March 5, 2022 Last Call

Posted on by Tim Carter

If you're a new subscriber in the past six days, this is a LAST CALL alert. I send these when a sale is about to expire. A normal newsletter will be delivered to you early tomorrow morning.

Sewer Gas Smell Book
Price DOUBLES Tomorrow

Last week, I announced my newest eBook - Sewer Gas Smell. I gave you a 50% discount if you bought it over the last seven days.

The seventh day is TODAY. The SALE PRICE ends tomorrow as soon as I turn on my computer and have had three sips of coffee.

You can SAVE $15.00 NOW.

Do you know what it costs to have a plumber or two come out and SCRATCH THEIR HEADS not solving your sewer gas problem and driving away with your money?

Yes, hundreds of dollars. My book will SAVE YOU ALL THAT MONEY!

It only takes 30 minutes to read this short book. You can almost always FIX the sewer gas issue yourself.

GO HERE NOW and DOWNLOAD my Sewer Gas Smell eBook. You'll never regret doing it.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
MASTER Plumber since 1981

Limestone Wall and Arch

Posted on by Tim Carter
Rock wall with arch

Limestone Wall and Arch | My grandfather, who was a baker, built decorative garden walls and arches like this. So can you! Photos of his work from the 1930s are just below. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

Limestone Wall and Arch

My grandfather was a baker in Cincinnati, Ohio in the very early 1900s. He and my grandmother owned and operated a neighborhood bakery in Clifton Heights, just 400 feet from where I was born. Once he retired, he decided to build an eight-unit apartment building just down the street from the bakery. He named it Valley View because it had a commanding view of the Mill Creek Valley. I never got to meet him as he was sent to Heaven fifteen years before I was born.

valley view apartments by William Carter

This is the actual building my grandfather built. It was done in horrible financial conditions with the Great Depression raging.

valley view apartments Cincinnati OH circa 1930

You can see why my grandfather named his dream Valley View. See its roof? See how it has a commanding view of the Mill Creek Valley from all second-floor apartments?

newspaper clipping of Valley View plans

What intrigue!!! I'd love to ask my grandfather what in the holy heck was going on here!

There are quite a few photos of him in the family photo albums of him standing next to limestone walls, arches, and a stone fountain he built with his own hands in the apartment building gardens. They were gorgeous and keep in mind there were no YouTube videos to watch, probably no great DIY books at the local library, or home improvement shows to watch on cable TV. Somehow, somewhere my grandfather gleaned the information to build stone walls and arches on his own. You can do it to with his inspiration and a little help from me.

limestone arch cincinnati oh

My grandfather built this. He was a baker for goodness sake! You can do this too.

Almost all stone is suitable as a building material for outdoor walls, arches, and fountains. After all, the rock most likely has withstood thousands of years of exposure before it was quarried or hand-picked from a road cut or stream bed. My grandfather used pieces of fossiliferous limestone that is abundant in Cincinnati, Ohio. Limestone is an excellent material to use. There are thousands of buildings all over the USA that use fine-grained limestone for their facades. It’s extremely durable.

Charles Carter sitting at stone fountain

That's my grandfather sitting next to a fountain he built behind his Valley View apartment building.

Do Limestone Walls and Arches Need Footings?

Whenever you build with limestone outdoors, it’s wise to install a sturdy foundation or footing. This is true no matter what stone you use. If you live where the soil freezes, be sure the bottom of this footing is below the local frost level. The footing helps spread the load of what you’re building on the soil below. I prefer my footings to be at poured concrete at least 8 inches thick with 5/8-inch-diameter steel bars in it every 2 feet on center to ensure the footing doesn’t fall apart or bend. The footing should be no less than 2 feet wider than the wall or arch structure you’re going to build. You can discover more about how to build a footing here.

If you’re building a retaining wall that’s 4 feet high or shorter, you’ll rarely get into trouble. The issue with retaining walls is the tipping force increases at a greater rate the higher the wall goes. Any wall over 6-feet tall should be designed by a structural engineer that has a deep history of producing plans for retaining walls. You can discover the different types of retaining walls you can build out of limestone here.

How Do I Start Building With Limestone?

Laying limestone can be challenging and I suggest you build a small test structure first to get the hang of it. Be sure the stone is clean and dust-free so the Portland cement mortar will adhere well. Most stones you work with are slightly tougher to work with than brick. Brick has suction and when you lay brick, the brick absorbs the water in the mortar quite fast. This allows the mortar to get stiff within minutes.

This doesn’t always happen with stone so you often have to make the mortar mix a little drier. When working with limestone like my grandfather used, you can rest assured his mortar mix resembled mashed potatoes, not applesauce.

What Type of Mortar is Best for Limestone?

I recommend you use a strong mortar that’s one part Portland cement, three parts medium or coarse sand, and 1/2 part hydrated lime. The hydrated lime will make the mortar a little more sticky and it greatly enhances the strength of the mortar over time. All three ingredients are quite inexpensive.

