How to Find a Roof Leak | While this metal chimney flashing looks worse for wear and design, it does a fine job and prevents water from leaking around the brick chimney. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter
How to Find a Roof Leak
Several weeks ago I shared with you the different types of roofs you can use on your home. I should have realized it would create a tsunami of help requests regarding roof leaks at my Ask Tim page on my www.AsktheBuilder.com website.
You may have been one of the many who have roof leaks that local roofers have not been able to fix or maybe an unskilled laborer was went up on your roof with a caulk gun loaded with black goo. Today I’m going to do my best to share with you the locations of almost all roof leaks and how simple it is to prevent them or fix them.
Just about any professional roofer will agree that roof flashing is at the center of the vortex of just about every leak. If you’ve never been up on a roof, most homeowners haven’t, then you might wonder what is roof flashing?
What are Roof Flashings?
I feel the best definition of roof flashings is they are transitional materials that connect a roof to something that’s not a roof. Here’s a partial list of things that are not a roof:
plumbing vent pipe
chimney
skylights
powered roof ventilator
attic or room dormer
a wall that’s next to and rises above a roof
At each of the above locations you need to ensure water will not enter around the thing popping up through or immediately adjacent to the roof. Master roofers centuries ago solved this problem. Castles, cathedrals, and common homes had flashings most made from common malleable metals such as lead or copper.
Is Lead a Good Flashing Material?
If you paid attention to the news stories after the tragic fire at the 2019 Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, you know that the ruins were considered a toxic waste site because of the tons of lead that had become part of the ruins. Vast amounts of sheet lead was used hundreds of years ago as flashing at countless places up on that roof.
Do Roof Leaks Happen Away from Flashings?
It’s possible, although very rare, to have a leak in the field area of a roof far away from flashings. I did a phone consult with a man a month ago. Within minutes I had him locate the source of his leak. He saved hundreds of dollars using my advice.
The good news is it’s simple to install most roof flashings. If I came to your city or town and did a half-day clinic, I would be able to train you how to install most common flashings in just a few minutes. Yes, it’s that simple.
Many roof flashings are available that are far superior to others. I’ve been using a superb plumbing vent pipe flashing for years that outperforms the cheaper flashing most roofers and plumbers put on your home. The flashing base is made from heavy-duty powder coated metal and the flexible boot is made from a silicone-rubber material that resists ultraviolet (UV) rays that destroy the cheaper flashing in just a few years.
Who Makes the Best Skylight Flashings?
A well-known skylight manufacturer provides their own aluminum flashings with each skylight. These are so simple to install anyone who can fog a mirror can do it. The best part is the flashings are so well engineered they don’t leak even in harsh storms. If you live in a cold climate where ice and snow can build up on your roof, it helps to install an ice and water barrier material up against the sides of the skylight before you install these factory-made flashings.
What are Tin Flashings?
Years ago tin-coated steel was the flashing material used by professional roofers. It came in different weights with 20 and 40-pound tin coating being the most popular. Sadly government regulations have prohibited you from using this fantastic product. To get the same results and ease of installation, you need to use expensive copper.
What are the Best Flashings?
The best flashing materials in my opinion, and time has proven this, are those you can solder. Certain flashing connections have to be folded and interlaced. This metal origami creates tiny holes where two flashing meet that must be soldered to provide a leak-proof installation for decades. I can take you up onto roofs of old homes in the Northeast and Midwest where soldered flashings are still in excellent condition having been exposed to nearly 100 years of weather. Caulk would never produce this result.
Is Caulk a Good Roofing Material?
If your roofer tells you he’s going to use caulk, suggest to him you’d like to pass on that option. Caulks can be damaged by the sun’s UV rays and break down. Those roofers that swear high-performance caulk will provide no leaks must use expert skills to get the caulk to bond to all the flashings and the things the flashings touch. Will the employee who’s up on your roof have these skills?
I’ve assembled quite a few videos that demonstrate to you how flashings should be installed. These videos can help you communicate to a roofer what you want done to ensure you and your possessions stay dry. Watch the flashings videos here.
Did you just subscribe in the past week? If so, many thanks. This issue is somewhat unusual. Also, in the summer, I take my foot off the content throttle as I spend lots of time outdoors here in central New Hampshire.
But you, did you subscribe back about twenty years ago? What would you say if a video you watched back then is still the #1 video on YouTube about the topic?
The wheels are going to fall off everything just before Christmas. The amount of financial pain many will feel is going to be beyond belief. I can say this with authority because I've had enough trips around the sun and I've BEEN HERE BEFORE.
"Due to these price increases, 61% of Americans say they’re worried about their financial situations… Many Americans now expect they’ll have to spend more on a range of purchases, from personal care and home improvements to experiences such as vacations."
Are you faced with doing projects around your home and you're getting sky-high quotes from contractors?
Are you wanting to SAVE MONEY in these very turbulent financial times?
I CAN and WANT to HELP YOU.
Please read the following. I believe it will inspire you. Investing just ten minutes, or less, continuing to read this newsletter could be a life-changing experience for you.
Angel in New York
Do you remember me talking to you about Angel? She's a young mom that lives in upstate New York. Angel has completed, I think, three phone coaching calls with me over the past seven months.
She's going to do another one next week.
Look at a screenshot from my phone from just three days ago.
I used a magenta highlighter to block out Angel's phone number. You also should focus on the text inside the magenta oval at the end of the screenshot.
If you don't remember Angel, she reached out to me last fall. She was trying to get bids from local contractors so they could build a large dormer on her home. The plan was to transform part of an unused attic space into a magic playroom for her kids.
She couldn't get anyone to bid on it! This is where the story gets good.
Angel, bless her heart, decided she was going to do it herself. She started to do research and discovered me.
On our first call, I vetted her to see if I thought she could do the job - both mentally and physically.
She passed the test.
I then said, "Angel, I want you to write down ALL of the questions you have about the project. Email them to me, I'll sort through them, put them in order, and then we'll do another call and I'll start answering them."
I think there should be a new saying, "Never underestimate a determined mom that wants to enlarge her nest for her kids."
Angel did exactly what I asked, I did my part, and proceeded to transform her into a journeyman carpenter over the phone.
I also pointed her to some great books with amazing illustrations that would help her visualize what she needed to do.
Did you see what she texted me above? Angel's about to get started and she's nervous. I tried to frame the moment and put everything into perspective.
You, too, can eat the elephant at your home.
The good news is with my continued help, she's going to build the dormer.
She's going to save about $35,000 using my phone coaching calls.
Jean in Spokane
Hours after texting with Angel, I spoke with Jean in Spokane, WA. She set up a phone coaching call too.
Here's what she emailed me the day before:
"I have a number of questions. The first are all in our bathroom: I will send photos, but I wanted to see if we could schedule maybe a series of two to four 15-minute calls to address these issues. We want to pick one or two projects to fund this year, but we want to know which ones we need to prioritize. Thank you."
Jean sent the photos. I always ask for photos because they show me so much. I see important things in photos that may mean nothing to you.
I was able to answer ALL of Jean's questions in just 27 minutes.
There's no doubt I saved her thousands of dollars. My suggestion about putting off the new driveway alone saved her $10,000.00.
