The care and upkeep of a home is an ongoing process. Improvements need to be made from time to time as things deteriorate or wear out. One of the greatest improvements you can make on your home is replacing the windows throughout the house. There are times that the need for new windows is very obvious. In other situations, the windows may still look new and modern but lack efficiency and should be replaced.

While there are many good contractors, there are also those who cut corners with both installation and choices of product. Cheap windows are exactly that?poor quality and very inefficient. Remember, they may look new but still lack the energy efficiency needed.

One of the most cost-effective ways to increase the value of a home is to add a new entry door. This value can be figured out on a calculator, almost to the dollar. It takes into account the materials used, the cost of labor, the savings on energy bills, and other quantifiable factors. But, installing new French doors on your home will increase its value in a way that is much more subtle. There are some things you just can't put a price on.

Light.

Do you have a living room that could use some light? How about a bedroom with a tiny window that looks out onto your porch? How about a kitchen that only gets sun in the morning? Most homes have a room that could use more light, and adding light to a room is one of the ways French doors really shine.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that isn't entirely true. Dim light can make any room look dreary. Light makes colors pop. It adds vibrancy and life. When you have new French doors installed, You're going to notice all that extra light almost immediately. And, anyone looking to buy your home in the future will notice it too.

Access.

French doors excel at providing access. Not only are they the perfect enhancement to a bedroom you?d like to have open up to your outside deck or balcony, they are the right choice when you need to add a ground floor entry that allows you to easily bring large items into your home. If you've ever tried to stuff a big couch through a standard sized front door, you know exactly what we?re talking about. Having French doors is like having a two lane highway. This is a great selling feature.

Style.

Every home is more beautiful with French doors. This entry choice adds style and elegance, and you just can't put a price on that.

There are so many subtle ways new French doors can add to the value of your home. Whether it is the way they create warm shadows on the ceramic tiles in your kitchen or how they open your living room up to give access to the outside pool area during family gatherings, French doors are an investment you?ll be glad you made, especially when it comes time to sell your home.

It'sure is beautiful here in Ohio this time of year. The trees have all budded and those tender pale green leaves have begun to darken into the dark greens of summer. The flowers are all blooming, the birds and bees have returned, and you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief as citizens are finally able to breathe a bit of fresh air. It is awesome to be able to spend more and more time in the great outdoors as the temperatures begin to rise, but it does have its drawbacks. Yes, you heard me right ? drawbacks. I know what you are thinking. What could possibly be a drawback to spring? Right?

Well, one of the major drawbacks that we experience in spring is that we quickly forget all of the cold, ice, and hardship of the previous winter. I know what you are thinking again. ?Are you crazy? That?s not a drawback.? I get it, put the past behind? but the old saying, ?if you do not learn from history it is bound to be repeated? certainly applies here. It is easy to forget all of those cold drafts that blew through your old weather worn windows last winter when the sun is shining and the temperatures are quite comfortable ? and rising, but it certainly isn't wise. The wise thing to do would be to remember those high heating costs and frosty mornings and plan ways to avoid those hardships next winter. After all that old saying, ?If you fail to plan then you plan to fail? applies here.

Besides spring is the perfect time not only to think about replacing those worn out windows but to actually do it. After all, the weather is warm and beautiful, and having a window-sized opening in the side of your home for a short time would be far better now than in the dead of winter, wouldn?t it? Also, the hit your budget took in heating costs last winter has passed, and you can actually find an extra buck or two without those added extra winter bills. Yup, spring is defiantly the time to plan for and to install replacement windows.

How much is a penny worth? There was a time when a penny stretched a whole lot further. In the early 1900s, you could get a few eggs for a single penny, or buy some produce at the market. In the 40s, you could get a bag of popcorn or lemon flavored shaved ice. Even in the 70s, a penny still had some worth. Stores had shelves dedicated to penny candy that could be purchased individually or selected and put into a brown paper bag. How sweet is that?

Today, a penny isn't worth a whole lot by itself. It has even become a hassle to put them in a jar, wrap them, and bring them to the bank. Fortunately, more and more stores are installing a machine that will take your coins and give you something in return. If you have kids, this is a great way to give them some meaningful work to earn a few dollars.

In light of how much a penny is worth in today?s economy, it may not excite you to know that you can save pennies on your heat bill by replacing your windows with energy efficient windows, but consider these three points.

• Pennies still add up. While we can't tell you how much you?ll save on heating your home in the winter and cooling it in the summer, we can'tell you that it adds up. For some of our customers, it made a big difference. In fact, one of the things we hear quite often is how our customers feel a positive difference in rooms that were too cold or too hot, even before the installers leave.

• You don?t have to wrap those pennies. If you save hundreds of dollars in pennies this year because you swapped out your old, drafty windows, that is money in the bank. You don?t have to do anything, except enjoy the savings.

• Pennies don?t always stay pennies. Right now we are enjoying a break from high oil prices. But as you know, they can go back up at any time. That means those pennies You're losing when you heat your house, could turn into nickels or dimes.

In order to spruce up the look of your Philadelphia home or increase its energy efficiency, our pros think that it might be time for you to start thinking French-French doors that is! French doors can be installed as a new exterior door to increase the energy efficiency of your home. Older exterior doors allow cold air to escape in the summer, warm air to escape during the winter, and money to escape from your wallet all year long. However, French doors aren?t a one tick pony; they can also be installed in the interior of your home for an added flare of style and function!

French doors are often described as functionally beautiful. They are constructed out of panels of glass, and whether you want two panels or twenty panels it can be done. The best part about French doors is that they aren?t just something pretty to look at; they are highly functional as well!

Benefits of French doors:

• They can increase the amount of natural light that is allowed into your home.

• French doors can provide a large access point into your home which can be helpful when moving large items into and out of your house.

• French doors can be used to link two rooms together.

• They can give a room a sense of expansion; a smaller room can appear larger with the installation of French doors.

• French doors allow two rooms to be open to each other or closed off depending on your needs that day. This can also help to save on heating and cooling costs.

• Exterior French doors are very secure and offer solid protection against intruders.

Give us a call or visit our Philadelphia showroom to discuss the details of adding French doors to your home today!