Exteriors 101: Maintaining the Value of Your Home & Community

The fifth annual East End homeowners workshop was a success!

Since the Spring of 2008, volunteers from the Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association and the Regent Square Civic Association have combined efforts to organize free home improvement workshops to help area residents add value to their homes and, as a result, their communities. Each year, the 100 percent volunteer-run workshops have focused on different topics, including energy efficiency, landscaping, and architectural styles.

The topic for 2012 was exterior improvements, with speakers addressing topics such as: roofing, siding, masonry, and painting. The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation’s (PHLF) Landmark Housing Resource Center (LHRC) located in Wilkinsburg was a new partner this year. Karamagi Rujumba (executive assistant to the director of real estate development, PHLF) opened the event on Saturday and introduced Karen Hanchett (Karen’s Creations, Home Improvement Counseling) who provided the crowd of approximately sixty attendees a helpful overview of the importance of exterior maintenance to a house’s health and the value of investing in your home.

Following Karen’s introduction, Jack Shook (Old Dad Shook Contracting) spoke about types of roofing materials and different options that are suitable for the older homes found in our East End neighborhoods. John Hartman of Master Maintenance discussed maintenance of and replacement options for masonry and siding. Rick Stumme (Cajota Painting) and Steve Burlas (Sherwin-Williams) finished up the presentation portion of the program with information about good techniques for prepping and painting your house and how to choose appropriate colors for your style of home.

After the presentations, attendees were free to ask further questions of the presenters and visit with other vendors at their information tables. In the “design balcony” upstairs, volunteer architects and landscape architects from the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh provided free “mini-consultations” for people who brought pictures or drawings of projects they were considering at their homes. If you were not able to attend the workshop (or did and would like further assistance!) the CDCP has a RenPlan program that provides affordable expert assistance to homeowners who could use some guidance thinking through a project.

Special thanks to the Mifflin Avenue United Methodist Church for generously providing the space for the event and offering tours of their beautiful building and stained glass windows. Refreshments and coffee were provided by the East End Food Coop and Dave Green of Café Dez Artz in Swissvale.

Other vendors/organizations present:

• CertainTeed Siding & Roofing (Jason Ferris)
• Diagnostic Energy Auditors of WPA (A. J. Stones)
• Laurel Awning Company (Kelly Pratt)
• Nine Mile Run Watershed Assoc/Stormworks. (Luke Stamper)
• The Urban Gardener (Lynne Webber/Joan Kimmel)
• Drew Designs (Nancy Drew)