Sears Home Services

Front Door Curb Appeal

Your exterior door is one of the first things that friends and family notice when they see your home. We rely on our exterior doors for privacy and for security-but now a custom fit exterior door can also reflect your personal style. A new door can change the look of your home from the outside and the feel of your home from the inside. Sears Home Services offers a selection of 90 different exterior styles that are guaranteed to make your home look charming, feel safe, and comfortable at the same time.

When you choose your new front door, consider these three factors: security, durability, and visual appeal. Fortunately, you can cover the necessary elements of security and durability and still get a great looking new look for your home with fantastic curb appeal.

The security of your exterior door will keep intruders out, including animals and insects. Strong front doors are the first defense in keeping your loved ones safe.

Your exterior door must be durable and have the ability to withstand rain, wind, the scorching sun, and the bitter cold. It also must keep in, your valuable comfort elements such as heat and air conditioning. When your door is durable it won't leak, draft, break or crack under pressure.

The final factor when choosing a new exterior door is visual appeal which is a personal choice that reflects your distinct style and welcomes those who enter your home. When choosing your new exterior door with Sears Home Improvements, you have a wide range of custom door options such as beveled or stained glass, shape, and the material from which it is made-for your security and durability.

As an additional benefit--right now when you purchase an energy-efficient door for your home, you may be eligible for a federal tax credit, up to $1500 dollars! Act now-this tax credit won't last long.

Your Sears Home Improvement in-home design consultant can walk you through your many options and if needed, provide valuable advice on styles that best fit your home and improve your curb appeal. Your resulting door will be a one-of-a-kind-created by you!


Andrea-- Sr. Manager/General Manager Sears Home Services

www.SearsHomeServices.com

Posted at 10:53AM Sep 28, 2010 by Jon B in General  |  Comments[1]

Peace of Mind With Every Installation

“Jack of all trades master of none”, we have all heard this statement at some point.  I remember growing up and too often hearing the words of my dad, “Son, you get what you pay for”. Every time I decide to take a short cut on quality, it never fails I hear these words ringing in my head.

When it comes to labor, I’ve learned that there are two types you can pay for, skilled labor or unskilled labor.

Let’s pose this question.  Let’s pretend for a moment you encounter a heart condition. Would you see your family doctor to get the cure or a cardiologist? While your family doctor is very knowledgeable, more than likely he or she does not specialize in the heart. It’s going to cost more initially to see your cardiologist but obviously the long term gain is better. 

When you perform a home improvement project with Sears, you can rest assured you will be given skilled labor. Our technicians are masters at what they do. Our kitchen Installers install kitchens not siding and vice versa. Sears has a standard operating procedure for all installations. Why? Unfortunately there are not always codes or regulations to how an install should be performed. This leaves many homeowners holding the bag when it comes to improper installations. Most folks don’t realize they have a bad installation until it’s too late. Many warranties have expired or 10 of thousands of dollars in damages have been caused. At Sears, we’d rather give our customers the peace of mind that every installation is done above and beyond industry standards.

To top off our expert technicians, we also provide you a project coordinator to hold your hand during every step of the project. The project coordinator is in constant contact with you and the installer throughout the project. In the unlikely event a problem or concern arises, it will be dealt with immediately.

At Sears we believe in using top quality materials. Unfortunately if you don’t back this with skilled labor, at the end of the day—great quality materials are worthless. Sears learned a long time ago, it’s easier to explain price today, than to apologize for poor quality tomorrow.

Dan--Director of Sales Training and Development

www.SearsHomeServices.com

Posted at 10:28AM Sep 28, 2010 by Jon B in General  |  Comments[0]

A Windows Facelift

The work began on my house about 2 weeks ago. The first round of work was for my new windows.

I ordered the Weatherbeater Max, White, Double Hung, Colonial Sculpture windows. Now that’s a mouthful. These windows were recommended by Dan as they were the most energy efficient windows and since the windows on my house were the original windows, you can only imagine how excited I was to start saving money.

The contractors arrived bright and early and starting working on the house immediately.

I’m chatty cathy, so of course, I introduced myself to the contractors and let them know if they needed anything, just to ask. And my dog, Wadsworth, was all over the place, but once the contractors pet him – they were friends for life.

And so it began - room by room. And every time the uninstalled the old window and reinstalled the new window, the room was spotless when they left.

I like things neat, even when construction is going on in my house. And boy, did they deliver.

I had 13 new windows to install. No easy feat, right?

They did it with ease.

At the end of each day, they picked up, made sure the house looked like it did when they walked in, and were on their way.

Next morning, bright and early (and ON TIME), they would start the whole process over again.

I was so impressed. I was able to work from home during the installation so witnessed the entire make-over.

And you wouldn’t believe what a difference these windows have made in the look of my home. My curb appeal just sky rocketed!

I can’t wait to see what the vinyl siding is going to do to my house. Talk about a facelift.

 

Michelle—Online Communications Manager

www.SearsHomeServices.com

Posted at 01:12PM Sep 13, 2010 by Jon B in General  |  Comments[2]

Getting Your Home Ready For Winter

 

Knock on wood--it's still nice here, but before you know it, the temperature will drop and we'll all be bundling up again! Before switching your temperature gauge from 'cool' to 'heat'-see if there are ways that you can save on constantly escalating energy costs. It's important to check your home to insure that your heating dollars aren't being wasted. In fact, ways that you insulate your home to keep the heat in, will also help next year in the warmer months to keep the heat out!

