July 20, 2010 AsktheBuilder Tips And News

Posted on by Tim Carter

What’s in This Issue?

Summer in NH
The Move
Deck Stain Test
Washington DC Metro Moola
Round Area LED Light
Frost Damage
Deck Checklist News
Moving Sale
Smoke Remediation
Craigslist Scam
Collectors Items

Remember, Do it Right, Not Over!

I do product reviews frequently. Please read my Disclosure Policy to understand the relationship between me and the companies that make the products or offer the services I review.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Friendly Question Reminder!

If you have a question for me, don't hit the Reply button just yet. Go immediately to my web site and type in the keywords about your problem into my Search engine. The search box is at the top of every page of my web site. You could have your answer in seconds if you do this! Please pay attention to all links you see at my web site. The exact products and services you often need are right in front of you, and you might be ignoring them.

Summer is in its full glory here in New Hampshire. We had a recent heat wave last week that was pretty uncomfortable, but now we're back to regular temperatures in the 80's. The past few days I've spent hours floating and playing in the warm lake waters with friends. If you've not vacationed up here, you should. If you do, stay at Fred and Sandi's bed and breakfast, The Maria Atwood Inn. It's close to many great places up here in New Hampshire. Wait until you taste Sandi's scones and the maple butter. WOW! Watch the video at the bottom of their home page of me eating one of those bad boys. We had to do multiple takes of the ending of that video, but I wasn't complaining!

One month from today it will be all over. Kathy, Kelly, Tristan and I will have made the two-day journey from Cincinnati, OH with the animals and the moving van. If the drive goes as planned, Kathy will wake up for the first time exactly one month from today in our temporary home here in the Granite State. I'm anxious for that day for a host of reasons. I say temporary as we're hoping to break ground on the new home next spring.

I'll be leaving to go back to Cincinnati in just 12 days, so there is much to do here to get ready for the transition. One of the biggest tasks is installing the missing flashing at the rear deck. I'll be documenting that for an eBook for you in case you have a similar situation.

Deck Stain Test

I've been getting scads of emails about the status of the deck stain test I started back at the end of April. I'm taping a video today so you can see the results, but I'll share them now. Here's the original video shot as I was applying the stain and clear sealers:

The first sealer I applied was the Extreme Defy that's tinted brown. They call it Cedartone. It looks fantastic. I can't see any color fade and I see no discoloration at all. It looks magnificent.

The stripe next to it in the original video was supposed to be a clear product. It was Extreme Defy in clear. Well, it's not clear in my opinion. If you remember in the original video, it dried slightly gray. It's now slightly more gray. You can see some of the original cedar color, but not too much.

The third stripe was a Sherwin Williams product called Deckscapes in clear. It went on handsomely, but in less than three months, it's failed miserably. You'll see it in the video.

Finally, the fourth stripe of wood was cedar that I cleaned but didn't add any sealer. That wood is now completely gray and matches the planks of cedar perfectly that have Extreme Defy clear on them that's 13 months old.

It's important to note that all three sealers are still doing an EXCELLENT job with respect to repelling water. Water is STILL beading up on the wood. The failure so far has just been the color.

I've decided to do an extensive test next spring, featuring at least six to ten sealers that you see in the home centers as well as other top products like Defy. I'll be doing it in a more controlled manner using both cedar and treated lumber. I'll also be coating TWO samples of each wood with each sealer. One of the samples will stay outdoors but the other one is being taken inside and put in a box in my garage out of the sun. At different times of the year we'll be able to take the samples outdoors to video them against the ones in the weather. That's going to be an amazing test!

Washington DC Metro Moola

Do you live in the Washington DC area? Do you ride the Metro subway regularly? I was in DC about five weeks ago and in a rush got a ticket I thought was going to be a single fare. Instead the machine gobbled my entire $20 bill. I have a ticket with $16.65 worth of travel on it. I'll mail it to the FIRST person that contacts me and provides me with a DC area mailing address. If you DON'T get a reply email from me after sending your address, that means you were an also ran and reacted too slowly. Better luck next time!

Round Area LED Light

In the craziness of my life this past two months, I've been able to test an interesting product. It's a small LED light that looks much like a hockey puck. It's made by the Energizer folks and produces 50 lumens of bright white light. This little light is meant to act like an overhead light and is equipped with tiny magnets. If you want to mount it to a wood or drywall surface to use it, it comes with a handy plate you screw to a non-magnetic surface.

The only trouble I had with it was the non-intuitive (for me!) method of turning it on and off. I was looking for a button or a switch on the sides of it. There were none. You simply push the clear lens to make it go on and off. Duh!! They say it runs for 31 hours on it's two AA batteries. I don't know if that's true as it's still working great for me!

This is the fourth LED lite from Energizer I've tested. I LOVE them, especially the headlamp one and swivel-head flashlight - both of which have red and green LED bulbs in them in addition to the white ones. The red light is perfect at night when I walk to and from my Fire Pit. The red light lets you see, but doesn't ruin your night vision.

Frost Damage in Wisconsin

Molly Nordin of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin emailed me with a distressing situation:

"We put cultured stone on our smooth foundation 5 years ago. After the frost left the ground this spring, the stone came off the foundation in one huge chunk. It is an area 3 ft high by 32 ft long. For the most part it is still standing on its own, no longer attached to the house. Can this be put back on, or do we need to start over?"

Molly, I can't imagine trying to manhandle that massive chunk of masonry. You're going to have to start over unfortunately.

To prevent this delamination from happening again, I'm going to suggest you use my cement-paint methodology and do some digging. Please read this column of mine to get a great grasp of how and why cement paint works to help bond two masonry layers together.

In your case, you apply the cement paint just before you trowel on the mortar that bonds the cultured stone to the foundation.

After you install the new faux stone, I want you do dig a trench alongside the foundation that's about 2-feet deep and 6-inches wide. Remove all the clay soil. In its place, pour in small rounded pea gravel. Make sure there is a 4-inch or more gap between the bottom of any of the cultured stone and the gravel.

My guess is that your problem happened because the soil may have been in contact with the bottom of the stone. When the soil froze and then lifted up against the bottom of the stone, it sheared off the mortar bond between the stone and the foundation.

This loose pea gravel, along with the space, will create a buffer zone. Even if the stone raises up that distance, because it's free-draining, it should roll up and over the faux stone. Your clay soil does the exact opposite. It's like a massive bulldozer pushing up against the stone.

