Saving Time & Money: Peak’s Energy Saving Tips & Contractor Insights

Energy Saving Tips

The winter season brings along special holiday celebrations but it also brings cold weather that could affect your wallet if you don’t prepare properly. Here are some energy saving tips:

• Tune up your Heating System: Maintaining an efficient heating system is an important step to conserving energy. Have your heating system serviced once every two years, and never try to repair it yourself.
• Get The Fireplace Ready: For safety and efficiency purposes, it’s recommended that the chimney be swept on an annual basis to remove soot and creosote.
• Seal Air Leaks: Inspect exterior for crevice cracks and exposed entry points around pipes; seal them. Also, use weather-stripping around doors to prevent cold air from entering the home and caulk windows.
• Insulate: Insulate your attic, walls, ceilings and floors to prevent heat escaping to the outdoors. Insulation improves your comfort as well as the efficiency of your home–and that means more savings for you.

• Check Foundations: Tuckpoint or seal foundation cracks.
• Install Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Install a carbon monoxide detector near your furnace and / or water heater and test them to make sure they work. Also, buy a fire extinguisher or replace an extinguisher older than 10 years.
• Prevent Plumbing Freezes: Insulate exposed plumbing pipes and if you go on vacation, leave the heat on, set to at least 55 degrees.

Finding the Right Contractor – the Importance of Credentials

Beware – attempting to save a few dollars initially may cost you more than just money in the long run.

This can happen when a homeowner has chosen a lower bid for a contractor’s services. In some cases, there are problems with poor workmanship or building materials. If the contractor doesn’t have the proper insurance or credentials then the homeowner has very little recourse available to them. Peak Construction is highly insured and fully credentialed in all aspects of construction: from general licenses to the specific systems like septic, mitigation, and roofing, etc.

Warranties – Another Benefit of Credential Programs & Affiliations

One of our credentials is the Master Elite Weather Stopper Roofing Contractor for GAF, North America’s largest roofing manufacturer. In addition to the manufacturer’s warranty, this certification also provides extra warranties to guarantee work outside of Peak’s 1 year warranty on general construction workmanship (in compliance with NYS regulations.) Occasionally, there are some specific projects that Peak will offer an extended warranty for, so make sure to discuss this well in advance.

Master Elite Weather Stopper Roofing Contractor for GAF-ELK

Builders Association of the Hudson Valley Certificate

See the full list of Peak Construction’s Credentials >

Peak Rebuilds Family Home in Less Than Four Months

Here in the Northeast where the winters are long and cold, fireplaces help heat, and add ambiance, to many family homes. Unfortunately, they can also lead to devastating fires which is what happened to a family home in Millerton, New York. In fire restoration construction, the standard time for re-building a home can be 12 months or more. However, with some financial ingenuity, Peak Construction was able to get this Dutchess County family back into their home in less than four months.

The Benefits of Pre-Funding Projects

Waiting for your insurance company to issue checks can hold up the whole re-building process. To alleviate that problem, Peak will often “pre-fund” the project before the insurance checks arrive. This is a huge benefit to the homeowner and was one of the primary reasons the Millerton family project was completed in less than four months. Before the insurance checks arrived, Peak was able to complete the following:

• Peak worked with the adjustor to assess the value of their home
• Plans were drawn and permits were acquired
• Work was completed on both the slab and frame

Problems Solved Efficiently

With an eye towards increased energy efficiency, changes were made to the new home that were efficient and solved some existing problems.

1. Foundation
   A slab foundation was used instead of a basement due to water problems that had been an issue before the fire. Under the slab, they put in polyiso insulation which has a high R-value. Polyiso is a closed-cell, rigid foam board insulation consisting of a foam core sandwiched between two faces. The faces are composed of various organic and inorganic materials, usually paper and fiberglass. It is widely used in both residential and commercial markets for roof and side wall applications. Polyiso insulation has many beneficial attributes:

• Polyiso is the most thermally efficient rigid board insulation available in the marketplace; it has the highest R-value per inch of thickness
• Moisture resistant foam core
• Compatible with most solvents used in construction adhesives.
• Excellent dimensional stability
• Superior performance in fire tests – Polyiso meets the strict standard of both FM Class 1 Approvals (FM 4450/4470), UL 1256, and CAN/ULC S126M
• Wide range of service temperatures
• Long Term R-value (only roof insulation with third party certification)
• CFC and HCFC free – zero ozone depletion potential
• Recycled content in most products
• Negligible global warming potential

2. Windows
   Peak used Anderson windows – a company that has a reputation for quality, energy-efficient windows. They are also known for standing behind their work with a comprehensive warranty.

3. Exterior 
   Before the fire, the family’s home was an all-wood lake house cabin that wasn’t very energy-efficient. However, for the re-construction, Peak used the energy-efficient Mastic Mill Creek vinyl siding. This siding really captures the warmth of real wood and with their advanced locking system; it also secures the panels for winds up to 165 mph.

4. Shingles
   GAF Timberline shingles were also used for their potential insurance savings, superior wind performance, impact resistance, and exceptional protection.

