DIY Leak Test your House

In determining a leak in your system, the only absolute sure way for a decision to be made here, is to go straight to the source. The water service meter to your house monitors every drop that passes the gauge. When pouring a concrete slab foundation, the plumbing lines are re trenched and placed in the ground prior to the concrete pour, as time progresses there is often several things that may have to occur or end up going wrong.
A visual inspection of the outside of your residence may aide in any abnormalities IE., wet areas near the exterior perimeters, higher than usual water bills, interior mold stench, warm places beneath the flooring etc. If you are experiencing any of these common issues, then before calling a plumbing contractor and getting invoiced for the trip, a final DIY leak test can be performed.
Turn off any and all appliances, dishwasher or washing machine. Check any and all the sinks faucets to be sure they are 100% in the off position. If any toilet is running because of needed repairs, then shut off their angle stop or (supply line) and if you are not alone then tell everyone else to please wait on flushing any toilets or washing any hands.

It is now time to find your water meter, typically on or near the street or curb. In the front of the property and in the ground. If you are absolutely positive that all fixtures/machines and spigots are off then the meter should not be moving/counting or digitally calculating the city or counties water passing through it. Chances are that this has assisted you in DIY leak detection.

Master Craftsmen Gifts

The holidays are here and that means it’s time to head out into the traffic, the crowds and the long lines. If you’re anything like me then you have a long list of people to shop for and you’re probably not looking forward to it. With all the frustrations that come with holiday gift shopping it’s no wonder so many people are turning to the internet. With lower shipping rates and faster delivery times it’s finally economical and convenient to get all of our holiday shopping done from the comfort of our homes or offices.

My father can easily be called a master craftsman and boy can they be hard to shop for. At first you try to buy them excellent examples of fine woodworking but they often end up critiquing it more than appreciating it. And anything unrelated to woodworking seems to be entirely uninteresting. So this year I looked into some antique hand saws. I thought it would make a great decoration for his shop or just a nice memento of early American woodworking. Whatever he decides to do with it I know he’ll appreciate it!

Pull Saw Door Casing

In a prior post we hit on baseboards being removed as one of the first steps, true because the floor trim has to sit on top of the new materials being installed. The other trim that needs to be dealt with is the door casing and sometimes door jambs.

The new flooring must appear as if it is under the molding everywhere. The cuts at the bottom of the trim are difficult to execute, unless the right carpentry tool is on site. This awesome little gadget has been called a pullsaw. A smaller hand saw that cuts as it's pulled through the material in reference. To get this cut accurate only requires, to lay the new flooring flat in front the trim and cutting, now the flooring will slide underneath and give that professional look.