Uncategorized Archives - Page 38 of 49

Has Your Garage Roof Taken a Beating this Winter?

March 18, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

It’s over. Winter is finally over. Winter has been tough this year, but as residents of Chicago and the Chicago Suburbs, we’ve made it through. From the freeze-thaw cycle in late fall to the wet, heavy snow that hit us in January, to the freeze-thaw cycle that has hit us once again in March, we’ve all made it, but what about our roofs?

Freeze/Thaw and Heavy Snow Damage

Roof damage-especially in garages-can become a much larger problem as years pass. Freezing and thawing, just as it affects the roads on which we drive, affects the shingles on our roofs.

Understandably, homeowners will not face potholes per se, but shingles could pop off, roofs could see damage, weak points could occur, and a 2016 snowfall could result in leaks or collapse.

The damage can be caused by any number of factors, alone or combined, that could contribute to the slow destruction of your roof. These factors include

Freeze/Thaw cycle causes cracks to form under shingles
Increased Weight caused by wet snow and ice puts additional pressure on a roof
Insulation could become moist or wet and degrade, losing effectiveness and resulting in higher heating bills
Ice Dams could form at the edge of the roof as ice melts and refreezes lower on the roof.

If you are worried about the damage that this, last, or any other winter has caused, contact Chicagoland Custom Garage Builder (as well as roofer, entry door installer, window provider and more) Blue Sky Builders, Inc. for an inspection and repair to your roof. Learn more about our siding and roofing services, as well as the many other services that we offer to homeowners throughout the Chicagoland area.

We offer free estimates, but with such high demand, the best way to ensure the safety of your roof is to contact us as soon as possible.

Homeowner Spring Training: Getting Your Garage in Shape

March 11, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

Baseball’s Spring Training is upon us. With players getting in shape for the long season ahead of them, we would like to invite homeowners to get their garages ready for spring and summer. From cleaning to conditioning, your garage will see a lot more action as the weather continues to warm. Grills, bikes, boats, and more will take the center stage, and homeowners are called to get their garages in shape for summer.

Here at Blue Sky Builders, Inc., we’ve been providing advice on how to keep your garage in tip-top shape on our blog for a few years, and would like to share with you today a few handy guides on garage care and maintenance.

Durability Exercise: Don’t Chance it, Check It.

With garages a main point of entrance in many homes and a major activity hub for families, the garage is important-keep it safe. One of the key safety concerns of homeowners has and always be the garage door opener. This is why in late 2013, LiftMaster introduced its “Don’t Chance It, Check It” campaign urging homeowners to complete routine inspections of their garage door openers.

For homeowners with garage door openers built after 1993, LiftMaster offered a simple three-step inspection guide to ensure functionality:

Check the sides of the garage door for properly installed photo-eyes (black sensors), mounted no higher than six inches off the floor.
Block the photo-eye with an object over six inches tall and press the close button on the garage door opener. The door should not close.
Lay an object that is at least 1.5 inches in height flat on the ground in the door’s path and press the close button. Household objects this size might be a bar of soap, stack of index cards, or a hardcover book. The door should reverse off this object. If it makes contact and does not reverse, the door is not operating correctly.

For more advice on inspecting a garage door opener for safety and reliability, follow this door to floor garage door safety checklist.

Additional Resources:

Think it’s time to replace your garage door? Learn the symptoms of a garage door in need of repair, and see how we can help you fix it.

Clean it Up: Remove Stains from Garage Floors

We’re guessing that if you’re like most homeowners, some kind of stain has crept into your garage over the course of winter. Salt, oil, grease, and more are all causes for concern, as they can contribute to the aging of a garage floor.

We’ve offered many different tips for removing everything from rust to salt to tire marks from your garage floor. We also offered a deeper look into removing winter stains and restoring your garage from winter damage.

Looking to prevent that unsightly stain from ever appearing again? Learn how to epoxy coat or paint your garage floor before it gets too hot and humid to do so.

Get Organized: Storage and Organization Tips for Garages

Whether you’re looking to store more stuff or move more effectively, if your garage looks like something out of Hoarders, it might be time to think of a storage solution.

Six Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Garage:

Assess the Mess
Throw Things Out
Zone Your Space
Freshen Up
Mobilize Your Gear
Show it Off

Looking for more advice? Check out the Garage Organization Infographic from Angie’s List, and read up on the following cleaning and organization resources:

Play it Safe: Prevent Injuries All Year Long

Do you have a workshop in your garage? How about any form of chemical? Play it safe in 2015 with these tips:

How to Maintain a Safe Home Workshop
Quick Fixes for Garage Safety including How to Choose a Garage Fire Extinguisher
Three Tips for Preventing Garage Fires
Important Garage Safety Tips

Is Your Garage Falling Apart?

