September 12, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Whatcha doing standing with Emma, Janna, John, Monica, Fausto, and JM? Why of course, this is your first issue and you're all chattering about what to expect! Well, it's a pretty good issue if I don't say so myself!

But what about you? Have you been around here umpteen years like Patrick? Do you remember that column I wrote about building the Dream Garage? Do you have issues getting in and out of your car when it's in the garage? It's impossible for my wife to exit our car in our garage. I didn't build the house we currently live in. CLICK or TAP HERE and immerse yourself in all the things your garage should have.

I Need a Black Paisley Vest - HELP!

For five weekends this fall, I'm helping out the Ashland NH Railroad Historical Society. I dress up as an old RR telegrapher and send Morse code while train passengers visit the restored RR station.

I need a black paisley vest, but have been unsuccessful locating one my size. I'm talking about a standard vest that you'd wear as part of a 3-piece suit. All I see are ones for men who are 5' 11" and taller. All of the vests I see are much too long and would hang down way too low on me. UGH.

If you locate one that will work to these sizes, I'd be MOST GRATEFUL:

Front Length - 21 inches
Back Length - 19 inches
Chest - 44 inches
Waist - 43 inches (odd since I wear size 38 pants)
Rear Shoulder to Shoulder - 16 inches

Let me know if you can uncover where this vest is sold. Thanks! Remember, black paisley.

Howard's Old Faucet

Look at this photo:
old shower faucet
The faucet is dripping and Howard wants to replace the inner workings but has no clue who made the faucet. I don't recognize it at all. There appears to be a logo under the concave part of the chrome trim. Let me know if you know who made it.

This is also a teaching moment. Years ago, I reminded you in a column that when you buy a new faucet or have one installed you should take the installation manual and parts list and put them in a ziplock storage bag. You then tape this to the inside of the vanity in the bathroom or your kitchen sink base cabinet. Do this with ALL fixtures and faucets in your entire home.

Better yet, about five or ten years down the road, purchase replacement cartridges for the faucets while the parts are still available. Put those in a separate bag and tape it to the inside of the vanity or sink base cabinet.

You'll never regret doing this.

FREE BIDS for ANY JOB

CLICK or TAP HERE or Mr. Shovel Man below to get FREE BIDS for any job around your home.
Man Shoveling
Roofing 101 - Don't SKIP THIS!!

Are you getting ready to have a new roof installed? Look at this photo, please. What do you think this is:
DaVinci Roofscapes shingles
Do you know where most roof leaks happen?
Do you know what's the BEST plumbing vent flashing?
Do you know the best skylight flashings?
Do you want a SIMPLE form you hand to each roofer that he fills out so you can see who's the real PRO?

CLICK or TAP HERE to get all the above and MORE.

Brittle CPVC - Ticking Time Bombs

A really good friend of mine, we go back almost thirty years, reached out to me a few days ago. He is also a plumber and was a warehouse manager for a Cincinnati-based plumbing wholesale business.

He's doing some remodeling on a flipper house he bought out in the country. The previous plumber used CPVC piping for the water-supply lines.

Here's what my friend sent,

"I capped some 1/2" CPVC pipe with Sharkbite caps so I could keep a primitive bathroom going for myself. That stuff shattered like glass as I tried to use my battery Dewalt recip saw on it.

I ended up using a hacksaw with a 24-point blade and going very gently to get it to cut without splitting. This house was built in 1988.

The CPVC has had crawl space exposure its entire life, but still I remember 1988 as not being that long ago regarding a site built home. I could snap a piece only 4 or 5 inches long like a pencil."

What's your takeaway here? If you're at all familiar with CPVC, when it's new, it's NOT brittle. You can bend it and it will not snap.

If your home has CPVC water-supply lines, then be sure they're not under any stress and you'll have a flood.

Talk to Me Before not After

Richard lives in Columbus, OH. This is another teaching moment you should never forget.

He emailed me about four days ago and said,

"As part of a recent roofing job, I also had ridge vents installed. I'm now considering whether I have adequate venting in the eaves of the house.

I've found plenty of info about matching the vent capacity of the eaves vs. the ridge vent, but nothing addresses anything like the built-in roof vent. Any suggestions?"

I grinned at my computer monitor and said out loud, "Richard you should have researched this BEFORE you even called roofers to get quotes. You should have read all my roof ventilation columns. You maybe should have done one of my 15-Minute phone calls."

I responded and told Richard to go read all my past work about turbine vents.

Now he has to bring back the roofer to add them. Such an extra unnecessary expense!

That's enough for this Sunday. My health is continuing to improve. My wife Kathy and I beat Covid and have the best natural immunity you can get. WOOT!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
BEST DARN CLEANER - www.StainSolver.com
Train Telegrapher - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. Are you getting ready to have a new roof installed? Asphalt shingles? You'd do well to READ my short expose' Roofing Ripoff book. CLICK or TAP HERE to read the first few chapters for FREE.

Roofing 101

Tim's NH Roof

Roofing 101 - Tips for an Expert Installation | This is my own roof. I hand-nailed each one of the DaVinci Roofscapes virgin polymer shingles that look like real slate. It fools anyone who sees it. They always remark, "Wow, real slate!"  I estimate this DaVinci roof will last 75-100 years. It's definitely a positive asset when I go to sell my home in a few years. Copyright 2021 Tim Carter

Roofing 101 - What you Need to Know

I have no clue how many new roofs are installed in the USA each year, but it’s got to be in the hundreds of thousands. Perhaps a new roof is in your future or in the next few years. If so, you’d be wise to retrieve it from my AsktheBuilder website when it’s time for you to meet with a roofer.

Most roofs installed in the USA are asphalt shingles. The reasons are many, but for the most part they’re easy to install and they’re affordable. The issue is the asphalt shingles of today are nothing like the ones that were manufactured even 40 years ago. I exposed the shortcomings about five years ago in my Roofing Ripoff book. You might want to read this short book. It will absolutely put your head on a swivel as to all things asphalt shingle. I discovered while writing the book how to make asphalt shingles last 40, or more, years. It’s all in the book.

roofing ripoff cover

Where do Most Roofs Leak?

If you’re like most homeowners, you wring your hands worrying about leaks. It’s a valid concern! Understand the vast majority of roof leaks on the average home almost always are at a flashing. Rarely does a leak form in the giant open field of shingles.

What is a Flashing?

A flashing is a transitional material that connects your roof to something that’s not a roof. Here’s a short list of where you’d find flashings:

  • chimneys
  • dormers
  • plumbing vent pipes
  • skylights
  • any other vent that is popping up through the roof to expel air from your home

There’s a common plumbing vent-pipe flashing many roofers use that has a rubber boot attached to an aluminum flashing base. The issue is after ten years or so, the ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun cause the rubber to crack and split where it touches the plumbing vent pipe. Water can enter here.

I’ve discovered a better plumbing vent pipe flashing made from powder-coated steel and it has a special siliconized-rubber boot. My guess is from my own testing it might last fifty, or more, years. It’s made by Lifetime Tool. CLICK or TAP HERE to purchase this amazing flashing. It's the one I used in the video just below.

