June 16, 2009 AsktheBuilder News And Tips

What’s in This Issue?

Saving Sweet Moola
Mom
Summer To Dos
Nail Guns and a Pocket Door
Clean Instead of Repainting
Surfing Safely
Wind Turbines
Recent Columns

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Saving Sweet Moola

A few days ago, I was reading the Cincinnati Enquirer and saw my column about Old Windows (A link to this column is at the end of the newsletter). In that column, I talked about being very careful about buying new windows just because you're told you'll save money. On the next page of the Enquirer was a column about tankless water heaters. Some of the statements made in the water-heater column were very misleading. The theme of the column was all about how you'd 'Save Money' getting one of the fancy heaters. I grimaced reading it. I have several columns at my website about Tankless Heaters. Use my search engine to get to them. Type into my search engine: "tankless heater" with the quotation marks.

Because of the misleading column about tankless heaters and other promotions for other products, I'm worried that you might become a victim of flashy marketing in these desperate times. You can't afford to make a mistake with your hard-earned money. Have you seen the latest unemployment numbers? They are at a staggering 9.4 percent. I predict it will rise to 10 percent. A USA Today story had even more troubling news.

Here's a direct quote from the story:

What's all this have to do with saving money? I'll tell you. Perhaps now more than any time in your life - unless you're Extra Crispy (over age 75) - you must not waste a penny. If you were alive and old enough to remember the Great Depression, you know what I mean. You and I can't get suckered by some fancy sales pitch or a column that only tells half the truth. You know the old saying, "Half the truth is a whole lie."

Here is a quote from my Old Windows column:

Does that make sense? Let's say that new tankless water heater will save you perhaps 50 cents per day on your energy bill. That's not far off by the way. In one year, you 'save' a little over $180.00.

But do the math. To get that savings you purchased a heater that costs perhaps $800 more than a regular heater. Frequently there are extra installation costs that could run as much as $1,000.00. So you're $1,800.00 in the hole before you start! Your 'energy savings' must repay you that extra money before you start to SAVE.

Bottom Line: Always, always take the time to do the calculations. You must be sure that your decision is not based on hope. You don't ever want to 'hope' you'll save money. Never sign a contract the night a salesman is in your home. Stop, take your breath and do the math.

Mom

I first want to thank you for sending your prayers and wishes to me about my dying mother. As you might expect, I was overwhelmed with emails and cards. As I write this, my mother is still alive, albeit very weak. So far, she's outlived the Hospice care. As soon as she started to really circle the drain, the hospice nursing switched to 24/7 care. They told us that Medicare only does this for seven days. I can understand that. The Hospice nurses pulled up their tent stakes several days ago and went on to other patients who might not have as strong a will to live as my mother.

When it does come time to send mom back to Heaven, the message will be:

Game, set, match to the Grim Reaper. Don't think I'm making light of the situation, I just like to report facts.

Please understand that I'm at peace with all that is happening. I was fortunate to make it back from New Hampshire to talk with Mom and whisper in her ear. You should have seen that smile and how hard she squeezed my hand. That was priceless. I didn't get to do that with my Dad when he passed away so many years ago back when I was 24.

If your parents are still alive, call them, go out to dinner with them, visit, etc. I love the old Native American saying that applies here: "Your heart may never be as soft as it is today." We all need softer hearts. Have you noticed that as you get older you tend to hold grudges, take a stand, and not give in? That's insane. Go buy a packet of meat tenderizer, lay on your bed or couch and pour it onto your chest.

Summer To Dos

I was cleaning the outside of my garage doors over the weekend. At the same time, I inspected the hinges, track and hardware to make sure all was well. You should do the same, as garage doors are frequently the heaviest mechanical object in the home. They weigh hundreds of pounds, and you don't want one crashing down on you. Make sure the moving parts are lubricated and all hardware is tight. NEVER mess with the spring or the cables that attach to the bottom of the door. Leave that to a professional.

I also checked the air filter in my furnace. If you want your air conditioner to work at peak efficiency as the hot weather begins to happen, the filter must be clean. Make sure the outdoor compressor coils are clean. Don't use a pressure washer to clean them as the powerful stream of water can bend the fragile cooling fins.

Nail Guns and a Pocket Door

I'm getting ready to start a major bathroom remodeling project. There are going to be many videos shot of this job that I'll be sharing with you very soon. You don't want to miss upcoming issues of this newsletter where I'll have the links to the videos.

I'll be installing a pocket door as part of this project. As that begins to take shape, I'll share some tips as I actually rough in the opening and set the frame. I discovered years ago that if you want a trouble-free pocket door, you must go with a top-quality frame that has great trolleys and hardware. I want a door that's going to glide effortlessly for years. You should want the same thing.

Three years ago, I injured my left thumb while doing a similar bathroom project. For some idiotic reason, I decided to hand nail a small piece of 2x4 onto a joist. I was too lazy to go get my Paslode cordless nailer from the basement. Well, the hammer slipped off the head of the nail and hit the bone that connects to the saddle bone in your wrist. This same injury happened countless times over the years, especially if I was using a chisel and the hammer glanced off the head of the chisel.

