Is this your first newsletter? Cool beans. Thanks for subscribing.

Have I been landing in your Inbox for months or years? Thanks for sticking around!

I've got some great stuff in this issue.

Holy tomato! Super-short recordings about each step of Meghan and Brent's new home! See below.

Problems in Philly

My good friend John sent me a link to a monster expose' story that appeared recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sadly it's nothing new to me, but it may be to you. I've known about the core issues in the story for well over 25 years.

But you should read it.

However, I want to WARN YOU - the story could depress you and fill you with angst.

Allow me to preface the story with a little history of my own.

I've been doing expert testimony in home-building defect lawsuits for twenty, or more, years. I've lost count of the times I've been deposed and on the witness stand in courtrooms.

My most recent case had me crawling around the roof of the Brazilian Ambassador's home in Antigua. Let me tell you that piracy and bad behavior is alive and well in the Caribbean. I'll never ever go back to that scary island.

About fifteen years ago, I was the lead forensic expert in the giant case that brought the huge Zaring Homes company in Cincinnati, OH to its knees. They went out of business a few months after I gave my deposition in a room filled with about 25 attorneys from all the companies and parties to the lawsuit(s).

Hundreds of the homes they built were rotting on the inside because of water leaking through the brick veneer.

The brick industry has known for DECADES that water leaks through brick and had created best practices to ensure it didn't cause problems in wood-framed homes. CLICK HERE to read about it.

But the Zaring Company didn't seem to care about best practices and left misery, bankruptcies, and probably divorces in its wake and quest for profits.

What causes the vast majority of issues in the lawsuits I've testified as an expert?

Water

The mismanagement of water.

Far too many builders and subcontractors have little understanding how to keep water on the outside of homes and how to prevent it from getting into wall cavities.

Are you ready? Remember, you might feel queasy after reading this very long story. CLICK HERE.

New House Podcast (Voice Recording) Series

The first four SHORT - less than seven minutes - voice recordings (podcasts) about Meghan and Brent's new home in Downeast Maine are ready for you.

If you plan to build a new home or a room addition soon, I BEG YOU to listen to these. They are SHORT. They take just a few minutes.

I have drawings, photos and some videos on the pages too! CLICK the headline below or the image to listen. If you like what you heard or have a question, ENTER it at the bottom of the page as a comment. Thanks for doing that.

CHECK THESE OUT:

House Plans and Specifications

Stake Out House Foundation

Frost Line

Foundation Height Above Grade

Stain Solver SALE Reminder

Do you need my certified organic Stain Solver to REMOVE stains from Thanksgiving accidents, pet accidents, filthy floor tile grout, etc.?

CLICK HERE and use the following promo code to get 10% off any purchase greater than $29.00.

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Are you a Doubting Thomas or Theresa? I GUARANTEE you'll be amazed at the results.

That's enough for a Sunday morning.

Thanks for listening to the voice recordings above. Did you like them?

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Green Clean Man - www.StainSolver.com
Radio Waves - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

Are you a new subscriber? Welcome Aboard!

All other salts can get back to swabbing the decks and polishing the yardarms!

It's a Friday, and I've got a few stories for you. If you're a NEW subscriber, this is NOT my usual format, so hang in there.

New House Podcast Series

I've decided to create a massive new podcast series that follows the construction of my daughter's new home in Downeast Maine.

Here's the best part. I'm trying to keep each podcast to just five or six minutes. These are SHORT and highly focused on one thin slice of the project. I think you're going to really like them.

I recorded the first four and they'll be ready for you by Sunday. I'll send you the links to each one on Sunday morning.

Red Wine and the White Carpet

Thanksgiving is now less than a week away.

Kathy and I've been making Stain Solver for almost 23 years.

Stain Solver is a certified organic oxygen bleach that's color and fabric safe. It gets TOUGH stains out of just about anything that's water washable.

Many years ago, I received an email from a woman just after Thanksgiving. She wanted to tell me how Stain Solver has saved her holiday.

It turns out this woman had brand new white carpeting installed in her dining room a few days before a large crowd of friends was coming over for Thanksgiving.

Adult beverages were being served and one was red wine. I'm not a wine aficionado so I don't know if you serve white or red wine with turkey.

Food platters were being passed around the table and as would happen, one of the guests knocked over a full glass of red wine onto the new white carpet.

The guest gasped and was mortified.

She jumped up to try to blot the wine up but the homeowner said very calmly, "Oh Molly, sit back down and don't fret. Just eat your dinner. I've got Tim and Kathy's Stain Solver and I'll deal with that stain tomorrow."

I'm serious. That's a true story.

The woman went on to say that the next day our Stain Solver got out the dried red wine stain out of the carpet in just minutes. She said once the carpet dried you couldn't even tell anything had happened.

Stain Solver even gets out beet juice stains, cranberry stains, oily gravy stains from heirloom tablecloths, etc.

Frank - Mr. "Too Good To Be True"

Yesterday I did another phone consult. I've done more phone consults this week than I can ever remember.

Frank needed some advice about new vinyl siding. At the end of the consult, I asked him if he had any other questions.

"Well, I have a mold issue on the back of some wallpaper. Do I have to remove the drywall and do remediation?"

"I don't think so based on all you've told me. I'd just take off the wallpaper, mix up some of my Stain Solver and spritz the walls for about 2 hours off and on until the mildew and mold stains disappear."

Frank said, "What? Are you serious? I've been a subscriber of your newsletter for years and have always thought your stories about how it worked were too good to be true. Nothing could possibly work the way you describe."