Deck Checklist News

Several weeks ago, I talked about my revised Deck Checklist. The impending move is really wreaking havoc with my schedule. I'm going to try this week to put together that special deal I mentioned last issue. It will be a 60-percent-off promotion with a BONUS. The bonus is a one-hour phone seminar where I answer the top questions you have about installing, repairing or maintaining a deck. Watch for this extra promotion email in a few days. You don't want to miss this.

Moving Sale

I know that you may be a subscriber that lives in or near Cincinnati, OH. I've decided to have an exclusive Garage Sale for just you on Saturday August 7th! It will not be advertised to the general public. I'll be selling my sweet John Deere lawn tractor and plow, some great lumber, tools (many in original boxes), hardware, a great Kohler 3.5-gallon flush toilet (you CAN'T get these any longer) and other assorted stuff. I'll put together a full list early that week and send it out to you. There will be some great deals to be had. I can deliver the John Deere mower and plow, in case you can't transport it.

Smoke Remediation

Very dear friends of mine, Veronica and Jason Hill almost lost their home due to a home next door to theirs that burned to the ground. Veronica and Jason's house suffered significant smoke, water, heat and some fire damage. Photos of their house can be seen in and at the bottom of this column at my website.

If you're a smoke remediation specialist, they need advice. Better yet, if you're located in Southern CA, you may get the job. But at this point, I'm trying to make sure Veronica and Jason don't get taken. Can you email me and I'll put you in touch with them?

Follow Up on Craigslist Scam

As I knew would happen, I got hundreds of emails about my Craigslist Scam-Alert newsletter. The scam I was pointing out was not, by any means, the only one out there. What's more, you may have been one of the several subscribers that sent me a link to a story where a man was shot to death by thieves that expressed an interest in a diamond ring he was selling on Craigslist. That's precisely why I mentioned that being an avid supporter of the Second Amendment is not such a bad idea.

There is yet another scam that's surfaced and come to my personal attention. I've had the exact same email sent to me on two different products where the person wants me to watch a video to make sure the item I'm selling matches what they want to buy. If you get an email asking you to watch a video or a link to a website where you should go to look at something, DON'T do it. Don't try to watch a video or go to that website. There's a very high probability you'll be a victim of malware, spyware or some other evil virus that will wreak havoc in your financial and personal life.

That being said, I'm continuing to have a GREAT experience on Craigslist. I'm selling things all the time. I'm happy, the buyers seem happy and people are getting things they need. Remember, if you have a project coming up, you may find a fantastic deal on materials right around the corner from your house. You never know who's selling what.

Collectors Items

Are you a serious collector of old beer bottles? How about a serious sports memorabilia collector? I have two beer bottles from Cincinnati breweries that are at least 100 years old. I also have a 16 oz bottle of Pepsi - unopened! - that's a commemorative issue of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds World Series Win. It was a special Bicentennial July 4, 1976 commemorative bottle. I'm offering them to you first, then the general public if there's not any interest here on my list. Make me an offer. Yes, I realize you need to see photos. I'll send them to you if you're interested.

AsktheBuilder.com

Garage Door Opener

Posted on by Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: The house I moved into doesn’t have a garage door opener. I’m wondering if these machines are really practical or just a gimmick. The price difference between models has me seriously considering a discount garage door opener. Do you have any experience with these contraptions, and what should I take into consideration when purchasing one? I’ve been told they’ll help keep my garage more secure. Samantha R., Providence, RI

DEAR SAMANTHA: As you might expect, I do have lots of experience with garage door openers. Not only do I have them at my own home, but over the years, I also installed many different models in the houses I built and remodeled. One thing I’ll tell you is that I’ll never ever install a cheap garage door opener for anyone. They just don’t last long, and you’ll end up replacing the opener long before you would had you invested in quality. If your goal is to save money, watch for a garage-door-opener sale or special promotion.

This garage door opener can last for many years if most of the lifting of the door is performed by the springs attached to the door. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

This garage door opener can last for many years if most of the lifting of the door is performed by the springs attached to the door. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

Let’s talk about how useful these wonderful inventions are by conjuring up a few scenarios. Imagine you having to go out to a fancy dress party and you’re in your finest clothes. Just as you’re getting ready to pull out of your garage in your car a fierce rainstorm starts to dump torrential rain. With a handy electric garage door opener in place, you don’t have to jump out of your car while sheets of rain drench you as you struggle with the door. A touch of a button while you’re in your dry car activates the opener which closes the door for you.

Automatic garage door openers can also provide you with a certain degree of safety. Let’s say that some bad people want to harm you or take your possessions. Without a garage door opener, when you arrive back home from a night out, you have to exit your car to open the garage door. You’re pretty vulnerable to being attacked. With an opener, you can stay locked inside your car until such time as you pull into the garage and command the door to close while you remain in your locked car. While this is a rare possibility, it can happen.

I've installed and owned several different brands over the years. I've had good luck with a Stanley garage door opener. At my current home, I have two Liftmaster garage door openers. I know of people that have used the Allister garage door opener, but I've not ever had the opportunity to see one in action.

If you’ve now decided to purchase one, you should consider several things before making your final decision. There are three primary drive mechanisms that you’ll come across in your shopping foray. I’m sure you’ll see a chain drive, a screw drive and undoubtedly a belt drive garage door opener.

All of these do the same thing, but there are significant differences. The chain-drive openers usually are the least quiet and over time the chains can lose a little bit of their tension. The screw-drive openers in my experience operate smoothly for years with little or no maintenance issues.

The belt-drive garage-door openers demand close scrutiny on your part if you want an opener that’s quiet. Because the belt minimizes metal-to-metal contact between moving parts, you end up with a nearly silent garage door opener. This can be a significant advantage if you or another family member sleeps in a room above or adjacent to the garage or if someone in your family works odd hours that has them coming and going while others in the house are counting sheep.

I would absolutely think about garage door opener service as part of your buying decision. In the event of a problem or warranty issue, who will assist you? While these machines are not too complicated, you don’t want to be up on a ladder yourself trying to wrestle with one if you don’t have to.

Be sure the springs that are attached to your garage door have been adjusted correctly before you install an opener. Understand that the springs actually lift the door, not the opener. The electric opener you intend to purchase is not built to lift, on its own, the enormous weight of garage doors.

