Author Archives: mikew

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  Possible plastic plumbing problem

  Posted on April 3, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  Plastic plumbing piping is all the rage nowadays. The PEX supply piping is terrific stuff. What we have today has been developed on the shoulders of some earlier generations of problematic plastic piping. There is one in particular that is especially troublesome called polybutylene. A class action lawsuit brought this material to the forefront of attention. […]

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  Explaining Post and Pier foundation

  Posted on March 20, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  Have you ever heard of post and pier and wondered what that was? I had a recent home inspection that gave me the opportunity to explain this to a client. For those of you unaware let me try to explain… Most homes are sitting on a poured concrete foundation that outlines the perimeter of the house. […]

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  Foundations are out of sight, out of mind

  Posted on March 6, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  Little is thought of or known about the foundation of our houses because we seldom see them. They are buried and built over, all the while supporting the assembled materials, furniture and people for a century or more! For those of you interested I thought I would briefly show you the most common type of […]

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  Transform that nasty tub!

  Posted on February 20, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  Okay, you’ve cleaned your tub and shower with the best cleaning solutions available. Yet the blackish, brownish bead around the perimeter persists. It looks dirty even after a thorough cleaning. You have to turn off the lights and use candles to relax when in the bathroom. So what are you to do? It is time to […]

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  Sewage + Pump = SUMP

  Posted on February 13, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  In case you are wondering what a sump is… Sewage pumps, or “sump pumps” as they are commonly called, are used to help move water from under our houses and down grade. There are three common purposes of these electrical pumps: To move grounds water, gray water and black water. The one pictured is a grounds […]

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  What’s in your attic?

  Posted on January 30, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  What is the most critical part of our body to cover when trying to stay warm? Our head! What is the most critical part of our house to cover when trying to say warm? Our attic! There are a couple of things that I frequently see that causes heat to pump out of our houses through the […]

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  A cutting edge product

  Posted on January 16, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  My family members all clean differently. You’ve got combinations of the systematic cleaner, impulsive cleaner, zone cleaner, deep meticulous cleaner, random cleaner, as-needed-cleaner, and refuse-to-cleaner. Then you add the variables to make it even more interesting: Which room? What type of cleaning? What are the circumstances prompting the cleaning? Who is helping (or not)? Can you relate? Well I […]

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  Quick! Where’s the shutoff?

  Posted on January 2, 2017 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  So you’ve got a major problem and you need to get the water shutoff to your house. Have you figured out where it is located? Take a few minutes this week to find it and label it! Common places the plumbing shutoff might be are garages, near hot water tanks, front entry coat closets, and under main level […]

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  Protect your outdoor faucets from freezing

  Posted on December 12, 2016 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  Last week we had our first night of twenty-degree weather and freezing. Later that morning I had a client email me about the freezing weather and his outdoor water faucets – also known as hose bibbs. I was so appreciative that he checked in with me. His question is one that many share – how […]

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  Another of my favorite handy products

  Posted on November 29, 2016 by mikew in Fix It & Use It

  The weeks and days leading up to Thanksgiving were a blur of house projects as we prepared to host dinner with my family. My children and wife joined me in the effort to clean, paint, finish the moulding project (started 4 years ago!), re-finish the front door, and several other stalled projects. The challenge I faced was getting […]

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