If you have the time and want extra adhesion between the mortar mix and the stone, you can coat the top of each stone with cement paint just before applying the mortar mix. Most people won’t have the patience to do this. Cement paint is just a mixture of Portland cement and clear water. You blend the two so it’s the consistency of regular latex paint.

Are Limestone Arches Hard to Build?

Stone arches are not that hard to build. The Internet is littered with videos and photographs of the arch form you need to build using plywood or oriented strand board. The arch form needs to be as wide as the stones that are being used to create the arch.

What Prevents the Arch From Collapsing?

The walls that the arch sits upon need to be substantial. You can get clues, guidance, and inspiration once again from photographs of arches that are as plentiful on the Internet as opinions about current events. You need to realize that gravity is pulling on the arch and wanting to spread the vertical walls below it apart. Robust walls will resist Mother Nature’s desire to bring the walls to the ground for many many decades.

arched stone bridge

You can build arches with NO MORTAR like these two bridges. They are in southwest New Hampshire and used to carry car and truck traffic. You can build a smaller version for foot and pony traffic. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

To give you an idea of how big to make the walls, you should look at the stone archway that graces the entrance to Avon Fields Golf Course in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Refer to the photo at the top of this column.) There you’ll discover a limestone decorative structure that has an arched opening that’s about 3 feet wide. The walls on either side of this opening you can walk through are just a little bit over 3 feet wide as well. This stone arch has been in place for almost 100 years with minimal maintenance and still looks magnificent.

Before you start your project, I urge you to look at hundreds of photographs of stone walls, arches, etc. to get an idea of what’s possible. Pay close attention to how the mason cut and fit the stones in the arch. I know you can do this and think of the company you’ll be in!

Column 1445

February 27, 2022 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Posted on by Tim Carter

Newsletter Issue #1171

Is this your first issue? It might be if you're Jan, Rocco, Julie, Jason, Barb, Steven, Arla, and about 100 others who became part of my virtual family in the past seven days. Welcome! You're in very fine company I might say. This issue is chock full of tips and a special announcement about my latest book!

You, though, might be a dusty subscriber like Josh. He subscribed about fifteen years ago! If a little dust has accumulated on you for lots of years, you might remember this very basic column I penned explaining the most basic things you need to know if you're about to build a deck.

Work Boot Review

Not only do I get to test tools, but I often test work clothes and boots. Boots and shoes might not seem like intimate clothing articles but they are. It's not as easy to get a comfortable fit as you might think. Just look at the shape of peoples' feet the next time you're at the beach!
timberland pro direct attach boot

I recommend you go here to discover the brand and model of these boots. They passed my most RIGOROUS test the first day. Most boots FAIL it!

New Sewer Gas Smell eBook

For the past 18 months, I've been kicking a can down the road. I started writing a short book that would SAVE YOU hundreds and hundreds of dollars. But month after month, it languished in an open window on my iMac desktop.

I finally finished it two days ago! Do you think foul sewer gas has transformed the toilet bowl water the sickening green color you see in the photo just below? Is that one way to test for a sewer gas leak?
toilet bowl - green water

My new Sewer Gas Smell eBook allows you to find where sewer gas is entering your home and then I share how to STOP it.

I've solved hundreds of sewer gas issues over the phone with folks like you. As crazy as this might sound, some homeowners have called in four or more plumbers to no avail.

These homeowners told me the plumbers scratch their heads, shrug their shoulders, and drive away dumbfounded with $100 in their pockets. Seriously, I've talked with homeowners like you who have PAID hundreds of dollars to plumbers who couldn't solve the sewer gas problem.

Those days are over. I've been a master plumber since 1981 and know how to locate the source of sewer gas.

Once you flip the pages in Sewer Gas Smell, there's a very good chance you'll discover the source of the sewer gas in your home and stop it in minutes.

I've decided to offer this new book to you for 50% off for ONE WEEK ONLY. I've even autographed the book for you on the last page!

The book is an INSTANT DOWNLOAD PDF eBook.

It has a very easy-to-understand question/answer format that allows you to locate the source of the wretched gas often in minutes.The book is very short and you can consume it in less than 30 minutes.

I URGE you to get my new Sewer Gas Smell book now before I raise the price. It will go back up to its normal price on Sunday, March 6, 2022.

My Next Book:

New Home Building #HACKS

I've already started on my next project. In reality, I've been working on it for decades.

Imagine I handed you a magic wand and you were standing on a vacant lot where you were going to build your new home. I then said, "Wave the wand and say Alakazam!"

As soon as you stopped talking, a giant cloud of smoke billows up from the ground and there in front of you is your new house but it contains countless cool things and features in it you never thought were possible.

Here's a tiny list of things you may have never thought to include in a new home. They cost very little to add to a new house or even one undergoing a major remodeling:

  • wire all lights in the house on dedicated circuits only for lights - when the power goes out and you hook up your generator, you have light in every room!
  • a hot/cold-water hose bib in your garage
  • wider hallways
  • attic or garage storage trusses
  • combination radon removal and water collection under slab, crawlspace slab, or basement

You'll simply not believe all the cool things you can have in your home and many are not that expensive.

