5 Common Causes of Roof Leaks

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5 Common Causes of Roof Leaks

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as a leaky roof. It not only signals an external problem, but can also cause a lot of internal damage, as well. Fortunately, the most effective ways of preventing a roof leak is simply checking your roof for damage every now and again. Here are 5 common causes of roof leaks to look out for:

Poor Shingles

This is the easiest problem to spot. Shingles act as a sort of armor for your roof, and it only takes one small gap in that armor to cause problems for everything underneath. You may notice that some of your shingles are crumbling or falling apart, which allows for condensation to slip through. You may even notice some shingles are missing from your roof entirely! Either way, it’s crucial to fix that broken or missing patch to prevent any further damage.

Cracked Flashing

Shingles aren’t the only things working hard to keep your roof waterproof. Underneath your shingles are thin pieces of metal specifically designed to prevent water erosion and to help run it off into your gutters. Unfortunately, even the best of flashing corrodes over time; ice, hail, and heavy rain can cause your flashing to crack. Some houses have exterior flashing, which can be blown away entirely by high winds. Securing blown off flashing with nails and tar is a good fix, but rusted or cracked flashing must be replaced altogether.

Clogged Gutter

This is probably the most familiar reason for a leaky roof. It’s a very typical problem around the autumn and winter seasons when dead leaves accumulate inside. Because your gutters are meant to help water travel away from the roof, a gutter stuffed with wet leaves doesn’t do you or your house much good. Brave the mess and clean them out before the excess rainwater or melted snow with nowhere else to go starts dripping into your house!

Weak Mortar around Chimney

Chimneys are a handsome addition to any house. Due to how sturdy they’re built, it’s easy to assume they’re practically indestructible. Unfortunately, chimneys do have one weak spot: mortar. Mortar is the glue that holds the chimney together; it’s also essentially a simple combination of water, sand, and cement. Harsh elements like rain, snow, ice, and even extreme winds can wear it down over time. Cracks, holes, and other deterioration can easily cause roof leaks.

Age

Unfortunately, one of the most common and frustrating causes of leaky roofing is time itself. As your house ages, it’s expected that certain parts will need updating and replacing. Your roof is no different, so it’s important to give it a quick look-over whenever you have the chance. Make sure that there is no damage from any recent storms. Double-check the shingles, the flashing, and the mortar. Look over any skylights you may have and make sure they’re securely shut. It’s a lot easier to look everything over as opposed to fixing an entire section of your ceiling.

Free Roofing Estimates in Central Maryland

At Select Home Exteriors, we take pride in making our clients’ homes as beautiful from the outside as possible. We offer a wide variety of roofing shingles to match your home’s style, and we know what types of shingles perform best in Maryland’s weather. Contact our experienced contractors today for a free consultation!

5 Tips for Choosing the Right Siding for Your Home

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5 Tips for Choosing the Right Siding for Your Home- Select Home Exteriors MD

When you invest in new siding, you want it to enhance your home and property, provide protection, and have a long life span. This can be quite the project, but here are five tips to get this process started:

Know your Options

One of the best ways you can begin your home siding project is by learning more about your options. With siding today, there are many options to choose from including vinyl, plastic, brick, fiber cement, stone, aluminum, and stucco.

Vinyl is a leading material in siding and brings together reliability, convenience, and price, but some may dislike the seams or appearance created. Wood siding is durable and creates a nice, traditional and interesting look, but requires more maintenance to remain durable and is more expensive. Brick and stone are some of the toughest materials, resisting rotting and insects, but are also priced much higher. Knowing the pros, cons, and pricing of each siding type can help you gauge what will work best for you and your home’s exterior.

Gather Design Ideas

Your home’s siding is one of the first things visitors see. Along with your roof, gutters, yard, and even your front door, siding plays a large role in creating excellent curb appeal. Spending some time picking the right color and design for your siding is important.

Looking around online can give you an idea of what you want, but driving around your neighborhood and surrounding area to personally see what others have done lets you see things in person and make sure that your choices fit in with the rest of your area.

