Spring is in the Air!

Spring is in the Air!

The sky is blue, the water is getting warmer, the beach is beautiful, and if you ask me, it is about time! I don't know about you but I was getting tired of being cold!

If your like me the last thing you want to do right now is worry about spring maintenance on the exterior of your home. At the same time proper maintenance saves homeowners thousands of dollars in costly repairs and help to maintain the value of their home and in this economy who whats to loose anymore value in their home!

Here is an idea to keep those maintenance items from getting away from you. Go to wefixstucco.com today and schedule your free Exterior Inspection Report and Proposal. The inspection is free and will contain valuable maintenance tips and repair suggestions that can save you in costly repairs. Of course we will provide you with a detailed estimate to do the repairs, or give you maintenance recommendations and advise on how you can do the maintenance yourself.

Don't let costly repairs sneak up on you let R&S Exterior Contractors come and give you a free Inspection Report today! We specialize in the repair and maintenance of stucco homes.

Gene Pruett

wefixstucco.com

Your Home Needs Spring Maintenance!

R&S Exterior Contractors specializes in the repair and maintenance of stucco homes.

the bottom line is that proper maintenance of your home will save you thousands of dollars in repairs.

Spring time is a great time to maintain the exterior of your home here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Landscape should all be kept cut back off the home.
2. You should have your home pressure washed at least once a year.
3. You should have the sealants on your windows and doors checked, if it is starting to get brittle and crack you need to have it renewed.
4. Stucco cracks need to be sealed and the repairs touched up. DO NOT USE CAULK to fill stucco cracks. It will leave shiny lines that stand out on the side of your home, and caulk will not perform well.
5. Flashing, gutters, downspouts are all designed to manage large amounts of water coming off the roof, these items are often overlooked. However if they are not maintained and adjusted properly they can create thousands of dollars of damage.
6. It may be time for a paint job... Stucco needs quality paint and water proof coatings to perform well.
7. R&S Exterior Contractors will do a free Exterior Inspection Report for you home with recommendation for maintenance, and a proposal for us to do the work, or... tips to help you do it your self.
8. Go to our web site to download a sample Report and schedule your free Exterior Inspection Report.
9. www.wefixstucco.com

Stucco Maintenance

Doing stucco repair work for the last 4 years has been a real eye opener. One of the stark realities is that for the most part homeowners do not take good care of the exterior of their home. Why?

1. They do not know what to do. It is a little intimidating, "what if I use the wrong product, what if I make a mess or make the situation worse...!?"

2. The work can be dangerous. Pulling out the extension ladder to check the sealant on those 2nd story windows can be dangerous if you have not used it for a while and it's on the bottom of a pile in the garage.

3. It may require special tools. Some maintenance work requires special tools that can get expensive fast!

No matter what the reason the one thing I have learned is that... IT IS MORE ECONOMICAL TO DO MAINTENANCE THAN REPAIRS! Last month alone R&S did over 10k in repair work that could have been avoided with proper maintenance!

Call us for a free estimate to have your home maintained by a professional.

R&S Exterior Contractors

904-608-4123

R&S Completes First Home w/ New G-04-09 Stucco Requirements

We finished the first home with all the new requirements... including that TERRIBLE plaster stop and backer rod detial around the windows. This home is synthetic worm finish body and fine sand finish on the bands. It came out very nice. We use NP1 commerical sealant on the backer rod joint. PLEASE DO NOT USE CAULK it will fail and the window will leak!!! This home is being built by an engineer and he wanted a band on the top and a sill on the bottom so the sides were open... beautiful grey stucco w/ white sealant lines on both sides of the window. Good God Man! We used a chip brush and brushed color over the sealant. It looks good. I will post some pictures this week end. We always brown up to the top plate, and brown before adding banding, in this case we used primus and mesh to bond the band to the brown coat. Garanteed no cracks, no leaks. Now I have to worry about that "renewable sealant joint" all I want to know is who is going to renew it? And what happens when they dont? You got it... leaks.

The good news... we dont have to install the baker rod and sealant from here forward for now. The reality... as a building industry we have to develop alternate details.

How to feed your blog into your web site! ?!?!

This has been a challange for me! I finally got the feed in my site and here is the easy, free, service I used to do it. http://feed.informer.com/

It is easy to find online article on how to do all this social media networking stuff the problem is you have to know the techno babble buzz words to search for the answers.