After the call Jean sent this to me:
"All I can say is WOW. To have you share your expert knowledge in such an approachable way was fantastic. My one call with you covered a multitude of projects. We have only owned our home for a little over a year and we needed to prioritize what projects to tackle first.
You helped me organize and prioritize each repair. You talked me through what easy fixes my husband and I could tackle ourselves and which ones we would need an expert's help. You also offered to talk us through learning to tackle some of the repairs ourselves.
You suggested brands and shopping sources for some of the items that we might need. You also suggested video and articles on your website that could assist us.
This one video call and VIP call saved us countless hours and thousands of dollars.In today's expensive world, your advice is simply priceless. We will keep you in our contact list forever. We are grateful that you exist and that you so graciously share your gift."
(BLUSH!)
Zoe in NM
A year ago, I did three consult calls with Zoe. I got a feeling talking to her she was about 29 years old.
She was building her own home in rural New Mexico and couldn't get plumbers to bid her job.
I've been a master plumber since 1981 and with my phone coaching she installed ALL the plumbing in this new home, including the tough stuff under the slab!
The plumbing inspector said it was the BEST work he had ever seen a DIYr do in his 30 years.
Be like Zoe. Start by THINKING you can do it. Most of the time it's just a mental block and you're nervous like Angel is. Or, you just overthink the job and convince yourself that it's not possible.
What would you say if I told you that I know a 63-year-old man that completely ripped off the shingles on his house and then put a new roof on by himself?
Sure, it took him MONTHS to do the job piece by piece, but he SAVED himself $30,000.00. And he did the job SAFELY with no water getting in the home over the summer.
If you and I get on a phone call andI think you can't do something, for the love of God I'll tell you!
But if you CAN DO IT, you might save TENS of THOUSANDS of DOLLARS.
Why not jump on a call and allow me to see what your skill and comfort level is?
The big problem is you may be cocky and think you know all there is to know about something.
You may say, "Screw Tim. I don't need to invest any money with that old goat. I can just watch videos on YouTube and get 'er done."
What happens if you watch videos that show you the WRONG way to do the job?
Do you have any idea of the number of videos I've seen on YouTube that show the WRONG WAY TO DO SOMETHING?
Bidet Conversion Kit. Here's a great one - BioBidet Elite. You just switch out your toilet seat and connect the water and Presto Amino you have a clean bum!
Bidet Converter Kit - They are Life-Changing - Get One
Did you know some people in the world think using toilet paper is disgusting? This is why they use a bidet or a bidet attachment to their existing toilet.
Why do you think Proctor & Gamble pays huge money to creative advertising people to use friendly looking bears to sell Charmin toilet paper?
Millions of people across the world don't use toilet paper. They clean feces from their posterior with soothing warm water. They don't have skid marks in their small clothes like you probably do.
I produce a FREE weekly newsletter and asked my subscribers to share their experiences about bidets. Each one had glowing positive remarks about their bidet toilet seat. Sit back and enjoy what they have to say about a toilet bidet:
Andrew sent this:
"We have two washers in our home, specifically the Toto S500E because it offered a “soft wash” feature that sounded good to these newbies. After reading an article we decided that we were ready to reduce our toilet paper usage.
We had an electrician install an outlet behind the toilet. The bidet seat install is not difficult, directions were good and YouTube videos are available to assist with many seats.
My first three times or so using the bidet I had it on the softest lowest setting and thought I had made a terrible mistake. For about two weeks I felt uncomfortable.
Since then I dislike the unclean feeling I have after using toilets with tissue only. We later purchased a second seat, opting to get the same model for ease of learning the remote. We put the second one in the half bathroom on the main floor, and used a very short heavy duty extension cord to reach the existing outlet."
Kathie is about to sell you a toilet seat bidet. Here's what she says:
"My daughter single-handedly installed one at her condo a couple of years ago (and has since easily removed/re-installed it at a new address).
Her raving about it made me anxious to experience it. Well, without going into "great" detail it truly was a life-changing experience and I wanted to install one at our home.
The brand that we HIGHLY recommend to everyone is LUXE Bidet Neo. They have several different model numbers based on the control colors/features. The one we purchased is their most basic model -- cold water only, non-electric, gray/white control and only cost $20 at Walmart last Christmas. It's also available on Amazon at various price points for various models.
The main points of our total satisfaction are:
Clear instructions for EASY installation
Very clear instructions for usage
Attractive looking
VERY effective cleaning and comfortable to use
Excellent quality and price
Ability to remove/re-install at a new location
Stellar reviews (Amazon and elsewhere)
The only additional piece we purchased (minimal cost) was a certain length cold water supply line to work with our particular toilet.
At first I thought cold water only would be too harsh, but you definitely do not need warm water to feel comfortable while using a bidet.
I wish we had one in our home many, many years ago. It is such a civilized and thorough way of cleansing that makes so much sense.
I'm so spoiled by this method that I purchased a portable squirt bottle (made for this purpose) when I travel."
Rick loves his bidet toilet attachment:
"A couple of years ago I purchased a Brondell (Swash) and I don't think I could ever go back. My only regret is that I do not have enough funds to cover the other two toilets in the house.
This one is electric so I dropped a new line down from the GFCI above the toilet. I'm pretty anal (no pun intended) about hiding wires and have no qualms about installing a new outlet if it will keep most of the wiring out of sight. My only wish is that the supply line was more concealable.
I have become so spoiled by this thing that I will run to the master bath on the second floor if it's time for a sit down. Cold seats are shocking after living with a warm bidet. Oh, and the heated water! I cannot imagine using one of these discount setups that merely shoot the cold supply line water-BBRRRR!
Only one real complaint-I've noticed the seat is discoloring despite following all cleaning instructions but for the comfort achieved, I'll live with it."
Bill loves his Tushy. Read why:
"Hi, Tim! I’m responding to your request about experiences with toilet seat bidets.
My son gave me one about a year ago, I think it was for Father’s Day. At first I thought it might be kind of a joke, but discovered he had one himself and loved it, and unknown to me at the time, my daughter had one also and loved it. My son told me it would be “life changing“. Well, that’s a little overstated, but we installed it together (it was easy) and I’ve been using it ever since with great satisfaction.
It’s a little intimidating at first, especially when that stream of cold water hits you where things usually come out instead of going in, but once you get used to it the result is great. I’ve never felt so clean, and I believe I’m saving money on toilet paper. The brand I have is called Tushy, and I would recommend it highly.
Love your newsletter and read every last one, and although I’m 75 and have done a lot of DIY home improvement over the years, I learn something new from you all the time. Thanks for that!"
Ken has words of wisdom. Be sure to go before you leave your home:
"I've had two different bidet seats. Each had different features so you need to look at what they are offering to determine what you want.
The first was an OVE and the second was a Bio Bidet USPA. Both had heated seats, water to wash your bottom, and air to dry with. They both did the job they were supposed to by washing and drying properly. They had remote control that I consider essential.
They were easy to install. My preference is for the Bio Bidet as it's easier to adjust temperatures and other settings. The biggest problem is using a toilet without a bidet seat."
