April 29, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
Are you a teacher or do you work in a school? I had the pleasure of helping teach a middle-school STEAM class in Missouri about ten days ago.
Ms. Chantell Mason reached out to me to ask if I'd do a video conference with two of her classes. They had an assignment that put them in charge of building a new school.
They had questions about building on rocky soil and Ms. Mason had discovered my past column about the topic.
The photo above was taken during the class and I'm up on that white screen believe it or not.
Each of the kids that had a question would come up to the camera and speak into the microphone. The other kids would tap away at their laptops with my answer.
In one of my answers, I gave an example of where NOT TO BUILD a school and referenced a silly school in Cincinnati, OH that was built in the floodplain of the Ohio River. The entire building is up in the air on giant concrete piers much like a huge table.
Within 60 seconds one of the kids came up to the camera, held up their laptop screen so I could see it and said, "Mr. Carter, is this the school building?"
It's important to realize I didn't ask the kids to go look it up.
This young woman had indeed located the CORRECT school with minimal clues. I didn't say the name of the school. I didn't mention WHERE in Cincinnati it was other than along the Ohio River.
There's HOPE!
If you're a teacher and need me to help you one day in your classroom, you know what to do. Just Ask Tim.
On-Demand Radio Benefit For You
Friday, my great buddy Chuck Eglinton uploaded my ninth on-demand radio show. It's free to listen to.
One of the great things about getting back in front of the microphone is I'm rediscovering past columns I forgot about!
I'll be talking to a homeowner about a problem, for example Steve last week, and BOOM!
"Hey Steve, I've got a column that explains how to fix that."
Steve had reached out to me with a common problem - his ancient toilet wasn't flushing correctly.
He told me he had been dealing with this issue for well over TEN YEARS!
The best part is he shot a short video and sent it to me. CLICK HERE and scroll down the page to see the video:
Not only did I fix Steve's toilet making it flush like NEW, but my recommended fix got rid of some horrible staining he had tried to remove for years.
Steve was SO HAPPY he taped a follow-up video showing how his toilet was flushing correctly AND it looked like new! The follow-up video is part of the above video. Go watch it.
WOOT! I love love love getting feedback like that as it reinforces that what I do is really helping you.
Here's the old column that I had Steve read to see how to fix his toilet.
Andy's Rotten Wood Window Sill
I then talked with Andy about a common problem you might have.
Wood rot
In Andy's case it was caused by an idiot builder or architect who didn't provide enough roof overhang on Andy's house.
CLICK HERE to see three photos of Andy's lack of overhang and his wood-rot problem.
CLICK HERE to see how to repair the wood rot. Watch the video I taped last November in Los Angeles.
Fun Construction Quiz
Friday, I was driving back from a journey and I saw a house being built just a few miles south of my home.
Surprisingly, there were just a few workers there and I decided to walk around and get some photos. If the homeowners are expecting to enjoy the summer along the lake here, they better light a huge fire under the builder.
CLICK HERE to see one of my photos and take the FAST two-question quiz.
It's FUN and I GUARANTEE you'll discover something new.
Be sure you SCROLL UP after clicking SUBMIT so you can see your score. If you selected the wrong answer, I tell you the right answer and why it's correct.
That's enough for a Sunday. More next week.
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Captain Magic Outdoor-Radio Man - www.W3ATB.com
Purveyor of Uncle Tim's Magic Crystals - www.StainSolver.com
Do It Right, Not Over!