Here's where it gets interesting. I want YOU to help me with the book! I want to include YOUR suggestions! You may already have some fascinating features in your home that make your life easier. What are they?

What do you hate about your house? What would you change right now if you could? What would make EACH ROOM in your home perfect?

If you could have a wish, any wish, for some amazing feature in your home, what would it be?

If you share your ideas or wishes with me as well as your email address, I'm going to give you a FREE PDF copy of the book once it's complete. My intention is to finish this book before May 1, 2022.

Go here and fill out the form. Thanks!

That's enough for a Sunday.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Hilton Hotels USES: www.StainSolver.com
Lake Sunapee: www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. What do you think is the BEST heating system for a house? The answer might surprise you! I share exactly what I'm going to have in my next home. I'll bet you can't guess both things!

radiant floor heating manifolds

February 22, 2022 Flash Message

Posted on by Tim Carter

Live on WLIP

I thought I'd let you know that in just 15 minutes or so - that would be about 3:37 PM ET today, February 22, 2022, I'll be LIVE on the air on WLIP in Kenosha, WI.

I'll be on Frank and Kim Carmichael's Happenings Radio Show.

I NEVER KNOW what Frank is going to ask me. So it's SCADS of FUN.

CLICK OR TAP HERE and once on the page look up at the top for the LIVE LISTEN button should you want to catch the show.

Tim Carter

P.S. I used to do my own live call-in radio show for twelve years back in Cincinnati. Live radio is a HOOT!

How to Fix Cracked Grout on Tile Floor

Posted on by Tim Carter
bad grout with quarter for sizing

How To Fix Cracked Grout on Tile Floor | This grout is less than two years old. It started to degrade less than six months after being installed. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

Cracked Grout on Tile Floor

A few days ago, I was singing Happy Birthday for the third time to my granddaughter in the kitchen of her parent’s newer home. It was a festive morning and cake was served before lunch. After taking the first bite of the delicious cake my daughter made, I’m thinking this is a brilliant new trend many should consider!

Right behind and below my granddaughter was a section of grout in the tile floor that was defective. A significant amount of grout was missing from the joint. There are no less than ten or twenty other random places on the tile floor throughout the house where this exact same thing is happening.

When Was the House Built?

Days after my granddaughter was born, I was installing the cast-iron drain pipes in the house. Eighteen months later, it was move-in day. I was not the builder on the project but I did install all the plumbing, electric, and radiant heat in the home. Unfortunately, the builder lacked the skill set of how to order products in advance and schedule other subcontractors so there was activity on the job site every day. In my day, a simple rectangle custom house like my daughter’s would have taken me less than seven months to build from start to finish.

You can probably do the math, but the floor grout that failed is less than two years old. It started to fail within a month after my daughter moved in. There are quite a few reasons floor grout can fail, and based on where it’s failing in the house I’ve come to the conclusion it’s a simple workmanship error.

Do Wood Subfloors Cause Grout and Tile Cracks?

Your floor grout can crack if the floor itself flexes. Ceramic tile can be installed over a wood-floor system but it’s imperative the floor be as stiff as a granite countertop. In your lifetime you may have walked across a somewhat bouncy floor that felt a bit like a trampoline. These floor systems do meet minimum building-code requirements, but they’re death on a stick for ceramic tile flooring and grout.

My daughter’s home has a stiff floor. I made sure of this in the design. The two-story house is constructed using engineered floor trusses. In fact, the trusses under my granddaughter’s stool, while she was eating cake, were special extra-stiff ones made to compensate for the massive 10-foot by the 5-foot center island in the kitchen. There is absolutely no flex whatsoever in my daughter’s floors.

second-floor wood floor trusses

These are the floor trusses in my daughter's home. The floor I'm standing on to take the photo is also made from floor trusses. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Was the Actual Grout Defective?

Eliminating this possibility points the finger at the installer and possibly the actual grout itself. It’s easy to eliminate defective grout because a vast majority of the grout in the tile is fine with no defects. The floor was grouted over a period of a few days in the late spring of 2020.

How Does One Determine the Cause?

The random locations of the defects provide the insight to help determine the cause of the failure. Some are adjacent to bearing points of the floor trusses and others can be found mid-span of a few trusses. If the grout were failing just at mid-span you might make a compelling argument that the floor trusses have just enough flex to crack the grout.

But there’s a difference between when the grout just cracks and when it turns to powder and giant gaps and holes in the grout are present. This is the issue my daughter faces. The smoking gun, in my opinion, points to small amounts of grout that had already started to harden in the bucket and were applied by the tile setter. He may have even added a tiny amount of water to the stiff grout to make it workable.

How Do You Fix the Cracked and Missing Grout?

About ten years ago, I recorded with the help of my future son-in-law four in-depth videos showing exactly how to mix, install, and finish sanded floor tile grout so it can last for hundreds of years. Realize that floor grout is simply a miniature version of concrete and I can show you concrete in different parts of the USA that’s over 100 years old and has withstood decades of harsh weather. Your floor grout never has to experience this since it’s inside! You can watch the four videos at the bottom of this column. Keep reading, though!