As a result of the repeated injuries and early-stage arthritis in this joint (missing cartilage), I've lost about 70 percent of the gripping power of my left thumb. I just got back from a visit to the hand surgeon, and his treatment, along with a custom splint made by Chris and Julie at his office, will get me back in the game. However, Dr. Stern suggested to me "No more hand nailing!"

That's okay as I really prefer to use all the Paslode cordless guns I own. Take a look at their new and improved website to see if an air or cordless nailer is in your future. You can get a pneumatic gun if you want, but I've grown to love my guns that require no noisy compressor and no hoses! All I have to do is open the case and insert the battery and my cordless nailer is ready to fire. That process takes less than ten seconds. I've already installed 20 or 30 nails with my cordless nailer before you have your compressor started and filled with air!

Clean Instead of Repainting

This past weekend, I did an experiment on my own home. We'll be selling the house soon as Kathy is coming up to New Hampshire. One of my projects this summer is to make the outside of the house look like new. Our home is a gracious Queen Anne Victorian that I build myself in 1986. Many people who visit think it's a house I rehabbed as Kathy and I went to great lengths to copy all the traditional interior and exterior details.

About eight years ago, I painted my house with a fantastic paint - Sears WeatherBeater ULTRA. Read my past column about this amazing paint.

Six months ago, I mentioned that I had installed our Christmas lights over the Thanksgiving holiday for Kathy. The house was covered with grime and black powder. I thought it was dust from tires, but you convinced me it was soot from the tens of thousands of diesel trucks that are rumbling around the city here both on Interstate highways and local traffic.

Add to that black grime, a light coating of mildew in places that's feasting on aerosol sugars released from the many trees around my home, spider poop and you have a mess. Just washing with regular soap doesn't cut through the mildew and spider doo.

I decided to test my powerful Stain Solver oxygen bleach on the painted siding and trim to see if I could use it to clean and restore the paint instead of having to repaint the house. You may wonder why I would even hesitate to use it, based upon all the great things I've said about it in the past. Understand that Stain Solver is such a good cleaner that it will remove oxidized paint pigments and any paint pigment and resin that's damaged by the sun's ultraviolet light.

When I cleaned one of our exterior doors back by the garage eight years ago, the Stain Solver removed about 80 percent of the paint! That's a good thing when you're repainting, but not so good when you just want to clean.

I'm happy to report that the three areas I tested look spectacular! It looks like I repainted them yesterday instead of just cleaning. All I did was mix my Stain Solver as I would to clean a deck making sure I mixed the powder with warm water. I then poured the solution into a hand-pump sprayer and squirted it onto the painted surfaces. After waiting about five minutes, I then washed it off using a large brush that's used to clean the exterior of RV vehicles. The bristles are softer than a scrub brush and are about 2-inches long. It's a magnificent brush. I just dipped it into soapy water made with regular liquid dish soap. It's important to always keep the surface wet with the oxygen-bleach solution, the soapy water and then rinse with clear water. Don't let the surface dry between any of those steps.

Since money is tight for all of us, you may discover that you can make your house look like new this summer without having to repaint. Try cleaning a small portion of your home and see what it looks like. If you do decide to repaint, be sure you use a paint that has urethane and 100-percent acrylic resins in it.

Surfing Safely

A few days ago, I got an email that was triggered by my Google Alerts. I have that set to tell me about any web site that publishes any text that has AsktheBuilder or Ask the Builder in it. Much to my surprise I got sent a link to a Norton web site that tells you if a website is safe to visit.

While there, please note in the right column that you can add a review. There was only one at this point. I'd sure appreciate it if you could say a few kind words about my web site in case a new visitor uses this tool to make a decision whether or not to come to AsktheBuilder.com.

You may want to start using this helpful web site if you decide to visit a different site that you've never been to before. It may protect you from malware and spyware. Just enter the URL of the site you want to check up at the top of the page once you've left your review of my web site. Thanks in advance!

Wind Turbines

A PR person reached out to me to tell me about a wind turbine that you can get for your home made by Honeywell. This is another product that you have to do the math on. The press release was quoting a very aggressive payback period in my opinion, but your mileage may vary. You have to look at you electric bill and do the math. What's more, you need to do some testing to see what kind of average wind speeds you have on the roof of your home. You can buy a wind gauge that will keep track of this for you before you commit to investing in a turbine. This one made by Honeywell says it can create juice at wind speeds as low as 2 mph. That's pretty low. But keep in mind that things around your home may block wind.

Then add to this a news story that says wind speeds are not as strong as they used to be. Is it hard to make a decision or what?

Recent Columns

Are you sick of your wood deck and want a new composite deck?

Do you want to replace your old windows with new one to save money?

Money is tight! Why paint when you can do a magical house cleaning?

Click here to read past copies of my newsletters.

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