Consider the Weather

Since your siding protects your home from the elements, taking the climate you live in into consideration is important. Consider which options are best suited for your environment, whether that be high temperatures, freezing temperatures, high humidity and lots of rain, or intense sun. Siding options with more insulation or UV protection can help ensure your home is equipped to take on the weather.

Get a Second Opinion

Ask a professional home designer or siding contractor for his experienced advice or even ask family and friends to bring fresh eyes to your many choices. Looking at all your choices, while attempting to take your existing roof, gutters, trim, windows, and shutter color into consideration when choosing siding can become overwhelming. Seeking other input can help you feel confident with your final decision.

Choose a Good Contractor

To get the right siding, find the right contractor. Choose a contractor who is licensed and insured with referrals and references, so you know your project will be done with the proper care and quality. It’s important to use high-quality materials and services to know your siding will be installed correctly, to avoid serious destructive issues with your siding and home’s structure.

Experienced Siding Installation in Central Maryland

For more than 20 years, Select Home Exteriors has provided exceptional siding repair and installation to residents in Frederick County, Maryland, and the surrounding areas. We use only the highest quality materials available, giving you siding that will last. Schedule your home siding consultation today!

8 Signs You Might Need New Gutters

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Gutters are extremely important in protecting your home from water damage. They direct water away from the windows, doors, and exterior of your home and make sure water doesn’t leak inside. Cleaning your gutters regularly is helpful, but eventually gutters need to be replaced. How do you know when the time has come to replace and not repair? Here are 8 signs you might need new gutters.

Cracks and Holes

Some of the most blatant signs of wear and tear on your gutters are cracks, holes, and rust spots. These can be occasionally fixed with sealant or other patch-up techniques, but if you start to see too many problem spots, you’ll want to invest in new gutters. Small cracks may not seem like a big deal, but even the smallest cracks become big issues, eventually.

Hardware Issues

Noticing nails and screws on the ground or broken fasteners (those pieces of metal that hold your gutter to your roof and keep it level)? While a few random instances don’t mean you need to bother with a full gutter replacement, if you start seeing many nails and screws scattered below your gutters or constantly find yourself fixing gutter fasteners, there may be an underlying issue with your gutters that could warrant a full replacement.

Gutter Separation

If you see that your gutters are not holding together in a continuous channel, it might be time to replace them. After all, gutters are meant to hold together and carry rain water away from the home, so if the gutters are constantly separating and dumping water in unwanted spots, you may spend more money on home repairs than a gutter replacement!

Gutters Pulling Away from Roof

If you notice the fasteners aren’t quite doing their job as they should and the gutters aren’t flush with your roof anymore, you should be concerned that your fascia boards (the long board that runs along the lower edge of the roof and what the fasteners are attached to) may be rotting. Replacing your gutters includes new fascia boards.

Sagging or Incorrectly Pitched Gutters

You might see water pooling in or spilling over your gutters; this can be caused by your gutters not having proper pitch (the angle to have the water run down and away from the home). If you can’t fix this, you’ll need to get new gutters to protect your home from water damage.

Peeling Paint or Flecks of Orange

Leaky gutters will cause water to seep down onto siding and trim which in turn will cause your paint to peel if the water is a consistent problem. Notice weird flecks of orange? That’s a sign of rust! If you see flaking, of paint or rust, look into the issue a little further. You may be in need of new gutters to save you from re-painting your home.

Basement Flooding

A major red flag is water damage in your basement. Water damage could mean your gutters aren’t getting rid of water efficiently and instead are pouring it near your home’s foundation, where it leaks into the basement and causes flooding. If you have to repair your basement due to flooding, you’ll want to double-check your gutters and replace if necessary.

Landscaping Problems

Noticing more mud around your home than usual? What about pools of water or mildew? Maybe your flower beds appear eroded? Gutters that aren’t properly doing their job can cause all kinds of landscaping issues by dumping water where it shouldn’t go. If your weekend gardening just got more difficult, take some time to investigate your gutters at the potential cause.

