December 29, 2009 AsktheBuilder News And Tips
What’s in This Issue?
Latest News
Crack in a Scotland Ceiling
Basement Waterproofing eBook Update
Residential Architects Looking for Work
My Father-in-Law
Hardwood Floor Scratches
Latest Columns
The Fire Pit
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Latest News
I wish you a belated Merry Christmas! Because of the rush to drive from New Hampshire back to Cincinnati to be with Kathy and the kids, I was unable to send you Christmas greetings before the grand day. Add to that, me getting the flu five days before Christmas, and you have a recipe for no newsletter! I'm better now with just a slight cold, but two days before Christmas I was down for the count.
The New Year is rapidly approaching, just days away. I'm very excited about 2010. It's going to be a great year for many reasons. History will treat 2010 as the high-water mark for any number of things. Watch and see. If you've lost your job in the horrible economic morass, understand that there's almost unlimited opportunity on the Internet. I liken the Internet to what the land west of the Mississippi must have looked like to settlers in 1860. Stop hoping for change. Forget about others helping you. Control your own destiny.
I wish you a VERY prosperous and happy New Year!
Crack in a Scotland Ceiling
Jacqueline Scott of Glasgow, Scotland wrote to me:
Dear Tim,
I had an extension onto my kitchen 4 years ago. There is a crack on my ceiling just before the corner that it joins the wall. It runs the length of the ceiling / wall and there is a hairline crack coming down a supporting post which runs about 12 inches. The crack has been there almost since the extension was done, but I feel it has widened slightly. Because it has always been there I wonder if I am imagining it has widened slightly, but my gut instinct, says it has. The crack is actually on the old part of the kitchen, on the wall that joins my neighbour's house - as it is a semi-detached bungalow. Should I be worried?? I know they put a steel beam on top of the supporting wall (which has the hair-line crack) so could this be putting pressure on this area. Should I worry?
My reply to Jacqueline was:
Jacqueline,
This is a very common occurrence. Houses have joints in them just as our bodies do. Your arms legs, fingers and toes all can move about, even though they are connected. Where the room addition was added to the house, a new seam was created. To minimize cracking, it's imperative that the new foundation for the addition always do what the existing foundation of the house does. This means they must act as one. If the house foundation is unstable, but the new room addition foundation is rock solid, you can see how the two rooms could eventually separate. This is an exaggeration, however I've seen it happen. Hairline cracks where structural elements of a house exist are very common. Usually they are of no concern.
My gut tells me that the crack you're seeing is really just a shrinkage crack. If your room addition has timber or lumber in it, this wood may be getting smaller in size as it liberates water. It can take several years for this shrinkage to occur. The shrinkage causes tension which tears the finish materials apart. You see the resulting tiny crack. Any wood in the walls of the older parts of your home has long since stabilized.
Start to monitor the crack. At its widest point, take a very fine marker and make tiny marks on each side of the crack opposite each other. Use a very accurate measuring device to measure the width of the crack. Keep a journal recording the measurement you take once a month. You'll be able to see if the crack is getting wider. It's possible it will get smaller if the humidity increases. If the crack keeps getting wider, then call in a structural engineer.
Basement Waterproofing eBook Update
The response to my upcoming Basement Waterproofing eBook has been overwhelming. My research has indicated that you want to see actual case studies. So be it. This is where you come in. If you can really describe well your basement or crawl space leak and provide me with great interior and exterior photos that show the leak happening, exterior shots of the land around your home, etc., then I'll include these in the eBook AND tell you exactly the steps and products I would use to make your basement dry as a bone. That's a pretty good bargain if you ask me. You get a FREE consult for just investing a little time.
If this is of interest to you, the first step is to send me just two things:
- A very good description of exactly what the problem is, when it happens, how long the water has been coming in and any other facts.
- One color photo of the leak.
Send these in a separate email to me with the Subject Line: Basement Leak Entry
Residential Architects Looking for Work
Are you a residential architect whose work has pretty much dried up? Or do you know of one? I have a fantastic opportunity I want to talk to you about immediately. You MUST have great software that can draw simple color plans and convert them to .PDF files. I can offer you a deal where you make ongoing royalties for a very long time. Speaking of time, it is of the essence. Email me right now. I'm ready to start tomorrow on this project. Put this in the Subject Line: Architect for Tim
My Father-in-Law
Just before the holidays, my father-in-law was admitted to the hospital for an intestinal disorder. He's out and doing fine, but at 90, it takes a bit to get back up to speed. I hadn't seen him for several months, as I had scooted back up to New Hampshire in late September. I'm seeing a significant decline in his physical state. He's a great man who served as a proxy father to me since just after Kathy and I were first married. I had to send my dad back to Heaven just 23 months after getting married. I don't know if I've ever told my father-in-law that, but I will today.
I mention this because of what's happened over the past year. Kathy lost her mom in January and I had to send my mom back to Heaven in June. I can see that Kathy's dad's time is near. I urge you to say all the unsaid things you need to utter to your loved ones - assuming these thoughts are good ones! There's a Native American saying that I strive to live by: Your heart may never be as soft as it is today.
Think about that. As we get older, our hearts tend to get rock hard. We hold grudges. We find it hard to say we're sorry. Pride gets in the way. Don't let it happen to you. Say all the things you need to say now before that person is gone forever. It will make them feel like a million bucks, and you'll glow too.
Hardwood Floor Scratches
A few days before leaving the lake house in New Hampshire to come back to Cincinnati, I did an experiment. The previous owner of the home really was abusive to the red birch hardwood floor in the house. The high sand content of the soil outside the house will scratch the finish if you don't regularly vacuum up all this grit. The chairs at the dining table were causing wear patterns, so I decided to try something.
I was alone in the house for five days before heading back, so this was pretty easy to do. In my mind, I had decided the floors probably would have to be sanded and refinished, so I had NOTHING to lose by adding a coat of urethane to see if that made the floors look acceptable. You can do the same. Remember, you have nothing to lose.
My plan was to just add one coat of urethane in the dining room ONLY. The purpose was twofold:
- See if it would make most of the scratches disappear.
- See if the new urethane would blend almost seamlessly into the existing finish.
It was an amazing success. Ninety-five percent of the scratches vanished. The satin urethane matched the existing finish almost perfectly. You have to look very hard to see where the new finish starts. I've determined that I don't have to sand the floors which will save enormous amounts of time and money.
You should try this on your hardwood floors. Remember, you MUST clean them well - including soap and water to remove all dirt - and you must lightly sand the existing floor finish. Remove ALL dust before applying the urethane. I used water-based Varathane that dried in an hour. Follow the directions on the label.
Allen had a question on hardwood floor scratches also. Read his question in Drill a Well and Hardwood Floor Scratches column.
Latest Columns
Do you know all the toilet parts in your bathroom?
What's it take to build custom stairs?
Are you aware of the different bathtubs out there when you remodel?
Be sure to consider the benefits of casement windows when you need new ones.
The Fire Pit
If you're a new subscriber, I have a second newsletter that I produce. It's not about home improvement, but talks about my feeling about where our great nation is headed. If you're interested in discovering my take on politics, then come and sit around my Fire Pit. I'll warn you now, I'm right of center, love the Constitution, and am attracted to self-sufficient people who get things done.
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