I’m sure I’m not alone when it comes to having a bad experience with customer service when deciding to make or even after I have made a purchase. Bad service can also be a good thing– it sure made me realize which businesses to trust, and which to stay away from. A few months ago I was in the market for a new TV. I decided to check out a store about an hour away from home because it seemed to advertise such great deals. Upon arrival, something just didn’t feel right: it was the lack of friendliness, the lack of sincerity, and the pure lack of customer service I received from the employees there.

The store was out for themselves and did not make me feel valued. I know that I will never attempt to go there again, and will never advise anyone to either. I also did research and found others who had the same bad experience I did. That experience made me realize how much customer service can effect a business and lead a business to success or failure.

The experience also made me proud to be a part of ALL-PRO, where our customers are the most important part of our business. We value our customers so much, and providing  less than the best possible service to them is something we as a company will never tolerate. The ALL-PRO team goes above and beyond for their customers.

We at ALL-PRO understand there are companies, like that TV store  I visited, that do not understand what caring about customers really means. That is why we pride ourselves on our reputation for great customer service. We are not satisfied unless our customers are satisfied. This testimonial supports the fact that from start to finish the ALL-PRO  team always puts the customer first…

If your home does not have proper and effective attic insulation, heat  can escape from the living space during the cold winter months. Heat is transferred from the living space and also generated from recessed light fixtures, air ducts, furnaces and other appliances and equipment located in the attic. This heat raises the roof temperature above the freezing point, causing the snow and ice on the roof to melt and flow downward.

This area is often just inside the perimeter of the outside walls. Once the melted snow, or water, meets back up with the colder part of the roof (overhang) that hangs over and outside of the interior walls (just above the soffit vent area), it begins to freeze again, expand and back up. This dam that forms is where this effect gets its name from; ice dam.

Have you ever noticed one house that is completely covered with snow on the roof? Then you see a house with no snow, or with areas that have completely melted away. Contrary to one’s belief, the house with all the snow on its roof, typically resembles the better insulated one. You may also notice huge, long icicles hanging down off the roof of one house, but not on another. These are all signs of an inadequately insulated roof and/or attic space.

The Havoc Ice Dams Wreak
Roofs leak on attic insulation. In the short term, wet insulation doesn’t work well. Over the long term, water-soaked insulation remains compressed, so that even after it dries, the R-value is not as high. The lower the R-values, the more heat lost. This sets up a vicious cycle: heat loss-ice dams-roof leaks-insulation damage-more heat loss!

Water often leaks down inside the wall, where it wets wall insulation and causes it to sag, leaving uninsulated voids at the top of the wall. Again, energy dollars disappear, but more importantly, moisture gets trapped in the wall cavity between the exterior plywood sheathing and the interior vapor barrier. Soon you can smell the result. In time, the structural framing members may decay. Metal fasteners may corrode. Mold and mildew may form on the surface of the wall. Exterior and interior paint blisters and peels. As a result, people with allergies suffer.

Peeling paint deserves special attention here because it may be hard to recognize what’s causing it. Wall paint doesn’t usually blister or peel while the ice dams are visible. Paint peels long after the ice–and the roof leak itself–have disappeared. Water from the leak infiltrates wall cavities. It dampens building materials and raises the relative humidity inside the wall. The moisture within the wall cavity tries to escape (as either liquid or vapor) and wets the interior and exterior walls. As a result, the walls shed their skin of paint.

Solving the Problem
The way to stop ice dams from forming is to keep the entire roof cold. In most homes this means blocking all air leaks leading to the attic from the living space below, increasing the thickness of insulation on the attic floor, and installing a continuous soffit and ridge vent system. Be sure that the air and insulation barrier you create is continuous.

Don’t waste time or money placing electric heat tape on the shingles above the edge of the roof. Electrically heated cable rarely, if ever, solves the problem. It takes a lot of electricity to prevent ice formation; and the heating must be done before it gets cold enough for ice dams to form, not afterward. Over time, heat tape makes shingles brittle. It’s expensive to install, too, and water can leak through the cable fasteners. And often the cables create ice dams just above them.

The worst of all solutions is shoveling snow and chipping ice from the edge of the roof. People attack mounds of snow and roof ice with hammers, shovels, ice picks, homemade snow rakes, crowbars, and chain saws! The theory is obvious. No snow or ice, no leaking water. Unfortunately, this method threatens life, limb, and roof.
Information taken from www.energystar.com

Windows- Our windows will help keep the drafts out and the warm air in your home. ALL-PRO windows are guaranteed to save you 40% on energy consumption.

Doors- Our entry, storm, and sliding glass doors work much like our window: windy drafts will disappear while our doors help lock the cold air outside & keep your home warm. This all, of course, helps you save energy and money!

Siding- ALL-PRO’s insulated siding guarantees resistance to weather conditions as well as an extra layer of insulation to help manage energy costs!

Insulation- Insulate your attic with ALL-PRO and take advantage of the $1500 tax credit. Not to mention you will save 20-30% on your energy bills!

As you can see, ALL-PRO offers various products and services that promise to keep your home warm and your energy bill low this winter. We are a firm believer in energy efficient homes, and we are a proud Energy Star partner.

If you would like to go green to save green, give us a call and we will be happy to help you with your home improvement needs! We hope to hear from you soon!

So why don’t Northeastern cities, which are disproportionately dependent on heating oil, switch to a more affordable fuel source? Because it can cost thousands of dollars to completely reconfigure how a home is heated. Also, the availability and price of natural gas in the Northeast lessens the attractiveness of a switch.

Therefore the most cost effective way to rough the winters is to make your household more energy efficient.  According to the department of energy,  a efficient way of doing this is by means of attic insulation.   The reason being that heat rises and is primarily lost through your ceiling.

To find out if you have enough attic insulation, measure the thickness of the insulation. If it is less than R-30 (11 inches of fiber glass or rock wool or 8 inches of cellulose), you could probably benefit by adding more. Most U.S. homes should have between R-30 and R-60 insulation in the attic.

By adding substaintial attic insulation you can expect to save up to 20% on your heating bills this upcoming winter.

Furthermore the gov’t is also offering up to a $1500 tax credit on insulation.