Winterization Tip: Clean your fireplace and get it inspected BEFORE winter sets in

Virtually every fire protection agency recommends you hire a certified chimney professional to inspect your chimney yearly. Chimneys need periodic examination and thorough cleaning to maintain efficiency and to reduce the chance of a chimney fire.

Annual Reminder: Make sure your home is properly valued by your insurance company.

According to recent studies, 64% of homes are undervalued for insurance purposes.

Unfortunately, the cost to rebuild your home can be much more than the value of your home. The reason being that the cost of repairing or replacing your home may be based on a set dollar limit. This limit may not reflect increases in the cost of construction and labor. The bottom line is that you need to get an estimate of the replacement cost for your home which can be done by a local builder. Then check with your insurance agent today to make sure you have the proper coverage. Finally, it is recommended that you review your homeowner’s insurance coverage annually to make sure that your coverage meets your needs!

Peak Comes to the Rescue Following Hurricane Irene

Photo Credit: Tom Bushey / Times Herald-Record

The name Irene has become infamous in the Hudson Valley as homes and businesses continue to recover from the devastating effects of the hurricane. Many people unaccustomed to such severe flooding are suddenly being faced with the consequences of water damage in their homes. If you are one of the unlucky homeowners plagued by flood damage, you should be wary of the dangers that result from water breaching your walls.

These risks include:

• Weakened foundations
• Shorted out electrical systems
• Contamination of water and surroundings

Peak Construction was very active with its water damage mitigation efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Of the roughly 20-25 jobs that Peak’s team started directly following the storm, 15 involved water damage and flood.

Photo Credit: Tom Bushey / Times Herald-Record

One House, Two Floods in Goshen

One such mitigation job, in Goshen, NY, was exceptionally complicated. Because the home was on low lying land, it took 5 days for Peak to access it after the initial damage. The relatively new home (only a few years old) was flooded with 4 feet of water. Every room on the lower floor was completely damaged and the home’s air conditioning units were ruined.

Immediately after arriving, Peak installed drying units to help get rid of the massive amounts of water. This took about 5 days to complete. Unfortunately, the house flooded again in a smaller, subsequent storm, which forced our mitigation team to start from scratch. The second dry out took 10 days in total.

Protecting Your Home from Flood Damage

In the case of the home in Goshen, NY, it was built on low-lying land and wasn’t elevated, so drainage was the key issue. The two incidents of heavy rain directed the water towards the home, making flood prevention an arduous task.

Homeowners can take a variety of steps to better prepare themselves for destructive rain storms. It’s important to make sure the basement is properly sealed, as is providing adequate drainage either outside or inside the home. Outside, an affordable solution is the installation of solid, clean gutters to help promote better drainage so water doesn’t find its way into the home. A curtain drain is another good outdoor solution for channeling water away. Indoors, you can install an interior drainage system that will connect to your sump pump and prevent standing water from accumulating.

Of the many mitigation assistance jobs resulting from Hurricane Irene, the most common problem for homes in our coverage area was sump pump failure due either to a power outage or clogging. Fortunately, the homes that suffered sump pump failure were usually covered by general home owner’s insurance, as opposed to the homes with flood damage due to another cause. By providing backup generators to sump pumps, the risk of failure decreases significantly.

Lastly, if you do find standing water in your home, attempt to remove it as quickly as possible. Wet Vac’s can help remove a substantial amount of water in the interim, until a Peak Construction technician can access your home.

Protecting Your Home Investment Even When Misfortune Strikes

When flames erupt in your home, the safety of you and your family are always the highest priority. Not until the blaze has been quelled does your attention turn to the fallout and ramifications of this unfortunate event. Being prepared for this kind of catastrophe is important, however. Not only do you have to worry about damage from the fire, but you also have to consider the effects of all the water being used to extinguish it.

Homeowner Guy Caffrey was struck with bad luck when his home caught fire over the holidays. Luckily, Guy, his wife, and their three children were all able to make it out of the house safely. Unfortunately, the home was a total loss and needed to be completely restored.

These kinds of terrible occurrences reinforce the need for an up-to-date network of smoke detectors in the home. It’s important to install a smoke detector in every bedroom, outside of every bedroom and on each level of the house. It’s also necessary to ensure that all of alarms sound when one is triggered by interconnecting them throughout the home. You should check the alarms monthly by pushing the test button on every smoke detector.

To help bolster its ability to mitigate damage, Peak Construction has been pushing employees to become IICRC certified as Water Damage Restoration Technicians (WRT). This designation allows them to deal with insurance companies and work out the costs of a particular job. WRT certification involves learning about drying techniques, how to inspect structures and determine moisture content and how to limit liability such as mold and bacteria.

In addition, Jason Giannoni is now heading the mitigation team responsible for these home restoration ventures. In addition to WRT, he also achieved his Advanced Structural Drying (ASD) certification, which gives him the inside track on the most cutting edge tools and methods for saving a home.

Peak Construction, with its dedication to damage mitigation efforts, worked with the insurance company to develop the best estimate for the Caffrey family. The entire home needed to be ripped down and built back up, but the team’s ability has actually put the project ahead of schedule. Guy noted that the response time of Peak immediately following the fire was “great” and they’ve paid attention to every little detail throughout the project. This, combined with the “level of professionalism” Peak has exhibited, he said, has impressed him immensely.