Sharon had a wonderful story to share:
"Hi, Tim,
Regarding bidets, we have a BioBidet Elite in each bathroom and I'll never go back to toilet paper. Ours are attachments, not the entire toilet. They work well enough for us. I was concerned about the water temp since these don't use hot water hookup or heaters. I was surprised that it's not shocking when using regular cold water, even during the winter.
To me, all the fancy extras that come with the bidet toilets aren't necessary, not to mention how expensive those toilets are. I wasn't willing to spend that kind of money on replacing an entire toilet and then not liking it.
I highly recommend the bidet attachments. They do the job very well."
Did you just subscribe to this newsletter in the past week? That's cause for celebration. Let's each get a two-scoop sundae made with mocha-chip ice cream. If you want to go whole hog, we can eat a 5-way and cheese coney before we pass out eating the sundae.
If you, though, have been a subscriber for about thirteen trips around the sun, you very likely might remember the rare video I recorded about one week after shaving off my mustache. I had that fuzzy lip about 45 years. I got out the razor because my youngest daughter played a prank on me that I fell for.
Inflation Update
Did you see the news this past Friday? The folks higher up the food chain than you and I reported an 8.6% inflation rate for the month of May. That's the highest in over 40 years.
Keep in mind the only reason I'm bringing up inflation in this newsletter is to warn you to either BUY the stuff you need for your home now before prices continue to spiral up and up, or figure out a way to get much more revenue than is currently flowing into your purse, wallet, or bank account.
The 8.6% rate is a half-truth and all half-truths, as we know, are whole lies.
Why is the 8.6% rate a lie?
Well, those folks crunching the numbers today aren't doing it the way they used to do it in the 1980s. If you computed the current rate of inflation like it used to be done, you'd wince when you'd discover the actual May inflation is very likely over 15%.
After all, in the past twenty months, gasoline is up 100%, airline fares are up 38% on average, diesel fuel is up over 135%.
An article I read on Friday, quoting a Bank of America executive said that "Since the beginning of the year(just six months!), Hartnett noted, natural gas prices have increased by 141 percent, gasoline by 91 percent, oil 61 percent, iron ore 45 percent, wheat by 39 percent, and soybeans by 33 percent."
So how in the world are those folks tucked away in some stark limestone government building coming up with a single-digit number of 8.6%?
After digesting Mr. Harnett's numbers, you have to ponder if you're being played. If you don't feel you are, I'm to assume you must love getting sand stuck in your nostrils.
To add further misery, did you see the drubbing the stock market took as a result of Friday's economic news? How's that 401K of yours doing? Yeeeouch!!!
Your investments need to be doing BETTER than the inflation rate or otherwise you're standing still or going backwards.
The best advice I can offer is to start making better decisions about anything directly or indirectly related to finances. But what do I know? I ate lunch for 20+ years sitting on empty overturned drywall mud buckets. Joan tells you below what she thinks of my ability to gather facts and share them with you.
Stain Solver & Inflation
A new batch of ten tons of Stain Solver is about to be made. ALL of the prices of ALL of the ingredients, packaging, freight to get things to the plant and finished product to the distribution center are UP.
At least one size is already out of stock and two others are dangerously low.
My Past Week
Three days ago, we had some really heavy rain. I had to go to town and grabbed my favorite rain jacket. It's a stunning blue one that makes my eyes pop on gloomy days.
I had last worn this jacket about six weeks ago on a visit south to see my son. He and I walked to a nearby pizza parlor on a drizzly day to grab dinner. On the pizza parlor carry-out counter was a small box filled with schedules for the Nashua NH Silver Knights minor league baseball team.
I took one of the folded paper schedules, stuffed it in the jacket pocket, and proceeded to forget about it.
After getting back from town the other day, I reached my hand into the pocket days and found the schedule. I opened it up, started to read it, and a big smile appeared on my face.
Kathy, my loving wife, thought I was nuts. She asked me what was responsible for the grin.
"Look! Check out the names of the Knights opponents.
Brockton Rox New Britain Bees Norwich Sea Unicorns Pittsfield Suns Vermont Lake Monsters Westfield Starfires Worcester Bravehearts
I've got to get a Sea Unicorns hat or a Lake Monsters one! Surely they have one in 7 and 7/8 size. What do you think?"
Kathy rolled her eyes and made it clear that I should spread my happiness in other parts of the house.
Two days ago, I collaborated with a life-long friend, Phil Clymer. We co-authored an article about a very very special room we spent time in as undergrad geology students.
You might want to read this wistful time-machine piece, especially if you've been financially successful and would like to enhance your legacy by having something named after you.
I'd also be interested to know if you might have been in the car that sunny day on I-40 in New Mexico. It's a 1:10,000,000 chance that you might be one of my subscribers! How funny would that be?!!!
Last week, I also had a fast text exchange with a very dear friend of mine from high school days who lives nearly 900 miles from me. We still communicate on a regular basis.
About a month ago, she had told me that the trim on her old distinctive brick home was going to be painted this summer and then immediately switched to another subject. I didn't comment at the time about the painting job.
Here's part of the text exchange from a few days ago:
My dear friend later told me that she's used this painter for many jobs and she trusts him and his crew.
I scolded her for not sending me a text months ago saying, "Tim, I need some advice. Bob and I need to get the house painted. What do I need to know about the process so all goes well and what is the BEST paint to use?"
Had she done that, I would have sent her this simple document that YOU SHOULD BE USING AS YOU PREPARE TO GET BIDS FROM PAINTERS.
In that document, I specifically WARN you and the painter of a potential lead-paint hazard.
I ended my conversation sharing that her days of growing vegetables outdoors next to the house are pretty much over. All of this misery could have been avoided.
Don't ALLOW THINGS LIKE this to happen to you. Always ask me for advice BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK of reaching out to contractors.
Homemade Weed & Grass Killer
Look at this photo:
What killed those weeds and the grass? How many days do you think it took? Would you eat what I used to kill the weeds and grass after seeing this photo?
Before you watch the short video, think about how many videos you've seen online that you think are believable and then you SHARE them with others not thinking twice at what might happen.
You might want to reconsider doing that until such time as you make sure what you're sharing is true.
If you're tempted to write something similar to what I received from Joan in Toledo, OH, you may want to run it through your Mom Filter first.
Imagine what your mom would say about a flaming email you're about to hurl at someone in response to something you read. Would your dear sweet mother approve of your response, ask you to tone it down, or would she send you to your room?
Here's what Joan sent to me. It's copied and pasted with absolutely no editing or touch up:
"You obviously are a Republican (I think Donald Trump is a disgrace to the human race) and don't believe in the covid vaccines and now you're an economy expert blaming the higher ups (Biden) is he also to blame for Europe's inflation?. Please stick to your expertise and leave politics out."
- - -
I responded politely to Joan asking her for some hard facts to back up what she said. She never responded.
I didn't mention politics at all in last week's newsletter. I just stated financial and historical facts.
It's my suspicion that Joan has thin skin about what's going on, who's not doing anything about it, or who's doing lots to make inflation worse.
Each and every response similar to Joan's had a common theme. All were telling me what I should do.
I find that personality flaw quite interesting from a historical perspective. Go back in history and focus on people who love to tell others what to do, where to sit, etc.
That's quite enough for a Sunday in June.