The key to creating floor grout that lasts is controlling the water that’s used to mix it and the amount that’s used when you strike the joints with a sponge to make them look perfect. Keep in mind the instant you mix water with the dried grout you start an irreversible chemical reaction called hydration. Tiny crystals in the Portland cement in the grout start to grow. As more and more crystals grow, the grout gets stiff and eventually, it gets as hard as a rock. After all, all the components in standard sanded floor grout are all rock except for the water.

If the mixed grout in the bucket starts to get stiff because it wasn’t installed fast enough, there aren’t enough crystals left to bond to the sides of the tile in the actual grout joint. What’s more, if the installer decides to add a little water to make the grout workable, he breaks apart many of the crystal bonds that have already formed. These are not self-healing.

You can also ruin floor grout when you’re finishing the joints. The sponge that’s used to strike the joints must be just damp with all the excess water squeezed out before you slide the sponge across the floor tile and the grout lines. If excess water gets on the wet floor grout, it can dilute the amount of the Portland cement in the grout in those random areas where the water soaks into or puddles on the wet grout.

Column 1444




Best Heating System for House?

Posted on by Tim Carter
radiant heating distribution manifolds

Best Heating System for House | These are radiant heating distribution manifolds. Hot water enters the manifold and it’s sent through the smaller tubing to heat the floors in this house. It then returns to the boiler to get reheated. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

What is the Best Heating System for House? - Well...

You might overhear several pickup truck owners bragging about how their Ford or Chevy truck is better than all the rest. It might even be a Ram or Toyota owner. The odds of any of them convincing the other to change brands is more remote than rainfall in the Atacama Desert. This same debate has raged for years with HVAC contractors about what is the best heating system.

I don’t know that there’s a definitive answer, but fortunately I’ve had enough experience with several systems that I can weigh in and give you some food for thought should you be in a position to build a new home or be involved in a massive remodeling job where you just might have the budget and ability to transform the way your home might be heated.

I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. The homes built in the late 1800s in the Queen City almost all were heated with hot water or steam radiators. These houses were built long before air conditioning had been invented. Radiant heat is luxurious as I currently have it in my New Hampshire home. I’ll share more about this in a moment.

Gravity Furnaces

Some older homes had monster furnaces that worked on gravity. They’d heat up the air inside a giant round furnace and it would float up through metal ducts into the house. Cold air is heavier and it would drop back down into the basement to be reheated by the wasteful burner. More modern houses transitioned to forced hot air with a blower pushing air up into the rooms. This same air handler would deliver cool air in the summer if you had an air conditioning system too.

Forced-Air Systems

Forced-air systems offer lots of advantages for purifying the air in your home and adding humidity should it be needed. For these systems to work best, the supply and return ductwork needs to be carefully sized and installed so all rooms are comfortable.

Coal Stoves

I have a very good friend here in New Hampshire that heats with anthracite coal. He has two coal stoves and only uses the one when the temperature drops below 0 F for an extended time. One advantage to using coal is he knows when it’s all delivered in the fall, he’ll never be cold at all in the winter. He has all his required fuel. If you’ve ever lost power and been cold, you know how well my friend sleeps at night.

Propane - Natural Gas Systems

You can’t say that about me as I depend on three propane deliveries per winter season to keep my tank full. You may depend on natural gas to flow to your home each day. What happens if there’s some national shortage of gas? How will you keep warm? The disadvantage to my friend’s archaic coal stove is it’s a little dusty in the house and he needs to feed it twice a day.

floor truss framing

Above me are floor trusses. See the Uponor hePEX tubing in the Uponor radiant heat transfer plates? No wonder I'm so happy! Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

Radiant Floor Heat

What about radiant floor heat? I have it in my home and it’s quite possibly the best form of heating I’ve ever experienced. The entire floor of my basement is toasty warm. It’s magical to step out of a shower onto a warm tile floor. I have six different zones in my system so I can save on fuel by using programmable thermostats to keep rooms in several zones cooler when I’m not in them.

You can also install radiant heat using sleek baseboard radiators if you can’t afford to put the heating tubes under each floor in your home. My house has both radiant floor heating and these baseboard heaters. The plastic tubes that supply the heat to the radiators install just like electric cables. In just a few hours, two workers can easily run all the tubing for baseboard radiators in a modest home.

Modern boilers and forced-air furnaces have modulating technology. This means the burner works like the one on your gas or electric stove. When you cook, you can adjust the amount of heat so you can boil water on high heat or just apply enough heat to simmer a tasty gravy. The same thing happens when a part of your house calls for heat. The boiler or furnace only produces enough heat to satisfy that demand no matter what it is. This saves energy as less heat is sent outdoors with the exhaust gas when the burner is on low.

baseboard heater radiant heat

This is a sleek baseboard heater. Hot water enters the heater at one end flowing through a large tube to which radiating aluminum fins are attached. Air is heated and floats up softly into the room. These are very effective.

