January 30, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
This past weekend I was on Mt. Desert Island (MDI) on the coast of Maine. I went there to evaluate a building lot for my oldest daughter Meghan and her husband Brent as they live in California. It's only a five-hour drive from my house to MDI.
I've shared lots of tips over the years about finding the perfect building lot. Based on the questions I get, I feel the average person often doesn't know what they're looking at when they saunter across a piece of vacant land.
Please click the following three links to get a handle of what's important when you're thinking of buying a lot:
It was an ideal time to look at the lot on MDI for two reasons:
- recent rainfall melted the snow and revealed frozen wetlands
- the deciduous trees had no leaves allowing you to see the lay of the land
After I looked at the lots on Saturday, I ate lunch and did some amateur radio next to the ocean. It was a monochromatic gray day I'd say!
Sunday morning before driving home, I took a delightful hike on a small section of the infamous carriage trails and made it to Waterfall Bridge. John D. Rockefeller Jr. built it along with the entire carriage trail network. CLICK HERE to read all about this unbelievable gift he created for you to enjoy.
CLICK HERE to see all my photos and videos I shot this past weekend.
Super Sunday Scavenger Hunt Game
If you're one of my seasoned subscribers, you know this time of year we have some fun.
In the past few years, I got into a rut and just had you find a small snippet of a photo.
This coming Super Sunday you're going on a scavenger hunt! I recommend you get some sleep and if you wear glasses like I do, clean them well.
You may have been one who's chided me for making the games too easy in the past. Well, if you like a fun challenge, a few of the things you need to look for are going to test your sleuthing skills for sure!
While you're playing the fun game, you're not only going to exercise that noodle of yours between your ears, but you're also going to glean quite a few ideas.
You're going to discover how LE Johnson hardware can make your own home MORE beautiful and how you can re-capture some wasted space taken up by traditional hinged doors.
Want to see how good you might do in the game? Let's do a warmup one-photo game. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rank this one about a 5 for difficulty.
I want you to CLICK THIS LINK and once at the page, you need to hover your mouse over the photo and click or double click it to get it to ENLARGE so you can see the detail in the photo.
Got it? You've got to enlarge the photo.
Look up and down, sideways, etc. for a clue that will allow you to answer this question:
Sometimes there are very subtle clues in a photo that allow you to know when a photo was taken. Imagine this wonderful hidden work area is in a home in Queensland, Australia. What was the season of the year when the photo was taken?
Don't worry, you'll be able to answer this on Sunday. I'm going to be fascinated to see if you get it right.
BTW, what did you think of that full-access door hardware that allows the bi-fold doors to get completely out of the way of the opening?
Brilliant engineering I'd say!!
Andrea's Nightmare Walk Through
Let's see if you can answer another question. As I was driving to MDI last Friday, Andrea sent me a question via my Ask Tim page.
She was under contract to buy a new home and did a walk through the day before the closing. That's always a good idea.
However, she didn't use my Walk Through Inspection Checklist.
It turns out she didn't need it once she opened the front door.
My question to you is, WHAT WOULD YOU DO if you were Andrea?
CLICK HERE to see what Andrea discovered.
Crazy New Frostproof Hose Bib
One of the products at the Builders Show three weeks ago was a new outdoor hose bib.
You may think it's impossible to improve on a faucet but you're wrong.
This is the new Aquor house hydrant. You don't have to thread on your hose each time you want to use it.
The blue plastic extension just twists into the stainless steel hydrant and an o-ring makes it leakproof. You can connect your hose and have water flowing in less than one second.
WOW!
The instant you twist and lock the blue plastic extension, the water comes on.
I got one to test and I'm currently talking with the company to see what kind of sideways pressure testing they conducted to see what it takes to make the plastic extension to fail if you tug a hose sideways.
They also have a secondary extension that has a ball valve on it so you can regulate the water flow at the hydrant if you want.
My initial reaction to this new product is it's very nice, it's very durable and I like that once you disconnect the hose and extension, it's nearly flush with the house. Very sleek.
CLICK HERE NOW to order one.
That's enough for today.
Start getting pumped up for the Scavenger Hunt on Sunday.
Let's see if you can score 100 percent! BWAHAHAHAHA!
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Creator of Challenging Games for Fun and Sport
Do It Right, Not Over!
2 Responses to January 30, 2018 AsktheBuilder Newsletter