Go out and enjoy the WX as we call it in Morse.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Hilton Hotels Use - www.StainSolver.com
Field Day 3 Weeks - www.W3ATB.com I'll be 1B
Do It Right, Not Over!
P.S. Do you want to know the dirty little secrets PR people use to get you to buy products?
I'll bet you had no idea how easy it is for people to knead you in their hands like a piece of soft warm putty without you even feeling their touch.
But soon you'll know and better yet, how to defend yourself!
Tim Carter lives on the west shore of Lake Winnisquam in central New Hampshire. A typical Saturday in the summer would have many many boats skittering about after lunch on a warm sunny day.
This is the Old Tech building on the University of Cincinnati campus in its death throes. It's quite possible this photo was taken just as the excavator bucket was about to claw into the Fenneman Room on the first floor. It's such a sad photo but some bricks were salvaged by the Geology Department and offered for sale as mementos. I have no recollection, as an alumni, of hearing about the sale. I would have gladly paid $25 for one. But through the generosity and thoughtfulness of Drs. Huff and Kilinc we both received 4 x 2-1/2 x 3/4" slices of Old Tech brick. I assure you these tiny slices of history are now treasured possessions. Look below for a photo of this rare piece of history.
The Fenneman Room at the University of Cincinnati Department of Geology
By: Tim Carter, BS-1974 and Phil Clymer, MS-1979
The Department of Geology at the University of Cincinnati (UC) used to have a magic room called the Fenneman Room. It was a room honoring the memory of Nevin Fenneman, a famous American geologist who taught for many years at UC. It was unique because it was a space set aside for undergraduate geology students. It was theirs alone and all graduate students and faculty crossed the threshold as guests.
The hallowed nondescript room met its dusty fate in 1990 when the high-strength steel talons of a giant yellow excavator machine transformed its plaster walls and ceiling into a pile of debris to be buried in an unmarked grave at a local landfill.
This is a slice of one of the bricks salvaged from the Old Tech building. Unfortunately, I believe the 1907 date is technically wrong. The building was built in 1901-02 and ready for occupancy in March of 1902. The full ownership of the building transferred to the College of Engineering at UC in 1907.
The Fenneman Room that was on the first floor of the Old Tech building has already transformed from history to legend because the now newer combined Geology/Physics building on the UC campus has no such gathering place for undergraduates.
This collaboration of memories between myself and Phil Clymer, a lifelong friend I met on my first geology field trip out West, is meant to preserve the memories created there and to inspire someone in the future to create a similar room at some college or university.
Here I am the summer of 1972. I was out West on my first geology field trip. Phil is the shadow in the passenger seat of Big Red, a beefy 4x4 International owned by the UC Geology department. I had met Phil for the first time just days before when about 20 of us went on a two-week Southwest field trip led by Dr. Len Larsen. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter
Phil and I spent countless hours in the room together along with many other geology students between 1972 and 1974. Other students got to enjoy the one-of-a-kind room for sixteen more years after we had graduated from UC. This article was created so the Fenneman Room doesn't become a myth.
The Fenneman Room was extraordinary as you’re about to discover. It quite possibly was the only room on the vast campus of UC that was set aside for undergraduates. Lifetime friendships were born and nourished in this room. Some students, like me, got to see the relaxed side of a few of the brilliant professors that spent time with us undergraduates in the room when they popped in to chit chat.
It’s hard to believe that a simple 12x14-foot space in a 70-year-old brick building with 12-foot ceilings could have such a profound and lasting effect on geology students, but trust us, it’s true as you’re about to discover.
The New Geology/Physics Building
Are you a geology major at the University of Cincinnati as you read this? Perhaps you’re pursuing a graduate degree or are a faculty member. You no doubt spend lots of your time in the combined Physics and Geology building who’s foundation roots penetrate into the clay soil of what used to be University Drive, a public road that once extended east from Clifton Avenue into Avondale.
When you exit the south doors under the dark and gloomy porte cochere of the combined Geology/Physics monolith, that valley in front of you used to be Snake Drive that slithered into the south end of Burnet Woods.
Time, under the guise of progress, has a tendency to erode important historical features, elements, and most of all, fond and pleasant memories.
The Old Tech Eon (Era?)
It’s been a few years since I’ve been in the sterile cast-concrete building you now call home, and I can’t recall if in the wide main hallways there might be a framed photograph of Old Tech. If not, you should do whatever is necessary to find one, frame it, and place it in the main lobby in a place of honor.
Phil and I attended UC from 1970-1974. At the time, Old Tech was the oldest standing building on the campus. Its grave is located due east of the landmark McMicken Hall College of Arts and Sciences in what is now the center of McMicken Commons. The red rectangle in the above satellite image of the UC campus shows the approximate location and size of Old Tech.
This is the south facade of Old Tech. You can see the wide sidewalk to the west that was a direct connection between the Physics building and bookstore and the Quadrangle just to the east of the Physics building.
Old Tech was a magnificent old solid brick building constructed between 1901 and 1902. I’d say the building was every bit of 50 feet wide and 200 feet long. Its foundation was built using hand-hammered pieces of the Bellevue Formation limestone probably harvested from the massive limestone quarry just 1/4 mile away that’s now Fairview Park.
The L-shaped green area is the old huge limestone quarry. The foundation stone of thousands of nearby buildings was harvested from here. Copyright 2022 Google, Inc.
You can travel on the floor of this quarry if you walk or drive on Fairview Park Drive and look out across the Mill Creek Valley. This quarry provided foundation stone for thousands of houses and small businesses as well as stones for local retaining walls.
Old Tech's Floor Plan
Old Tech had a very structured layout. There was a center hall that ran north/south for the entire length of the building on both floors. When you entered the front door, you walked past a wide stairway that led to the second floor. There was a massive basement that had a huge darkroom where countless rolls of film were developed and black-and-white prints made for dissertations.
I spent many hours in this darkroom developing rolls of my own film as well as that of graduate students who had no darkroom skills. I also made hundreds and hundreds of black-and-white photographs of my own rock specimens and prints for graduate theses.
This is a photo I shot in the basement of Old Tech using the special light table and a macro lens. I then developed the film myself and made this 8x10 glossy print. Darkroom magic is now mythical. One wonders if you can even buy the chemicals used to develop film and prints. I still have the ruler used in this photo for scale!
The basement was also used for storage. The main pipe that provided the heat to the building entered into the basement. All the buildings on the UC campus got their heat and hot water from a central plant that was located at the north end of Nippert Stadium. All other mechanical aspects of the building could be found in the cavernous belly of this massive building.
Classrooms, administration offices, and faculty offices could be found on both floors. However, Old Tech had one special room that we are quite sure no other college department on campus had - The Fenneman Room.
This smallish room was on the first floor of Old Tech south of the center door and on the west side of the building. It was located between Dr. Paul Potter’s office and the fossil museum. He had the patience of Job and/or the plaster walls were so thick he never heard our hooting and hollering each day.
Dr. Potter could be heard in the early morning writing the outline of his day’s activity on his slate black board. He was famous for talking to himself while he wrote. On the other side of the room was the fossil museum, which was devoted to vast collections of Upper Ordovician fossils collected from the Cincinnati area.
