5 Ways to Winterize Your Home

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, and according to Jimmy the Groundhog (who resides in Sun Prairie, WI) we’re in for an early spring! That said, it’s not too late to take the initiative and winterize your home, if you haven’t already done so. The following tips are all geared toward helping you winterize the exterior of your home. Let’s get started  … CLEAN OUT YOUR GUTTERS With the warm weather we’ve been having the past few days, you may be noticing your gutters are not draining properly. If they’re clear of snow and ice, here’s what you can do (or hire someone to do) right now to get them working better … Remove any debris from the gutters — like leaves, sticks and even asphalt roof granules — to help gutters remove water from melting snow or rain, instead of spilling over the side of the gutters. It’s also important to check your downspouts to ensure they are draining properly. We’ve had customers who didn’t clean their gutters for a few years, and when they called

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Beyond the Studs: Return on Investment (ROI) & Home Remodeling

In this episode of Beyond the Studs, Josh Gauwitz, owner of Legacy Exteriors, talked all about the potential for return on investment (ROI) on home remodeling projects, which is always good news for homeowners. Here’s what Josh had to say … I recently read an article on BankRate.com that talked about all of the “high-yielding” home Improvements people can make that typically yield a solid return on their investment. The article made some good points — things we’ll talk about with homeowners who are looking to remodel or make improvements — and I realized it would be a good topic for Beyond the Studs.  That said, before we dive into what those high yielding projects are, I’d like to point out a few of the remodeling projects that homeowners seem to love, that don’t yield an ROI when selling a home. These are just a few examples of some of the more popular renovations: • Lavish lighting fixtures are a must-have for many of the homeowners we work with • Converting a bedroom into a

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Beyond The Studs: Provia’s Path to Stunning Door Installations

In this episode of Beyond the Studs, Josh Gauwitz — owner of Legacy Exteriors — explains how your home’s front door can make a lasting impression and boost curb appeal. He also describes the stunning options available from Provia, and shares how their advanced design tools empower homeowners to create truly unique entryways that transform their homes. Here’s what Josh had to say… Today I want to talk about something that we’ve never talked about before and that is doors. You probably don’t think much about doors unless you’re a contractor doing door installations day in and day out, but they say a lot about your home. Your front door is one of the first things guests notice when they approach your house so they can leave a lasting first impression and increase curb appeal. We carry lots of different brands at Legacy Exteriors but our preferred brand is Provia because we love their design and quality. Their Embarq series, for instance, is top-of-the-line. It includes the most energy-efficient door in the United States and

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Beyond the Studs: Dealing with Storm Damage to Your Home

In this episode of Beyond the Studs, Josh Gauwitz spoke about storm damage here in Wisconsin. He also covers when it’s smart to have your home inspected, insurance claims, an the importance of doing your homework when choosing a company to work on repairs from storm damage … Recently, some pretty severe weather hit southern Wisconsin, and even in the far eastern parts of Sun Prairie you could hear sirens going off when it occurred. It was pretty crazy.  What I’d like to do is talk about how a homeowner can proceed in the event of storm damage, so the people in our community are prepared when this kind of stuff happens.  To begin, you need to know what type of potential issues you should be looking for after a storm. Obviously, there may be clean up of branches and debris, but what about your home itself? This last storm at the end of July had 70-mile an hour winds, and there were reports of baseball sized hail in areas. And then to top it

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Beyond the Studs: Winter is Coming, is Your Home Exterior Ready?

In this episode of Beyond the Studs, Josh Gauwitz spoke about the Wisconsin weather and how it can affect the exterior of your home, especially if your roofing or siding is in need of repair. Here’s what Josh had to say … Living in Wisconsin, we have extreme weather conditions — from below freezing cold, to smoldering heat, and everything in between. So it can really open the exterior of our house up to a lot of potential problems. If your siding or roofing isn’t holding up the way it should, that extreme temperature change can really break down the composition of those materials … especially if there is a manufacturer’s defect, or even a labor defect. This can open the exterior of a home to an array of potential problems. So, it’s always good to have an inspection done by either yourself, or a professional, which could be just a visual inspection. Some of the issues are going to be extremely obvious, like if you if you’re on a roof and you see cracking

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