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Weather Stripping
For
Old and New
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Weather-stripping
a home to reduce cold-air
infiltration and heat loss is an inexpensive
and effective way to improve comfort
and cut fuel bills. Most older homes
and many newer ones will benefit from
some new weather-stripping; even if
the homes were previously weatherstripped. Old
stripping materials sometimes
deteriorate, losing effectiveness.
A homeowner may find
that weather-stripping installed
a few years ago may have dried
out, loosened, or lost its shape and decrease its performance.
Window
and exterior doors are the main areas that can benefit from
weather-stripping, but don’t
overlook big heat losers
and sources of draft such as electrical
outlets and switches on outside walls,
loose attic hatches, and baseboards with
gaps under them. Weather-stripping
should not be confused with
caulking, which is generally done from outside
the home with a putty-like material that
is forced into cracks and gaps. Caulking
is an excellent companion procedure
to weather-stripping.
Weather-stripping is often done from inside the
home, and special materials made from foam,
rubber, wood, plastic, or metal are used.
The materials are sold at many home centers
and hardware stores.
Several materials are sometimes combined to
make special fittings, such as door sweeps
to seal gaps at the bottoms of doors. These
special fittings often have a piece of wood,
metal, or plastic, plus a sealing strip of
rubber or foam.
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Other
weather-stripping materials, including
rolls of felt tape, are for general stripping,
such as stuffing gaps under the baseboards.
A good first step is to check the home thoroughly
for air-infiltration points that
need attention. Make notes or sketches so
the correct materials can be bought to solve
each problem.
You can use several methods to check for air-infiltration
points. One of the simplest methods,
best used on a cold, breezy day, is to
wet the back of your hand and hold it close
to suspected leaks, such as the perimeters
of doors and windows. The wet skin
easily detects incoming air.
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Alban is proud to offer FREE Continuing
Education Courses in Real Estate Offices!Call Melissa For
Information and to Schedule at 301-404-8104 or
301-607-8114. | |
From the desk of . . .
Arthur S.
Lazerow
The ASHI Experience
The Alban Way
At the
annual convention of The American Society of Home
Inspectors (ASHI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico
last month, ASHI announced a sensational new
program entitled "The ASHI Experience." ASHI
inspectors are committing to combine the highest
quality technical expertise with a new emphasis
on service to our clients. Alban has made service
the key to our success for ten years, so it appears
ASHI is now catching up with their inspectors.
For its part, ASHI has developed a million dollar public
awareness campaign to make potential clients and
Realtors aware that ASHI has the most stringent and
detailed Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics of
the various home inspection organizations. Since ASHI
membership totals six times the next largest organization,
ASHI sets the pace. As a result, all home
inspectors will either raise their inspection standards
to the ASHI levels or be left behind.
The ASHI Experience.
ASHI has verbalized this through the
following consumer contract: The home inspection client
can count on the ASHI inspection to bring personalized,
exceptional service and expert knowledge,
enabling smart decisions and peace of mind in
our client’s home buying experience. Superior technical
knowledge combined with superior customer service
defines the ASHI inspection experience.
Well written, and Alban will provide The
ASHI Experience,
with pre-inspection introductory calls to our
clients, meaningful inspections, and postinspection availability.
No group of home inspectors anywhere
will surpass Alban as a service provider.
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