I thought... stream your blog, embed your blog... on and on... if you want a list of directions to do this google or search "how to feed my blog into my web site" presto answers.

First-Time Home Buyers Can Turn Tax Credit Into Cash

This came to me through the NAHB E-newsletter. It got me excited because I believe this will create purchase oppertunities for first time home buyers market. Including two of my employees....

First-time buyers eligible for the $8,000 federal tax credit who apply for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration may soon also be eligible for bridge loans or cash advances that they can use for the downpayment, closing costs or other loan expenses pending receipt of their tax credit check from the IRS. The FHA change was announced this month by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. As many as half of all would-be first-time buyers do not have enough cash on hand for a downpayment and closing costs, according to building and real estate industry estimates. By advancing these buyers as much as $8,000 at closing, many more would be able to afford the purchase. Officials at NAHB say the bridge loan feature could double the total number of home purchases stimulated by the 2009 tax credit program to more than 300,000, depending on how many private lenders and state housing agencies participate. The new bridge loans and cash-advance features of the federal credit may not be available immediately through private lenders, mortgage industry leaders say. Among the key questions to be answered: Where will non-depository mortgage companies get the $8,000 in advance money to provide upfront to buyers? Although most major banks offer second-mortgage programs, the FHA guidelines stipulate that the tax credit advances cannot be secured by a lien on the property, but only by the tax credit to be received by the purchaser. In the meantime, would-be buyers who believe they’re eligible for the credit should shift into high gear shopping for a house — the Cinderella closing date of Nov. 30 is looming — even if they will need a bridge loan or a cash advance to complete the deal. The odds are good that by the time they’re ready to get a mortgage and go to closing, at least some local FHA-approved lenders will be actively in the market with bridge loans. (www.washingtonpost.com) Washington Post (5/23/09); Kenneth R. Harney

G-04-09 New Stucco Requirements Update as of 5-22-09

There was a very positive meeting at NEFBA today to discuss the implementation of the new code requirements from the G-04-09 Bulliten. I wanted to summerize the discussion for those intrested.

Here are the main points as I understand them:

1. The memo stands as it is. That means it is code.
2. Due to the expressed concerns of the builders it is my understanding that Mr. Goldsbury is going to ask the field inspectors to ease back on the detail calling for plaster stop, backerrod, and sealant around the windows. This not any type of retraction of the memo - the memo stands. It is does seem safe to say it will provide some relief to help us work toward a smooth implementation of the memo and possible alternatives to the renewable sealant joint detail.
3. It is my understanding that: there is a meeting scheduled next month for the Florida Builidng Officals where this detail will be on the agenda, NEFBA will have a representative at the meeting to reflect the concerns of the builders if needed. (This type of representation is a great reason to join NEFBA!)
4. The G-04-09 allows prevision for alternate details on page 2. It is my understanding that any alternates will need to follow intent of the memo, and they MUST be on the building plans submitted for review at the time of permiting.
5. The primary intent of the plaster stop and backer rod is a renewable sealant joint. There seems to be no major contention that it needs to be made with plaster stop and backer rod. It is however left to the builder to provide an acceptable design.
6. There are other details on the memo that R&S has discussed with the building officals, they do not seem to be creating the same level of questions as the renewable sealant joint issue. But if you have any questions post them on the blog and if I dont know the answer someone will.
7. There are several builders I know of working on general concept details for initial review by Mr. Goldsbury's office. It was mentioned as a possibility that a set of acceptable alternate details could be collected be provided to NEFBA members as a service. Remember they would still have to be presented on the plans by the archetect of record. Is that somthing you would be intrested in? This is not somthing that was decided at the meeing it was mentioned and I think it is a great idea... what do you think? Please let me know...

I would like to thank Executive Director Daniel Davis, President of the Board Glen Laton, and the Northeast Florida Builders Association, for hosting the meeting as well as Tom Goldsbury for taking time from his busy schedule to attend.

NOTE: R&S Exterior Contractors News Blog, or R&S Exterior Contractors is in no way a representative of the COJ Building Department, nor NEFBA. All of the observations from the meeting expressed here are completly the views of the author and are intended to be a service for informational purposes only.