QUINCY, Ill. (WGEM) - Warmer weather melts snow and ice off roofs, but it can cause problems for some homes.

Ice dams build up when melted water runs down the roof but freezes at the base of the roof just before running off. Co-Owner of Full Service Roofing and Remodeling Jonathan Schemerhorn says the problem can cause water to sit on the roof, leading to leaks or parts of the roof caving in. He says the problem can start in the attic.

"To help prevent it, you definitely don't want to get on the roof when it is icy," Schemerhorn said. "[The ice] is at the base of the roof. It's where you set your ladder. It's where you first get off. The thing is you will just have to wait it out. You can wait for it to melt or you can get in your attic and make sure the insulation is spread completely around."

Schemerhorn says spreading the insulation around the attic makes the snow melt evenly as opposed to melting at the top and refreezing toward the bottom of the roof. Co-Owner Kevin Phillips said ice damming is common in our area.

"This is just something really common every year," Phillips said. "We always have ice damming. We are kind of in that section of the country where we are just north enough to where we see it. If you go a couple hundred miles south it kind of is not so much of an issue."

Schemerhorn and Phillips say this is a problem some individuals can fix on their own as long as they are comfortable on the roof and with tools. Phillips says there is no set manufacturer guidelines on what temperature is good for working on a roof.

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Roofs could be next problem for homeowners

Wednesday, January 8, 2014 - 4:19pm

Tyler, Texas (KETK) The Tyler Fire Department responded to a two-alarm structure fire Wednesady mornign at 1217 South Glenwood.

The initial call was received at 10:42 a.m., and the caller reported seeing smoke coming from the house. The first unit saw heavy smoke coming from the attic when they arrived on scene and called for a second alarm. Five engines and one Ladder Company, along with a District Chief and an Investigator, responded to the scene.

Fire investigators with the Tyler Fire Marshals Office have indicated that the fire originated in the kitchen area of the home. Investigators believe that the fire burned for an extended period of time in the wall space before it gained access to the attic area. Initial findings indicate that the cause is electrical in origin and may have involved one of the homes appliances.

Citizens are reminded to be cautious and keep safety in mind when dealing with electricity in the home. Remember to call a qualified electrician or your landlord if you notice any of the following conditions:

Based on recent data between 2003 and 2005, the United States Fire Administration reports that over 28,000 residential building electrical fires occurred annually. This accounted for approximately $995 million in property loss, 1000 injuries, and 360 deaths. Additional safety tips from the National Fire Protection Association include:

Citizens are also encouraged to have an adequate number of smoke alarms installed throughout their home. For more information about fire prevention and safety in the home or workplace, please contact the Tyler Fire Marshals Office at 903-535-0005.

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Tyler Fire Department releases fire safety tips after Wednesday morning fire

By David Komer Twitter: @DavidKomer_NH

TAYLOR In the midst of the latest winter blast affecting the area, the Fire Department had two early morning house fires to deal with Monday morning.

Firefighters responded to electrical fires in the 15000 block of Jackson and the 14500 block of Bailey, both happening within 40 minutes of each other.

No residents or first responders were injured in either incident, but neither residence had a working smoke detector.

The Jackson fire was reported at 12:30 a.m., which Engine 3 responded to in five minutes due to snowy road conditions. Upon arrival, firefighters found smoke coming out of a single family residence.

Deputy Fire Chief Dan Reynolds said the homeowner said he was alerted by his dog barking and escaped through his bedroom window with his dog. He first tried to escape by opening his bedroom door, but encountered a heavy rush of smoke causing him to slam the door and use the window.

Engine 3 advanced hose lines into the house and found fire in the crawl space, walls and attic. Ladder 1 ventilated the roof and cut holes in the floor of the house so the water could reach the fires in the crawl space, Reynolds said. The fire was determined to be electrical, possibly caused by the heavy snow, he added.

The electrical power was disconnected from the house and Engine 2, after arriving, assisted with putting out the fire.

Damage was estimated to be about $30,000 to the house, which is uninhabitable but can be rebuilt, Reynolds said.

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TAYLOR: None injured in pair of early morning house fires

Crews work on removing the scrim surrounding the Colorado State Capitol dome, Dec. 26 2013. The weatherproof wrap that's covered the dome for nearly two years is starting to come off early Thursday morning. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

By the weekend, the gold of the Colorado Capitol should be glimmering once again, as crews slowly bring down the curtain that has shrouded the dome during the $17 million restoration begun in 2010.

