Design your Home

Design Your Home

     When you are looking to make exterior changes to your home you can  visualize the colors in many ways. There are programs and applications to help easily get to the home design you always wanted. Manufacturers in many of the exterior products on your home have software on their websites to help you visualize your home with the new products and colors.

     The systems that are the easiest to use will let you change colors and styles on multiple products in one program. You can change colors ant styles from the roof to the ground. My favorite is the Dream Designer on the Exterior Portfolio web site. Exterior portfolio is a subsidiary of Royal Building Product which is owned by Georgia Gulf. GGC.  Dream Designer allows you to select from 20 house styles that are already in the program. You can also upload your own home and make changes to it.

     Dream Designer is on the web site of Exterior Portfolio. They are a company that makes siding and siding accessories but this program allows you to change colors and styles of product that they do not offer. This extra easy function makes me recommend this system. It has the ability to change to change to 7 different roof styles and colors. Each area of the side walls have siding which appropriate for that area available. The siding areas have 8 different styles of siding and a 22 color selection. It was just a few years ago there were only 10 or 12 siding color available in 3 to 4 styles. They have 30 different colors for the trim areas.

     The Exterior Portfolio site also has a photo gallery which has over 60 homes pictured with different styles and colors of all the exterior design elements. There are many other items that you can add to your home when completely residing or just fixing up. Many of these items can be found at Great American Building Materials web site under the individual manufacturers links.

     Designing your home can be easy and fun if you have access to the well designed software that is available at no charge. Be sure to spend some time selection the beauty pieces for your home and get the stunning home of your dreams.

5 Reasons to Select Insulated Siding

5 Reasons to Select Insulated Siding
Financial - The value you gain will be obvious from the first day. The cost of installation is lower than alternative products. The primary reason for this is the size of the panels is larger and they install faster than alternative sidings. The ongoing cost savings comes in two ways. The insulated siding will lower your utility bills. It will also eliminate costly maintenance and repairs many sidings require. In the long run it will eliminate spending time and money to prepare your home for sale. Another great little addition is that homes with lower energy bills sell faster than their higher energy bill neighbors.

Environmentally Responsible - The way a product is manufactured and installed has a huge effect on it environmental impact. The vinyl polymer siding and the insulation backer are both made from easily extractable ingredients. They are manufactured in efficient processes and minimal waste is generated in the installation on your home.The carbon emissions that are made due to your energy use will be reduced for the life of your home. This is due to the lower energy use your home will have with the added insulation. Your new vinyl siding does not require any ozone-depleting paints, stains or caulk. Just an occasional cleaning with soap and water will maintain the beauty and appearance.


Easing Life's Concerns - Your siding can affect how much quality time you get to spend with your family. If you are not tied up maintaining your siding you will be allowed precious time with your family. Having more time to do the things  you love, with the people you love, just cannot be beat. If you are adjusting your thermostat to accommodate for hot and cold spots in your home, your siding and insulation are not doing their jobs. Vinyl siding with insulation wraps your home in an energy-conserving blanket, providing you with better indoor temperature control without paying more to the utilities companies. The insulation can actually dampen the sounds from the outside, making for a more peaceful home environment. You can rest easy knowing your investment in vinyl siding with insulation is protecting your investment, and the people in it, for years to come.

House Siding Appearance - Do you want your home to stand out from the rest , or subtly blend in the surroundings? With today's choices you can achieve any look you wish with the selection of styles and colors available. Vinyl siding is the number one choice of exterior cladding across the United States and Canada.  It has been said that "if you can dream it, you can achieve it" and it now pertains to vinyl siding and insulation. The recent additions of darker colors and wider profiles makes great things possible. Spending a few minutes looking at all the optional trims and accessories can give you the home of your dreams. Your house siding should look as good up close as it does from the street. Adding contoured insulation to vinyl siding provides straighter lines, tighter seams, and a better overall appearance.

Durability and Strength - Vinyl siding with contoured insulation increases the impact resistance by up to 300%. The foam acts as a shock absorber to dampen the blow from objects like hail, baseballs, or rocks from your lawnmower.  Insulation attached to your vinyl siding eliminates the void between the siding and the wall which makes it more difficult for wind the get behind the siding. The insulation has channels to run the water off of the wall. Sufficiently drying the wall can eliminate the potential for mold, mildew and rot problems. The combination of contoured insulation and vinyl siding extends the life of your siding, and backed by the strongest warranty in the industry you will enjoy these products for years to come.

Three reasons why people buy replacement windows.

Three reasons why people buy replacement windows.

Homeowners buy replacement windows for 3 main reasons, energy efficient, beauty, and easy of use.
Energy efficiency or window performance is measured by all major window manufacturers. The number of glass panes, the low-E coating and the a gas in the airspace all  work together to make a window more energy efficient.

 Energy efficient window have either 2 or 3 panes of glass. Windows with 3 panes of glass need extra support to allow them to move up and down with ease. The quality of the low-E is also important.
Many of the details about efficient glass can be found at this site. The most efficient windows for this part of the country have been give the R-5 designation by the Department of Energy.

The beauty of windows has improved dramatically in the last few years. Many exterior colors are now available and the interior can come in many colors and as finished or unfinished wood. With unfinished interior wood the color combinations are endless. Exterior trim option are also as varied as you could wish. We have many different woods available, styles of moldings in wood, vinyl and composite materials.

Windows today are made with the features that homeowners want and need. From the tilt in ease of cleaning to the operating system that make the windows easy to open and close and stay at the open position that you want. No more rulers or sticks to hold the windows open. There are many different materials that are used to allow the windows of today to operate with so little effort. No matter which material your window uses for the operations the simplicity is designed for everyone comfort.

Today's high quality windows contain all 3 of the important reasons to buy replacement windows. Energy efficiency, beauty and ease of use are available in the Andersen and Vinylmax lines of windows and when looking for replacement windows be sure to give these two a long look.

Saving the planet one truck at a time

Andersen windows, one of our great suppliers, has begun to convert its trucks to natural gas use from diesel. The conversion reduces both operating costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Andersen has been a partner to our environment for year and they continue to be a leader in working for our environment. We appreciate their efforts and applaud their leadership in this field.

Vinyl is a great product for your home

The facts about vinyl. With endless talk about vinyl in our industry I am going to over the truth.
Vinyl is composed of ingredients from nature; chlorine,(common salt) and ethylene from natural gas. Vinyl can be flexible, rigid or semi-rigid.It can be clear or colorful, thick or thin. Part of the beauty of affordable, energy efficient, versatile vinyl is that it can literally last a lifetime. With long life cycles and natural fire resistance. it's highly sustainable. No wonder vinyl is a major component of products used in residential and commercial construction.
Look around. You'll see that vinyl is very much a part of your world. Vinyl has a proud and rich history of providing solutions to society's needs.
Water pipes, water storage containers, siding, moldings, decking, windows, doors, skylights, instrument panels and door panels in cars, containers for blood and food packaging
Vinyl is a great part of our world. One material with virtually endless possibilities. Let enjoy vinyl. It is so good to us.

Serve your customer

A recent survey was done to see what the worst things that you can say to a customer. The winner was "thats our policy", don't we all hate that one. Now is the time to think about the things that you and your serve team say to customers every day. Are your people trained to say the right thing all the time. If not, how do you fix that? Some basic steps of reminding your team who actually gives us all jobs(the customers) is a place to start the training. We all have our lapses in great customer service but the more training that we have the better our service can be on a regular basis.

Consumer confidence rises

Many consumers feel better about the economy and the fact that it will continue to improve as the year goes on. We look forward to serving the area contractors as they get busier. We are ready to serve you.