Here's a video I recorded about this amazing flashing:

How Can I Discover More about Flashings?

You can start by reading all of these articles here on AsktheBuilder.com:

Roof Flashing Repair - Not Always Easy

Metal Flashing Installation Tips

Roof Flashing for Bathroom and Kitchen Exhaust Fans - Video Here!

You’d do well to educate yourself using different books, shingle manufacturer’s installation instructions, and even some YouTube videos about how flashings should be installed. Once you grasp this somewhat simple topic, you’ll know the right questions to ask the roofers you’ll get bids from.

Is Caulk an Acceptable Flashing Add-on?

Don’t even think of using caulk on a roof to help seal joints in flashings. Caulk is not a permanent roofing material. Once again, it’s also very susceptible to damage from UV rays. Flashings should be made from metal that you can solder. Copper is an excellent flashing material. Tin used to be used for decades but stringent EPA regulations have all but killed the tin market. Talk to your roofer about flashing materials that can be soldered.

What are the Best Skylight Flashings?

As for skylight flashings, I’ve had the best luck with Velux. They have pre-engineered aluminum flashing kits. The base and head flashings for the bottom and top of the skylight don’t require any soldering. I’ve installed them on countless jobs and have these on my own home and have never had a leak.

What are the Best Nails to Use with my Shingles?

The nails that are used to fasten your roof to your home are extremely important. Once again, read the written installation instructions from the shingles you decide to use. See what nails they require so you maintain your warranty. Pay attention to the length of the nail and how far it must penetrate the wood roof deck. Hot-dipped galvanized nails are the best. The roofer that installed the shingles on my New Hampshire house, I didn’t build the house I currently live in, used nails with a thin electroplating of zinc. Read all about different galvanized roofing nails here.

When I re-roofed my home six years ago, many of the nails I was taking off were heavily rusted. They were only eleven years old! The nails you use should last longer than the actual roofing material.

Should I Use an Underlayment or Watershield?

You may wonder about underlayments or watershields. I happen to live in the Northeast where ice dams are as common as kids swimming in our wonderful lakes here in the summertime. Ice dams can form at any location on a roof, although most do form down at the bottom of a roof where the roof passes over the exterior wall of the home.

I decided for the ultimate peace of mind to install Grace Ice and Watershield over my entire roof. I lapped it up on the sides of my skylights and connected it to my plumbing vent pipes as well. You can’t see any of this as it’s all hidden by the other flashings that cover these roof penetrations. I now don’t have to worry at all about dreadful leaks caused by ice dams.

My best advice is for you to select the roofing material you’re going to use. Do this before talking with any roofer. Once you’ve made your decision, get the full set of written installation instructions from the roofing manufacturer. Read them.

Do You Have a Handy Bidsheet I Can Use to Discover the Best Roofer?

Yes, CLICK or TAP HERE for an instant download bidsheet that will help you identify the most professional roofer to do the work. It comes with a 100-percent money-back guarantee.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local roofers in your city or town.

You’ll quickly discover the instructions are easy to follow and understand. Once you understand how your roof should be installed, you can ask the right questions when talking with roofers. Be sure you put in your contract with the roofer that he’s to install the roof exactly as the instructions say. Period.

This article was featured in my September 12, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.

 

Column 1420

September 5, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

I see you standing in the group with Lindsay, Robert, Barbara, Marcia, Mike, and a scad of others. This is your first issue and I welcome you!

This issue, however, might be your 378th one! I've published nearly 1000 newsletters and who knows, you may be one of my first subscribers!

Do you remember the column I did about using the correct gray-colored paint primer? It's pretty interesting when you think about black and white photographs! CLICK or TAP HERE and allow some extra knowledge to seep into your tiny gray cells.

Covid Survivors

This is the first newsletter since the middle of August. You may have noticed no issues were sent out the past two weekends. I contracted the illness, as did Kathy my wife, on or about August 8th. I survived because of the grace of God and the tender care and love I received from Kathy. I know that she alone, with some help from my youngest daughter, ensured my survival.

In the first ten days of the illness, Kathy watched over me like a hawk always looking to see what direction I was headed on an hour-by-hour basis.

She was only slightly ill for 36 hours and nowhere to the extent I was sick. This is why she was able to care for me like a private nurse.

If you want to know all the details of what happened including how we zeroed in on when we were infected, the medications I was taking, and other things, CLICK or TAP HERE.

Roots in Sewer Lines

Look at this simple drawing I made:

tree roots sewer line sketch

While I was recovering from the virus, I received an email from a man who used my method of dealing with tree roots in a sewer line.

He told me my method saved him $10,000. Of course it will!

CLICK or TAP HERE to discover how simple it is to ensure tree roots don't enter your sewer line.

Cincinnati and Chicago Meetups

All good things must come to an end. It's quite possible I'm about to do the last two meetups of my AsktheBuilder career. You may have in interest in attending one.

What happens at a meetup? It's a fun party-like atmosphere. Most of the time the attendees ask all sorts of questions about all the inner workings of what happens behind the magic curtain of Ask the Builder. The conversation is wide-ranging and I'm always very interested in you and your story. Everyone has a story and they are wonderful to hear at a meetup.

The bottom line is an AsktheBuilder.com Meetup is fun!

I'm going to be in Cincinnati the first week of October for my 51st high school reunion. Our 50th was cancelled last year by the governor of Ohio.

If you want to do a meetup while I'm in town, I can carve out the time. It would happen in northern KY at the offices of Bold Homes. The president, Mike Kegley, has graciously offered to host the meetup.

But you MUST REPLY NOW so I know how many might come. The cutoff to keep the event at Mike's offices is eight people. If more than eight people show an interest, we'll move to another location.

The meetup would be in the afternoon for sure. Once enough people RSVP, then I'll figure out the exact date and time.

As for Chicago, another friend has offered up his house for a meetup. He lives in Palatine. He can host about the same number of people. If enough people express an interest, THEN I'll add an extra two days and drive to Chicago from Cincinnati on October 10th or so.

You know what to do. REPLY NOW with all your contact information if you want to get together in either of the two cities. If many decide to attend, then we'll work together on Plan B as to locating a quiet place in each city that can handle the overflow crowd.

Hurricane Ida Takeaways

Hurricanes are big storms and can make for big news. Ida put a few heads on a swivel this past week, especially in the Northeast where it caught many by surprise.

Here are some facts about hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural disasters including widespread civil disorder:

1. Your home and the possessions within your home are the LEAST important asset in your community. This means when a disaster strikes don't count on first responders SHOWING UP at your home.

Why? There might be 1000X homeowners like you needing help for every first responder! What's more, the first responders already have a list of the most valuable community assets. They preserve those first. Guess what? You and your home are at the BOTTOM OF THE LIST. Don't believe me? Ask your fire chief.

2. You may not find someone to do repairs for months. It's the same problem. High-quality contractors will be overwhelmed. You need to meet with neighbors and friends and come up with a plan. Who has what skills? Who has what tools? Figure out how you can work together as a team to do the basic repairs to protect your homes until months later when a contractor can show up.

