The Victorian Foundation Repairs team’s blog talks frequently about all sorts of matters that affect your home. We believe strongly in diversifying the content that you’ll find on here because it helps you and your households be the best owners and occupants possible. But the root of what we do lies within reinforcing the foundation of your home through our premium restumping, reblocking and underpinning services – all things that you may not think about on a regular basis, but are absolutely paramount.

When we work with the foundation of your home, we need to get below the regular rooms and spaces that you explore. That may be within your basement, but more often than not, it’s areas like crawl spaces. Now, crawl spaces aren’t areas where you’d have any sort of dinner party or even want to relax after a long day. But they are really important to the design of the home, because they’re basically the barrier between the poles or stumps that support your home and the spaces that you can use for absolutely whatever you want.

That’s why they’re important. Or at least the number one reason. But how and why should you take care of them?

They’re small spaces, often even seeming claustrophobic for some, but they’re the closest to the ground and that means that they easily gather moisture. Not good. You want to keep these areas dry. The crawl space is often a frequently forgotten about area, so it may be lined with soil. That’s the easiest way for moisture to get in. Our recommendations? Look into vapor barriers. Insulation if you have any air ducts or pipes down there can help, just make sure that they’re properly installed. Finally, you might want to think about having a dehumidifier installed down there.

We all know how it feels on really cold days if you’re not properly equipped to stay warm. Not fun, right? Well, insulation is the key here and there is no exception for your crawl space. If you don’t have it, it’s the easiest way for air to travel upwards and upend your day in the rooms you’re using. Bonus? Adding insulation makes your home more energy-efficient.

Finally, figure out a way to keep out any sort of bugs. Definitely something to avoid. This is the easiest way for them to get into your house. They can chew through electrical equipment; they can create health challenges and they can cause odors that you just don’t know the source of. But don’t fret! We have ideas. This is one where we recommend working with professionals, but whenever you move into a home, make sure that your air ducts are properly screened as that’s the first line of defense.

Questions? Let us know. The Victorian Foundation Repairs team would love to help.

* image source: Evergreen Attic Insulation

If you’ve ever had to pay for a car, or even been gifted one, you know what a huge investment and ultimately, part of your life, it is. Your first car is like a rite of passage and for some, it can take years and years to save up for it. The glitz and the glamour sticks around for a while, but eventually you realize just what a money pit they are. Wait, you’re thinking, didn’t I visit the blog of Victorian Foundation Repairs – the premiere provider of restumping, reblocking and underpinning services in the area? You did! Don’t worry about that at all. But what you didn’t realize is that we offer so much more than that. On our blog we regularly share information about your home in general – what works, what doesn’t work and more. Because we spend so much time outside surveying the foundation and structure of your home, we notice elements like different rooms, exterior details and specific to today’s post – driveways and garages. But which works for you? Read on to learn more.

There really are benefits to both. Either way, you’re not having to deal with street parking, garage parking or worse, no parking at all. A driveway or a garage is not just a place to park your vehicle (of any variety), but it’s a piece of your property that you can get creative with. We love thinking about the different ways to use your garage if you don’t have anything to park there – fitness center, man cave or she-shed, art studio… the options abound. Similarly, a driveway is a great place for a basketball hoop, a cricket set-up or just a general place to play and socialize. Both are canvases for creativity.

There are also characteristics of both which probably make more sense for you. To start with, if you live in a cold or wet environment and/or have a higher value vehicle that you want to keep safe and secure, you probably want to look for a house with a garage – preferably with easy access from the garage right into the home, so that you don’t get wet or cold as well.

If you live in a dry or warm environment, this isn’t as much of an issue, so a driveway is acceptable and sometimes even optimal. It can take thousands of dollars off of the price of the house, so if a garage is negotiable for you, you may end up saving a lot of money without one.

How do you care for them? Treat your garage like any other room in your home – tidy it up on a weekly basis, so that there’s not debris and certainly no old food or trash laying around. Sweep it out whenever you can and when weather comes, insulate it as best you can.

Driveways, you’ll want to power wash at least twice a year, but they require a lot less maintenance – that is, as long as the children (or the youthful adults) haven’t had too much fun with sidewalk chalk.

The Victorian Foundation Repairs team hopes you have a great week!

First impressions are everything, right? And there are a lot of different ways that you can define what a first impression is for you. Raise your hand if the most recent (and important) first impression you can remember had to do with someone important. The team at Victorian Foundation Repairs is guessing that a lot of you are raising your hands. Some first impressions go really, really well. If you’re smiling right now, we’re thinking that it must have worked out with a boss, a friend, a significant other or another paramount character in the story of your life. If you’re grimacing or slowly lowering your hand behind your back, there is NO shame in that, but we’re thinking that the last ‘first impression’ that you had may not have gone quite as you wanted it to.

The Victorian Foundation Repairs team aren’t experts at relationships, but we are experts at your home, and both require a really solid foundation. Both can also really benefit from premium first impressions and those can be just as complicated with your current or future home as any friendship or relationship that you might run into. You’re lucky. You stumbled upon our blog and we have a wealth of knowledge to give out. Here are some of our favourite tips.

1. Don’t spare the necessary expenses. We don’t want you to go crazy, but we also don’t want you to shirk the dollars that could pay off big in the long run. Homes are expensive, no doubt about it, but they can also be your greatest asset if you treat them right. If it’s the difference between a hundred dollars on a couple of different materials for your fence, go big. You’ll make that money back ten-fold not too far down the line.
2. Have a vision. We’re guessing that when you moved into your current home, there were things that you were really passionate about. There were also probably things that you weren’t the biggest fan of. Both of these are totally fine, but it’s an opportunity to have a clear and personal vision. Favourite colours? Favourite flowers? A type of windows that you really can’t stand? You already paid the money for the home, make it your own and let your personality show!
3. Take care of your home’s exterior. The Victorian Foundation Repairs team are big fans of reinforcing not just the foundation of your home, but every other part of it as well. Sometimes that has to do with the premium materials we use, other times it really is all about advice – sweet, short and simple. You take care of the things that mean a lot to you, right? Your home’s exterior should fit squarely in this bucket. Regular maintenance, upkeep and chores, such as window cleaning, will remind you why you’re so proud of the first impression your home creates for any visitors that you may have.

If you have questions, please reach out to the Victorian Foundation Repairs team. We’d love to hear from you.