The scaffolding 210 feet high will be taken apart piece by piece over the next six weeks.

"If we have done our jobs well, you won't be able to tell we were there," state architect Larry Friedberg said, "except the building will be in much better shape than it was before we started."

The curtain began to come down a few inches at a time at daybreak Thursday.

Whatever the weather, the gauzy cloth had allowed work to proceed every day that crews were available, said Doug Platt, spokesman for the state Department of Personnel and Administration, which has overseen the work.

The curtain, called a scrim, could withstand sustained winds up to 60 mph, and when heated, it acted like shrink-wrap, making the 350,000 pounds of scaffolding capable of taking winds up to 90 mph.

The 270-foot dome has been closed since 2006, when a chunk of cast iron crashed on the observation deck where thousands of school children and tourists visit.

That kick-started a drive to make repairs. The legislature appropriated $4 million for the overhaul. The rest came from grants, sponsors and other donations through a campaign called "Share in the Care Colorado."

The work has been painstaking, especially replacing the thinner-than-paper sheath of Colorado gold that covers the dome.

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Colorado Capitol's $17 million rehab unveils results

BY SUZIE ALVEY, VILLAGE HISTORIAN

The coal bin on the blueprints. Lisa and Terence Kenny's family could be living on Mineola Road in Garden City right now, and not on Bayberry Avenue. Where is Mineola Road? It can be seen on the 1914 map of Garden City, where Bayberry is now. Back then, Mineola Road swung down from the corner of Old Country Road and Washington Avenue and cut diagonally through the area. It was drawn in a complimentary curved sweep to the streets of Osborne, Huntington and Prescott Roads in the future Mott Section further south.

1914's Huntington Road was an extension of our current Eleventh Street. So the old Huntington Road east of Washington Avenue became Kingsbury Road and the old Prescott Road became Claydon Road. Needless to say, that area was re-configured and Mineola Road and its twin, Lawrence Road were never laid out. The name "Mineola Plaza" is probably derived from that early Mineola Road in Garden City.

Blueprints show the ice box. Village records show that 10 Bayberry was built in 1927. The first owner was Agnes Capelle (1885- 1966) who lived in Hollis, Queens. She worked with Herbert Harris in the ladies hat wholesale industry. In 1926 the industrious couple applied for a patent for adjustable hats for men and women. It seems she rented the Bayberry house out to a few families and lived with her widowed mom and her siblings, all single.

The first renters were Elizabeth Brown (1886-1977) and Edgar E. Brown (1895-1951). Edgar was in motor transportation during WWI. This was an up and coming field since horses and mules had been used before then. Military field testing had been done and trucks were the new, added mode of transportation in 1917. But even so, a great portion of troops and goods still travelled by animal.

In 1925 the Browns were living on Second Street in Mineola with her four children from a previous marriage. Edgar and her two sons were all chauffeurs, a natural extension from Edgar's military days. The Browns moved to the Garden City house in approximately 1933 with some of their children. In 1934, no one was listed yet at number 12, 14 or 16 Bayberry. The Browns only stayed two years and moved back to Mineola by 1935. Later, Edgar was a night watchman in a department store.

In 1935 the second family moved in. They were Beatrice M. Schoen (b.1899) and Herman G. Schoen (1900-1987). Beatrice was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States as a baby with her parents. The Schoens started life together in Ozone Park, Queens in 1923. He was a book printer. When they moved in to number 10 they had two young daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. By 1940 two sons had also been born and Herman's mom moved in. It might have been tight quarters but they bought their house from Agnes Capelle in 1946. By then, daughters Betty and Marjorie were clerks. The Schoens lived there for a total of 30 years until 1965 when they sold the house.

The third family to live in the house was Karl Winski and Lydia Kubikowski Winski. The Winskis came from Brooklyn.

"I'm in the meat line; sausage manufacturing in a Polish neighborhood in Brooklyn. My cousins still own Sikorski in Greenpoint. The family business started in 1927 with my grandfather, Theodore, who was a Russian immigrant. My dad was [also] born in Russia also and started working for his dad in 1936. I'm the first generation born in the U.S. I started at work in 1954. I worked six to seven days a week, leaving at four in the morning and getting home at nine or ten at night. I was quite busy," Karl Winski stated. Sikorski's currently sells kielbasa, sausages, kiszka, hurka, babka and all sorts of Polish imports.