I proceeded to show Frank my favorite all-time before and after photos to prove what Stain Solver can do. CLICK HERE, scroll down to see the photos and read Georgia's story.

Well after seeing those photos, Frank's about to become a life-long Stain Solver customer.

You should get some too so you're prepared for any Thanksgiving disasters.

Use the following promo code to get 10% off any purchase $29.00 or greater.

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The T is for turkey and Thanksgiving, not Tim.

CLICK HERE to place your order for certified organic Stain Solver.

The sale ends in ONE WEEK.

I'm going to send a reminder to you on Sunday, but if you want the Stain Solver BEFORE Thursday, ORDER NOW.

By the way, I'm VERY thankful you're a subscriber. I value your friendship and trust.

That's enough for a Friday. I've got to go create the four new pages for the first four New House Podcast Series.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Stain Solver - www.StainSolver.com
Radio Operator - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

Are you new around these parts? Welcome, pardner!

Have you been watering your horse here for some time? You know the rules, be nice to people and think of yourself last.

This is a somewhat strange newsletter.

The inspiration for today's newsletter came from this photo:

You may wonder what the tall poles are all about. Look closely and you'll notice there's no siding on the house. Those poles are used by siding contractors to hold their pump jacks.

This home was built in 2012 along the NJ shore after Hurricane Sandi. The original builder completely goofed up the fiber cement siding that days ago was dumped in a local landfill.

The homeowner reached out to me three days ago because late last week the remodeling contractor hired to reside the house installed a modern air and water infiltration barrier OVER top of traditional asphalt-impregnated felt paper installed back in 2012.

For eight years the homeowners had never had odor issues in the house. But this weekend when they came up to inspect the work they smelled a distinct petroleum odor in the home.

One thing led to another and there was a frantic email in my Inbox just before midnight last Saturday.

I did a 30-minute phone consult with the homeowners on Monday and then a follow-up one yesterday for 90 minutes.

Yesterday's call had the remodeler and a factory rep on the call. The factory rep was for the company that makes the modern air barrier the remodeler installed.

The remodeler, the factory rep and three top builders that work along the NJ shore that are friends with the remodeler all said they see no issues installing the modern air barrier over the tar paper.

I DISAGREED. I decided to create a new column to drive home the point.

CLICK HERE to read my brand new column. It's VITAL that you at least SKIM IT. My new column could save you TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars.

The bottom line is the modern air barrier over the top of the felt paper is now causing the felt paper to act like a vapor RETARDER. That's VERY BAD.

You don't want a vapor retarder on the outside of your home unless you live down south where you're trying to BLOCK outside muggy air from getting indoors where your AC is making your inside walls COLD.

$10 Stocking Stuffer!

I told you each week I was going to try to find a great stocking stuffer for you for Christmas. Well, I really have a great one for you this week to make up for going over budget last week.

I'm pretty certain you'll be ordering MORE THAN ONE of these so ORDER FAST in case they run out. CLICK HERE to see more photos and to ORDER.

If you're a new subscriber here's the previous weeks Christmas stocking-stuffer ideas. The LED headlamp has been a HUGE HIT. You may be one of the hundreds of people who have ordered this bad boy:

LED Headlamp - It's Light and Bright

Fantastic Small Screwdrivers

Amazing Hastings Triplet 10X Magnifier

Old vs New Homes

You may find this interesting.

During the conference call yesterday with the NJ remodeler and the factory rep from the major manufacturer, I shared some information that I discovered before both of them were born!

Did you ever read J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy?

One of his best quotes, in my opinion, applies to many things in life.

“And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years, the ring passed out of all knowledge.”

I'm seeing this happen all the time in building and remodeling and that's one reason why I started Ask the Builder. I wanted to curate and preserve OLD METHODS of building that we know work and work well.

The young remodeler and factory rep didn't grasp why having a vapor barrier on the OUTSIDE of a wall on the Jersey coast was a bad thing.

"Mr. Carter, old homes used to have felt paper on them under the siding and there weren't problems," proclaimed the remodeler during the call.

Good point! But why did the tar paper work back then?

Well, you know what? I had the good fortune 45 years ago to remodel and tear into wood-frame houses that were built in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Cincinnati, Ohio. Many of these houses had tar paper on them.

The difference between those old houses and modern ones like the one above in the photo is as vast as the chasm at the Grand Canyon.

Old homes had no insulation. Old homes often had balloon framing allowing a draft to happen in the wall cavity. Old homes had leaky windows allowing dry winter air to enter homes lowering the humidity to such a degree you got shocked constantly touching doorknobs and any other metal object.

Water vapor in modern homes is constantly trying to get outdoors in the winter months. When this water vapor hits a cool or cold surface water vapor can and will transform to liquid water.

When it's 15 F outdoors, the OSB sheathing just under your siding is probably 16 F. How long do you think it takes water vapor to transform into liquid water in those conditions?

This liquid water, should it form, will fuel fungi growth that causes wood rot.

In OLD homes there was so much air movement in the wall cavity the water vapor would evaporate before turning into liquid water.

Modern platform framing techniques prohibit the movement of air inside wall cavities now.

Both the remodeler and factory rep were pretty much speechless.

It really pays off to pay attention in science classes in school. Please drive that point home with your kids and grandkids.

That's quite enough for today.

My favorite meal of the year is one week from tomorrow! WOOT!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
CLEAN Organically - www.StainSolver.com
Invisible Happiness - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!