Ajax Pickering Real Estate Blog

From Pillar to Post Home Inspections

Furnaces in homes throughout North America are cranking up for a long winter season. It is especially important to have furnaces inspected and maintained to ensure that they run efficiently and safely as we head into the colder months.

Simple ways to improve efficiency

By some accounts, home heating, especially gas furnaces, can represent half of a typical home’s winter utilities bill. Efficient operation can mean lower energy bills and a more comfortable home. For example, programmable thermostats can be used to automatically turn heat up or down at specified times, so that the temperature is lowered overnight or while no one is at home. Thermostats should be calibrated occasionally to avoid “off cycle” heat loss; a properly calibrated thermostat will result in more even heating between the on/off cycles, which is both more efficient and comfortable.

Safety and maintenance

Safety is also an important factor in furnace operation. Gas furnaces can be a source of carbon monoxide if there are leaks or cracks that go unnoticed or unrepaired. The furnace flame should be steady and burn blue; if not, this should be addressed immediately. A qualified contractor or inspector can detect these types of problems and recommend needed action.

Simple furnace maintenance includes checking and replacing disposable air filters and cleaning permanent-type filters, as well as keeping dust, hair, and lint away from the burner compartment and air intake. No matter what type it is, a well-maintained furnace will not only last longer, but can save energy, money, and help a home’s overall air quality and comfort.

Considering a new furnace?

If a new furnace is necessary, it is a good opportunity to evaluate the various types of furnaces now available and how well they might meet a home’s specific situation. Furnaces are defined as conventional efficiency, mid efficiency, and high efficiency.

There are advantages and drawbacks to each type, some are better suited to older homes, for example, and cost may be a factor in considering various types of systems. However, the ability of some new furnaces to reduce off cycle heat loss, eliminate the need for an always-on pilot light, etc. make replacing a furnace worth considering if a current system is in bad repair or functioning poorly. Your local Pillar To Post office can provide you with additional information on various types of furnaces.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

Curb appeal — that mix of architecture, landscape and colour that grabs the eye of passersby — makes a big difference in how people react to a house

Pedro Arrais, Special to Times Colonist

When it comes to choosing a home, first impressions count. The decision whether to look inside a house is usually based on a quick drive-by assessment. If a house has curb appeal, say real estate agents, buyers are more likely to want a look inside the house.

Curb appeal, like personal taste, is not easily defined. In general, it is a blend of architecture, design elements, colour, landscaping and other features that make a house attractive at first glance. Curb appeal can mean the difference between a house selling in a few weeks or sitting for months.

Heather Wilde, a real estate agent with 30 years experience, sums up what curb appeal means to her: “When I see an attractive house I think, ‘Ah, there is somebody I would like to know!’ I want to get inside to get to know them better,” says Wilde.

Her advice on creating curb appeal? “Put on a little lipstick and shine your shoes,” says Wilde.

Christina Stevens, 31, and her partner Sylvain Perron, 36, had been looking for a house seriously for a month before they drove by a house on Pelican Drive in the Royal Bay development in Colwood.

According to Stevens, the house was still under construction and the landscaping had yet to be installed. Still she remembers thinking, “That’s the house I want to see.” Without even a For Sale sign outside, she was confident it was the house for them.

“I just knew,” says Stevens, “that if the inside was as nice as the outside, that was the house for us.”

So what do the experts say will add to a property’s curb appeal?

ARCHITECTURE

A house’s initial design serves as the base to all the other elements, says Steve Akers, an architect with Stuart Howard Architects Inc.. Akers says the heritage or Arts and Crafts style popular these days has a timeless appeal because it has been around for the last 100 years. He suggests homeowners choose the best materials — such as siding and trim boards — that they can afford.

“Finishes done poorly affect the visual appeal of a house,” says Akers.

He also suggests that, if you have the height above the front door, adding a transom — a window over a door — adds visual appeal.

A transom window over the front door will also improve the quality of light inside the house.

STYLE

“The style needs to flow,” says design consultant Mary Kehler. “It needs to flow in with the surroundings instead of standing out,” she says.

Kehler suggests that a house needs a sense of balance, both in the architectural style and with the landscape. Kehler is fond of blending rock faces into the house if she can because it creates a natural ambience. “The house can be too sterile without it,” she says.

LIGHTING

“Don’t make your home look like a landing strip,” warns Elaine Richardson of Illuminations Lighting Solutions. She is referring to houses with too many dim lights trying unsuccessfully to illuminate a pathway.

“A few well-placed lights are much more effective,” she says. According to Richardson, a simple way to give any house a “quiet wow” is the installation of a four-to-five inch pot light to highlight the front door.

“The idea is to highlight beauty without being garish,” says Richardson.

LANDSCAPING

Duane Ensing of Landscape Solutions in advises owners to incorporate “exterior architecture” elements into their new home.

“In the transition from landscape to home, it helps to create visual appeal by varying heights and introducing screening for the plants to be displayed against,” says Ensing.