3. Pre-buy materials. The time to buy that giant blue tarp for your roof is NOT the day after the hurricane. Think ahead. Purchase and store whatever materials and tools you need to SURVIVE until such time as you can get the proper repair work complete.

That's quite enough for my first Sunday back.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Best Cleaner Ever - www.StainSolver.com
Morse - Original Digital - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. What do you think you know about making repairs to concrete block or stucco? CLICK or TAP HERE and let me know if you discovered something new. WATCH ALL THREE videos at the bottom of the page.

Tim Carter Covid Survival Story

live free or die sign

Author's Note: It’s not about the virus, illness, nor death. Never was. It’s about the experimental injection. Always has been. Is that the Pied Piper you hear?

Update: August - 2024

The following meme says it all. If you succumbed to the powerful psychology to get the jab, you were taken for a fool.

Your critical-thinking skills may be dull. Let's get out the sharpening stone. Answer these few questions:

What's the definition of the word vaccine? From Merriam-Webster's 11th edition Collegiate Dictionary: "a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease." In other words, the millions of people who got jabbed did NOT get a vaccine. They got an experimental biological agent (EBA). The ingredients in the EBA do not meet the above definition.

What's the purpose of a vaccine?  Why of course, it's to PREVENT you from contracting a certain illness.

Why didn't the doctors and nurses who cared for the Yellow Fever patients building the Panama Canal over 100 years ago die of Yellow Fever? Simple, they contracted Yellow Fever, SURVIVED, and then were able to go about their work saving others. They now had the best form of natural immunity from the illness or a variant/mutation. This is true of anyone who survives COVID. CLICK or TAP HERE for proof.

Why aren't COVID survivors who have far better immunity from COVID, or its variants, than that of the experimental injection given official cards allowing them to do all the things vaccinated people can do? The reason is simple. It CONFIRMS the initial Author's Note above. The COVID response has never been about health. It's all about CONTROL.

If you have an adverse reaction or die from the vaccine, can you recover money from the vaccine manufacturer? No. Years ago the Federal Government granted full immunity to Big Pharma against vaccine claims. They are shifting to making as many vaccines as possible now because they can still be sued for adverse normal drug reactions.

Who is profiting from COVID? Big Pharma is making BILLIONS of dollars because the Federal Government is footing the bill for the experimental injection you might have received. Members of Congress can LEGALLY use inside information to invest in Big Pharma to make TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars on their stock purchases. If you or I did this, we'd go to prison as did Martha Stewart. Yes, I know Martha's time in the orange coveralls was due to her conviction of lying to the FBI. That said, they were interviewing her about her inside stock trading.

How many REALLY died from COVID? The truth is finally coming out. Did you know hospitals were paid BIG MONEY if they claimed patients had COVID, put them on certain meds, put them on a ventilator, etc.? It's TRUE! Go here and if you feel otherwise, debunk what you read.

Back when the Covid-19 news broke in late February of 2020, it took me about two weeks to see through the sham. I wrote letters to the editor of the Laconia Daily Sun. Look them up. I predicted that within months a magic vaccine would be announced. I then predicted that all sorts of future variants would emerge. I predicted that the vaccine would not be enough - that'd you'd require more and more and more jabs. It was so easy to see, to one who's a student of powerful psychology, that Covid was not about your health. It was all about CONTROLLING you. Those pulling the levers are using the most powerful psychological trigger of all on you. Scarcity. They're persuading you that you're going to die - that your life is suddenly SCARCE.

You're being played. Your overlords are constantly moving the goalposts. Don't you see it? Are you starting to wake up? 

If you feel the information on this page will help others, you have my permission to spread it far and wide to all you know. You can link to this page if you produce your own blog or newsletter. Feel free to share it with a newsletter author you know that covers this topic.


The following is the saga of my survival from Covid-19 aka the China Virus. Whether you like it or not, the truth is it originated in China. Many viruses are named for the location of origin, so this is nothing new nor should the Chinese be ashamed unless they created it on purpose in the Wuhan Virology Lab. CLICK or TAP HERE for proof about the origin of the China Virus. This video was made in early 2020. It just so happens in October of 2021, the NIH finally admitted it did fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab. Dr. Fraudci, (Fauci) oversees the NIH so you know.

I'm grateful to be able to type and share with you that I'm in the third group - where 99.5% of us that contracted the illness SURVIVED.

I owe my life now to my loving wife Kathy. She alone got me through the illness. Her love and tender care are impossible to measure. Thank you forever, Kathy!

John Hopkins recently published that across all age groups in the USA, the survival rate is 98.4%. Using just a small amount of common sense, you'll immediately realize this number is low. How many people contracted Covid-19 and were asymptomatic, and or, were so mildly affected by it that they didn't get tested? The answer is simple: Hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people.

That's a fact that I feel many are overlooking. Covid is not like Yellow Fever. If you contracted that disease years ago before they knew how to deal with it, you had a 1 in 2 chance of surviving. In other words, the mortality rate of Yellow Fever was 50%. That would absolutely get anyone's attention. But a 0.5% mortality rate? It's almost laughable to wring your hands in fear of dying with such a low possibility.

covid survival rates

When Do You Believe You Were Infected?

I'm pretty much convinced it was Sunday, August 8th at church. My wife Kathy contracted it at the same time because we both exhibited our symptoms within hours of one another. She only leaves the house twice a week, both to go to church. On the other day she attends church, there are but a handful of people at the church and she sits far from them. We know one of the other ushers we had close contact with on August 8th was admitted to the hospital with Covid on or about August 10th and he had been previously jabbed with the EBA. It's also possible the infection came from other EBA-jabbed individuals who could have been shedding spike proteins. Here's another study that may be of interest to you about how EBA-jabbed people are infecting others.

Of course, it's impossible to know exactly who infected us and the actual mechanism.

How Healthy Were You Before You Contracted Covid?

I'd say I'm in good to very good health. I've been about twenty pounds overweight since my late 20s and I've had slightly elevated blood pressure for years. But I have no underlying chronic illnesses. I've never smoked and I rarely consume any alcohol. I don't take any medications. I could easily walk five miles a day before getting Covid.

What Did You Feel Like When You Knew Something was Wrong?

I've been susceptible to the seasonal flu my entire life. Kathy is just the opposite. She's only had mild cases twice and both were when her immunity was down because of being pregnant.

Me, on the other hand, I used to get the flu if someone just looked at me. In my 20s and 30s, I know I got the flu each year. Sometimes it was so bad I couldn't move for days. I have an intimate relationship with the flu and know how it feels early on, as it's raging, and as it goes away.

I know very well the odd feeling you start to feel as the flu digs in its heels in your chest. I started to feel those early signs on or about August 11th. It started with a tiny tickle in the back of my throat that produced a shallow cough. Then each day after that the typical flu symptoms flourished. They were:

  • intense brain fog with the inability to think or make decisions
  • worsening cough with generous amounts of phlegm
  • definite reduction in hearing
  • inability to keep eyes open
  • debilitating fatigue
  • complete loss of appetite - I lost sense of taste and smell about five days into the illness
  • any and all other typical flu-symptoms

How Sick was Kathy?

