Tag: #tophomeimprovement

Home Remodeling to Make Your Home Hurricane-Resistant

Hurricanes - Fortifying Your Home

Making Your Home Hurricane-Resistant

No home is hurricane-proof… but you can make changes to make it more hurricane-resistant.

Is your house ready for the winds? Contact Leading Edge Homes, Inc. for a home check-up.

What Should You Do?

Like My Safe Florida Home, Leading Edge Homes, Inc. recommends:
● Improving the strength of your roof deck attachment if needed by adding more nails and/or longer nails that attaches the plywood to your trusses to prevent the plywood from being blown off during a hurricane.
● Creating a secondary water barrier to prevent water intrusion. There are products that cover and seal the joints between the plywood sheets on your roof. This will reduce leakage if your shingles are blown off.
● Improving the survivability of your roof covering by upgrading to stronger and thicker hurricane-resistant roof shingles, attached with properly sized and applied roofing nails. This reduces the likelihood of a shingle failure.
● Bracing gable-ends of your roof framing to lessen the chances that your roof will collapse under hurricane wind loads.
● Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections. For example, installing metal tie-down straps that attach roof rafters to wall studs to decrease the chances that all or part of your roof will lift up from your house during a hurricane.
● Upgrading exterior wall-opening protections by installing hurricane-rated window shutters or impact glass windows.
● Upgrading exterior doors. For example, replacing a standard garage door with a hurricane-rated garage door.

 

Leading Edge Homes, Inc. is a Florida certified building contractor specializing in improving your lifestyle through room additions, bathroom renovations, kitchen updates, and hurricane-resistant screen enclosures. In business since 1991, the most important thing they demolish is your stress and build is your trust. Contact them at 561-795-2551 or visit their website to discover how they can help you with your next home remodeling project in Palm Beach County.

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Price Of A Steel Replacement Exterior Door VS A Fiberglass One

Doors, Home Improvement

question copyThe post about the top three home improvement projects explained that replacing your front door gives you one of the biggest returns on your investment when you sell your home.

After replacing existing, and installing new, hundreds of exterior doors over the last 24 years as a Florida licensed Building Contractor, I understand the trouble homeowners are faced with when making the decision of which type of door to install.  While steel and fiberglass doors have their own unique pros and cons, this article will explain enough of the good, bad, and ugly of each type so you can decide for yourself which is best for your situation.

The Difference Between Price and Cost

Before getting into each type of door, it would be helpful to review the difference between price and cost.  Price is the amount of money you need to take out of your pocket to initially buy a product.  Cost is the amount of money you need to take out of your pocket over the lifetime of owning a product.  If you are replacing a door in preparation for selling your house, the low price option probably makes the most sense.  If you have no intention of moving for over 5 years, the low cost option makes the most sense.

Steel Doors

The upside of a steel door is that it is significantly less expensive in price than fiberglass ones – $200 versus $400 ($600 if hurricane large missile impact rated with no-rot jamb and weatherproof hinges).  The downside to a metal door is that it easily dents and dings, it rusts, and the wood jambs it is typically mounted in rots and provides food for termites.

Fiberglass Doors

The upside of fiberglass doors is that they do not rust of rot, they absorb minor impacts without denting, they are available with a smooth or wood-grained  finish, and they are typically mounted on composite (no rot) jambs with stainless steel hinges.  They are also available with a steel core which makes them hurricane large missile impact approved with no shutters.  Their only downside is the extra initial price.

Since labor costs are the same for both door types, the cost of a fiberglass door is less than steel over the long run if you have to replace the steel door even once.

 

Leading Edge Homes, Inc. is a Florida state certified general contracting company specializing in room additions, bathroom renovations, kitchen updates, and hurricane-resistant screen enclosures. In business since 1991, the most important thing they build is your trust. Contact them at 561-795-2551 or visit their website for more information about how they can help you with your next Palm Beach County home remodeling project.

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2015’s Top 3 Home Improvement Projects With The Highest Return on Investment

Home Improvement

According to the 2015 Remodeling Magazine Cost VS Value Report for the entire South Atlantic region of the United States, replacing your front door, adding manufactured stone veneer to your house exterior, and replacing your garage door will give you the highest return on your investment in your home.

Leading Edge Homes, Inc. Kitchen Remodel

A kitchen renovations may help you sell your home quicker.

Although these home improvement investments give you the most return when you sell your home, other interior remodeling projects may be more beneficial. There are two projects that may stand between selling your house quickly and at a higher price, and having the house sit on the market unsold.  Those two projects are a kitchen remodel and a master bathroom remodel.

The kitchen is the heart of the home and the master bathroom is especially important to women as a sanctuary.  If either, or both, are tired looking, old, and unappealing, you have a problem on your hands.  Even though a major kitchen remodel will provide only a 67.4% and a bath remodel will provide only a 72.7% return on investment, they may need to be performed for a relatively prompt and profitable sale.  Seek the advice of a professional Realtor.

 A Look at the Top 3 Home Improvement Investments

1.  Replace Your Front Door

This might seem like a fairly minor home improvement, but, replacing your front door has been shown time and time again to bring an amazing return. A new steel door averaged a 112% return. When looking at cost versus value, a new door is the top of the list.

Why?

Put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer. You pull up to a house you are interested in and you see the landscape, the trees, and the shrubs are not in the best of condition, but they’re fixable. Then you walk up to the front door and it is old looking, worn, and has splintered wood. You are about to literally walk through the door to your future… do you want it to look old and decrepit?

Now, picture a new, steel door with a fresh coat of paint. It looks strong and safe. This puts the buyer in a positive state of mind before they even step foot in your home.

A replacement steel door averages a 112% return on investment – by far the highest return.

2. Manufactured Stone Veneer

This is the first year projects involving manufactured stone veneer have been included in the report. The cost and value estimates are based on a project that calls for installing 300 square feet of manufactured stone veneer on the bottom third of a house.

The appeal of this project is in making a good first impression and giving the house an upscale look.  That’s why this project averaged a 93% return on investment.

3. Garage Door Replacement

Just like with the front door, replacement of the garage overhead door with an embossed, steel one offers a good return on investment at an average 91.6%.  This is for all the same reasons as the front door but on a larger scale due to its larger impact on curb appeal.  This is especially true for a front loading garage.

 

 

 

Leading Edge Homes, Inc. is a Florida state certified general contracting company specializing in room additions, bathroom renovation, kitchen updates, and hurricane-resistant screen enclosures. In business, since 1991, the most important thing they build is your trust. Contact them at 561-795-2551 or visit their website for more information about how they can help you with your next Palm Beach County home remodeling project.

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