Electric Heat

Perhaps the most basic heating system you can install is one that just uses electricity. Simple baseboard radiators or portable ones can be used for heating. There are no moving parts to speak of but the downside is electricity costs may be quite high where you live.

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are electric heating systems, but they’re very complex machines. They do double duty as air conditioners in the summer. Modern heat pumps are quite efficient but once again, electricity may be pricey where you live. What’s more, electricity is quite possibly the least reliable heating fuel that you can choose. The news is littered with stories any time of year about hundreds of thousands of people without power when large storms damage power lines.

What am I going to do when I build my next home? I’m going to install radiant floor heating in the entire house and have a wood stove backup heating system. I’ll stock in enough dried oak firewood to provide a few months of heat should propane become scarce.

Column 1443

February 20, 2022 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Posted on by Tim Carter

Newsletter Issue #1170

Guess what? This could be your first issue! I sure hope I exceed your expectations. Since you're new around these parts, be sure to check out the special offer below on my entire Digital Library.

You, though, may have hitched your wagon to my mastodon with issue #1003. If so, you undoubtedly remember the video about how easy it is to create a PEX connection.

The Owl Moon

I'm fortunate to be able to share with you each week what's going on in my life even though I have no clue what's happening with you. You can get a dose of me six days a week if you read this newsletter and watch my new LIVE stream videos.

If you can't catch them live, you can watch them after the fact. During a LIVE stream, I always share what's going on in my world. This new venture of mine has allowed me to create a wonderful group of new friends.

I remember many times talking with my kids about how to cultivate and care for a friendship. It's like watering a plant. If you stop watering plants, they tend to die. You need to water the friendships that mean something to you on a very regular basis. I'm sure you've seen them wither when you don't. I suggest you reach out today to some friend of yours that needs a gulp of water! You'll feel refreshed too.

I also remember reading books to my kids when it was time for bed. Kathy did this most nights, but occasionally, I was happy to do it because I did something unique that she didn't.

If your kids were like mine, they'd ask you to read the same book over and over again so much so that they knew every line in the book. Keep in mind at this young age they actually couldn't read, they just memorized what Kathy or I said.

To see if they remembered, part way through a story I'd change the end of a sentence. For example, I might read, "The grasshopper and his chipmunk friend strolled through the forest on the wide trail carpeted with soft pine needles. After quite a few minutes of walking, they decided to rest next to a babbling brook. Gary the grasshopper opened his soft leather satchel and pulled out three cheese coneys with heavy onions and no mustard sharing them with Charlie the chipmunk."

Immediately, my oldest daughter would say, "Dad! That's not what the book says! They didn't eat cheese coneys!"

It became a game. My kids would be on pins and needles waiting for when I'd insert some quirky thing the characters in the book would do, say, eat, or who-knows-what. To change it up, I wouldn't always go off script.

What great memories! Speaking of memories, did you read the Owl Moon book to your children or one of your grands? I remember when I did with my kids. If you read this delightful book to them, I guarantee you they'll think of you each time they see a full moon on a delightful clear cold winter night.

Several nights ago, an Owl Moon rose up over my house in central New Hampshire. It was the night before the full moon so a little more wax had to be applied to the glowing orb the next day.

Check out the photo below. The moon beams were reflecting off the smooth ice of Lake Winnisquam just below my deck as I captured this wonder of nature.

If you want your grands to think of you each time they see a giant machine digging in the earth, then be sure to check out Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.
Moonrise over Lake Winnisquam NH

Save at Least $300

What do the drain-cleaning plumbers charge in your city/town should they have to come out and get all the ground-up eggshells out of your kitchen drain pipe? I'll bet no one ever shared with you EXACTLY how to use a kitchen garbage disposal. Point your peepers at this photo:

sink drain strainer screen food catcher

You can save GOBS of money if you use what I'm holding in the photo above. I BEG YOU to read my recent column about how to prevent drain clogs and how to take care of all of your house drain lines.

Late-Breaking News:

NH Surgeon Admiral Declares Tim Carter UNFIT to Price Digital Products

ATB Entire Digital Library

Ask the Builder ENTIRE Digital Library

Don't be confused by that photo!!! Those are books in my office. It's a small part of my own small library made from atoms, not electrons.

The Ask the Builder Digital Library is all the money-saving stuff I've created in the form of PDF files, videos, and spreadsheets.

ON SALE NOW - 96% DISCOUNT - CRAZY!
You get all my eBooks, all of my new-home-construction digital products, all my project checklists, contractor hiring guides, video packages, etc.

$49.99 - LIMITED OFFER

This Digital Library is normally $1,250.00

You'll be declared certifiably INSANE if you don't click the BUY NOW button below and go look at the 112+ digital products that make up my Library!!

You get ALL OF THEM for just $49.99.

Buy Now!

What You've Missed

Three months ago, I started doing LIVE video streaming during the week on my YouTube channel. I'm normally LIVE M-F at 4 PM Eastern Time right here. It's a HOOT!

While I have a main topic that I discuss for a few minutes, the viewers - that's YOU - then decide what I talk about. You can ask me questions LIVE while the stream happens. You can ask ANYTHING. Think of the sweet moola you'll save!

