Break-in Prevention

  Over the past few years we have encountered a dozen or more instances of robberies where the front door was kicked in and homes were robbed in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes. 
  Although it's not perfectly home-invasion resistant, this product is one of the stronger devices I have seen.
  Small chains and sliding locks work very poorly under pressure.
   You can look up a "Mythbusters" episode on door locks and make an informed decision for yourself.
  The solid double strike plate in the picture costs about 15-20 dollars at your local hardware store and you can drive screws straight into the wall frame.
  However.... I have installed many of these for people who were terrified of break-ins and there was a window right next to the door!! 
  Think about all aspecs of your home security before just doing one thing.

Privacy Fencing Tips

Here are a couple of things to consider when you are thinking about building or replacing a privacy fence.  I will only discuss lower cost fences in this post.

Planning:
*  Check with your City codes, many cities now require only steel posts to be used.
*  If you're within City limits, most will require you (the fencing company) to pull a permit before work begins.
*  Property corners must be marked clearly and a plat of the property must be provided.
*  This will require a land surveyor to come out and clearly mark the corners.

Material:
*  Whitewood, the lowest cost available.  3/4 inch thick and if taken care of, should last 8-10 years.
*  Cedar, a great durable wood, will last 8-12 years if taken care of.
*  Treated, STAY AWAY!!!  When we switched wood treatments a few years ago and went with a less-cancer-causing treatment, the lumber has become almost worthless.  The biggest issue is bad warping due to imp?roper drying.  I refuse to install it. 
*  Builder grade material....worse, never use it.  We've seen 4 year old fences falling apart...

Posts:

*  Landscaping timbers...should NEVER be used as posts, they warp and rot extremely fast.
*  4x4 treated posts are our wooded posts of choice... from 4-7 each, it's a bargan.
*  4x4 cedar posts, even better, but would recomend cedar posts with a cedar fence so it doesn't look missmatched.
*  Steel posts, the best...price varies greatly with the price of steel. From 12 to 22 dollars each.  Note that with steel posts you will have to purchase 3 brackets per post @3-4 dollars each.  The most expensive option, but the best option.

Treatments:

*  At the very least, put a clear coat over the fence as soon as it goes up.  We do this to all our fences.
*  So many stains and treatments, you have dozens of options.  Just make sure you put SOMETHING on it immediately.

Happy Fencing

Leaking Faucet

Many times when you have a constantly dripping faucet, it can be repaired by simply changing out the valve stem. 
   A repair man should be able to tell within a couple minutes if it will work or if the valve is too far gone to be repaired.
   Even old faucets can sometimes be repaired, some plumbing supply houses stock many older parts or can overnight them to the store.
   A tub valve is pretty much the same, but if it can't be repaired, don't be alarmed if it costs between 400-800 dollars for the fixture to be replaced!

  Typically, valve stems run from 10-25 dollars per handle and metal or plastic handles are bought separately for a wide range of prices.  From 5 or 6 dollars to 15-20 for basic ones and much more for specialty ones.

  A repair man or plumber will typically charge a servce call fee for just replacing stems.

  The stem in the picture was being replaced this week in a 25 year old home and the part is available at the local hardware store

Pricing Your Repairs

One of my customers sent me a text this morning and said they got a quote to replace the float valve and flapper valve drain in their toilets for almost 300 for each toilet.  By early 2013 standards, this is absolute robbery.  Even if it's a water-saving toilet.
 
  Every week we see a double standard of charges from dishonest contractors charging outrageous amounts to vulnerable people. 
  Always get a second quote or ask a friend or person you trust about what prices should really run.
  
  One of the reasons we get a lot of jobs in million+ dollar homes is because we charge the same price to fix a toilet in an apartment or a house that's worth 3 million dollars.

A toilet is a toilet...(unless it's gold-plated and has a heated seat...)

FRP Install

Installing FRP panels this weekend in a private school in Dallas.

  The guys working with me today showed me a great tip I had never done.  We are using my electric metal-cutting shears to cut it.  It is speeding up the process by a huge amount.

  These guys have installed over 4,000 sheets of these panels over the last year.  It helps so much to have folks that really know what they are doing!

  One person measuring, one marking and cutting and one going ahead and behind removing and replacing everything hanging from the walls makes it a smooth, efficent process

FRP panel in a private school

The last kids have had lunch... so we have begin prepping the kitchen at this private school to install FRP panels.

 
  FRP panels are "fiberglass reinforced panels" used mainly in commercial applications.  It's like having a plastic wall that can be easily cleaned.

  The Dallas Health Department is requiring this upgrade, so we are attempting to make everyone happy..

  I guess we're doing good Marcos looks like he is moving at lightning speed!

Basket Ball Goal

Late evening job tonight setting up a goal with Mark Malac from ATAP... 24 inch deep hole with fast set concrete!

  With the last 2 baskets I have installed, I would recommend NOT using the plastic sleeve that goes first into the ground.  We have found that the pole is not as stable and can twist easily.  I have never figured out why they include it.   It's not to protect the pole, because concrete goes around the pole and inside the pole as well!!  Just get the height set correctly and cement it in...

LED Lighting

These are the LED lights we are installing today... The price has come down considerably in the last couple of years, but it is still quite expensive to change to all LED.  The good thing is they will eventually pay for themselves, they run cooler, and it may be years before you change that bulb out again! 

  I really like these in particular because they have a cover that softens the brightness of the LED

LED Can lights

Laying out a new can light LED system today!  Kitchen has some dark areas and we're filling it in..

A/C tip

This is an A/C unit we found today on the roof of an apartment complex.  The base had rotted leaving the unit tilted to one side.  It is important to maintain your unit level and clean.  Simply blowing the fins out with a low pressure water hose on a regular basis and making sure you keep leaves and debris from blocking the air flow will increase it's efficency.

Money Saving Team!

And just like that... we saved a Remax agent from having to call a plumber, electrician and a sheetrocker this afternoon..

Stuck door!

Even in really nice houses we often see this problem in North Texas..
   This is an 8 foot door that's stuck in the door jam in Southlake this morning.
   I wonder if it has anything to do with that nose sticking through the crack in the door..

Custom shelves

Installed custom shelves yesterday in Las Colinas,  the owners provided us with specs for shelves and a clothes hanging bar with another shelf.
  We finished out the closet in a matter of 4 hours complete with a coat of paint!