Safe Energy Efficient Vinyl Siding
Why is vinyl siding considered a “green” building product? There are a number of factors that make vinyl siding an eco-friendly choice. For one, the materials used to make modern vinyl siding are more environmentally friendly and healthier to the environment. Also consider the fact that the manufacturing process for vinyl siding produces limited amounts of waste in comparison to other exterior siding options.

Another great benefit of insulated vinyl siding is that it can boost a home’s R-value by up to 16%, making it more energy efficient. The less energy used, and the less energy used, the better it is for our planet.

The vinyl siding Trim A Seal installs is manufactured using polyvinyl chloride or PVC. This is made from the chlorine extracted from salt, combined with the ethylene made from natural gas. Salt is one of the earth’s most abundant and sustainable compounds. Most of the natural gas that is used to manufacture the ethylene used in vinyl siding comes from domestic sources, so it does not rely on imported oil. Using domestic products rather than those imported internationally cuts down substantially on the negative effects to the environment.

Vinyl Siding’s Eco-Friendly Benefits:
• Vinyl siding has been shown to consume less than half of the energy during manufacturing as compared to what is required during the manufacturing of brick and mortar.
• Vinyl siding has also been shown to emit significantly lower levels of toxic chemicals, such as mercury and silver, into the environment than other exterior home siding products do and its completely lead free.
• Because vinyl siding is lighter in weight than almost any other siding option, the transportation costs and the amount of energy consumed to transport the materials are lower
• There is minimal waste produced during the installation of vinyl siding in comparison with other exterior siding options. Vinyl siding waste is substantially less than that of masonry siding, such as brick or stone, and is also less than wood or stucco siding options as well. Less waste means more of the product is used as intended and doesn’t wind up in landfills, which is good for the environment.
• The materials used in vinyl siding production have also been shown to not be harmful to homeowners, installers, builders, or the general public. On the other hand, silica-based fiber cement siding can cause adverse effects on health.
• There is virtually no maintenance required to maintain vinyl siding, other than maybe an occasional cleaning with water and a bit of soap. That means no painting, staining, sealing or caulking. All of these products can emit harmful chemicals, fumes, solvents or toxins into the environment.

For more information about vinyl siding installaion for your Indiana home visit www.TrimASeal.com or call 800-271-6355 for a free vinyl siding installation estimate. We carry Alcoa, Certainteed and Variform Vinyl siding.

Recent studies show that high-quality, professional looking landscaping can add 5-10% percent to a home’s asking price. Where to start? Best to start simple. Clean up what you have. Here’s a quick guide to a fresh looking home exterior.

1. Weed, Edge and Mulch Beds. Start by weeding existing beds. Then add a three inch layer of mulch to all beds to create a colorful, fresh look. Mulch helps hold in moisture, so your plants and shrubs will than you later. Cut fresh edges where grass meets the mulch for a more professional look.

2. Fertilize Your Lawn. For lush, green grass your neighbors will envy, start regular fertilizer treatments and continue with a regular weed & feed schedule each season.  Try and popular brand like Scott’s that is easy to apply. Spend a little extra money to buy a spreader, which quickly and evenly distributes fertilizer over your lawn.

3. Add a Pop of Color. For about $2 per plant, you add colorful petunias, begonias and impatiens to accent sidewalks and beds.

4. Trim Trees & Shrubs. Cut back dead limbs or old growth to encourage new growth. A clean, trimmed landscape looks much more appealing than out of control trees and shrubs.

5. Improve Your Entry. The first thing your guests see is the entrance to your home. If the door is made of wood and in good shape, then a new coat of paint or refinishing it may be enough. But if you have a steel door and you notice it is dented, replace it with a new inexpensive steel door, a fiberglass door or upgrade to a nice wood grain door. Installing a new door can give you home a secure and updated appearance.

