Tom Raymond

He's a hack. On a recent episode of his other show he used caulk and spray foam to waterproof a ledger attachment because "flashing it could be too hard". He actually said that on camera. He also used an existing retaining wall to support a portion of the same deck. I suppose if his reno crew continues to do stuff wrong there will be plenty of work for his inspection crew [:-banghea

Don't you read JLC? The latest issue has an article about how adding roof shoveling and ice dam removal services generates a revenue stream now as well as referrals for spring time work, complete with how to advice and a fee schedule. The hysteria is not just for home owners anymore.

It's a little known trend, but since the crack heads have stolen all the readily accessible copper the meth heads have started to take glass for it's scrap value. Your lucky you don't have aluminum siding.[:-dev3]

I shoveled knee deep heavy snow pack off my porch roof yesterday. It's 2x4 rafters and almost, but not quite, 2/12 pitch spanning 8' and the previous owners shingled it. It ice dams and I get water dripping through it and my back porch turns into a skating rink. If it weren't for the ice I'd just let the snow pile up, those 100+ year old 2x4s aren't going anywhere. I think I'd want a more credible source than an unnamed HI for design snow loads. I know there's a lot of snow up and down the East coast, but this isn't the first time NJ has had this much snow. How heavy is a foot of snow anyways?

That's better.

I stripped mine to the drum last weekend and pulled unbeleivable amonts of lint off the bottom of the machine, the motor housing, the blower housing, and scariest of all, the gas valve and burner assembly. My had wife dried a chenille duvet cover that took several cycles and she emptied the lint trap twice for each. I tossed in a load the next day and could smell the smoke as soon as I turned the thing on. I'm glad it was just a load of laundry that lost its life.

Mike Holmes routinely looks past safety issues, best practices, and even goes so far as to promote dangerous procedures such as using a heat gun to remove what is clearly lead paint despite such practices being strongly advised against at Health Now (a Canadian consumer protection agency). He will get himself in trouble eventually, especially as his popularity increases in the US where some of his work practices are actually illegal.

Yuck! One more reason to stick with radiant.

My bcam could but the timing would have to be pretty phenomenal. I can only see tubing in a slab when the slab is cool and the system fires. There is only a brief period when the tubes are hot enough and the slab is cool enough to find them. If it's full on heating season, forget it.

Two of my coworkers each had their goodmans break down yesterday.

And there in lies the problem. You've been underpaid for 17 years. This is gonna be a hard lesson. To remove an existing door, assemble and install a new one that fits, fabricate and install appropriate panning, flashing and trim, case the interior, and clean up the mess takes my guys around 4 hours. The labor rate for that is $700, and thats after I've made a very comfortable margin on the door. BTW, add at least an hour to that if the job has lead paint to deal with. If you can do all that in a couple of hours: First, why would you spend twice as long on an inspection for less? Second, your work isn't worth $250. That's not a dig. Slow down, do a thorough job, and pay yourself accordingly. The quality of your work will improve, and so will the quality of your clientele.

Terry, you need to raise your rates[:-dev3] I like that pic. I swiped it.

Let's look at this from another angle. You say that a home inspection and report takes you 4-5 hours, so what would you charge for a comparable remodel gig like replacing a 6' patio door? If your answer is $189 then it's amazing you made it 17 years in the reno biz. If your skilled labor is worth more, then why isn't your skill set? The truth is it's worth considerably more. The difference between price and value is a difficult lesson to learn, but it'll bury you if you ignore it.

Sometimes, but only the really high end stuff. If there is a drywall fire barrier it has to be taped and the nails/screws covered. If it gets more than one coat it's because the finisher likes to use a banjo, otherwise it's FG tape and a single pass with durabond 90.

I think I just found new wallpaper for my laptop []

This guy can't be for real. C'mon, an HI whose middle name is Watson and whose license number starts with 007? I smell a hoax! Erby, your links are dead.

Check out airkrete.com. It's spray foam so it's not DIY but it has a zero flame and smoke spread index so it does not need to be covered. It can also be used to fill blind cavities, meaning it can be sprayed into the wall around the existing insulation. Why? Drywall will be about a third the cost of rigid foam sheets, slightly more difficult to cut, and a wee bit heavier to maneuver in the attic. If you can safely work with foam sheets in the attic you can handle the drywall too. The bad news is that to achieve the desired flame spread index you will have to apply at least one coat of compound to the seams. The good news, no one will see the tape job.[]

Then you need to go back up there and get a better picture. Seriously.

Don't rely on the AT&T service maps to make your decision, talk to folks that have the service. The wife and I had AT&T service for 8 days, that's how long it took to figure out that we couldn't make or receive phone calls when and where we needed to. Typing an address on the map indicated 3G, when in reality the phones were locked on emergency calls only at those locations. It took three months and 5 customer service schmucks to get all of my money back, then they sent my account to a collection agency.

Neal, look at the second pic again. You can see the fire brick peeking out from behind the parge and the fibers sticking up at the edge along the damper. I feel sorry for the poor bastard that is gonna have to chip that off.

I had a friend call me about some flickering lights, so I go over and check it out. There were so many loose connections that lights were flickering on and off while I was pulling the dead front. I tightened up all the loose wires but the problem circuit (a double tap) burnt the breaker terminal. I left the cover off while I ran down the street (literally just a few blocks) to the hardware to get a new breaker and when I came back the missus was vacuuming the inside of the panel[:-bigeyes Never leave the cover off, there's no telling what stupidity might happen after you've gone.

Thanks, I bookmarked that site. Some of that stuff is cheap enough for resale.

Mark, look into an extra battery for it. Mine hasn't died during a scan yet but I have to charge it before every outing, it won't hold a charge sitting on the shelf. Mike, what model are you looking at?

[:-bigeyes That'll be one wild ride when it falls through the floor. This one should make the home page!

I was thinking the same thing. That's a lot of juice for a place that only has 40 gallons of hot water.