Sometimes in life, as in baseball, everything looks good in theory, but never pans out. If your current garage looks like it should be sent to the minor leagues, don’t hesitate to call us so that we can install a superstar of a garage for your home. Contact Blue Sky Builders, Inc. today.

Two Schools of Thought: Garage Door Torsion Spring Replacement

March 4, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

Picture this: You walk into your garage in the morning, hit the garage door opener button, and-snap-your garage door torsion spring just snapped. Now what?

If you’re like most, you will head to Google, type in something along the lines of “Broken Garage Door Spring,” “Garage Door Spring Repair,” or “What to do When Your Garage Door Spring Breaks.”

Of course, when you head to Google, you will see two generic schools of thought interspersed on the first few pages:

Pages that recommend that only a qualified technician work on your garage door torsion spring.
Pages that recommend that you can do it yourself

Both sides of this argument are trying to sell you something, whether it be the service itself, or the parts and tools needed to attempt to repair your garage door torsion spring.

We could easily tell you, as a company that services garage door openers and torsion springs that replacing said torsion spring is a confusing, dangerous, and complicated process that could result in a hospital trip.

However, with YouTube and About.com available to show you how to replace it, we can’t argue with your desire to save money and feel handy.

Here is a 20-minute video on replacing a garage door spring on YouTube (It doesn’t take 20 minutes).
Here is a short explanation on how to repair your torsion spring on your own for around $150.

You were going to find them anyway. Now that you’ve taken the time to watch and read, we have a few questions.

Are you:

Sufficiently confused?
Wondering about what size torsion spring you need?
Concerned about the fact that:
- You will be waiting for a company to ship you materials?
- You will have a hard time finding a company that will sell a torsion spring to an amateur?
Worried about unwinding a cable under intense pressure?

If you feel confident in your ability to follow every step perfectly, you’ll have your nonrefundable (All Sales Final) torsion spring kit in the mail in about three business days (via Garage Door Nation FAQ).

Then, you can start the process of the repair, which will take a few hours if you do it right.

How to Be 100% Positive Your Spring Replacement Goes Smoothly

Sit back, grab a beer, and let Blue Sky Builders, Inc. replace your garage door torsion spring. Contact us today.

Notice Anything Different on the Blue Sky Builders, Inc. Website?

February 25, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

Weather permitting, Blue Sky Builders, Inc. construction season starts up in four days. To celebrate the opening of our 36^th year of construction for homeowners, we have been doing a bit of construction of our own-our new website.

After many years of our old website, we decided that it was time for a bit of a facelift, bettering the user experience and better displaying our work for homeowners throughout Chicagoland. Today, we’d like to share with you the evolution of our website, from its humble 2001 beginnings to the beautifully designed site that we have today.

The Evolution of BlueSkyBuilders.com

We’ve had many a redesign throughout the years, and the latest is one that we are incredibly proud of. Let’s take a look back, courtesy of Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

2001: Complete with Flashing Bullet Points

Like much of the late 90s and early 00s, our website started off simple, and has grown into what it is today.

2002: “Best in the Business”

In 2002, we moved to a white background, dropped the sponsored links, and added a small gallery.

2012

In 2012, we moved to the website that you knew and loved… until now. In this year, we added our blog, sharing all the news homeowners can use to make the most of their garages.

2015: Modern Website for Modern Garage Builders

If you take a look around, you’ll notice some of the biggest changes are as follows:

Fully Responsive: Pull out your phone or tablet and open up our page. It’ll look just as stunning as on your browser.
Improved Gallery: Now you can browse our best work more easily than ever! Head over to our garage gallery to see our projects in all their glory.
Better Navigation
Faster Load Times

Excellence in Garage Building Since 1979

We are excited to take our website into its current state, and look forward to building garages for Chicagoland homeowners for years to come. We remodeled, and so should you. Contact Blue Sky Builders, Inc. to see how the best in the business can improve the value of your home with a new garage in 2015.

Spring is (Almost) Here. Plan Your Improvements Today

February 18, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

MLB’s Spring Training is technically underway tomorrow. Whether a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan, we can all agree on one thing, spring is almost here. As the weather starts to warm up (fingers crossed), we are getting warmed up for the kickoff of our 36^th year building custom garages for Chicagoland homeowners.

Traditionally, Blue Sky Builders, Inc. has kicked off its construction season on March 1, and this year will be no different.

Phone calls are starting to flow in from customers throughout the area looking to make valuable improvements to their home’s value in 2015. Whether you live in Aurora, Algonquin, Tinley Park, or Zion; Blue Sky Builders, Inc. is ready to help you make the much-needed improvements you may have been putting off.