Here are a few of my recent LIVE streams:

Outdoor & Indoor Extension Cord Sizing SECRETS

Amazing Digital Tape Measure! eTape16

Relocate a Bathtub - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Magical Hydrated Lime - A Miracle Product

That's enough for a winter Sunday. I know, it's summer if you're Down Under. I hope you're at the beach today! I was at the beach here in NH several days ago, so there!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Hilton Hotels Clean With - www.StainSolver.com
QSL - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. Are you going to build a shed this spring? For the love of God, don't do it without my help. Watch me build a deluxe shed. I'll even throw in the PLANS for the shed FOR FREE if you email me after you get the video set.

Timberland PRO Direct Attach Boots

Posted on by Tim Carter
timberland pro direct attach boot

Timberland PRO Direct Attach Boots | This is what they look like if you wear flood pants. Guess what? They passed with flying colors one of my most stringent tests. They stayed TIED all day with that simple regular knot. My other boot would have come untied three times forcing me into the double-knot territory. These Timberland PROs come with magic laces!

Timberland PRO Direct Attach Boots - Handsome and Tough

I tried out my new Timberland PRO Direct Attach work boots today. They were nice and soft out of the box. While they seemed a little stiff when I first walked around, within an hour they felt like they were my trusted boots I'd worn for six months. I've got them on now as I write this.

You can purchase a pair of these Timberland PRO Direct Attach boots here.

Key Features + Benefits:

  • Asymmetrical steel safety toe
  • Waterproof leather with seam-sealed waterproof construction
  • Electrical Hazard Protection
  • Contoured shock-diffusion plate for structural support
  • Anti-Fatigue technology polyurethane footbed for shock absorption and energy return
  • Padded top collar for comfort
  • Breathable and moisture-wicking lining with anti-microbial treatment for odor control
  • Direct inject construction for durability

Technology:

  • Steel safety toe
  • 18kv electrical hazard
  • Waterproof membrane
  • Anti-fatigue technology
timberland pro direct attach boot

These are pretty handsome boots. What do you think?

timberland pro direct attach boot sole

This is the classic Vibram sole pattern I believe. I remember my first hiking boots I bought in 1972 had Vibram soles. My guess is the patent has long since expired!

timberland pro direct attach boot

They say they're waterproof. I've not tried to test them yet. Normally those claims are true.

timberland pro direct attach boot

This is what you're friends will see if you wear normal-length pants.

February 13, 2022 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Posted on by Tim Carter

AsktheBuilder Newsletter #1169

Is this your first issue? If so, I'm glad you're here. Each issue of my newsletter is created on the fly. I tap into what's happened the previous few days and share that life experience with you.

It just so happens this is a bi-polar issue! I think you'll enjoy it. You get to see what happens when I get stung by a bee so to speak.

You, however, might have signed on with issue #742. Do you recall the column I wrote about painting vinyl siding?

Faded red vinyl siding

Lots of people ask, "Can you paint vinyl siding?"

I have the answer for you in this column.

Become a Sustaining Ask the Builder Member - Should something in this issue save you time or money, you can sustain me with mocha chip ice cream or three cheese coneys and a 5-way.

Steve in France

A few days ago, I did an international consult call with Steve. Actually, we did a ZOOM video call so he could walk around his house to show me the plumbing challenge he faced.

I'm happy to talk with you on the phone too.

Steve is adding a full bathroom and he needed my help understanding how to install both the drain, waste lines, and the vent pipes for each fixture.

I rapidly became aware that Steve is doing much more than the plumbing. He's undertaking a massive remodeling project that involves a large portion of the house.

He had already installed some copper water pipes and he used the magical press fittings that require no soldering. Look at Steve's workmanship:
copper tubing with press fittings

I'm sharing Steve's story because I find it inspirational. He's eating an elephant but doing it one bite at a time.

You can do the same - no matter if you want to build a shed, remodel a kitchen, or build a small room addition.

Steve didn't buy the tool to crimp those fittings onto the copper tubing. He was able to rent it for just 50 Euros a day. You'd be surprised by the tools you can rent so you don't break your budget.

I'm not aware if Steve watched my video about a copper press tool to see how easy it is to install tubing, but I suggest you watch it right now.

Be aware that no matter what project you face, I can be your lifeline. Zoe, a young woman in New Mexico, had me on the phone just a few times last spring. I helped save her over $18,000 when she ended up doing all the plumbing in her new home.

No matter what your project is, I can help you on the phone or in a ZOOM call.

Next week, I'm going to tell you about the other inspirational Steve.
old cincinnati bengals logo bengal tiger

Short-Term Rental Cage Fight

Do you know much about private property rights? If you live here in the USA, they're sacrosanct.

Do you know anything about the Game of Thrones? It's played each and every day in each HOA, every company, each town, city, state, and country.

Right now a strategic Game of Thrones is happening where I live in New Hampshire.

"...There is no middle ground."