I’ve installed many an opener in my career and if you have the chance to install the necessary wiring for the opener before wall finishes are attached to the wall, do so. Safety features on the doors require low-voltage wires to be run to optical sensors at the lower ends of the door track. It’s nice to have these wires hidden behind the walls where they are out of the way from being snagged by garden tools or anything else that may nick them.

Don’t assume that a garage door opener will make your garage immune from unwanted entry in your absence. Just about every garage door opener is equipped with a safety release handle where the door connects to the track. When your door is in the closed position, this handle dangles from the track just behind the top of the door.

An undesirable person can bow in the top of some garage doors with ease allowing them to slide a metal hook that grabs the handle. Within seconds they can disengage the garage door from the track allowing them to manually lift the door. Once inside your garage they can quickly close the door giving the appearance to all who pass by your home that all is well and nothing is happening.

Column 840

July 6, 2010 AsktheBuilder News And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What’s in This Issue?

Latest News
Metabo Cordless Drill
Pocket Door Photo Could Be Worth $100
Paslode Tools and Breast Cancer
Ceramic Tile Over a Stained Concrete Floor
Deck Construction & Maintenance Checklist

Remember, Do It Right, Not Over!

I do product reviews frequently. Please read my Disclosure Policy to understand the relationship between me and the companies that make the products or offer the services I review.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Friendly Question Reminder!

If you have a question for me, don't hit the Reply button just yet. Go immediately to my web site and type in the keywords about your problem into my Search engine. The search box is at the top of every page of my web site. You could have your answer in seconds if you do this! Please pay attention to all links you see at my web site. The exact products and services you often need are right in front of you, and you might be ignoring them.

Latest News   

I started to write this newsletter on June 22nd. Then life got in the way. My daily life is starting to seem like one of those spinning rides you see at county fairs. All the details in and about the upcoming move, I'm moving my wife and daughter up from Cincinnati, OH to NH, are consuming me. Each day the mental vertigo seems to get worse.

Tomorrow I drive back from NH to Cincinnati the second-last time to load up the truck and trailer with many special outdoor plants that Kathy wants up at the new house. The moving company has clearly communicated no guarantees with moving plants. This means I move them as Kathy treats many of them as if they were her babies. In many respects they are, as she's nurtured them for years.   

I'm only in Cincinnati for a week, back to NH for perhaps 12 days then drive back to Cincinnati to attend the closing on the house sale and the final packing. The moving van arrives at the Cincinnati house on August 17th.    

As I type this, it's July 5th and I can see Provincetown off in the distance as I look across Cape Cod Bay. It's my first time ever to this magical place. I've always wanted to come here, but never made it.   

I'm on the beach a guest of some great friends of mine who have inherited a legacy 104-year-old beach house up on top of a dune in Truro, MA. The breeze is amazing, but it's hot as Hades in the sun today. I just scorched my feet walking up the wood steps from the beach. Earlier today, I was at a house two doors down doing a wood-deck consult. More on that later in this newsletter.   

Here's the original open for the newsletter I wrote over two weeks ago:   

Last week I was in Washington DC for a two-day event about Internet Advertising. On the second day I met with the Senior Policy Advisors of five US Senators. It was a fascinating civics lesson to be sure. The meetings were an attempt to convey to the advisors how a proposed bill might affect you and small businesses like me.   

There's a draft bill in the House about Internet Privacy. If passed in its current form, it could potentially shut down websites similar to AsktheBuilder.com that allow you free access to information. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm only able to give away this newsletter, all my columns, and videos to you for free because of the advertising revenue I'm able to generate.   

The privacy issue is complex and one aspect deals with information you pass on to third-party networks such as the IP (Internet protocol) address of your computer. Each computer has an IP address much like your social security number. When you visit a site like mine I'm able to use your IP address to serve you with highly relevant ads.   

Here's an example. Let's say you have a clogged sewer line any you live in Scranton, PA. You come to my website and read my columns about clogs. Lo and behold, in that column are ads for drain-cleaning companies and plumbers who are based in Scranton PA! That's exactly what you need, not ads for tennis rackets, shampoo, or plumbers in Sacramento, CA.   

Can you see how targeted ads help you solve problems around your home? I thought so. Make sure you contact your representatives telling them that you feel the Internet works just fine right now and they should concern themselves with creating jobs, lowering our budget deficits and our national debt, etc. Right now the Internet and technology sectors are one of the few things in our economy hitting on all eight cylinders and some politicians are trying to muck it up.   

Metabo Cordless Drill   

I just tested another cordless drill while constructing a storage loft in my garage here in New Hampshire. It was the Metabo BS 18 LTX cordless 18-volt cordless drill. This powerful tool comes with two batteries, an air-cooled charger and swivel handle.    

It was comfortable to use and didn't disappoint me with respect to power and torque. For a full list of features and a great photo of the drill, you can visit the Metabo website. Run your mouse over the photo of the drill and watch what happens. That's a clever use of Javascript!   

Your Pocket-Door Photo Could be Worth $100   

If you've been a subscriber to this newsletter for any length of time, you know I love pocket doors. These are the doors that disappear into walls when you open them instead of swinging on hinges. Pocket doors take up less floor space and open up interior design options in your home.   

L.E. Johnson, the manufacturer of the pocket-door hardware I use, is willing to pay you $100 if they decide to feature a photo of your pocket door in their online gallery. If you'd rather have a credit to purchase more hardware from them, they'll give you a $200 product credit. All the details are at their website. Be sure to take a great photo. You'll see examples at the website.     

Paslode Tools and Breast Cancer   

If you own a Paslode framing nailgun tool, you can trick it out and help Nail the Cure by purchasing stickers that go on the gun. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds are given to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure organization. More details are here:   

Paslode Breast Cancer

Ceramic Tile Over a Stained Concrete Floor   

Tameka Jones from Kilgore, TX wrote to me asking:   

"I am about to install a tile floor in my living room, but my current concrete floor has a solid color concrete stain on it. Do I have to remove that before installing tile, or can I install the tile on top? If I do, how do I remove it? Paint thinner definitely does not work!"

Tameka, great news for you young lady. You don't have to do anything to the floor other than make sure it's in the same plane. This means fill in any low spots so that the floor has no humps or dips in it.   

To get the best results, you should install a crack-isolation material over the concrete and then apply your thinset mastic on top of that. This eliminates the bonding issue between the stained concrete and the thinset you're concerned with.   

