How to Do-It-Yourself Screen Repairs

Understanding Asbestos

Asbestos: the word itself implies a great mystery, but to homeowners everywhere it shouldn’t – mustn’t – be incomprehensible. Products containing asbestos are, after all, common in households everywhere, and not just in Chicago. Just ask your friendly home inspectors.

It will be helpful to learn a thing or two about asbestos, which is why we’re dispensing this general consumer advice. The information is based on what’s so far been said by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Environmental Protection Agency.

What is it?

Asbestos is a mineral typically found in rocks. It has many kinds, but asbestos in general has fire-resistant qualities, and do not easily degrade by natural processes.

How dangerous is asbestos?

You may have heard that overexposure to asbestos can cause lung cancer or stomach cancer. That’s because the mineral can break into small fibers, which are too small to be seen by the naked eye, but which can float in the air and be inhaled by anyone – these can then become lodged in tissue for a long period of time. These fibers are so small that they can pass through filters of air conditioning systems and even vacuum cleaners, and therein lies the danger. Mesothelioma, a kind of cancer, can develop over a few years from overexposure to asbestos.

Are all products containing asbestos dangerous?

Asbestos presents health risks when it’s been broken down and the fibers are released from the material. That’s why soft asbestos-containing products that easily crumble present the highest risk, especially if the fibers have been released into the air and in danger of being breathed in by people.

If I have been exposed to asbestos, will I develop some form of asbestos-related disease?

Exposure to small amounts of asbestos rarely leads to disease or health problems. Regular exposure, however, increases the likelihood of developing asbestos-related diseases, which include serious illnesses like lung cancer.

Why is asbestos used in consumer products?

Asbestos is commonly used in consumer products because of the mineral’s natural properties. Asbestos not only can strengthen the material used to make the product; it can also improve the thermal resistance properties and the thermal or acoustical insulation or decoration on exposed surfaces of products. Moreover, asbestos can also be used for fire protection. The trade-off, however, is that it can present serious health risks to those who are exposed regularly to the mineral.

Which home and consumer products contain asbestos?

Asbestos is used in a lot of household products and materials for building and construction. It may be present in appliances, ceiling coatings, floor tiles and coverings, covering for ceilings and walls, insulation material for water and heat pipes, roofing materials, and even house insulation.
How will I know if I have asbestos in my house?

Sometimes it’s impossible to determine whether or not there’s asbestos in one’s house – it usually requires a laboratory to do so. But if you want to know where asbestos might be present in home and consumer products in your house, look up the manufacturers of these products, and they may be able to confirm, based on model number and age, whether or not the product contains asbestos. Plumbers, building contractors, heating contractors, and maybe even home inspectors might also, by the very nature of their work, be able to verify which products are asbestos-containing.
Asbestos is friable. What does this mean?

Any form or material that can become airborne with hand pressure is considered to be “friable.” Friable materials that contain asbestos are potentially dangerous, as they represent the greatest likelihood of human exposure to asbestos in a residential or home setting.

There’s asbestos in my house! What should I do now?

Don’t panic. Risk of exposure is low when the material or product containing asbestos remains undisturbed. There is cause for concern, however, if there is a high percentage of asbestos contained in the product and it is damaged or friable. If you just have to work around asbestos-containing materials – say, for renovation and DIY projects – make sure you follow asbestos-abatement procedures to reduce your chances of being exposed.
I suspect there are asbestos-containing materials on my heating system. What now?

If you have a relatively old heating system (pre-1980s), you might want to verify if your heating pipes, ducts, and units contain asbestos or not. Professional home inspections and assessments by asbestos specialists can be conducted to help you find out for sure. You still can leave the insulation or heating system in place and maintain it – as long as it remains undamaged and undisturbed. If, however, the system already has defects, or if some parts are already damaged, then have it repaired, encapsulated, or removed as a precaution.

Who can I call to work with asbestos?

Home repair contractors aren’t generally experienced or licensed to handle materials that contain asbestos. Your best bet is to look for trained, licensed asbestos abatement contractors; they can repair, encapsulate, or remove materials that contain asbestos by following established guidelines for handling and disposal.

