424 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515
630-852-8485
Recent Blog Posts
5 Things That Need a Home in Your Garage
Are you tired of digging through piles of stuff in your garage to find the thing you need? The solution can be found in the old adage, "A place for everything and everything in its place." Here is our list of 5 things you should have in your new garage and the best place to put them so you can always find them.
Before we get to our list, let us make this quick point. One of the challenges of garage storage is that you cannot always use the same types of containers that you would use indoors. Fabric bins with open tops may work great in your bedroom closet or toy room, but in a garage, they are going to be filthy inside and out in short order. Cardboard boxes are also bad for a garage because of dampness. Instead, use clear plastic storage bins, wire bins, hooks, bungee cords, and magnet strips.
1. Gardening gloves and tools.
Hang a sturdy wire bin on a wall convenient to a garage door that you typically use when working in the yard. Choose a bin large enough to hold your gardening gloves, weeding fork, gardening knife, and similar hand tools. Make sure the bin is large enough to hold your kneeling mat, too.
It’s the 40th Anniversary for Blue Sky Builders, Inc.
Do you know how rare it is for a business to celebrate its 40th year in operation? Of all new business start-ups with employees between 1995 and 2010, one-third failed within two years, and half failed within five years, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
We sure are enjoying our 40th anniversary and the start of another year building quality garages for our customers. We are even more proud of the fact that we are the oldest custom garage building company in this area that is still owned and operated by the original owner.
Yes, our memories go back, way back, to 1979 when we started Blue Sky Builders, Inc. We hope you enjoy sharing some of these sweet old memories with us.
We Had a President Before Social Media Existed: In 1979, Jimmy Carter was serving as the 39th president of the United States. He was a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, class of 1946, who served on submarines until 1953, yet as one of his first presidential acts in 1977, he pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders. After his presidency, he remained active in worldwide humanitarian efforts, winning a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work in peace negotiations, election monitoring, and disease eradication in developing nations.
How Big Can My Garage Be in DuPage County?
When building a new garage, one of the top desires for homeowners is to make the garage bigger. However, the size of your lot, the existing footprint of your home, and local zoning ordinances must all be taken into account when deciding how big your garage can be.
If you are not sure how big of a garage you want, look at our custom garage image gallery which shows the dimensions of each garage we have built. A two-car garage typically measures at least 22' x 22' while the minimum footprint for a three-car garage is 32' x 22.' Larger dimensions are preferable if your lot allows.
Detached Garage Sizes in DuPage County
If you live in an unincorporated area of DuPage County, the county's zoning requirements apply to you. For a single-family home on a lot of 40,000 square feet or less, the maximum size allowed for a detached garage, shed, or accessory building is 650 feet if you have an attached garage already or 850 feet if there is no attached garage. Assuming the 850 square foot limitation, you could build a 36' wide by 22' deep garage, enough room for three stalls. The maximum allowed height of the building is 15 feet.
How to Replace Your Garage Light Bulbs with LEDs
If you have been confused by the changes in light bulbs over the last few years, you are not alone. Most of us grew up with incandescent light bulbs and are still figuring out the transition to LED bulbs on the market. For example, in the incandescent world, we knew were supposed to buy heavy-duty bulbs marked "outdoor use" for fixtures in and around the garage. You probably even have some yellow bulbs for use in the summer to avoid a swarm of bugs around your doors. But what is the right replacement in the world of LED bulbs?
Watch Out for Wattage - Focus on Lumens
Our best tip for switching to LED bulbs is this: ignore the wattage and just make sure you get a bulb with enough lumens, which is a measure of brightness.
- If you are replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb, look for a LED bulb with 1,500 to 1,600 lumens.
- A 75w replacement bulb should have at least 1,100 lumens.
- Replace a 60w bulb with one that promises at least 800 lumens.
3 Ways to Bring More Natural Light Into Your Garage
Does your garage feel dark all the time? While installing more electric lighting is one way to address this, another option is to let in more natural light. Here are three ways you can add more natural light when rebuilding or remodeling your garage:
- Replace a solid entry door with a full-window or half-window door.
- Replace a solid garage door with one that has windows.
- Add more windows to the walls.
Garage Entry Doors With Windows
Replacing the entry door to your garage is the most cost-efficient way to bring more natural light into your garage. If your door frame shows signs of rot, or if the door itself is old and looking very worn, it might be time to invest in a new door anyway.
Fiberglass doors are considered top-of-the-line and are only slightly more expensive than steel doors. Search for "full-lite" or "half-lite" depending on whether you want full-height glass or just a window in the upper half of the door. Expect to pay $400 to $700 for a good-quality exterior door of either fiberglass or steel with a large window.
Eco-Friendly Materials and Methods for Garage Construction
Every person plays a role in keeping our air, land, and water clean of health-damaging pollutants. In fact, you probably take at least one eco-friendly action every day, such as recycling or reducing your carbon footprint by conserving energy. So when you make plans to build a new garage, why not make it a priority to use earth-friendly building methods and materials? Two ways you can do this are to reuse or recycle construction debris and to choose energy-efficient building materials.
