I love sharing knowledge! Every month I am going to share some of my knowledge, that I've learned from looking after my own home, and working on my clients homes
May 2024
When painting over new drywall or performing drywall repairs, priming is essential for several reasons, with achieving a uniform texture being one of the most significant.
April 2024
Are you having trouble with your furnace not blowing enough air into the far reaches of your house? Your furnace filter may be filtering smaller particles than your HVAC system is designed to filter. The measurement of how small of a particle your filter can capture, and how much particles in general a filter captures is called MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values). It is a measurement between 1 to 20, 20 being high filtration. In order to get filtration close to the HEPA standard, you would need a MERV of 17 or higher. Most furnaces can not handle this level of filtration especially if you have a filter less than 4 inches thick. In fact your furnace may filter more particles over a givin time with less of a MERV rating. Experiments have indicated that a MERV of as low as 7 can deliver close to HEPA level filtration. If you want HEPA filtration in your home you are better off getting a separate air purifier.
March 2024
Do you have a door that is having trouble closing, because the hinges are loose? Don't fall for the match stick and carpenters glue! You don't even have to take the door off the hinges! Simply buy a larger diameter screw to go in the hole. A number 2 screw, will do.
Feb 2024
Don't let vines and plants grow on your masonry. It may look great but the capillary action of that plant will grow inside your brick and deteriorate it.
Jan 2024
If you have a mouse problem, one of the spots they might be coming into your home is through your "weeping holes". Weeping holes are holes to let water out from behind a masonry cavity wall. The hole only needs to be 70mm sq, but most masonry contractors leave a whole joint empty on the first course of a wall, which makes it easy for rodents to enter your home. To fix this problem stuff some steel wool in all the weeping holes. This will prevent critters from entering your home but still allow water to escape!