One of the things that many home mechanics run into that can be a little confusing the first time you do it is setting Valve Lash on Solid or Hydraulic Lifter Engines.
There are a variety of reasons that you might want to check or set your Valve Lash and that can be when you are rebuilding or repairing your engine. Maybe you are changing your camshaft or maybe you just want to do a …
When winter comes around the dreaded sound of your furnace kicking in and costing you money is something many of us experience. When temperatures get very cold it can even be difficult to keep your home warm with the heater running constantly. Unfortunately this can rack up some big bills. This often has people fighting to keep the home cold to save money.
This can often lead to people trying to heat their home with …
There are many as many decisions as options when buying a monitor for your computer today but the decision comes down to one situation are you buying a monitor because you need one or are you upgrading what you have to something better. I say this because many of your decisions will be made based on the hardware you have and the upgrades or new purchases you plan. If you are outfitting the family …
Many people are interested in solar for their homes and some people want to be able to sell electricity back to the electric company to offset the cost of the install. Unfortunately costs of solar in residential projects is still pretty high. The payback can be decades and about the time that you are coming close to breaking even so you have free electric for your home you find that the solar panels …
One of our Canadian friends is asking about a new lot home that has just been finished. It was an owner built with some contractors to provide help and now he is at the point where he needs a nice yard.
He has been asking around about the costs of putting in a sod lawn and we also wanted to talk with him about the options of Hydroseeding. His main concern is the cost of …
One of our friends writes and asks about a historic home that they have recently purchased that has some problems around one of their windows. The window has actually been replaced and it is functioning but the sill of the window / bottom window ledge is sagging pretty bad. A few professionals had the chance to look at the problem when he was making the purchase and didn’t believe it was something that was …
A friend asks about their toilet and they say it does operate but the flow of water when flushing is not as much as they want. They also make note that if they hold the handle down while its flushing they end up with better results. They are looking for a better flush and don’t seem to have major problems. So, what can we do to help them?
Toilets are pretty simple devices and for …
One of the most difficult processes in building foundation walls which also causes delays and cost in inspections is the use of Standard Rebar Steel. Even with ICS construction the use of standard half inch rebar is built into the forms because it is required by code.
First to understand the differences you need to understand why rebar is used in any concrete application. Concrete in and of its self is a hard surface that …
One of our friends asks about the water pressure in their home and they believe that they are getting pressure that is too high and damaging their home appliances such as their water heater. In an attempt to find an answer they called a plumber that came out and checked their system. The plumber found that they had 80PSI which is at the top of the acceptable range for residential water pressure. At this …
A friend is asking about his basement and considering putting down some type of flooring to finish off the basement. He hasn’t asked about all other tasks that come along with finishing your basement but he is at the point where he has asked a few contractors what they think and we thought it would be a good time to go over what materials work best in your basement.
For many people the concrete flooring …