She's gonna blow Captain!

To survive this economic debacle, we must "think outside of the box"

I call it an economical debacle because I've lived through two recessions, and as bad as they were, neither one was as long and as persistent as this recession. I have witnessed too many sad things in the last six years. I have seen friends and even some family members lose their homes, and I have seen a few of my fellow contractors go under. This economy has put some of the strongest businesses in troubles path.

Is this what's next?

In the first two years, I was hoping that this major downturn in the economy and the bursting of the housing bubble would weed out all the weak and bad contractors. It did get some of them, but sadly for a lot of people the economy is still in the tank, and it seems that there's more economic punishment ahead for us. So what can we do to survive? We need to reinvent the wheel......think outside the box......learn to diversify!

That's what I chose to do....Diversify..

Through my years in business, I tried to keep growing. Not just in the amount of men, and equipment, but in the things that I can offer. I didn't want to become that guy....you know..."jack of all trades, master of none".
But I wasn't happy just doing one thing. So I did grow in the things that I offered to my customers. Most importantly and the point of this story, I became a Dealer and Installer for a whole house water filter system and Salt Free water softener, You can see it here:

 This was the perfect add on to my business. I was not only selling these systems online to anyone in the country, but I was also selling and installing them in my local service area.......which brings me to my story........

About  two years ago I get a call at my office for a full system. The guy, Joe, left a message that he was very interested in purchasing the system but he wanted to talk to someone with some knowledge of how the system worked before he committed to our system. I called him as soon as I returned to my office.

Joe was interested in the "big" system we sell. 

The Pelican Whole House System

That was good, but when he told me that he lived in New York state, I was a bit disappointed, but I figured that I would at least sell him the system and make my commission from the sale. I try and stay within an hour of my shop, and he was about a two hour drive. He then tells me that he would be willing to pay extra for travel time, because I was highly recommended by the main company. To be honest here, I really didn't want to travel that far, and I tried to overprice the extra travel time to a point that Joe would find it too expensive and look for a local plumber to install the system.

Joe was Happy to pay the extra but before he committed, he wanted to "see" the system.

"Do you have a customer that I can go see their system?" Joe asked in his high pitched, kinda whiny voice.

"I can't give you a customers address, but I actually have the system installed in my own home and you are welcome to drive over two hours to see it" I replied.

"Okay, can I come by tomorrow?, what's your address? And if I like the system, I'll leave the deposit.....Okay?....How's that sound? " Joe screeched.

I thought it sounded weird, so I told him that I would ask my wife if that was okay with her. Which it was, and Joe made an appointment to "see" the system the following day. When I got home the following day, my wife told me that this guy Joe had stopped by and he was "very weird". He asked a bunch of questions, and when he was showed the system, he went about giving it a detailed inspection. He left the deposit, and I ordered his system.

Joe's  system arrived, and I got it all prepped and ready to go. 

Seems that I have every fitting I need!

Before I left my shop I wanted to make sure that I had everything possible for the install. I didn't want to be that far away into unknown territory, not having everything I needed for a successful installation. I left with total confidence and headed off to New York.....to Joe's house.

After a little over two hours of driving, I was pulling into Joe's driveway. It was a nicely kept two story
colonial. The grass was very neatly cut, and I could tell that Joe was a bit of a perfectionist by the way he kept his home. I respect that.

Joe greeted me at the side door, and I have to admit that I had him pegged from just our phone calls. He was a small skinny guy, and he had a nervous twitch about him. I reached out to shake his hand, and he laid his hand in mine like a princess would, and I almost thought I should kiss it instead of shake it. I followed him into the finished part of the basement and he showed me the closet that we were to install the system.

I got started right away. I turned off the main water supply, made my cuts into the system and figured out my piping. While I was doing this I heard a strange noise, so I stopped and listened. It was someone upstairs pacing back and forth right above where we were working. I thought that was very strange, but went ahead with the installation.

Every once in a while I would feel a presence and look behind me to see Joe just standing there. I didn't hear him come down, he would just "be" there and he would and ask how things were going. I assured him that all was going well. I could tell he was nervous. He seemed the kind of person who didn't like change.

We were now into the third hour of the install, and almost finished. I asked my helper to get one of the fittings out of my truck, and cut it to a certain length. When he brought it in to me, it looked like the cut was wrong. Sure enough it was! I was pretty upset because now I had to try to find a plumbing supply store to replace that fitting! I called upstairs to Joe who was pacing back and forth above our heads and asked if he knew of a plumbing supply store that was nearby. Joe came running down the stairs as if there was a fire, eyes bulging, and he started to panic and asked in a very concerned tone,

"What's wrong? Is everything okay? Oh Geez, maybe you should put everything back the way it was."

Joe...

I explained that everything was fine and I just forgot to bring a fitting. He was reluctant, but went upstairs to get me the address of the nearest plumbing supply store which was about twenty minutes away.  While he was upstairs, I told my helper to prime and glue all of the fittings up to a certain point, so when I get back all I had to do was glue in the last fitting and we'd be finished.

It took an hour and a half to get the part and get back to Joe's house.

I was not very happy at this point as I should have been heading back to my shop by now. So I went in with a new found determination to get this thing done and get out of there. My helper was in the driveway when I got there, and I confirmed that he did in fact prime and glue all of the fittings....he said yes, of course!
There wasn't much left to do at this point, I made sure to make the cut myself, as not to have any more mishaps. I primed and glued the last fitting and firmly held it in place for several seconds. Finally! I was finished, and I had my helper clean up the working area, and put away the tools.


Now I always find it nerve wracking when I'm finished with a system and ready to turn the water main back on. I found out from my licensed plumber Ken Kunich, that all plumbers secretly have that same oozy feeling in their stomachs. I told my helper to go ahead and turn the shut off valve to the open position, and in a very load voice exclaims...."Okay, here we go!"..... Which is why Joe stopped his pacing and came running into the basement to "see" the starting up of his new system.

Okay.....just a bit of an exaggeration...but close!

I looked around at the fittings like I always do to make sure of no leaks. All three of us were standing there when all of a sudden, a load bang, and an instant soaking shower!!! It was a shock to say the least! I yelled over to my helper to turn off the main shut off valve. I looked behind me to see a water soaked Joe, who was in what seemed to be a state of shock. I was SO embarrassed that this had happened, and at the same time intensely curious of how this could have happened.

"Oh Geez Dominick.....I don't want this system in my house now" whined Joe "Look it ruined my walls, and the door is soaking wet, and..."

Nervous Joe

I stopped him there..

"Listen Joe, I'm not taking anything apart. The system is in and that's that."

What had happened was my less than brilliant helper did not glue one of the fittings, although he did prime everything which was why I didn't notice. For those who are not familiar with pvc piping, the primer is purple, and the glue is clear. You will always see at least a bit of purple at all of the joints. I explained to Joe that it was human error, and sadly that happens. The good thing is that there was no damage to anything as we had dried up the area (the only damage was to my pride) and glued the fitting back on. This time I inspected EVERY joint to make sure that it was good to turn the pressure on again......it was.

Turned the water on again, and Joe was standing next to me with a plastic bag in front of his face. This time there was no exploding pipes, and the system ran proper. It was now 5 pm and I was dying to get out of there, but Joe wasn't going to let me out of there that easily. He came over with a flash light, a sock and a towel, and proceeded to SLOWLY check each and every joint in the system. that took around twenty minutes. When he was satisfied that there were no leaks, I handed him my bill and asked for a check so I could go home.

"Well I want to check all of the toilets, and sinks before I pay you"........ I have to admit, I had a bit of a "vision" with my hands around his throat.....I explained that this was completely unnecessary, but Joe was insistent, and proceeded to spend another 35 minutes checking anything that had anything to do with water.  
It's now almost 6pm, and this is when Joe tells me he can only pay me through PayPal.....WHAT THE.....! At that point I was so frustrated that I didn't care anymore and all I could think of is that it was gonna take me three hours to get home, which it did.

It took four long days for Joe to finally send me the money...... 

I guess there are a few lessons to be learned here. First is never trust an idiot. I should not have taken for granted that my helper did the right thing. I learned a valuable lesson that day and I now always double check everything. The second lesson is stay close to home......it figures that it took almost triple the time to do this job than it should have taken. And the final lesson, if Joe ever calls again.....just tell him that I moved to another country!

TIP OF THE DAY: 

How to glue PVC piping....without any explosions!

Purple primer is applied to PVC pipe fittings and pipe. When dry, PVC cement is applied and the pipe inserted into the fitting while rotating a quarter-turn.

• Apply some purple primer to the hub of the pipe fittings.
• Then apply primer to the end of the pipe.
• Let the primer dry for a minute before applying cement.
• When the primer is dry, apply some clear PVC cement to the hub of the pipe fitting.
• Then  apply glue to the end of the pipe.
• (By applying glue to the hub first, I can set the fitting down and not need to worry about the glue touching the work surface.)
• Then  push the pipe into the fitting WHILE turning the pipe about one-quarter turn.
• BUT... keep pushing the pipe into fitting. Often the pipe will "bounce" out of the fitting part way, so  keep the parts held together for a minute until the glue has a chance to harden.
• While holding the pipe and fitting together,  wipe off the excess glue

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

 

A Rip and Time.....