Gutters, as mentioned, are integral to keeping your home from water damage. Despite their importance, it’s easy to forget they’re even there, which in turn makes it easy to forget they could be the cause of any number of issues with your home if they aren’t taken care of properly! If you think your gutters need to be replaced, contact Select Home Exteriors. Our experienced gutter contractors can evaluate your current gutters and make any necessary recommendations for replacement or repair. Schedule your consultation today!

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Easy Care & Maintenance for Your Vinyl Siding

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Vinyl siding is known as an easy-to-care-for housing material, especially compared to wood and some other materials. While it is much more low-maintenance, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your siding remains looking as good as the day you installed it.

Cleaning Tips

Your vinyl siding is so low-maintenance that it only requires occasional cleaning with mild soap and the water from your garden hose! Use a soft bristle brush or a soft cloth; the bristle brush will be best for textured siding to that the grooves remain stain-free.

If you think you want to use a power washer, check the instructions on your washer and the siding manufacturer’s instructions first. If the manufacturer gives the OK, make sure you aim the power washer straight at the top of the siding. Aiming upwards could cause the water to be forcefully driven behind the siding.

Mold or mildew may appear on your siding; luckily, there are easy ways to clean that off. For a small spot, using a cleaner such as Windex will do the trick. If the mold or mildew is more widespread, you can make a solution yourself. Mix 30% vinegar with 70% water and use that for the large affected area.

General Maintenance

After awhile, your siding may become discolored. To prevent this, you’ll want to make sure you cover the siding while you do any home renovations and when you apply certain insecticides and herbicides. Check the labels of any chemicals you use around your home. They should mention if they will have any negative effects on your siding.

Never have any open flames around your siding. Vinyl can melt when exposed to significant heat. In fact, no matter what sort of siding you have on your home, you will want to keep grills and ignitable materials (dry leaves, mulch, etc.) away.

Finally, if you are planning on updating your home and want to paint the siding you have installed, make sure you check with the manufacturer first! Some brands may void the warranty if you paint your siding.

Maryland’s Vinyl Siding Installation & Repair Experts

For more than 20 years, Select Home Exteriors has provided exceptional vinyl siding installation and repairs to customers throughout central Maryland. We offer a variety of colors, styles, and brands to meet your individual needs. Contact us today for a free estimate!

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5 Top Signs Your Siding Needs to Be Replaced

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Your home’s siding is like its skin – It protects the delicate interior structure from the harsh outdoor conditions. Because your siding takes a beating from the elements, it can show signs of wear and tear if it’s old or if it hasn’t been properly maintained. Eventually, all siding needs to be replaced to keep the rest of your home protected.

Here are the top 5 signs your home’s siding needs to be replaced:

You Have High Heating & Cooling Bills

If you’ve noticed the slow creeping up of your heating and cooling bills, and rising energy prices aren’t the culprit, your siding could be to blame. Over time, siding can shift or develop spaces that cause air from the outdoors to leak in and outside air to sneak indoors. As a result, your heating and cooling systems need to work harder, meaning your bills go up. Replacing your siding with something newer can decrease your bills within the first season after installation.

>>Vinyl: The #1 choice for residential siding>>

You See Cracking or Warping

Your siding can be damaged by falling branches, animals, or heavy winds. If you notice cracked or warped pieces of siding, that means you’re not getting the best protection from your siding. Cracks and warped boards can take on water, leak air, and allow animals and pests to infiltrate your home’s interior, causing all sorts of problems. Getting your siding repaired or replaced promptly is the best way to prevent further issues.

>>Identify the 5 major types of home siding>>

Your Interior Paint or Wallpaper Is Peeling

Though it isn’t an obvious connection for many homeowners, peeling wallpaper or paint inside a home means there’s something going on behind the walls. Often, that’s siding in ill repair allowing moisture to build up behind the siding. This moisture can lead to all sorts of interior problems – mold and mildew, sagging walls, or damaged drywall – and can spell expensive repairs if the source of the moisture isn’t corrected.