Deck Construction and Maintenance Checklist    

As I said earlier, about three hours ago I was consulting with an older woman who has a gorgeous beach house on the dune just south of where I'm staying. I met this woman at dinner last night. Somehow she discovered I was the Ask the Builder guy and we got to talking about her worn deck.   

She's got rusted nails that are protruding from the deck and wondered what her options were. I went over and showed her how easy it is to hammer the nails back in and set them below the wood surface with a nail set. I also presented her with more costly options that would make it so she never had to get a hammer out again.   

On top of that, I'm getting ready to paint the exterior of my home in NH. The builder who constructed my home did a pretty good job on the entire house, but he totally fell down when constructing the huge deck on the back of the house and the small one at the front door. He didn't flash them correctly, and this is causing some rot problems with the wood trim around the windows and doors below the deck.   

Maybe you're getting ready to build a new deck soon or in the future. Are you sure you know many of the pitfalls? To help you prevent problems like I have plus avoid all sorts of other deck nightmares, including sealing and maintaining wood decks, I recently did a massive revision to my Deck Checklist. If the older woman I just visited had this checklist years ago, I wouldn't have had to go see her. There would be no protruding nails. Had the builder of my NH house had my deck checklist, there'd be no wood rot at my house and he wouldn't have a list of angry customers.   

The revised checklist has 50 percent more questions than the original. I've included links to all my existing deck construction and maintenance columns and videos, and photos of my existing deck connections. I've also included an illustration and a detail I've drawn that will show you how I'm going to install flashing to solve my deck problem. In other words, this checklist is a pretty good roadmap that will help you construct the deck you want, or it will help you find the pro who will end up doing it the right way.   

In a couple of weeks when I'm back in NH, I'm going to do a first-ever promotion with this checklist. Not only are you going to be able to get this checklist for an enormous discount, there is going to be an added bonus I've NEVER done before. Wait until you discover what it is. The sad part is that only 1,000 people are going to be able to take advantage of this special live event.   

Watch for more details about this in the newsletter next week. Yes, I promise to have a newsletter next week - even with the insanity going on in my life right now.

AsktheBuilder.com

Fire Sprinkler Work

Posted on by Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: Last week our neighbor’s house burned to the ground. That intense fire spread to our home. The brave firefighters and our domestic fire sprinklers helped save our home, but the water damage was enormous. I’m wondering what we could have done differently to minimize the damage and help prevent the spread of the fire to our house. I got a true baptism of how fire sprinklers work when I rushed into the house to grab some things that were irreplaceable. Veronica H., Wrightwood, CA

DEAR VERONICA: I’m really sorry for your loss, and glad to hear that you’re alive and unharmed. You running into the house to save items could have transformed you into a grim statistic. We’ll discuss in a moment how that was totally unnecessary. I’m sure the fireman scolded you for that impulsive action.

This home was saved from the valiant efforts of the firemen and internal fire sprinklers. PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

This home was saved from the valiant efforts of the firemen and internal fire sprinklers. PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

You’re in a select group as very few existing homes have a residential fire sprinkler system. Recently the International Code Council included fire sprinklers as a mandatory requirement in its residential building code. This would apply to new homes and those that are, perhaps, significantly rehabilitated. This building code is used by many local governments across the nation as a guide, but your local officials have the ability to delete this section about sprinklers from the body of the code.

Let me say that volumes of books have been written about residential fire safety, prevention, minimizing losses, etc. In this tiny space I can’t begin to cover everything or any one thing in the needed detail. There are numerous associations, your local fire department, many national insurance companies, etc. that have fantastic advice just waiting for you to ask for it.

Your automatic fire sprinkler system no doubt did a good job of stopping the spread of the fire, but if many of the sprinkler heads went off because of the intense invasion of heat from your neighbor’s house pouring into your windows, you can see why the water damage to your possessions was severe. Imagine taking a garden sprinkler and setting it up in your living room allowing it to run for an hour or so.

To protect valuable stored possessions from water damage, it’s probably a great idea to enclose them in plastic bags and keep them up off the floor. You also want to store them low in the house as heat rises. Putting valuables up in an attic is problematic as firefighters typically ventilate the attic trying to push the fire inside the house up through the roof. This means heat in an attic will be intense as they ventilate the fire.

The plastic bags can cause a huge issue if the heat from the fire melts them. So they are by no means a silver bullet. One-of-a-kind items that are of incredible value need to be stored in a fireproof safe. However, this can be a problem if you want them on display.

The spread of fire from your neighbor’s house to yours can be slowed to an extent. The use of fireproof building materials on the exterior walls is a great start. Stone, concrete block, brick, fiber-cement siding, etc. are all fireproof.

But the weak link on most houses is the roof overhang. Builders, because of good practice and code requirements, install ventilation in roof overhangs, especially at the lower ends of a roof. Fire and hot gases can easily enter these openings and set the underside of the roof on fire in minutes.

Your builder can use fire-resistant lumber for the roof sheathing and framing, but it’s usually expensive and it’s no guarantee the wood will not burn. When you do the cost vs. value analysis, it just doesn’t make economic sense as there are so few house fires like this.

Designing some sort of giant exterior water sprinkler that creates a wall of mist between your house and the neighbor’s house would be ideal, but that’s also impractical. Firefighters use this methodology to protect houses once they arrive at the scene. Perhaps they were doing that at your home, but in reality it was needed in the first minute of the fire, not 10 or 15 minutes after the valiant fire crews arrived and set up their defenses.

Important paper records, sentimental photos, valuable documents, etc. can all be duplicated now with relative ease. There are amazing digital scanners that can scan stacks of paper in just seconds per sheet. Dedicate just 20 minutes each day until you’re finished to go through all your things. Once complete, you’ll have a digital copy of everything that’s of value to you. The trick is to put that digital content on multiple external hard drives and store them at friends or relatives houses. You don’t want those hard drives in your home where a fire can consume them as well as the originals.

Be sure to take videos of all of your possessions twice a year. Scan receipts of all things you purchase. You’ll need these records (save them offsite) to prove to an insurance company that you owned all the things you have. Imagine how hard that is to do as you’re fighting back tears talking in shock with an insurance adjuster while you both stare at a pile of smoldering ash and cinders.

Below are some additional pictures of the interior damage to the house.

