Expert tips for home renos, repairs and refreshes

There’s more to a home than four walls and a roof.

From exterior landscaping to interior comfort, there are a number of areas homeowners can tackle to improve the overall appearance and ambiance of a house.

Rick Wuest, owner and president of Thompson Creek Window Company, recently joined WTOP to discuss everything from curb appeal, to energy efficiency, to finding and hiring the right contractor.
On ways to improve your home’s value

A lot of people who are in the market for a new home recognize, right away, whether the windows and doors have been replaced or haven’t been replaced, and they’re going to calculate the costs into their offer price.

Reducing noise to make your home more comfortable

Sound travels as energy, so the same ways that you can make your home more energy efficient are often going to help make it more quiet and comfortable inside and keep that outside noise out.

On making your home more energy efficient in winter and summer

Drafts can come from a lot of different places -- through the walls, through electrical outlets, so there are plugs that can be put into those to stop that cold air from blowing in. Checking the attic insulation as well -- maybe blowing in some additional insulation in from the attic can be a big help.

When do you know it’s time to replace your windows?

If you find rooms in your house that become uncomfortably hot when the sun’s on that side of the home, or uncomfortably cool and you can’t use your home the way that you want to, that’s a sign that you might want to look at replacing your windows.

Keeping up with your home’s gutters

Bad gutters that are leaking or overflowing are going to cause foundational issues in your home, can cause very expensive damage to the house, so you definitely want to make sure that the rainwater that’s hitting your roof gets away from your foundation.

What to look for in a contractor

If you want to make sure that they’re going to be around to take care of things over the long haul, you’ve got to make sure you’ve got somebody who’s got the experience and then the knowledge -- Do we know the local building codes? Do we know the climate to make the right recommendations?

On starting a successful local business

We’re in changing times and things are changing quickly. Businesses have to be able to adapt.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up