You may have heard a lot about the economic “Stimulus Bill” that President Obama signed in February of 2009, but you may not know how it can save you money.

Part of owning a home is the regular maintenance a home requires. This maintenance can range from major appliance replacement to a new roof. Often home owners inherit items within their homes that are less than desirable. Items like inefficient and/or leaky doors and windows come to mind. Replacing these items is a major investment in your home that should ultimately pay off with energy savings.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (or the “Stimulus Bill”) has made changes to the energy efficiency tax credits available to Americans.

The biggest change is that the credits have been raised from 10% of the cost to 30% of the cost for installations put in place from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. The maximum credit has been raised from $500 to $1500 over this two year period. Along with that, the cap of $200 on windows has been removed.

It should be noted that some ENERGY STAR qualified windows will not qualify after June 1, 2009. It is important that you check to see if the windows you are considering installing will qualify for the tax credit. Absolute Construction and Remodeling Inc. can help you install qualified windows.

Looks like asphalt, but its not!

Did you know that metal roofs can look just like asphalt roofs and be significantly more energy efficient? This Metro Shingle roof is an example of how a metal roof can look like traditional asphalt shingles. Your savings don’t need to stop with a tax credit, you can get immediate savings to your heating and cooling bills with a metal roof.

ENERGY STAR Water Heaters, Furnaces and AC Systems Qualify for Tax Credit

Roofs and windows aren’t the only things that qualify for tax credits.  Everything from HVAC systems (furnaces and air conditioners), to water heaters, to insulation and even the car you drive can qualify.  If you’d like to learn more about how you can take advantage of the tax credits available, or if you are considering a new water heater, furnace or air conditioning system, contact Absolute Construction and Remodeling Inc.  The following website may also be of interest to you:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits 

If you are considering alternate energy sources for your home, please be aware that Absolute Construction and Remodeling Inc. has experience with geothermal heating systems. Geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters and solar panels are not subject to the $1,500 maximum tax credit. This is true for fuel cell, and small wind energy systems as well. In addition credits for these systems are available through 2016. These credits are especially applicable to new home construction and secondary residences where credits for ENERGY STAR roofs and windows do not apply. 

So your looking to sell your house, one of the biggest things you can do before anything else is get the home inspected. Once you receive your home inspection list don’t be discouraged, there are going to be a lot of things on that list. The inspectors will usually spend hours looking through every inch of your house, they will find faults, no house is perfect. The thing to keep in mind is that you need to bring the home up to good condition, not perfect-brand-new-in-the-box condition, just good condition.

Before the inspection takes place do your own inspection. Some simple things to look for are:

• Appliances
• Lighting
• Garage Doors
• Window Operations
• Outlets (Specifically GFI’s)
• Operation of Doors & Locks

Fix all the things you can before the inspection and then have the inspector come in and do their job.

Once completed start going through the list and you’ll begin to see a lot of simple to fix items that you missed during your own inspection. Start with those items and then work on to the bigger ones. Or, if the bigger ones are too big for you, call in a contractor to take care of them. Fix as many items as possible. If your budget is a little tight always fix the most important items first. These items will include:

• HVAC
• Mold & Mildew, if any
• Roof
• Plumbing
• Electrical
• Drainage

Always keep all receipts and records of any other inspections or fixes that you have done while living at the house. This will show potential buyers that you have always done routine maintenance on specific items. Examples are yearly inspections and adjustments on furnaces, hot water heaters, and AC units. Also keep records of any warranty work that was done for appliances.

A good book that I recommend for anyone that is about to have their home inspected or for anyone that wants to do some fixing up around the home is “How to Operate Your Home by Mr. Fix-It“. This book goes over a great deal of information for every home owner to know about their house. It has solutions for common problems and recommendations for maintaining your home.

Now that we all have our Christmas Tree’s up it’s a good time to talk about tree safety. Here are a few tips to follow to ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

Always make sure the tree has plenty of water

Make sure to check the stand every day and fill it up when needed. If the tree is not properly hydrated it will dry out which will signifintly increase the fire hazard.

Keep the tree away from heat sources

Never place the tree near the fireplace, heater vents,  room heaters, or your entertainment system (TV, DVD player,audio components, etc.). All that heat will dry out the tree faster thus making it less safe.

Tree Lights

Make sure you are using the proper lights for your tree. Never use outdoor lights indoors and vice-versa. Check the lights for any damaged sockets and frayed wiring, if found you should fix or replace the set. If using an extension cord never use more than 3 sets of lights per cord. The cord should never be running across any walk ways (even if under a rug) and should always be along a wall. The final thing about lights, make sure you turn them off before you go to bed.

Ornaments and Decorations

Always use a step stool when placing ornaments on higher parts of the tree. Keep the smaller stuff up higher in the tree so it wont become a choking hazard to children and pets.

For everyone out there that has cats and needs some advice on how to keep them out of the tree try keeping orange peels under it. Apparently cats hate oranges from what I hear. Also keep a spray bottle of water around and spray the cat when he tries to get near the tree.

It’s that time of year when everyone makes their list of favorite gifts to give and receive.  Please read on for a few things we think would make great gifts that will get used year round. I’ve broken the 1st annual JWC gift guide down into three categories for ease of use.

Stocking Stuffers: Gifts under $10.00

• Mini Maglite Flashlight: A classic gift that never goes out of style
• Stripped Screw Remover: This is a must have around at all times
• Rapid Edge Utility Knife: Comes with a serrated blade so it stays sharp longer

Gifts For All: Up to $200.00

• Digital Protractor $135.00; One handy tool for hanging crown moldings and trim.
• Home Owners Manual $24.95; Great book that covers most homeowner questions.
• All weather extension cord $49.99; Stays flexible in the coldest MN temperatures.
• Gorilla Rack Shelving $30.00 – $90.00; you can never have enough storage space.

He/She’s Been Good All Year!: Gifts Over $200.00

• Magnum Paint Sprayer $299.00; pair this will the roller attachment and you’ll make quick work of all your painting projects
• Makita Drill Combo Set $299.00; read our review to find out why we like this set so much.

OK, OK, It’s by no means the “Be All, End All” gift giving guide of the year but cut us a little slack, it’s our first try, and after all it is the Holidays.  And on that note, Everyone at the JWC team would like to wish you and yours a Happy & Safe Holiday Season this year and a big thanks to all of our new and existing clients.

Most of us have seen them on car doors, safes, and offices. Now there beginning to show up in residential homes; I’m talking about keypad entry systems. You have the option to use your key, or the option to enter a code to unlock your front door.

There are a lot of advantages for these units; for instance, you always have the opportunity to change the code at anytime if you believe the code has been compromised, you never have to worry about losing your keys, you never have to leave a key under the rug for company, and some of the newer models let you customize multiple codes for multiple users. Say for instance that your housekeeper recently moved on to another job, you can now simply delete her code without effecting your families codes, you no longer have to continuously update everyone with the new code.

Another feature that some of the newer models have is the ability to send you a text message whenever the lock has been used. You can now monitor who and when people are accessing your home. Say some relatives call you and say surprise, we’re at your front door, well now you can remotely let them in (or make sure they stay out if your house is a mess).

The prices on these units are pretty reasonable. Looking at Home Depots website they’re selling between $99 – $148. For more of the high tech remote control units I recommend looking at Schlage’s website, they offer a vast selection with great features and appealing designs.

If you or someone you know already uses keypad entry, please let us know your opinons about them in our comments section.