2018 L E Johnson Scavenger Hunt Game

Posted on by Tim Carter

The L E Johnson Scavenger Hunt as featured in the February 6, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter. Click the link to see a great pocket door photograph. Tim explained in his January 31, 2018 Newsletter what these games are about and "What's in it for me!"

Step One: CLICK the following links and STUDY what you see. When you get to the page at the LE Johnson website, be SURE TO CLICK the photo to get it to ENLARGE.

Step Two: Answer the following questions. After you click SUBMIT, be sure to SCROLL UP so you can see your score!

Long Lasting Concrete

Posted on by Tim Carter
Long Lasting Concrete

This is part of the exposed massive concrete footing for the Waterfall Bridge in Acadia National Park built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1925. This photo was taken January 28, 2018 and the concrete looks to be in excellent shape. The concrete is exposed to freeze / thaw cycles and moving water in heavy stream flow. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

Long lasting concrete is very easy to make. The best part is it's not that expensive to do.

Long Lasting Concrete Examples All Around

There's a great chance that within fifty miles of your home there's long lasting concrete that's close to one hundred years old. I'll bet it's in great shape. All you need to do to locate some is to find a railroad bridge near you.

Look at the concrete abutments and see if there isn't a date cast into the concrete. It was a common practice to put the date in the concrete.

Yet roadways, sidewalks, driveways etc. near you that may be less than twenty years old are spalling, cracking and generally in bad shape.

What's the difference? Why is newer concrete falling apart so fast?

Waterfall Bridge Concrete Footer Acadia National Park

I hiked to the stunning Waterfall Bridge on the morning of January 28, 2018 while in Acadia National Park.

Waterfall Bridge Acadia

Here's Waterfall Bridge built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1925. The left bottom of the arch is where you can see the exposed concrete footer. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

Two months prior, I had read Ann Rockefeller Roberts book about her grandfather's exploits of building the breathtaking carriage trails in Acadia National Park.

carriage trails on Mt. Desert Island

Here's a tiny section of the carriage trails on Mt. Desert Island. This is a great book. CLICK THE PHOTO NOW to have it delivered to your doorstep.

In her book Mr. Rockefeller's Roads, there's a rare photo of the construction of one of the bridges and it shows the giant cast concrete steps or footers that lie beneath the seventeen bridges in Acadia NP.

It's important to realize I had no idea that I'd be able to see any exposed concrete from the construction work. But there it was. The concrete you see in the above photo that supports the first row of granite stones was mixed and cast in 1925, ninety-three years ago!

It's in excellent shape.

The Secret to Long-Lasting Concrete - More Cement

I don't have access to the construction specifications for the concrete in Mr. Rockefeller's bridges. I suspect though that it was an eight or nine-bag mix.

Currently the Portland Cement Association suggests a six-bag mix, or 564 pounds, of cement in each cubic yard of concrete for exterior use. They say this will create a compressive strength of 4,000 pounds per square inch (PSI).

If you're mixing a small amount of concrete and using your own raw materials, here's an ancient formula that you'll see in many publications:

  • 3 parts gravel
  • 2 parts sand
  • 1 part Portland cement

This recipe makes the standard mix that won't hold up like the concrete holding up the Waterfall Bridge above.

I recommend this recipe for long-lasting concrete:

  • 3 parts gravel
  • 2 parts sand (silica sand or volcanic sand if you can get it)
  • 1.5 parts Portland cement
  • 0.5 parts hydrated lime

I maintain that you just need to boost the amount of cement in concrete to increase its strength.

It's my opinion that the PCA has a dog in the fight. Their members may want you to replace your concrete more often than needed. After all, this could start a long-term trend that concrete is really a disposable product.

Perhaps it's not in their best interest for concrete to last 40, 60 or 100 years? This is all conjecture on my part, but Mr. Rockefeller's Waterfall Bridge footer is prima facie evidence that concrete can be made that lasts a very long time.

Hydrated Lime Is The Secret Additive

It would also help to add hydrated lime to the mix and use volcanic sand that has a high silica content.

