Category Archives: Understanding your home

Jun 19
0

My Floor Feels Like A Trampoline

By | Fixing things, Problem Solving, Understanding your home | No Comments

In an effort to make houses as comfortable as possible you set up your stuff and it looks good, some stuff is fragile and you would assume that the floor is stable but we see all sorts of stuff that flys in the face of a solid floor. The Big 3 Questions Turns out there are all sorts of approved floor assemblies. Back a hundred years ago they would guess at what size boards were good enough, how far to span them, and how far apart they were. Sometimes they would guess correctly, other times the assemblies were left missing…

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May 01
0

Help My Roof is Popping

By | Problem Solving, Understanding your home | No Comments

I get some intriguing questions from time to time. I could not pass this one up. A popping roof means it is not just a weird occasional issue, it actually wakes her up. This concern is that the house is in some danger of collapsing. Although possible it is unlikely even from a layman’s perspective. If it is real fear then by golly it was my responsibility to investigate and that is exactly what I did. Catastrophizing Is A Thing Fear of things makes them worse. Did you hear that? Another pop. Let’s face it everything gets worse when you…

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Apr 17
0

Gas Oven Failure Fixed

By | Appliances, Understanding your home | No Comments

I’ve been working on a Viking Professional natural gas oven that was not heating properly. It is a simple system that has very few parts or controls. The burners were burnt out and that was the first obvious sign, I bought an igniter thinking that it was the problem too but they were both glowing orange so I figured that they were working. (Typically when they are not working they are  fractured) I was wrong! After replacing the burners I was disappointed that it still had an issue of fluctuating on then off them sputtering so I tapped on the…

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Sep 19
0

My House is More Humid Than Normal

By | HVAC, Indoor Air Quality, Understanding your home | No Comments

I recently was asked to look at a new development in the summer of a home we recently remodeled. The concern is that it is in the ‘mid to high ’80’s and the house is humid. OUTSIDE HEAT mid to high ’90s INSIDE SET TO: 73deg UPON ARRIVAL: House is 70 deg AC not running. Fan in auto Humidity inside 44% Humidity outside 36% Background information The AC unit was replaced 4 years ago with a 3 ton coil (Inside) 2.5 ton compressor (Outside). We added 650SF to a 1500 SF home and a new furnace that was installed above…

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May 23
0

Joist Hangers Use & Misuse

By | Fixing things, Problem Solving, Understanding your home | No Comments

Joist hangers have been around for around about 59 years, they were developed by Simpson Strongtie for a friend who was looking for a way to secure some boards in a more structurally sound way. Now days there are all kinds for them for all sorts of purposes. There are many things that are intuitive like how to use a saw which reminds me of a joke. The logger and the Salesman A guy was logging on his land using an old crosscut saw to fell trees. A salesman suggested he would love the new chain saw so he left…

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Jan 01
0

Is My House Toxic?

By | Indoor Air Quality, Problem Solving, Understanding your home | No Comments

I have always enjoyed understanding building science and have dabbled in the realm of an amateur of sorts trying to discover what is causing a home to make a resident feel ill when they are inside of it. Being a former Paramedic, I blend my knowledge into a pretty good problem solver. Yes, your home could make you sick, and even kill you if have faulty systems. The risk goes up the tighter the home is. Have You Ever Considered That Your House Could Be Making You Ill? Do you have any of these symptoms only when you are at…

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Jul 19
0

French Door Repair

By | Doors, Understanding your home | No Comments

I have a Peach tree French door that has been troublesome for awhile. Having them out of business has been a pain in the butt. They has some proprietary weatherstripping that is no longer available and the parts are getting harder to find. I had to replace the door lock because my dog was landing on the handle repeatedly and it eventually broke the lock internally. I turned the handle from 3:00 position to 12:00 position so he had no leverage so It should be fine. I bought standard weatherstripping and cut off a sliver and it seals well now….

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Aug 27
0

Roof replacement problems

By | Roofing, Trust, Understanding your home | No Comments

As a part of our work requests we take care of homes that have been inspected for the purposes of resale. In the majority of these homes, we have found that when a roof replacement has been done that the ducts have been left disconnected. The ducts we are talking about are the solar tubes, exhaust ventilation from bathrooms and kitchens as well as dryer vents. Whats the big deal Q: Why are ducts out of the home installed in the first place. A: To vent warm humid air out of the home. Ever heard of the “M” word (Mold)?…

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Aug 05
0

Maintenance required

By | Understanding your home | No Comments

I had a Honda Accord 30 years ago that had a little red indicator on the analog odometer with a manual reset. That was my first car with this innovative reminder. Who knew it would be the launchpad for a new venture 3 decades later. Idiot Lights are a real thing I remember a time when if the idiot lights came on, it was too late. An indelible impression was made when my best friend Dave chose to ignore the idiot lights on the dash for the last time. Sadly, the Chevy II Nova motor blew up on the freeway…

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Dec 11
0
Failed Pipe

Hissing sound turns out to be serious

By | Plumbing, Problem Solving, Understanding your home | No Comments

A past client called to report a strange hissing sound emanating from beneath her kitchen area. She said “It sounded like a machine running or air moving”. It seemed like no big deal until she noticed a crack in her drywall in the same general area. That is when I got involved. After lifting the lid on the crawl space it became obvious that she had a leak beneath her floor. Whats that sound? I instantly noticed a high humidity condition on my face and got a sinking feeling about what I was going to discover. I Jumped down into…

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