October Maintenance to Prepare Your Home for Winter

With the recent brush of summer weather, it's hard to believe that winter is right around the corner. Take advantage of the warmer weather and the daylight hours to make sure your home is prepared for winter by performing some routine maintenance now. These are A&E's tips for October Home Maintenance. 

Furnace:

Have your furnace tuned and cleaned. You should replace furnace filters roughly every 2 months. Dirty filters can increase energy use and restrict airflow so replacing filters will help you save on heating costs. Always be sure to keep extra filters on hand for the winter months.

Plumbing and Drains:

Drain garden hoses and shut off water to outside faucets in order to protect your pipes. Insulate any water lines that run along exterior walls to help you avoid a frozen pipe burst. 

Windows and Doors

Ill-fitting windows can cause drafts and lead to hot air escaping in the winter. Caulk and weather-strip around windows and doors to reduce energy loss and keep heat in your home. 

Consider replacing any windows that have broken panes or sashes that don’t shut properly and install storm windows if you own them.  We recommend Andersen low-E windows. These low-emittance (low-E) glass windows block a significant amount of radiant heat transfer which ultimately reduces the total heat flow through the window.

Install door sweeps on the inside of exterior doors as well as on the interior doors to an unfinished basement or attic.

Roofing and Siding

If you have asphalt shingles, it's a good idea to repair shingles on a warm day so that the shingles will be flexible. Look around your house for damaged paint, warped wood, or cracks and holes.  Depending on the siding you have, the repair will be different, but most types require a coating of sealant or primer, and paint to finish. 

Gutters:

For proper drainage of snow and rain, it is important to clean out your gutters now and install gutter guards so that melting snow and ice will flow freely.  

This will help prevent ice damming, which occurs when water freezes and seeps into the home, causing damage to ceilings and walls. Make sure downspouts are carrying water away from the house’s foundation to avoid flooding.

Trees and Brush:

Trim trees and remove dead branches that hang close or are in contact with your house. Brush close to your house serves as a common access point for insects and rot.  

Additionally, ice, snow, and severe wind can weaken trees and break branches off, potentially damaging the exterior of your home and your car. 

Keep surfaces leaf-free and store your outdoor furniture and planters. Leaf prints can leave imprints on your deck and concrete surfaces that can be hard to remove. Store outdoor furnishings so that they will last longer, and not be exposed to extreme cold or wet weather.

Pennington Fireplace

Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Alarms:

Test your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms and check the age of these devices.  We recommend replacing batteries or even the entire unit if it’s older than 5 years.  

Install a carbon monoxide detector on every floor in your home, especially if you heat your home with wood heat or a gas heater.  Also make sure fire extinguishers are in good working order. 

Fireplace:

Clean out your fireplace and cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep animals out.  Inspect the damper to see if it’s in good working condition for proper opening and closing.

And Remember....

Home Siding & Design

Now that we're gearing up for spring, it's a great time to begin performing basic home maintenance on your house or replacing roofing & siding.  Over the past few years, A&E has completed numerous siding projects that have dramatically enhanced the look of a home. Today, we want to show you the design process that goes into each of our siding installations.  

A&E proudly installs James Hardie siding.  Hardie siding is one of the premiere brands in siding and features ColorPlus Technology, which provides a vibrant finished color that is very durable in all weather elements. The house above was done in Hardie Siding's classic Monterey Taupe shade. 

We work with our clients to provide a detailed design for their siding needs.  The A&E design team will create a 3d rendering featuring any color a homeowner chooses from the Hardie collection.  This gives homeowners an accurate idea of what their home will look like upon completion, while also providing them with a wide range of choices. 

A&E Siding Design

The Pennington house above was sided with Hardie Boothbay Blue.  The family wanted to maintain the look of their original home, so the Boothbay Blue provided a complimentary match to the original paint.

Just recently we worked on a design for a family in Princeton who wanted to install new Hardie Siding.  After going through several designs to achieve the perfect look, the family ultimately choose Boothbay Blue as well.