The museum was also home to a skeleton that was rumored to be either a mammoth or perhaps a mastodon. In reality it was the skeleton of a circus elephant, named Old Chief, that had gone rogue while performing locally. He was a treasured guest, and the paleontology grad students who officed in the museum found that he made a dandy Christmas tree when adorned with some ornaments and colored lights.
There was an unverified rumor that Old Chief’s hide had been preserved and was in fact stored in the mysterious and off-limits attic space of Old Tech. Several student groups were thought to have attempted to breach the attic through the narrow and steep stairway located in one of the classrooms. Whether any succeeded in penetrating the space is unknown.
Thinking back on the furniture arrangement in the room, it was probably 14 x 12 feet. Its windows faced the wide sidewalk students used to get from the quadrangle to the Tangeman University Center (TUC) and all other buildings on the south side of the campus.
This concrete path was a superhighway of succulent eye candy for many of us male students overflowing with testosterone. Spring was the favorite time of year to open the large windows and admire the young lasses that would saunter by in halter tops, a clothing trend of the times.
In the 1970s and before, geology was primarily a male-dominated science. I could count on one hand the number of women undergrad and graduate students in our Geology Department between 1972-74. Over the next few years, that imbalance started to correct itself. Today, and it's a very good thing, there are many many women geologists, professors, and students. Someone needs to tamp down all the boisterous boys!
This is the west facing long wall of Old Tech. That sidewalk was alive with tasty eye candy each balmy spring day. The Fenneman Room windows were just below the fire escape platform you see at the second-story windows.
The Fenneman Room
This room was named after Nevin Fenneman, a famous geologist who had a very long career at UC. For all we know, it could have been his office. This simple space was given to the undergrad geology students as an informal place to meet, chat, study, tell tall tales, and who knows, maybe even kiss your girlfriend when alone on a Friday night sitting on the worn-out couch.
Every other undergrad on campus had to find their friends in the boisterous and crowded TUC building, the library, or sitting outside on the grassy knolls spread out all over campus in warm weather.
We geology students had our own comfortable private room to hang out and forge bonds with our peers, grad students, and the faculty.
Field Trips & Friendships
Getting a geology degree meant that the outdoors was also one of your classrooms. Local and long-distance field trips originating from the Fenneman Room were as common as cans of coveted Coors beer brought back from Colorado.
What better place to hunt for fossils than the exposed limestone and shale cliffs within miles of the Fenneman Room? These local rocks were part of the world-type section of the Upper Ordovician time period. That really didn't mean much to us undergrads, but the professors sure understood how lucky we were.
Who would think that humble Cincinnati, Ohio would also be one of the best places to study the enormous power of continental glaciers, the second-last one changing the course of the mighty Ohio River about 600,000 years ago.
Who would ever guess that Central Parkway was built on top of a glacial outwash plain created by ice-cold meltwater carrying untold tons of sand and gravel from the 3,000-foot-tall glacier just a few miles north of the present Mill Creek Valley? A field trip to the now abandoned Rack Sand and Gravel pit or the overlook at Alms Park on a crisp autumn Saturday morning to witness the power of Mother Nature is the stuff memories are made from.
This is the glacial geology map of the state of Ohio. It shows the different geologic evidence of the massive continental glaciers. Copyright 2022 State of Ohio
Few, if any, other majors at UC had these required field trips. When you went on one, you got to see a slightly different side of your professor. A typical professor would tend to be far more rigid in a classroom inside Old Tech. The field trips allowed students and faculty to relax and this fuzzy relationship extended into the Fenneman Room.
Making it Our Own
The Fenneman Room had at its center a 6 to 7-foot-long standard table. It was identical to the others we sat at in the Old Tech classrooms. The one end of the table was jammed up tight against the window wall. The table was the center of activity, allowing some of us to finish assignments and homework, drink coffee in the morning, eat lunch, host debates, brag about rock or fossil samples, etc.
As you walked into the room, there was a small closet on your right where a refrigerator chugged away. On the south wall to your left a frumpy old couch accepted us and our guests. On several occasions my future wife and I would spend time in it during a break in classes senior year. At least one overstuffed upholstered chair was across from the couch next to the windows in the corner of the room.
There were no whiteboards, laptops, nor Internet back in the 1970s. Several discussions made it crystal clear we needed a large writing surface. One day Phil and I went hunting in all the dark spaces of Old Tech. Soon we discovered an old neglected blackboard.
Knowing we’d never get permission to install the board in our room, Phil and I decided to install it ourselves on the wall across from the windows just south of the door. We honed our fledgling home improvement skills one evening when everyone else had gone home. I remember borrowing my dad’s drill to install anchors to hold up the heavy slate. Looking back, we were so lucky we didn’t drill into a pipe or a wire! There's no doubt the professors saw this new improvement, but never questioned how it came to be.
The room was cozy, it was comfortable, and it was ours. It was an oasis of friendship and comradery.
Lunch with Lattman
Dr. Lawrence Lattman was the head of the Geology Department in the early 1970s. He was a brilliant geomorphologist with an outgoing personality. I distinctly remember several days he’d saunter into the room, pull up a chair, and proceed to eat his bagged lunch.
He’d tell tales of past field trips and share life lessons about all sorts of non-geology topics. You’d think it was your uncle in the room, not a dry and authoritarian professor. Dr. Lattman was a gentleman and he understood how to communicate with undergraduates like me.
Phil and I became friends with Dr. Lattman and I recall he hired us to paint the kitchen at his home just a few miles away in the gaslight district of Clifton. He may have had us do other work, but I don’t recall it at this time.
Dr. Lattman taught me two survival lessons. One was to always stay hydrated when out West. He talked about how the humidity is so low that when you perspire it almost immediately evaporates. Dehydration and death are constant threats during the summer in the Southwest.
He also talked about flash floods. I had no clue about these although I had seen them on a very small scale after heavy rain in Cincinnati. The issue is, he said, the storm can be 10 or 20 miles away and all of a sudden a sunny and dry gulch or wash where you may be camping or mapping could become flooded without warning in minutes. He warned us you could never outrun a flash flood. To survive you must immediately start climbing up and out of the gulch as fast as you can getting as high as possible.
Dr. Lattman was one great man and he was surrounded by quite a few other professors who made for an all-star geology faculty. Among them were Dr. Kenneth Caster, Dr. Len Larsen, Dr. Pryor, Dr. Warren Huff, Dr. Attila Kilinc, Dr. Sunderman, Dr. Rueben Bullard, and Mr. Richard Durrell.
As we worked on this article, Phil shared with me a single sentence that sums up how the Fenneman Room impacted my life. He said, “I can't imagine what our school lives would have been like without it.”
I can tell you what it would have been like. Empty.
I would have gone to class each day, walked out of each classroom to waste time somewhere in a very public noisy place on the UC campus. Or, I would have just gone home.
The Fenneman Room was like going into a toy shop with an ice cream stand in one corner and a penny candy case on another wall. It was a place of happiness.
Not all of my classmates spent time in the Fenneman Room. They missed out on so much in my opinion. They might not have memories of Lon Cooper's bravado.
