If you have condensation in your home, you have a serious problem. Condensation that accumulates on your home’s windows can cause damage to your window sills, drywall, flooring; and worst of all it will damage your wall studs.

I won’t go into all of the reasons here as to how humudity, temperature and more lead to condensation, but, instead, I will just get to the point and show you a few solutions that will help you rid your problems.

Turn on your properly ventilated exhaust fans when cooking and showering. If you don’t have properly ventelated exhaust fans, have them installed. This shouldn’t cost you more than a few hundred dollars, and these few hundred dollars could save you thousands. The steam created from cooking and showering can put excessive moisture in the air and lead to killer condensation.

If you have bare earth exposed in your crawl space, this will also contribute to condensation accumulating inside the house. If this is the case, you need to have a plastic vapor barrier or ground cover installed. 6-mil, black plastic will do the job and will effectively keep moisture from the bare earth out of your home.

It is also important to be sure that you have enough foundation vents to provide adequate ventilation to the crawl space. This will keep the temperature regulated in the crawl space and help prevent excessive moisture. If your home has old foundation vents that you have to open and close by hand, I recommend replacing them with automatic foundation vents. Automatic foundation vents will open and close on their own, under the necessary temperatures

If you have a vapor barrier and foundation vents in place, the last thing you need to do is make sure that your floor in the crawl space is properly insulated.

Last but not least, make sure that your attic is properly ventilated and insulated.
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Installing replacement windows is the, single, most important investment that you can make for your home. In fact, a replacement window will actually pay for itself over and over again, and the savings will start accumulating the moment that they are installed. Replacement windows will, effortlessly, keep your house cooler in the summer months and warmer throughout the winter season, and therefore reducing your energy cost. In addition to lower utility bills, replacement windows will also increase the resale value and overall look and comfort of your home. No matter how you look at it, you can not lose when it comes to installing new replacement windows.

If you are considering installing new replacement windows, you may also qualify for the U.S. 2009-2010 energy tax credit. All you have to do is purchase a qualifying replacement window and you could recieve a tax credit up to $1,500 on your 2009 or 2010 federal income tax return. Replacement windows that qualify for this tax credit must have a U-Factor equal to or below 0.30 and a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) equal to or below 0.30 in all climate zones. This credit is only available on replacement windows installed before December 31, 2010.



If you live in Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Radford or in the New River Valley, and you are considering installing new replacement windows, you can contact Profixes Home Repair and Maintenance of Virginia for your free, affordable quote. To contact Profixes, visit our website Profixes.com