Is your chimney ready for Santa this year?

Regardless of materials, chimneys can deteriorate when exposed to the constant freezing, thawing, and re-freezing of our notorious St. Louis winters. I’ll bet you didn’t know that damaged masonry chimneys were the leading cause of Santa Claus accidents last year. For the sake of your children and their rosy, pudgy holiday hero, please consider having the following inspected on your masonry chimney:

• Chimney cap
• Chimney flue
• Flashing condition where chimney and roof meet
• General condition of brick and mortar

For a list of qualified mason contractors in the St. Louis area visit www.masonrystlouis.com/faq.php

Home inspection services are also available through www.ashi.org

Dave Murray says it is going to be the coldest December in a decade!  Your heating bill will probably rise no matter what but if you have a brick home that cost could be substantially less. Recent studies indicate that masonry homes lower heating costs by up to 8 percent when compared to vinyl.  This is because of masonry’s "thermal mass", which is a fancy way if saying it holds heat longer.

Here are some additional tips for keeping warm this winter without high heating bills.

• Wash your clothes in cold water
• Close your fireplace draft when not in use
• "Layer" your home with thick curtains and door draft blockers
• Invest in a programmable thermostat (about $25-$50) 
• Run ceiling fans on reverse at the lowest setting to circulate warm air

Brick and stone can get heavy and cumbersome to lug around. And finding roofing and shutters that match your masonry is usually a tedious process that is confined to the sales center showroom.

As a builder or remodeler, wouldn’t it be great if a potential homebuyer was able to walk away from your sales center with everything they need to make an informed decision about their exterior selections?

The Masonry Institute of St. Louis is educating masonry suppliers, homebuilders, remodelers and sales representatives on how to successfully sell exterior selections. With the help of Kirchner Block and Brick and their cutting edge portable masonry sample materials, design trend updates from Barry Glantz of Glantz and Associates, and a New Homes Market Update from Joe Zanola of Zanola Company, the Masonry Institute of St. Louis educated a roomful of fifty sales professionals on how to easily and effectively promote exterior selections with materials the buyer can take home.

If you missed this presentation or you just want to learn more about what you can do to sell more masonry, call the Masonry Institute of St. Louis to schedule a custom educational presentation!

We want to use the first entry of our brand new blog to give you a bit of insider information on homedesignstl.com.
This website is sponsored by The Masonry Institute of St. Louis and highlights interior and exterior, innovative and breathtaking masonry design from local union mason contractors.
The extraordinary examples of brick, block and glass design work on homedesignstl.com are suited for every lifestyle, price range and home size.
We offer homebuilders, professional remodelers, architects and designers a FREE opportunity to present their home design ideas, show off their past work and market themselves proudly as a masonry expert.
Homedesignstl.com is an electronic catalogue of ideas for lovers of design, homebuyers, homeowners and everyone in between!
If you want to be part of this unprecedented opportunity, please email info@homedesignstl.com.

We will be talking with you through this blog weekly, so if you have any questions, ideas or just want us to know you are reading, drop us a line at info@homedesignstl.com.