If there is money in the budget, he advises that homeowners consider water features and rock in the garden. It is also important to take into account how big the plants you choose will become when they are mature.

PAINT

“Colour causes an emotional response,” says designer Robyn Bryson. She suggests that the colour of a house does not need to “shout” to be noticed.

“You can make a statement about grace and elegance with restraint and simplicity,” she says.

Kehler advises using contrasting colours to highlight exterior doors.

GARAGE DOOR/ENTRYWAY

Unless their house is situated in Oak Bay with a rear lane, most homeowners have to contend with a garage door facing the roadway.

Builder Gordon English of Jenco Construction says the best way to soften the appearance of the garage door is by painting it the same colour as the walls. Another strategy is to build a front verandah past the garage.

“The eye is drawn to the closest thing from the curb,” says English, “so the house becomes the focal point, not the garage door.”

He also advocates a curved walkway with steps to create some drama and interest.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

Keen to apply do-it-yourself attitude to dwellings

Grania Litwin, CanWest News Service

Santina Tenerelli and Blair Spencer are excited about moving into their new home and can’t wait to start renovating, adding new siding, putting in more windows and repainting the exterior.

Both their fathers are plumbers, which doesn’t hurt, but these young people are keen to learn and apply their own skills, too.

“I’m not comfortable doing anything electrical,” said Spencer, 28, “so I will defer to the experts on that, but everything else we’re willing to learn. I enjoy carpentry and did shop all through junior high.”

Tenerelli, 25, notes her father also builds homes.

“I grew up with renovations and can’t wait to start doing some myself, putting our own personal touches on the house.

” I learned a a lot from my dad, helped him with framing and general maintenance, so I’m raring to go. I feel there’s nothing we can’t tackle.”

Both young people work in corrections, he in probation and she in finance, and they met at University College of the Fraser Valley, where they both studied criminology.

They don’t have a lot of tools, but they plan to buy as many as they can second hand and will be dropping some major hints for Christmas presents from Rona and Home Depot.

“I have a basic hammer and drill set,” Spencer joked, “but coming from a condo, where we were renting, you tend not to accumulate a lot of tools because you don’t have an opportunity to use them. You get a little rusty.

“That’s one of the negative side effects of renting. I’m looking forward to doing things myself and learning a lot.”

His one reservation?

“Where do you start? I mean, first we have to prepare a budget. We’ve never done anything like this before and want to make sure we’re not biting off more than we can chew.”

When Nancy Fowles moved into a seniors’ apartment recently, she couldn’t take all her tools.

“The first time I downsized, I took everything from my tool shed, but this time I moved into a really small place, and my son-in-law said I couldn’t take everything,” she says with a chuckle.

“I kept going through stuff saying, I need that, I need that and Lew would say, No, no, no.’

“He was right. He’s such a perfectionist. You name it, he does it, and he does it well.”

Her son-in-law Lew Lewis, who works at Home Depot, recently bought her a shiny new red tool box, filled with all the essentials she’ll need in her new home.

“It’s especially important for seniors to have a terrific toolbox,” says Fowles, 79, who hates paying for expensive repairs.

“I use everything in mine: screwdrivers, small level, wire cutters, small hammer. Lew took away my big hammer,” she says with mock offence. “He said: ‘You don’t have to go through walls and tear things apart anymore.’ ”

Having an independent nature, it was hard giving up her tools.

She and her husband and four children moved west from Toronto decades ago and made a new life for themselves in Whitehorse.

While up there, she took an automotive seminar, and many times she changed her own tires. Her daughter, who is just as handy, has occasionally stopped to change a tire for a helpless man.

“I think it’s important to know how to do things for yourself,” says the self-reliant grandmother, who came here in retirement. “I’ve always done my own painting and prep work. I used to fix toasters and iron cords, change sockets, replace lamp units. My son is very good with electrical things and drew me a picture once saying: ‘Mum, you can do this.’ ”

Her father could fix anything and taught her to be self-sufficient.

“I hope an article like this gives older and younger people some inspiration to do the same. I think it’s important for females not to be helpless.”

She raised her sons to fend for themselves, too, and they’re both excellent cooks, who can also clean, sew buttons, iron their own shirts and more. Besides the basic tools given to her recently by her son-in-law, the former practical nurse adds a few essential recommendations.

“Everyone needs a sturdy step ladder and a nice dolly. I store my dolly in a locker downstairs because I don’t have much room in my apartment. It’s very handy for moving things around and cleaning. I’ve given up trying to move big things like refrigerators, but still use it for bookcases or small cabinets.” She also recommends a set of pads to slide under furniture when moving it.

“I have two sizes, and they’re so handy” as well as a plunger, several different grits of sand paper, nail hole filler, duct tape, WD-40 and a full-size glue gun. “I’ve had mine for 30 years,” she says, opening a nearby cupboard and pulling out a heavy-duty black number. “It’s served me well.”

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960