Okay, I couldn't resist.....Here we go again......Back in time...

And the reason for this is not that I need to relive that time in my life, it's just that since I've started writing about my working past, I can not let these stories pass away without being revealed. There was clearly some pretty incredible moments and some unbelievable shit that just begs to be told.

Back to the past!

Now you might think that the title has something to do with my mind going back in time (again) but that's just a play with words and it has everything to do what actually had happened one day......Let me tell you about it.

I was in my early twenties, full of energy and vigor. I worked because I had an apartment and bills to pay. I didn't work because I loved to work....who does? at twenty or twenty one? I did however love working outside and I enjoyed working hard. Not only was I totally in shape, and fully tanned, and my shoulder length hair was bleached by the sun, but I enjoyed learning and knowing how to do more and more with my own hands. I also enjoyed the experience of working with my Dad, and the mostly crazy people that worked on his crew.

Working with my Dad was probably the hardest job I have ever had. 

My Dad's thoughts were that because I was his son, I had to give more than anyone else at a lower wage. He treated my brothers the same way, so I know that I wasn't singled out.....it was just his old Italian ways rising to the surface. We mostly worked Monday through Friday, and believe me that was enough. But every once in a while he would (always) ask me and a couple of the others if we wanted to work a Saturday.

Never did get to see Bruce...

Most of the time I had no problem with working a Saturday.......but this one particular Saturday, I had made plans with some of my friends to spend the weekend down the shore, Seaside Heights and Asbury Park. Someone's grandmother had a shore house, and I really didn't want to miss out on this opportunity to finally hang out with my friends. Plus we had tickets to see Bruce Springsteen at the Stone Pony.


When I mentioned my plans to my Dad, he did understand, and promised that we only needed to work a half a day. He tantalized me by telling me not only would I get paid a full day, and he would pay me cash when we finished. Well, how could I resist?.......as long as it's REALLY a half day, my Dad promised it would be!

Saturday, I awoke to a perfect summer morning, 

 

I went outside to wait for my Dad to pick me up while sipping on my first cup of coffee, and I remember thinking what an amazing weekend this was gonna be as I gazed upon the cloudless sky. I couldn't wait to get to the job so I could get started on this fantastic weekend that was planned!

Just as I was thinking this, my Dad and his brand new shiny red GMC pickup truck pulled into the driveway.

Brand new Truck!!

Uncle Paul was with him and as much as I thought of all the things that could go awry, I forced myself to stay positive and happy. We said our "Good mornings" and headed off to the job.

It seems that my Dad had billed for two chimneys that weren't quite completed, and that was our mission....to finish the two chimneys. This was going to be easy, as each chimney was only a few feet from completion, and we kinda figured it should take about two hours each.

I mixed the cement in the machine that was a few houses away from the houses we were working on. My Uncle and I pulled the material up the scaffold, and my Dad got going on finishing up the first chimney. It took him exactly two hours to finish this one up, and I was even more excited to get to the next one because that one was going to take a little less work, and I would be free to go down to the shore. I stayed behind to "joint" up the brick, while my Dad and Uncle Paul went to the next house to start sending the material to the top.

I heard a yell.....then a crashing sound......

Seems that Uncle Paul didn't correctly tie off the clay flue, and the rope slipped through, and the flue came

These are clay flues...

tumbling to it's smashing death. Now this was a disappointment, because there were no extra flues, and I know my Dad.....there was no way he was not going to finish this chimney. Sure enough he told Uncle Paul to go to the Mason Supply store which was about fifteen minutes from the job. He jumped into the two week old truck, and off he went.......

One hour.....One and a half hours.....we did all we could on the chimney.......

Both my Dad and I were pissed off, but for different reasons. Mine was obviously personal, and I just knew that somehow I was getting screwed, and not getting to the shore! My Dad was worried that Uncle Paul had taken off to the "city" that he had done on occasion......

"But how could he do that??!! that son of a B....!"  Dad yelled

"Maybe we can do the porch instead" he said to me. I was not very happy at all because we were approaching the forth hour, and we should have been cleaning up to go home......But we didn't even have a truck!

It was now almost two o clock, I was a complete mess because I knew that my friends surely had left without me. I had swore that when I saw Uncle Paul I was going to Kick his ASS!! I couldn't believe that he would leave us stranded on a job site!! He completely ruined my weekend, and he was going to pay for it this time! Since this was in the days before cell phones we were really in a pickle, and being on a new home development, with very few homeowners yet, things were looking pretty bleak, just for us to get home.

