Summer Home Upgrades Worth Considering
Summer is a great time to consider undertaking some long-awaited projects for your home that require outside expertise – both inside and out. For starters, most home repairs, upgrades and remodels are accomplished more easily and efficiently when your contractor doesn’t have to fight snow or cold temperatures. Reduced stress levels on your part are one likely result, while the longer summer daylight hours also might help get certain projects completed quicker, as well. Here are a few suggestions to jump start your summer project plans.
Replace The Boiler
At the end of the day, any heating system upgrade or replacement is best done during warm weather. When you don’t have to worry about temperatures in your home dropping below freezing, you have the freedom to make the upgrades or replacements on a schedule that works for you, rather than being faced with a potential comfort, safety or frozen pipe emergency in the colder months. With homes heated by a hot water boiler, in particular, this is important because not only is this a water-based heating system, with lots of pipes running around your home, but boiler upgrades are often more complex than furnace replacements. And while it’s true that a boiler system can be charged with non-toxic anti-freeze, that doesn’t protect the other plumbing in your home. Most boiler replacements can be accomplished in a single work day, however, with many of those huge old cast iron units still in operation (and some of those ‘experiments’ from the early days of high efficiency heating), it could be a different story.
New Water Heater
Here’s a not-so-little secret: Replacing your water heater is not as crucial to do during the summer as some of the other items on this list. However, it’s always good for homeowners to consider replacing an aging water heater (or upgrading to a more efficient one!) when other mechanical work is being performed in your home. If you’re already checking a couple of these HVAC bad boys off your list and have been considering replacing your water heater because of its age or other concerns, now’s the time to do it. You’ll save on labor costs by bundling this work together with items like a new boiler, furnace, or AC.
Roof Repairs
For most Colorado homeowners, it’s a given that a reliable, leak-free roof is a must, all year round. Whether it’s near-golf ball size hail, monsoon season rain storms, tons of snow, or ice dams caused by our rapidly changing winter conditions, the roof over our heads protects the largest investment that many of us will make during our lives. A good roof is kind of like an insurance policy, or a HUGE umbrella!
It’s also pretty well known that the spring and summer months are the time to replace your roof, or perform repairs. The nice weather, the longer days. The summer months are your best bet for getting that important roof work done in a timely manner and, ideally, on budget. If this is a thought for you, don’t delay making a call, the clock is ticking and the days of summer are racing by.
Furnace Upgrade?
If your heater was on the fritz this past winter, you probably didn’t wait for summer to roll around to do something about it (who wants to wake up afraid to get out from under the covers or fear for frozen pipes?), but if you’ve been considering a furnace upgrade or replacement because your unit is getting on in years, reliability is questionable, or your heating bills bug you, the best time to make that move is now, when the upgrade or replacement time will have a minimal impact on your comfort. If you’re considering a new AC system, take advantage of substantial savings by having the heating and cooling work done at the same time.
Outdoor Kitchen
If a simple grill on the patio isn’t cutting it anymore, and you’ve been daydreaming of one of those lush outdoor kitchen setups, this is the time to get that project rolling. Warm weather is the best time to do any gas piping, plumbing, or electrical work needed to make your outdoor ‘fantasy cocina’ a reality. On the Front Range, we’re blessed (fingers crossed) with falls that often linger, compared to other ‘frigid’ parts of the country, and we see our share of fairly mild winter days, as well. That means you can make the most of that outdoor kitchen thru much of the year. Feeling like a cookout during that 75 degree day in the middle of February? Get after it (and feel free to invite us, sounds delicious!)
Squeaky Clean Drains
Here’s the deal – we all know that keeping your drains clear and clean is important. We’ve talked about the dangers of a clogged drain before (more than once!). It’s easy to wonder why doing this work, that seems to be mostly interior, is better addressed during the summer than any other time of year. If it turns out that your issue with the drain has to do with an outdoor, underground main sewer line, this kind of investigation and access could be much more costly – if not impossible to perform entirely – during colder times of the year. So that slow drain that you’ve been hoping would clear up on its own, or the one that occasionally backs up and then you forget about for months? Get on it before the leaves start turning, and the temperatures along with them.
General Renovations
Summertime can be a great time for minor and major home projects. Contractors can work more efficiently, with less weather-related impact on the inside of your home and on your overall comfort levels. We’re talking less mud tracked in from outdoors, less freezing outdoor air causing you to bundle up when you’d normally be perfectly comfortable. And don’t forget, certain types of work, related to both your indoor or outdoor comfort, can only be performed when the weather allows – as in, now!
In the Denver-Boulder area, if you need electrical, heating, cooling, plumbing or drain work done in your home, the experienced, reputable team at Save Home Heat would love to help you and your family make the best decisions for your home, your comfort, and most importantly, for your safety.
