Safety, weatherization key issues for homeowners

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — When you want to increase the livability of your home, local contractor Rick Michaud says remove dangerous conditions. “The first thing you have to look at is the safety aspect of increasing your value like this broken step. That’s a top priority,” explained Michaud as he pointed to the steps leading from the back door of a multi-family property. “Fix the safety issues — anything that has to do with falling debris or shingles falling off roofs, steep pitches, wet steps. And keep the walkway and driveway shoveled out in the wintertime.”
    Elaborating on the issue of steps and safety, he added that handrails are a requirement and “you don’t want your neighbor’s little kid to come over to visit you and fall off the steps.”
    Dawn Halkyard is a customer service agent for the F.A. Peabody insurance company. She said because there is a liability issue involved, insurance companies generally require handrails when there are more than two steps.
    Michaud said the second way to increase the value of your house is to fix up the main living areas. “The bathrooms and the kitchens give you the biggest return for your buck.” Then he ran down a quick list of things homeowners should consider: fix flaking lead paint, seal air drafts and air leaks, insulate and weatherize.
    “When you seal the air drafts and air leaks getting into your house that’s just going to bring the value of your house up. If the house is not leaking air, it’s an efficient home. Insulate. Get up into your attic. Make sure all the wires going up into your attic and all the lights are covered with insulation so there are no drafts going up, losing heat. Also, put caulking around the windows or replace your windows.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
SAFETY FIRST — Contractor Rick Michaud of Cottage and Home Maintenance measures a broken step that needs replacing. He said safety should be a number-one priority for homeowners. 
    As a certified weatherization technician and lead paint remediation specialist, he has been doing rehab work for ACAP clients. He encounters these situations constantly as the agency attempts to assist elderly, low-income residents live in more energy-efficient housing so that they can save on fuel costs.
    “Weatherization is all about sealing and insulating. Sealing air drafts that get into your basement and your attic and around your windows and doors are the top priorities. As heat rises it robs the heat from your basement which you want to have heated because you don’t want the foundation to freeze up and crack on you. And,  you don’t want your pipes downstairs to freeze,” Michaud continued. 
    He said as heat rises from the basement and floors, it goes through the registers in the floors and exits through the roof. “If there is not a chimney bypass to stop the creation of a thermal bypass, going up through your chimney, your heat is vacuumed right up beside your chimney and it exits right out into your attic and you’re losing all the heat that is being created in your basement.”
    According to Michaud, putting perimeter insulation in the basement around the walls helps to keep the basement warm so heat stays in the house. He said insulation should extend all the way to the attic, even around wires and lights to prevent heat loss.
    And, now that the temperature has started to take some deep overnight dips forcing many to turn up the heat, insulation may be critical to counter the effect of rising energy costs.
    Michaud, owner of Cottage and Home Maintenance, can be reached at: 532-4246 or 521-7458.