Restoring Your Vinyl Siding

Vinyl siding restoration can be a lifesaver if someone doesn't want to pay for a brand new installation over what is already there. Sometimes, the damage that has been caused by weather or other conditions can be repaired onsite. Not only does this eliminate the time-consuming activity of having to remove the old products, but it keeps the job site in one piece. Isn't it easier to just work on something that is already installed, especially on the side of a building? There are plenty of methods to go about this, but we will talk about some of the more common reasons why people would choose to purchase vinyl siding restoration.

Reasons to Update the Look

Obviously, after vinyl siding has been exposed to many years of the constant sunlight, it is going to need restoration because of the fading and discoloration that takes place. In fact, if it is especially hot, you may find there are sun spots of sorts that have developed over time. This doesn't give your building a nice even look at all, and certainly doesn't fall into the rustic feel that many find so charming. Any easy way to get rid of this discoloration and make it all the same tone is to either spray or roll your vinyl panel restoration product right onto the sheets. This method is quick and easy and should keep the mess to a minimum. If you are looking for a specific color to use, then talk to the manufacturer of the vinyl siding restoration spray you're considering and see what options they have to choose from.

Another reason why people use vinyl siding restoration is because years' worth of dirt has built up and actually stained the sheets. Not only does this become permanent damage, but it could have been prevented so easily. With regular maintenance and washing down, it would not have been able to create such a problem. However, because you're not supposed to cry about spilled milk, it's best to look into some easy fixes. One of these is to clean the existing vinyl siding with a cleaning spray. Once this has had a chance to work, you can rinse everything down to begin the restoration process. There will be different price ranges to consider when you're looking up a vinyl siding restoration cleaning spray, so talk to a local expert about what has worked for other residents. They may have a slightly cheaper option that is just as effective.

After this process has been completed, then you can look your work over to see if anything has been missed. If so, consider using a mixture of bleach and water to scrub off whatever is remaining. It may take a few minutes, usually between five to ten, for the bleach to work its magic, but then you should be good to go. This is all great advice if you are planning on doing the vinyl siding restoration yourself, but what if you are going to hire a contractor? Because you won't be doing the actual work yourself, you may want to spend a little more time on their experience level and previous jobs they have completed. Ask them if they have a portfolio they can share with you so you can see some before-and-after shots of local sites that have hired their vinyl siding restoration services.

Article source: www.vinylsiding.net, article posted by: Siding in Denver

Finding the Right Roofers

Posted by: Highlands Ranch Roofers

This article is from GoArticles.com and talks about finding the right roofers for your roof repair or roof replacement. The original article was written by Chris Hegi.

Finding a roofer in Portland does not have to be an overwhelming venture. There are many able, capable roofers in the area, and you will surely be able to find someone who is able to help you out. While it is true that more options sometimes makes selection difficult, it doesn't have to be that way in this circumstance. Although there are many able roofers to choose from, following a few simple steps will help you be sure to choose the right roofer for your job.

The first thing you need to do before beginning your search for a roofer in Portland is to understand what you need from a roofer. A roof being installed on a new construction project is a much different project than replacing an existing roof with a new one. And both of these are different than simply repairing or replacing a small or large section of roof. Also, if you are considering repairing or replacing a part of your existing roof, the type of damage, and what it was caused by, will also affect the type of work that you need done, affecting the price and experience you will require. As you can see, knowing exactly what you need from your roofer is a very important step in finding the right roofer.

The next step to finding a great roofer in Portland is to ask people you know. Surely some of your friends and family have had work done on their roofs at some point or other. They will be able to give you honest, helpful feedback, so that is always a good place to start. Beyond your family and friends, any general contractor will have a list of good roofers that he uses and trusts, so contacting a general contractor would be a great way to get the names of a few great roofers.

Once you have a few roofers that have been recommended to you, you simply need to narrow it down to one roofer in Portland. The easiest way to do this is to start making calls. Let the roofers know exactly what you need, and what your time frame is. Spend a little time on the phone getting a feel for the person on the other end of the line. You want to hire someone you feel comfortable with, that you trust to be in, and on, your home. Finally, you will want to consider the price that each roofer will charge you. While price is not the most important quality, when compared to experience, skill, and integrity, it is still an important piece of the puzzle. A good roofer Portland will be able to complete your job in a timely manner, and for a price you can both agree on.

Selecting Your Highlands Ranch Roofing Company

A roof is a must for all and any type of home. No matter how expensive or simple your house is, you need a safe and secure roof above you. This is why you have to hire the best Highlands Ranch roofing company, who can be trusted with doing a good job while installing your roof.

So here are some tips to help in selecting roofing company:

1. The first thing you have to do is to check their references to find out more about the competence of the roofer. The best places to look for references are the internet and your friends, family or neighbors who have recently done a roofing job.

