Category: General Contracting
HomeGeneral Contracting

Category: General Contracting

The Perfect Time for Installing a New Roof

If your roof is running out of time on its lifespan, now’s the best time to get it replaced. Installing a new roof is also in the cards if you keep having leaks. While Installing a new roof is expensive, the roof is, arguably, the most important part of your house. After all, walls are great but, by themselves, they don’t do much to keep the rain out. So, what makes this the perfect time to install a new roof? Here are a few reasons.

Summer Is Construction Season

The most notable reason why now is the perfect time for installing a new roof is that summer is construction season. The weather is nice, rain is scarce, and everyone’s looking to get their projects done while the school year isn’t actively taking time and resources.

If your roof is nearing the end of its lifespan, you want to get it replaced before it starts showing real problems. Problems in a roof’s integrity can show up fast and become relentless. Plus, problems begin to rear their head in roofs during storm seasons. Therefore, it won’t be until the weather takes a turn for the worst that you realize it’s not doing so hot. Better to nip problems in the bud by taking that lifespan seriously.

Leaks Lead to Expensive Damages

If your roof is already beginning to have leaks, you need to begin seriously considering the long-term health of your home. Installing a new roof may not seem like a big deal when you only have one drip in the kitchen. However, summer is only just beginning. If your roof is on the decline, you have no way of predicting how many more issues will pop up before the dry season returns next year.

A drip in the kitchen is manageable, but if a leak springs up above your attic, or over a part of the house you don’t use much, it can go from a small drip to the ceiling collecting water damage. This isn’t just unsightly, it’s a speedy route to widespread mold problems. And, widespread mold problems are not something to take lightly. They can destroy a home beyond repair in a matter of months.

Instead of banking on your roof holding itself together until next summer, be prompt about replacing it. You’ll could save yourself a lot of money in potential damages.

It’s Almost Real Estate Season

What comes after construction season? That’s right – real estate season! There are two times during the year when people want to move: early fall and late spring. New houses and house repairs are finished during the summer and then houses are put on the market as fall approaches. People want to move right before or right after the school year so that their kids don’t have a middle-of-the-year catch-up to do at a new school.

If you want to sell your home and your roof is nearing its expiration date, replace the roof. You will have a much easier time selling, and will be able to sell at a much nicer price. Get that replacement done while the summer months are still here and be ready in time for real estate season!

Crown Molding Repair and Replacement

While crown molding has gone the way of the dinosaurs for many homeowners, there are still plenty of us in love with the feature. Crown molding does a fantastic job of framing each room, contrasting wall colors, and showing off elaborate designs. Unfortunately, because crown molding is unappreciated so widely today, many homes with crown molding have seen their molding fall into disrepair. If you need crown molding repair or crown molding replacement, Premier Group Contractors can help.

Simple Crown Molding Repair

Crown molding looks lovely when it’s new. However, years of wear and tear, people moving in and out, children playing indoors, and damage caused by DIY projects will do a number on crown molding.

Fortunately, with a little professional help, we can restore your molding to its former glory. Dents, cracks, splits, and even full breaks can be fixed by our professionals at Premier Group Contractors. With a bit of filler, some sanding, and some new paint, we can undo the damage inflicted on your crown molding. 

Unique Crown Molding Repair

However, crown molding repair isn’t always just filling in cracks. When it comes to repairing crown molding, rather than replacing, repair is frequently sought out by those with unique moldings. Older homes, especially those once owned by the wealthy, are often home to some really intricate molding designs. These beautiful designs looked great in their prime, but as years pass, they often get damaged and begin to look worse for wear.

Being able to recreate certain repeated design elements and replace broken or missing parts is a tough skill to acquire. The artistry required isn’t often found in the average construction crew. Fortunately, we can get the job done right.

Filling in dents, scratches, and other damage on a design is harder than on a flat or sloped molding. It involves using special tools to shape the filler material. And, when the filler has dried, sanding it down is a more delicate process. The reward of restoring a beautiful crown molding design is hard to ignore though. 