Distraught by Damaged Doors?

Your door is the face of your home. After time, doors can become dinged, dented, scratched, faded, and like windows-drafty. If your entry doors are in a desperate state, you are not only detracting from the beauty of your home, but the value and energy efficiency.

Blue Sky Builders, Inc. offers top quality secure steel entry door systems in different panel styles, colors, decorative door lights, matching sidelights and glass designs available for your house and garage.

Frozen by Drafty Windows?

Did you notice this year that your windows are a bit more drafty than last? According to the U.S. Department of Energy, reducing drafts in a home can result in energy savings that range between 5 and 30 percent per year; so why not make 2015 the year you finally put off the procrastination, throw out the plastic wrap, and save yourself some money on your heating bill?

If you procrastinate, you may forget. That is, until it’s negative eight next year and you’re freezing cold regretting your indecision.

Blue Sky Builders, Inc. offers a full range of window styles including single-hung, double-hung, fixed glass, sliders, casement and awning windows. Backed by a lifetime-limited warranty, our new windows can help you keep the cold out in 2016 (and 2066).

Discouraged by Your Dilapidated Garage?

We couldn’t go without mentioning our specialty, helping make your garage the most beautiful part of your home. Whether Gable, Gambrel, Hip, or a Custom Garage, we can help you to improve your home’s value with a new garage.

Check out our gallery, our highly satisfied customer testimonials, and contact us for more information.

3 Tales of Homeowners Who Fell In Love with Their New Garages

February 11, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air. But we must know, do you love-or loathe-your garage?

Throughout the years, we have made it possible for homeowners across the Chicagoland area to experience love at first sight.

Don’t believe us? Just ask Carla from Oak Park, who said these nice words from a project completed in May 2013:

“We recently had our custom garage built by Blue Sky Builders, Inc. and are extremely satisfied with the appearance and quality of the garage, as well as Blue Sky Builder’s customer service. We were especially pleased by the effort they took to match the style and colors of the existing house. We would strongly recommend anyone living in the Chicagoland area to choose Blue Sky Builders, Inc. for their project.”

Or, you could ask Susan from LaGrange, for whom we completed the custom garage shown below, also in May 2013:

“I am very satisfied with the custom garage constructed by Blue Sky Builders, Inc. Everyone that I worked with including Rick, Bruce and the various contractors that were on site were a pleasure to work with. I originally wanted a replacement that was simply a duplicate of the former garage. Rick suggested changes that provided much needed additional space within the same footprint of the old garage and driveway. I am thrilled with the result. Blue Sky builds a quality product and I highly recommend the Blue Sky team.”

Mary from Westmont is also a fan of our work. We completed the following project complete with natural wood siding and aluminum roof, and her reaction to the result (picture below) was priceless:

“Thank you for my beautiful new garage and home! This project turned out to be far more complex than either you or I would have guessed, and I appreciate you stepping up to the challenge. The result is stunning. Your crew is top notch.

We must ask again, do you love or loathe your garage? If you would like to fall in love with your garage, contact us today. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our gallery of garages.

(Please Note: We love garages, we know that you will love your new garage, but men, please do not consider using this as a Valentine’s Day Gift. We can not stress this enough.

If you plan to do so, check out our ‘awesome man caves‘ post, because you may need to sleep out there for the next year.)

Don’t Spend Another Chicago Winter with a Carport

February 4, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

Another year, another Chicago winter. After 20 inches of snow on Sunday, and a predicted negative eight degrees tonight, March couldn’t seem further away. For those with carports (worse yet-no garage), tomorrow morning will be filled with grumbling as drivers struggle to start their cars.

Of course, the carport made for a great cost saving, quickly constructed option in the spring, but the years of blowing snow and subzero temperatures have made the idea of little more than a roof on stilts look worse and worse as time passed.

Will this be the year that you protect your vehicle from the elements? How about the year that you can safely store decorations, bicycles, or tools without worrying that the items will be stolen?

By adding a garage to your home in 2015, you add more than just improved protection from the cold, you are adding much more:

Value: According to Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report, a new garage adds over 60% of its purchase price as value to your home’s sale price.
Storage: Garages are ideal for storage because they are completely enclosed and can be locked. They also tend to be larger than carports, with extra space for shelves or workbenches.
Home Beauty: Homeowners with garages are more satisfied with the look of their garage.
Protection from More than Rain and Snow: A carport can protect you from snow… Until 40-50 MPH gusts blow it onto your car. Garages are Available heated (and cooled), which makes life much easier when you are trying to cold-start a car.
Safety: Each year, $1.26 billion in personal items and accessories are stolen from vehicles in about 1.85 million thefts (Nationwide). A garage can help keep your car safe and secure from damage and theft.
Multiple Purposes: Think of it, an office, a man cave, a bar, or anything you’d like.