The most obvious places in your home to check for drafts and leaks are windows, doors, garage doors, roofing and siding. As an added incentive to winterize your home, based on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, you can now take advantage of the Federal tax credit for select heating and cooling systems, windows, and doors. Tax credits are available for up to 30% of the cost (up to $1500), for existing homes. See www.energystar.gov for more details.

A quick fix for leaky windows and doors is to add weather-stripping and caulking to any gaps that allow heat to escape. If your windows and doors are old and beyond repair, you may find it cost effective to replace them with newer, more efficient ones. With energy efficient windows, the interior glass stays warmer, so you don't feel the winter chills. As an added benefit, new windows and doors also provide an updated look from the inside and out!

Adding or replacing old siding with insulated siding is an energy savings product that can make a big difference in conserving energy, reducing heating consumption by up to 20 percent, and saving money. Insulated siding is a rigid foam padding, behind the exterior surface of the siding panel. The siding insulation is cut and contoured to fill the gap between the siding and your home which results in home energy savings. New siding energy savings can be up to 20%, along with a beautiful exterior and almost no maintenance.

Check your roof for missing shingles or gaps. It's always cost effective to fix small problems before they become bigger and more costly. An insulated roofing system can provide maximum durability and protection for your home during the cold winter months and help keep your home cool in the summer.

A final area of your home to check before it gets cooler is your heating systems. Make sure you replace your heater air filter according to the manufacturer schedule. Your system will use less energy, not have to work as hard, and last longer. Remove dusts from vents and along your baseboard heaters too! A new gas heater can achieve efficiency ratings as high as 97 percent! A gas heater from before 1977 averages 50-60 percent fuel efficiency-which means only about half of the gas used actually heats your home. Also remember that since heat rises, reverse the direction of your ceiling fans so they blow upward. The fan will warm the room by blowing the hot air up to the ceiling and back down to the room.

Comfort and lower cost energy bills-there's no better way to face the upcoming winter months! Prepare now and reap the benefits throughout the fall and into next summer!

-Andrea, Sr. Manager/General Manager
www.SearsHomeServices.com

Posted at 10:07AM Sep 09, 2010 by Jon B in General  |  Comments[2]

Journey of a Home Transformation

I’m finally ready to tackle the exterior of my home, but where to start?

I have so many things I need to get done on my home. The siding needs to be done, I could really use some new windows (since the windows I have are still the original 1940s windows) and the front doors are constantly leaking air into my house.

Clearly I have my work cut out for me.

While I am an employee of Sears Holdings and know full well that Sears offers home improvements, I am still skeptical as to who will be my vendor of choice. So, I’ve scoped out some local contractors and then scheduled an appointment to meet with a design consultant from Sears.

I met with Dan, the design consultant yesterday. What a great experience.

First of all, Dan was on time. The local contractors, while knowledgeable, were both about 15 minutes late for our scheduled appointment. I thought that might be an indication of how things could go moving forward, so was thrilled when Dan was there in a timely manner.

Dan pulled out a fancy schmancy laptop and started telling me about the history of Sears. Again, since I am a Sears employee, I knew some of the information he was sharing with me, but had no idea how comfortable the history of Sears would make me feel about doing business with them. Warranties, guarantees, licensed, insured and bonded contractors…I was already starting to feel much better about this venture. After all, I have a lot I want done on the house, so it was important to me that the contractors were trusted sources.

And then the fun part began.

Picking the colors for the Siding, looking at all my options as far as window types were concerned…and my favorite – my red doors. I already knew I wanted red doors, but then what color red did I really want?

He then priced out the job. I was super nervous to see how much this was going to cost – especially after having met with some local guys.

I was pleasantly surprised. With all of the benefits of going with a well-known brand and knowing that Sears wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, I had made my decision…gotta go with Sears.

We talked about my financing options, because clearly I didn’t have tens of thousands of dollars just sitting in the bank waiting for me to spend the money. I had to be cost conscious.

I am so excited. We signed the deal and the work begins in a couple of weeks.

Let the good times roll. Stay tuned to watch the transformation of my home…my dream house come to life.

Michelle—Online Communications Manager,

www.SearsHomeServices.com

Posted at 01:37PM Sep 07, 2010 by Jon B in General  |  Comments[2]

An Easier Way to Find Parts

Anybody who has needed a part for lawn and garden equipment, a home appliance or home electronics knows that just finding the part can be difficult, if not impossible.  At Sears PartsDirect, we get a lot of feedback from our customers when they can't find the part they're looking for - the only thing worse than having a broken piece of equipment is not finding the right part needed for the fix to get back to normal.

In the next few weeks, we'll be launching a pretty significant update to the PartsDirect website, designed to provide you with a way to find parts based on the brand of your item and the type of product you have.  If you want to have a sneak peek, go to beta.searspartsdirect.com.  It's always best to find the model number to make sure that you get the parts made specifically for your item - and if you're having difficulty finding the exact model number (which many of us do) - we're here to help.

Since we're more than just a website, our Parts Specialists are ready to help by phone or text chat.  We'll even call you - just give us a number where you can be reached and let us do the dialing. With over 7 million parts and accessories covering products from Air Cleaners to Yogurt Makers and brands from Admiral to Zenith, we're making it easier to all of the brands and products you need.  So whether you're looking for Kenmore, Craftsman or Whirlpool parts for your refrigerators, washer, dryer or lawn tractor - there's a very good chance we have the part you need.

We're looking forward to helping you at www.searspartsdirect.com.   And keep on sending us your comments and suggestions - just hit the "Feedback" button available throughout the site for an easy way to reach out to us.

 

- Matt Thompson, Director, Online Services

Posted at 12:56PM Sep 07, 2010 by Jon B in General  |  Comments[0]