Tag Archives: contractor

Mythbusters takes on water heaters as rockets….

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The other night I watched Mythbusters with my partner, Michael, a show which I have to admit I only see occasionally and only when he’s watching it. It’s okay, but I usually prefer reading. Anyhow, one of the myths that they were attempting to bust is the idea that a water heater can become like a rocket and shoot through a home’s roof when it has failed.

Ok, I’ve been an agent, and a homeowner, for many years and I am fully aware of this “truth” mostly from having spoken with many knowledgeable contractors and inspectors over the years – not to mention feedback from my dad who is an all around great fix-it guy.

Well, for anyone who has heard about this “myth” before but didn’t believe it… here is the clip from the Mythbusters folks. It’s quite eye-opening….

I wonder, if this happened to a homeowner and the insurance company determined it was the homeowner’s fault due to negligence because of lack of maintenance – does this mean they wouldn’t pay? I’m all about maintenance on a home’s water heater and replacing them BEFORE failure of any kind so I hope I never find out personally.

Phinney Neighborhood annual home fair, Sunday, Jan 28th

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Phinney Neighborhood Center is hosting their annual home fair this weekend. This is a wonderful event with a lot of great information about home upkeep, upgrading, and overall design concepts. Several builders and architects attend this event and provide their expertise in a comfortable environment. One of my clients, Kirk Jolley, of Kirk Redo is usually in attendance as an exhibitor. He’s got great woodworking and finishing skills as I’ve seen his personal residence that he rebuilt after a former owner’s long neglect and I’ve seen many of his client projects, including the floor of my own home office – and he’s a great guy too! I’ve also volunteered in the past to help at the event as a member of the Phinney Neighborhood Association but sadly can’t make it to this year’s event. However, I do believe it is a great opportunity for people that are considering making changes to their home in the coming year to start getting educated about the process and to get some wonderful design ideas.

HOME DESIGN AND REMODEL FAIR : Imagine, Explore, Build
Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave N.
Admission: $5 for PNA members, $8 for the general public, children under 12 Free

The 10th annual Home Design and Remodel Fair will offer local homeowners a chance to meet with trained professionals and get advice on remodeling and home improvement projects.

More than 75 exhibitors ranging from general and specialty contractors to landscape professionals to architects and designers will be on hand to offer advice and resources needed to complete any home improvement project. Many of the exhibitors have a “green” emphasis.

Presentations will also be featured throughout the day. Topics include everything from choosing a contractor to stocking your toolbox.

The presentation schedule includes:

10:30 Choosing & Hiring a Contractor
11:10 Remodeling for Resale Value
11:50 Financing Your Remodeling Project
12:30 Working with an Architect

12:45-1:15 in the Blue Room
Q&A with Around the Home & More KOL Radio hosts Kevin Liger & John Kappler

1:20 DIY Mini Home Inspection
2:00 Making the Most of What You’ve Got
2:40 Tools for the Homeowner
3:20 Design/Build: What is it?

Holy flying skylights! Why I take good care of my contractor buddies…

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I’ve been trying to get around to writing this post for a week but have been distracted otherwise. Anyhow, I wanted to make sure and point out a little something that anyone who owns a home with skylights might want to check. When we had the oh so lovely windy weather last week (before the ice and snow) I had an eye opening experience with a skylight on my 3.5 story house. I’ll provide a photo so you can see the pitch of this roof and get what I’m talking about later.

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So, thankfully a neighbor was kind enough to run down to my house to inform me that one of the skylights off the top of my house was dangling off the roof a bit being held on to the roof by a gutter. I ran upstairs to see how much rain was pouring in the top of the house and saw that thankfully at that point it wasn’t much – but more clouds were headed our way from the west and south. Frantically I called one of my close contractor buddies – crap!!! – no answer!!! So, I called another local one but he was headed out of town. Thankfully he gave us the number of one his usual people that helps with his projects but when he showed up the ladder he brought wasn’t large enough. So, back to plan #1 with more frantic calls to the first contractor. I got lucky. He answered and was actually in the vicinity and he just so happened to have one of his longest ladders with him.

The 3 workers showed up and two of them ended roped up to the tie off on the top of my house while one stayed inside to help with screwing in screws that HAD APPARENTLY NEVER BEEN INSTALLED when they put the skylights on my house! We got lucky that no damage occurred to the skylight that came off – 1. it popped off like a bottle cap [photopress:bottle_cap.jpg,thumb,alignright] and landed on its back, and 2. it didn’t fall to the ground (concrete driveway) below. While they were up there they went ahead and secured all 3 skylights (yes, ALL of them had been left with little to no method of attachment). The contractors applied silicone to seal the windows and then they screwed them in properly. Little did I know that I was living on borrowed time with these things – and we got really lucky that they’d not blown off earlier. As you can see in the photo I live on a hill and my house gets buffeted by winds regularly.

So, note to homeowners and agents… If there are skylights on your home (or one you’re helping buy or sell) it’s worth it to check to see if they are secured. It doesn’t take much to do after seeing what these contractors did. Secondarily, I was also told that skylights are a common method of break-ins on homes because many of them aren’t installed very well. A good maintenance tip and addition for your annual gutter and roof check.