Popular Articles

• Simple Understanding of Insulation

  MOST HOMEOWNERS DON’T REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THE INSULATION IS NEEDED TO GIVE YOU COMFORT AND REDUCE THOSE ENERGY BILLS IN YOUR HOME. BELOW IS SOME SIMPLE INFO ON INSULATION.

  HOW INSULATION WORKS

  You need insulation in your home to provide resistance to heat flow. The more heat flow resistance your insulation provides, the lower your heating and cooling costs.
  Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In the winter, this heat flow moves directly from all heated living spaces to adjacent unheated garages, basements, and even to the outdoors. Heat flow can also move indirectly through interior floors, walls and ceilings wherever there is a difference in temperature.… Read the rest

• Inspecting with a Moisture Meter

  A moisture meter is a device designed to measure the moisture content of various building materials, such as roofing, siding, insulation, drywall, plaster, wood, tile and fiberglass. Structural and safety hazards, such as mold, rot and decay are all potential consequences of elevated moisture levels in these materials. An inspector can use a moisture meter to locate moisture that would not otherwise be apparent.
  Here are a few ways that inspectors may find moisture meters useful:
  •A moisture meter can be used to determine whether a material is moist enough to allow mold to grow. Mold will begin to accumulate on surfaces that contain approximately 20% moisture, although this value varies based on vapor pressure and other factors.… Read the rest

• 7 Easy Steps to Shipping Your Plants Safely

  The thought of moving into a new house or apartment is known to cause a lot of stress onto the average person. Added onto that stress is the thought of your plants and flowers, of which you’ve spent precious hours and effort to grow, either dying during the move or needing to be thrown out. We’ve listed 7 easy steps for you to keep your green thumb alive as you move and transport your plants from one location to another!

  Step 1:

  Get some shipping boxes from your local grocery store, Wal-Mart, or post office. Aim to ship your plant(s) out early in the week so that your package doesn’t get stuck in transit at the Post Office over the weekend.… Read the rest

• What Our Kids Wanted in a Bedroom

  Kids Enjoy Decorating Their Own Bedrooms

  Our kids are busy, smart, and clever. They have well-formed opinions for youngsters, and they firmly know exactly what they like and what they do not like. Unfortunately, that makes for some particularly vocal, opinionated kids. When we moved into our new home, we decided to let our clever, opinionated kids share their ideas on how their new bedrooms should be decorated. Any other decision would have spelled disaster.

  Your Kids Might Surprise You with Their Sense of Style

  Our nine-year-old son loves sports. He eats, drinks, and dreams football. His soccer cleats are always on his feet; he even tried to wear them to church on Easter Sunday.… Read the rest

• Homeowner Tips on Saving Energy

  Being a Fort Worth and Dallas area home inspector has taught me some simple methods homeowners can perform to help reduce your energy bills.
  Homeowners can easily conduct a simple home energy audit for themselves to find and repair obvious issues. With a simple walk-through, you can spot many problems within the house.
  Locating Air Leaks
  It’s possible to save 5% to 30% per year in energy savings from reducing drafts in a home, and the home is generally much more comfortable afterward. Homeowners can check for indoor air leaks, such as gaps along the baseboard or edge of the flooring, and at junctures of the walls and ceiling.… Read the rest

• Sloppy Evaporator Coil Install

  Came across this a/c systems evaporator coil today. It’s amazing how lazy some people are. If you pay a professional to do a job, you expect to get a professional job done. The coil was so off level, condensation was standing on the left side of the pan whenever the a/c was running. Here in Texas, that’s most of the year. After years of this happening, the pan finally rusted through and is now leaking into the secondary pan and beyond to the plenum. The plenum is leaking onto the ceiling and wall of the bedroom below. Now we have a huge mess with water damage and mold.… Read the rest

• Top 5 Reasons to Move to Renewable Energy

  With advancements in renewable energy technology, many people are starting to be turned on to its potential. If you’re thinking about going to renewable energy, here are five reasons that you may want to go ahead and make the move to this type of energy.

  1. Saving Money

  One of the reasons that you may want to make the switch to the renewable energy is to save money. In today’s market, regular forms of energy are getting much more expensive by the day. The way things are going, you may end up paying quite a bit more for electricity from the electric company than you would from a renewable source of energy like solar panels.… Read the rest

• TLC Hoarders - Are you a hoarder?

  Many Americans are obsessed with their collections. Collectors search the world for the items that they need to complete their collection, often paying thousands or even millions of dollars for that perfect piece. Some collectors search for nostalgic items like action figures, baseball cards or metal lunch boxes while others search for items of great beauty like sculptures and paintings. Others collect coins and other possibly valuable items, searching for the piece that will allow them to retire to a private island in the Caribbean.

  Hoarders, on the other hand, collect everything. Their houses fill to the brim with items that most of us would consider trash because they are unwilling, or unable, to throw anything away.… Read the rest

• Achieving A Victorian Look In Your Bathroom

  The recent bathroom trend has been to go for the modern look; incorporating stylish travertine or granite tiles, with an unusually shaped bathtub and a walk in shower. However, modern bathroom designs don’t suit every property and owners of period buildings have to take a different approach. Victorian themed bathrooms are becoming increasingly popular and are a great way to add a touch of class and individuality to your room. But how can you create such a look?

  An ornamental sink

  Sinks tend to be the focal point of any bathroom and people are naturally drawn to them due to the fact that a mirror is usually hung right above.… Read the rest

• Solar Power for the Home

  Although it seems quite expensive initially, when it comes to providing electricity for your household, solar power is the best way to go long-term wise. If you want to save money on your electricity bill or live a greener lifestyle, then you should consider solar power for the home.

  Advantages

  The initial cost of solar panels is very hefty, often costing a homeowner tens of thousands of dollars. However, once you get solar panels, the cost of your electricity bill will go down or you may not have to pay anything for electricity at all.

  Basically, solar panels are a one-time cost while you’ll need to pay electricity bills every single month for the rest of your life.… Read the rest