Salisbury, North Carolina

GRANITE QUARRY Siding with neighborhood opposition, the Granite Quarry Board of Aldermen voted Monday night against a rezoning request involving the quarry site off Balfour Quarry Road.

At least a half dozen residents of the area said they were against the rezoning request, which asked that the whole site be classified as heavy-industrial.

The current zoning is partly heavy-industrial, but mostly neighborhood business. The quarry has been closed for many years.

Ken Miller, representing Granite Realty, made the rezoning request.

The zoning case came to aldermen from the Granite Quarry Planning Board, which recommended denial. The planners said denying the request was in the best interest of the surrounding, residential property owners.

Rezoning may negatively affect and possibly devalue the surrounding properties with no clear, designated use of the land in mind by the rezoning applicant, the recommendation said.

Mayor Pro Tem Bill Feather and Aldermen Jim LaFevers and Eloise Peeler voted to support the Planning Boards recommendation.

In another zoning matter, aldermen voted for a couple of changes in the towns sign ordinance in connection to banners and the internal illumination of signs.

Businesses may use a banner to advertise a special sale or feature, providing it hangs securely against a wall, or it can be freestanding, if secure.

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Granite Quarry aldermen deny rezoning at old quarry site

A recently released Remodeling Magazines Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report for 2013 notes that one of the most cost-effective improvements a homeowner can make has little to do with the actual house.

In Jacksonville, a 16-by-20-foot mid-range wood deck addition estimated at $7,900 ranked among the highest values of remodeling cost vs. resale value, according to the report. On average, homeowners adding a wood deck to their backyards recouped nearly 75 percent of the job cost in resale value, outranked only by a steel entry door replacement (93.7 percent), garage door replacement (83.6 percent), fiber-cement siding replacement (83.1 percent) and an attic bedroom remodel (79.3 percent). A deck addition of the same size made from composite materials costing around $13,900 pulled in 70 percent of its original cost in reselling.

I would say they add quite a bit of value to a home. If youve got an okay-looking home and a backyard thats a mess, its going to be tough to sell. But if youve got an okay-looking home and cool place to hang out and have a party, its going to attract buyers, said Derrick Pratt, president and owner of Jacksonville-based Pratt Custom Services. The family company, founded in 2005 by Pratt, specializes in outdoor woodscapes and custom carpentry.

A deck addition was also ranked nationally among the five best cost vs. value home remodels by US News.

The mid-range 16-by-20-foot deck featured in the report is constructed from pressure-treated wood in a simple linear pattern that allows for a built-in bench, planter and a set of three stair steps. It also features supports from 4 x 4 posts anchored to concrete piers.

Phyllis Staines, a broker associate with RE/MAX Coastal Real Estate, once served as a Realtor source for the report, which surveys real estate agents in the area to arrive at its conclusions. She said that, among the more expected siding, windows and roof updates, decks seem to score high in cost vs. value.

I can tell you that decks always come up in these surveys. Interestingly enough, I just did a home inspection with a deck, said Staines, who notes that decks are not as common on the First Coast as some might think. Instead, she sees a lot of lanais, screened and covered porches and Florida rooms.

Because this is such a beach community, decks could describe walkways leading to the water, noted Staines, who sells many waterway and coastal homes.

Pratt says that a poured concrete patio can make a good choice for a homeowner who wants to maximize an outdoor living area. Adding a pergola, which his business custom-makes, he says, can make a patio more eye-catching.

Pratt has noticed that the staycation, made popular by the recession, has influenced some homeowners to revamp the outdoor areas of their property.

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Expanded outdoor spaces make area homes more marketable

Siding replacement
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Siding replacement - Video

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(BPT) - Yes, everyone knows making home improvements is a worthy investment in your greatest material asset. Sure you want every improvement job done well with top-notch end results. But when all is said and done, do you really want to have to put a lot of effort and money into maintaining those improvements? For most people whether theyll admit it or not the answer is no.