After the Winskis moved in, their two sons, Christopher and Mark were born. They were happy with the Garden City School system with its excellent reputation and Mr. Winski enjoyed watching his boys on the football and soccer fields.

Continued here:
My History House # 9-

Energy efficient updates are all the rage right now, but which ones will help you sell your home at a better price?

By Alexandra Gallucci CTW Features

Making green improvements on your home not only helps the environment, but it can also equate to sizable cost savings on your energy bill and your taxes. There are many options available when it comes to updating your home, but here are some points to consider if you want to determine which projects to tackle first.

Theres a lot of places you can start when remodeling or updating a home, especially if youre getting ready to sell it, but the main places are around energy efficiency, says Kane Sutphin, marketing director at TreeHouse, a green home improvement store in Austin, Texas. That helps customers find green alternatives to building and remodeling.

Homeowners are increasingly concerned with their energy bills, and for good reason. The average household spends at least $2,000 a year on energy costs more than half of which goes to heating and cooling, according to the most recent Buildings and their Impact on the Environment report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For older homes, I think its very important that they have some of those upgrades because buyers whether theyd like a new home or theyre buying an older home are going to look at the energy costs, and the more they can save on energy costs, the more they can put toward the mortgage, so the more home they can buy, says Jim Liptak, regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors.

When it comes to energy efficiency, the most important improvement you can make on your home is to seal your air ducts, says Kristof Irwin, owner and lead building scientist of Positive Energy, a building science consulting company in Austin. Although duct sealing can be a difficult process, it can pay for itself in as few as three months, Irwin says.

Energy Star, the EPAs energy efficiency program, estimates that homeowners can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs by sealing air leaks and adding insulation to their attic.

Having a non-leaky air distribution system, which includes your ducts and your mechanical equipment itself, has positive effects for health, comfort, safety, durability and energy efficiency, Irwin says. Only after sealing your ducts should a homeowner consider investing in new HVAC equipment, he says. Energy Star recommends replacement of heating systems that are more than 15 years old. Todays high efficiency units operate at more than 90 percent efficiency. Regardless of the type or age of your equipment, changing your systems air filter every month will improve its efficiency.

But if youre looking to make less costly improvements, here are some suggestions:

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Greening to sell

Every day is like Christmas in Sylvia Hobbs Grays home thanks to her mothers love for red carpet.

She always called this the Christmas house, Gray said.

Her family home in Culleoka built in late 1800s is all decked out for the holiday and as Gray takes her guest from room to room one can see a history of appreciation for things old and new.

The following is Grays winning entry in her own words in The Daily Heralds Best Christmas Ever contest.

It had been six years since we and our children moved from Brentwood to the old Victorian farmhouse in Culleoka to be with Daddy after Mamas death in 1984. Sadly, Daddy passed away a few days before Christmas the year after we moved.

Life was changing fast.

Our children were away in college and we were filled with anticipation for their Christmas homecoming.

Several weeks before, remodeling of our kitchen had begun, and we were assured it would be finished by Christmas. But as often is the case, Murphys Law kicked in and it was not to be.

Our dining room was filled with everything that had been moved from the kitchen. We were cooking with an electric skillet. I grumbled but had to make the best of it.

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Topsy-turvy Christmas turns one woman’s life right-side-up

home section Interior Design Housekeeping Entertaining Home Improvement Gardening & Plants Landscaping eHow Home & Garden Building & Remodeling Interior Remodeling How to Remodel an Attic Into a Room

Ellen Ciurczak

Ellen Ciurczak has had a career in California in the broadcast journalism field for 21 years. She's specialized in covering politics at the state capital in Sacramento. Her radio reports have aired on National Public Radio, CBS Radio and the BBC. She received her graduate degree in journalism from UC Berkeley.

If your home's attic is currently just wasted space, you may want to remodel it. An attic can be made over into a home office, a bedroom, a child's playroom, a home gym or any kind of room you want. Remodeling an attic yourself, without the help of a contractor, is hard work. Following a series of steps will help make the job a little easier.

