New Home Construction and Room Addition Bid Sheets on Sale at HomeAdditionPlus.com

New Home Construction and Home Remodeling Checklist Guides that Will Save You Time, Money and Hassles

By Mark J. Donovan

Before kicking off your new home construction or room addition project make sure to check out my home construction and remodeling checklist guides at HomeAdditionPlus.com. The “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” will help to ensure you hire the right general contractor for your home construction project. In addition, they’ll help you through the planning process of your new home construction project. Moreover they’ll help you accurately estimate your new home construction costs or room addition costs so that you’ll know how much your construction project will really cost you. Having accurate construction costs up front will help with your project planning and financing efforts.

One of the key components in the  “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” is an extensive questionnaire that you provide to prospective general contractors to fill out. Once completed, you can make easy apples-to-apples comparisons of contractor quotes so that you can make a more informed and better decision on which general contractor to hire.

The second major component in the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” is estimated home construction costs on a cost per square foot basis. It includes cost breakouts for all the various phases of the home construction or room addition project.

Lastly the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet” each contain a detailed section for the homeowner on how to interpret the general contractor questionnaire responses and the reasons for asking the questions.

In addition to the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” and “Room Addition Bid Sheet”, separate construction cost estimate Excel spreadsheets are provided to allow you to track predicted versus actual new home construction costs or room addition costs.

So make sure to purchase the “New Home Construction Bid Sheet” or “Room Addition Bid Sheet" for your particular home construction project. I guarantee you they’ll save you time, hassles, and a small fortune in money. Also check out many of the other types of home remodeling and construction bid sheets at HomeAdditionPlus.com.

Preparing your Home for Hurricane Sandy

7 Tips for Preparing and Protecting Your Family and Home from Hurricane Sandy


By Mark J. Donovan

With hurricane Sandy bearing down upon the eastern coast of the United States there are a number of things people can do to protect their homes and family from danger and disaster.

Stock the Cupboards with Food and Water

Make sure you have sufficient food and water to last up to 2 weeks. It may take that long to get electricity restored to your home if you lose power. Try to stock up on foods that don’t require cooking and are not perishable for at least a couple of weeks. Wash out your tubs and sinks and then fill them with fresh water. You may want to use a plastic liner in the tubs and sinks to hold the water.

Have Fresh Batteries, Flashlights, Candles, and AM/FM Radio Ready

Make sure you’ve stocked up on fresh batteries and that you’ve replaced the old batteries in your flashlights and AM/FM radios. Also keep candles and a lighter nearby.

Fuel Up

Make sure you have your grilles propane tank filled as you may have to resort to cooking on your gas grille. Also make sure to have your portable gas tanks full if you’re lucky enough to own a generator. Similarly, fill up your automobiles’ gas tanks.

Pick up Loose Items in the Yard

Pick up and store away in garages or sheds any children’s toys, patio furniture, and other yard items that could be blown away or destroyed by hurricane Sandy. You may also want to remove the grille cover and store it away as well.

Charge Up Cell Phones

Make sure your cell phones are fully charged prior to the onslaught of hurricane Sandy, as your cell phones maybe your only form of communication to the outside world if the land lines get taken down by hurricane Sandy’s high winds.

Check the Generator

If you own a generator check the oil and gasoline in it and start it up. If it doesn’t start or runs rough clean the spark plug and try again. Also have the generator wiring handy so that you can easily access it in the dark. Also, always make sure to operate the generator outside and at least 30 feet away from your home.

Have Cash on Hand

Often during natural disasters banks and ATM machines are not open or not operational. Consequently it’s a wise idea to have some cash on hand to make emergency purchases.

Purpose of Ice and Water Shield

By Mark J. Donovan

I often get asked what exactly is Ice and Water Shield. When I first started receiving this question I was somewhat shocked that people were unaware of this roofing product. Ice and water shield has been a godsend in the housing industry for years now. It is used for protecting homes and roofs from water and ice damage and every responsible builder and roofer uses it today.

So what is ice and water shield? Simply put, it is a flexible and sticky membrane that is
placed on the roof sheathing prior to installing the shingles. This membrane seals up
leak-tight around roofing nails that puncture it. It is used mainly along the roof
edges and in the valleys, and along walls or chimneys to protect against ice dams and water seeping underneath flashing.

Ice and water shield is commonly sold in 3 foot width rolls. Typically one or two courses of it is installed along the roof eaves to achieve 3 to 6 feet of coverage. In the roof valleys it is usually positioned so that there is about 18 inches of coverage on either side of the valley. Where a roof abuts a wall the ice and water shield is typically installed up the wall 6 to 18 inches. House siding is then installed over it.

So if you are having your roof reshingled make sure that the roofing contractor includes the installation of ice and water shield in the quote.

Installation of a Fiberon Composite Deck Railing System

Replacing My Deck’s old Pressure Treated Railing System with a new Composite Deck Railing System from Fiberon

By Mark J. Donovan

This weekend I visited a home improvement center looking for a new deck railing system for my home’s deck. After checking out several deck railing systems I’ve decided to use Fiberon’s composite deck railing system. The composite railing system pieces are constructed using a PVC core with a very hard PVC finish that resists scratching and fading. I plan to install the Fiberon deck railing system in the next few weeks, while the particular home improvement center is offering a 10% sale on all decking materials. This is the time of the year to get deck material discounts, so if you have a deck project in mind you may want to find out if you can get similar price saving deals at your local home improvement center for your deck project.

The composite deck railing kits from Fiberon come in a couple of different standard lengths, e.g. 6 and 8 feet. Each kit comes with top and bottom rails, balusters, and the hardware to assemble them. You can also trim the standard lengths to the required widths. They also have a special railing kit for stairs. In addition, I needed to buy post sleeves, cap, and skirts. For a 12x10 deck I calculated the total cost of the Fiberon deck rail system to be about $550.

I’ll be sure to write about the project when I complete it, as well as take plenty of pictures and a video or two during the deck construction. So check back to see how the project went and to see the finished look.

Fall is the Perfect Time for Window Replacement

Keep Your Home Warmer this Winter by Installing Replacement Windows

By Mark J. Donovan

If you’re home has drafty windows the fall season is the perfect time of the year to have them replaced. Though you’ll have to outlay some serious money for installing replacement windows, the energy costs savings are significant. Based on the rising trend in energy costs you should be able to recoup your costs within a reasonably short period of time. In addition, if you plan to sell your home at some point down the road, the replacement windows will significantly help your cause and most likely enable you to sell the home for a higher price.


So stay warmer this winter by investing in your home and replacing your old and drafty windows.

For free window replacement contractor quotes just fill out the Window Replacement Quote form at HomeAdditionPlus.com.