The best home improvements are the ones that not only enhance your homes value and livability, but also require little work from you afterward to keep them looking great and functioning well. If youre looking for high-impact, low-maintenance home improvements, consider these popular projects:

No-leak skylights

When it comes to an improvement that brightens your home, enhances its indoor air quality and boosts energy-efficiency, skylights deliver. Unfortunately, early skylights had a reputation for being leaky a problem that simply doesnt occur with modern, no leak, energy-efficient skylights like those made by Velux America. Pre-engineered flashing kits (the metal shield that surrounds any opening in a wall or roof) work with all types of roofs, from shingles to metal, to ensure a properly installed skylight wont leak.

Need further low-maintenance points to make the case for adding a skylight? Not only do modern skylights keep water out, theyre energy efficient as well. Energy Star-qualified, no leak solar-powered fresh air skylights, like those from Velux, deliver fresh air through cost-effective passive ventilation. Adding remote-controlled, solar-powered blinds allows you to easily open or close a fresh air skylight and shade it when the sun hits that part of the roof, boosting the skylights energy efficiency by 39 percent. Keep the shade open during cold weather to admit warmth and reduce heating costs. A 30 percent federal tax credit on both products and installation costs makes a skylight project even more appealing. Visit http://www.veluxusa.com for a tax calculator to show your savings for a new installation or replacement skylights and a skylight planner app to show exactly how skylights and blinds will look in any area of your home.

Lighting upgrade

Older light fixtures not only look dated, they often use outdated, inefficient bulbs and are lacking in the energy-efficient emphasis that comes with newer fixtures. Upgrading lighting throughout your home is a great way to ensure you wont have to think about it again any time soon.

If a total lighting redesign is out of the question, you can still make your existing light fixtures lower maintenance simply by swapping out old, inefficient incandescent light bulbs with newer, electricity-sipping versions. Options like CFLs and LEDs provide all the light of incandescents while using a fraction of the energy. Energy.gov says Energy Star-rated LEDs use at least 75 percent less power than incandescent bulbs, and last 25 times longer. Imagine the time, hassle and money youll save not having to replace bulbs constantly especially in lights that get a lot of use, like porch lights, or that are hard to reach, like the chandelier in your two-story entryway.

Vinyl siding

Wood, fiber cement, stucco, brick there are nearly as many types of exterior siding as there are colors to paint it. When it comes to low- or no-maintenance siding, vinyl remains the gold standard. In fact, more new homes are built using vinyl siding than any other type of siding product, according to the Vinyl Siding Institute.

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The best kind of home improvements: high-impact, low-maintenance

Published: 6/27/2013 8:32 PM | Last update: 6/27/2013 10:07 PM

The old siding, according to Minner, was rotten, warped and eroded by water and vines that had, in some cases, grown under the siding and pulled it loose.

He was about halfway through taking off the old siding, putting up a weather wrap and then blue SmartSide siding, a pressed-wood product, when someone, concerned that he might be putting up vinyl siding on the 110-year old house in the Houston Whiteside Historic District, called City Hall to complain.

A city inspector came out on May 22 to take a look and stopped the work by red-tagging the house, because Minner didn't have a building permit and hadn't sought historic review approval, as required for houses deemed contributing properties in historic districts.

"I just got overzealous," he said. "I bought some siding and started tearing off the old siding to see how it would go. I had a lot of vines that were growing under the siding that were popping it off. It just fell right off when I started working on it."

The day after the inspector red tagged the house, Planning and Development Director Nancy Scott denied a building permit because "the re-siding project substantially changes the character of the building" by replacing the existing narrow wood siding with SmartSide siding.

Minner appealed to the Landmarks Commission on Thursday, which while sympathetic, denied his appeal and upheld Scott's determination that the work encroaches upon, damages or destroys the historic character of the house.

