 

• It’s more expensive than painting in most cases 
• Color selection is just adequate 
• It’s hard to give your home a more classic look if you add vinyl siding to it. 

Some Other Important Factors to Consider 

When you compare everything above it seems that going with vinyl siding may be a better choice than repainting your home. Of course, there are other factors to consider too. These would be things like how long you plan to stay in your home and what are your current budget restraints. So figure as much as you can into your decision before you finally choose to paint or put new siding on your home. 

How to Proceed Once You Have Made Your Decision 

Ok, so now you have thought about it carefully, made your decision and are wondering about how to proceed trying to make your home’s exterior look better. Keep in mind that adding new vinyl siding and repainting a home are jobs best left to the professionals. This is for safety reasons and to help your home look its best when the project is finished.  

Fortunately, there are many painting professionals and home renovations contractors in most places that can do these jobs. Companies such as Evergreen Renovations & Roofing out of Beaverton, Oregon will usually even inspect your home’s exterior and give you an estimate at no charge. Choose carefully the company to do the work and don’t always pick the lowest price because you may not get the best quality work done. 

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The Most Common Leak Problems on Commercial Flat Roofs

If you own a commercial building with a large flat roof surface, you can run into many problems with that roofing surface. One of the most frustrating problems with commercial flat roofs happens when they leak. Flat roof leaks can be hard to find and even harder to repair. The best way to prevent any commercial flat roof from leaking is to be aware of what the leading causes of leaks are on flat roof surfaces. That is what we will go over with you in this article. 

Common Causes of Commercial Roof Leaks 

Here are some areas on commercial flat roofs which are worth keeping an eye on because of how often leaks occur there. 

• Ponding water areas 

Most commercial owners see ponding water on their roof as a good thing because the water is not leaking out. Although this line of thought may initially be correct, eventually that standing water will start to do damage that ultimately causes a leak. So ponding areas on a roof should be made to allow water to run off as soon as possible.   

• Membrane seams 

If you have what is known as a rubber roof or other type of roof membrane material, you should have someone periodically check where these sheets of material are seamed together. Membrane roof seams are prone to failure over time and even small seam failures can result in a huge roof leak.

• Corroded or damaged flashing 

If you look around your commercial flat roof you will see pieces of metal around every object such as vent pipes that protrudes through the roof. These pieces of metal are called flashing and they are there to provide a surface to help seal around objects which stick up through your roof. Over time these pieces of flashing will get corroded, battered and even punctured which can result in a leak. 

• Discolored areas 

Large discolored areas of roofing material on your roof are not your friend. These can be the result of poor roofing materials, areas of roofing material that have been weakened by the sun’s powerful rays or even roof areas that have been battered frequently by the elements. These discolored areas are often weak spots in your roof material where leaks can easily form. Roof discoloration can also be a sign that your roof is getting old and a new commercial roof coating should be considered. 

What to Do If You Get a Leak on Your Commercial Flat Roof 

So you now know the most common leak areas with commercial flat roofs. So what do you do if your commercial roof actually starts to leak? The best answer here is to call your local commercial roofing professional. Commercial roofing experts like Evergreen Renovations & Roofing out of Beaverton, Oregon will even come to your commercial property and check your roof at no charge. After the inspection, your local commercial roofing contractor should also be able to provide you with an estimate for what it will take to fix the leaks they found in your commercial flat roofing surface. 

Check this out: https://www.evergreenteam.com/news/the-most-common-leak-problems-on-commercial-flat-roofs.html

Determining if a New Standing Seam Metal Roof is Right for Your Home

So your roof is aging and a few roofing inspections have revealed that it’s time for you to put a whole new roof covering on. Your neighbor down the street has just switched over to metal roof panels and you really like the look. The question is how do you know if standing seam metal roof panels are the right way for you to go as your new roof covering of choice? The only way to decide that is if you know the good and bad points that standing seam metal roofing offers. 

The Good and Bad Points of Using Standing Seam Metal Roofing Panels 

Here are the pros and cons of installing standing seam metal roofs on top of your home: 

The Good 

Here are the best things about having new metal roofing panels installed on your home. 

• They look great 

If you have ever seen a roof done up in raised seen metal roofing panels, you have probably been amazed at how good they look once the installation has been completed. 

• They are durable 

Standing seam metal roofing panels are one of the most durable roof coverings. They are coated so they no longer corrode and most will now last over 50 years. 

• They are virtually leak–free 

Since this type of metal roof covering is seamed a few inches above the water runoff channel, even if the seams fail at some point they still will not be prone to leaking. 

• They can help keep your home cooler 

The shiny surface of your new metal roof material will reflect some of the sun’s heat–producing rays away from your home during the daytime. This will actually help keep your home cooler and your air conditioning bills lower. 

The Bad 

Here are the worst things about having new metal roofing panels installed on your home. 

• They cost more 

The biggest reason that people do not choose to install metal roofing panels is they simply don’t fit in their budget. This is definitely one of the most expensive roofing materials as far as the initial cost goes. 

• The old roofing material must be completely removed before installing 

If you want to add this type of roofing material you cannot simply place it over any other type of existing roofing material; that old roofing material on top of your home must be completely stripped off down to the insulation. 

How to Proceed to Get Your New Standing Seam Metal Roof 

The best way to get going having a new standing seam metal roof installed is to get a few estimates from some reputable local roofing contractors. Many times established roofing companies like Evergreen Renovations &Roofing of Beaverton, Oregon will inspect your roof and give you a standing seam metal roof quote for free. Get two or three estimates to select from. Don’t just choose the lowest quote either. Sometimes paying a little bit more for a contractor with a great reputation is well worth the small amount of extra money you will spend.

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