You Find Fungus, Mold, or Mildew

Fungus, mold, or mildew – either inside your home or on your home’s siding – means a moisture issue that needs correcting. These growths not only cause damage to your home, but they can cause health problems for you and your family. If your siding is the cause of your mold problem, it likely means a replacement is necessary to correct a moisture problem

>>Choosing the right siding for your home>>

You See Holes

Like cracking and warping, holes can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, small holes can be repaired and the rest of your siding is none the worse for wear. But if you find multiple holes, or holes that appear to have been there for a while, you could be dealing with moisture leakage or pest infiltration. The best way to take care of these problems is to strip off all the siding and replace it.

Experienced Residential Siding Contractor in Frederick, MD

At Select Home Exteriors, we take pride in making our clients’ homes as beautiful from the outside as possible. We offer a wide variety of vinyl, insulated, and fiber cement siding to match your home’s style. Contact our experienced contractors today for a free consultation.

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Choosing a Roof Color: 7 Tips for Finding the Right One

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You know you need a new roof; maybe your home is older and you want to update, or you might have a creative itch to redesign. You may even need a new roof out necessity because of structural damage from a storm. No matter the reason, picking out the proper color for your roof is an important step in this process. Follow these simple guidelines to help you make a great decision!

Hot or Cold?

Believe it or not, the color you choose for your roof could have an impact on the temperature of your home. Roof color can actually change the temperature of your attic from 20-40 degrees. A lighter color will reflect sunlight and keep your house cooler, ideal for hot and sunny climates, while a dark roof will absorb sunlight and trap heat in, making it a good choice for homes in colder climates.

Coordination is Key

Some colors just work better together. A gray, blue, or white home will be a better base for dark shingles. For brown, cream, or tan homes consider a brown shingle or mix of brown and tan to add some texture. If your home is a color like green, red, or yellow, you have some more flexibility with shingle colors and could opt for a brown, grey, or black.

What’s Your Statement?

Color is one of the best ways to show off your personality. What do you want your home to say about you? If you want a more neutral, down-to-earth look, consider sticking with tans, creams, browns, blacks, grays, and clays.

Sticking with safe roofing colors is also a safer bet for people who are looking to sell their homes in the near future. If you want something trendier, consider palettes that combine tones of browns or employ a mix of blues, blacks, and greys. If you have a specific area of your home that you want to highlight, use a high-contrast color to make it stick out. If you have an area that you’re not particularly fond of and want to minimize, use a low-contrast color to hide it. You can also use dark colors to make your home appear smaller, or lighter colors for the opposite effect.

Be a Good Neighbor

If you live in a neighborhood, check with the homeowners association or neighborhood association to see if there are any rules regarding roof colors. Even if there are no rules, you’ll want to consider what the homes close to you look like. You don’t want the monotony of identical roofs, but you also don’t want to clash.

Consider the Style

Some homes lend themselves better to different roofing types and colors depending on the architectural. Spanish-style homes tend took look better with reddish clay shingles, while a ranch may look good with a combination of colors. Traditional Colonial houses need a completely different design approach. If you’re at a loss for what may work, drive around neighborhoods to get ideas from similar houses or utilize Google to brainstorm.

Think Material

Shingles come in a variety of materials, and different materials produce different looks.

  • Clay shingles commonly are red or tan, but can come in other colors. Make sure they are fired in a kiln so that the colors will withstand weather.
  • Slate can be used, but is expensive and the colors are limited to what you will find in nature.
  • Concrete can be made to appear like wood, slate, or clay and can come in a large variety of colors.
  • Metal roofing can be made to look like other roofing options or, in it’s typical sheet form, will give your home a distinctive look with vertical lines. It also has the benefit of being energy-efficient, fire-resistant, and strong.

Explore your options for materials and don’t be afraid to go outside the box!

Utilize a Professional

You may have a grand idea for how you want your home to appear, and that’s fantastic, but remember that a professional may be a great resource to make sure the design choices you make are viable. Once you have your plan, reach out to someone in the industry who has a history of success in roofs for some help. Between your ideas and their experience, you are on your way to a beautiful new roof!