How to Do-It-Yourself Faucet Repair

A Primer on Air Conditioning – Plus Bonus Tips

One of the things that homeowners have to pay attention to is the air conditioning system of a house. Many people tend to overlook it, but if residential air conditioning systems aren’t maintained properly or paid regular attention, it might lead to other kinds of collateral damage – and a huge amount of wasted energy.

Usually air conditioning systems found within homes are of the electric compressor-cycle type. This includes the units that you’d see on windows, or installed through the wall; it also describes central air conditioning systems that cover a whole house. Electric compressor-cycle systems all feature: an evaporator coil, a condenser coil, fans that circulate over both coils, tubing that carries a refrigerant between the coils, a compressor that moves the refrigerant through the system, and a kind of meter device that regulates the rate of refrigerant flow. Making use of all these elements, and applying several basic physics principles, air conditioning systems work basically to remove heat from within a house.

Here’s how it works. The refrigerant first absorbs heat when it changes from liquid to gas, and then it releases heat when it changes from gas to liquid. The heat would then move from a medium at a high temperature to a medium at a lower temperature. The liquid refrigerant passes through an expansion device into the evaporator and it then expands to a gas. While this is happening, it absorbs heat from the air inside a house, which is forced by the air handler fan through the evaporator coil. It’s basically what you call “heat transfer” – and that’s how air becomes a lot cooler, passing through the air ducts and out onto the room of a house. The refrigerant, meanwhile, which vaporizes into gas, is pulled from the evaporator and through the tubing, and then into the compressor, where it becomes high-temperature, high-pressure gas. This gaseous refrigerant goes into the condenser coil, where it gives up heat to the cooler air outside, which has been forced across the coil by second fan. When the refrigerant condenses back to liquid form, the cycle begins anew. Phew!

One of the things about air conditioners is that sometimes it dehumidifies the air. That’s why it is always best if you maintain a balance of temperature and humidity in your room, thereby keeping your air conditioning system from cooling the air before a reasonable level of humidity is achieved. How do you strike the balance? By picking the right size of air conditioning system: not too small, not too big.

Providing for adequate airflow is also critical. That’s the reason why you have to clean the filters of your air conditioner and set its inlets and outlets in proper position, as this balances air distribution and evens out the cooling.

Meeting the basic maintenance needs of your air conditioning system also allows you to maximize its lifespan. Usually, the compressor – the most expensive part of the air conditioning system – will last for about five years, and manufacturers would even guarantee that lifespan. But take proper care of your system and it may even last much longer than that.

One recommendation for maintaining air conditioning systems is calling in the professionals for home inspections and annual checks and servicing. You may also consult qualified HVAC service companies. Of course, there are also things you can do on your own to take care of your air conditioning system, such as:

• Resetting the dampers for air conditioning at the start of winter or the cooler seasons. If there are separate ducts in your system for the cool air, and if the return has both ceiling and floor registers, a damper adjustment is needed.
• Seeing that all supply outlets and returns are clean, free from obstructions, dust, and other elements that may cause uneven air distribution.
• Cleaning your air filters regularly.
• Seeing that the condensate drain from the evaporator drains freely. Don’t let the pan overflow; keep it clean, and keep the condensate drain open.
• Setting your system to temperatures you’re actually comfortable with; find something above 78 degrees F as a general rule. You may also install a programmable thermostat.
• Ensuring that all ducts that pass through hot areas in the house – like attics and garages – are well insulated.
• Complimenting your system with adequate insulation and weather stripping (especially at windows and doors). This minimizes heat gain and hot air infiltration.
• Avoiding the use of an air conditioning system in cases when the temperature outside is 60 degrees F or below.

Working with a Green Online Blueprinting Service

As the slow recovery of the construction industry continues companies and DIY’ers are looking for ways to lower costs and have a positive impact on the environment in every aspect of the construction process. With those two objectives in mind we have recently come across a new online blue print printer who is helping architects, engineers and construction professionals to meet their clients demands while meeting those goals.

Started in April of 2009, Structured Prints is an online blueprint printer serving the entire U.S. They offer reprographic services to contractors, engineers and architecture professionals as well as do-it-yourselfers an easy to use online store front where they can order their prints and shipped for one flat rate to anywhere in the U.S. Structured Prints is a new blueprint printer who is changing the way construction
printing is done, they have changed the way blueprints are ordered by bringing the process online and utilizing nationwide shippers. By ordering your blueprints online you reduce your carbon footprint because you don’t need to drive to drop off or pick-up your prints, and will use national shippers like FedEx, or UPS because their trucks are already on the roads.

Another thing Structured Prints does to which makes it unique and make a positive impact on the environment is through their Arbor Day initiative. For every set of blueprints that is printed they will make a donation which will go directly to combat deforestation of our nations forests.

If you have a project you need printed visit this Online Blueprint Printer and make your business a little greener today.

How to Do-It-Yourself Bathroom Tile Repairs

How to Do-It-Yourself Faucet Replacement

HouseMaster, the oldest and largest home inspection franchisor in the U.S., provides homeowners with easy do-it-yourself home repairs. This video shows how to properly replace a faucet.

Hot Water Systems 101

In the middle of a freezing winter cold, nothing sounds more agreeable than a hot bath (and a hot cocoa). Thank goodness to whoever invented all those hot water systems. Smart homeowners, however, will do more than just thank, and will educate themselves about how these systems actually work – and what it takes to maintain them and keep them running safely and smoothly.

Homes with boilers, hot water baseboards, and radiator heating systems usually employ the boiler to provide hot water – as commonly seen not just in metropolitan Chicago, but in other areas where colder climates persist. It is within the host boiler that the hot water for the household is produced, by means of an internal coil or heat exchanger. Typically called boiler coil or instantaneous system, it lets cold water become instantly hot as soon as it passes through the boiler.

Homeowners need to keep in mind that these coils tend to scale up, thus reducing the rate of both water flow and heat transfer. The solution can be as simple as cleaning them regularly, or replacing them. Because this type of system does not have a conventional tank-type water storage, one can still be added.

Sometimes domestic hot water is supplied by tank-type heaters, whose integral heating sources can be gas (most common), electricity, and oil. The size of this tank will depend on the size of the house, as well as on the types of appliances being used within it. While gas-fired heater have a higher heating rate than electric heaters, it’s the oil-fired heater that can regenerate the most amount of hot water in the shortest possible time. Constant exposure to water, however, can contribute to the corrosion over time of metal water heater tanks.

One important step to winterizing your house is by draining the water heater. Just turn off the fuel or electric supply and drain. Also note that electric resistance heating elements shouldn’t be operated unless fully immersed in water.

If you want to know the condition of your heating systems, it’s best to call professional home inspectors. Have your heaters checked annually for signs of corrosion, damage, or leakage – which may potentially inflict collateral damage to other parts and furnishings in the house.

Also be cautious of open flames from an oil or gas burner, which can easily ignite flammable vapors that have gathered within your house or garage. To prevent this (as well as accidental spill of flammable materials) from happening, a new water heater design is now being utilized: the Flammable Vapor Ignition Resistant (FVIR) heater, featured in many of today’s new standard-size gas heaters.

In the case of insufficient hot water supply, a quick readjustment of the knob that controls the temperature may be in order. Sometimes the thermostat fails to signal the gas- or oil-fired heater to work properly. If it’s the burner that’s broken, call professional home inspectors to assess what can be done.

You can also go for gas and electric tankless systems to provide you with a steady supply of hot water. These systems instantly heat water as they flow through the unit, providing hot water temperature at a given water flow rate.

Whatever water heating systems you’re using, pay attention to how it works – and how well it’s working. Through regular cleaning, maintenance, and home inspections, problems can be avoided – and you can winterize your home and withstand the coldest seasons.

How to Do-It-Yourself Humidifier Maintenance

HouseMaster, the oldest and largest home inspection franchisor in the U.S., provides homeowners with easy do-it-yourself home repairs. This video shows how to properly maintain a humidifier to ensure efficiency.

How to Do-It-Yourself Air Conditioning Repair