However, the Commission also urged Minner and his attorney, Jim Gilliland, to work with city staff on alternative solutions.

Under the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's standards for historic preservation, distinctive features of historic properties or buildings in historic districts should be restored if possible, then repaired if possible and replaced only as a last resort. And if replacement is necessary, it should be with similar materials.

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In historic district, man's intentions were good; new siding was not

2:35 pm Clearwire announced earlier that ISS recommends Clearwire (CLWR) stockholders vote 'for' proposed transaction with Sprint (S). (CLWR) : Co announced that ISS in light of Sprint's revised offer to acquire the ~50% stake in Clearwire it does not currently own for $5.00 per share, has recommended that Clearwire stockholders vote FOR the proposed merger with Sprint.

2:32 pm NYMEX Energy Closing Prices (:COMDX) :

2:30 pm S&P -9 reaches intraday resistance (SPY) : Noted S&P support at 1560/1558 (The Technical Take, 11:35 update) with it hitting 1560.33 at 12:20. A steady climb off the low has reached an intraday resistance at 1583/1584 with the next level at 1588 (open/high). Support if anyafternoon backing and filling develops is at 1575 and 1572.

2:25 pm Dollar Gives Up Gains: 10-yr: +04/32..2.532%..USD/JPY: 97.60..EUR/USD: 1.3138 (:SUMRX) : The Dollar Index climbed to 82.80 in early trade, but has given up its gains as trade holds little changed near 82.30. The recent weakness is putting the current three-day winning streak for the greenback at risk.

2:25 pm CBOT Agriculture and Ethanol/ICE Sugar Closing Prices (:COMDX) :

2:23 pm Dow -55 rebounds as much as 200 points off low -- S&P -10, Nasdaq Comp -22 (:TECHX) :

2:15 pm Crude oil rally continues, Crude hits a new HoD (:COMDX) : Aug crude oil is now +1.9% at $95.45/barrel.

2:11 pm Rosetta Stone announces distribution partnership with Brookstone (RST) : Brookstone announced that it has become a premier retail partner of Rosetta Stone (RST). All 30 Rosetta Stone languages are now available online at Brookstone.com, while top select languages are offered at key Brookstone airport retail locations nationwide.

2:09 pm Further backtracking off highs for 10-yr yields -TNX- (:TECHX) : It has slipped as low as 2.539 (session high 2.657) with today's gap bottom/Friday's high at 2.514.

1:45 pm AK Steel: Middletown (:OH) Works blast furnace experiences incident; no injuries (AKS) : Co said that the blast furnace at its Middletown (:OH) Works facility experienced a mechanical failure in the charging apparatus internal to the furnace on June 22, 2013. The company said that there were no injuries and it is continuing to assess the situation and investigate the root cause of the incident. At this time, the company does not have a specific estimate of the cost or an exact date for completion of the repairs, though it currently expects to complete the repairs as early as sometime in July, though the repairs may be completed later in the third quarter. The company noted that it maintains property damage and business interruption insurance, and it currently expects that its uninsured losses will be between $10 million and $27.5 million. The company currently expects this outage will impact both the second and third quarter shipments and financial results. The company will provide an update to this incident in its scheduled earnings conference call to be held on July 23, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

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InPlay from Briefing.com

Farmington, CT (PRWEB) June 27, 2013

Pro Source, LLC is proud to announce its accreditation by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). As a BBB Accredited Business, Pro Source is dedicated to promoting trust in the marketplace and meets the BBBs strict standards.

BBB Accredited Businesses must follow the BBBs Standards of Trust, a set of best practices that represent marketplace trust. The standards include building trust, honest advertising, being truthful, being transparent, honoring promises, being responsive, safeguarding privacy and embodying integrity.

In order to be eligible, accredited businesses must have a proven track record of delivering results while adhering to the BBBs standards and addressing customer concerns in a timely and satisfactory manner.