Central Maryland’s First Choice for Roofing

For more than 20 years, the professionals at Select Home Exteriors have provided exceptional roofing products and installation to homes throughout central Maryland. Why trust just any contractor for your roofing project when you can work with the best? Contact us today for a free estimate!

5 Keys to Hiring a Quality Roofing Contractor

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Your roof needs repair or replacement, but you’ve heard all the horror stories of contractors who don’t show up, use sub-par materials, or who just never complete the work. Roof work is among the most expensive and important contracting work you can have done on your home, and you need someone you can trust to get the work done right – the first time.

These 5 keys to hiring a quality roofing contractor will get you on you way to finding an experienced, efficient roofing contractor who will finish your project on time and within your budget: 

Make Sure They’re Insured, Licensed, & Certified

This first requirement is an absolute must for anyone you have working on your home. Your roofer, his employees, and any sub-contractors he may hire, will be up on the roof of your home for hours a day. You need to know that your roofing contractor has the proper insurance – worker’s compensation, liability, etc. – to cover any incidents that may happen so your homeowners’ insurance isn’t dinged. Additionally, check for any state or local licensing that may be required in your state. Licensed roofers are cleared by regulatory bodies, so you know they adhere to all the proper industry standards for materials, installation, and safety.

Hire a Local Contractor

Fly-by-night roofing contractors are all over the place, especially after a big storm. These “contractors” travel around, looking for people with damaged roofs they can rope into expensive work that may or may not be covered by insurance. Make sure the contractor you hire is actually a local business, and not just one that operates locally to help avoid this pitfall.

Ask for References

Any contractor worth his salt is going to not only be able to provide the contact information of happy customers, but will happily hand over this information. References from former clients are a great way to get a true sense of the quality of work, the reliability of the contractor, and just the overall way your intended contractor does business. If you’re considering a contractor who doesn’t have or refuses to provide references, be wary. He could either be very newly in business – and maybe not that seasoned – or could have an unsavory service record.

Find a Good Communicator 

Part of the job of being a contractor is being able to capably deal with both the clients and the employees. You want to find someone who is going to be able to thoroughly explain to you all the details of your project, and who will keep you updated on its progress. It may be cause for concern if a contractor doesn’t return phone calls, emails, or texts for days at a time, or who has a difficult time providing details of your project when directly asked.

Get a Work Plan

A work plan is a written plan of all the work that’s to be completed on your home – materials lists, timelines for the beginning and end of the project, a list of the phases of your project. This helps you track what materials you’re paying for, when you can expect to have your roof fixed or replaced, and know exactly what the contractor is doing to your home. If a contractor refuses to provide this or says he doesn’t operate off some form of written work plan, be concerned.

Experienced Roofing Contractor in Maryland

For more than 20 years, the skilled team at Select Home Exteriors has provided superior roofing materials and service to clients throughout Frederick County, Maryland, and beyond. If you’re looking for a roofing contractor who will get your roof in tip-top shape while providing excellent customer service, contact us today for a free estimate.

3 Tips for Designing Your Own Deck or Patio

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3 Tips for Designing Your Own Deck or Patio
Designing your own deck or patio can be a daunting task, but with the help of industry experts and a few tips, you can custom-design your outdoor transitional space in no time! Here are three tips for getting started:

Gather Ideas

We find that many of our clients gather their ideas from online websites such as Pinterest, TV specials on HGTV, or magazines and other publications. Take some time to figure out what architectural styles you like and don’t like, and what features pop out to you.

This phase is simply meant to gather ideas to focus on a direction for your plan. Jot ideas down as you come across them, cut (or print) out pictures, and make a pros and cons list to identify what’s important to you. You may want to consider creating an inspiration board on a piece of paper board or digitally on a site such as Pinterest. These ideas will help you make faster decisions down the road.

