424 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515
630-852-8485
Recent Blog Posts
What Are the Latest and Best Garage Door Opener Features in 2019?
The busy season has begun for home improvement and building contractors. If you plan to replace your garage door and/or garage door opener this year, now is the time to research options and engage a contractor. To help you get started, we have compiled some information on the latest options in garage door openers from LiftMaster, the brand of garage door openers that we at Blue Sky Builders, Inc. recommend and have been installing for our customers for many years.
Battery Backups for Electric Garage Door Openers
If you have had an electric garage door opener for many years, you probably take it for granted that the door will open whenever you press the button. But what happens if your electricity goes out due to a summer storm? Make sure your family knows how to use the red-handled cord that hangs down from the garage door track. When you pull that emergency release cord, it disconnects the garage door from the electric opener, allowing you to raise the garage door by hand. Do a test run to make sure you can get that door open manually. See your owner's manual or this online video for instructions on how to use the emergency release and how to reconnect the door back to the electric opener.
How to Perform an 8-Point Inspection of Your Garage in the Spring
April is the perfect month to give your garage a good cleaning and a careful inspection to identify problems that need repair before serious damage occurs. By doing your annual inspection in the spring, you then have months of warm weather to complete any necessary garage repairs. Here are eight things to check as you go about your spring cleaning:
- Overhead garage door: Use our garage door maintenance checklist, and be sure to lubricate the garage door springs. Also, check flexible door seals for signs of mouse damage and replace the seals as needed.
- Windows and entry doors: Spring is a good time for window washing and wiping down entry doors. While cleaning, check for any signs of rot around window sills and door sills. Inspect caulk that protects against water infiltration around doors and windows, and repair it as needed. Check the weatherstripping as well.
What Roofing Terms Do I Need to Know When Replacing My Garage Roof?
Most home and garage roofs in the Chicago area require replacement of their asphalt composite shingles every 20 to 30 years, but the actual life of the roof can be shorter or longer depending on the quality of the shingles, the amount of direct sun they get, and other weather-related factors.
How to Tell if Your Garage Roof Shingles Need Replacement
Start talking to a garage roofing contractor if you see any of these signs of impending failure on your asphalt garage roof shingles:
- The surface of the shingles looks cracked or crackled.
- The granules on top of your shingles have eroded away to the point that you can see any bare black surface below.
- Edges of shingles are curling upward or cupping.
- The shingles are brittle to the touch and crush into bits easily rather than being flexible.
Roofing Terms You Should Know
If you have never had to replace a shingle roof before, here are some terms you should know.
Should My Garage Have One Double or Two Single Garage Doors?
When you want to upgrade the look and functionality of your garage, several of the most important decisions you must make involve the garage doors. Some decisions will significantly impact your property's curb appeal, such as the color and decorative style of the doors. Other decisions are more functional, such as the insulating value and the type of electric garage door opener you install. But the most long-lasting decision you will make is this: should you design your garage for one double garage door or two single doors?
Advantages of One Double Garage Door
Many people assume that one double garage door will be cheaper than two single-car doors, and this is true primarily because of the cost of the extra garage door opener. However, given that a garage door opener only costs about $500 with installation, this is a relatively small percentage of your overall garage cost.
Can I Save Money By Installing Solar Panels on My Garage Roof?
Now that spring has sprung, outdoor home improvement season is upon us. With Earth Day approaching on April 22, it seems appropriate to dedicate this post to a "green" topic: solar power. Specifically, does it make financial sense to use your Downers Grove residential garage to generate electricity with solar panels? The short answer is: Yes, thanks to current federal and state incentives.
Does Solar Power Make Sense for DuPage County Homeowners?
California is currently the biggest market for solar energy, largely due to aggressive laws promoting solar. One law even requires solar panels on all new homes effective January 1, 2010. So, you are probably wondering, how does Illinois compare?
Illinois is currently ranked 34th out of the 50 states for the amount of solar power generated. However, thanks to new state programs that are just ramping up in 2019, Illinois is projected to rank 12th in the nation in five years.
According to the real estate brokerage company Redfin, Chicago buildings scored 80 out of 100 on average for solar power potential; a minimum score of 75 is necessary for a building to be considered "good" for solar power generation.
5 Things That Need a Home in Your Garage
Are you tired of digging through piles of stuff in your garage to find the thing you need? The solution can be found in the old adage, "A place for everything and everything in its place." Here is our list of 5 things you should have in your new garage and the best place to put them so you can always find them.
