Moonworks' Home Improvement Blog

The Importance of Home Energy Audits in New England

Rebecca McKinnon — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:47:29 +0000

Are some rooms in your home hot and stuffy while others are freezing cold? Inconsistent temperatures throughout your home can be frustrating and make your home uncomfortable for you and your family. Most homeowners think these are problems that cannot be fixed or are symptoms of living in an older home, especially here in New England. However, these may be signs of a larger problem within your home. Dr. Energy Saver by Moonworks uses a whole house approach to scientifically diagnosis your home’s energy weaknesses and recommend exact improvements to make your home more comfortable and energy efficient. Through our home energy audits, we can determine the exact areas of your home that need to be fixed in order to solve your home’s specific comfort problems. Not only does this allow homeowners to systematically improve in their home as the budget permits, it also allows you to know . . .

3 Considerations When Buying Replacement Windows

Rebecca McKinnon — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:20:59 +0000

Find yourself constantly cranking up the heat? Spending evenings in your home under a blanket? There comes a point when enough is enough, and it's time for replacement windows. Like many home improvements, replacing your windows is a job that many people dread—due to cost, confusion and maybe just the sheer scope of the project. Finding a New Window That Meets Your Needs (& Budget) We all want the best-looking, most energy-efficient windows for our homes. But a firm budget has a way of focusing the mind, and will serve you well in determining the window features that are important to you. The actual dollar return on your window investment depends on many factors including the current insulation level in your home, where you live, how many windows your home has, etc. As you work to align your budget with your features, don't overlook energy . . .

Roof Damage: How to Perform a Post-Winter Roof Inspection

Rebecca McKinnon — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:41:29 +0000

With the spring just around the corner and another winter storm on its way to New England, it is hard not to think about the affect this wild weather is having on your home, particularly your roof. The winter of 2013 had all of the usual suspects- snow, sleet, rain, heavy winds but then there was Hurricane Sandy and the Blizzard of 2013 (Nemo). It has been a crazy couple of month’s weather wise! Why Inspect for Roof Damage? A post-winter roof inspection is always a good idea because it allows you to catch potential weaknesses in your roof before they turn into damage inside your home. While for many homeowners subscribe to the mentality that ignorance is bliss, ignorance in the home improvement world can get expensive. Like many areas of your home, minor roof damage can turn into a large, expensive project within . . .

How to Judge the Effectiveness of Your Roof and Attic Insulation

Rebecca McKinnon — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:42:46 +0000

Did you know that winter is a great time of the year to expose your home’s insulation and venting weaknesses? How snow melts, or doesn’t melt, off of your roof is a great way to examine your attic and roof insulation as well as your home’s ventilation. Try this exercise: The day after it snows, take a walk around your neighborhood and look at your neighbor’s roofs. Tip: In a perfect world, the weather should still be below freezing so the snow hasn’t had a chance to melt. Try to use roofs that are on the same side of the street as yours, therefore subject to the same sun patterns as your home. Compare your home’s snow covered roof to theirs. Is your roof the only one with no snow on it? Are the roofs all snow covered? Are there some areas where the snow . . .

Happy Holidays from Moonworks!

Rebecca McKinnon — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

From Our Family to Yours- As 2012 comes to a close, we'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our readers. We appreciate you making us your trusted home improvement resource. Moonworks has lots of exciting initiaves on the horizon and we can't wait to share with you in 2013! We wish you and your families a joyous holiday season and a healthy, and happy new year! We look forward to helping you acheive your home improvement goals in 2013!

Keeping Energy Costs Down without Freezing or Sweating

Rebecca McKinnon — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Green economies are more than just tree hugging experiences. Being green means understanding that there are just so many fossil fuel sources left and leaving as small a carbon footprint as possible is good for the ecology. Residential homes are major consumers of energy and it often happens that the heating systems are extremely inefficient. HVAC, the heating and air-conditioning component of the structure, can run on less energy if properly managed. Using a few green strategies can help the HVAC system in the house operate economically without causing any discomfort. The activity can be as simple as changing the air filter on a routine basis. This task allows air to flow freely and prevents dust buildup in the HVAC system. The heating and cooling ducts of the system found throughout the house, particularly in unused spaces such as attics, can easily . . .

Why Your Roof is More Than Just Shingles

Rebecca McKinnon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

If you have ever replaced your home’s roof, you know how much quotes can vary. Company A can do it for 40% of the price of Company B and you begin to wonder, why would I ever pay Company B’s price? How can the same roof vary so much company to company? The answer really depends on what you are looking for. Any old roofing company can come in and add a layer of shingles over whatever is there. But, is that what you really want?

Homeowners need to realize that there is more to their roof than just shingles. Your home’s roof is a system of components that work together to protect your home against whatever Mother Nature brings your way, which in New England can be snow, hail, rain, wind, sun, and maybe . . .

Is It a Good Tree or a Bad Tree?

Rebecca McKinnon — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

There are a lot of ways we can compare and describe trees in our yards. Are they tall or short? Are they thin or fat? Are they deciduous or coniferous?

But you don't necessarily evaluate trees as being either good or bad. Unless they happen to look like this:

However, you can use these simple adjectives when discussing whether a tree is a danger to your home. Here are some ways that "bad" trees can cause homeowner headaches (and how to know if the tree in your yard might do damage later on):

1. Falling limbs. Certain types of trees -- like poplars or cottonwoods -- can become hazardous once they die. That's because their limbs get very brittle and tend to snap off in a windstorm or snowstorm. If a big limb is . . .

Camp Habitat: Kids Giving Back by Cleaning Gutters

Rebecca McKinnon — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Summer break is a golden opportunity for kids to engage in quite a variety of activities. They and their families can take vacations to beaches, go on road trips, or enjoy amusement or theme parks together. Or they can just sit around and do nothing.

Some -- more adventurous -- kids choose to spend a week or more at a sleepaway camp. Typical camp activities include everything from swimming, canoeing, and horseback riding to campouts, arts and crafts, and fishing.

But there was a summer camp of a different sort which took place during the last week of June in Kentucky: Camp Habitat.

This summer was the second year of the Camp Habitat program, and it brought in 60 middle and high school kids from across the county. As the name implies, Camp Habitat was organized by the Habitat . . .

Locating and Identifying Asbestos in Your Home

Rebecca McKinnon — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Before beginning home improvement projects, homeowners should make sure there is no asbestos in the area that they plan to renovate. Asbestos-containing products are common in homes built before the 1980s where the original construction materials are still present.

As long as the fibers are not exposed to the air, they are not a health threat. However, construction work or DIY renovations can release the fibers into the air. If the home's residents inhale these fibers, they may increase their risk for an asbestos related cancer. However, with proper awareness and handling procedures, homeowners can safely renovate their houses without causing an asbestos exposure hazard.

Common Asbestos Locations in the Home

Asbestos can be found in multiple locations across the home. Attics, roofs and basements are some of the most frequently contaminated areas . . .