Winter is coming, and with it, the yearly home repair dilemma:  what can I fix? Summer is the obvious time to work on your home repair projects:  the weather is warm, there is no snow to worry about, and the neighborhood is filled with teenagers willing to help for a small fee. So what do you do in winter, when the kids are in school and you are forced indoors by nasty winter weather?

The obvious answer is to work indoors. However, due to the cold, dry air that winder inevitably brings, wood shrinks in winter, so working on your hardwood floors and battered doors isn’t a good idea.

The best projects to do in winter are cosmetic:  painting, polishing, and organizing. These don’t take any outdoor work (even indoor projects can require you to use power tools outside) and they make your home look great for your holiday guests.

A little while ago, Richard’s Home Repair did a reroofing job for a house that had a sagging roof.

In the 1960s and 1970s, houses were not framed properly. There was a two-foot overhang in the roof that did not have beams to support it, causing the roof to sag. The solution was to remove the old roofing materials, leaving only the beams. The team nailed support beams into the overhang to fix the sagging, then reroofed the home, adding Polaralum under the shingles to better insulate the sweltering attic.

Now, the family in that home has a well-supported roof with great insulation.

One of the greatest challenges for energy efficiency is proper insulation of the home. A product that has come a long way in solving that problem is the radiant barrier. Radiant barriers are a reflective inner layer of a roof (and sometimes the walls) of a house that better insulate the home.

Last week, Richard’s Home Repair reroofed a home in Little Rock that had two problems:  a sagging roof and poor insulation that resulted in an extremely hot attic. The roofing team removed the old roof, added support to the beams, and got to work installing a radiant barrier called Polaralum. Polaralum can either replace the roofing felt or act as another layer under the felt.

Polaralum and other radiant barriers improve insulation in your home, which helps your thermostat keep your home the right temperature and lowers your heating and air conditioning bills. If you do not already have a radiant barrier in your home, consider installing one the next time you replace your roof.

You may have noticed that on the sidebar is an icon for All Grace Outreach. We’ve never before offered explanation as to what AGO is, however, so I am taking that opportunity to do so now.

All Grace Outreach is a charitable organization that focuses on spreading the gospel of Christ and providing aid for widows and orphans. They are based in Flint, Michigan and run by a group of women who have dedicated their lives to enriching the lives of others. The AGO website states their mission statement as follows:  “To impact and improve the lives of children both locally and globally and to fund Christian outreach efforts throughout the world.”

At Richard's Home Repair, we support every effort to improve the lives of those around us, especially those who cannot help themselves. To learn more about All Grace Outreach and how it helps the community, visit www.allgraceoutreach.com