Kathy was barely sick at all. She just felt tired and a little funky for about 36 hours. After that she just got tired faster each day. I attribute this to her natural immunity to respiratory diseases her entire life as I mentioned earlier.

Did You Go to the Doctor and What Did She/He Say?

I finally went in to see my personal doctor about a week into the illness. I felt horrible that morning when I called for an appointment. The doctor was out so I saw one of his physician assistants.

A different assistant performed the nose swab and within minutes had a positive result. The actual physician's assistant asked some routine questions and then said, "Go home. Take Ibuprofen if you want. Go to the ER if things get worse. Quarantine for 10 days." I was then given the bum's rush out of the offices. I've yet to receive a simple follow-up phone call from my doctor's office to see how I'm doing or even on the same side of the grass. I find that disappointing when you see how dentist offices have no problem calling patients the day before to remind them of an appointment.

What Medication Did Kathy Give You?

The following is from Kathy's fingertips done especially for you and to help save any of your loved ones.

Understand that Kathy is NOT a doctor nor am I. We are NOT offering you medical advice. The following is simply the medication Kathy gave me each day. You can take the list or leave it. It makes no difference to us.

Kathy wrote the following:

Vitamin D3 5,000 IU 2x/day. I used Solgar (cholecalciferol) the form produced by our bodies

Liposomal C (liposomal helps your body absorb entire Vit C)  1450mg 2x/day

Zinc citrate 30mg  2x/day

Black elderberry (an immune booster) 1000mg 2x/day

Cold-pressed black seed oil (another immune booster) 1,500mg 2x/day

For possible blood clots from Covid, I used NattoMax 100mg 1x/day.*** If on blood thinner do not take without consulting your doctor!

Nattokinase is a fermented Japanese food (I knew Tim wouldn't eat it so got the supplement instead). Besides it being a blood-clot dissolver, research has found that it may inhibit the ability of Covid to infect cells. CLICK or TAP HERE to discover more about this.

Melatonin 5 mg taken before bed. Melatonin has been shown to inhibit the Covid-induced cytokine storm which is a severe immune reaction to the disease. CLICK or TAP HERE to discover more. Tim was given this for the first couple of days, but I felt more was needed. I prayed that God would show me what he needed and by the grace of God the next day this popped up:

Zinc / Zinc inophor

Dr. Zelenko uses zinc/zinc ionophore in treating his patients. Zinc ionophores include:

  • Hydroxychloroquine
  • Ivermectin
  • Quercetin
  • EGCG

Tim's doctor didn't prescribe Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin so I got both Quercetin and EGCG. Quercetin is a plant derivative that is over the counter and does the same as hydroxy. Vitamin C is necessary for Quercetin to work. I gave 800mg of Quercetin 2x/day. I found out later that Dr. Zelenko recommends 500mg 3x/day.

EGCG is in green tea. I gave Tim 165g of Matcha powder in capsule form 2x/day. Matcha is a powder form of green tea leaves and rich in EGCG.

This article by a physician explains how a zinc ionophore works. This physician also includes resveratrol in the list of zinc ionophores.

Basically, hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, etc. don't cure covid. They make it possible for ions to enter a cell. The zinc ion is what does the job. It interferes with the replication of the virus. In other words, zinc doesn't allow Covid to reproduce. You can see that without zinc, hydroxychloroquine, etc. won't do much for you.

# # # End of Kathy's writing

Did You Ever Go to the ER and get help at the Hospital?

No. It got very close the day after visiting the doctor, but I didn't go because of a number of personal reasons.

The biggest reason was I had a deep suspicion that hospitals were in on the Shamdemic. They were getting paid millions of dollars from the government. I felt they were euthanizing patients an overusing ventilators.

Visitors were not allowed. If I was going to die, I wanted to be at home surrounded by family.

When Did You Finally Start to Feel as if You Had Beaten Covid?

On August 30th, I finally started to see a significant change in my ability to concentrate. I had less trouble keeping my eyes open. I was more alert.

I was well enough on August 31st and just out of quarantine to get a haircut and stop by the grocery store. But that experience wiped me out by the time I got home.

As the week wore on, I got much much better each day. I'm writing this on September 3rd and feel fantastic. Just ten days ago, it would have been impossible to even look at a computer screen much less type all you see above.

On September 4th, I spent 30 minutes cutting some grass. It would have been impossible for me to do that just ten days ago.

Were you and Kathy Vaccinated?

No. We have no interest in being part of a long-term trial using human beings instead of lab animals. Are you aware that prior to Covid, it took between 10 and 15 years to develop a safe vaccine for other diseases?

Did alarm bells go off in your head when magically three different giant competing drug companies were able to deliver a vaccine to the masses within ten months for a previously unknown virus? What's even more astonishing is they were able to roll out vaccines within weeks of one another. What do you think the odds of that are? Seriously, think about that.

Remember, the world didn't even know about Covid-19 until February of 2020. Didn't it cause you alarm that a SAFE vaccine could be delivered that fast? Yes, some will say that they had been working on the vaccine for years before. But what about long-term TRIALS?

Do you think the drug companies had some sort of inside secret information for years before that allowed them to discretely work on a vaccine? How else would they be able to cut years and years off the development?

Are you aware vaccinated people, you could be one, are now contracting Covid? Is the vaccine you took defective? Is it not really working?

And then there are booster shots. What other vaccines do you know about that require periodic booster shots?

Finally, are you aware that the drug companies have no financial liability to you if you die or have an adverse reaction to the vaccine you allowed to be injected into your body? The Federal Government granted the drugs companies full immunity from lawsuits that might pop up from consumers like you. Doesn't that deeply trouble you?

The drug companies, because of this blanket immunity from financial loss, are now shifting their focus on making hundreds of new vaccines instead of traditional drugs. You can still sue them if you are harmed by a drug they make. This vaccine push is all about SWEET MOOLA.

This troubling factoid that the drug companies have no liability bothered Kathy and me. If you gulped the Kool-Aid distributed by your news sources and allowed yourself to be injected with the experimental biological agents(EBA) - you realize they're not true vaccines, right? - we wish you the best and hope you have no long-term ill effects. Why were you in such a rush to be injected with an EBA when the survival rate of the illness is SO HIGH? What were you thinking?

Right now, we have the highest-quality immunity you can get. Our own bodies have generated a defense against Covid that's far superior to the EBAs you might be hoping work for you. Mother Nature has been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years.

Were You Afraid of Dying and What About All Who Have Been Sent Back to Heaven Because of Covid?

Whew, you saved the biggest and most complex question for last!

Call me crazy, but I don't dwell on death. I have friends who have a debilitating fear of death. You may have an enormous fear of death. This fear you may harbor is tied directly to the most powerful psychological trigger of all - Scarcity. This is why it's so easy to control what you do. Your fear is consuming you and ruining your life.

If you want to read a life-changing book about psychological triggers and how easy it is to control all you do using them, I suggest you read Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion ASAP. Re-read that title again! Leaders and others in positions of power are constantly manipulating you using this psychology. They persuade you to do things you'd otherwise not do.