Imagine these situations. A different group of eight seniors wants to rent your house each week of the summer so they can play Scrabble out on your deck sitting in the breeze at a large shaded table drinking lemonade. They may occasionally giggle.

Or, imagine a national society that wants to rent your home so a different group of young people who are both deaf and mute can come and sit on your deck each week. All they want to do is meditate and look out at the lake all day.

I could go on and on and on with examples of how you might rent your house to people who would never bother your neighbors.

My HOA Board is trying to muster enough votes from the people that live here to prohibit weekly short-term rentals no matter who I'm renting to.

It's a hateful abuse of private property rights.

I've already done my preliminary research and discovered the courts all across the USA don't look favorably on HOAs that try to change the rules like this after the game has started.

If you're aware of lawsuits where a homeowner BEAT her/his HOA in a similar short-term rental battle, I'd LOVE for you to share it so I can add it to my list. Please email me a link to a page on the Internet about the lawsuit.

There are countless court cases ruling in favor of homeowners who want to rent. The HOAs who want to infringe on your private property rights almost always crawl away from the cage fight bleeding, bruised, and beat.

What's shameful about my HOA's stance is they're not offering to help pay my real estate taxes, upkeep, etc. but they have no issue infringing on my ability to raise the money to do such things.

It's a mindset that far too many have who try to tell you what you can do with your life and your property for goodness sake.

It's one thing to have the rule in place when the development is first put on the market and no one has yet purchased in the HOA. However, it's quite another matter to try to enact something like this after everyone has already purchased their home.

One might say that those newer residents of my HOA that don't like renters maybe shouldn't have bought into this development. They knew at the time they purchased that anyone here can rent their home at will.

But what do I know? I ate lunch for 20+ years sitting on overturned empty drywall mud buckets. I'm trying to convince the Board to stop this before it gets ugly and we just enrich the local lawyers.

Do you stand up for your rights when someone tries to put a boot on your throat? If not, you'll suffocate.

Do you recall what General Stark wrote in a letter in response to an invitation to attend a reunion celebrating his Revolutionary War victory in Bennington, VT?

“They were men that had not learned the art of submission, nor had they been trained to the art of war. But our astonishing success taught the enemies of liberty that undisciplined freemen are superior to veteran slaves.”

At the end of his letter, General Stark included the famous line that had been touched upon years before in other historical conflicts of good vs evil. He intended this line to be said in a toast to his men at the reunion so the story goes:

“Live free or die. Death is not the greatest of evils.”

My HOA Board heard a shot whistle about 1 foot above their deck Friday morning when they opened an email I sent around 8 AM. We shall see if they have the courage to do the right thing and back down.

If I were a betting man, I'd wager they're going to hold fast even though I shared that the proposed bylaw amendment is most certainly illegal.

In the email I sent to them, I opened the bomb bay doors and showed them I have an atom bomb.

Just before the next meeting, I'm going to drop it if they don't back away from this initiative.

The reference to the atom bomb comes from a fantastic attorney I served with on Amberley Village's Council. His name is Louis.

Louis taught me in negotiations of any kind if you have the strong hand, you do a low-pass fly over and open your bomb bay doors to show your opponent that you do, indeed, possess the atom bomb.

That said, you never drop the atom bomb unless you have to as utter destruction results. There are no negotiations after you drop an atom bomb.

My HOA Board made a grievous tactical mistake in an email reply to me about ten days ago. That error is going to be shared with all the folks in my HOA just before the meeting where the vote will be cast on this short-term rental agreement.

Yes, I made it crystal clear to the Board in my email that was the atom bomb fashioned by this undisciplined freeman.

Here's one thing about me you may not know. I don't like to start conflict. But by gosh if one is forced upon me, I'm all in like in Texas Hold 'em.

That's enough about bombs, bad jujumagumbo, and royal flushes on a Sunday morning.

I'll be back next Sunday. You didn't know I could fly a B-52 just above stall speed did you? You might even wonder if I've flown in an F/A-18 Hornet.

By gosh, you learn something new each Sunday in an AsktheBuilder.com newsletter! Look just below to toss me a treat.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Hilton Hotels Clean With - www.StainSolver.com
K-2666 POTA - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. Can you guess what it might have cost to build the Old Tech building on the University of Cincinnati campus back in 1901? It was a pretty big brick building, two stories with a big basement. Let me know if you were within 25 percent. Here's a photo of it. It's NOT the giant building with the spire in the right photo. It's the building to the right still partly in the shade.

old tech building at university of cincinnati

WHO DEY?

Become a Sustaining Ask the Builder Member - You can sustain me with mocha chip ice cream or three cheese coneys and a 5-way should something in this issue save you time or money.

Drain Clog Prevention

Posted on by Tim Carter
screened sink strainer

Drain Clog Prevention | This very inexpensive food catcher screened strainer can save you hundreds and thousands of dollars in drain-cleaning fees. It fits perfectly over the basket strainer at the top of the photo. ORDER SEVERAL of them now right here. Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

Drain Clog Prevention

The inspiration for this column came from two different friends of mine who live in Los Angeles (LA), California yet don’t know each other, but do know that I’ve been a master plumber since 1981. One was my best friend Steve who asked me about a mailer he received from a local plumber advertising a high-pressure drain-cleaning service.