They didn’t have to wear a winter jacket in the room senior year as did I when I was in the room at the same time as Lynn McClane. In the spring of our junior year we were an item but once we both went home for the summer I got back together with my high school sweetheart. When Lynn drove from Columbus one summer day as Phil and I were painting Dr. Larsen's stucco home, I didn't have the courage to come down the ladder and tell Lynn the truth. That was such a sad mistake. I regret to this day not giving her the respect she deserved. I doubt she'll ever forgive me and I fully understand.
They missed out on epic games of chess and tall tales of three young vivacious female entrepreneurs holding up a cardboard sign with $20 scrawled on it while cruising on I-40 at 75 mph in New Mexico.
The Fenneman Room, for those of us that recognized its power and allure, made my last three years of formal education the best I could ever imagine. I would never have thought a simple room could play such a big part in creating a family of lifetime friends, but it did.
If you didn’t have, nor don’t have now, a simple room dedicated to undergraduates, I feel sorry for you. If you’ve been financially successful and can make a room like this come to be in some future or existing college building, do it. Maybe one day a future student will write about the room named after you. What better way to add to your legacy!
The following content was provided by Phil Clymer:
My first entry into the world of Fenneman was in the fall quarter of 1972. I had completed the introductory course the previous year, and participated in the two-week summer field trip that had visited the Grand Canyon, including a memorable hike to the bottom, and numerous other National Parks.
Here's Phil with his trademark bandana on holding up a tired yucca tree inside the Grand Canyon. Photo by Dr. Len Larsen
Multiple friendships were initiated on this trip, and after classes started, the familiar faces from the trip were seen within the confines of the special room with a sign on the door – Fenneman Room Lounge for Undergraduate Geology Majors. Could this be a joke? I was not aware of any major-specific rooms anywhere else on campus set aside for undergraduates. I gutted it up and entered into a new world.
The room was largely a place to hang out between classes, but also served as a lunch room. There was ample table space for unpacking a sack lunch. There was an antique refrigerator in the closet that worked well enough to preserve said lunches from spoilage. There was a badly worn sofa against the south wall, and I believe a couple of overstuffed easy chairs. There was a gigantic repurposed coffee urn that was kept full of hot water for making instant coffee and tea. There was an unwritten law that the first to arrive would fill the urn from the water tap in the lecture room across the hall, and turn it on so the later arrivals would have hot water available. Few of the undergrads had keys to the building so there was another agreement to secretly keep one of the windows unlocked so that an early arrival could crawl through the window to commence the day’s activity. We pooled our resources and purchased an inexpensive chess set that was left on the table for any to make use of.
The Fenneman room had multiple uses throughout the school year. It was the meeting point for Saturday field trips.
This is a photo I shot of Phil while on a typical Saturday field trip. You can see the interbedded Upper Ordovician limestone and shale to his right. If I were a betting man, I believe this photo was taken alongside I-74 as it was being connected to I-75 next to Mt. Airy Park.
It was occasionally utilized as a class room, particularly for the Saturday lab sessions for Caster’s Historical Geology, and for Lattman’s Field Methods. It was, of course, a gathering place for lunch breaks and during the school year nearly all of the faculty graced us with their presence at least once, and several on a regular basis. The faculty freely shared stories of their professional experiences outside of the classroom. Many of the graduate students came to hang out with the undergrads occasionally!
In the winter quarter of the year, we revived the Geology Club. We put a committee together and applied for official recognition from the University. We were on a roll! We decided to upgrade our club house – The Fenneman Room. We wanted to repaint it to cover the institutional color, but when we asked permission to paint we were told to forget it. There was an official color scheme, enforced by a panel more ruthless than any homeowners’ association.
In addition the painting would have to be done by the unionized UC painters and charged toward the maintenance budget for the building. If we did a pirate painting, if and when discovered, it would be repainted with the same penalty.
So instead we purchased a tectonic map of North America and wall paper pasted it to the south wall. We located an ancient slate chalkboard in a store room, we refinished the badly pitted surface and hung it on the wall. We had a talented seamstress friend of the organization, Connie Truthan, who made curtains for the windows to replace the roller shades. A cheap indoor/outdoor carpet was installed to cover the barely painted concrete floor. Someone donated an upgrade to our ancient refrigerator, and we sold the old one to a faculty member for five bucks who converted it into a fish smoker.
There was one more use for the room that bears mention. It was occasionally literally a home away from home if someone got stranded at school without transport. I utilized this option on several occasions, two times with humorous outcomes, at least for me. Dr. Davis entered what he thought was an empty room only to nearly jump out of his socks when he saw me stretched out on the sofa. The unfortunate custodian had a similar reaction another time.
But now back to our main purpose. What did the Fenneman Room mean to me? It was a lounge for between classes, it was a lunch room, a dormitory, a class room, a game room, and many other things. It was unique perhaps in the context of the larger university, as we were aware of no other department that provided space specifically for undergrad majors.
It was widely believed that biology and chemistry were flunk-out courses for the pre-med program. Whether or not this was accurate, it would hardly foster an attitude of cooperation between majors of those sciences. What we had in Geology was a place where we may be competitors, but also colleagues, and most importantly, friends. I maintain that the Fenneman Room fostered an environment for the development and cementing of friendships, some of which have survived the passage of a half century.
I returned to Old Tech a few years after graduation and was disappointed to find that most or all of the changes we made to the room had been undone.
The tectonic map had been removed, as well as the blackboard. The carpet had been removed and the floor was once again a mixture of badly worn gray floor paint and concrete polished smooth by the passage of countless footsteps.
The sign was still on the door but the room was unoccupied. I was even more surprised when I first visited the new combined Geology/Physics building to find there was no similar space reserved for the undergrads. I was told there was a break room for coffee etc. but it was reserved for faculty and graduate students. I was profoundly disappointed that they had discarded what to me and my classmates was a deeply treasured experience.
A friend of mine sent me the following video. At first blush, it's extremely convincing. You have to be REALLY careful about opinions you might form after watching just one video.
Homemade Weed Killer - Look at the dead weeds in between the brick. How long do you think it took to kill them and what did I use? It appears I happened to discover the strongest homemade weed killer! It's a homemade weed killer that really works as you can see from the photograph. Keep reading. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I love testing things. I also hate chemical weed killers that have names it's nearly impossible to pronounce.
My front sidewalk is immediately adjacent to my water well. I would never use regular weed killers on my lawn or the sidewalk for fear of poisoning my family and myself.
Homemade Weed Killer Recipe
A few days ago, I decided to do a test. I had some leftover Goya Hot Sauce Salsa Picante that had been up in my daughter's room. There was a very small amount in the bottle. I took it outside and put some drops of the sauce directly on the weeds in between the brick in the sidewalk.
Keep reading to see what I did to get the results you see in the photo above and how fast it worked. After the hot sauce test, I did another test using a very common liquid you have in your home. The results were fascinating.
A very good friend of mine told me she uses a brew of salt, Dawn dish soap, and vinegar. Go online and there are as many different homemade weed and grass killer concoctions as there are ants and flies at a summer BBQ.
All of them may work, but how FAST do they work? Are they SAFE? Will they kill weeds and grass in hours?
Homemade Weed Killer Safe for Pets
Humans can eat hot sauce, well most of us can! Many vets recommend not feeding it to dogs. But I've got really great news for you because if you keep your dog in at night, Goya Hot Sauce is completely safe! Keep reading.
