tips Archives - McDonald Contracting

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.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator el_width=”80″][vc_column_text]Today we’re sharing three great tips on how to add value to your bathroom.

Invest in new tile: With so many great tile designs and choices today it’s easy to choose a tile that will make your bathroom look great. Our team is well experienced in pulling up old flooring & tile and adding tile that really improves the value of your bathroom.

Tip: Think about adding in recessed shelving into your shower… this is not only adding value to your bathroom but its genius!

Paint goes a long way: One of the simplest ways to brighten up your bathroom is to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. We love the idea of pulling off old wall-paper and brightening the space with a great new paint color.

Tip: Make sure your bathroom has proper ventilation. If not, the high levels of humidity can damage your paint.

Regrout your tiles: Discolored, cracked and/or chipped tile is a sign the grout needs to be replaced. If your grout is cracked your allowing for water to get behind or under the tile, which may cause mold damage.

Tip: Don’t waste your time trying to clean off the mold damage. Getting rid of mildew and mold in grout and caulk with topical treatments is difficult if not impossible in that all too often it has grown beneath the surface of what we are trying to clean.

Let us know if you have any questions about a remodeling your bathroom! Thanks for reading – McDonald Contracting

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