March 29, 2016 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Two different things happened over the past two days that are the inspiration for this newsletter.

I need you to hang in there and absorb this important story.

Seventeen years ago, I was one of a few founding members of a very secret Internet entrepreneur mastermind group.

This group exchanged ideas via email and we eventually met face-to-face in Las Vegas in 2002.

At that conference one of the very energetic members got up and gave a talk. He started out saying, "Imagine walking through a shopping mall and seeing a vending machine that said on it:

Insert 25 cents and Get $1.00

I'm sure you'd shake your head thinking it was a scam, but you have a quarter in your pocket and you think, 'What the heck.' You insert the quarter.

Immediately out through a slot comes a new $1 bill.

It's a real one, not counterfeit.

What would you do next?

I don't know about you, but I'd go get as many quarters as possible and start putting them into the machine."

What does this have to do with you?

Per Ekegerd had a problem with a leak in his roof. He sent me this photo along with some others over the weekend.

I looked at his photos and immediately knew what was causing the leak.

He was confident he had figured out the cause and wanted me to confirm it and approve of his solution.

His proposed fix was not going to work long term.

I emailed him back telling him we had to talk about it on the phone. I've offered a personalized one-on-one problem-solving opens in a new windowphone consult service for at least fifteen or more years.

I even offer a service where I'll fly to your house and consult for a day. I've done it before, with the furthest I've traveled being the island of Antigua.

Anyway, Per saw the value of talking to me and ordered a phone consult early on Easter Morning.

As crazy as this sounds, I was in my office working on Easter as no one else was up. Per said, "I see you answered my question about the consult, so you can call me right now if you want."

I did. I called him early on Easter morning, we chatted, and I sent him about four or five links to different pages and videos on my website showing him how easy it was to permanently stop the leak.

Fortunately for him, he can get up on the roof safely and he's going to do the work himself. I saved him at least $500 in a pro coming out.

Per inserted the "quarter" and he got back the "dollar".

I bring this to your attention for just ONE REASON.

It's NOT FOR ME TO GET MORE BUSINESS doing phone consults.

It's to try to save you hundreds or thousands of dollars should you be faced with a problem that you do not know how to solve.

If you take a chance and HOPE a contractor is giving you solid advice and he's WRONG, then what happens?

How much money might you lose to correct the problem?

I GUARANTEE you it will be far more than $50 in all cases.

I forgot to add. My phone consults come with a no-hassle complete money-back guarantee. If you feel at the end of the call I didn't save you money, just say so and the call is FREE.

Ninety minutes from right now - as I type these words, I'll be on the phone with Dave in Laramie, Wyoming. I'll show him how to solve his perplexing roof framing problem with this pergola in progress.

opens in a new windowCLICK HERE to insert your "quarter" so you can save HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of dollars.​​​​​​​

Simple Plumbing Tips

This past weekend I noticed my kitchen sink was draining slow. That's not good.

Once again, it was early in the day and I took apart the horizontal tubular drain pipe from the one sink basin that feeds water down to the p-trap.

OMG! It was really clogged. That's not good because it means that further down the pipe there could be problems.

It was a combination of food debris and caked-on grease on the sides of the PVC pipe.

I cleaned the pipe, checked the p-trap - it was partially clogged - and put it all back together.

The sink still drained slow. UGH!

Rather than take everything apart, I decided to try one thing that often works.

I got a clean toilet plunger and I filled one of the sinks in the double-bowl sink halfway up with water.

I then put a drain strainer in the empty sink and held it down tight with my hand. Then I removed the strainer from the water-filled sink and got it out of the way.

I then started to plunge the sink. All sorts of crap came back up in the sink. I kept plunging and the water started to drain a little faster, but not all that great.

The reason I held the one strainer down in the empty sink is because I wanted the pressure from the plunger to be directed down into the pipes. If you just leave that drain hole open in a double-bowl sink, the pressure comes up through the sink and nothing happens in the drain pipes.

The same is true in vanity sinks. When you plunge those, you need to cover and seal the overflow hole at the top rim of the sink.

I knew the pipes beyond the p-trap had to be grease coated and partially clogged. I immediately got several large pots of water boiling.

I then poured these into the sink somewhat slowly and it did a pretty good job. The sinks are now draining much faster.

Here's how to PREVENT kitchen sink drain pipe clogs:

• Don't put grease down the sink. Remove grease from pots and pans with paper towels and throw these away.
• Keep sink strainers in place to capture large food particles and throw this in the garbage.
• When rinsing food and waste run clear water down the drain for at least 20 seconds to FLUSH the waste through the p-trap and down the horizontal drain pipe past the p-trap.
• Every week, pour at least two gallons of boiling water down your kitchen sink.

Soggy Lawns and Yards

How to DRY Them Out

Emily lives on the island of Tasmania in Australia. She reached out with a big problem at her new home.

The builder GOOFED up with the grading around her house and now she's got a wet yard situation.

Did you know I'm a college-trained geologist with a special interest in hydrogeology - the study of groundwater?

I've SOLVED thousands of WET YARD situations over the years with my simple linear french drain.

READ what I told Emily and be SURE to look at the incredible DVD I produced about how to transform your WET yard into a miniature Atacama Desert!

Seriously, opens in a new windowCLICK HERE to read the column. I guarantee you'll discover something new.

That's enough for today. I need to get ready for the call with David, then the rest of the day I'm taping more videos for you about the bathroom remodel job here.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

Do It Right, Not Over!