Homemade Weed and Grass Killer
Here's what I did. As I said, I put the hot sauce directly on the weeds full strength. It soaked into the soil and sand in between the brick. I then just walked away hoping that I'd see results in a week.
This is a strong homemade weed killer. You don't have to mix it with water, but it's probably a good idea.
How Fast Did Your Homemade Recipe for Weed Killer Take to Kill?
The weeds and grass died in less than twelve HOURS. That's not a typo. I think the only way you could get faster results would be to use a hand-held propane torch. That's really dangerous to do as you can set mulch on fire and you can ruin brick if it gets too hot too fast.
If you have dogs, cats, or other animals just apply the Goya sauce before it gets dark and leave your pets inside all night. In the morning go out and sprinkle some water where you sprayed the hot sauce. This will dilute any sauce on the surface. Overnight the weeds and grass died so the water is not going to interfere with the killing action.
Should I Mix the Hot Sauce with Water?
Yes, since it killed the weeds so fast, I'd say you can mix it with water and still have a very strong weed killer. I'm going to mix it 50/50 with water to do my next test. I don't need it to kill in 12 hours for goodness sake and neither do you.
To save lots of money, you might try a weaker concentration to see what kind of results you get.
What About Vinegar as a Homemade Weed and Grass Killer?
My son thought that the vinegar in the hot sauce was responsible for the fast-killing action. I decided to test that hypothesis with full-strength white vinegar. The photos show vinegar had little effect over 12 hours.
But after 24 hours it had the same result as the Goya hot sauce. Some other ingredient in the hot sauce makes it more toxic to the weeds and grass.
I shot this photo seconds after saturated the weeds and grass with full-strength white vinegar. I did the same exact procedure with the hot sauce.
This is what the weeds and grass looked like after 12 hours. There's very little change and most definitely NO brown dead grass/weeds as happened with the Goya hot sauce. Something else in the hot sauce was responsible for the FAST KILL.
The two lines on the left are the white vinegar. The two lines on the right are the original Goya hot sauce. This photo was shot 24 hours after applying the full-strength white vinegar.
How to Build a Wood Fence | This is a distinctive weathered wood privacy fence. It's simple to build using common tools. Look closely at the individual pieces. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
How to Build a Wood Fence - Tips for a Fancy Fence
You’ve heard the wise saying, “Good fences make good neighbors”, I’m sure. It’s been around in one form or the other for hundreds of years and Robert Frost immortalized it in one of his missives just over 100 years ago.
The advice is solid and you can take it one step further should you desire. Attractive and one-of-a-kind fences make great and appreciative neighbors. These special fences can also serve a secondary purpose of making your landscaping even more beautiful.
Building a Wood Fence
Stop and think about that for a moment. When was the last time you saw a fence that put your head on a swivel? You don’t give a second thought to a plain-vanilla chain-link fence. A split-rail wood fence might get an extra half-second glance from you. A picket fence with special posts and humped fence sections might get you to comment verbally about its grandeur.
Here's a simple wood fence. Now imagine one that's far more decorative like the one farther below.
But what happens if you take it to the next level? What happens if you invested the extra time to build a decorative fence using layered materials, simple geometric designs, and any other trim pieces to create a one-of-a-kind fence? You can do this using any number of materials such as wood, wrought iron, aluminum, or maybe vinyl.
I built this fence using a photograph my wife gave me. Look at the detail on the fence posts. I prestained all the parts before assembling the fence.
How to Build a Wood Privacy Fence
I can tell you from experience that fences like this do create years of pleasure both for you and those who live on the other side of the man-made barrier. Several times a year, I get the privilege to visit the Asticou Azalea Garden on Mount Desert Island in Downeast Maine and see such a fence.
Asticou is a magnificent collection of all sorts of outdoor plants, trees, a pond, and Japanese garden. Not only can you discover peace and serenity here, but you can view a stunning decorative wood fence that provides a gorgeous backdrop for some of the specimen plantings.
This is a tiny sliver of the plantings at Asticou Azalea Gardens on Mt. Desert Island in Maine.
Years ago you had to have a creative DNA within you to achieve stellar results or you may have paid an architect or designer to create a fence design. The Internet now makes this child’s play as you can view thousands of fence photos to get your inspiration. If you’ve not done this, I urge you to try. Be prepared to view tantalizing pieces of fence eye candy made from all sorts of material in a myriad of designs.
Wood is probably the best material to consider if you intend to build your own decorative fence. It’s easy to obtain, it’s easy to work with, and it might be the most affordable option you have.
Wood Fences can be Controlled by Zoning Laws
There are quite a few basic things you should consider before you start your project. First and foremost check with your local town or city to see if there are restrictions when it comes to fencing. The community I last lived in had a height requirement for fences. The founders of the community wanted to preserve the open vistas and rural feel of the land and knew that tall fences would ruin this look. Fence heights were limited to 56 inches in height.
Building a Wood Fence on Your Property - Not Neighbor's!
Once you determine if you can build a fence, you need to make sure the fence is on your land. If you don’t know the exact location of your property lines, it might be well worth it to have a surveyor come out and re-establish your lot boundaries. Many homeowners don’t realize a surveyor can install stakes or pins along a boundary line with speed and precision. These intermediary points will allow you to ensure your fence is on your property.
Call 811 to Prevent Expensive Mistakes
If you have buried utilities in your area, call 811 three days before you intend to start to use a post hole digger. The last thing you want to do is chop an electric line in half, damage a fiber-optic cable, pierce a gas line, or create a fountain cutting into a water line.
Wind Can Blow Over a Fence
It pays to have deep respect for the power of wind. If you decide to build a fence that’s more solid than not, keep in mind when the wind blows against it, there can be hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds of force trying to blow it over. You may have to bury fence posts three, or more, feet into the ground to resist this force.
Use Crushed Gravel Not Concrete
Think of the future. I’ve seen many other home improvement articles try to convince you to surround your fence posts with concrete. It’s not necessary and concrete will cause you tremendous pain in the future if you need to replace a fence post. Often the soil is strong enough on its own to support sideways movement of a fence. If you feel the need to add additional strength, then surround key fence posts with a 5-inch-wide ring of crushed gravel. Once this compacts, it will be just like concrete and far easier to remove should the need arise.
Pre-Stain or Paint All Wood Fence Parts
If you’re using wood, take whatever steps are necessary to precut and pre-stain or paint each individual piece of wood on all sides and edges before you assemble the pieces. If you layer wood pieces on top of one another and don’t do this, water will seep into the wood causing paint to peel prematurely and it will accelerate wood rot.
I’ve found over the years the best fence paint is not paint! Do what Tom Sawyer did and apply a coat of true whitewash. You can add dry pigments to real whitewash to achieve just about any color. I have a secret recipe for traditional whitewash here.
You might be my newest subscriber. Thanks for your trust. During the summer, my newsletter is similar to lite beer. It's thin on content calories because you might be outdoors enjoying the warm and balmy weather as I do in central NH.
You, though, might have been on my subscriber list long enough to remember the video I shot about why it pays to use high-quality paint brushes to carefully apply exterior stain or paint of any type. Click on the image below to watch the video.
Are You an Electrician?