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill


PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

PHOTO CREDIT: Veronica Hill

 

Column 838

Vintage Tub

Posted on by Tim Carter
Vintage Tub

Here's a vintage tub look-a-like. The only thing missing that would create the illusion that this is a 120-year-old vintage tub are the claw feet. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

"The biggest things you have to take into consideration are the rough-in locations for the gorgeous exposed drain piping and the decorative water supply lines."

Vintage Tub Checklist

  • The floor must support concentrated loads
  • Rough-in for water and drain lines is critical
  • Subflooring should be treated with borate chemicals
  • Install a waterproof membrane for water sports accidents

Related Links

Bathroom Remodeling - What Happens When? SECRET Information - Do NOT Share

Tub Faucets - FREE Pro Tips

Free & Fast Bids

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers.

DEAR TIM: I just bought a home with a large bathroom that’s perfectly suited for a vintage tub. Are the plumbing requirements any different for these fixtures as opposed to standard built-in tubs and showers?

If you were installing a vintage tub and bath at your home, what would you do to make sure there were no problems from water that might splash out of the tub? Any other bathroom remodeling tips would be sincerely appreciated. Rochelle D., Washington DC

Vintage Tub - Looks & Feels Great But Practical?

DEAR ROCHELLE: I never quite understood the attraction of a vintage bathtub until I sat in one years ago when we were about to remove from an old home. It was after lunch and I almost fell asleep in the mammoth vessel, it was so comfortable. Whoever designed it made sure the slope of the tub back and height of the side walls perfectly fit the average body. Total relaxation set in within seconds of me sitting in the tub and putting my arms up on the sides of that vintage clawfoot tub.

What Are the Plumbing Requirements for a Vintage Tub?

If you decide to install one of these magnificent plumbing fixtures, I’ve got good news. There are no extraordinary plumbing requirements for the tub. The biggest things you have to take into consideration are the rough-in locations for the gorgeous exposed drain piping and the decorative water supply lines. These need to be precisely positioned so they are plumb and centered with the tub. A good plumber can do this with little effort.

Does the Floor Have to Be Strong?

A bigger concern, in my opinion, is the subfloor framing. A vintage tub bath fixture produces concentrated loads at the four locations where the feet touch the floor. A standard built-in tub that’s properly supported usually transfers its weight to the side wall and along the entire edge of the tub skirt. Some built-in tubs have a rigid foam pad under them that helps distribute the load over the entire floor beneath the tub.

How Do You Prevent Floor Sag?

I would install vertical blocking directly under the location of each foot of the vintage tub and bath you’re installing. This blocking consists of a short piece of floor joist that’s nailed between two other full-length floor joists. This blocking prevents the subfloor sheathing from sagging under the weight of the tub when it’s loaded with water and a bather.

Can Water Splash Out of the Tub?

Water can splash out of these tubs if kids are in them or if you have a pseudo-vintage pedestal bathtub like mine. My tub has a built-in whirlpool feature. When the bubbler is on high, it does splash water out of the tub.

Is a Ceramic Tile Floor Waterproof?

Many people think that a ceramic tile floor is waterproof. Most tiles are waterproof, but the grout lines between each tile are not. Water can seep through a grout joint and over time cause wood rot under a tub.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers.

How Can I Prevent Wood Subfloor Rot?

You can treat regular wood with a borate solution that is safe for humans but’s toxic to a wide majority of wood fungi that are responsible for wood rot.

borate wood treatment

This is borate wood treatment. It's a powder you mix with water. CLICK THE PHOTO now to have it delivered to your home in two days.

You may want to spray the floor joists several times with this solution as well as saturate the subfloor sheathing on both the top and underside. When the borate solution dries, it does a great job of protecting regular lumber.

What Membrane Can I Install Over the Wood?

You can also install 30-pound felt paper on top of the subfloor before the cement-based tile underlayment is installed. I’d overlap the felt seams no less than 9 inches. This felt can extend over the entire subfloor of the bathroom and turn up several inches where it touches the walls. It’s a great line of defense for any water that saturates the cement underlayment.

What Diameter Should the Water Lines Be?

Be sure the water supply lines that feed the tub faucet are at least 3/4-inch in diameter. Vintage tub faucets often are designed to allow for a heavy flow of water so the tub fills quickly. If you have 1/2-inch supply lines and normal water pressure, the tub can take a considerable amount of time to fill.

How Wide Should the Bathroom Door Be?

As crazy as this sounds, make sure the door into the bathroom is wide enough to allow you to bring in the tub to the room after the finished floor is installed and the room is basically finished. I'd have a 32-inch-wide door for the bathroom.

When are Vintage Tubs Installed?

Built-in tubs are installed during rough construction when doors and door frames are just a gleam in the eye of the finish carpenter. Vintage tubs are installed at the end of the job after the bathroom is completely finished. Believe me when I tell you that more than one bathroom doorway has had to be altered to get a vintage bathtub into a room!

Should I Install a Special Vent Fan?

Consider installing a remote bathroom exhaust fan in this new bathroom. These are very quiet and will allow you to vegetate in the tub without the pesky drone of a standard bathroom exhaust fan.

fantech bath fan

This is a fantastic remote bath fan. It's very very quiet because the fan motor is far away from the hole in the ceiling. CLICK THE PHOTO to have the kit at your home in days.

Remote fans gently vacuum all of the water vapor produced by the steaming bath out of the room and through the roof of your home. Place the fan inlet over the tub. Many come with an accessory light to illuminate the tub. You can connect two inlets to the same fan allowing you to fully ventilate the bathroom.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers.

Column 837

Deck Checklist Teleseminar

Posted on by Tim Carter

Thanks for purchasing the AsktheBuilder Deck Construction and Maintenance Checklist.

As mentioned, you are invited to attend a special deck teleseminar. This will take place prior to the 4th of July. The exact details will announced shortly.

In the mean time, you can submit two questions regarding deck construction or deck maintenance. These questions will be combined with other customer's questions and help determine the direction of the teleseminar.

Please enter your name, email address and your two questions below. Once  you click on the Submit button, your questions will be emailed to me.

Thanks again for your purchase.



Name:
Email Address:
1. What is your first question regarding deck construction or maintenance?
2. Your second question regarding deck construction or maintenance?

Workshop Storage – Start On Your Walls

Posted on by Tim Carter
akro plastic bins storage

Workshop Storage - These bins come in many different colors. They last for decades. You can purchase them right here.

