Home Maintenance – Tips To Help Prep Your Home For Winter

1. Get your furnace tuned up and check that the system is clean. Also, remember to replace your furnace filters every 2-3 months depending on your furnace.
2. Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans to clockwise. This will help the heat come back down instead of getting trapped at your ceiling.
3. Icicles/Ice Damming – If this is occurring of your home, your attic may not be properly insulated causing heat lose.
4. Check roof for missing shingles to prevent water from coming in.

5. Caulk around your windows and doors if the exterior around the frame has an opening bring than a nickel. Silicone caulking works best for this.
6. Clean your gutters.
7. Downspouts should be out past the base of the house 3-4 feet. This prevents water from pooling at the foundation.

8. Turn off the water to the exterior taps. Drain the water from the lines.
9. Get your sprinklers blown out to prevent damage over the winter.
10. Tired of Racking leaves? Buy a mulching blade for your lawn mower. This will cut up the leaves into dime sized pieces which will help nourish your lawn over the winter and prevent snow mold. Do this when the leaves are dry.
11. Winterize your lawn mower. The gas will not be good come spring.
12. Don’t prune your trees and shrubs in fall. Wait till late winter before spring growth starts.
13. Is your sump pump working? It isn’t wise to turn your sump off always leave it on.
To check if it is working pour a gallon of water into the sump pit. This should really be done every three months. If it is not working call Town & Country or your local Plumber.
14. Have a chimney? This is the time of year to get your chimney swept by a professional. Making sure your chimney and vents are clean will help prevent house fires.
15. Stock up on sand for your sidewalk and driveway. It is not recommended to use ice melts on new driveways or sidewalks as it will eat away at the concrete. We recommend sand and a plastic shovel.
16. Remove screens from your windows to help prevent any moisture from building up.

Daikin Furnaces – Our New Standard Furnace

The Daikin brand DM96VE Multi-Speed, Multi-Position Gas Furnace features our heavy-duty stainless-steel tubular heat exchanger and durable silicon nitride hot-surface
ignition system. This furnace is run-tested for heating or combination heating/cooling applications. Not only will this furnace provide your family with years of reliable warmth in even the harshest winters, it will do so economically. This quiet furnace delivers a money-saving efficiency of up to 96% AFUE compared to lower AFUE furnaces.

Trade Partner

All Weather Windows is Canada’s largest privately-owned window and door manufacturer. Launched in 1978 in a 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Edmonton, Alberta, the company has since expanded to two leading edge manufacturing plants, eight customer solution centres, two commercial (architectural) offices, a sealed unit and tempered glass company and over 600 dealers across the country. With a combined capacity of over 300,000 square feet, our manufacturing plants produce a full range of award-winning, energy efficient, sustainable and weather-resistant window and door products for dealers, builders, contractors, and homeowners. Accolades for the company include ENERGY STAR Canada’s Sustained Excellence Award as well as Platinum Club winner of Canada’s Best Managed Companies program. All Weather Windows gives back generously to the communities in which they operate, working closely with non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity where over $1 million dollars has been donated annually in window and door products nationwide.

Collaboration between one of our customers and one of our sales representatives led to the development of one of our most innovative products yet – the All Weather Windows attic hatch. Through conversations with our customers, we understood that their framers were building their own hatches leading to longer turnaround times and higher costs. In addition, there was air leakage getting through the hatch, and aluminum frame hatches meant more heat would transfer. The customer also expressed a desire to use recyclable material in order to be as ecofriendly as possible. From there, the All Weather Windows Attic Hatch was born – a pre-finished energy efficient product that saves our customers both time and money.

Our research and development team set out to design a product that would not only suit the builder’s needs, but also meet building codes and reduce the amount of waste to landfills. Using fiberglass door cutouts that were currently being directed to the landfill meant that we were reducing our environmental footprint in addition to providing an economical solution. The first design of the attic hatch provided an R36 or R60 insulation value and the recent redesign provides for an R40 or R60 insulation value. The hatch also includes EPDM weather stripping which is used in the auto industry, this weather stripping performs better in hot and cold variances such as we have in Canada.

Also driving the recent improvement on the original design, All Weather Windows’ Product Manager Matt Taylor notes, were changes to building codes “Resulting in homes that are extremely airtight. This means that there is an opportunity for cold dry air inside attic spaces to meet the warm, humidified air of main living spaces. If this happens it will create condensation that can damage ceilings and walls. For this reason, is it very important for contractors to be using a high quality, properly engineered attic hatch solution.”

