Furnaces, I got you covered... Two articles included today about furnaces; one for hot-water boilers and one for forced air furnaces.
The boat my wife and I lived on for 8 years had a 70-gallon freshwater tank. Depending on which island we were visiting I would sometimes need to take 2 – 7 gallon jerry jugs and carry them up to a mile to get water, no big deal. Carrying them back, well… one gallon of water weighs 7-pounds, oh my aching shoulders, I would carry 98 pounds of water back to the boat. Now that we live in a house, I simply turn on the tap, I love being spoiled.
The Bain of Modern Miracles:
“I’ve got one word for you, Benjamin: Plastics”. This of course is from the movie the Graduate. How many products, medicines, and miracles of man have turned out later to be ticking time bombs waiting for their downside to kick in? One I see in homes all the time is asbestos. I really enjoy taking a nice warm shower. Even when my wife and I lived on a boat I would heat up water and take a 2-gallon shower. Some people enjoy cold showers, some people also enjoy jumping out of planes; I don’t do that either.
The bird is in the oven the house smells great and the guests are arriving, when your 5-year-old niece comes up from the basement family room and comments on the neat swimming pool in the basement. Furnaces fail when you need them the most.
When showing homes, I will often sit in the car in front of a home and educate buyers about what to look for. One thing in-particular is the chimney. It is the only thing on a roof people do not pay attention to. Many of the homes I show are near 100 years old and most chimneys have seen no maintenance that whole time. Homes built in the 1950’s and later are not much of a concern because they use metal flue pipes.
Thomas Crapper invented the first flushing toilet in the late 1800’s, right? Wrong, it was the invention of John Harington in 1596. Yet the Crapper name is best associated with a convenience that I personally do not want to live without.
There are not many moving parts in a working sewer system but when one fails it can be a stomach-turning disaster. My last article was about home inspections, this is the 2nd of 4 inspections I often recommend to buyers. A separate company, often a plumber, who cleans sewer-lines will do this inspection. Filling a glass with water from my bathroom facet takes 60 seconds, what’s up with that? I know what the problem is, thankfully my problem in not that expensive to fix.
Most poor water pressure problems are very expensive to fix. The cause of poor water pressure is due to a buildup of mineral deposits in the water pipes, just like hardening of the arteries. There are several areas to be concerned about, from the water meter out to the street, from the water meter into the house, and finally the waterpipes going to the different fixtures Living in the Midwest means preparing ourselves and our homes for the cold winds, snow and ice. Many times, new homeowners don't know where to start and more importantly WHEN to start to ensure they don't run into costly problems in the winter months. Here are a few things to consider doing before the freezing temps move in:
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