It’s that time of year. The weather is getting gorgeous, the flowers are blooming, and before you know it, we’ll be hit with some serious summer heat. If your air conditioner is in reasonable shape and is not too old, you’ll need to have maintenance done so it’s ready for the hard work ahead. But what if your air conditioner is not in good shape, or is getting really old? At some point, you’ll need to make the decision to replace your air conditioner. How can you tell whether you need to do that yet? Is there a formula to help you figure it out? We’ll give you our recommendations on how to de ..read more

There are many things around your home that you can DIY. This can save you money and give you a sense of accomplishment and pride in your home. For example, if you have a hole in your drywall, you can patch it yourself. You can repaint your kitchen cabinets. What’s the worst that could happen? An imperfect finish on your sheetrock or your woodwork? You can learn from your mistakes and do better next time. But there are some things that need to be done for your home which you simply must not try to do yourself. If they’re done wrong, the outcome could be so bad that there may not be a next tim ..read more

Drain clogs are a huge hassle. They can make necessary parts of your home’s plumbing unusable. They can cause unpleasant smells. They’re no fun to try to clear out. And maybe it’s not exactly true, but doesn’t it seem like they’re more likely to happen at the worst possible times?  The best way to deal with drain clogs is not to have them in the first place. How can you manage that? We’ll tell you about the most common things that get in drains and cause clogs. If you can prevent them from happening, you won’t have to unclog them.  In the Kitchen Non-Disposables in the Disposal: If ..read more

When something goes wrong with your heating system, it often happens just when you need your heat the most. You want it fixed right away, and ideally, you would like that fix to be free. And hey, you’re a handy homeowner, inclined toward DIY projects. Maybe you can fix your furnace yourself! We’ll stop you right there. Don’t do it. Here are some of the many reasons to trust a professional for furnace repair.  Your Safety Repairing a gas furnace without the proper training creates major safety risks. There are immediate risks, the most severe of which would be an explosion. There are also ..read more

You might have an aging furnace and be wondering how long it will be before you have to replace it. You might have purchased your home with the furnace already in it, and be curious about what to expect. Or you might be looking at new furnaces, seeing the variety of options, and asking yourself, How long will each of these last? Regardless of your situation, having more information is always better. The more you know, the more you can prepare for the future. We’ve got the scoop for you: not just how long different types of furnaces last, but also what you can do to help them last as long as p ..read more

We’re sure everyone will agree with us that indoor plumbing is useful. You certainly wouldn’t want to do without it! But you’ll also agree that it isn’t exactly beautiful. That’s why most of your pipes are tucked away out of sight. They’re between ceilings and floors, they’re behind walls, and in some cases, they’re underneath the foundation of your house. Now, while you wouldn’t want to have to look at your home’s plumbing all the time, having it hidden from view does pose a bit of a challenge. What if something goes wrong? If there’s a leak in a pipe somewhere, how can you tell? Detecting l ..read more

There are times in life when we’re faced with big questions. Sometimes, that question is: Can I have my heating system repaired or is it time to replace it? And then, once that question is resolved—either the heating system is beyond repair, or it would cost so much that it simply isn’t worth investing all that money in an old heater—you’re immediately faced with another question. When you do need to replace your heater, what should you replace it with? Have heating system technologies changed since you last had to purchase one? What heating system options are currently available? Which ones ..read more

If you’ve purchased a home rather than building one from the ground up yourself, there are a lot of things going on behind those walls and below those floorboards that you can’t possibly know about. And depending on what year your home was built, there could be materials that you really don’t want to be exposed to, particularly in your plumbing. You may be surprised to hear some of this information about the changing materials used in home plumbing, but it’s always better to be informed. If there are outdated pipe materials in your home, there could be unpleasant consequences you don’t want t ..read more

Let’s be honest. Your sewer pipe is the last thing you want to have to think about. Of all the plumbing in your home, it has the most unpleasant job: carrying all the wastewater from all the drains away from your home and toward the municipal sewer line or your sewage tank. It’s not exactly a pretty picture. But it is absolutely necessary to have a functional sewer line, or you’ll end up with an extremely ugly situation on your hands. While a sewer line can work just fine with no help for long stretches of time, sooner or later, it will need to be cleaned out. How can you tell that it’s time ..read more

There’s never really a good time to have a problem with a sump pump. No matter the time of year, it’s important to know that your sump pump is ready to deal with any influx of water that may occur. If you’re noticing that your sump pump isn’t behaving the way it should, having that addressed promptly could save you from hugely inconvenient and expensive water damage.  What about DIY sump pump repair? Is it reasonable to attempt to fix a broken sump pump yourself? What would the risks and benefits of DIY sump pump repair be? Here’s some food for thought: Identifying Repair Needs The first ..read more