Blue Sky Builders, Inc., your trusted source for custom garages throughout Chicagoland, is taking appointments for the impending warm weather. Contact us today to see how we can help you this spring.

Quick Fixes for Garage Safety and Security

January 28, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

With the weather supposed to be bearable (mid-30s) this weekend, we at Blue Sky Builders, Inc. thought that we would share with you a few quick fixes you can accomplish to ensure safety, security, and cleanliness in your garage.

Quick Fix 1: Inspect Your Garage Door Balance

A properly balanced door is less likely to crush someone or something and keeps your door opener from working too hard. That’s why, with a quick inspection, you can prevent mishaps that could occur. LiftMaster Garage Door Openers offered this quick video on how to inspect the balance of your garage door.

Quick Fix 2: Install a Fire Extinguisher

With a lot of combustible materials in your garage, and many potential things that could start fires, you should have at least one fire extinguisher in your garage. Underwriters Laboratories tests and recommends fire extinguishers, and has specific classifications for what a fire extinguisher does:

Class A: Ordinary Combustibles (Paper, Wood, Cloth)
Class B: Flammable Liquids (Gasoline, Grease, Oil)
Class C: Electrical Equipment (Appliances, Tools)
**Class D & Class K are made for industrial and commercial food service applications, respectively.

The best option for garages would be a 10-pound Class B:C fire extinguisher that you could store near an entrance or workshop. For more information on fire prevention in garages, read our garage fire prevention tips.

Quick Fix 3: Garage Door Lubrication

Something that can easily be done while checking the balance of the garage door is to lubricate moving parts of your door. SF Gate offers a simple 4-Step process to lubricate the moving parts of a garage door:

Stand inside the garage and close the garage door, paying attention to all the various moving parts — springs, rollers and hinges. Note the movement of the door parts and those on the overhead track system, as well as the garage door opening system, if there is one.
Wipe away cobwebs, dust, grime and buildup on the door hinges, springs and other moving hardware. Climb a step stool, if necessary, to wipe away buildup or obstructions on the track system overhead, as well as on the rollers on the garage door track.
Squirt small amounts of silicone spray into the moving parts on the garage door itself, such as the hinges and springs. Open the door halfway and repeat the process. Open and close the door a few times to encourage the oil to lubricate moving areas. Spray additional lubricant if needed. Wipe away lubricant that drips using a clean rag.
Place the step stool under one of the tracks if you cannot comfortably reach or see the inner track area overhead. Open the garage door and spray silicone lubricant into the centers of the rollers that ride on the track, as well as on springs attached to the opening system. Close and open the door several times to allow the lubricant to flow. Wipe away any drips.

Quick Fix 4: Test Garage Door Opener Safety Features

Part of LiftMaster’s ‘Don’t Chance it, Check it’ Initiative is to inspect the eyes of the garage door opener and reversing mechainism.

Check the sides of the garage door for properly installed photo-eyes (black sensors), mounted no higher than six inches off the floor.
Block the photo-eye with an object over six inches tall and press the close button on the garage door opener. The door should not close.
Lay an object that is at least 1.5 inches in height flat on the ground in the door’s path and press the close button. Household objects this size might be a bar of soap, stack of index cards, or a hardcover book. The door should reverse off this object. If it makes contact and does not reverse, the door is not operating correctly.

Conclusion

These are all a few quick fixes that every homeowner can accomplish in less than an hour, and will undoubtedly impact the safety of your garage. We offer other safety tips, which you can view below:

Be sure to contact your garage door professionals if you need assistance building a garage in the spring.

Blue Sky Builders, Inc. Garage Project Blog: Chicago, Illinois

January 21, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

2014 may be over, but it’s not too late to share another 2014 Blue Sky Builders, Inc. success story. This project blog features a new garage completed this fall, built in Chicago, Illinois.

After nearly 40 years and a brutal 2014 Chicago winter, our client decided that it was time to look into a replacement for his family’s two-car garage before the winter of 2014-15. After hearing horror stories about a few of the “Mega” builders in the area, our client was referred to us by a friend for whom Blue Sky completed a custom garage a few years ago.

Looking to meet a budget while still getting a high quality product, Blue Sky Builders, Inc. was able to help the client, completing the project in Fall 2014.

Garage Remodel Details

Garage Style: Hip Garage

Garage Door(s): 16×7 insulated steel overhead door on alley side. 6×7 steel overhead door on yard side.