The Romans made mortar and concrete well over 1,000 years ago that's extremely durable. They didn't have Portland cement. All they had was hydrated lime and they must have figured out on their own that mixing it with volcanic sand made for a very durable compound.

Silica is a primary component of granite and you already know how durable it is!

If you want to know how much hydrated lime to add to your concrete, just get this amazing book:

Hydrated Lime Book

I own this book. It's contains magic formulas to help you make long lasting concrete and brick mortar. CLICK THE PHOTO now to have it delivered to your home.

 

January 31, 2018 AsktheBuilder Special Announcement

Posted on by Tim Carter

Happy end of January 2018!

I'll make this as short as possible. I'm usually not too good at doing that if you're a seasoned subscriber.

You may have been one who contacted me yesterday about the upcoming Scavenger Hunt game on Sunday.

Here's a typical email I get when I announce an upcoming game:

"Tim, I don't like your games. Why should I play your silly scavenger hunt game on Sunday and click the links? What's in it for me?"

The answers are pretty simple. Allow me to share a story with you.

Chuck - Mr. "What's-in-it-for-ME"

Years ago, I helped launch a very secret Internet mastermind group. I was one of the founding charter members.

Not too long after it was formed, a new member was added to the group. His name was Chuck and he lived in Michigan.

Chuck was a programmer / software engineer early in his life and he leveraged that into some successful websites as personal computers became part of our lives.

Chuck and I became very good friends. Little did we know it but we had a connection before he joined the group.

My syndicated newspaper column used to be published in The Detroit News. Way back in the 1990s, I used to sell mail order Builder Bulletins that contained extra information that wouldn't fit in my column.

Chuck had bought one of my Builder Bulletins.

He had a very high IQ and was super analytical. He'd always point out, in a very helpful way, mistakes I might be making in my own business.

One day I was gritching (a word combining gripe with bitch) to Chuck,

"Why can't I get my newsletter subscribers to do what I'd like them to do?"

Chuck replied, "I'm one of your subscribers. What's in it for ME?"

Those words hit me like a giant bucket of ice water.

I was just thinking of MYSELF and not you the subscriber.

Chuck forever changed how I think about YOU.

You should be the focus of all I do. You should get something out of each column, video, newsletter I produce.

If you don't, then eventually you go somewhere else.

What's In It For YOU?

You want to know what's in it for you to participate in the games and surveys I put in the newsletter, right?

Please answer the following questions:

Do you like my newsletter?

Yes
No
Maybe

Do you get helpful information in the newsletter every now and then?

Yes
No
Maybe

Do you want the newsletter to continue?

Yes
No
Maybe

Do you want AsktheBuilder.com to stay online so I can produce new columns and videos?

Yes
No
Maybe

If you answered YES to all or a few of the questions above, that's why you should participate in the games and surveys.

The games and surveys allow you to continue to get a stream of information that helps you save time and money. Hopefully sometimes I bring a smile to your face.

The games and surveys are sponsored by companies that want you to see their fine wares.

I get much-needed revenue from the game and survey sponsors.

This revenue pays the salaries of my employees. It pays for the costs to maintain the website. It keeps AsktheBuilder.com alive.

It's that simple.

If you want to GRITCH at me about the games, now's the time to do it. Tell me what more I can do for you. Reply now to this email and rant to me. Don't hold back.

If you want to HELP AsktheBuilder.com continue to deliver you laughs, tips, stories, honest reviews about products, etc. then by gosh participate in the Scavenger Hunt this Sunday.

Questions? Comments? Ideas to make the games better?

You know what to do. Reply and let me know what's on your mind.

Thanks Chuck for opening my eyes all those years ago!!!

January 30, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Posted on by Tim Carter

This past weekend I was on Mt. Desert Island (MDI) on the coast of Maine. I went there to evaluate a building lot for my oldest daughter Meghan and her husband Brent as they live in California. It's only a five-hour drive from my house to MDI.

I've shared lots of tips over the years about finding the perfect building lot. Based on the questions I get, I feel the average person often doesn't know what they're looking at when they saunter across a piece of vacant land.