The other friend is Alex, a contractor, who tunes into my new live streaming video each M-F. He sent me a photo of a clogged 2-inch kitchen drain stack and this comment, "I have a client that kept snaking their drains and was reluctant to change out the pipe. He wanted to know why he had to call a plumber to come out each month. I looked at years of plumbing bills and told him, ‘Congratulations, you put this fine plumber’s child through college.’ "

The photo Alex sent me showed the stack completely clogged with gross black organic debris. No wonder the pipe had to be snaked each month to get the sink to drain. All of this misery and expense is preventable not only in the LA house but yours too! Allow me to share decades of experience so you can avoid clogged drains in your home.

cast iron stack completely clogged

This is a cast-iron stack completely clogged with organic debris. Grease was the main cause of the clogging. (C) Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

What Should Be Put Down Plumbing Drains?

First and foremost, the only thing that should flow through the plumbing drains in your home is water, human waste both solid and liquid, and very tiny particles of solid food. Note that I didn’t say toilet paper is okay. Realize that people who live in other parts of the world think the use of toilet paper is actually somewhat unsanitary and unacceptable. They use water to cleanse their body parts.

I find it shocking that major US plumbing fixture manufacturers don’t heavily promote bidets. You should watch my Flushable Wipes video to see how high-quality toilet paper doesn’t break down much at all as it travels through your drain pipes.

What is the Worst Thing to Put Down a Plumbing Drain?

Grease is one of the worst things you can put down your drains as Alex’s client has come to discover. While you can liquefy it and seemingly emulsify it by mixing in liquid dish soap with the grease in the pan, the grease will eventually begin to coat the inside of the drain pipes. This grease can capture larger food particles and rapidly choke off the drain line.

The way to deal with grease is simple. If you use paper towels for light cleaning or to dry your hands as I know some to do, put these wet or damp towels aside and allow them to dry. Use these to sop up warm liquid grease in your pots and pans. Wipe off greasy plates and bowls with these used towels and then throw them in the garbage. Your goal is to minimize the amount of grease you put in your drain system.

greasy pan with paper towel

I've already started to wipe some of the thick grease from the pan. Look at it on the dry used paper towel. NEVER allow grease like this to go down a drain. (C) Copyright 2022 Tim Carter

What about Tampons, Feminine Napkins, and Flushable Wipes?

NEVER put any feminine hygiene products or flushable wipes into a toilet. These are absolutely unacceptable in a septic system and it’s not a good idea if you’re on a city sewer. All of these things should be placed in a nice sanitary waste can in the bathroom. The can should have a plastic liner and a lid. Post a sign in the bathroom for guests to use the can for disposal. You should really watch my past video demonstrating what happens to flushable wipes as they travel through your sewer line.

Should I Use a Food-Catcher Sink Strainer?

Purchase a drop-in stainless-steel screened strainer that fits perfectly in the basket strainer of your kitchen sink. These simple and affordable devices collect food particles with ease. Once the strainer starts to fill, lift it out of the sink and dump the food waste into your garbage can.

Are Garbage Disposals Harmful to Plumbing Drains?

Do you use a garbage disposal in your kitchen thinking these are the answer? They’re not because most homeowners have never been trained how to use one so as to prevent clogs. If you want to see what a garbage disposal creates, just get out your blender with the clear blender jar. Put your food scraps in it, add a little water, turn it on, and look at the sludge you create.

If all of this sludge is not transported to the septic tank or city sewer, it can start to coat the sides of the drain pipes and choke them off over time. If you insist on using your disposal, then you must keep the sink water running for 30 seconds after you turn off the machine. Better yet, after you turn off the water, pour two gallons of water as fast as possible into the kitchen sink to flush the sidewalls of the horizontal branch drain arm in the wall and the vertical drain stack that services the kitchen sink.

How Can I Dissolve Grease in a Plumbing Drain Line?

It’s a great idea, if you can do it, to pour about 15 gallons of very hot water down your kitchen sink once a month. You want to pour this heated water into the sink as fast as possible being careful not to burn yourself. The idea is to put so much water into the pipes that the tubing under the sink and the horizontal branch arm in the wall behind the sink completely fill with hot water. This will dissolve any grease from the sides and top of the pipes keeping them as open as possible.

How Can I Flush Out my Main Sewer Drain Line?

Each week it’s a great idea to pour ten, or even 15, gallons of cold water into your toilet as fast as possible. If you can do this with a helper all the better. Your goal is to create a man-made flash flood in your bathroom drain pipe and stack as well as your main building drain. Just as Mother Nature keeps creeks and stream beds clean of accumulated debris with an occasional flood, you should do the same. This massive surge of water flowing through the pipes goes a long way to keep them wide open.

If Steve does this, he can use the money he would have given the plumber who sent the mailer and take his soulmate out to in nice dinner down the hill in Pasadena!

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