Here are some ideas for you to consider and stretch your imagination to accent your home with the beauty of natural brick.

Dining Rooms

Most people use the formal dining room as the place to enjoy intimate moments with friends and family. You can totally transform the atmosphere in the room with brick and stone to add more interest and warmth.

Fireplaces

Whether used often or not at all, fireplaces traditionally have been part of cozy family gatherings in the American home. With the many brick color, stone options and the masonry artists at your disposal, the custom look you’d like is only limited by your imagination.

Kitchens

Kitchens have become the center of the modern home. The gorgeous mix of stone, tile and brick when put together can make for an absolutely beautiful kitchen.

Living Areas

Thought that you can only use brick to accent your home’s fireplace or kitchen? Not at all! Brick accents in living areas can definitely enhance your home’s unique beauty.

Wine Cellars

Wine cellars have become very popular in the recent years. Adding brick to your wine cellar also gives your home that beautiful, rustic look that never goes out of style!

There you have it! Natural brick is a great choice to enhance your home’s beauty from the inside out!

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If you’re a savvy homeowner you’re most likely always looking for ways to save money and improve your home environment.

What Is an Energy Audit?

In essence, an energy audit on your home means focusing on the details, noting any areas of opportunities to improve the energy efficiency. For instance, the most obvious areas to begin looking at are your home’s insulation, windows, doors, lighting and appliances. In addition, you’d also want to check the water heater, pipes and heating and cooling system for any signs energy waste and inefficiency.

So how do you go about conducting an energy audit in your home?

There are two ways – you can do it yourself or hire a professional.

Do It Yourself

Doing things yourself feels great. First, get informed on what you’re looking for. Then, grab a pad and take notes on your findings as you go through your home in detail.

Following are few tips on what things to check during you audit:

Insulation

Insulation is one of the most critical components in your home. It’s not just that pink stuff in your attic. When you inspect your insulation, check the attic, the walls, and the basement (if applicable). If you have an attached garage, there should be insulation in its ceiling to help keep the rooms above the garage warm in the winter and cool in the summer. This can help cut down the costs of heating and cooling significantly.

Lighting

Lighting can consume a lot of energy. Replace all high-wattage incandescent bulbs for energy efficient ones. In addition, allow for more natural daylight to enter the rooms.

Windows and Doors

Windows and doors need thorough examination. Seal al leaks with caulk or weather stripping. Consider replacing old doors and leaky windows for high-performance ones. When buying new windows, look for those with a low U-factor. A lower U-factor means the window is more energy-efficient. Windows with a U-factor of 3.5 or below are an excellent choice.

Hot Water Heater

Hot water heaters can also account for energy waste. Make sure your water heater is covered with good insulation material, which you can get from your local home improvement store. Ensure that the hot water pipes are also insulated with foam. If the foam is worn, replace it.

Hire a Professional

When hiring a professional, make sure that they are a certified energy auditor. A knowledgeable professional will be very thorough in walking your home in detail and will most likely find things that you could miss. Energy auditors use special equipment for detecting air and heat leaks in your home that would be impossible for you detect on your own.

Some of the equipment used by home energy auditors is the infrared cameras that show heat loss in your home. Another equipment is the door blower test fans. These are huge fans that fit into your home’s doorway. The fan draws out so much air that the air pressure decreases inside your home. So what does this test tell you? The higher air pressure outside means that air will rush in through even the tiniest cracks in order to equalize the pressure, thus revealing air leaks.

A detailed editor will most likely ask to see your utility bills and review them with you. So I recommend that you get together the energy bills for the past twelve months. During your meeting with your auditor, make sure you mention any existing problems in your home, such as rooms or hallways that are always too warm or too cold.

Whether you decide to do it yourself or hire professional, a home energy audit is essential for savvy, eco conscious homeowners.

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The best place to get started living a green lifestyle is right at home.

Many people think that it is costly to go green but it really depends on how you look at the situation. Although it may take a little time to reap the benefits of green living, your health, well-being, and financial savings in the long run make it well worth it.

Have you been thinking of making changes around your home but don’t know where to begin or simply have not found the time? Perhaps you should consider making a few improvements that will make your home more energy efficient before you take on any other home improvement project and get the green stamp-of-approval from the government.

You probably have heard that the government offers incentives and tax breaks for those who choose to turn their home into an energy efficient environment. This is the way the government rewards your efforts to reduce your carbon footprint.

Going green takes time and therefore requires patience. So rather than expecting to obtain immediate results, one needs to understand that changing to a green lifestyle is an investment in the future of people and the earth as well.

Following are some practical tips on home improvement that will save you money and improve your home.

Install ceiling fans

Ceiling fans are more than exquisite décor to change the ambiance in a room. Their function goes beyond adding beauty. Fans help circulate the air, which not only makes you feel refreshed, but also helps lower the temperature during hot summer days. So when it’s sizzling hot outside, simply turn on the fan to feel the cool air. No matter the season, a fan makes you feel refreshed with cool air. During the summer, it circulates air within the room, helping to lower the temperature. In the winter, it can move warm air around the room to avoid cold corners and floors.

Buy energy efficient appliances

These are those appliances with the “Energy Star” label. On the label you’ll find how much you can save on a yearly basis if you use that product. For example, an Energy Star washing machine or a dishwasher saves you twice because it uses less energy and less water. If your appliances are 12 years old or older, consider making the investment.

