Archives: Structure

Farmers Porch On Colonial Style House

By Todd Fratzel on Curb Appeal, Decks & Porches, House Plans

Farmers Porch When I designed our new house my wife only had a couple of must haves. The biggest wish on her list was a full length farmers porch. I was skeptical at first because I wasn’t exactly sure how our large colonial style home would look with such a large porch on it. As…

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Ice Dams

By Todd Fratzel on Roofing

Ice Dams Each year Ice Dams cause damage to thousands of homes across the Country. Understanding the causes of ice dams is the first step in preventing them. Ice damns happen when melting roof snow pools behind dams of ice at the roof’s edge and then leaks under the roofing material into the house. Typically…

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Top Five Money Savings Tips for New Home Construction

By Todd Fratzel on Framing, Home Improvement Cost Savings

Save Big The Next Time You Build Considering how fragile the economy is right now and how timid banks are to loan money for new homes I thought I’d share my experience with saving money on new home construction. It wasn’t that long ago when getting loans was really easy and building large homes was…

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How To Insulate Basement Walls

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Foundations, Insulation

How To Insulate Basement Walls Insulating a basement properly is rather challenging in cold climates. In this article I’d like to discuss how to insulate basement walls in cold climates. Insulating basement walls in cold climates is a great way to keep your home warmer and drier. However, special care should be used when insulating…

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Basement Insulation

By Todd Fratzel on Basements, Framing, Insulation

Basement Insulation – Walls Basement insulation is far more complicated than insulating regular wood framed walls. In fact, improperly insulated basement walls are one of the biggest reasons for mold in homes. If you don’t do this correctly you’ll be exposing your family to dangerous mold exposure. In this article I’ll show you How To…

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Closed Cell Spray Foam

By Todd Fratzel on Insulation

Using Spray Foam To Insulate Homes Very few materials have dropped in price with regard to new home construction over the last few years. One huge exception to that rule though (at least here regionally) is the price for Spray Foam Insulation. Once considered the “Cadillac” of insulation only used on the most expensive projects…

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Flashing A Deck Ledger Board Properly

By Todd Fratzel on Decks & Porches, Framing

Deck Ledger Board Flashing Detail Lately I’ve been seeing problematic deck ledger flashing details so I’d like to share with you my perspective on how to properly flash and secure your deck to the house. Properly flashing a deck ledger seems to be a lost skill with most weekend warriors…..let’s discuss how to properly secure…

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Vinyl Window Seal Failure – How To Repair

By Todd Fratzel on Windows

How To Repair A Vinyl Window Seal Failure Vinyl windows can be virtually maintenance free but occasional a window seal failure cause quite a headache! Window seal failures are usually pretty easy to diagnose once you know what to look for. In the picture below you can see an example of a vinyl window seal…

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