Before we get to our list, let us make this quick point. One of the challenges of garage storage is that you cannot always use the same types of containers that you would use indoors. Fabric bins with open tops may work great in your bedroom closet or toy room, but in a garage, they are going to be filthy inside and out in short order. Cardboard boxes are also bad for a garage because of dampness. Instead, use clear plastic storage bins, wire bins, hooks, bungee cords, and magnet strips.
1. Gardening gloves and tools.
Hang a sturdy wire bin on a wall convenient to a garage door that you typically use when working in the yard. Choose a bin large enough to hold your gardening gloves, weeding fork, gardening knife, and similar hand tools. Make sure the bin is large enough to hold your kneeling mat, too.
It’s the 40th Anniversary for Blue Sky Builders, Inc.
Do you know how rare it is for a business to celebrate its 40th year in operation? Of all new business start-ups with employees between 1995 and 2010, one-third failed within two years, and half failed within five years, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
We sure are enjoying our 40th anniversary and the start of another year building quality garages for our customers. We are even more proud of the fact that we are the oldest custom garage building company in this area that is still owned and operated by the original owner.
Yes, our memories go back, way back, to 1979 when we started Blue Sky Builders, Inc. We hope you enjoy sharing some of these sweet old memories with us.
We Had a President Before Social Media Existed: In 1979, Jimmy Carter was serving as the 39th president of the United States. He was a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, class of 1946, who served on submarines until 1953, yet as one of his first presidential acts in 1977, he pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders. After his presidency, he remained active in worldwide humanitarian efforts, winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work in peace negotiations, election monitoring, and disease eradication in developing nations.
How Big Can My Garage Be in DuPage County?
When building a new garage, one of the top desires for homeowners is to make the garage bigger. However, the size of your lot, the existing footprint of your home, and local zoning ordinances must all be taken into account when deciding how big your garage can be.
If you are not sure how big of a garage you want, look at our custom garage image gallery which shows the dimensions of each garage we have built. A two-car garage typically measures at least 22' x 22' while the minimum footprint for a three-car garage is 32' x 22.' Larger dimensions are preferable if your lot allows.
Detached Garage Sizes in DuPage County
If you live in an unincorporated area of DuPage County, the county's zoning requirements apply to you. For a single-family home on a lot of 40,000 square feet or less, the maximum size allowed for a detached garage, shed, or accessory building is 650 feet if you have an attached garage already or 850 feet if there is no attached garage. Assuming the 850 square foot limitation, you could build a 36' wide by 22' deep garage, enough room for three stalls. The maximum allowed height of the building is 15 feet.
How to Replace Your Garage Light Bulbs with LEDs
If you have been confused by the changes in light bulbs over the last few years, you are not alone. Most of us grew up with incandescent light bulbs and are still figuring out the transition to LED bulbs on the market. For example, in the incandescent world, we knew were supposed to buy heavy-duty bulbs marked "outdoor use" for fixtures in and around the garage. You probably even have some yellow bulbs for use in the summer to avoid a swarm of bugs around your doors. But what is the right replacement in the world of LED bulbs?
Watch Out for Wattage - Focus on Lumens
Our best tip for switching to LED bulbs is this: ignore the wattage and just make sure you get a bulb with enough lumens, which is a measure of brightness.
- If you are replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb, look for a LED bulb with 1,500 to 1,600 lumens.
- A 75w replacement bulb should have at least 1,100 lumens.
- Replace a 60w bulb with one that promises at least 800 lumens.
3 Ways to Bring More Natural Light Into Your Garage
Does your garage feel dark all the time? While installing more electric lighting is one way to address this, another option is to let in more natural light. Here are three ways you can add more natural light when rebuilding or remodeling your garage:
- Replace a solid entry door with a full-window or half-window door.
- Replace a solid garage door with one that has windows.
- Add more windows to the walls.
Garage Entry Doors With Windows
Replacing the entry door to your garage is the most cost-efficient way to bring more natural light into your garage. If your door frame shows signs of rot, or if the door itself is old and looking very worn, it might be time to invest in a new door anyway.
Fiberglass doors are considered top-of-the-line and are only slightly more expensive than steel doors. Search for "full-lite" or "half-lite" depending on whether you want full-height glass or just a window in the upper half of the door. Expect to pay $400 to $700 for a good-quality exterior door of either fiberglass or steel with a large window.
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