September 2001 Newsletter

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1. About Us & Our New Service
2. Do It Yourself - Tip
3. Keeping Your Home Cool
4. Warm Weather Weekend Project
5. Our Sponsors & Affiliate Program
6. The Monthly Funny! :)

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1. About Us & Our New Service
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Home-Work Contractor Referral offers a Free Service to help home and business owners find screened, reliable contractors for any type of project. Contact Home-Work for your next renovation or construction project. We save you time and hassle. Refer a Friend Program - $ 20 Revy Gift Certificate  
Thank you for your interest in our "Refer a Friend" program. Over the past two and a half years a significant source of new business has come as a result of our satisfied customers referring our service to family and friends. In appreciation of these referrals, we are pleased to announce the introduction of our "Refer a Friend" program. We will now send a $20 Revy gift certificate to anyone who refers our service to a friend or family member, who then completes a project through us. How Does It Work? You simply register with us as a Sponsor in the "Refer a Friend" program. When "Your Friend" registers a project they will need to indicate Your Name as "the Sponsor", having referred our service. Upon completion of the project we will send you a $20 gift certificate. (you will need to be registered as a sponsor so we can track your referrals) You can register as a Sponsor either by clicking here: www.homeworkcanada.com/RAF.htm and filling in your name, address, and phone number. Or you can simply call our office @ 247-1387. Thank you once again for registering as a Sponsor and telling your friends about us. Program valid until March 31,2002.
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2. Do It Yourself - Tip
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If you are involved in a DIY project that requires two tape measures, like building something where one person is doing the measuring and calling out the measurements to someone doing the cutting, make sure you have identical tape measures. Tape measures will vary as much as 1/16" to 1/4" from brand to brand as well as length to length. For instance, it is quite common for a 20' tape measure to read a little different then a 30' tape measure. When starting a project that requires two tape measures, buy two identical tape measures. Both the same length and the same brand. Believe me, this will save you some headaches. 
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3. Keeping Your Home Cool
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Dull, dark-colored home exteriors absorb 70% to 90% of the radiant energy from the sun that strikes the home's surfaces. Some of this absorbed energy is then transferred into your home by way of conduction, resulting in heat gain.
Roofs:
About a third of the unwanted heat that builds up in your home comes in through the roof. For example, unlike most light-colored surfaces, even white asphalt and fiberglass shingles absorb 70% of the solar radiation. One good solution is to apply a reflective coating to your existing roof. Two standard roofing coatings are available at your local hardware store or lumber yard. They have both waterproof and reflective properties and are marketed primarily for mobile homes and recreational vehicles. One coating is white latex that you can apply over many common roofing materials, such as asphalt and fiberglass shingles, tar paper, and metal. Most manufacturers offer a 5-year warranty. A second coating is asphalt based and contains glass fibers and aluminum particles. Because it has a tacky surface, it attracts dust, which reduces its reflectivity somewhat. Another way to reflect heat is to install a radiant barrier on the underside of your roof. A radiant barrier is simply a sheet of aluminum foil with a paper backing. When installed correctly, a radiant barrier can reduce heat gains through your ceiling by about 25%.
Walls:
Wall color is not as important as roof color, but it does affect heat gain somewhat. White exterior walls absorb less heat than dark walls. And light, bright walls increase the longevity of siding, particularly on the east, west, and south sides of the house.  
Windows:
Roughly 40% of the unwanted heat that builds up in your home comes in through windows. Reflective window coatings are one way to reflect heat away from your home. Besides keeping your house cooler, these reflective coatings cut glare and reduce fading of furniture, draperies, and carpeting. Two main types of coatings include sun-control films and combination films. Sun-control films are best for warmer climates because they can reflect as much as 80% of the incoming sunlight. Many of these films are tinted, however, and tend to reduce light transmission as much as they reduce heat, thereby darkening the room. Note: Do not place reflective coatings on south-facing windows if you want to take advantage of heat gain during the winter. The coatings are applied to the interior surface of the window. Although you can apply the films yourself, it is a good idea to have a professional install the coatings, particularly if you have several large windows.
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4.Warm Weather Weekend Project
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During a rainstorm, gutters route runoff from a very large surface, a home's roof, to where it can drain away from the house. By doing so, they protect siding, windows, doors, and foundations from water damage and help prevent flooding in basements. To do their job, gutters and downspouts must be clear of leaves and debris. If they are not, drain outlets will dam up and rainwater will fill the gutters, back up, overflow, and eventually pull gutters loose from their mountings. Water that pools in troughs will rot wood gutters and rust sheet metal ones. You can hire a service to clean your gutters, but by doing the work yourself you can save $200 or more.
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5. Affiliate Program & Our Sponsors
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We welcome our newest affiliate Total Home.ca. TotalHome.ca is Calgary's leading electronic magazine dedicated to Calgary Women. We are committed to building healthier, happier families - starting at the heart of every home. For more information about this company please visit their website at www.totalhome.ca

We currently also have sponsoring companies that help promote our service. Please find out more about them at: http://www.homeworkcanada.com/sponsors.htm

Pillar to Post Home Inspection, Re/Max First, Remax House of Real Estate, AmeriSpec Home Inspection Services, Informative Home Inspections, Keaco Services, Chesney's Home Hardware, Gunther's Building Supply, Verda Tech Inc., High Security Lock Co., Phantom Screens, Realty World Tempo, Home Alyze, Chesney's Home Hardware, Revy - Macleod, Homelife Realty, Banbury Lane, Calgary Seniors Society, Coldwell Banker, Gunthers Bldg. Supply, Royal LePage, BenchMark Real Estate.
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6. The Monthly Funny! :)
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A foreman sent out two groups of men to put up telephone poles along a new highway and asked them to report at the end of the day. The crews were gone all day and returned just as the sun was setting. The foreman asked the leader of the first group how many poles he had installed. The reply was eleven. The foreman patted the guy on the back and said, "Not bad." Then he went to the leader of the next group and asked him the same question. Two was the reply. "Two! All you installed were two?! The other group installed eleven!" the foreman exclaimed angrily. "Yeah," the leader answered, "but you should have seen how much they left sticking out!" 

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