Crown Molding Replacement

While repairing crown molding is a great idea for special designs, a lot of crown molding is simplistic and easy to replicate. In those cases, crown molding replacement is a lot more practical. Plus, not everyone is fond of the crown molding design in their home. If you like crown molding, but are really in need of a different style, we can quickly remedy the problem.

If you need crown molding repair or crown molding replacement in the GTA, Premier Group Contractors are here to help. Call us for a price estimate or schedule an appointment today. We look forward to hearing from you and helping to make your home its most beautiful self.

Why Summer Is the Perfect Time for Exterior Painting

Have you been itching to get your home or business a new coat of paint? Now is the perfect time of year to make it happen! What is it about summer that makes it the best time for exterior painting? There are a few reasons. Let’s take a look.

Faster Painting

The first, and most obvious reason, for getting your exterior painting done in the summer is that the temperature is higher. When it’s warm outside, it’s easy for painters to get the job done quickly. Paint dries much faster, there’s rarely a drop of rain to interrupt the process, and coats can go on practically back to back.

Getting this process finished faster benefits everyone involved. Hourly costs go down, painters can get in and out, and businesses have their service interrupted for a shorter time.

Improved Business

If you run a store and are looking to have exterior painting done, there’s a bonus reason why you should get it done in summer. Most stores see an increase in business during the summer months. Not only is summer when most people are taking vacations and splurging their savings, it’s also when new customers show up.

Summer is a great time for getting outside and walking around. It’s warm enough to hang out with friends or family in town, on foot. That means more people will be walking past your store. This time of year is when many people will suddenly notice a shop they’ve never been in and check it out. If you have exterior painting done at the beginning of summer, your business will stand out even more than usual. A fresh coat of paint may make your shop seem like a new addition, even if it’s been sitting, unnoticed, for years.

A Great Time for Socializing

Even if you’re not a shop owner, there is a social bonus to getting painting done in summer. It’s a great excuse to host friends or family. Having a barbecue will give a lot of opportunities to discuss the recent home improvement work you’ve had done. As adults, there’s often not a lot of time and inspiration to socialize outside of work. This is your next excuse!

Hire Premier Group Contractors

When you’re ready to get exterior painting done for your home or business, Premier Group Contractors is ready and waiting. Our group is made up of contractors with many skills. That means we have painters on board that are waiting for your call. Call us today and let us know if you’d like your home or business to get an upgrade this summer.

The Benefits of Electrical Rewiring in an Old House

If you live in an old house, built in the 1970s or earlier, it’s time to start considering a full electrical rewiring. If rewiring your house seems like an unnecessary update, you might want to consider these benefits.

Better Circuit Connections

Have you ever turned on your blender and overloaded a circuit? In a modern house with logical circuit connections, the kitchen would be on one or two circuits. In an old house, your kitchen outlet might share a circuit with the office room down the hall. Suddenly, making a smoothie has turned into losing power to your computer. Hopefully you saved that presentation you were working on!

Bad circuit connections that make very little sense are an extremely common problem in older houses. Rewiring offers a chance to correct this and create more sensible circuits. Similar areas should be kept together while attempting to equalize how much electricity is demanded by each circuit.

Replace Degraded Electrical

After 50 years, we’ve improved the quality of standard electrical materials. Moreover, the ones installed in old houses have had half a century to degrade. This can mean a poor circulation of power to the outlets around your home and a much higher risk of an electrical fire.

Rewiring your home will drastically lower the electrical fire hazard and improve energy circulation in your home. That means less overloaded circuits and possibly even faster phone charging.

Improve Outlet Placement

If you frequently curse the position of your home’s power outlets, it might be a sign that your home was built quite a while ago. It actually makes a lot of sense that outlets are in inconvenient places when you consider the timeline. 50 years ago, computers were still in their birth years. Cell phones didn’t even exist. Outlets were placed in corners and out-of-the-way areas to accommodate lamps, landlines, and box TVs.

These days, outlets need to be placed liberally, like near the bed, to allow for phone and laptop charging. Rewiring your home means the ability to easily move outlets to exactly where you need them. Plus, mapping out your desired outlet locations can get you personalized results.