Are you an electrician that installs steel conduit through wood studs in wood-frame buildings? If so, PLEASE CONTACT ME.
Inflation - You Better
be
Paying Attention
I try to keep my fingers on the pulse of all things home improvement. New products are fun to discover and test. But as you and I know we both need moneyto buy products and hire workers in case you're not a DIYr.
This is why one of the things I focus on is the economics swirling around the home building and remodeling industry.
In addition to spending an hour or two a day scouring and consuming as much trustworthy financial news as I can gather, I also read each of the new comments on my 800+ YouTube videos.
Peruse the comments under my videos and you'll discover more and more folks like you are talking about how much the prices of things have gone up. Lumber, shingles (oil is used to make them!), tile, paint, cabinets, faucets, countertops, etc. are just a few of the things people are complaining about.
Many things contribute to price increases. A price increase might be temporary if the law of supply and demand comes into play. You often see price-gouging segments on the news whenever a national disaster strikes that creates a huge increase in demand for builders, remodelers, and roofers.
For example, before a major hurricane pummels parts of the East Coast, that region may have only had a demand for 100 new roofs per day. The day after the storm, the demand rises to 1,000 or 2,000 new roofs per day until such time as all the damaged roofs are repaired or replaced.
The roofers and shingle suppliers are able to raise their prices because quite a few people are screaming, "TAKE MY MONEY WHATEVER THE COST IS!!!!!"
They don't want water streaming into what's left of their homes. The roofers and supply houses rarely refuse that extra money.
The prices stabilize and come down once the demand for new roofs vaporizes.
But the adage what goes up must come down does not come into play with what's happening in your world and mine at this time. The price increases you're seeing now in just about everything you purchase is inflation.
Inflation is not a temporary price increase. It's a guaranteed reaction to reckless monetary policy created by people higher up the food chain than you and I. While it's possible for prices to drop with deflation, it's quite rare. Don't hold your breath waiting for deflation to kick in.
Take something as simple and basic as energy. It's a basic building block of the economy because energy is required to get things done.
I'm sure you realize that diesel fuel is baked into the price of every building material and product you need in your home. This aromatic liquid hydrocarbon is perhaps the sole energy source that moves the things you need from mines, forests, and factories to your doorstep.
The entire USA trucking industry uses diesel fuel. Railroad locomotives consume vast quantities of diesel to move gypsum from mines to drywall plants. These same unit trains move copper and aluminum ore to smelting plants so you have electricity in your home. Lumber is transported from giant mills by train. The list of raw materials transported by train is endless.
I can't think of one building material that's not transported to you in some way using diesel fuel.
The retail price of diesel fuel is up 136 percent in the past twenty months.
A trucker buying diesel fuel in late October of 2020 paid just $2.35 per gallon. This past week that same trucker filling the giant tanks slung on either side of his truck cab might have paid $5.54, or more, per gallon.
The vertical line and box in the chart below is the late October, 2020 price point.
Several days ago, I had a rare breakfast treat. I stopped and got two smallish double chocolate doughnuts and a small bottle of chocolate milk. I know, too much sugar!
The cost was $5.07 at the New Hampton, NH Dunkin' Doughnuts. The price seemed high to me and I asked the employee about it. "Oh, we had a big price increase last week. You're the first customer to ask about it."
When I inquired about what the two doughnuts and milk cost before the increase, the nice young woman told me $4.04.
Do you remember your grade school math? My guess is Dunkin' is hoping you feel that 25% increase is innocuous because it's just another buck and a few pennies out of your pocket or debit/credit account. What's a buck after all?
Well, those extra bucks of yours ADD UP!
Are you aware of what causes inflation? I'm talking about the root cause. My guess is you might not.
That said, it's probably a wise decision to follow in Charlie's footsteps.
Charlie is one of my subscribers who has a deep interest in all things financial. He's been paying attention to my economic tips in past issues of this newsletter. Charlie's aware of what's going on and has his ear to the undulating ground.
He was kind enough to share a video series with me a few days ago. I BEG you to watch this video series to get up to speed about how you're going backwards.
I want to warn you ahead of time. Watching the video series is going to frighten you - that's a good thing - and it's probably going to infuriateyou.
That's good too. You might wake up and start to make better decisions.
You've been played about lots of things in the recent past but you're about to discover you and I have been played like a fiddle about all things financial for hundreds of years. You simply can't believe how bad it is and what's about to happen.
I know the man who produced the videos has a dog in the fight and why he produced them. That said, the information he provides is rock solid.
If you think he's wrong about anything, share with me what it is and offer up credible sources supporting your statements. Trust me, I'm all about open discussion and you may teach me something new.
Do you know the difference between currency and money? My guess is you don't. Did you know that moneyis mentioned in the US Constitution?
Do you have one of these $20 bills in your wallet or purse? I doubt it. Do you know why the US Mint no longer prints these?
The tiny printing at the top and bottom of the piece of currency (IOU) tells you why. Here's what it says:
This certifies there has been deposited in the Treasury of the United States of America Twenty Dollars in gold coin payable to the bearer on demand.
Go look at what it says on the currency you have in your wallet or purse. Do you know what a note is?
Two weeks ago, I mentioned in the P.S. section of my newsletter that the electricity you depend on in your home could be an issue in the coming months.
Bob reached out to me saying,
"What am I going to do? The sun is blocked too much over my home to use it as a power source; an expensive battery system is really just for short-term emergencies; there's not enough wind or space to use a noisy, bird-killing windmill; and natural gas is in danger under Biden's leadership; nor could I peddle fast enough to run my AC. I woke up long ago, but what should I be doing to figure this out? I'm feeling very un-self-sufficient."
Well, as the past two weeks unfolded, what I predicted is more and more in the news that I follow.
If you're not seeing these stories in your news sources, you should ponder why that is.
If the civil unrest develops as the author mentions, aside from not having electricity, what are your plans to defend yourself and your property on a pitch-black night when you hear one of your windows shatter or your door being broken down?
A smaller gasoline-powered generator can power your refrigerator and a few lights. But keep in mind that the gasoline pumps at your local gas station use electricity to operate.
Do you know if the gas stations you visit have standby generators so they can pump gas during an area-wide electric outage?
Do you know how much gas a small generator consumes in 24, 36, 48 or 72 hours? Do you know how dangerous it is to store 20, 30, or 50 gallons of gasoline in your garage? Ask the shift commander at your local firehouse.
You could stock up on LED flashlights like I have. Look at these:
You can stay somewhat cool taking cold baths if your AC doesn't work and you're getting overheated.
Sleep on a cool concrete floor imagining you're a POW like my dad was.
Stock up on food that doesn't require refrigeration.
If you're on a well like I am, think about stockpiling fresh water. I can go down to the lake next to my house to get water and then boil it.
Where's the closest natural spring or non-polluted water source near you? Have you scouted that out yet? Do you even have enough containers to store water? How many gallons of water do you use each day?
P.S. You may have been one that scolded me in the past few days saying I must have been wearing a tin-foil hat when I mentioned psychotropic drugs in my Memorial Day message.
How many times have I shared with you that it pays to know the whole truth about all things?
Before you scold someone, perhaps you should have a respectful conversation with that person probing exactly what they know or don't know about the topic.
