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.

T18

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!

Today is Veterans Day in the USA. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the Word War I hostilities between Germany and the Allies.

Living veterans, as well as veterans who have passed away after being discharged from active military duty, are also honored on this day.

Today is not to be confused with Memorial Day which happens at the end of May each year. Memorial Day honors those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while in active military service.

If you're reading this and are active or retired military, my family and I THANK YOU for your service to our great nation. We deeply appreciate you putting yourself in harms way so we can live in the greatest nation on Earth.

I wish I could visit my Dad's grave today, but he's just about 1,000 miles away in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, OH.

My Dad served in General Bradley's Second Corps or Army as it's sometimes called. My Dad was a medic in Company A, 6th Battalion. He was shipped to North Africa and then was part of the invasion of Italy.

In the late winter of 1944, my dad was captured by the Germans and shipped to a stalag in Poland to grow potatoes for the German Army.

He was a POW for 13 months and was liberated from the POW camp by a Russian tank commander. My Dad told the story about how he woke up one morning and the POW camp was strangely quiet. The guards were gone.

Then soon after he and all the other prisoners heard a rumbling and a tank came and crashed through the prison camp gate. Dad said he and all the prisoners were afraid.

The next thing that happened is the hatch of the turret opened and a Russian peered out over all the prisoners. He then went back into the tank and came back out but with a 5-gallon tin fuel container.

It wasn't filled with diesel fuel. It had vodka in it. The Russians, my Dad, and all the POW's proceeded to have a little party.

But that's perhaps the high point of the story. My Dad came home a broken man. Back then they didn't call it PTSD. He was severely depressed and by the late 1950's he couldn't hold down a job.

My mom became the breadwinner as a pharmacist, one of the few women pharmacists in the state of Ohio.

This is my mom's lapel pin. She graduated from pharmacy college in 1946. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

Back when I was a kid, families didn't talk too much about all this stuff, or if we did, I don't remember.

The point to all this is I have a somewhat unique connection to Veterans Day and a deep appreciation for what you may have gone through if you're a veteran.

I know others suffered far more, but I can tell you my Dad dealt with his demons until the day he died. My mom, my sister, and I also were affected. I know other families have suffered more.

There are millions of stories out there about veterans. Our family is but one.

If you know a veteran, please reach out to her or him today. Thank the individual for their service.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

I'm working on a secret project.

What if the secret project would give you super powers when you talk to a contractor who's about to bid work for you?

What if the end result of the secret project was something I give to you for FREE?

Would you then be willing to help me with this project by answering just one or two simple questions?

Yes, I thought you'd be interested!

CLICK HERE so I can bestow upon you SUPER POWERS that will defeat not-so-good contractors!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

"The power is always in the question."

Did you just subscribe? WOOT! Welcome!

Did you subscribe many moons ago? Get ready once again for some information that's going to save you time and money.

The mad rush is on at my daughter and son-in-law's new home building site. You'll see the update from week three below. The footings are going in two days from now and then the foundation shortly after that.

I plan to drive up to Mt. Desert Island (MDI) on Sunday to be there on Monday and Tuesday.

Attic Condensation Phone Call

I had a quick phone call with Marvin about some water he saw on the nails that are exposed in his attic. What do you think is the best way to solve his problem?

It won't take you but a few minutes of your time to see if your solution matches the advice I gave to Marvin. CLICK HERE or the image just below to hear my advice.

I've got GREAT photos and VIDEOS at the above page so you can clearly see what's going on and what's in play.

Week Three of Meghan & Brent's New Home

Sometimes things don't happen as fast as one would like.

CLICK HERE to see photos, videos and text of what happened in week three up on MDI.

Christmas Stocking Stuffer - Magnify Things!

I'm trying to share all sorts of cool things I use around my home and not all are tools you might expect.

This week I tried to give you an inexpensive stocking stuffer, remember my goal was for each one to be $15 or less, but I failed.

This week's suggestion is a little more, but it's so worth it.

That 10X magnifier you see above is 42 years old! WOW! It's one of my treasured tools. I bought it as a geology student.

We were given two choices, a cheap one for $1. I'm serious, it was $1 in 1972. But I went for the more expensive Hastings Triplet which I think I spent $7 for.

If you like this idea for a stocking stuffer, realize you can BUY a cheaper one once you click my link. You'll see them on the landing page.

It's more than that now, but boy oh boy is it well made.

CLICK HERE to see it in action. I took a photo of a tiny part of my mom's College of Pharmacy lapel pin. You can get even better magnification if you hold the loupe up to your eye.

Do You Shop at Amazon.com?

If so, do you realize you can help me keep this newsletter and AsktheBuilder.com alive by just using a link I provide to get you to Amazon?

Feel free to bookmark the link on your browser if that's easier.

I get a tiny commission from Amazon for everything you purchase. This does not cause you to pay more at Amazon.com.

CLICK HERE to get the link so you can start to shop and help keep this newsletter alive and healthy.

THANKS SO MUCH for doing this for me.

Revised Columns of Great Interest

I think you're going to like these revised columns. Click the headline or the photo to see lots of great information.

Portable Kick-Butt Table Saw

Special Flagstone Mortar Mix

Solder Copper Pipe Tips

That's enough for today.

I've got a boatload of stuff to get done before I drive up to MDI.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Certified ORGANIC Cleaner - www.StainSolver.com
Cool Waves - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!