Improve Outlets

Even worse, old outlets are often without grounding ports! Grounding ports are the little holes beneath the standard two-prong outlet. Power plugs with grounders didn’t used to be standard. However, grounded plugs are standard for certain chargers nowadays. Computers, laptops, and many other appliances are nearly impossible to find without them.

If your outlets have no grounding ports, the only solution is to buy converters – little plastic plugs that you can plug into an ungrounded outlet and that has a hole for a grounding pin on the other side. These converters are an extreme fire hazard. They extend the weight of the plug further from the wall. Therefore, it’s easy for the ungrounded converter to tilt out of the outlet and cause a fire.

While rewiring, we’ll replace old, ungrounded outlets with safer, grounded ones. This will make converters unnecessary, improving convenience and safety in the process.

Improve Efficiency and Lower Prices

Last, but not least, rewiring an old house improves electrical efficiency, lowering your electrical prices. Did you know old and outdated wiring can eat up electricity that you’re not even using? This ends up wasting your money on your electrical bill. Instead of wasting more money on wasted electricity, invest in electrical rewiring. Then you can improve your home electrical experience from one end to the other.

Give us a call at Premier Group Contractors if you’re in the market for some electrical work. We’ll be happy to send our experts to the rescue!

4 Steps to Recovering from Flooding in Your Home

Flooding is one of the most devastating ways to sustain damage to your home. It can destroy memories, belongings, and make the safety of your house debatable. However, ensuring you take the proper steps to recovering from flooding can make all the difference. Save yourself some money and heartache by being proactive in your flood recovery. Here are the 4 steps that will help save your home from permanent ruin.

Assess the Damage

The first step is assessing the damage. This part can be difficult, as it involves coming face to face with the extent of it. Once you’ve salvaged any belongings that fell victim to the flood, it’s time to take stock of what’s happened.

Furniture that has been soaked in flood water needs to be removed from the house and put somewhere to dry. This furniture may be possible to save, with proper drying and decontaminating, but may succumb to mold or rot. It’s best not to use this furniture until it’s successfully recovered.

Find out what areas of the house have gotten water damage. You’ll need to take stock of:

  1. How high up the damage to the walls goes
  2. If any areas of the floor feel weak or squishy
  3. If water has reached any electrical sockets (Do not use any of your home’s electrical until you can confirm it’s not wet)

Get Professional Help

The next step is getting professional help. Recovering from flooding is not a one man – or even one family – job. If there’s still water pooled in your home, you need to have it removed. This is possible to do with a shop-vac, but is easier and more efficient to do with a pool vacuum.

Have someone come out and assess the damage from a professional viewpoint. You know what’s obvious, but a professional will spot the less noticeable things. They’ll also know how to check for moisture in your insulation, how extensive flooring damage is, whether or not your drywall will need to be replaced or simply repaired, and more.

Replace Ruined Flooring

More often than not, recovering from flooding will mean replacing ruined flooring. It’s rare for any floor to survive a serious flood. Carpet gets soaked and cannot be dried enough to prevent mold. Hardwood coating is damaged and the wood underneath can become soggy or rotted through, making it hazardous to walk on.

Premier Group Contractors does flooring replacement for the GTA. If you’re in Toronto, we’ll be happy to help in the flood recovery process by ensuring your floors are safe to traverse. If that means putting down clean carpeting or tearing out old hardwood to replace it, we can make it happen. 

The important thing is not minimizing what damage has been done to your floors. These are one of the most important parts of your house structure. Even if the damage is tolerable to look at, if water has made it to your subfloor, it could completely rot the floor structure of your home without you realizing until much later.

Follow Up on Damage

And, lastly, the most important step to recovering from flooding is following up on damage later. Moisture is incredibly insidious. It can get into cracks and begin growing mold and rot in tight spaces without your knowledge.

2-6 months after the flood, have an inspector out to your house to check for any remaining damage. If mold has begun to grow, this will give it enough time to come out into the open, and give you enough time to cut it off at the source. It’s not infrequent that people recover from a flood only for it to come back to haunt them years down the line in the form of structural rot or mold growth. Keep your home safe with some extra cautionary measures.