Please click the following three links to get a handle of what's important when you're thinking of buying a lot:

Lot Selection - Part One

Lot Selection - Part Two

Lot Selection - Part Three

It was an ideal time to look at the lot on MDI for two reasons:

  • recent rainfall melted the snow and revealed frozen wetlands
  • the deciduous trees had no leaves allowing you to see the lay of the land

After I looked at the lots on Saturday, I ate lunch and did some amateur radio next to the ocean. It was a monochromatic gray day I'd say!

Sunday morning before driving home, I took a delightful hike on a small section of the infamous carriage trails and made it to Waterfall Bridge. John D. Rockefeller Jr. built it along with the entire carriage trail network. CLICK HERE to read all about this unbelievable gift he created for you to enjoy.

CLICK HERE to see all my photos and videos I shot this past weekend.

Mt. Desert Island

waterfall bridge

Super Sunday Scavenger Hunt Game

If you're one of my seasoned subscribers, you know this time of year we have some fun.

In the past few years, I got into a rut and just had you find a small snippet of a photo.

This coming Super Sunday you're going on a scavenger hunt! I recommend you get some sleep and if you wear glasses like I do, clean them well.

You may have been one who's chided me for making the games too easy in the past. Well, if you like a fun challenge, a few of the things you need to look for are going to test your sleuthing skills for sure!

While you're playing the fun game, you're not only going to exercise that noodle of yours between your ears, but you're also going to glean quite a few ideas.

You're going to discover how LE Johnson hardware can make your own home MORE beautiful and how you can re-capture some wasted space taken up by traditional hinged doors.

Want to see how good you might do in the game? Let's do a warmup one-photo game. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rank this one about a 5 for difficulty.

I want you to CLICK THIS LINK and once at the page, you need to hover your mouse over the photo and click or double click it to get it to ENLARGE so you can see the detail in the photo.

Got it? You've got to enlarge the photo.

Look up and down, sideways, etc. for a clue that will allow you to answer this question:

Sometimes there are very subtle clues in a photo that allow you to know when a photo was taken. Imagine this wonderful hidden work area is in a home in Queensland, Australia. What was the season of the year when the photo was taken?

Don't worry, you'll be able to answer this on Sunday. I'm going to be fascinated to see if you get it right.

BTW, what did you think of that full-access door hardware that allows the bi-fold doors to get completely out of the way of the opening?

Brilliant engineering I'd say!!

Andrea's Nightmare Walk Through

Let's see if you can answer another question. As I was driving to MDI last Friday, Andrea sent me a question via my Ask Tim page.

She was under contract to buy a new home and did a walk through the day before the closing. That's always a good idea.

However, she didn't use my Walk Through Inspection Checklist.

It turns out she didn't need it once she opened the front door.

My question to you is, WHAT WOULD YOU DO if you were Andrea?

CLICK HERE to see what Andrea discovered.

Crazy New Frostproof Hose Bib

One of the products at the Builders Show three weeks ago was a new outdoor hose bib.

You may think it's impossible to improve on a faucet but you're wrong.

hose bib

This is the new Aquor house hydrant. You don't have to thread on your hose each time you want to use it.

The blue plastic extension just twists into the stainless steel hydrant and an o-ring makes it leakproof. You can connect your hose and have water flowing in less than one second.

WOW!

The instant you twist and lock the blue plastic extension, the water comes on.

I got one to test and I'm currently talking with the company to see what kind of sideways pressure testing they conducted to see what it takes to make the plastic extension to fail if you tug a hose sideways.

They also have a secondary extension that has a ball valve on it so you can regulate the water flow at the hydrant if you want.

My initial reaction to this new product is it's very nice, it's very durable and I like that once you disconnect the hose and extension, it's nearly flush with the house. Very sleek.

CLICK HERE NOW to order one.

That's enough for today.

Start getting pumped up for the Scavenger Hunt on Sunday.

Let's see if you can score 100 percent! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Creator of Challenging Games for Fun and Sport

Do It Right, Not Over!

New House Walk Through

Posted on by Tim Carter

Andrea S, from Little Rock, Arkansas wrote to me. She was in a huge bind. Two weeks ago she was planning to close on a house. Fortunately for her, she did a walk through inspection with her realtor the day before the closing.

