Check your home for winter blues

Published 12:09 pm Monday, April 14, 2014

Cabin fever in the winter might lead to cabinet fever in the spring.

According to Ken Petranek, owner of Ken Petranek Construction, spring is a great time to not only spend some time outside your home but also to repair problems that went unnoticed during the winter months.

Ken Petranek in February cut cabinet space for a dishwasher in an Albert Lea home. – Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

Ken Petranek in February cut cabinet space for a dishwasher in an Albert Lea home. – Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune

“Just kind of check your overall house, how it made it through the winter,” Petranek said. “If you had leaky doors and windows through the winter, you could probably look into reinstalling or putting new windows or doors in. Just anything that you noticed through the winter that you’d rather not have happen next winter.”

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Petranek said there are people who want to get projects done right away in the spring — such as cabinets — but, of course, it all depends on the weather.

“You get kind of a spurt. Like last year was kind of tough because winter lasted so long into May,” he said. “A couple of years ago when it got so nice in February and March everybody was gung-ho to get going and get stuff taken care of before graduations or weddings or anything like that.”

Petranek has been in the construction business since he graduated high school 28 years ago and has been self-employed for the last 18 years. He works with his son and a couple of other subcontractors, depending on the size of the job.

“We do everything from concrete to finish painting,” he said. “We do just about anything. We can custom build cabinets, and we pour concrete, build new houses, garages, additions and decks.”

Petranek is based out of Geneva and serves all of Albert Lea and the surrounding area. He can be reached at 507-456-1414.