How Can You Install a Loft in Your Home?

For many of us, having a loft in our home is a long-time dream. Lofts simply have this fun, youthful feeling to them, while also being practical and attractive. However, if you’ve already bought a home and committed to it, moving somewhere else just to acquire a loft is pretty impractical. For some, it may be possible. For others, not so much. So, the question then becomes, can you install a loft in an existing home? Premier Group Contractors is happy to inform you that, yes, you can!

A Question of Difficulty

While the answer to whether you can add a loft or not is almost always yes, there comes the question of difficulty. You certainly can add a loft to any home, but some homes will take a lot more work than others. This has to do with many factors, such as the area of the home, the height, whether you have vaulted ceilings, and so on.

It goes without saying that in almost any case, this is a large enough job that it requires professional assistance. Adding a loft is not something most people should DIY, and those that should are already in the industry.

Adding to an Existing Structure

If you want to add a loft space over your living room or kitchen, it’s possible to do so without changing what’s there. Well… it’s possible under a few conditions.

  1. If you have vaulted ceilings, so as to provide enough head space above a new loft.
  2. If you have enough floor space to accommodate a new set of stairs, a spiral staircase, or a ladder.
  3. And, finally, if you don’t have windows or supports that cut into the desired, new loft space.

If these things are true for the area you plan to add a loft to, we can simply install a loft without making alterations to what’s there. This will involve our team:

  1. Creating new supports, to ensure the loft is held up adequately.
  2. Adding the loft structure, and anchoring it to the walls.
  3. Placing down flooring across the loft framework.
  4. Installing a stairway in the style of your choice.
  5. Putting up safety railings.
  6. Installing any new wiring, light fixtures, plumbing, or other features needed.

Remodeling to Accommodate

If your home is two stories but does not have vaulted ceilings, we may be able to add a loft with the removal of the ceiling. Frequently, flat ceilings are put in under an otherwise vaulted roof to provide attic space or to insulate better. These can typically be removed without too much hassle. However, we may need to add insulation to the roof, apply drywall, and more, to ensure you can still look up from your couch without cringing at an unfinished ceiling space.

Shorter homes without the height to add a loft may have one added, provided they are willing to raise the roof, quite literally. In some cases, this is possible to do with an existing roof. However, in most cases, the roof should be rebuilt to ensure it attaches to the rest of the roof properly and doesn’t lose integrity from being moved about. It goes without saying that this kind of remodel is extensive. However, if a loft is something you care a lot about, there’s no reason not to undergo the remodel to make your house more yours. 

Call us today at Premier Group Contractors if you’re looking to install a loft. We look forward to assisting in the process.

The Benefits of Adding Interior Walls to a Stone House

If you own a stone or brick house, you may never have considered the possibility of adding interior walls. In truth, many wouldn’t even consider it, knowing the benefits. Brick and stone walls are incredibly beautiful to look out. However, they do have some drawbacks, and Premier Group Contractors wants to tell you a bit about them. So, why should you consider adding interior walls to your stone house?

Insulation

The first and most important reason to consider adding interior walls to your stone house is the matter of insulation. Raw stone and brick do a very poor job of insulating. As a matter of fact, clay – as in bricks – is porous. Yes, even when fired. That makes brick a very poor material to have as your only barrier from the elements. While it looks absolutely delightful, it’s not doing you a service.

With modern brick houses, the building is made with two layers of brick with a gap between them. This is superior to a single-layer brick wall for many reasons. This gap can be filled with spray foam insulation to improve interior temperature regulation. However, some older brick houses don’t have the same double-layer. While these houses use other means to improve weight-bearing, these solutions don’t improve the insulation issue.

To improve insulation, you can coat brick or stone walls with damp proofing and build an interior wall. The interior wall involves building a wooden frame that lines the stone or brick and then adding insulation and drywall. This massively improved insulation and also gives you a new inner wall.

Interior Temperature Regulation

One of the primary reasons to consider adding interior walls is to help regulate the temperature of your home interior. No one likes being freezing cold in winter or overheated in summer. Having poorly insulated walls is going to guarantee temperature issues during less than ideal weather.