2. You could also check with the Better Business Bureau to find out more about the contractor. Check to see if there are any complaints against the roofer, and how they handled them. No one is perfect, so anyone can receive complaints from their customers; find out if the roofer had worked at resolving the matter, or if the matter was not resolved at all.

3. Even if you find the best references for your roofing contractors, it’s better to contact some of their past customers to find out what their experience was with the roofer.

4. Don’t forget to check the roofer's insurance which should not only provide the contractor protection, but should also provide you with protection if something goes wrong during the roofing job.

5. Choose a roofing company that provides you with a written estimate for the job, and has a contract which you both have to sign. Make sure all specifications of the job are mentioned in the paper, so that the roofer is naturally responsible for fulfilling your contract.

6. Find out if the roofing company provides a warranty for their roofing job. This is important as it safeguards the roofing job for as long as the warranty lasts. If anything happens to the roof during this warranty period, you just have to inform the Highlands Ranch roofing company about it and they have to rectify the problem, free of cost.

7. If the roofing company offers a warranty, make sure you check to find out if the roofer has an office that you can contact if you wish to exercise the warranty. Ask the roofer for their physical address and permanent phone number so that you can approach them with any problems, if required.

8. Always choose roofing companies that follow the local building procedures following the local business environment while working at delivering the desired results. These roofers generally don't give their own coating systems, but tend to consider trying out other roofing systems that may suit your home.

9. It is always better to hire a professional roofing company as they have a skilled, knowledgeable and certified staff that has the ability of taking immediate care to rectify any leakage problems there may be in the roof.

In a nutshell, always choose a roofing company that practices good roofing practices in their work, and always give their customers first priority while handling roof problems. This way you are sure of hiring the best roofer, who will give you the best results after the roofing job.

Selecting The Rigth Window Materials

There are various kinds of window materials and frames available for home windows nowadays. Irrespective of whether you are building new windows or just replacing the old ones, the market is flooded with options for you to make the best choice. Let us now look at the most common and popular window materials.

Vinyl windows are the most popular type in window industry and there are few good reasons why vinyl windows are preferred over others. Vinyl is a material that can be expanded which is an important feature. A well built window frame needs to have hollow areas to it. If the window frame is solid, it would be very expensive, extremely heavy, and would have lower insulating properties. Manufacturing vinyl is also comparatively easy. Another very important aspect about vinyl is its ability to resist heat transfer. This ensures that if it’s very hot outside, it prevents it from affecting the interiors. On the other hand, if it is very cold outside, it prevents the heat from escaping outside. The only drawback of vinyl windows is the limitation on color options. Three of the top vinyl window manufacturer's are Amerimax windows, Jeld-wen windows and Pella windows.

Fiberglass and fibrex windows are currently gaining market and becoming popular gradually. Fiberglass windows have a smooth and strong finish, and also can be painted easily if the owner wishes to do so. This is an advantage over vinyl, as vinyl windows should never be painted. Thus, you are stuck with the same color for good.

Another important factor about fiberglass is that it can be used in larger openings. This is because of its higher strength in comparison to vinyl. If opening in your home is quite large, fiberglass would be a better option. Vinyl has good strength, but with larger sizes, the stiffness of the material gradually reduces. In case of fibrex windows, the advantages are great strength, good insulation properties and low maintenance costs.
Now, there might be a question that comes to mind with respect to consumers’ still buying wood, when they can purchase vinyl windows. The reason is wooden windows have an aesthetic appeal. Though high quality wooden windows can be much more expensive than their vinyl counterpart, many consumers still prefer them for the traditional look and also because with an exterior coating with aluminum, they can keep changing the colors.

Aluminum windows are seldom used in residences but have a wide commercial use. The reason is builders are willing to compromise heat resistance to strength for large openings. Aluminum windows are made of metal and are good conductor heat. This makes the inhabitants vulnerable to outside temperatures.
New windows made of wood are quite popular. However, most wood windows are often clad windows. This means they are covered on the exterior with either aluminum or vinyl. This is to avoid painting and other maintenance costs. Wood usually requires periodic painting to prevent degradation and rotting. By covering the window with an impenetrable material, the window gains higher capability to withstand the impacts of environmental factors like rains, strong sun rays etc.

With so many choices available for window materials, you can select the best one for the new windows in your home, depending on your requirements and budget.

Sensible and Latent Heat

The distinction between dry air and the moisture content of the air and between dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures is extended to the two types of heat carried by the entering air and the air already contained in the space: sensible and latent heat.

Sensible Heat:  is the amount of heat in air that can be measured by an ordinary thermometer. The daily weather report gives us sensible heat temperatures, but it does not represent the total heat we experience. It constitutes a portion of the heat resulting from air infiltration, ventilation and internal heat sources such as people, electric lights and electric motors. Sensible heat also results form heat leakage or solar radiation.

Latent Heat: is the amount of heat contained in the water vapor (moisture) in the air. It constitutes a portion of the heat resulting from infiltration and ventilation and any internal sources capable of adding water vapor to the air. The amount of latent heat in the air can be determined by using a psychometric chart.  The amount of excess latent heat so determined will indicate the amount of moisture that must be removed from the air in order to obtain comfortable conditions.

Above is an example of a Psychrometric Chart

Both sensible and latent heat gain are expressed in Btu. When the total of the two are added together, their sum represents the total heat gain in Btu that must be removed from the air each hour by the air conditioner.

Sensible heat gain is represented by a change in the dry-bulb temperature readings, where as latent heat gain is represented by a change in the web-bulb temperature.

This post was published by Tucson air conditioning service but was written by James Brumbaugh in the book "HVAC Fundamentals: Air Conditioning, Heat Pumps and Distribution Pumps (Volume 3)"

Understanding Humidity in Air Conditioning

Humidity: is a general term used to refer to the water vapor (moisture) content of air. When this term is used, it is usually in reference to the sensation (or lack of) of moisture in the air. For purposes of heating and cooling conditions, the more narrowly defined terms of absolute humidy, relative humidity, and specific humidity are used.

Water vapor is actually steam at low termperatures and consequently, low pressure; hence its properties are those of steam. According to Dalton's law, in any mechanical mixture of gases each has has a partial pressure of its own, which is entirely independent of the partial pressures of the other gases of the mixture.

In all air conditioning calculations it should be understood that the dry air and water vapor composing the atmosphere are separate entities, each with its own characteristics. Water vapor is not dissolved in the air in the sense that it loses its own individuality and merely serves to moisten the air.

Cold air is saturated when it contains very small quantities of water vapor, wheras warm air is not saturated until it contains Fahrenheit is saturated when it contains but one-half of one grain when it contains 8 grains of vapor per cubic foot, while at 83 degrees, 12 grains per cubic foot are required to saturate.

Absolute Humidity: is the actual mass of water vapor in one cubic foot of air (the weight of water vapor per unit volume of air) and is experessed in grains or pounds per cubic food (1 lb = 7000 grains) or grams per cubic centimeter. Absolute humidity is equivalent to the dentistry of the air.

Specific Humidity: is the weight of water vapor per pound of dry air. Do not confuse specific humidity with relative humidity. Ther latter term indicates the percentage of water vapor, the former the weight.

Relative Humidity: is the ratio of absolute humidity to the maximum possible density of water vapor on the air at the same temperature. In other words, it is a percentage or ratio of water vapor in the mixture of dry air and water vapor at a certain termperature relatvie to the maximum quantity that the volume of air could possibly carry at that temperature. The relative humidity at any given temperature can be ovtained by first using a sling psychromter to determine the amount of moise actually present in the air and then dividing this figure by the amount of moisture that the air can hold at the temperature, and multiplying the result by 100 in order to obtain the percentage factor.

Drying Effect of Air: varies approximately inversely with its relative humidity. In other words, the drying effect decreases as the relative humidity increases. It should be noted that it is relative humidity that determines the drying effect of air and this effect depends both on the temperature and the water content of the air since relative humidity depends on both these factors.

Dew Point: is the temperature of saturation for a given atmospheric pressure. In other words, for a given atmospheric pressure, it is the temperature at which moisture behins to condense in the form of tiny droplets or dew.

Humidification: may be defined as the addition of moisture to the air. The conditioning machine that functions to add moisture to the air is called a humidifier. A humidifier is commondly a low pressure, low-temperature boiler in which the water is avaporated and vapor thus formed is caused to mixed with air.

As an Tucson air conditoining technician, humidity plays into a very small part of our job as the climate in southern Arizona has a low humidity. Our air conditioners can have more effect on our dry air than they could in a more humid climate such as Kansas or Minnesota. Our air conditioners do not have to work as hard. Today for instance, our humidity is 18% in Tucson and in Kansas it is 42%.

(Article content was taken from James Brumbaugh's book "HVAC Fundamentals: Air conditioning, Heat Pumps, and Distribution Systems (Volume 3)"

Preventing Ladder Accidents Video

Here is a video about how ladder safety by Elvis Benoit. He talks about properly placing the ladder to the roof and how to get on and off the ladder. Ladder safety is no joke! Statistics show that most falls off of a roof (a fall of eleven feet or more) 50 percent of victims will die.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that more than 90,000 people received emergency room treatment for ladder accidents in 2010. With these high numbers of ladder accidents, we could all use a ladder safety refresher.



Whether you are cleaning your gutters, trying to do your own roof repairs or checking out the work done by your Highlands Ranch roofers, you need to remember these ladder safety tips.