Install solar panels

The roof absorbs the heat from the sun all day long, so why not put it to good use? The panels don’t need to take away from the aesthetics of your residence. In fact, they can be installed on the south side of your home. There are a variety of solar panels available. Check with various local companies that provide installation and maintenance. Do a bit of research on Google to learn more about the benefits of installing these in your existing or new home. Speak to a knowledgeable professional and homeowners who have already installed solar panels in their home. Depending on the price of your panel installation, you can begin to see savings in a few months and recoup the money you paid in a few years.

So what else can you do around your home to increase energy efficiency? I recommend an energy audit to see where the gaps are. Use the ideas above to begin making small changes that can start producing results right away and improve your home life for the better!

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No other material can match the classic beauty and elegance that brick adds to your home!

Beyond an awesome look, brick offers a combo of great advantages not found in any other siding material.

The world’s most beautiful and most practical homes are built with brick – from the Kensington Palace, which has served as a royal apartment complex since the late 17th century, to gorgeous celebrity estates such as the aged red brick 1937 Georgian Revival residence purchased a few years ago by a filmmaker in Philadelphia.

Brick adds lasting value to your home

The average homeowner lives in their home for approximately 5 to 7 years. Hence, when it comes to selling time, brick will enhance the resale value of your home by an average of 6 percent.

If you take a quick look at the Sunday’s real estate section of your local newspaper, you’ll notice in the home listings segment how sellers always list brick as a key selling point. Brick’s attractiveness and practicality are always a huge plus when it comes to reselling your home.

Brick is virtually maintenance free

Brick is one of the oldest building materials in the world. One of the major reasons why it has retained such popularity is the ease of upkeep.

Brick does not rot, dent, tear, need regular painting, nor will it ever be eaten by termites. However, other products, such as stucco, are less durable and require a lot more maintenance. But, brick homes that were built hundreds of years ago are still standing today!

Brick is energy efficient

Brick has an exceptional “thermal mass” property. Thermal mass refers to the ability of a heavy, dense material to store heat and then release it slowly.

What does “thermal mass” mean to you? It means that brick keeps your home cool in the summer and warm and cozy during the winter.

During the summer months your brick home will stay cool during the hottest part of the day. In the winter months the brick walls store your home’s heat and radiate it back inside the home.

Other exterior materials such as vinyl, wood and stucco are all thin materials that don’t have good thermal mass properties.

Brick helps reduce your homeowner’s insurance costs

Because a brick home is fire, pest and weather resistant, insurance companies may even offer a discounted rate on your home insurance costs. Be sure to contact your agent and inquire about your savings.

Brick offers you many color options

If you love making color selections for interiors, you’ll love selecting the brick color for your home!

As a natural building material, brick is made from a mix of sand, clay, and water. Color additives are sprinkled on top and baked into the  face of the brick .Some brick are “flashed” by intense heat in the kiln to add even more color variations to each brick. Brick are regularly tested for absorption, density, and compressive strength.  All brick made in the Unites States must meet American Society of Testing Materials standards before they can leave the yard.

We’re able to produce so many different brick color options by using a bit of creativity. We can form a variety of colors, effects, textures and even finish options by adding sand, limestone or other natural coatings to the mix. In addition, the brick color also changes when combined with the color varieties of the mortar. You can use the same brick with a different color mortar to create a whole new look.

So why use brick?

Brick’s superior thermal mass qualities have been notorious for centuries, and for this reason brick continues to be the material of choice for the savvy homebuyer. Brick adds more than lasting value and energy efficiency benefits to your home – it adds beauty and timeless elegance. Special techniques applied can produce some great looking brick. And your color choices in brick are only limited by your imagination!

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Here are a few steps that might help:

Step 1: Choose the Color

Red, Brown, Grey, White or a mixture of all of them!

Step 2: Choose the Size

Size are: King, Big John, Queen or Modular.  In Texas, Kingsize Brick is the industry standard. Do you like your brick one color or multi-colored? Do you like sharp crisp edges or rounded edges? Do you like a neat contemporary or traditional look or an “old-world look” that makes it look like your home was built a hundred years ago?

Step 3: Choose a Mortar Color

Your options are: Grey, Buff, White or a colored mortar such as brown or black. Mortar color makes a huge difference in how the brick will look once it’s up on the house.

Decide how the mortar will be applied: narrow, indented mortar joints between the brick or flush mortar joints?

Will all the mortar be cleaned off the brick or will some of it be left on the brick to make it look older?

Will the mortar be smeared across the face of the brick so that just a little of the brick color is seen from the street?

Step 4: Choose a Stone Color

After your brick color, mortar color, and mortar application has been decided, next comes the stone color. Would you prefer the stone blend in with the brick or be totally opposite of the brick? Would you prefer the stone be focal point of your front elevation or the brick?

Step 5: Choose the Roof and Trim Colors

The final steps are putting all the veneer colors together with your roof and trim color.

This can only be done by seeing a combination on a house that is already completed or by laying up a “field sample” on the house before all the brick and stone is delivered. We will not ship any material until a customer has seen it on a completed house or at the very least a 4 x 4 field sample.

We are available at Packer Brick, Inc to help guide you through the decision-making process so that you pick a brick that best reflects your individual taste. That’s why our motto is “Custom Brick and Stone for Custom Homes.”

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