weatherproofing

Save yourself money and satisfy your insurance with a professional tarp-off

Hiring a licensed and insured contractor isn’t just a line to get you to hire us, it can save you a lot of money in insurance. Let’s take a look at a situation we’ve dealt with in the past.

A family had a relative who was a “handyman” come out and do their roof. He couldn’t finish it all at once, so he covered the unfinished part with a tarp - weighed down with bricks. Heavy rains came through. The bricks didn’t hold the tarp down and water came through - in a major way! The roof was damaged and the ceilings inside collapsed! The home was flooded. There was catastrophic damage to the home and their belongings.

The family called their insurance and the first question they asked was if the contractor was licensed and insured. It turned out that he wasn’t because was was just a handy relative. Insurance will not cover the damage!

Now - if this was done by a licensed and insured professional, their liability insurance would have to cover the damage - not yours.

On top of that, a professional will not use bricks to tarp off your roof. They will use industry standard techniques, proven to protect your roof in bad weather! It’s likely that this entire situation would have been avoided.

The last thing I want to say is that it’s understandable to want to save money and it seems easy if you know somebody who is “handy,” but I will tell you it’s a risk that isn’t worth taking with your home and your money.

Saving some money today might cost you everything - your home or your savings or both.

I’m not asking you to only consider hiring Zischke Builders, please, no matter what, hire a licensed and insured professional and ask to see that it’s up to date. Protect what you’ve earned!

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The team responded to tarp off a home that had suffered serious fire damage earlier this week. A “tarp off” is what we call it when we cover up damage to a home to protect it from further damage. I’m this case, the team worked until just after midnight. They were tired by the time it was over, but it’s worth it to provide a service to our community and to help homeowners get on the path to return their home to normal after a disaster.

Get your Insulation done correctly for this Winter

Do you know about air infiltration? It’s the biggest energy waste when it comes to home heating and it’s totally preventable. When people don’t seal with foam around wall penetrations and electrical boxes the cold just blows right past the insulation.

Most batt insulation gets installed wrong because people don’t take the time to cut it around outlet boxes, they just kind of bend it around. It’s fast and a lot easier than measuring and cutting. While it saves the “handyman” or the average big box store installers time, it costs YOU money.

No matter who you do business with for home improvement, I want you to be armed with the right information. Check out the photos for examples of insulation done correctly and incorrectly. This will help you spot a potential waste of your money while your insulation is being installed.

If you’d like to have an estimate on increasing the insulation of your home, message me on Facebook, call (517) 242-4353 or email me at zischkebuilders@gmail.com and I’ll give you a free estimate.