On December 9, 2016, just before 11:30 am, my daughter Kelly and I were pulling into the parking lot at the Hearst Castle on the California coast. We were in California for a week of vacation, visiting my older daughter and her husband and going to an epic Christmas open house down in Montrose, California. […]
Matching Heat Pump With Generator Sheryl lives in Charlotte, NC. She's got a unique issue with her heating system. Let her tell you all about it. "I have a very old generator which is not matched with the heat pump that was installed in my two-story town home in 2008. All works well with cooling […]
This is a quick Friday blast. I'm in California and my body is still on East Coast time. I've been up for nearly an hour and a half and it's just 5:25 am here as I type this. Yesterday, my youngest daughter Kelly and I went on an exciting canopy tour through giant redwood trees […]
Kathy bought a house in a suburb of St. Louis. Here's what she sent me: "I purchased a home and the previous resident used gas line to run water thru the house from the main line. Is this safe for water and does it leach any chemicals? Should I have my water tested? We plan […]
DEAR TIM: Yesterday I stopped by my new house that’s under construction. I go there at the end of each day to take photos. I saw a strange board nailed across the wall studs that surely is a mistake. It ran at a diagonal from the bottom wall plate up the wall to one corner […]
Last week you may remember I was off to Chicago for a quick insertion business trip. I flew there around noon last Thursday and was back at Midway airport the following day around 3:30 pm. I had gone to my favorite big city to visit the True Value Hardware paint factory near Cary, IL. HOLY […]
Doghouse Commercials This is a video every man should watch - three times. I can tell you I made this mistake the second Christmas I was married to Kathy. I saw she didn't have a clothes hamper and I grew up with one. How could anyone survive without a clothes hamper I thought. What an […]
Bruce asked me the following question: "When water and ice is installed, should it be adhesive backed and should it be on the bare sheathing?" At first I was going to give my standard response, but I thought this would be an excellent teaching moment. I say this because each day I get many similar […]
DEAR TIM: I’m going to build a new home and want to make sure I seal all air leaks in my new house. The new home is close to where I live and I have the time and inclination to do some work on it myself. My current home leaks air around doors, windows, at […]
I had the chance to test the Rubi Diamond Viper 10 Inch Diamond Blade several weeks ago. It performed beyond my expectations. If you've ever used a wet saw to cut ceramic tile, then you know it's not a big deal for most diamond wet-saw blades to cut a standard tile. After all, most ceramic tile is just […]
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