6. Check Your Roof.  Your roof is a major part of your home’s exterior and highly visible when passing by.  If your roof has torn or missing shingles, it might be time for a roof repair or new roof. Most roofs last 15-20 years. Installing a new roof on your Indiana home will not only spruce up your home’s exterior, it’s an important part of weatherproofing and saving energy on utilities.

Consider talking with a professional landscaper or home improvement company for more ways on updating your home’s landscape and exterior and improving the curb appeal. Many of these improvements will also help increase the value of your home and make it easier to sell.

Trim A Seal installs energy efficient home windows and entry doors to improve the appearance of your home. Whether your Indiana home needs new vinyl siding, reroofing, awnings, seamless gutters or more – call the home improvement experts at Trim A Seal. We’ve been providing the best quality products and services for your home throughout Northwest Indiana for over 60 years.

Visit www.trimaseal.com for more information.

If you have vinyl siding you may be dealing with mold and mildew caused by prolonged dampness. There are many solutions to cleaning mold off siding. Let’s review a few of the most common.

Many homeowners will choose to use an earth friendly all purpose cleanser like Simple Green to clean vinyl siding. Follow the instructions on the cleaner for mixing the proper dilution. At Home Depot and/or Lowes, you can also find other cleaners specifically for cleaning vinyl siding. It’s a good idea to clean the entire house and not just the moldy side, because the rest of the house will look dirty if you only clean one portion of it. There are also sealant type treatments you can buy to help keep siding cleaner longer.

Some homeowners will hire a professional to come out and clean the mildew from their home’s vinyl siding. Some products used by professionals can contain bleach or other toxic mildew and mold killing chemicals. If you don’t mind working with toxic chemicals, a homeowner can use a bleach and water solution to clean their vinyl siding themselves. There pros and cons to using a pressure washer to clean siding. If there are cracks in the siding, sections coming apart or pieces missing, you are simply introducing moisture under the siding which can cause even more mold problems and rotting. Best to use a long-handled brush to clean and scrub the siding rather than a pressure washer.  After cleaning, it’s important to rinse the solution off quickly with a garden hose and let dry naturally.

For more information about viny siding, visit www.trimaseal.com. We are the vinyl siding installation experts throughout Northwest Indiana today. If your home needs new viny siding, give us a call today for a free estimate at 800-217-6355.

FT .WAYNE SHOW – FT WAYNE COLLESIUM
THURS. 3/1 & FRI 3/2 – 11 AM – 9 PM
SAT. 3/3 10 – 9
SUN. 3/4 11 – 5

PORTER CO SHOW – PORTER CO FAIRGROUNDS
FRI 3/9 & SAT. 3/1 – 9 – 7
SUN. 3/11 – 10 -5

MICHIANA SHOW (SOUTH BEND) – CENTURY CENTER
FRI. 3/9 – 5 – 9 / SAT. 3/10 – 10 – 9 / SUN 3/11 – 12 – 5

LAKE COUNTY SHOW – LAKE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (CROWN POINT)
SAT. 3/24 9 – 6 / SUN 3/25 10 – 5

PLYMOUTH SHOW – FITNESS FORUM SPORTS CENTER – 2855 MILLER DR. – PLYMOUTH, IN.
SAT. 3/31 9 -5
SUN. 4/1 10 – 4

Trim A Seal has been providing the highest quality home improvement products and services for over 50 years. We install vinyl replacement windows, entry doors, vinyl siding, replacement roofs, Sunsetter awnings and more. Call today for a free estimate 800-271-6355 or visit www.trimaseal.com today. Serving all of Lake, Porter, Will and Southern Cook counties.

1. Great quality that can withstand rocks from lawnmowers, weather, etc.
2. Significantly improve face value and appearance of your home at low prices.
3. Easily replace a single damaged piece of siding.
4. Only maintenance is to spray and wash twice a year.
5. Long lasting and durable.