>> Custom Deck Designs in Maryland

Define the Purpose

Believe it or not, this is one of the most crucial steps you need to complete before ever picking up a pencil to design your deck or patio. Take some time to answer: what will your deck or patio be used for? And be specific!

Do you plan to host BBQs for family and friends? You may want to design an outdoor grilling area and seating area large enough to accommodate them. Do you want a backyard oasis and additional privacy to enjoy the weather without neighbors’ prying eyes? You may want to consider a privacy wall, trellis, or other feature of some sort at the edge of your new deck or the property line. How about an intimate setting where you can enjoy family meals or conversational seating around fire pit?

It all comes down to how you want to use this deck or patio and what environment you want to create for yourself and your guests. Once you have the purpose in place, you can then begin the planning process!

Tailor the Design to Your Budget and Backyard

After gathering some ideas and defining the purpose, you then need to get detailed about how the design can meet your budget and fit with your backyard, not the other way around. Let’s face it – not every picture-perfect deck or patio will look as great in your backyard as it does in the media.

If you have a small yard or budget, it’s not realistic to expect a grandiose deck or patio. You also have to consider the architecture of your home to pair a custom deck that is not completely out in left field in terms of design. For example, a log cabin deck will not pair well with a modern, contemporary home.

You also have to evaluate your available space and plan for the traffic areas of the deck or patio accordingly. It may be best in this case to have your outdoor furniture already picked out to know how much space is available and how much deck or patio you need to build.

Other considerations may include:

  • Shape and size of your deck and patio
  • Materials that fit best with your taste and budget (wood, composite, PCV, etc.)
  • Furnishings you already have or plan to get
  • The view you want from the deck or patio and from inside the house
  • Additions, such as pergolas, screened-in decks, privacy walls, fireplaces, fire pits, railing planters, built-in benches, etc.

Work with Maryland’s Premier Deck and Patio Builders

If you’re overwhelmed with the available market options and the logistics of how to design your own deck or patio, contact the professionals at Select Home Exteriors. We will work step-by-step with you to custom design your dream deck!

3 Signs Your Asphalt Shingle Roof Needs Replacing

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Signs Your Asphalt Shingle Roof Needs Replacing

A healthy roof is necessary to protect you, your family, and your assets. Routine care and maintenance can prevent a whole host of emergencies, but even the best-cared-for roof ages and needs replacement eventually. Here are 3 signs it may be time to replace your asphalt shingle roof:

It’s Reaching the End of Its Life Span

When was your roof built or last repaired? Experts agree that an asphalt shingle roof’s lifetime is between 20 and 25 years. Anything beyond that is susceptible to major damage and is due for a replacement. If your roof is more commonly exposed to harsher weather conditions such as hurricanes, tropical storms, blizzards, or ice, that may significantly reduce the lifespan of your roof.

If you’re unsure of the age of your roof, hire a roof inspector or professional roofing contractor. A good inspector will come fully licensed and certified to help identify the age of your roof using technically refined skills from years of experience. Bringing in an expert often is the best way to know when it’s time to replace your roof.

>> Does My Roof Need Replaced?

You See Worn, Broken, or Missing Shingles

Evaluating the health of your shingles is important to understanding how effective your roof is. Shingles are specifically designed to withstand and endure the inclement weather conditions your home faces. They help protect your roof by carrying run-off rainwater and snowmelt away from your roof to keep your underlayer, decking, and rafters dry.

Over time, these shingles wear down. They can show signs of buckling when the roof sheathing moves beneath the shingles due to moisture exposure in the attic. If your attic does not have proper ventilation, moisture can build up in the heat, causing shingles to warp and curl as well. You’ll want to take a hard look at your shingles to check for signs of buckling, curling, or warping in addition to falling apart or even missing shingles.

Be sure to also check your roof valleys for damaged or missing shingles. This area endures the most wear and tear since it collects rainwater and snowfall throughout the year and carries it down to your gutters. If your shingles show signs of these poor conditions, your roof is at risk of major water damage.