Workshop Storage Solutions - Get Akro Bins

DEAR TIM: Now that I’m retired, it’s time to trick out my workshop. One thing that’s always been a problem is decent workshop storage. I’ve seen different solutions, but am still pondering what’s best for me. What about workshop storage shelves? To cut to the chase, I’m open to any and all workshop storage ideas you may have. Hank M., Lewiston, ID

DEAR HANK: You have a boatload of storage options. I’ll do my best to describe what’s worked well for me, but I’m sure there are others who’ve got excellent ideas and workshop storage solutions that will keep you highly organized.

Declutter With Great Shelves

For starters, I often see clutter happen because there’s not an efficient use of space on walls. Visit a home center store and you can see how they take advantage of space up in the air. That, in my opinion, is the key to maximizing storage. Get things off the floor and up in the air.

You’ll probably agree that you need two types of shelves in your workshop. The most basic one would be simple horizontal arms at the same level that support long lengths of lumber. There’s no need for a horizontal shelf as the lumber creates the shelf.

These workshop storage bins are perfect for screws, nails, small parts, etc. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

These workshop storage bins are perfect for screws, nails, small parts, etc. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

I’ve had great luck using simple angle iron that has holes punched in it. You commonly see this product used to support your garage door track and powered garage-door openers. You may be able to purchase this angle iron from a garage door installation company for far less than you might at a hardware store.

I assemble this material with nuts and bolts and firmly attach it to wall studs with long lag bolts to ensure the entire system will not pull away from the wall. A good-sized system might have well over 1,000 pounds of lumber on it, so be sure you don’t overtighten the lag bolts that hold the vertical standards to the wall studs.

For lightweight storage, you can make some dandy storage shelves using 2x2 pieces of lumber for the vertical standards and 3/8-inch plywood as the shelves. Additional 2x2s can be used as the horizontal supports that cradle the pieces of plywood. Once again, this is for lightweight items like sandpaper, some hand tools, glue, etc. Design the horizontal spacing of the shelves so there is minimal wasted space between each shelf. Allow at least two inches of clearance space between the top of the highest item and the bottom of the support of the next highest shelf.

I always have workshop storage cabinets in my mix. I was lucky to be able to salvage cabinets from jobs I was working on. They’re very hard to find, unless you have access to homes built in the 1950s, but try to get some excellent metal kitchen cabinets. I have several that lasted for 50 years in a kitchen before being drafted for use as part of my garage workshop storage team.

tool cabinet on wheels

Borrow a tip from an auto mechanic. Get these amazing tool cabinets to store hundreds of tools in one place. I LOVE MINE that you see above. This stainless-steel tool cabinet should have been bought 30 years ago! (C) Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

Regular wood cabinets will work just fine if that’s all you have access to. If you use base cabinets, try to outfit them with rollout shelves instead of fixed shelving that requires you to bend over and move things to get access to what you want. You’ll discover quickly that rollout shelves are magical and allow you to clearly see what you have and get it with minimal effort.

Stackable Akro Bins are Best

I use stackable workshop storage bins for all of my fasteners and small hardware. These handy items come in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes. You can use the colors to help you keep groups of things separate. For example, you may decide that blue bins are for screws of any type, while red bins are for tacks, nails and other steel fasteners.

akro bins storage colors

You can get CLEAR, and all these colors and even more. To see all the Akro bins I have, you should click or tap here.

Certain bins are made with a built-in french cleat. If you have a thin metal strip that protrudes slightly from your metal pegboard, the bins hang on it perfectly. Purchase the right bins and you can stack them four or five high and still be able to see what’s inside each one. The good ones have a slot that allows you to install a label telling you what’s in the bin.

Visit many retailers and you’ll probably see workshop storage units. Some may dazzle you at the store, but when you get them home you may discover they’re too small and impractical.

Before you buy a unit that’s made at a factory, take a scrap piece of salvaged kitchen countertop, or a piece of plywood, and make a test work surface. Place on the top what you think you want and need in your workshop. Determine what the minimum width is that will work for you.

Be sure that the top of your workbench is no deeper than 26 inches. If you go wider, you’ll quickly discover that it’s hard to reach any storage that you have above the workbench. This is true for pegboard, shelves or traditional wall cabinets. A deep workbench simply puts you too far away.

Column 835

June 13, 2010 AsktheBuilder News And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What's in This Issue?

Father's Day Edition
Underwear
Gorilla Glue Hat
Bikes, Books or ?????

I do product reviews frequently. Please read my Disclosure Policy to understand the relationship between me and the companies that make the products or offer the services I review.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Friendly Question Reminder!

If you have a question for me, don't hit the Reply button just yet. Go immediately to my web site and type in the keywords about your problem into my Search engine. The search box is at the top of every page of my web site. You could have your answer in seconds if you do this! Please pay attention to all links you see at my web site. The exact products and services you often need are right in front of you, and you might be ignoring them

Father's Day Edition

This is a special edition for Father's Day, which is a week from today. If you're struggling for a gift idea, I've got a few that will help you score points with your Dad. If you had to send your Dad back to Heaven, like me, you may find something for yourself. After all, you deserve it, right?

Underwear

I hear you - BORING! But wait, what if I told you about a company that sells clothes to contractors that you can wear, and your Dad? Clothes that are really durable and GREAT for everyday use? I thought that would get your attention.

Last week, I got an email from the public relations (PR) person from Duluth Trading Company. What really put my head on a swivel was the mention of underwear. Okay, we're all adults here, so let me tell you why this interested me.

Over the past year, I've switched from the traditional jockey shorts to trunks. But not just ordinary floppy trunks. I've been wearing Hanes trunks that are a blend of spandex and cotton. WOW! They've been the most comfortable underwear I've ever worn.

Duluth Trading has their own line of Buck Naked Ultra-Light underwear that rivals the Hanes trunks I've been wearing. They sent me some to test including a tee shirt. These garments are 93 percent nylon and 7 percent spandex. I've never worn pantyhose, and never intend to, but are these things comfortable. I LOVE the tee shirt. And just as some of the reviews state, you don't even know you're wearing underwear it's that comfortable.

They are a little pricey, but I'm impressed. I'll be wearing these on the ski slopes this winter as you never want to wear cotton when perspiring in the cold.