In addition to these points, there are many other positive benefits from switching to Alcoa, Variform, or Certainteed vinyl siding. Homeowners have found that installing Alcoa, Certainteed, or Variform vinyl siding is an eco-friendly alternative.  When compared to other siding products such as cement, vinyl siding leads the way in energy efficiency. One reason vinyl is considered more efficient, is that the home’s exterior doesn’t need to be repainted every few couple years like fiber cement siding. Because of the light weight of Certainteed, Variform, and Alcoa vinyl siding, less energy is used in transporting it vs. heavier, less fuel efficient products like cement or brick.  Also, vinyl siding is recyclable!

Another bonus when it comes to having a green, energy efficient home is that insulated vinyl siding can add 10% – 25% additional R-value to wall systems to reduce energy bills and help the earth at the same time.

Looking for a free vinyl siding estimate? Call the vinyl siding experts at Trim-A-Seal of Indiana today at 1-800-217-6355. They are standing by to answer your questions. Or visit us online at www.trimaseal.com Homeowners in Indiana have been choosing the professionals at Trim-A-Seal for over sixty years.

Trim-A-Seal of Indiana serves: Porter and Lake County Indiana, Merrillville, Gary, Crown Point, Hammond, Valparaiso, Munster, Highland, Griffith, St. John, Portage, Chesterton, Hobart, Schererville, East Chicago and New Chicago.

Trim A Seal installs vinyl replacement windows, patio door systems, Sunsetter awnings, vinyl siding, steel doors and more. We’ve been providing the best quality products and service to the Northern Indiana and Northeast Illinois area since 1950.

The home improvement experts at Trim A Seal offer a full selection of Sunrise Vinyl Windows like double & single hung, sliders, bay and bow windows, garden and picture windows, and specialty windows as well. Call today for an estimate 800-217-6355 or  visit www.trimaseal.com today.

Energy Saving Tips & Tricks:

1. Turn off all unnecessary appliances and lights. Keep them unplugged and put your computer and monitor to sleep when it’s not being used.
2. Keep traditional fireplaces closed and the dampers shut when not in use.
3. Take shorter showers; cutting your shower time in half can cut your water heating costs
4. Start using energy saving settings on refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers.
5. Replace your furnace’s air filter before every heating season begins.
6. A programmable thermostat can save you up to 15% on your heating bill.
7. Insulate hot water pipes and ducts.
8. Make sure your water heater has an insulating blanket.
9. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps.
10. Only 20% of homes built before 1980 are efficiently insulated. Replace your windows, doors and siding with energy efficient products that reduce heat loss.

Visit www.Trimaseal.com for more information on our energy efficient windows, doors and vinyl siding products or call 800-217-6355 for a free in home estimate. Click here for special discount offers. We’ve been serving Lake, Porter, Will and Southern Cook County with quality home improvements products and services since 1950.

A Harvard University study estimates that Americans spend an average of $160 billion for home remodeling projects each year. A year ago, many remodeling jobs returned 80 percent of their cost or more when the owner sold the house, but those numbers are changing.

Some of the most profitable renovations, such as an upscale vinyl residing, actually paid off more – 103.6 percent – more than they cost. In the Middle Atlantic States, vinyl siding replacement returns 92.3 percent of its cost, well above the national average of 87.2 percent, while in the Southwest the same job returns just 80.9 percent of the cost. That makes residing your home the most profitable home renovation.

Other profitable renovations included midrange kitchen remodels, which paid off 91.7 percent, and vinyl window replacement, which paid off 89.6 percent, making it the third best remodeling investment.

The least profitable renovation – a home office remodel, which only recoups only 63.4 percent of its cost.

Trim A Seal of Indiana has been a home improvement leader and a licensed window and siding contractor in Northern Indiana since 1950. We offer vinyl siding, window replacement, entry doors, roofing, aluminum awnings and more – to help you get the most value from your home improvement dollars. Be sure to ask about our Low Price Guarantee. Call today for a free estimate on your next project 1-800-217-6355 or visit www.TrimASeal.com for more information.