Determine if your attic is suitable to be made over into a room. Make sure the attic's floor can support people and furniture. Measure the ceiling to make sure it is at least seven feet high. Check the tresses. If they form a "W" shape, they may be too difficult or costly to design around. An "A" shape is easier.

Decide what kind of room or rooms you are going to put in your attic.

Go to the home improvement store with a list of items required to finish your project. Price the items and make sure you have enough money to buy everything you need to complete the remodel. Have some extra money put away for last minute or unexpected items.

Get a building permit, if required. Schedule time for an inspection if one is necessary.

Go back to the home improvement store and buy the items you need for the remodel. This includes wood, drywall, insulation, wall paneling, paint, hardwood flooring, tools and anything else you need. Think about the amenities you would like--windows, sky lights, ceiling lights, carpet, etc. and buy them at this time or wait until you are ready to install them.

Install insulation if needed. Most attics are very hot in the summer and cold in the winter, so insulation is a necessity.

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How to Remodel an Attic Into a Room | eHow

ELLWOOD CITY Mary Fray in her ballcap frying bacon and flipping pancakes at the grill is a familiar sight that will disappear on Christmas Eve. Frays Ellwood Breakfast and Burgers at 530 Lawrence Ave. will close at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

I wasnt planning on it, but it is time, Fray said. And Im tired.

Not planning anything special for the closing. Ill just close up and go home. Ill come back and get all my things out before New Years.

The walls of Breakfast and Burgers are covered with the history of Ellwood City, from pictures of the 1926 Ellwood City High School football team to a picture of the Cavert Wire Co. picnic on July 24, 1917. There are T-shirts from Frays other businesses and one from PeWees and a 4-foot-long piece of wood from the Lincoln High School boys gym that was there from 1963 to 2010.

There are many photos of people, customers and friends. One picture is of John F. Kennedy sitting in his rocking chair on a visit to Wampum in 1960. In the picture with him is then-Congressman Frank Clark and then-Pennsylvania Gov. David L. Lawrence. On the wall by the television set is a Howdy Doody puppet that a customer bought for Fray on a trip in South Carolina. She has hundreds of stuffed animals, and some are at the restaurant.

Its all stuff. I got a lot of stuff, Fray said.

Dominating the wall is an enormous Christmas wreath that she and her husband, Tom, made from their Christmas tree at home many years ago. Using a plywood wooden base, they glued on the branches of the tree and put on the ornaments from their tree, and through the years, customers have added to the wreath.

The Frays didnt plan to go into the restaurant business. She and Tom were always buying houses, remodeling them and reselling, and when the Central Cafe came up for sale in 1972, they bought it, and Fray describes it as her best years as she cooked, waited tables and tended bar.

It was a smoky place. Half the customers were junkies, but they never did or said anything wrong while they were there. There were a lot of good people, Fray said. If a guy said a bad word, another guy would remind him that there was a lady there.

After running the Central Cafe for 2 1/2 years, they bought a pizza business on Division Avenue and moved it to Wampum Avenue, where it became Marys Pizza Shop. Their next venture was on Lawrence Avenue, where they opened IMB Frays.

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Mary Fray closing Ellwood breakfast and burger shop

PORT HENRY A late-night fire over the weekend left a family of six homeless in Port Henry.

The fire at 3140 Broad St. was called in about 10 p.m. Saturday, bringing firefighters from Port Henry, Moriah, Mineville-Witherbee, Crown Point, Ticonderoga and Westport.

Stephen and April Clodgo and two of their four children, boys ages 7 and 18, were sleeping in the house at the time.

The owner said smoke alarms went off and awoke him, Essex County Emergency Services Director Donald Jaquish said.

Mr. Clodgo came out, and the Christmas tree was on fire. He tried to extinguish it with a small extinguisher, to no avail, and they had to evacuate.

Port Henry Fire Chief James Hughes said the Village Department of Public Works called the fire in.

Our Village DPW alerted us; they were out plowing and spotted smoke. When I arrived, I saw heavy smoke from the north side attic vent.

The fire was very deep-seated in the building in the vicinity of the living room.

The family pet, a cat, was rescued by firefighters.

The Clodgos and their four children, ages 7, 11, 12 and 18, are staying at a motel, he said, but were planning to eventually stay with relatives in Vermont.

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Fire damages Port Henry home