Seal Your Exterior Foundation Cracks

Hi everyone, welcome back to our video blog!

Today, I wanted to talk to you about sealing any exterior cracks you may have on your foundation above grade.

Many of you don’t know that your waterproof warranty does not cover any leaks above grade.  Now, here, we have our tar line and the tar line is meant to expand with the crack. Cracks in the foundation will happen and are very normal. Water can come in through the crack and exit on the inside into the basement.

To seal you can use Vulkem. It will leave a line; you can paint over it later. Start from top and go down to the tar line. Then take a rag and push everything into the crack. That’s it! It’s best to do it in the late spring or summer.

That’s all for today, if you have any questions please give us a call!

Thanks for watching!

Driveway Maintenance

Hi everyone, today I’d like to talk to you about driveway maintenance.  Summer is drawing to an end and that means winter weather will be coming before you know it.  So I want to talk about sealing your driveway, the control joints and any cracks you may see as well as sealing the surface with a penetrating sealer.

First we have a crack we want to seal. The product we like to use is Vulkem 116; you can get it at any hardware or home maintenance store. The color you should get is limestone; it matches most concrete shades.

So, the reason you want to seal the cracks is when the weather drops and snow falls, water gets into the cracks. It freezes and then will bust open the top. We seal then in the summer so the water can’t get in. Sealing the control joints is important as well because it prevents moisture from soaking in the ground underneath the driveway.

When you apply the Vulkem 116, you don’t need a lot, just enough to cover the surface.  Now, this is a polyurethane sealant so it can be a little difficult to get off your hands. So if you want to wear rubber gloves you can, but you’ll take your finger and push the sealant in the crack a little more.

It will be pretty tacky and sticky before it dries. Sometimes you can spread sand over the sealant to help with the tackiness. After about 2-3 days it should be dry.

Another maintenance item is sealing the surface of your driveway. Concrete is porous on the surface and all the way through.  You want to seal that surface for the winter months when you are tracking in salt from cars. You want to use a penetrating sealant. Try not to use an acrylic sealer; that just goes on surface and doesn’t soak as a penetrating sealant would. You would just spray that in a pump sprayer on a clean driveway!

So if you have any questions give us call! Thank you so much for watching!

Air Flows and Seasonal Adjustments

Hi there! Thanks for joining our blog today! I wanted to discuss airflow and seasonal adjustments of your damper and register vents!

Today we’re in a two story model. I want to point out if your home is equipped with dampers, there is a lever you need to adjust accordingly depending on the season.

When the lever is in line with the pipe, it is in the on position; it is open all the way. Inside the duct there is a flapper where a fan can be manipulated with the pull of the lever. As I rotate up or down (it doesn’t matter which way) I am able to adjust the air flow. If I turn to a quick 90 degree angle I can actually shut it completely off.

So, in the summer months, the upstairs is warmer than the main floor. So, you will want to turn the bottom lever about 45 degrees to push more air up. The same in the winter months, except you will want to adjust the top lever.

Other seasonal adjustments include the register vents in your home. The vents above the furnace tend to get more air so to create more air flow in the rest of your home you will want to close those a bit.

If you have any questions, give us a call at 402.934.2212!