New House Walk Through Nightmare - Broken Water Pipe

When they opened the door to the house, they walked into a swimming pool of sorts. The recent cold weather had frozen a water line in the attic, it burst while no one was in the home and water was everywhere.

Related Links

Mold Grows Fast - You Must Clean Up Water FAST

Best Walk Through Checklist Known to Woman or Man!

She told me, “Water was pouring down above the ceiling in the laundry room. The ceiling in the laundry room had already fallen out. The floors (some carpet and some hardwood veneer) were covered in a couple inches of water in most of the rooms in the house. On the brick on the outside back of the house, where the laundry room is, was a huge icicle.  Apparently, the water was seeping from the inside of the house out.”

Free & Fast Bids

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local water restoration contractors. Don't hesitate!!!

Andrea didn’t close on the house and wanted to know what to do. Here’s the best part. The insurance adjuster offered $7,000 to repair and restore the house.

Without being there to see the damage, I think the adjuster left off a zero on his estimate. Based on Andrea’s description of the house, there could be all sorts of hidden issues. Mold in walls, the attic and other places is a definite possibility. I’ve known water damage repair bills like this to exceed $70,000.

I’d want to strip out lots of the finished walls and inspect for hidden damage. Warped doors, woodwork, ruined cabinetry and damaged flooring are all very likely.

My advice to her is to walk away from this home. If the plumber put a water line up in an attic where it could freeze, what other bonehead mistakes did he make? If this was a new home, how could the builder allow this to happen? What other latent poor-quality mistakes are going to show up months or years from now that the builder allowed?

I told Andrea to hire an ASHI certified home inspector for her next home. This association, in my opinion, has the best home inspectors in the USA.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local water restoration contractors. Don't hesitate!!!

 

January 28, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Posted on by Tim Carter

This is going to be super fast. Just as this arrived in your email Inbox, I was waking up on Mt. Desert Island on the coast of Maine.

It's so beautiful here on MDI it will take your breath away. Acadia National Park is here. Fifty-five miles of gorgeous gravel carriage trails are here for you to hike or ski on.

Here's a photo I shot this past October from the ocean-walk trail within the park.
ef="https://www.stainsolver.com/size-survey-want/">
If you clicked the photo and ended up at the Stain Solver website, the correct thing happened.

If you want your cloth colors to be that bright - so bright they hurt your eyes - then fill out that survey by gosh!

If you want to know more about Acadia National Park, then CLICK HERE by all means.

Stain Solver Spring Sale SURVEY

Kathy and I own the Stain Solver business. Stain Solver is a magical all-purpose oxygen bleach cleaner.

You name the stain, Stain Solver can almost always clean it.

If the object you need cleaned is water washable, then you can almost always use Stain Solver on it.

Here's the issue we have.

We need to manufacture it in 20,000 or 40,000-pound batches. That's no typo.

We have to GUESS how much of each size might sell so as inventory gets low, we have a small amount of each size left.

We've NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FORECAST correctly.

For example, we've been Out of Stock of the 9.2-pound size for months!!!

I came up with an idea this morning to survey you so you tell us how much of each size to make. If you tell us what you want, then we'll be sure to make ENOUGH OF THAT SIZE.

Let's see if it works!

CLICK HERE to take the SIMPLE SURVEY.

As soon as we finish making it, you'll hear about the sale.

The To-Die-For Date-Filled Bar Recipe

Well, your patience has paid off.

date recipe

I took a photograph of the date-filled bar recipe and posted in on my website.

The flavor of these date-filled bars will EXPLODE in your mouth. If you scrunch your nose at the thought of eating dates, you'll want to try these bars.

BEWARE: I've been told they're more addicting than many controlled substances.

CLICK HERE and start to preheat the oven.

I'll have more usual home improvement news for you in a few days.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Date-Filled Bar Official Taster - BURP!

Do It Right, Not Over!

Date Filled Bars Recipe

Posted on by Tim Carter

The following is my favorite Christmas cookie that my wife Kathy makes. This recipe was shared in Tim's January 28, 2018 Newsletter.