Two thumbs and two fingers up for this underwear! Your Dad will LOVE it, trust me.  Buck Naked underwear and tee shirts come in some spiffy colors. Check them out. I'm going to get some of the red ones for sure. If you're an ND fan, you'll love the green ones.

Check out all the other clothing items while at the Duluth Trading Company site. They have a huge assortment of things your Dad, or you, will LOVE. Be sure to look at the the long tail tee shirt. I wear those bad boys each week during winter up in NH.

Finally, they have an entire Women's section, so ladies look around!

Gorilla Glue Hat

Do you think your Dad would want a unique baseball-style hat? You'll work hard to find one more trendy than this one from Gorilla Glue!

Bikes, Books or ???????

Last week while I was in Erie, PA, torturing my feet playing that flag football game, I got to ride a traditional bicycle. I can't remember the last time I did that! My neighbor Dave in NH rides a mountain bike around many of our back roads and I was sort of interested but never acted on the urge. But after riding the bike in Erie, I'm definitely going to get a neat bike that will let me cruise the back roads of NH.

Well, the first place that came to mind to start looking was my friend Steve's website. It's BestWebBuys.com. You can price bikes and MANY other things there. Wait and see!

This comparison shopping website was one of the FIRST ones on the Internet! It's a survivor to be sure. My guess is that you've never heard of it, but once you visit it, you'll bookmark it for sure. You can save tons of money using Steve's site on a regular basis. Instead of you checking around yourself for the BEST price on things like books, electronics, music, video, etc., and oh yes, BIKES!, let Steve and his team do it for you.

All you do is select what you want, and Steve goes in nanoseconds to find the best price for you out on the Web. You then click it and buy. It's like falling off a log.

Happy Father's Day Shopping!

Watch for a regular newsletter soon.   Don't forget to share your feelings about our great nation at my Tim Carter's Fire Pit website.

AsktheBuilder.com

June 8, 2010 AsktheBuilder News And Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter

What’s in This Issue?

Latest News
Funny-Looking Links
Follow Up on Maytag Dishwasher Recall
Septic Disposer in my Kitchen
Air Flow in Bathroom Exhaust Fans
Upcoming DC Trip
Long-Distance Moving Help
Latest Columns

I do product reviews frequently. Please read my Disclosure Policy to understand the relationship between me and the companies that make the products or offer the services I review.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Friendly Question Reminder!

If you have a question for me, don't hit the Reply button just yet. Go immediately to my web site and type in the keywords about your problem into my Search engine. The search box is at the top of every page of my web site. You could have your answer in seconds if you do this! Please pay attention to all links you see at my web site. The exact products and services you often need are right in front of you, and you might be ignoring them.

Latest News!

This past weekend I was in Erie, PA for about 36 hours visiting a childhood friend and his family. Saturday was an action-packed day with a morning walk on the beach with Bill and Jill's dog, riding on Bill's Fat Boy Harley, going for a boat ride in the bay between Presque Isle and downtown Erie and a neighborhood flag football game.

I couldn't resist playing in the football game, but am paying dearly for it. My mind is still young, but my feet are screaming at me three days later. I obviously pulled some muscles or slightly damaged some ligaments, as my heels are as tender as a newborn's bum.

I did catch two passes across the middle and provided the key block for our only touchdown. A mom, the only woman on our team, caught the pass after I tangled up my defender and hers as we streaked down the left side.

Damage Assessment Report: It appears the glory days of my football career are long gone. But I did have a good time. Erie's an interesting place. I'll go back to explore more for sure.

Funny-Looking Links

Last week, a subscriber emailed me about the suspicious-looking links he saw in my newsletter. He felt they were malicious and could trigger a virus.

I explained that these are tracking links set by the service I use to send this newsletter and manage the massive list of email addresses.

By using these tracking links, I can *see* in a report what topics of the newsletter most interest you. That way I can do a better job in future issues of the newsletter making sure I deliver relevant information. Believe me, it works, as week in week out I can predict what parts of the newsletter you'll click!

Follow Up on Maytag Dishwasher Recall

Last week, I sent out an emergency broadcast about a dishwasher recall. You may have been one of the hundreds that reached out to me with thanks. I was getting ready to travel and simply couldn't respond.

Quite a few subscribers had the dishwasher in their homes, and a few even commented on smelling burning plastic on occasion.

Elizabeth Hayduk's email to me pretty much sums up why I sent the broadcast and how you may have felt. She wrote:

"Thanks for caring enough to pass onto your readers this type of important info. With people living busy lives, we don't always hear about such recalls. You may be saving not only homes, but lives. Fire hazards can be unpredictable & be triggered when least suspected. How many people set their dishwasher to run when they go to bed? I know I do--not often--but I do.
 
Again, thank you!"

You may have been one of my subscribers that reminded me of the CPSC email alerts about product recalls. You can tell them exactly what announcements you want when you subscribe.

Septic Disposer in my Kitchen

I'm about to undertake a significant kitchen remodeling job in my NH house before Kathy moves in. Many houses in New Hampshire, as well as all over the USA, have septic tanks instead of public sewers. Every house I've lived in before this one in NH has been connected to a sewer.

I want to really take care of my septic tank and leach field, so I carefully watch what goes in the drains. I've got many past columns on my AsktheBuilder.com website about septic tanks. You just have to type  "septic tank" into the search engine to find them. Believe it or not, disposers are not harmful to septic systems if you use them correctly. Read about it at my website in my past columns.

In a box in my garage in NH is the disposer I'm installing. It's a cool machine designed to work with septic systems. It's the InSinkerator Evolution Septic Assist.

This disposer comes with an injection system that squirts in an enzyme as the food is being ground up into a liquid. This enzyme helps hasten the breakdown of food in the septic system. It claims to be quieter than many other models, has a stainless-steel grind chamber and grinders and is more compact. It looks like it's a magnificent machine, as I took a look at it just after it appeared out of the UPS truck.

If you don't want to install one of these machines, you can use the Stain Solver product I manufacture. If you pour one-half cup into your sink and send it to the septic tank, the billions of oxygen ions it releases helps the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

Air Flow in Bathroom Exhaust Fans

Sandra, from St. Petersburg, FL, wrote to me asking:

"Should a bathroom exhaust fan blow air out or draw air in?  Mine blows air out.  I tested it by holding a tissue up to it.  Is there something wrong with it that I can fix, or was it installed wrong?"

You may feel that's a silly question, but it's not. One could easily see why you would want to introduce fresh air into a bathroom. This would require the fan to blow air into the room instead of sucking it out.

