Your Valuable Home

In our final interview about ProVia products for the exterior of a home, Chris Baker, ProVia®’s Director of Sales for Windows, walks us through when to replace old windows, and the many reasons why you should choose ProVia vinyl windows, including an outstanding limited, lifetime warranty. In the Bad Guy Bulletin today, Marc Furber from the Bucks County Pennsylvania DA’s office shares the good new...

Caroline Blazovsky, America’s Healthy Home Expert, shares her thoughts and expertise on all aspects of the odorless killer, carbon monoxide: what it is, what produces it, how it affects the human body and the technology you can need to protect you and your family at home and when you travel. This in-depth focus on carbon monoxide, was prompted by the untimely death of a famous actress at her daugh...

The Your Valuable Home Podcast presents a two-part interview with Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian, Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering at Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology. Parts 1 and 2 center on the professor’s hypothesis about a weather-related phenomenon called “induced atmospheric vibration” being the root cause of tens of millions of people in Spain, Portugal and souther...

In our best practices segment, the well-known landscape architect, Carter van Dyke, explains the plight of certain species of trees in the U.S. The Ash, for example, is in danger of extinction. Dead Ash trees become brittle and break from the top down, posing to hazard that can be very expensive to deal with. In our Bad Guy Bulletin today, Marc Furber from the Bucks County DA’s office is back with...

If you can get overwhelmed by product choices... especially when it comes to a major exterior home re-do, you need to check out ProVia windows, doors, vinyl siding, manufactured stone and metal roofing, using the company’s incredible, online Design Center. You can even scan in photos of your home’s current exterior to see how it looks with a ProVia Perfect Exterior makeover. Jerome Zenoby, ProVia’...

In our best practices segment today, Chris Baker joins us to cover all the high points – and there are many – of ProVia® exceptional roofing products. Our Horror story today, involves Ron’s struggle to get the home appliance insurer American Home Shield to live up to its coverage. This time the hassle was over a DOA dishwasher in Ron’s rental unit. The last time, the hassle involved a clothes drye...

In our Best Practices segment today, Rebecca Edawards, Staff Writer for SafeWise.com, covers water filtration systems for faucets and for the whole house. Yes, some systems do filter out troublesome PFAS – “Forever Chemicals.” In our Feature, Mike Banta of Mid-Atlantic Timberframes fills us in on this very appealing method of home construction.

Caroline Blazovsky, America’s Healthy Home Expert, shares her thoughts and expertise on all aspects of the odorless killer, carbon monoxide: what it is, what produces it, how it affects the human body and the technology you can need to protect you and your family at home and when you travel. Don’t dismiss carbon monoxide. Listen to this episode at least twice.

In our continuing series focused on products that make for the ProVia®-perfect exterior, ProVia’s Product Manager for Manufactured Stone talks about the eco-friendly way the product is made, it’s many exterior and interior uses and its value compared to natural stone. In our Feature today, Michael Gifford, CEO and Founder of Splitero, talks about his company’s fresh approach to joint real estate o...

In our Best Practices segment today we discover how rejuvenating versus replacing kitchen cabinets can save thousands of dollars in kitchen renovation cost. Cabinet rejuvenation doesn’t mean simply painting the cabinets. It’s a process that includes new doors, drawers and hardware and spray painting the cabinet bases. Our Horror Story today is about an Apple Pay shakedown that involved Ron. He got...

In our best practices segment today, Ron and Mike from one of the two companies that manage Ron’s rentals discuss the value of hiring a management company to procure tenants, collect rent, supervise repairs and do all of the other things that many landlords simply don’t have the time to do. If you have rentals that you self-manage, this interview could change your mind.  In our feature today Donna...

In our opening segment today ProVia’s product manager for vinyl siding provides a 101 course in residential cladding systems, best practices and the finer points of ProVia siding with Super Polymer Siding Technology. Then Marc Furber from the Bucks County, PA DA’s office briefs us on one of the latest cyber scams. Our Feature today is a fascinating discussion of Intergenerational Living, a concept...

