SUPPLEMENT TO McHENRY PLAINDEALER - PAGE 32 - FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1978 Multiruse feature . . . Older windows cost A wooden deck works wonders more than new ones It's not often a single home feature can create exterior elegance, add outdoor living space, enhance a view, and increase property value--all for relatively little money and virtually no maintenance. But a wood deck will do it. A deck is also unique be cause it benefits all members of the family and is suitable for almost every family activ ity. It's a functional and fun place to eat, nap, play, party, read, relax, and work--on a job, a hobby or a suntan. A deck of western wood has the additional advantage of long life and easy care, provided it is properly in stalled and has good drain age. Competent do-it- yourselfers can usually han dle the job. Support posts and other sections of the deck that have direct contact with the ground need to be treated with preservative or a water repellent. Otherwise, no special finish is required for a wood deck. It can be painted or stained if that's desired, or allowed to weather naturally. Upkeep is limited to an occa sional sweeping or a quick hose-down. Decks are sometimes thought of as backyard fea tures, but are actually appro priate to a number of loca tions. For example: off the kitchen for convenient din ing, off the master bedroom as a private patio, off the children's bedroom as a play area, or adjoining the living room to allow indoor- outdoor entertaining. To provide easy access to the deck and take full advan tage of the view, sliding glass doors and large windows should be installed in the wall of the adjoining room. For privacy and a measure of climate control, use sun shades, opaque screens, fencing or trellises. UK mm ADDING AN OUTDOOR ROOM as a home improve ment can benefit everyone in the family. A deck of western wood can be functional as well as a fun place for leisurely enjoyment. And it has the advantage of being easy to care for provided it is installed properly and has good drainage. A variety of deck patterns are possible with the various species of western wood. Long boards can be set flat or on edge. There's a choice of slat widths. Or parquet blocks can be used to achieve eye-appealing designs. Decks can also be topped with handsome and useful structures, such as a gazebo, a screened-in sleeping "porch" or a shed for storing outdoor accessories. If you have worn-out drafty windows with single glass, you're paying for new windows whether or not you have them installed. Thermally inefficient win dows waste heating and cool ing energy; and in this day and age, that wasted energy alone costs more than new, efficient windows. A high efficiency "ther- malized" replacement win dow can reduce the heating and cooling waste of a badly deteriorated window by 60% to 80% . . . which represents 9% to 12% of your total heat ing and cooling bills. These savings are impres sive; but if you choose custom-fit aluminum ther- malized replacement win dows, the sayings are even greater. Custom-fit windows are competitively priced with conventional windows offer ing comparable features, but the installation costs are much less. And because alu minum frames don't absorb moisture, their anodized or baked enamel finishes vir tually eliminate repainting maintenance costs. If you add up installation savings with maintenance savings and top them off with heating and cooling energy savings, old windows simply aren't economically practical any longer. And because the cost of labor and energy con tinues to increase, old win dows become more expen sive every day. Whatever savings you will realize by installing new win dows in your home depends on the condition of your existing windows. But if you have windows which let the wind blow in, or windows with single glass, your sav ings can be substantial, both in terms of heat in winter and air-conditioning in summer. This subject of window energy conservation invest ment and payback is treated in detail in "The Window Book" by Fred M. Schmidt. In addition, the book iden tifies the different ways win dows waste energy, and out lines the "right" solution to each specific problem, so the homeowner can know what he's doing before he invests. Have your fashion and wash it, too! You don't have to be a fashion expert to have noticed the increasing popu larity of knit fabrics these days. Whether it's shirts, skirts, suits or pillowcases, you can find them available now in knit fabrics. Knits' popularity is grow ing steadily. They're com fortable to wear, almost never wrinkle and require practically no ironing. However, they do require some special treatment when they're cleaned. With to day's improved home laun dry equipment, however, that's not much of a problem. For instance, General Elec trics new WWA8450 automa tic washer has an improved Polyester Knit cycle espe cially designed to clean polyester knit fabrics. The new cycle has two short wash times and an added soak period between agitations. The short wash times cause less strain on the fabrics, and the soak period allows the detergent's ingre dients to work on the surface soils while the fabrics are at rest. And the washer's Mini- Basket™ tub--a GE exclu sive--provides the flexibil ity of two washers in one. In the regular size washer, the tub is used for normal family-size loads and the Mini-Basket for similar, two-or-three item loads. With the Mini-Basket tub, you can use significantly less detergent and use up to 30% less fill water than with the l o w w a t e r l e v e l o f t h e washer's big tub. Today's modern fabrics have added a lot to the fash ion world, but they've added to the need for flexibility in m o d e r n h o m e l a u n d r y equipment too. Manufactur ers like GE have the chal lenge so knit-picking con sumers have their fashion and wash it, too. You & Jensen's Home Improvement Center. . . Let's Build A Great Kitchen Together! Like Most People, You've Probably Dreamed Of All The Great Things You'd Like To Do With Your Kitchen... Someday! Well, Today Is The Day and Jensen's Is The Place. Just Stop For A Visit With Erv Nellessen, Our "Specialist-In-Residence" When It Comes To Kitchen Planning. He'll Show You How Your Ideas Can Be Converted To Realities and He'll Even Make Some Suggestions You May N jver Have Considered. But Most Important- ly, He'll Work With You, So The Result Will Be Your Kitchen ... A Place You'll Always Be Proud Of. Don't Wait For "Someday" To Build The Kit chen You Want -- That Day Is Here Now At Jensen's Home Improvement Center. --#70 EAST GALHOUN <€ •-rw\ < I 'S TOM KITUIKNS JENSEN'S HOME IMPROVEMENT CENTER N 33&4820- WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS