Category Archives: Home Projects & Upkeep

As a former home inspector, I’ve seen  plenty of mis-wired, mis-plumbed, mis-vented, and just plain WRONG water heater installations. Although I did “flag” them, I didn’t fully realize the potential consequences until I watched the video below. Whether or not … Continue reading →

Q: What’s wrong with this picture? A: Every house performs differently. The setting, the ground-type, the orientation… it all matters. And so does the era the house was built in, the choice of lumber that went into it, the carpenters … Continue reading →

Men fix things. Or at least, we like to believe we CAN fix things. It’s a double-edged sword at times. I mean, long before I became a Realtor I learned carpentry. And I still have every tool I ever owned, right … Continue reading →

Money’s tight in ’09 for a LOT of people and businesses. Maybe MOST people. Definitely MOST businesses. But that coin has a flip-side in that it is a bonfide “buyer’s market” in most sectors of the economy. “Prices are down… Incentives are … Continue reading →

Are you still making spending 90 cents of every lighting dollar creating heat instead of light? If you’re using incandenscent bulbs then that’s EXACTLY what you’re doing! It’s a fact: 90% of the electricity used to “light” a Thomas Edison-style … Continue reading →

Three different houses I was involved in this past month had asbestos -containing materials used in their construction. These included siding, asbestos-wrapped heating ducts, and vermiculite insulation in the attic. Despite the fear struck in many people’s nerves when the … Continue reading →

You didn’t seriously think your car was the only thing contributing to the hole in the ozone and global warming… did ya? Houses do too, from the manufacture and transport of their materials, to the lighting you read by, to … Continue reading →

Storm season in Bellingham officially begins– by storm paddling standards — when winds on Bellingham bay top 40 knots. Well on this Labor Day weekend we got just that! So aside from some killer surf sessions, it also means it’s … Continue reading →

In the last blog, I wrote about the International Residential Code Section R312. This section deals with deck height and when railings are required. Half of this code I love — the half that states no gaps larger than 4 … Continue reading →

The International Residential Code (IRC) is the Yellow-Pages-thick volume of rules, regulations, and standards that define how your house must be built. It’s primarily about safety and structural integrity. There are sections of the IRC that cover the foundation, framing, … Continue reading →