Reuse or Recycle Construction and Demolition Debris
When an old garage is torn down, what happens to the old siding, framing, roofing, and other materials? Historically, it all went to landfills. Today, more recycling and reuse of materials is happening.
The problem of construction and demolition debris is bigger than most people realize. The U.S. produces over 75 million tons of debris each year, including wood, drywall/plaster, brick/tile, and asphalt shingles-and that is just from buildings. Road and bridge projects produce another 470 million tons of concrete, asphalt, and steel debris. All told, construction and demolition debris outweighs municipal solid waste by a factor of two to one.
What Are the Options for Finishing the Interior of My Garage?
If your garage has an unfinished interior with exposed studs, you have probably wondered about the options for insulating and finishing a garage. After all, the garage is one of the most-used rooms in your house. In fact, if your garage is attached to your house, it is probably your most-used entryway. You will get daily enjoyment out of your investment in finishing this space.
For a typical 24' x 24' two-car garage, you should be able to insulate and finish the garage walls and ceiling for under $5,000, including top-quality labor and materials. If your garage is attached to your house, the wall adjacent to the home is most likely already insulated and drywalled as required by local building codes for fire resistance, which will bring the total cost even lower.
Garage Insulation Choices: Spray Foam vs. Fiberglass Batting
For insulation, two common choices are spray foam and fiberglass batting. Fiberglass insulation is roughly one-third the cost of closed-cell spray foam insulation and is considered very easy to install, but it allows a lot of air leakage. Closed-cell spray foam, in contrast, is substantially more energy efficient, as it provides a complete air, moisture, and vapor barrier. Spray foam insulation is also superior because it does not sag and settle over time like fiberglass batts tend to do and because it forms a tight seal around outlets, light switches, and other areas where drafts tend to be felt.
Understanding the R-Value of Insulation in Garage Doors and Walls
Are you tired of feeling a huge drop in temperature when you step out of your house into your attached garage during Chicago's coldest months? Whether you are building a new custom garage in Cook County or upgrading an old garage in DuPage County, the choices you make about insulating the space can make a big difference in your comfort.
What Is R-Value?
R-value is the power of an insulating material to stop heat flow. The higher the R-value, the better the insulation.
How Does Insulation Work?
Whenever one space is warmer than another, heat will automatically flow from the warmer space to the cooler space until the temperature is equalized. Insulation helps to prevent warmer air inside your garage from flowing outdoors. With no insulation, the air in your garage will be as cold as the outdoor air.
Imagine a winter day in Chicago when it is 30 degrees outside. Your furnace has heated your house to 70 degrees. If you open all the doors and windows of the house and shut off the furnace, heat will flow out of the house until, eventually, the interior house temperature is equal to the outdoor temperature of 30 degrees. This is why you may hear people yelling, "Shut the door before you let all the heat out!" during the winter.
Your Dream Home Is Not Finished Until You Have a Dream Garage
Your dream home might be a 1,800 square foot cottage near your relatives in Chicago or a 4,000 square foot luxury home in Wheaton within a short commute to your job. Whatever its size and value, it is yours, and you have put a lot of time and effort into making that house a home. But there is one thing you may not have finished yet, and that is the garage. Your dream home is not complete until you have the custom garage of your dreams.
Creating the Ultimate Custom Garage
Curb appeal. The first thing your dream garage needs is curb appeal. It may need a siding upgrade or some custom stonework to "dress" it to match the style of your home. It may need an upgraded garage door, such as a faux wood finish, a carriage style design, or windows. The exterior light fixtures must, of course, match the style of your house while providing functional illumination.
Interior lighting. Is your garage lighting limited to the auto-on light built into your garage door opener, and maybe one or two other bare lightbulbs? Do you find yourself leaving in the dark and coming home in the dark during the winter time? You are not alone, but chances are, the wiring is already in place to fix these problems. For just a couple hundred dollars, you can replace those bare bulbs with attractive and more functional light fixtures. Choose fixtures with a "smart" feature so that you can program them to light your departure in the morning and greet you when you come home at night.
Garage and Home Improvements With the Best Payback
The choices we make in home and custom garage improvements are generally driven by one of two factors: either we make upgrades for our own pleasure, or we plan to sell the house soon and are making improvements that will help it sell quickly for the best price. Ideally, we take both factors into consideration.
One important consideration is generally the payback value of a project. The payback percentage represents the increase in home value relative to the project cost. On the list of home improvements with the best payback, garage doors and other garage improvements are near the top.
Garage Door Replacement Has Excellent Payback Value
Garage door and entrance door replacements rank near the top of all home remodeling projects for their payback value, according to the Remodeling 2018 Cost vs. Value Report. In the Chicago market, installing a new upscale garage door (steel with R-12 insulation) has an estimated cost of $3,000 to $4,000 and an estimated payback value of 90%. Installing a new entryway door has an estimated cost of $1,000 to $2,000 and an estimated payback value of 100%.
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