The All Weather Windows attic hatch is a one piece unit that has been designed for easy drywall and casing installation and also provides better aesthetics for the home and is easier for builders to install.

This innovative product is a real-world example of how home builders are looking at all aspects of the home building process to ensure the greatest possible energy efficiency while also ensuring their customers have a quality product. By listening to our customers’ needs, All Weather Windows was able to provide a sustainable industry solution far superior to anything on the market.

Out in the Community

Did you know Varsity Homes Ltd. was one of the sponsors for the CP Women’s Open in 2018!

Area Feature

Home is where you make it, so why not make yours in one of Regina’s most affordable communities—Maple Ridge.

Located in northwest Regina, your new home is close to schools, recreation facilities, nearby retail shopping and services, home decor centres and new restaurants. Major traffic arteries allow easy access from this popular neighbourhood to all key Regina locations.

Young families are rediscovering the convenience and affordability of this friendly neighbourhood, plus the benefits of ample park spaces and inviting streetscapes.

Best of all, all new Maple Ridge homes are built with the quality and craftsmanship you want, by Regina’s most established builders.

Take advantage of their custom home planning services, or choose from one of their many exciting new home designs that is right for you.

Michele Long – Sales Consultant

Michele Long joined the Varsity sales team in August 2013. She specializes in the sales of new homes in Regina and surrounding area. Michele has a passion for building strong relationships with her clients.

With her integrity, hard work and her attention to detail will ensure you have a positive building experience.

Michele takes pride in outstanding customer service and will be there for you from start to finish and for years to come.

Michele has a background in the financial industry and ran a very successful home business.

In her spare time, Michele loves to go camping and boating with her husband Garth, children Taylor, Brayden and the beloved family pets Kiesha and Asher. Spending time with family and friends is always a joy for Michele. Michele is an avid Rider fan and has found a new adventure in watching the Rush lacrosse team. She never misses an opportunity to travel and see the world.

Michele is conscientious, trustworthy and honest and would love the opportunity to help you build your dream home.

What’s Trending from CK Design

Some would say Wallpaper’s making a comeback while others would say it never actually went anywhere… I guess the same question reigns true as to how you feel about the glass of water being half full or half empty!!

Wallpaper has always been available but it seems to have taken a larger stance as to what it was back in the day. It’s following in the footsteps of the fashion industry as well as a new age group enjoying it and we’re super excited about that! Wallpaper has a new role. It offers more drama than paint and it’s a fun way to transform a space and reflect your personal style without breaking the bank. You can add texture and movement to create a subtle feel, you can add brick or shiplap to create the look and feel of an old wall, you can add large scale florals or geometrics to add major drama or maybe a mural that makes you feel like you’re in the rain forest. There is a wallpaper out there that will give you the drama and presence you crave!

Today’s popular wallpapers are vastly different from the days our grandparents had it. The prints are dramatic, the colors are more rich and vibrant, and it wreaks of texture and dimension. We’re also scaling back to a feature wall in our spaces as opposed to the whole room covered in wallpaper.

Young people are the vast majority that is attracted to wallpaper right now. They would’ve grown up in the era of painted walls and and less stuff- as they are now moving out on their own, they’re adding wallpaper and it feels new and exciting for them! The popularity of wallpaper has also grown thanks to interior designers, home bloggers, tv shows and social media because of their love for wallpaper! It’s become an easy sell as the paper is made a lot different from back in the day and adds a huge amount of drama to their projects. It’s easy to install and remove as the adhesive is a lot better than it used to be. The days of scraping and steaming off wallpaper are over and that’s exciting for everyone!

At ckOne Design, we have over 75 In Stock Wallpaper’s as well as over 450 books. We have a large collection of commercial wallcoverings as well. We offer wallpaper installation for those that would prefer not to tackle it on their own and we also have an online service called picmywallpaper.com. With the picmywallpaper.com, you can send photos or your space, we ask a series of questions, we chose wallpaper for you based on your information provided and we send you options that would would work. This helps eliminate the feeling of being overwhelmed with the endless options we have.

We’re located in The Style Lab which is on the second floor of the old Weston’s bakery building. 206B 1377 Hamilton street. You can also call us at 306.924.4663

For inspiration daily on wallpaper ideas, new products and paint/wallpaper pairings, follow us on
Instagram – @ckone_design
Facebook- CK ONE DESIGN AND CONSULTING