Trim A Seal services the following areas:

Indiana:
Huntington, South Bend, Gary, Fort Wayne, Mishawaka, Crown Point, Valparaiso, Hammond, Munster, Merrillville, Highland, Naperville, Warsaw, Portage, Griffith, St. John, Portage, Chesterton, Hobart, Schererville, East Chicago, Leroy, Huntington, La Porte, Hebron, Granger, Munster, Notre Dame, Milford

Illinois:
Orland Park, South Chicago, Wheaton, Mt. Prospect, Calumet City, Elmhurst, Lombard, Harwood Heights, Park Ridge, Lake Forest, Palatine, Oak Park, Lisle, Hindsdale,  Wood Dale, Elk Grove Village, Westmont, Des Plaines, Skokie, Des Plains, Hillside, Prospect Heights, Oaklawn, Homewood, Hoffman Estates, Lansing, Libertyville, Homewood, Mokena, Vernan Hills, Woodridge, St. Charles, Villa Park, Bradley, North Brook

Ohio:
Cleveland, Maple Heights, Bath, Bryan, Findlay, Akron, Aurora

Safe Energy Efficient Vinyl Siding
Why is vinyl siding considered a “green” building product? There are a number of factors that make vinyl siding an eco-friendly choice. For one, the materials used to make modern vinyl siding are more environmentally friendly and healthier to the environment. Also consider the fact that the manufacturing process for vinyl siding produces limited amounts of waste in comparison to other exterior siding options.

Another great benefit of insulated vinyl siding is that it can boost a home’s R-value by up to 16%, making it more energy efficient. The less energy used, and the less energy used, the better it is for our planet.

The vinyl siding Trim A Seal installs are manufactured using polyvinyl chloride or PVC. This is made from the chlorine extracted from salt, combined with the ethylene made from natural gas. Salt is one of the earth’s most abundant and sustainable compounds. Most of the natural gas that is used to manufacture the ethylene used in vinyl siding comes from domestic sources, so it does not rely on imported oil. Using domestic products rather than those imported internationally cuts down substantially on the negative effects to the environment.

Vinyl Siding’s Eco-Friendly Benefits:
• Vinyl siding has been shown to consume less than half of the energy during manufacturing as compared to what is required during the manufacturing of brick and mortar.
• Vinyl siding has also been shown to emit significantly lower levels of toxic chemicals, such as mercury and silver, into the environment than other exterior home siding products do and its completely lead free.
• Because vinyl siding is lighter in weight than almost any other siding option, the transportation costs and the amount of energy consumed to transport the materials are lower
• There is minimal waste produced during the installation of vinyl siding in comparison with other exterior siding options. Vinyl siding waste is substantially less than that of masonry siding, such as brick or stone, and is also less than wood or stucco siding options as well. Less waste means more of the product is used as intended and doesn’t wind up in landfills, which is good for the environment.
• The materials used in vinyl siding production have also been shown to not be harmful to homeowners, installers, builders, or the general public. On the other hand, silica-based fiber cement siding can cause adverse effects on health.
• There is virtually no maintenance required to maintain vinyl siding, other than maybe an occasional cleaning with water and a bit of soap. That means no painting, staining, sealing or caulking. All of these products can emit harmful chemicals, fumes, solvents or toxins into the environment.

For more information about vinyl siding installaion for your Indiana home visit www.TrimASeal.com or call 800-271-6355 for a free vinyl siding installation estimate. We carry Alcoa, Certainteed and Variform Vinyl siding.

At Trim A Seal of Indiana, we carry a beautiful assortment of durable and attractive Varigrain Preferred and Timber Oak siding vinyl siding by Variform. Check out the assortment of vinyl siding colors by visiting our website.Visit www.Trimaseal.com for more information or call 800-217-6355 today for a free estimate.