Garage Windows: Vinyl

Garage Siding Used: Ovation Triple 3″ Vinyl Siding

Garage Roof Shingles: IKO Marathon asphalt shingles

Key Desires: Structural stability, security, yard-facing ‘party’ door,

Garage Before Pictures

Garage After Pictures

The Story on Yelp

We’d love to share our client’s full story provided to Yelp. Here it is:

“Our two car garage has been there since we bought the home in 1975, it’s hard to tell how long it had been there prior but it did require a “rehab” back then to keep the structure sound as it was already slowly decaying. After a rough winter in 2014 we decided it was time to explore getting a new garage built in its place. We very much wanted a quality garage and like most are on a budget. After hearing horror stories from neighbors who had purchased garages built by well known local “mega” garage builders we were not sure exactly where to turn. Then we found Blue Sky…

A few years back a friend had bought a home and rehabbed it from top to bottom – including the garage. He went all custom – from top to bottom and it was amazing. Not something we could afford or have the space for, but I couldn’t ignore the quality and inquired about the builder. Our first consultation with Blue Sky was informative, thorough and they were very transparent when I asked questions about costs and quality. I knew then it was time to break ground!

Blue Sky came to our home on two occasions to discuss plans and options. They were unique in that there approach was focused on my everyday needs for a garage vs. just a quick structure and a garage door. It was detailed and gave me plenty of options when it came to costs. I also called and emailed many times with questions and always got a prompt response back. Blue Sky gave me a timeline and schedule which they meticulously stuck with – all the while I got calls and inquires from the project manager to inquire about any questions I had along the way.

I don’t usually write testimonials for purchases, but this particular experience really struck me and I do take pride in supporting local business. My experience with Blue Sky and the building of our garage was excellent. From start to finish they were focused on finding the right garage for my family, answering my many questions and then quickly executing a flawless demolition and build. I would highly recommend you take the time to meet with a company that really takes the customer service experience to the next level.”

This project, from consultation to completion, took roughly one month to complete. Looking to be another Blue Sky Success Story? Contact us to be among the first we help in the upcoming construction season!

Want to see more of our project blogs? Visit the links below:

Garage Project Blog – Westmont, IL

Garage Project Blog – Glen Ellyn, IL

Garage Project Blog – Lombard, IL

Garage Project Blog – La Grange, IL

Garage Project Blog – Oak Park, IL

More than Storage: The Gallery of Garage Havens

January 14, 2015/in Uncategorized/by Blue Sky Builders

As a leading custom garage builder, we have seen (and built) a few amazing garages in our 36 years. Throughout this history, we have seen a big change in the garage concept, discovering more and more homeowners are taking garage building to the next level.

From man caves to celebrity car havens, the garage has become more than a place where homeowners store their lawn mowers, snow blowers, and tools. Today, we’d like to share with you some of the most interesting uses of garages we’ve seen.

The Garage Band Haven

The lowly garage band. From Credence Clearwater Revival to Nirvana to The Who, hundreds of artists started in garages. Today, homeowners turn to the garage to ‘rock out.’ Thanks to DIY Network’s Garage Mahals, host Bill Goldberg helped one family turn their garage into a multi-functional garage/stage combo.

Wine Lovers’ Garage Haven

Love wine? Who doesn’t? With the right assistance and climate control tools (a must), the garage could make for a wine lover’s paradise. The video below, shared by Wine Cellars by Coastal, shows how your garage could house your vintage wines, even in the summer and winter months.

Please note, we’ll build you the room, but we recommend a wine cellar builder to finish the project.

The Garage Bar

Another option for someone looking to get out of the house without having to deal with going to the bar is that of the garage bar. For the basic do it yourself-er, this could be as easy as building a bar, repurposing a mini-fridge, and buying some bar stools. However, for a true homeowner haven, we’d like to share with you how Garage Mahals turned one garage into a true-to-life English Pub, complete with stone fireplace and 6 am (US Time) Chelsea FC games.

And of Course, the Car Lover’s Haven

In the garage, the car has always been king. Wall Street Journal shares some of the ultimate garages from across the United States, some including a few of the prior garage features.

What Else?

The garage has become a bigger part of the home for some. These are just a few of the interesting things people have done to their garages, a spacious place where creativity can shine. Looking for a few other great garage ideas? Here are a couple:

Casino Garage
Workout Room
Home Office/Library
Home Brewery
Greenhouse
Home Theatre

For even more garage ideas, check out the gallery on House Logic. For the builders who can turn your garage dream into a reality, contact custom garage builder Blue Sky Builders, Inc..