Sheetrock Damage

Sheetrock damage from leaks can be a real pain, in this case, it had leaked long enough that a wide area had warped and started to sag.
  The only option at this point is to rip out all the bad sheetrock (in this case about 1/3 of the living area) and tie in new bracing and install new.
   A projece of this size is costly and messy. 
  This was an older house and it had a popcorn ceiling.  A texture gun with a hopper is a must with this type of ceiling!!   I would NEVER recomend buying popcorn in a spraycan or rolling it on. 
  Sheetrock in my opinion is tough unless you have quite a lot of experience with it, I would recomend finding a friend or relative that knows something about it and offering them a good home-cooked dinner.... or maybe 20 : )

Happy Sheetrocking

Foundation Repair

While we do not do major foundation repair, sometimes we do minor repairs and leveling to homes that have shifted with the North Texas soil. This house had some floor issues where the beams under the house had shifted and were pushing outward.

The floor was pushing the sliding door and entire wall outward...

We dug far enough down to get under the house...

We used jacks and very long threaded 3/4 inch bolts to attach to solid bracing under the house, and used the power of the bolts tightening against the solid bracing to pull the side of the house back together.   Quite a heavy chore, but it worked!!

Here is the finished product after we filled the dirt back in.  It held itself in place and was a very cost-effective repair...

Happy Digging!!

Backsplash

Here is a backsplash I installed Friday..

Started on a sheetrock wall, I sealed the edges with silicone

Starting the customers design

Pulled the plugs out to the front edge of the tile

Grouted it with white pre-mixed grout.  About a 5 hour process

from start to finish.

(Now we hope they paint the cabinets!)

Happy Backsplashing!

Popcorn Ceiling Removal Day

One of those days...again.  probably for 4 days.  Messy work!!

Hot Water Heater Repair (electric)

Here is a Hot Water Heater I repaired today. The problem was that the water was hot at first then quickly got cold.

Here's what I found...

The first thing was that the thermostat here had failed. It no longer "clicked" when you turned it all the way up and all the way down. I found that it had failed in the "on" position and it also caused the Heating Element to burn out.

There was two elements, one worked and one didn't...that's why the water was hot at first, then quickly got cold.

Removing the thermostat is simple, make sure the power is off, double check then re-check that the power is off!!! Unscrew the wires and pull the tabs up (shown with arrows) and slip it out...

The heating element is shown here.

But first....you must drain your tank....

Today I had a more difficult problem because the drain had frozen, so instead of doing it the easy way with a water hose, I actually had to remove the element and let the water fly!! It took 11, 5 gallon buckets almost full of water to remove it all....Got quite messy...

Remember to make sure you turn off the cold water supply to the hot water heater. Releasing the pop-off valve at the top of the water heater can allow an air-break allowing the water to drain faster as well.

Again, making sure the power is off, remove the wires. Then as you can see a couple of pictures above here.... there is a large nut that is actually built onto the element. Turn ONLY the silver nut part, do NOT use the plastic casing around the wires to turn the element.

This is the new heating element going back into the hot water heater...Make sure you match the exact wattage element...

Remember to re-fill the heater before you turn it on!!

I leave the pop-off valve open and turn the water back on, then wait 5 or so minutes until it gets full and quickly shut it off when I hear water going through it.

Make sure all your shields are back in place, turn the breaker back on, (hopefully there are no sparks...haha) and listen for the water to start to boil!!

"Happy Hot Shower!"

Rot Repair Trick (Siding)

  Siding has a tendency to rot along the bottom where rain splashes up and moistens the bottom of the wood that normally does not get painted. In the picture below you can see an extreme example of this.

When the budget is small, there is a way around changing out the entire sheet of siding and it can also prevent further damage to the house. In the picture below, you can see where we went over the rot with treated 1x4's and it now looks like it belongs there.

You must take care to caulk the top edge really well so additional water does not penetrate, and also make sure when you cover the rot that there are no openings that ants or other small insects can get through. Take care to paint the UNDERSIDE of the board as well that faces the ground so it will keep it from rotting in the future.

"Happy Fixin"

Mailbox Time!

  Here I will focus more on setting up a mailbox on the street rather than a "designer" mailbox..

  NOTE:  Make sure you double check with your local postal regulations BEFORE installing a mailbox, some towns have very strict rules on types of posts and boxes.  Height above the road is very important as well.   Many rural areas and addresses on highways require break-away posts.  Sometimes County maintenance will require them coming out to set it for you at their specs.
  When in doubt, match what all your other neighbors did and you should be ok!