I guarantee you that if you read this book it will change your outlook on Covid and how you process the information you put into your brain from ANY source. You will be stunned how easy it is for others to play you like a fiddle. I know as it happened to me for years! But not anymore. Once I discovered HOW they were controlling me, I was able to instantly turn off the triggers.

You can get anyone to do or say just about anything when you invoke the Scarcity psychological trigger. It's why we waterboard prisoners. We make air SCARCE (death to follow shortly) and all of a sudden the bad guy starts singing like a canary.

If you're afraid of dying, then you'll do whatever others want you to do even if what you're doing is not backed by any science whatsoever. That's the extreme power of psychology. Its power is far beyond anything you can comprehend.

In the case of Covid, people in power and positions of authority (news anchors and paid pundits) have taken this invisible virus and whipped you up thinking you're going to die (scarcity).

This, in my opinion, is why you don't hear much in the news about all us survivors! The numbers at the top of this column show you quite clearly that the chances of you dying if you contract Covid are extremely small. Period.

As for all who've died from Covid, I feel sorry for those they've left behind. I know all about sending people back to Heaven. It's never easy. Sooner or later each one of them that died from Covid was going to die as death is guaranteed the second after each of us is born.

Here's a fact you should really dwell on in my opinion:

All of us are given by God a finite amount of sand to put in our hourglasses. We don't all get the same amount of sand. When your hourglass runs out of sand, you can't flip it over and start again. That's a great line from Kenny Chesney's Don't Blink song. I urge you to listen to it.

The last 90 seconds of the Titanic movie years ago made a powerful impression on me. If you saw the movie, you might remember just before Jack dies freezing to death in the frigid North Atlantic water he tells Rose to do all the things they talked about on board the Titanic before it plunged to the bottom of the ocean. The camera pans across her nightstand showing photographs of all the things that Rose ended up doing. She lived her life to the fullest.

That's how I personally approach life. I try to fill each day with gusto as the old beer commercial would say. I try to do different things and not mope around thinking about dying. Maybe I'm strange. If you think I'm strange, it doesn't matter to me.

The movie Little Big Man also made an impression on me about death when I was in my 20s. In the movie, Chief Dan George tells the young Dustin Hoffman, "If you're a true human being, any day is a good day to die." I didn't quite understand that line at the time, but I soon got my head around it. Your goal should be to become a true human being.

So there you have it. My hourglass is not yet empty nor is yours. You have a chance to change your outlook on many things should you have the interest. Start by reading the Influence book. I'm here to tell you it completely changed my life when I read it.

If you disagree with anything above or what I wrote upset you, I'm not particularly interested in engaging you in a discussion. I've found that most people are so ground into their thinking about topics it's impossible to have a fruitful discussion. Even more so, how can you have a respectable discussion when two, or more, different data sets are being used? If I have one set of data completely different from your data, how can we possibly discuss something? It's like speaking two different languages.

Your data set is the information you absorb into your brain from whatever sources you use to discover anything about any topic. For example, you may get your weather forecast from a place that uses one type of modeling prediction software and I may get my forecast from a place that uses software that generates entirely different modeling projections. No wonder the snowfall forecast, rainfall amounts, cloud cover, etc. don't match up when we compare our WX forecasts! This same issue happens with EVERY TOPIC.

Now, speaking of increasing the amount of data in your data set, do you have the courage to watch a video? I guarantee you'll be disturbed after watching it. If you don't have an open mind, please don't watch this stunning video. Be brave. Watch this video.

I've adopted this let's-not-talk-and-stay-friends posture because Covid has polarized just about all in the USA. Everyone has an opinion about all aspects of Covid. Opinions in a respectable discussion are like bringing a rubber knife to a gunfight. Facts trump opinions all the time. You want to bring facts to a discussion if you want to carry the day.

Bottom Line: Stop wasting your time, stop being played, and get out and enjoy life! For goodness sake, sand is running through your hourglass even as you read this!

 

Textured Kitchen Ceiling

textured kitchen ceiling

Textured Kitchen Ceiling - Be Careful! This is a fairly standard kitchen ceiling. It's smooth with a flat paint. The flat paint is a newer one that is washable without causing burnishing of the paint. I highly recommend this paint or a semi-gloss if you're going to routinely clean your ceilings. Photo Credit: Tim Carter

A Textured Kitchen Ceiling is Hard to Clean

I’ve lost count of the questions I’ve answered. It’s in the tens of thousands over the past twenty-eight years. Most questions are pretty straightforward and the answers are somewhat obvious. However, every now and then I’m blessed with an email from a homeowner that provides an incredible teaching moment across quite a few situations. Such is the email I received from Roger who lives in Swanton, Ohio. Here’s exactly what he submitted on the Ask Tim page on my www.AsktheBuilder.com website:

“We had a kitchen addition put on our home about ten years ago. As with any project, decisions were made by us that now we slap our foreheads about now. My wife insisted on a smooth ceiling with no texture whatsoever. Easier to clean, she said. Now just how many people clean their kitchen ceilings, let alone an aging 4’-10” matriarch?

We painted it with multiple coats of semigloss white paint. When we stood back to inspect our work, we found a couple of misses. I touched them up but they stand out like a sore thumb. We came to the realization that a texture on the ceiling would have been a better choice.

Is it too late to call a drywaller to come in and apply a texture overlay? I’m not talking about the infamous popcorn stuff that everybody removes, just a simple texture that is typically used. Maybe this is a job for a painter? Any suggestions?”

At first blush you may think this is a humdrum question with a simple answer. I maintain you’d be wrong. Think about all the defects in walls and ceilings in your own home you want to hide behind some new coating. You want the pain to magically disappear.

Smooth Ceilings are Not a Mistake

The issue is if you don’t do everything perfectly, you could create a far worse mess. Let’s unpack Roger’s situation.

First, I maintain he and his wife didn’t make a mistake going with a smooth ceiling finish. Anything other than smooth makes cleaning a kitchen ceiling almost impossible. Roger was correct that most people hate to wash ceilings. My mother made me do it as a teenager in our tiny kitchen and I loathed the job.

Modern cleaners though make cleaning ceilings not as much as a chore. It doesn’t take long for a kitchen ceiling, as well as the walls, to get coated with an ultra-fine aerosol of cooking grease. You can feel this under the vent hood that might cover your stove. It’s a sticky coating that eventually looks quite yellow.

Stain Solver black background yellow scoop

BEST Kitchen Ceiling Cleaner - CERTIFIED ORGANIC Stain Solver is MADE in the USA with USA ingredients that are food-grade quality. CLICK or TAP HERE to order.

I’ve had the best success using powdered certified organic oxygen bleach STAIN SOLVER to make this cleaning job quite easy. I mix mine with hot water, stir until it’s dissolved and put it in an old spray bottle. I then spray 4-foot by 4-foot sections of the ceiling at a time. You only have to let the solution work on the grease about a minute. I remove the softened grease using a grout sponge soaked with soapy water. The grease comes right off the ceiling with no extra effort. It’s magic I tell you. Just rinse with clear water and the ceiling looks like new. I change my rinse water frequently otherwise you’re just putting the grease back on the ceiling.