Serving Connecticut residents for over 20 years, Pro Source is a general contractor specializing in energy-saving construction; and offering lifetime guarantees, on-site inspections and written estimates.

"We are proud to be recognized by the BBB as a business that meets their high standards," says Russ Houle, co-owner of Pro Source in Farmington, Conn. "Not every company is eligible, so our acceptance means we must be doing something right."

He adds, "We greatly value building trust with our community, and our accreditation along with being a member of Contractor Nation gives our customers the confidence of knowing they are dealing with a company that's committed to integrity and high ethical standards."

Contractor Nation is a network comprised of Americas best contractors. As a member, Pro Source is awarded a seal of approval that ensures customers that they are working with a fully-licensed and insured contractor.

Pro Sources accreditation was accepted by the local Board of Directors of Connecticut Better Business Bureau. The Connecticut BBB was founded in 1928 as an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization to promote and build ethical relationships between businesses and the public.

Pro Source, LLC is a general contractor serving the Central Connecticut area, which includes Woodbridge, Canton, Glastonbury, Avon, Madison and surrounding areas. They specialize in home improvements products and services like roof repair and replacement, gutters and downspouts, siding, decks and patios, replacement windows, remodeling, restoration and ground-up construction.

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Pro Source, LLC Earns BBB Accreditation

If it seems like thunderstorms occur more frequently and intensely than they used to, that may be due to the understandable hype concerning SuperStorm Sandy and other recent destructive storms, like the tornadoes in Moore, Okla. "Despite the heightened level of thunderstorm activity since mid-May in the United States, it has actually been a rather quiet year in terms of overall events," says Steve Bowen, a senior scientist and meteorologist for Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe modeling arm of reinsurance intermediary Aon Benfield.

Thunderstorms do seem to be evolving, however, if not actually coming at us faster and more furiously, according to Stu Ostro, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel. Ostro says he isn't aware of an increase in the number of thunderstorms throughout the year, but "there is some evidence, which merits further study, of a change in the nature of tornado and severe thunderstorm outbreaks during the late autumn and winter, with many of them in the past decade or so seeming to have occurred relatively far north compared to where they typically have been in the past."

We may not be in the midst of a thunderstorm-tornado-hurricane apocalypse, but you don't want to be the homeowner unlucky enough to have a maple tree crash into your dining room or wade into a flooded basement because your sump pump went out after a major storm. So if you think your house could be better prepared to withstand the onslaught of a summer storm, here are some things to consider - before and after the rain.

[Read: When Homeowners Insurance Won't Protect You.]

Check your insurance. Do this long before a storm. What should you look for? Josh Noel, owner of Quality Roofing in Colorado Springs, Colo., says homeowners should check to see if they have an ACV or RCV policy. "The first one is actual cash value, which means your insurance company only pays for what your property was worth before the storm, which is not a good policy," Noel says. "RCV is replacement cost value, which means your insurance pays current market value of the property loss."

Even if a roofer like Noel has incentive for potential customers to have the best insurance out there, he still has a good point. If you bought your house in 1986, you don't want to be paying for a roof in 1986 dollars.

And, of course, you never think you'll need insurance until one day you do. John Scroggin's experience illustrates why it's important to be insured. On June 13, when storms rolled into Roswell, Ga., the 61-year-old lawyer was on his way home from a meeting with a client and decided to stop at his office, which employs five people and is in a historic house that was built in 1883.

"An oak tree, 300 years or older, decided to take up residence in my office's conference room," Scroggin says.

After quickly surveying the damage, Scroggin drove to his residence, where he fortunately found his family in good shape, but the tops of about 20 trees had rained onto his house and two-car garage. Fortunately, he was well-insured and had a disaster crew at his office 90 minutes after the tree fell, working until 4 a.m., cleaning everything and securing the law firm.

For obvious reasons, if you know exactly where your policy is, you may save some time in the event that your house is damaged.

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How to Prepare Your Home for a Summer Storm