   Hardware stores have a lot of new products available now that makes setting a mailbox much easier than before.

Here is a "Drive-in" anchor, available at True Value Hardware Click here to view it


Or you can go with the traditional type like the one pictured below that I installed in North Texas.

This set-up cost less than 55 dollars including concrete

  If you plan to set one in concrete and it's allowable in your neighborhood, Dig a hole with a post hole digger to a minimum depth of 18".   Use 60 lbs of fast-setting concrete so you can set the treated 4x4 in the ground and have it dry quickly.  While it is drying, assemble the mailbox and by the time you finish, the concrete should be hard enough to mount the box.

   If you don't have a saw large enough, most major hardware stores can cut the lumber for you.  Take the measurement the postal service requires and add 18" to it to set it in the ground at the correct.  If you have a curb in your neighborhood, you will only need to add about 12" to the length of the post because of the added height of the ground.
   Dig the hole, checking your measurements often until you are at the correct height, then level the post and pour concrete around it.

To make your job even easier, you can buy a mounting bracket for the top of the post that is NOT included with mailboxes.  This one is shown at True Value Hardware Here

  You can mount a standard mailbox to this bracket and they start out around 25 dollars.

Or you can get creative....

Here's a link I found this morning for a really fancy mailbox...

Happy Mailboxing!

Saving a Tree

  I received a call a few years ago about a tree that had split in a North Texas wind storm.
  They really wanted to save the tree and so we looked a few things up online and made an attempt...

     


      

   The tree was barely hanging on and we feared it would finish splitting at any time. I bolted a chain around it for safety reasons to start work.

  As you can see in the first picture, when I started to pull the tree back together, I used heavy straps instead of a come-along because I feared the cables would damage the tree further.

After tightening and re-tightening over and over and gradually working the tree back together, the homeowner decided to go ahead and have me install a very heavy threaded bar and bolt it in place.

You can see the heavy bolt in the center of this picture.  I drilled a 3/4 inch hole all the way through the tree to install it, then put oversize washers and used the nuts to finish pulling the tree together.  This also helped keep the tree from twisting in the wind.   Eventually I installed two of them then trimmed the ends off.

This was the just before we worked on it, and now 3 years later, it is still healthy and growing and the bark is starting to grow around the bolt I installed.   We did not use any product on the split, and nothing was added to the damaged area to help the tree grow back together or to keep insects out.

It will forever have "pins" in it's joints!!

Happy Tree Fixin'!

Coons in the Attic!!

  If you ever hear noises in your attic, it's time to investigate!!
  Most popping sounds and creaks come from the house rapidly heating or cooling or from the wind blowing.  However, if you hear scratching or things running around, you could have problems.
   The first thing to do is investigate and see that it's not trees scraping a chimney or roof causing odd sounds.  Tree limbs are another problem altogether that must be addressed immediately.
 
   I received a call last Fall from a customer complaining about something living in his attic, after finding major damage, I decided to stake it out, sit quietly and see what happened.

After only 5 minutes of waiting and sweating, this little guy came out and started playing...then another.

         




  They had done a massive amount of damage to the A/C duct work                                                                                                                    

             
  Here the A/C Duct was broken apart and much of the air was going into the attic!
  Most of the lines had half or more of the insulation missing.
  It stunk terribly from the droppings.
  We immediately set live traps and called a pest control company.
  I found no visible holes around the eves of the roof, but then...



  I decided to look under the house, so I took a small machete to probe into dark corners and found an old vent that had come apart that made a perfect tunnel from under the house into the attic...Later I realized there was a flea infestation due to the raccoons....but that's another story...
  It is very important to remove the animals before making repairs, first, you never want an animal to die in an inhumane way, second, if it dies, you will deal with a massive odor problem for many days!

A very cheesy picture I posted to Facebook
as I was about to investigate under the house....

  No matter how small the animal, it can cause damage and needs to be dealt with.  I've seen wires chewed, soffit and facia chewed, duct work destroyed, flea infestations, strong smells and a ton of other problems from leaving pests unchecked.

Happy Hunting!

NOTE:  Some pest control agencies in my opinion scam people out of thousands of dollars in unneeded repairs and work.  For instance, one company told us we needed to vacuum all the insulation out of an attic and blow in new due to urine in the insulation....a cost of over 4,000 dollars.  Their estimates for repairs of holes and vents was about 5 times more than what a home builder would charge.
  Double-check what they are asking you to do and if you receive an estimate for thousands of dollars, be suspicious, be very suspicious...
 

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...)