Plus, when you have bad temperature regulation in your home, it costs you big time. That brings us to the second reason why you should consider adding interior walls to your stone or brick home. You can save money on electric or gas, which can get expensive when trying to keep up with bad insulation. Stop running your heater nonstop throughout the winter. Instead, give your heater a house that can actually keep all of its hard work within its walls, rather than leeching out into the environment.

More Customizable

While it’s somewhat of a side convenience, adding interior walls does make your home more customizable. While you have to say goodbye to the exposed brick, you can say hello to painting, wallpaper, molding, and easier mounting. Being able to easily nail or screw things into your wall makes decorating ten times easier. So, with your new interior walls, mount your TV or hang a painting, all while staying at a comfortable temperature. Premier Group Contractors is happy to help.

How to Remove Crown Molding from Your Walls

Tired of the crown molding in your house? Want it removed temporarily to paint? Either way, the process is much the same. Although, if you plan to remove it permanently, you may not need to be quite as careful as if you plan to put it back later. To remove crown molding from your walls, just follow these simple steps. While time consuming, it’s fairly easy.

Save Your Wall

The first step is to ensure your wall doesn’t get damaged in the process of removing the molding. Use a utility knife to cut the paint that’s long-since dried between the molding and wall. You’ll want to cut right along the edge of the molding to effectively separate the two.

By separating the molding from the paint on the wall, not only will you avoid the paint pealing or tearing, you’ll also keep it from putting unnecessary strain on old dry wall as it pulls. If you’re hoping to save your molding, you’ll also want to cut the paint between molding pieces where they attach at the corners.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The next step is going to involve a firm, metal putty knife. These tools are thin enough to get into tight spaces while still strong enough to act as weak crowbars. Begin at one end of a piece of molding. Place the corner of your putty knife against the seam between molding and wall and attempt to shove it in between the two. If you have difficulty, try tapping the handle of the putty knife with a hammer. The extra force may be all it needs to separate the two.

After getting your putty knife between the molding and wall, it’s time to begin prying the molding away from the wall. If you have no interest in saving the molding, this doesn’t have to be a delicate task. As a matter of fact, you can quickly replace your putty knife with an actual crowbar, which will more quickly pull the molding away. Although, it is also more likely to split the molding into small pieces, which is why you should only take this speedy route if you intend to throw the molding away.

Save Your Molding

If you’re more interested in saving your molding to put back on after a paint job, you’ll want to go much slower. In order to avoid bending the molding to a breaking point, you’ll begin at one end, prying the molding only about 1/8th of an inch from the wall before moving further down. Gently pry all the way down the molding, making an even amount of progress before returning to the beginning.

As you get more space between your molding and the wall, you can switch to a straight-edged crowbar. Just remember, you still need to be careful to avoid splitting the wood of the molding. When the molding is fairly loose, but still secured by nails, you’ll have to use a bit more force to pull it away from the wall. Finally, the molding should be removed. Repeat this process on any remaining walls where you want to remove crown molding.

Get Professional Assistance

Don’t want to spend hours to remove crown molding from your walls? Don’t fret; that’s exactly what Premier Group Contractors is here for. We do this kind of thing all the time, and are happy to do it for you as well. Give us a call if you need some help to remove crown molding from your walls and we’ll let you know when we’re free to help.

Replace Damaged Flooring As Soon As Possible

Did you know you need to replace damaged flooring as soon as you can? There are a lot of reasons why damaged flooring needs to be tended to early, and we’ve put some of them together. Premier Group Contractors is dedicated to serving Toronto, and today, that means ensuring you’re safe and saving as much money as possible regarding flooring integrity. Here’s what you need to know:

Types of Flooring Damage

There are a lot of different ways that flooring can get damaged. Each one comes with its own challenges. Some common types of flooring damage are:

  • Cracks, cuts, or holes in linoleum, vinyl, or other sheet flooring
  • Broken floorboards
  • Water damage
  • Moisture damage
  • Broken tiles

Long-Term Effects

These types of flooring damage can have some long-term effects that are even worse than the damage you see on the face of it. Let’s take a moment to see what those effects are.