Semi-Gloss Paint Best for Kitchens

Roger did make a painting mistake and he admitted it. He used the right paint as semi-gloss is the one to use to make cleaning easier. The issue is it’s very hard to touch up semi-gloss paint and not see where you made the repair attempt. You often have to repaint the entire ceiling keeping a wet edge as you go. New drywall needs to have a primer/sealer paint on it before you apply the semi-gloss paint.

Here’s the dilemma at this point and it may have slipped past you. Roger has a greasy semi-gloss paint on his ceiling. He wants to hire a pro to apply a texture. No matter what texture is applied, it’s only going to have a chance of surviving if the ceiling is grease-free and the semi-gloss paint is sanded.

Apply Texture to New Drywall

Most textured coatings are meant to be applied to new drywall or a rougher surface so they have a great chance of staying bonded to the ceiling. Roger’s semi-gloss paint has now become a barrier to success. There are liquid de-glossers that might do the job, but Roger should check with the ceiling texture manufacturer to see what are the ideal conditions to apply the texture.

And you thought it was a simple matter of just hiring a drywaller to come in and install the new coating. At the end of the day, it’s all about surfaces being squeaky clean and not glossy smooth. Read the product label and you’ll often see the surfaces need to be dust-free. Textures, paints, etc. are simply glue and you need things to be clean to get them to stick.

Column 1419

August 15, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Cork Flooring | Mt. Washington | Wet Basements

No wonder you're standing next to Don, Debbi, Preston, Antoinette, Dana, Cheryl, and about 50 other new subscribers who've joined the party since last Sunday. Welcome!

How about you, though? You may have been getting my missives for so long that you clearly remember my early thespian days of being the home improvement expert for the ABC-TV affiliate WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati, Oh. My boss told me to "...have fun and make the segments entertaining."

CLICK or TAP HERE and tell me if I did just that in this 20-year-old video! "...looks like he hit the wrong nail." Yep, that what the woman anchor said after the segment appeared on live TV in Cincinnati!

If you're reading this during the day on Sunday in the USA, I'm still on Mt. Washington. I arrived at the base on Thursday to help with radio communications for the historic Mt. Washington Hillclimb. It's also known as the Climb to the Clouds.

CLICK or TAP HERE to understand WHY radio operators are needed. The road is about 7.5 miles long and Travis made the trip in under 6 minutes four years ago. WOWZA!

I'll be getting back home Sunday night around 7 pm Eastern Time. Yes, I'll be beat!

Wet Basements, Crawls & Yards

Look at this photo:
perforated drain pipe
That's the style of perforated pipe I prefer to use to stop water from entering basements and crawlspaces. It also works great to dry out soggy yards.

CLICK or TAP HERE for a high-altitude recap of a few of my college hydrogeology classes. I GUARANTEE you'll discover something NEW about rain after it falls from the heavens!

FREE Bids Here!

Man Shoveling

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local contractors for ANY JOB at your home.

Best Way to Patch Concrete

Look at this pathetic attempt to patch concrete:
failed concrete patch
You can see it crumbling and it's less than a year old! What's more, the patch makes a hump in the otherwise smooth handicap ramp.

CLICK or TAP HERE to discover how I would have made this patch so it wouldn't fail for at least 68 years and it would be in the same plane as the rest of the concrete.

How to Clean ANY House Siding

Do you have mildew, algae or ??? stains on your house siding?

STAIN SOLVER to the rescue!

CLICK or TAP HERE and tell me if your mildew and algae siding problems are worse than what you see in the two photos.

That's quite enough for a racing Sunday.

You simply can't believe how FAST those cars race up the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

CLICK or TAP HERE and tell me if you could survive being in the passenger seat the entire time with your eyes OPEN anytime AFTER 4 minutes into the video!

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
CLEAN ANYTHING - www.StainSolver.com
Crossband Repeat - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. Do you remember the bamboo flooring craze a few years ago? Do you know what makes one of the best floors out there? Cork! CLICK or TAP HERE to see photos of the cork flooring at my last house. I guarantee you cork will be in the man cave in my next home!

Travis Pastrana Mt. Washington 2017 Record Run

Do the math.

The road is about 7.5 miles long. He did it in UNDER 5 minutes and 45 seconds.

That makes his AVERAGE speed over 60 mph!!! On some short stretches, he was probably doing 80 mph or higher!

Remember, there's NO GUARDRAIL on this road.

Update - August 2021 - He sets a new Record at the 2021 Mt. Washington Hillclimb.

His speed at times was well over 100 MPH!!!

Groundwater Flow Direction

Groundwater Flow Direction

Groundwater Flow Direction | This is perforated drainage pipe that collects groundwater and redirects it to another spot in your yard. The box is full of handy fittings to turn corners. Copyright 2021 Tim Carter

Groundwater Flow Direction - It's Almost Always Sideways and Down

Your home may be plagued with a wet basement or crawlspace where water enters at will when it rains outside. In addition, your yard may be the neighborhood bog rendering it useless in the wet season. Would you be interested in knowing how to make your basement, crawlspace, and possibly your yard as dry at the Atacama Desert? I thought so.

I was quite fortunate to major in geology in college. One of the classes I took was hydrogeology which focuses on groundwater. The knowledge I obtained allowed me to build homes in dense clay soil that had bone-dry basements. Just about every other homeowner in Cincinnati suffered from wet basements, but not my customers.

Not a week goes by that I don’t do a specialized consult for a homeowner like you that suffers from water issues. Just a few days ago, I solved a chronic drainage problem a woman had spent over ten thousand dollars to fix to no avail. She was stunned to discover she would have a dry yard and crawlspace for less than $500 and a few weekends of moderate labor.

tim carter headshot

Do you want me to SOLVE your wet basement or crawlspace issue? CLICK or TAP my nose or CLICK HERE and let's get to work. I've helped thousands of homeowners like you who suffer from water leaks, mold, mildew, and soggy yards.

satisfaction gif

 

The homeowner was thrilled to see the customized drawing I made for her showing her exactly how to capture the subsurface water that was causing the issue. Here's a small example of one that I've made recently. Each drawing is unique custom-made for each situation. CLICK or TAP HERE now to order your drawing.

linear french drain drawing

It gave me great pleasure as well to ratchet back her stress. She was a mess each time rain was in the weather forecast. Thanks, Dr. Pryor for teaching me what’s going on with groundwater so I can continue to help others!

How Does Groundwater Flow?

It’s important to realize that to understand groundwater and how it moves, you need to get a handle on the soil around your home. Not all soils are the same. Many years ago the government spent millions of dollars creating soil maps that you can access for free online. Just do a search similar to this: Cincinnati OH soil maps

Some soils are very well-drained like the one around my house here in central New Hampshire. The typical soils here are thin and very sandy, a result of the erosion of the granite bedrock. However, the soil in my hometown of Cincinnati is the exact opposite. There’s thin topsoil and under it are feet of dense clay you can use to make pottery. Water doesn’t travel down through the clay at all. This is why it’s easy to build a pond in southwest Ohio.

