Tom is the man with the answers when it comes to frequently asked questions about home improvements.
He's answered a few general questions about renovations below, but if your question isn't here, then fill out the form to ask Tom directly and he'll respond to you as soon as possible - we post the best responses on our website!
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: How can you insulate a crawl space that has no access, to provide a warm floor?
A: You first have to establish the height of the crawlspace from the ground to the floor, so that if you create an opening you will have some room to insulate the walls or the floor. If you do this, you will need to have an access way either in the floor, or through an outside wall. If the access must be created in a concrete wall or floor, you can use a concrete cutting and coring contractor to do the cutting for you. If the heating ducts go through the crawlspace, you need to insulate the walls with R-10 Styrofoam, R-12 fiberglass batts, and R-8 Styrofoam to the box ends. This will meet the eco energy standards.
Q: Are all vinyl windows the same?
A: No. There’s a huge variance in quality and pricing. Lower quality, lower priced windows often look good, however after 5-6 years seals and frames can begin to fail causing condensation between the glass and possible water leaks within your walls. Higher quality windows, like Vinyltek, are manufactured and tested to higher standards and guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Q: How much can I really get back from Energy Grants?
A: On average, most customers have been realistically getting $900-1200 from Federal Government ecoEnergy Grants. This is because it depends on how much work you have done. After testing your home for efficiency you receive a report that indicates all of the recommended improvements and the associated grants or rebates. The more improvements you make, the larger your rebate.
Effective immediately, you can now receive grants back from the Province as well (the LiveSmartBC program), but the amounts are still unknown. With both government grant programs, utility programs (like BC Hydro PowerSmart’s current no GST promotion) and manufacturer rebates we’re anticipating that many of our customers will achieve closer to $5000 in grants and rebates this spring.
Q: It’s colder near my exterior walls; can I add insulation to those walls in
addition to my attic?
A: Yes, depending on whether there is already insulation in the cavity. If there isn’t any, then insulation can be easily added. If there is already some low R-value insulation, then the only way to increase the insulation R-value is to remove your drywall or exterior sheathing and put in higher R-value insulation.
Q:What is a high efficiency furnace?
A: A high efficiency furnace needs to be 90-95% efficient to qualify as high efficiency. Most furnaces you’ll come across are 92-93% efficient. At Quality Home we only supply American Standard furnaces that are the most efficient furnaces on the market at 96%.
Q: How much can I save on my monthly gas bill if I improve the efficiency of
my home?
A: Generally, as a rule of thumb, if you upgrade your windows, furnace, insulation and exterior doors you should see a 40-45% reduction in your monthly heating bill.
Q: Do you supply screens on your windows?
A: Yes, we supply high quality screens for every opening window we install. These screens come from the same factory that makes our windows, so you can be assured they'll meet your standards.
Q: Will my window sills need to be replaced?
A: Wood windows sometimes need sills and returns, but we won't be able to determine this until one of our representatives comes out for a remeasure. Then we'll be able to give you a better idea of what needs to be done.
Q: Is the provided glass true with no waviness or distortion?
A: The glass in our windows meets or exceeds every single government and industry standard. Plus, as an added bonus, we're giving every customer purchasing Vinyltek Windows free upgrades to LowE3 and Argon filled glass, which has exceptional energy saving properties. Not only will the glass look great, but it will save you money on your heating bills.
