We would like to thank everyone for coming out and showing your support during the Hats Off Day parade on Saturday June 4th, 2011 in Burnaby.

We had a number of people enter our contest to win a CELSI wall mount fireplace valued at $1,499 with one special winner. Congratulations are in order to Teresa Guban of Burnaby. Teresa wall thrilled with her new electric fireplace as shown in the picture to the left. Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit our showroom and enter the contest.

Many homeowners are trying to protect themselves as much as they can against shady contractors. Often a good place to start and something we at Homeworks always recommend is checking the BBB site for company ratings.

There are other considerations that homeowners should be aware of when renovating their home. Today we would like to focus on the strong possibility of asbestos, a strong, fire-resistant mineral fibre used in all sorts of building materials until the 1980′s .  It can be found in ceilings, walls, siding, insulation, flooring, drywall and duct insulation.

There are serious health risks related to exposure of asbestos, many of these can be avoided if proper care is taken when undertaking renovations. BC has seen a 69% rise in asbestos related diseases since 2002, the highest increase in Canada. This can result in serious health risks including death which has been on the rise.

It is estimated that home renovation, improvement and repair in BC this year is approximated to a $7.8M expenditure. Over 50% of this is expected to be in the Metro Vancouver area. We would like to recommend that before you undertake a major renovation that you have qualified workers identify, remove and dispose of asbestos-containing materials.

In order to properly remove and dispose asbestos the cost could vary but it is important to do this to ensure the prevention of health risks to your family. We suggest getting 2 or 3 quotes to make an informed decision. Asbestos work is quite common and there are people who are qualified and deliver superior, worry-free results.

It is believed that 30% of the $7.8 expenditure is completed “under the table” without the protection of contracts, permeits, inspections, tax remittance or WorkSafe BC compliance.

We want to encourage homeowners to include asbestos assessments in their home renovation planning. This could save you a life time of headaches and health risks.

To learn more about safety with asbestos visit WorkSafeBC to learn more including other job site issues. Information from this article was taken from the GVHBA.

If you are looking to buy a home, renovate and upgrade your home, there are a lot of great incentives and rebates waiting to be used. The Vancouver Sun recently put a list together for existing and prospective home buyers. Some of the grants include:

• LIVESMART BC: EFFICIENCY INCENTIVE PROGRAM: Home owners improving the energy efficiency of their homes may qualify for cash incentives through this provincial program provided in partnership with Terasen Gas, BC Hydro, and FortisBC. Rebates are for energy efficient products which replace gas and oil furnaces, pumps, water heaters, wood stoves, insulation, windows, doors, skylights and more.

• BC HYDRO APPLIANCE REBATES: Mail-in rebates of $25 – $50 for purchasers of ENERGY STAR clothes washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, or freezers until March 31, 2011, or when funding for the program is exhausted. 

The full article written by the Vancouver Sun can be found here. Don’t forget that we also keep an up to date site of all the Current Offers and Incentives that Homeworks is offering. At the moment, you can SAVE THE HST on all windows and doors for a limited time only.

Want to upgrade your home or have a furnace that needs servicing? Check out our special offers and incentives page for some great new incentives.

Terasen Gas has launched a program for all customer’s of furnace servicing to recieve a $25 gift card.  Has your heating system reached the end of its life? You could qualify for $1000 rebate.

Don’t forget there are a lot of other great offers out there including Provincial Grants, up to $3,500 in Solar Hot Water discounts and access to financing!

For full details visit our Special Offers and Incentives, our showroom or call us at 604.697.5700 and we can help you with your application process.

On Saturday June 5th the community in Burnaby Heights joined together for their annual parade and celebrations. Historically, over 40, 000 people have attended this joyous event, and this year was no exception. Many people came out to enjoy the parade and browse through and support the local shops. There was plenty of entertainment for families and locals to appreciate.

The sun was shining Saturday morning and Solace Homeworks participated in the parade by entering in a decorated vehicle. We also had some young and fit Homeworks men handing out contest forms for our great prizes. We gave away an electric fireplace, an outdoor patio heater and a better home protection plan. Congratulations to the contest winners!

The Homeworks showroom had quite the buzz around it after the contest forms were handed out and inquiring people looking for energy efficient solutions stopped by. If you have any questions call 604.697.5700 or visit one of our showrooms. The event was such a success that we are excited for next year to see bigger and better things!