You can find the recipe in the amazing Fanny Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham.

CLICK HERE NOW to purchase this out-of-print book!!!! You'll be GLAD you got a copy - trust me!!!!

It's full of amazing recipes that Kathy makes all the time.

I've reproduced this recipe under the Fair Use Doctrine law allowing small amounts of copyrighted material to be shared with attribution.

date filled bar recipe

 

fanny farmer baking book

January 25, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Posted on by Tim Carter

"Nadine, how are you today?"

"Fine, Tim. How about you?"

"Fantastic. I'm stoked because we've only got five more weeks of possible wretched weather. Once we get to March 1st, we know we're out of the woods."

Nadine is an adroit counter clerk at Middleton Lumber Supply in downtown Meredith, NH. I was there buying 300 pounds of rock salt.

What's buying 300 pounds of salt at one time tell you about the woebegone winters in central NH? Keep in mind I've got a pretty long driveway that's all hill.

We had a fierce ice storm two days ago that exhausted my salt supply. Here's what it looked like driving to town to pick up the salt.

The scene was so much more spectacular in person when you could see the ice glistening like crystals on all the tree branches.

nh ice storm

Quick Home Improvement Survey

I'd like to get a handle of what you might have planned at your home in the next 12 months or so.

Would you be kind enough to take this FAST and EASY four-question survey? CLICK HERE to get started.

tub and glass

L. J. Smith - Stair Parts Extraordinaire

When I was in Orlando, FL, two weeks ago I got to meet three people who work for a company you've probably never heard of but you've quite likely SEEN and touched their products.

Beth Galigher, J. Kelly Miller and Craig Kurtz ate dinner with me the first night of the Builders Show. They're the top management of what I feel is the best stair parts company in the USA.

Your hands probably have grasped their handrails. Your eyes have marveled at their balusters, newel posts and other stair trim. You may have their products in your own home and don't realize it.

I'm talking about L. J. Smith Stair Systems.

I used their parts for the grand staircase in the last house I built for Kathy and the kids. If all goes well, I'm going to be ordering more of the same parts for my final dream home.

Check out these two photos of the L J Smith stair parts that I installed thirty years ago. The photos are one month old and look how good everything still looks!

tim carter stairs

tim's stair case

 

Did you pay close attention to the close-up photo just above?

Notice how Kathy selected three different balusters and we just kept repeating the pattern down the staircase.

It made for a very interesting look. The staircase, including the oriental runner and brass carpet rods, looks exactly like it did the day we moved to NH.

Kathy and I miss this staircase and I'm working my you-know-what off so I can finally build the final dream house for Kathy and me.

CLICK HERE to check out all the different stair parts L J Smith offers.

Fun Way To Cap a Retaining Wall

Please watch the videos at the page just below.

You'll be amazed. Be sure to WAIT FOR IT! Don't bail out!!!

CLICK HERE to make a grin appear on your face.

Foundation Drain Tile - Usually GOOFED UP

Are you thinking of building a new home or room addition soon?

Will it have a basement or crawlspace? Do you want them to be DRY forever? Most builders GOOF UP drain tile.

A vast majority of new homes do NOT have foundation waterproofing. You may think yours does, but odds are you got bamboozled.

CLICK HERE NOW to see how I do drain tile.

That's quite enough for today.

I'm going to Mt. Desert Island up in Maine for the weekend for an exploration trip. Saturday is supposed to be a fantastic day.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

Laundry Room Plans

Posted on by Tim Carter
laundry room ideas

This is a cramped and cumbersome laundry room. The owner should have thought more about laundry room plans before building the home. (C) Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

Laundry Room Plans - Common Sense Tips

DEAR TIM: One of my New Years resolutions involves my laundry room. It’s a long story, but my husband and I are building a huge room addition and I finally get my dream laundry room.

I think I know what I want, but I’d like to get your opinion as no doubt you’ve built more than your fair share of these utility rooms. If you had a magic wand and could create a functional and practical laundry room, what would the size be and what would it have in it? I’ll take any and all advice. Amy C., Grand Island, NE

Related Links:

Laundry Room Cabinets - You've Got Lots of Options

SAFETY Tips Venting a Clothes Dryer - Avoid a House Fire!