Spreading Damage

When you have damaged linoleum, vinyl, or other sheet flooring, it can actually lead to worse damage. While breaks in sheet flooring is unlikely to cause any harm if all you ever do is sweep, most people mop these floors somewhat regularly, as they’re commonly installed in kitchens and bathrooms. Mopping sheet flooring with holes in it can lead to water getting under the sheeting. This water can soak into floorboards or collect between the floorboards and sheeting. One little hole turns into a whole new can of worms.

Mold

Water and moisture damage on hardwood flooring and carpet is a great way to begin having mold problems. 

If the water damage on your hardwood has broken through the sealant, the boards may have soaked up the water and begun to grow mold. If this are of the floor frequently has water on it, this issue will only get worse. Mopping over it, tracking in water from shoes, or frequent spills in this area can lead to worsening mold that may spread under the flooring until the entire floor is damaged outside of view. Then, to replace damaged flooring, you have to do a lot more than fix a few boards.

If your carpet frequently gets wet, it can also begin developing mold. It may be out of sight, growing in the padding beneath the carpet, or even on the subfloor. If this happens, the mold will spread as far as it can. If you see any discoloration in your carpet where there is frequently water spilled or tracked in, it might be worth pulling up a corner of the carpet to check the state of things underneath.

Structural Damage

When flooding or water damage happens, it can actually do structural damage. The water damage will weaken flooring and structural supports. Your floor is, then, much more likely to break or cause supports to cave. A few months after a flood, be sure to have a professional visit your home to check your floors. They can make sure the structure isn’t damaged nor developing any problems.

Professional Flooring Replacement

When you’re ready to replace damaged flooring, give us a call at Premier Group Contractors. We’ll be sure to fix your flooring as soon as possible, mitigating any spreading effect and ensuring your home is safe at all times.

Drywall Repair Contractors Near You

Ending up with damaged drywall can be a huge pain. For small nicks, dents, and holes, a little bit of joint compound is enough to do the trick. However, what’s the solution for a larger hole? A hole the size of your fist can be repaired at home, if you’re willing to spend a few hours getting all of your tools together and working on it. But, if you don’t want to waste the time, or the damage you’re dealing with is a bit more extensive, hiring a professional is the way to go. Premier Group Contractors are happy to help and are the best drywall repair contractors in the Toronto area.

Drywall Damage

There are all kinds of drywall damage that can require repair. Knowing what kind of damage needs repair is the first step to hiring someone. After all, we need to come prepared.

Holes

Getting a hole in your wall can happen to anyone. All you need is for something, or someone, to fall against it. Any point in the drywall where there’s suddenly a lot of impact is liable to cave in. Fixing this kind of hole can be complicated, especially if it’s more than a few inches wide.

Cracks & Breaks

Getting some hairline cracks in your drywall is actually pretty easy to fix, cosmetically. Breaks where the drywall has completely split are harder to fix cosmetically. The part where things get tricky is asking yourself, “Why is my drywall getting cracks in it?”
If your drywall is cracking or breaking, there’s a good chance it’s due to structural damage. The floor above it or the roof may be bowing and pressing against it more than it should. Or, the foundation may be shifting, causing the pressure to shift into weird places on the drywall, leading to damage. In either case, having a member of Premier Group Contractors come out to assess the damage can save you from a lot of trouble and expense in the future.

Water Damage & Mold

If you’ve recently had flooding, your drywall may have been heavily impacted by it. Flooding can lead to all kinds of damage with drywall, such as crumbling or cracking from extensive water damage or even mold issues. In either case, large portions of your drywall may need to be replaced in order to repair the walls. This work, especially if it involves mold, needs to be done by a professional.

Drywall Repair Contractors in Toronto

Premier Group Contractors is proud to serve the entire Toronto area. We have many years of experience doing renovations, remodels, and one-off contracting work as well. That makes us experienced and adept at repairing and replacing drywall. If you need drywall repair contractors to check out your home, give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you get things back to normal.

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