By: Tim Carter - Master Plumber A Riser Diagram for Plumbing, Water or Gas Lines A riser diagram is a handy tool that allows you to see what size pipes you must install for a drain, waste, and vent (DWV) system in commercial or residential plumbing. I've been a master plumber since 1981 and have […]
Home Depot Quartz Countertop Story Two days ago, February 24, 2023, I found myself re-installing three sinks for a young woman Kathy and I know from our church. She had new countertops installed in her kitchen and two bathrooms by Home Depot. The day before I was at her home as the countertop contract workers […]
Toro Power Clear 60V Snowthrower Snowblower I recorded this video in late February, 2023 over two days. The snow was quite dry, but not Utah powder. The machine exceeded my expectations! There was one drawback. Tim CarterTim built custom homes and did ultra-custom remodeling for 20+ years before launching his Ask the Builder media presence. […]
Artificial Intelligence and Home Improvement - Humans 1 AI Zero I’m celebrating my thirtieth year of doing my best to protect you against home improvement scams, not-so-good products, and anything that’s a threat to you when it comes to building, remodeling, or maintaining your home. I’ve stood up to billion-dollar corporations to prevail on your […]
ChatGPT vs Tim Carter a Real Human Below are two columns. One was written by the artificial intelligence software ChatGPT. The other was written by me, Tim Carter. I was an award-winning builder before I started my syndicated newspaper column Ask the Builder. After reading each one, think about how authoritative each one is. Are […]
Lead in Ceramic Coffee Mugs - You Could be Killing Yourself Slowly Do you have ceramic mugs as you see in the photo above? Did you know the silica glaze and the pigments used in them often contain lead? Did you know how little lead it makes to make you sick? I copied this from […]
Lead in Old Pyrex Bowls Do you have any old kitchen bowls like you see in the photo above? I grew up with bowls just like it. In fact, each night for two years in the early 1970s I ate a pint of plain Skyline chili with onions and cheese in a red Prex bowl […]
How to Make Your Bathroom Floor Warm as a Hypocaust You may find this hard to believe, but I didn’t build the house I currently live in. It’s a long story but this current house in central New Hampshire was supposed to be a transition home while I did build a Queen Anne Victorian house […]
Fixture Unit Calculations - They Must Be Correct! Your building department may require you to provide fixture unit calculations to obtain a plumbing permit. These are very important as the calculations show to the department that the drain pipes you plan to use are sized properly. Because of the physical laws on Earth and how […]
Plumbing Fixture Schedule - Seems Easy But It's Not Some government entities require you to supply a plumbing fixture schedule to obtain a plumbing permit. These tables identify all the plumbing fixtures in a job. That's the easy part. You also need to list the drain fixture units and the water-supply fixture units. That's the […]
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