DEAR AMY: I’ll bet you’re excited! Not only have I built many large room additions, but I’ve also had the good fortune to construct quite a few laundry rooms. The possibilities are endless and it’s impossible in this tiny column to do a complete brain dump. Let’s get started and see how far we can get.

Free & Fast Bids

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local remodeling contractors for your laundry room makeover.

Laundry Room Fancy Photos Full of Flaws

In the first place no one laundry room works for all. Each person has different goals. For this reason I decided to go online and look at lots of photos of what many consider to be dream laundry rooms.

In just about all the photos I looked at I saw what I consider to be fatal function flaws. When a designer or person feels the final look or form of the laundry room is more important than the way the room makes it easier to accomplish what you’re doing, you end up with function flaws.

Minimum Laundry Room Size

It’s important to realize, based on nearly forty years of dealing with laundry rooms, I feel the minimum size for one of these rooms should be 9 feet wide by 11 feet long.

Bigger is better. The door leading into the room should be at least 32 inches wide. Most are only 30 inches wide. I’d install a pocket door so no floor space on either side of the laundry room is wasted.

Plan For Water Leaks

Laundry rooms by their very nature involve water. Just yesterday I had to replace the drain pump on my own washer and because there was no floor drain in the room, my job was made much harder.

Don’t let your plumber talk you out of installing a gorgeous tile or natural stone floor that has a waterproof membrane under the entire room. The floor drain should be in the center of the room in open sight and the floor should gently slope to the drain. You’ll never regret having this floor if something leaks or you want to give a dog a bath in the winter!

Make Water Shut-Off Valves Visible

Another key point is easy access to the mechanical aspects of the washer and dryer. Ball valves that control the hot and cold water should be visible and above and behind the washer. Yes, they make those small in-the-wall boxes for laundry valves but these are substandard in my opinion.

I’ve been a master plumber since age 29 and have come to realize the value of standard valves that are easy to turn off each time I’m finished doing laundry. Supply hoses burst, even the newer braided ones, and you should be able to turn off the water to the machine easily after each use to prevent a flood.

Dryer Vent Pipe Must Be Easy Access

The dryer vent pipe should either go up through the roof or out the wall directly behind the dryer. In my last home I had the vent pipe turn up out of the dryer go up the wall behind the dryer and turn out to exit the wall just about 6 inches above the top of the dryer.

This piping setup allowed me to disconnect the pipe in seconds. This functionality made it easy to periodically clean out the vent pipe to prevent fires.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local remodeling contractors for your laundry room makeover.

Pantry Provides Lots of Storage Space

I’d have a 7-foot-tall pantry in the laundry room and scads of base and wall cabinets. The layout should favor the way you handle dirty and clean clothes.

Platform for Laundry Basket

Think long and hard about the ideal height you’d like to have your dirty clothes basket so you don’t have to bend over so much to load the washing machine. Perhaps an 18-inch rolling platform that parks under a bench in the room would be ideal for you to set your laundry basket on as you get dirty clothes out and into the washer and clean clothes back into it after folding them.

Placing baskets up on 36-inch-high countertops works great if you’re 7-feet tall. Putting baskets on the floor is no fun as you bend over too much.

Install a Useful, Not Beautiful, Laundry Sink

I’m a huge fan of the wall-hung Mustee thermoplastic laundry sinks. These are hard plastic and come as close to the old concrete laundry sinks I had as a kid.

Laundry Sink

This is the exact wall-hung laundry sink in my laundry room. They look good and are easy to clean. CLICK THE PHOTO NOW to have one delivered to your house.

You can get single or double width. Consider a high-arc faucet that has a flexible spout like you see in commercial kitchens.

I wish I had more space! Oh, I do! I’m going to create another column with more suggestions titled Laundry Room Ideas at my AsktheBuilder.com website that will have a floor plan idea for you too. Visit my website to continue the discussion!

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local remodeling contractors for your laundry room makeover.

Column 1230