Does Water Flow Through Topsoil?

Topsoil almost always has lots of air in it. Insects help create these void spaces. When it rains, water soaks into the topsoil displacing the air. When the topsoil can absorb no more water, it starts to flow overland. Some weather warnings talk about flood risk when the ground or soil is saturated from snowmelt or heavy rains in previous days. Now you know why it’s happening.

Gravity takes over after the rain gets in the soil. This amazing force of nature starts to pull the water down but another law of physics comes into play. The water wants to take the path of least resistance on its journey back to the ocean. This means that the water in the soil usually starts to travel sideways through the topsoils. In most soils, the resistance to movement increases with depth.

What Causes Water to Flow Sideways?

A dense clay subsoil, as well as bedrock close to the surface, can aid in this sideways movement. Realize that some of the water moving through the soil finds cracks in the bedrock and flows down to fill them. This is what keeps drilled wells wet as the water fills up miles of tiny and large cracks that are like 3D spiderwebs in the bedrock under your feet.

To stop water from entering your basement or crawlspace, you need to capture the water moving sideways through the soil. Remember, water likes to take the path of least resistance so create one for it to bypass your basement, your crawlspace, or your yard!

french drain pipe cross section

Cross-section of a Linear French Drain including the all-important perforated french drain pipe. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Do NOT COPY this graphic.

How Wide Should the Trench Be?

I’ve had fantastic success for over forty years digging a 6-inch-wide trench down about 24 inches. I put in 2 inches of washed rounded gravel in the bottom of the trench. The gravel is about the size of green grapes, maybe as large as walnuts. It can be angular, but be sure there are no smaller stones or sand in the gravel. You want lots of air spacing in this gravel because the water will much rather flow down through this gravel and into a buried drainpipe than try to push its way through the topsoil.

What Type of Drain Pipe is Best?

I then put a 4-inch perforated drain pipe on top of the 2 inches of gravel. I prefer to use the solid white ABS or PVC plastic pipe that has rows of holes drilled in it. I’ve never been a fan of the black corrugated drain pipe with the narrow slits in it. Always install the pipe so the rows of holes point down. If you don’t, the water in the trench needs to raise all the way up to where the holes are to get into the pipe. What’s more, if the holes point up, gravel that you put on top of the holes can block the holes. That’s bad jujumagumbo.

Should the Pipe or Trench Have Fall and How Much?

The bottom of the trench can be parallel with the top surface of the ground around your home. At the very least the pipe in the trench needs to be level or have 1/8 per inch of fall to it. Even if the pipe is level, water will readily flow through it. Think about how lakes don’t overflow. Once the pipe is installed, fill the trench to within 1 inch of the surface with the rounded or angular gravel.

Where Does the Collected Water Go?

The pipe needs to extend to a low spot on your land. As the ground falls away from your house to the low spot, the pipe will naturally pop to the surface if you install the pipe level or have a minimal amount of fall to it. The pipe needs to break through to the surface so it can disgorge the water it’s collected sending it on its way to the ocean.

Should the Drain Pipe Have a Filter-Fabric Sock?

No. Do NOT install a filter-fabric sock on the drain pipe. Be sure you don’t line the trench with a filter fabric. Those materials are designed to keep gravel under parking lots and roadways from being fouled with mud. Water flowing through topsoil has already been filtered of this silt so the fabrics are unnecessary.

The proof that you don't need a filter fabric is right in front of you. Look at the water flowing from any natural spring. It's crystal-clear. The topsoil acts as a natural filter, silly!

This column was introduced in the August 15, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.

Column 1418

August 8, 2021 AsktheBuilder Newsletter

Did you arrive this week with Joan, Ja La, Courtney, Eric, Angelo, Christina, and a bunch of others? Why of course you did! You're a new subscriber and this is where I welcome you.

On the other hand, you might have been receiving this newsletter for many months or years. Do you recall the video I did not too awful long ago about an amazing spray paint that really resists rust caused by ocean salt-spray? CLICK or TAP HERE to watch it. It's an amazing paint!

T-Rex Lemonade

I'm the world's biggest sucker for kids' lemonade stands. About a month ago, I was on my way to the grocery to get weekly materials and I passed one. I decided to place my order on my way back home. Yes, I was taking a chance thinking it would still be open on my return trip but it was late morning and there were many thirsts to be quenched as the day wore on.

It turns out the little ladies were still out hawking their liquid refreshment. Eight little girls, who I guess were about 8 or 9-years old, were the purveyors of the tasty yellow nectar.

The cost was $1 per glass. I ordered four glasses and when they were handed to me I said, "I'm sorry, I've only got $7."

It went right over their heads as they were squealing with laughter and happiness.

This past Sunday here's what I saw when I came around the bend on Camp Waldron Road on my way back from church with Kathy:
t-rex-lemonade stand
How can you NOT stop to get two glasses of T-Rex lemonade? What a hoot!

I feel it's so important to patronize any venture like this a child is running. I've been an entrepreneur my entire life, and it's situations like this where we cut our teeth.

Please always STOP and support the budding entrepreneur!

Do you have an interesting lemonade-stand story? Share it with me.

Erik shared a song with me. He wrote a song titled "It's a Lemonade Day." CLICK HERE to listen to this refreshing song!

 

My Condo Consult Adventure

A few days ago, I completed a three-hour consult at a small condo complex here in New Hampshire. This building is located less than three miles from where the Piscataqua River flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

You can ignore the following advice if you live in the Atacama Desert. If you live ANYWHERE else, even far away from an ocean or sea, keep reading.

One of the things I spotted was significant rusting of some black-iron gas lines under two porches. I also spotted lots of rusty fire-sprinkler piping and fittings.

If you live near an ocean or sea, you really need to make sure any metal (deck joist hangers, nails, screws, structural support columns, i-beams, etc.) exposed to salt air is always painted. The video mentioned above shows you a particular paint that really does well in salt-air environments.

You should always keep gas piping painted, especially any exposed threads where the pipe meets a fitting.

It's important to realize when we plumbers cut threads on pipe, we REMOVE metal where you see the small valleys in the threads. The pipe wall is thinner in these v-shaped depressions and they're the FIRST PLACE the pipe is going to rust through!

Always clean the pipe well, and if the pipe was recently threaded, brush some mineral spirits on the cut threads to remove any cutting oil before you think about painting them.

Be sure to READ the label on the paint can.

Do what you need to do to rub off any significant rust from the metal or pipe, make it dust-free, then prime it with a great metal primer. Two hours later, apply the finish paint.

You want to apply the finish paint as soon as the primer it tack-free as you'll get a superior bond between the finish paint and the primer.

How to Clean Composite Decking

Do you wonder about how to SAFELY clean composite decking? Michelle did and she reached out to me to ask if STAIN SOLVER was the best cleaner for her composite deck.

The answer is a big YES. Here's a Trex Transcend composite deck. I eat lunch under the umbrella anytime it's nice WX. I use STAIN SOLVER to clean the decking when it gets dirty.

deck over water

Are you new to STAIN SOLVER? Kathy and I own the company, it's the best certified organic oxygen-bleach cleaner in the USA.

