How cold is it?
Its so cold I saw a dog stuck to a tree. Just kidding, but it did freeze a vinyl window shut. Egress windows are giving a false sense of security if they don't open when they need to. To say the least it has been a hell of a winter. I am exhausted and frustrated with...
Hissing sound turns out to be serious
A past client called to report a strange hissing sound emanating from beneath her kitchen area. She said "It sounded like a machine running or air moving". It seemed like no big deal until she noticed a crack in her drywall in the same general area. That is when I got...
Holiday appliance advice
Hello LevcoCare Nation! The Holiday Season is rapidly approaching, at least on the calendar. I know in Boise it seems like we just can't shake fall, but winter is lurking just around the corner, Trust me, I about froze my buns off at the football game last night. I...
What are you getting for your money?
I was talking with my plumber the other day and several cool things jelled when it comes to value. I have known for years that although things look alike they are not. Let's take anything, cars are a good example. Why is there such a disparity, they all do the same...
What makes a toilet work?
Since the evolution of the outhouse and the gravitational hole in the ground toilet, first world countries have staved off disease in the last century by creating domestic plumbing and municipal sewage systems. One of my early fond memories of toilets is the Loo...
How Hard is Your Water?
I was recently asked to look into add water softeners for several clients. Having added them before I thought I would explore a bit about what hard water is and why anyone would want to condition it in the first place. Here is what I found Water naturally has elements...
Recent Posts
Retrofitting Hydronic Heating
Our client wanted heated floors in their existing home. There was a partial basement and crawl space access. I remembered a system that we have used before that circulates fluid beneath the floor and felt that this would be a good option to offer. It uses glycol and...
Joist Hangers Use & Misuse
Joist hangers have been around for around about 59 years, they were developed by Simpson Strongtie for a friend who was looking for a way to secure some boards in a more structurally sound way. Now days there are all kinds for them for all sorts of purposes. There are...
How Energy Efficient is Your Home
For the past 110 years, we have been in a rush to make sure the hurdle of the new housing stock is built safer, stronger, and more energy efficient than the last code cycle because people dying in tragic collapses and fires is not a good thing, nor is wasting our...
Faucets Should Not Leak
Fixing them may or may not be easy. One important thing to remember is that you need to turn off the water supply to work on them with out the possibility of making a big mess. Every home has a main shut off, (I have not run into one without one) In fact you need to...
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