Before

Red

Monterey Taupe

Autumn Tan

Boothbay Blue

Pennington Porch Addition

Pennington Porch Design

For several years now, the owners of this Pennington home had been dreaming about adding a porch to the front of their house.  This year, with the help of A&E's excellent design, this dream was realized and a new porch was born!

A&E began by making a conceptual drawing of the proposed addition. As you can see from the design picture, we were able to create a smooth transition from the home to the garage while also adding street appeal with a natural stone veneer on the porch and the stairs.  

The columns on the outside resonate with a traditional porch design while the stone adds a distinct texturing to the original exterior of the home.

Early on in planning our designs, we overcame a challenge with the existing low pitched shingled roof.  Because this type of roof didn't allow for a conventional porch roof system, A&E succeeded in creating a flat roof system made of fiberglass.  

A flat roof system helped tie in the main house to the garage while also providing proper drainage. 

Fiberglass roofing is a lesser-known roofing choice, but it is great for dressing up the exterior of a house while providing a functional, durable surface. The new fiberglass roof on this porch is further complimented by a hidden gutter and an elegant perimeter of crown molding. 

Keeping the interest of ease of maintenance in mind, we installed Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) posts for support.  These PVC posts take on the appearance of an elegant wood construction, but don't require nearly the same amount of maintenance. 

In addition to building this porch, the owners of the home wanted to incorporate a stone element to the design. A&E accomplished this by installing field stone walls on the perimeter. 

Natural Stone Veneer and Walkway

These stone walls created an elegant transition to the blue stone walkway and also serve as a natural outline for the surrounding flower beds. 

Our Pennington porch project also includes a beat-board ceiling with recess lighting for a nice warm glow at night.  You can check out more of A&E Construction's Princeton and Hopewell specialty projects  in our portfolio. 

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on the finished porch to see the stone base for the post light as well as the installation of light aluminum railings and a rich mahogany capping. 

A&E Construction in the Community

Hi all and Happy Friday!  Today we'd like to update you on some upcoming community events that A&E Construction will be sponsoring and participating in!  So be sure to have your calendars out and your pens ready for these fantastic local events.

Last Year's Pennington Library 5K

The Pennington Library is having its annual 5K race on Sunday October 30th.  Pre-registration is over, although you can still register the day of the race. A&E is a proud sponsor of this race which raises money for the library to expand its non-print media collections and computer resources such as online courses, and accessible advanced education.  Check out the Library's website to get more info about how you can be running through the beautiful streets of Pennington next week. Get bookin' people!

Another event we're really looking forward to is the rescheduled Hopewell Harvest Fair on Saturday, November 5th! Since 1987, the Fair has donated more than $136,000 to more than 50 non profits.

We are a platinum sponsor of the Hopewell Harvest Fair this year and will be setting up booth in the Business Alley.

We definitely recommend checking out all of the great events and stopping by our booth to enter our Raffle. We'll be giving out over $800 in prizes!  Enter to win prizes including free James Hardie siding, free Benjamin Moore paint buckets, and more!

Plus you can meet us!

A&E's Employees and Subcontractors

Pennington Home Addition Update: Siding Complete

Before & After

Back in August, A&E Construction began work on a major home renovation in Pennington.  Now that we are approaching the completion of this project, we’d like to share with you a few days on the job.  

Hardie Plank Siding

As mentioned in our previous post about this Pennington Home Addition, we have worked on enclosing the existing front porch into a main hallway, remodeling the kitchen, building a new playroom atop an existing garage footprint, and re-roofing and re-siding the entire exterior of the house.

Today, we want to talk about the progress we've made with installing siding.  We installed Hardie Plank horizontal siding on the entire house. Hardie Plank is one of the most popular brands in America getting high marks in strength, beauty and durability. 

The HardieZone system has created specific performance attributes for the climate it is being used in, giving homeowners the optimum siding for their individual local climate.

We also installed Hardie Trim to complete the finishing touches on the exterior of this home. Hardie Trim is especially effective because it provides a variety of different designs for trim, gables, corners, fascia, windows, doors, decorative trim and more.  

A&E's dedicated employees