STAIN SOLVER will remove stains from any fabric or object that you can get wet with water.

CLICK or TAP HERE to see how I use STAIN SOLVER to clean composite decking.

CLICK or TAP HERE to watch videos of me using STAIN SOLVER.

"What about WOOD decks, Tim?"

Why of course, silly, STAIN SOLVER is the absolute BEST cleaner for:

  • wood decks
  • teak tables
  • teak chairs
  • treated-lumber picnic tables
  • wood fencing
  • treated-lumber play sets
  • any cedar siding or fencing

Don't use STAIN SOLVER on redwood. It can darken it requiring you to use oxalic acid to bring it back to its original look.

Bottom Line: STAIN SOLVER will clean ANYTHING you can get wet with water. ANYTHING!!!

FREE BIDS - Local Contractors

Man Shoveling
CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS for any job inside or outside your home. You’ll get calls within an hour.

Are you Hot?

The dog days of summer are here in the USA. August can be miserably HOT and humid.

Are you uncomfortable in your home even though your air conditioning is running? Look at this:

HVAC Return Air

You may be uncomfortable because your HVAC system was not installed for optimum performance.

CLICK or TAP HERE to see how my best friend Richard Anderson would have installed all your ducts. Richard installed the entire HVAC system in the last house I built for my family. It was as cool as a cucumber on the HOTTEST day of summer. Each room was the perfect temperature. There were no hot spots or hot rooms.

Can you say that about your home?

Did you know the worst thing to do when installing air conditioning is to OVERSIZE the outdoor unit? You may think bigger is BETTER.

You'd be wrong. When AC units are oversized, they don't run long enough to extract the humidity from the air.

The result is a cold clammy feeling in your home.

That's enough for a Sunday.

Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
BEST CLEANER - www.StainSolver.com
80-Meter NVIS Success - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S. What's the best way to install a new blacktop driveway? Are you SURE you know????

CLICK or TAP HERE to see if you were right.

Concrete Patch

concrete patch

Concrete Patch | This concrete patch on my church’s handicap ramp is a disaster. It’s a trip hazard. With a little work, it could have been smooth and not a hump. Copyright 2021 Tim Carter

Concrete Patch - The Best Ones Require Work

Do you have a wide unsightly crack in your concrete sidewalk, driveway, or patio? The concrete may have cracked all the way through the slab and now one piece is higher than the adjacent piece. Some cracks can be trip hazards.

Each Sunday, I walk up the handicap ramp at my church and shake my head where some handyman, contractor, or well-intentioned volunteer tried to repair a similar crack. They failed miserably and quite a few of my parishioners are older who shuffle up the ramp. The humped repair is crumbling and it’s an accident waiting to happen. Here’s the advice I’m going to give our pastor and you can do the same thing at your home.

Let’s first discuss what to do if you have a crack and the concrete pieces are in the same plane with no vertical offset. This is the easiest of all repairs and there’s a good chance you can do this repair yourself in an hour or less.

Is Epoxy a Great Concrete Patch Material?

Yes, epoxy is a great concrete patch material if you install it correctly. Here's an epoxy I use that withstands brutal New Hampshire winter weather:

concrete epoxy patch

This is a fantastic concrete epoxy. CLICK or TAP HERE to order it. I've used it outdoors for years in New Hampshire. It WILL NOT PEEL if you install it correctly. I can COACH you over the phone how to do this. CLICK or TAP HERE to set up the phone call.

I would make this repair using time-tested concrete epoxy. Years ago, it used to be hard to put epoxy in a crack. You’d have to mix up the two thick components and then try to carefully get it into the crack without making a mess.

Now you can purchase an amazing gray concrete epoxy that’s in a normal caulking tube. A special mixing nozzle screws onto the end of the tube. As you squeeze the handle of your caulk gun the two epoxy components are squirted into the nozzle. A special insert within the nozzle blends the two components so after they travel about 6 inches down the nozzle they’re completely mixed. It couldn’t be easier!

I’ve used this epoxy with great success and I have a concrete epoxy repair video on my AsktheBuilder.com website showing how to use it and how the nozzle works. The epoxy cures to a medium gray color. If your concrete is older and you see the individual sand grains on the surface, you can disguise the epoxy by lightly tamping the same size and colored sand into the fresh epoxy goo. With a little practice, you can do an amazing job of disguising the crack.

It’s important to realize the epoxy needs to get at least one inch down into the crack. To do this, you almost always need to widen the crack. I find a simple 4-inch grinder equipped with a dry diamond cutting wheel is the perfect tool. Wear goggles and a respirator so you don’t ingest the concrete dust.

How Wide and Deep Should the Crack Be?

Make the crack 3/8-inch wide and at least 1 inch deep for great results. For the best results, grind as deeply as you can. Two inches would be ideal if you can accomplish this. Brush out all loose material and remove all dust so the epoxy creates a tenacious bond to the two pieces of concrete.

What Should I Do if the Concrete Crack is Offset?

If your concrete crack has produced an offset where one part of the slab is higher than the other, you need to chip away some of the concrete that’s raised up. Once again the 4-inch grinder with the diamond blade is your friend. You might want to grind a line about 2 inches back from the crack so your finished repair is as smooth as possible. It won’t be in the same plane because of the offset, but you can absolutely get rid of the trip hazard.

The line you grind should be at least 3/4-inch deep. You may find it’s easier to create several parallel grind lines spaced about 1/2-inch apart marching towards the original crack. These multiple lines allow you to crack out the higher concrete with a hand chisel and 4-pound hammer. You can make fast work of this using a rotary hammer drill equipped with a chipping tip.

The goal is to create a shallow trench where you’ll place cement stucco to replace the concrete that was raised up. A trench as shallow as 1/2-inch will work, but 3/4-inch is better. Once again, remove all loose material and brush away all dust from the old concrete.

What is the Secret Bonding Material?

You’ll need to mix up some cement paint as well as the cement stucco mix. Cement paint is just a mixture of pure Portland cement and clean water. Mix it to the consistency of a thin gravy. Keep this paint out of the sun and only mix it just before you intend to use it.

What is the Best Patching Material?

The cement stucco needs to be mixed using coarse sand, Portland cement, and hydrated lime if you can get it. For a strong repair, mix 4 parts sand with 2 parts Portland cement. If you can get the lime, then mix 4 parts sand, 1.5 parts Portland cement, and 0.5 part lime. You blend all of this together dry until the mix is the same uniform color. Then you add clean water and mix until it’s the consistency of applesauce.

The first step is to squirt some of the concrete epoxy down into the crack between the two slabs. If you have to widen the crack, use the grinder. Once you’ve squirted in the epoxy, immediately spritz the trench with a little bit of water. Get the concrete damp, not dripping wet. Paint on a thin coat of cement paint on the bottom and sides of the shallow trench. Immediately cover the cement paint with the cement stucco mix.

Within a few minutes, the stucco will harden enough that you can use a block of wood rotating in a circular motion to smooth the stucco. Once it hardens in about two hours, cover it with plastic for three days keeping the new stucco wet for the entire time.

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