Our guest for our Best Practices segment today is Joelle Longo, newly promoted Product Manager for ProVia entry and storm doors. We talk about the curb appeal of ProVia entry doors and the painstaking process of how they are manufactured. We also get into the compatible design of ProVia storm doors and how they can be matched with any ProVia entry door. In our Horror Story, Ron draws attention to...

Planning an addition to your home or a companion structure for your property?  There are many steps involved, and getting the job done right requires following those steps and super coordination.  In our Best Practices segment for this episode of Your Valuable Home, Jon Jacob, VP of Business Development for Hamilton Supply in Hamilton, New Jersey, walks us through the process of planning and const...

John Perna, President and CEO of Hamilton Building Supply in Hamilton, New Jersey, provides an eye-opening tutorial on framing lumber and why his company sells only the best. If you’re planning any home project that requires framing lumber, you should consider John’s advice a “Best Practice” for specifying framing lumber. In our second segment today, John offers an example of what can happen with ...

In our Best Practices segment today, Mike McColgan, an accomplished masonry pro, provides a tutorial on the different materials available to create patios, walkways and driveways. Pavers are by far today’s material of choice for such projects.  In the case of walkways and patios, pavers are often combined with natural bluestone. Mike also runs down the different brands and styles of pavers. In The...

Marc from ABE Doors and Windows is back to offer expert advice on the proper way to install entry doors. ProVia® entry doorscome with a level built right into each door to aid foolproof installation. Marc also contributes to Our Horror Story today. Often his company is called in to replace entry doors that were improperly installed. Don’t let that happen to you. In today’s Feature, Steve Tybor, Pr...

For our Best Practices segment today, Marc Rapchak, General Manager of ABE Doors and Windows in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, explains why his company sells the ProVia® brand of windows. Then in our Horror Story, Marc recounts some of the troubling situations his crews find, when they’re called in to replace old, tired or improperly installed windows with new ProVia windows. In our Fe...

This episode of Your Valuable Home opens with Architect James Rogers explaining the science that made it possible for him to design a 3,000-square foot-home on a “bridge” spanning the base of a waterfall. This could be one of the most enchanting and coveted building sites in the Northeastern U.S. It beckons the visionary buyer eager to create a signature home on this spot. In our Horror Story toda...

Whether you’re buying or selling residential real estate today, it is so very important to work with the right real estate pro. How do you know which one is the right one?  That’s the topic for the first segment in this week’s Your Valuable Home, and we’re going to get right into it with Joe Bonacci, a realtor in New York City and a good friend of Your Valuable Home. Joe has great advice about get...

In our first segment today, Ron speaks with architect Matt Piotrowski about the viability of first-time buyers stymied by a tight real estate market building versus buying. We get into a couple of scenarios where it might be viable to build, especially if the decision includes a plan for expansion.  The Horror Story today involves an electrician’s mistake that could have resulted in disaster, had...

We’re going straight to our weekly Horror story in this episode. During the recent presidential election cycle, seniors who weren’t on their toes, failed to uncheck the recurring donation box. Both parties were guilty of this “oversight.” Our Feature today is Part two of the story of the 20-year renovation of a historic Philadelphia mansion. This is the inside story of the work done to the home’s ...

Welcome to the first release to kick off the 12th year of Your Valuable Home with the story of the 20+ year renovation of a magnificent mansion in the historic district of Philadelphia. But first, our popular Homeowner Horror Story. This one involves a member of a popular hotel rewards program. This could also involve you and cause you to part with a substantial amount of money. Apparently, bad ac...

In the Replay today, Mike talks about the final stages of his Kitchen/Laundry Room reno. In our Feature today Matthew Carletti, who monitors the homeowner’s insurance industry for Citizens JMP Securities, explains the science and rational behind the setting of homeowner’s insurance ratees. Surprisingly, two families who live on the same street and are covered by the same insurer can be paying two...

Our Replay today is all about ProVia® metal roofing, the appeal, the choices (cedar, slate and barrel tile configurations), the 50-year, limited warranty. For anyone building a home or doing a major renovation or roofing project, ProVia metal roofing is a one-and-done. In our second segment today, we remember those who perished in the four coordinated terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001. We also encour...