Categories Blog, Tips

10 Simple Ways to Winterize Your Home This Fall

Worried about how the winter months will affect your home this upcoming season? Here are some simple ways to make sure your home is ready for the cold months ahead!

  1. Replace your windows to keep the heat in 
    • Let us help you make sure your heat bill is not crazy expensive this winter by getting your windows replaced to keep the heat inside. There is nothing worse than not being warm in your own home so let us help make sure you stay cozy inside this winter.
  2. Repair your roof to prepare for the winter weather
    • Living in New England means unpredictable weather. To stay one step ahead of the weather this winter, repair your roof to keep the snow, rain, and cold out.
  3. Check the gutters
    • Prevent ice build-up in your gutters by cleaning them out before the weather starts to get too cold. Using our preventative maintenance service, we will clean your gutters out twice a year to stay ahead of the build-up.
  4. Clean exterior vents
    • To make sure your exterior vents are clean and working as well as they should be, make sure to get them cleaned before this upcoming winter.
  5. Tune up your heating system
    • Ensure your heating system is working properly by servicing it two times a year. One being before this upcoming winter season!
  6. Seal the cracks 
    • Seal the cracks around the exterior of your house to make sure the heat doesn’t escape.
  7. Check your smoke detectors
    • House fires are more common in the winter months so it is important to know your smoke detectors are working properly and have new batteries.
  8. Protect your pipes
    • Frozen pipes can cause many issues for homeowners. To prevent this, allow a small amount of water to fall from your faucet to keep the water moving.
  9. Replace filters
    • Changing out the filters in your heating or cooling system in your home can improve the efficiency of the system, saving you money in return.
  10. Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans
    • To push the hot air down, reverse the direction of your ceiling fans to recirculate warm air throughout your home.

These are just some of the simple ways to winterize your home! Be sure to check out our preventative maintenance services on our website to pick the right package for your needs!

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Categories Blog, Tips

The Process Behind a Kitchen Reno

Are you thinking about adding on an addition, renovating your basement, or perhaps designing a whole new kitchen? Whatever the project is, you’re probably wondering what the process is.  How long will it take? What happens next? We work with homeowners weekly, walking them through the ins and outs of their project timeline. So we thought we would share an example of the process behind renovating a kitchen to help give you a better grasp of the project timeline.

Here is an example of the timeline behind a kitchen renovation –

  • The process behind renovating a kitchen:
    • Homeowner and owner Ed meet to do a walkthrough of the project
    • The budget and contract is agreed on
    • The first step is to finalize the project design and drawings
      • Our team works alongside designers, homeowners, and the project manager to develop drawings
      • In some projects we don’t work with designers, depends on the budget.
    • We schedule the demolition crew, arrange for dumpsters and pull the right permits
    • Demo is completed
    • Framers to build the space out
    • Rough plumbing completed
    • Rough electrical work completed
      • Did you know we have our own team of electricians over at McDonald Electric?
    • Schedule all inspections for the electrical and plumbing work
    • Walls are insulated
    • Framing inspection is completed
    • The team closes up walls
    • Walls are primed
    • New flooring is installed
    • Cabinets are installed
    • Countertops are put in
    • All tile work is completed, such as the backsplash
    • Hardware, appliances, and faucets are installed
    • The floors get sanded and stained (if hardwood floors)
    • The final painting is completed
    • The electricians and plumbers do their final work, such as installing light fixtures
    • All final inspections are done

We hope you find this helpful! Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions!

Categories Blog, Tips
Categories Blog, Tips

Preventing Ice Dams

Although New England winters bring many opportunities for fun, they also can create challenging and costly situations… especially for homeowners. One winter struggle that we deal with quite frequently here at Mcdonald Contracting is ice dams.

What are ice dams? Ice dams form on a roof when heat escapes and melts the snow; when the melted snow refreezes, it creates a blockage at the end of the roof that interferes with draining. This causes the water to leak under the roofing, which leads to costly interior damage.

So how can you protect and prevent your home from ice dams? The first thing that you need to know is that ice dams are not roofing problems but air-sealing problems.

Here are 5 tips to help solve and prevent ice dam issues –

 

1. Seal any air leaks: Grab some canned spray foam or sealant and fill any gap, crack, or hole. Look for gaps around lights, ceiling-mounted electrical boxes, and vent pipes.
2. Install heated cables: These are a great option if you use them before a storm or a spout of bad weather. To install, you clip the cables in a zig-zag pattern along the roofline. The heated cables melt the snow at the edge of the roof before the dams have the chance to form.
3. Keep your roof clean: Investing in a roof rake (which resembles a long-handled shovel) is a great solution to preventing ice dams. You simply pull off the snow with the rake to avoid the buildup of snow and ice.
4. Add insulation: As we know, ice dams are caused by air-sealing issues; adding more insulation to areas that the leakage occurs in will keep the heat where it belongs!
5. Cap the hatch: If you have an unsealed attic hatch, this can create a huge opening for heat to leak out. To prevent any heat from coming out, cover the hatch with weatherstripped caps.

 
If you are dealing with ice dams this winter or worried about them in the future, we can help! If you haven’t had to deal with them yet, you may want to consider taking the correct measures to prevent any future damage.

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