You Find Mold or Mildew in the Attic

For a closer look, take a walk upstairs to your attic to inspect the insulation and plywood surfaces for signs of water damage. You may find light or dark colored mold or mildew lurking behind your insulation and on the surfaces of your roof framing and sheathing. Further inspect your trusses for wood rot with a moisture meter that measures elevated moisture content in water stains. Your attic is the perfect place to check for signs of water stains, leaks, or other damage, since it will be the first place on the interior of your home to be impacted by a poor roof.

This is also the time to look for proper insulation and ventilation set-ups. If your attic does not have proper ventilation, warm air rises in your home and gets trapped in the attic. The warm air then condenses, providing yet another opportunity for water to damage your roofing structures. If you see natural light showing through or sagging roof decking inside the attic, it may be time to replace your asphalt shingle roof.

>> Check Your Roofing Health Here

Roof Repair & Replacement Services in Maryland

Is it time to replace your old roof? With over 20 years of experience, Select Home Exteriors provides professional roof repair and replacement throughout Maryland. Contact us today for your free estimate.

6 Benefits of Adding Shutters To Your Home

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Benefits of ShuttersShutters can be a great asset to your home’s exterior. Learn how home shutters can benefit you.

Shutters originally were designed with functionality in mind, protecting the home’s interior and exterior from the elements. Over the years, they’ve become more a matter of aesthetics, providing an extra element of interest to a home’s exterior. However, they still serve a functional purpose for your home. Here are 6 benefits of having home shutters:

Light Control

If you’re anything like us, those morning sun rays can be an unwelcome guest, especially if your bedroom windows face east. Shutters can help you sleep better and longer, giving you more control over how much light is let into your home. In fact, shutters are known to keep more sunlight out than any other window treatment option on the market at a fraction of the cost. Shutters give you full control and flexibility when it comes to adjusting your home’s natural light. This means they also protect you and your family from harmful UV rays.

Ventilation

Have you ever been in an attic in the middle of the summer? If so, you might recall how incredibly hot the air gets. This can make that mid-summer reorganization project difficult to withstand. We’ve all been taught that hot air rises, so how is that hot air supposed to escape? Home shutters can help circulate that hot air by providing a quick escape while giving you control as the vent operator. This means a cooler attic and a less stuffy home for you.

Protection

It doesn’t take a hurricane to find a need for home shutters. Every home is exposed to inclement weather at some time or another. Shutters may be the only thing stopping a falling tree branch from puncturing your new $300 energy efficient windows. It’s no wonder many homeowners opt for home shutters as an extra layer of protection from the outdoor elements and flying debris. We promise you that shutters will be cheaper than your windows to replace should they get damaged in a storm.

>> Learn How To Make Your Windows Maintenance Free

Privacy

For the homeowner who values privacy, shutters may just be the solution you’re looking for. If those broken blinds and see-through curtains aren’t cutting it for you, home shutters can give you your desired level of privacy with a simple tilt of the horizontal slats. Closed shutters remove any chance of a nosey neighbor taking a peek inside your home by blocking their view altogether.

Curb Appeal

Shutters today are mainly used for their aesthetic value, which can’t be underestimated. They can increase the value of a home by adding depth in the home’s curb appeal and framing the windows. In turn, this increases your investment as a homeowner and boosts potential resale value.

>> Need Some Inspiration? Check Out the Curb Appeal of Exterior Shutters on Pinterest

Insulation

Home shutters add an additional layer of insulation for managing thermal temperature. Whether you are trying to keep your home cool during the summer or warm during the winter, shutters can help regulate the internal temperature by blocking cold drafts and unwanted heat waves from entering your home. This is especially useful if your windows and window casings are not already set up for energy efficiency. Shutters allow you to also insulate your home from noise intrusion should your neighbor decide to throw a party.

>> Learn How To Save Money On Your Energy Bills

Quality Exterior Worksmanship in Frederick County, MD

Shutters are a wonderful solution to help save you money while increasing the overall value of your home. Their versatility and functionality makes them a smart choice for any homeowner. If you’re considering home shutters, get in touch with an expert from Select Home Exteriors for your free consultation.