Sandra, the good news is that the fan is working properly. Bath exhaust fans are designed to suck air out of the bath replacing it with air from adjacent rooms. The primary use of these fans, in my opinion, is to remove dangerously high levels of humidity from the bathroom after showers or baths. This water vapor rapidly condenses on cooler wall and ceiling surfaces contributing to mildew growth.

The humid air can also easily escape into hidden attic and wall cavities causing severe water issues. I suggest you read all of my past columns in my Ventilation category to see the bath fans I use in my own home. Here's a clue: They look like space ships in my attic.

Upcoming DC Trip

This Sunday morning, I'll be driving to Washington DC to attend a conference about Internet Advertising legislation. Part of the conference is face time with key Congresswomen/men and Senators who are working in this area.

But on Sunday afternoon, an hour after arriving in town, I have an interesting meeting. I have to do a tile floor cleaning demonstration in the lobby of a large condominium complex. One of the residents there used some of my Stain Solver to clean the dirty tile.

The cleaning was so dramatic, the Board of Directors of the condo felt my product ruined the floor. I have to prove to them it didn't. If I do, I've been told I'll save them over $100,000 - the cost they were looking at to replace the tile!

Based on photos sent to me, I already know that the tile that was cleaned looks like the day it was installed. Fortunately, the condo owner that did the test made sure the Stain Solver solution got on the grout lines as well as the tile. It made the grout look like it was just installed - perfectly clean. My Stain Solver can't hurt tile or grout. After all it's just oxygen, water and natural soda ash!

I intend to videotape this demonstration and will share it with you. It should be fun!

Long-Distance Moving Help

I'm meeting this week with long-distance movers to get quotes on moving my Cincinnati possessions to NH. Can you please help me?

Is it possible for you to share pointers and tips that will help me select the right company and how I can AVOID contract hassles, extra hidden fees, and uncomfortable surprises when the moving crew decides there was an eclipse during the drive from Cincinnati to NH that now will cost an extra $1,000 to open the doors of the moving van?

The research I've done so far online makes me shudder as most of the stories are very unpleasant. The last thing I need that week is one or more moving problems.

Latest Columns

Decking Boards - pick the right ones

Asphalt Driveway Tips

Firewood Splitter - use what I use

Rust Spray Paint

 

Tim Carter's Fire Pit

I'd like to hear what you have to say about our great nation. Share your feelings at a separate website of mine:

www.TimCartersFirePit.com

Recently, I talked about the problems in Greece. You may find that interesting!

AsktheBuilder.com

Shower Faucets

Posted on by Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: Can you help clear up some confusion I have about shower faucets? Is there a big difference between a shower faucet and a tub shower faucet? I don’t want to have to struggle to repair my faucet in the future. What steps can I take now to streamline repairs? What can I do to make sure the faucet doesn’t leak and is as quiet as possible? Do you have any other tips about installing a shower faucet? Leah H., Rochester, NY

DEAR LEAH: Whew! I could talk about faucets for hours. I’ve installed many, and remember clearly years ago when I was flummoxed as you seem to be about shower faucets. The basics are pretty much the same as they were years ago, however there seem to be far more faucets to choose from than there were 40 years ago.

This polished nickel shower faucet can easily last 50 years or more because of its excellent engineering. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

This polished nickel shower faucet can easily last 50 years or more because of its excellent engineering. PHOTO CREDIT: Tim Carter

The biggest difference between a dedicated bath shower faucet and a tub and shower faucet is that a true shower faucet doesn’t come from the factory with an outlet for both a shower head and a tub spigot. A tub and shower faucet comes with hot and cold-water inlets and a separate outlet for the shower head and the tub spigot.

To further confuse you, it’s absolutely possible to make a tub and shower faucet work exclusively as just a shower faucet. This is especially true if the diverter to make the water go to the shower head is in the actual tub spigot. All your plumber has to do is stub a dead end pipe with a cap on the outlet in the faucet that’s supposed to feed the tub spigot. I’ve had to do this on occasion when the faucet model and trim that a customer wanted didn’t come as a dedicated shower-only faucet.

Advancements in faucet technology have made most shower faucet repairs very easy. Years ago, it could be a major struggle to successfully repair a faucet washer and a valve seat. Most modern faucets have valve cartridges that can be replaced fairly easily by just taking apart the faucet from the finished wall side of the bathroom.

If you’re in the market now for new faucets, be sure to keep the written instructions that come with the faucet. These frequently have a parts list and exploded diagrams showing you how to access the faucet cartridge. I always take these instructions and place them in a clear plastic bag that I attach to the inside of the bath vanity cabinet.

To make repairs really easy down the road, I’ll often purchase the replacement cartridge(s) at the same time as I get the new faucet. I’ll place these parts in the same plastic bag with the instructions so I don’t have to hunt them down years later. These parts rarely go bad if left in their original packaging.

To prevent leaks, you need to follow the instructions that come with the faucet. Some faucets want you to remove the cartridge before you solder. Excessive heat from a torch can melt the plastic components of a faucet cartridge. Don’t try to outsmart the faucet manufacturer thinking you can control the heat flow to the body of the faucet.

Noise can be an issue with certain faucets. If you have high water pressure, say anything above 70 pounds per square inch, then it may behoove you to run larger diameter pipe to the faucet to minimize noise. The water moves more slowly through a 3/4-inch pipe than a 1/2-inch pipe when the faucet is turned on. This slower flow creates less noise. You can also wrap the water supply pipes with insulation and add sound batts in the wall where the faucet resides to keep down noise.

If possible, consider installing an access panel on the other side of the wall from the faucet body. Years ago this was a very common practice. In fact, just this past weekend I stayed at a private home as a guest. In my bedroom there was an access panel to the tub and shower faucet for the original bathroom in the house. You could remove this panel and immediately be able to service the faucet from behind the tiled wall.

Be sure to place the fitting for the shower head arm high enough so that tall people don’t have to duck to much to rinse off. But be careful about placing it so high that you can’t attach the shower arm. Some faucets come with highly decorative shower heads and arms that require quite a bit of clearance to screw the arm into the shower lug fitting.

Be sure you have roughed in the shower body at the correct distance from the finished wall surface. This is very critical. Many modern faucets come with a template or guide that helps you ensure you don’t make a mistake with this critical aspect of the installation.

Column 834