Welcome To Kendra Cooke's Monthly e-NEWS - April 2008

WELL – THE WEEK IS FINALLY HERE!  I am so excited I can’t stand it!  I have trained all I can train and now it is just time to show up and do the work!  In case you have been out of the loop – I am running the Country Music Half Marathon this SATURDAY!  What a journey this has been.  I have met some awesome people through my training and made some friends for life.  It is amazing how well you get to know someone when you are running together week in and week out – rain, snow or cold!  We did it together and it has been a pleasure!

I know with 30,000+ runners – you might wonder how you could find me if you venture downtown for the race!  I will need all the encouragement you can give me from start to finish, so let me tell you what to look for.  The group I have trained with, as you know, is running for Special Kids.  We all have yellow (I MEAN BRIGHT YELLOW) singlet’s (race tanks) that have Special Kids written on them!  We should certainly stand out in any crowd – so look for us and cheer us on.  My corral number is 19, so don’t look for me in the front of the pack, those are the sprinters and they will be nearing completion when I leave the starting line.  My goal from day one has been to finish the race and raise awareness and funds for Special Kids!  I feel like half of the goal is done and the rest is growing near! 

I hope to see you at the race or the finish line – where I can celebrate an awesome moment in my life!  Thanks for your prayers and keep them coming!!

With Love ~

Kendra Cooke 

Kendra Fact

Kendra was recently named the number one Realtor within the Smyrna Crye-Leike office for the eighth year in a row.

Windows Countdown
Source - http://www.diynetwork.com/

10. Knowing the rough will make the job easy. Your existing windows will leave more than a hole in the side of your house. You will have to make sure that the existing trim work is secure and big enough to fit your replacement windows. The windows that you order for your rough opening come in standard sizes and should leave a little extra room for an exact fit with shimming as well as insulating.

9. Double panes provide a window of money saving opportunities. You've just spent your well earned money on a new look for your house, but that isn't all you bought. Since you want to keep more of that money in your pocket to finish off the other jobs around the house, you went with the energy saving double pane windows. Not having to spend that extra money to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer starts with all those holes you have in your house.

8. Be safe with a window that has a temper. There are certain codes to follow when you have an adjacent window to a door, or in a shower. This is for the homeowner's protection to use tempered glass in these areas. The tempered glass will shatter in a million little pieces instead of big sharp pieces that a person can be harmed with.

7. Find a friend and forget disaster. You just went through all that trouble to get the most energy efficient windows on the market and now you are ready to install them. To avoid any major disasters with these new windows, have a friend help you to do the installation.

6. Put a little trim in your budget. The trim around your windows has a very good chance of getting damaged as well as not matching your newly purchased windows. Spend the extra money in getting new trim. The extra $25 in materials will go a long way.

5. Nobody likes a rotten jamb. Before any installation happens, make sure you check the window for any rotten materials. Putting a brand new window in a rotten window jamb is only going to ensure that you will be fixing it in the future.

4. Don't level yourself crooked. The level is a great tool to use to make sure your job is straight. However, you are working with windows, so your tape measure is what you want to use. Start by measuring from the top left corner to the bottom right corner and then again from the top right to the bottom left and if the measurements are the same, then your window is perfectly square.

3. Double panes don't work with drafts. No matter how energy efficient your windows are, none of that will matter if the window isn't properly insulated. Make sure you fill every crevice with either fiberglass insulation or expanding foam insulation.

2. Put a cap on the leak potential. One of the most common ways that you'll have a leak in your window is through the top. If it isn't properly flashed with a drip cap, you might ruin your new windows. Take the time to go to the top of your window and install the drip cap, and then fit the siding over it to ensure it is done properly.

1. Put your level on the spot. Every window will need to be shimmed if you want the window to have a perfect fit. Check your work with a two foot level to make sure there is no bulges in the middle of your window, otherwise it won't open or close.