My Dad went up the road to ask a homeowner to use their phone to call Mom to come and get us, and I was cleaning up the equipment. Just then, I see my Dad's truck turn the corner. In a way I was relieved, but in a much deeper way I was furiously mad. I couldn't believe that he would do this selfish thing.......but what exactly did he do? where had he gone for hours?? Oh I was gonna find out for sure!

The pickup truck pulled into the driveway, right next to where I was cleaning out the cement mixer. Uncle Paul stepped out and with a painful look on his face he exclaimed..

"Holy shit Dominick what am I gonna do, you father's gonna kill me!"

I concurred...."Yes Uncle Paul, but since he's looking for a way for us to get home and not here right now, you'll have to settle for me killing you this time!"

But he looked really worried, kinda like a five year old who knows he's gonna get a beating and runs around in circles, then pees his pants in anticipation of a beating. He exclaimed that he wasn't joking....."What am I gonna do??!!"

 So I asked, "What do you mean? what the hell are you talking about?!" I wasn't in the mood for any games, especially guessing games!

" I smashed the truck!" he sputtered out.....I looked at the truck and didn't see a scratch. I just thought he finally went over the edge..

"What are you talkin about?! I don't see anything wrong with the truck?!!" He pointed to the drivers side..."look over there....."

I expected to see a scratch, or maybe a small dent, but no.......there was a hole from the back of the cab all the way down the side of the truck to the tail light! it was huge!!

I looked at him and laughed "Well Uncle Paul, you did it again! If I were you I would start running now because when my father sees this, I think this time he's REALLY gonna kill you!" I was no longer mad at him, how could I be....he was about to be killed by my Dad.

And sure enough, just as I said that I could see my Dad coming around the corner. I knew he saw the truck because he was sprinting towards us. My Uncle's face turned a powder white by the sight of this, and  it even scared me. My Dad did not take it well.......He completely freaked out, so bad that he punched a nice size dent in the hood of the truck. I'm pretty sure that he hurt his wrist after repeatedly banging it on various (solid) objects.

The yelling was over, and the "story" was that while at the mason supply yard there was a steep hill, and somehow the truck swayed into a concrete truck that was parked on the side.....I personally didn't believe it.

Turns out I was right........years later the truth came out at a family picnic. Seems Uncle Paul went to one of his buddies houses, where they did a little partying, then decided to see how the new truck would handle some local dirt roads. Unfortunately, the poor truck wasn't built to withstand....TREES!!   

 

TIP OF THE DAY: 

CUTTING A CLAY FLUE.....

If you ever have the need to cut a clay flue....(you never know..)

SEE!! Here is a nice way to grow your herbs!

and you don't have access to a diamond blade saw or a Demo saw, I'm gonna go old school on this one. 

I was taught to cut a clay flue with sand!....Yes....that's right!

Mark out the area to be cut.

Fill the flue up solid with sand.

Pack the sand down into the flue.

 Then with a chisel and a hammer, lightly, tap around your designated mark on the flue.

Follow the mark, and lightly tap the chisel.

Work your way around the flue, it should take around three times around.

You will actually hear a hollow snap, you have cut the flue the old fashioned way.

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

The Incredible Exploding Table Saw...

Equipment is the backbone of any business....

And the better the equipment the better your project will come out.....in any business. I must admit I have purchased some pretty cheap hand tools, mostly drills and circular saws, and that's because the way my men will (accidentally) drop them off of roofs and other high places. But when it comes to the bigger tools, and equipment, is pays to get the best because in the long run not only are they more accurate, but when properly used and handled they last much longer.

Early on in business, what I've tried to do for almost every job is purchase a tool. I still do that every once in a while. I remember one time I was installing radiant heat, that required us to route sections of the 1" hardwood to fit the piping. I had to purchase a special router and bit. It's been about five years since that job, and although I thought it was better to own the tool than rent it, I have not used that router again. I'm sure that down the road I will find use for it, but for now it sits on the shelf in my shop just waiting to be a part of something wonderful.


I've worked for others that were not big fans of having good tools and equipment. All it ever did was just

This is the kind of scaffold my Dad would build!

make the work harder than it had to be, and in some cases it made it dangerous. Certain jobs need certain tools, and that's just a fact. Without the proper tools the job will almost always take longer or most of the time not be properly done.

There were times that I needed a bigger piece of equipment, but when shopping around for said equipment, I found that in most cases they were just way overpriced. I sometimes ended up purchasing the lower priced item to save a few bucks, but almost always, was sorry that I had. One story comes to mind.

I was doing an addition in Lambertville NJ.

This job required all kinds of equipment from track hoes to air compressors, to bobcats, jackhammers, and scaffold to name a few. We had just finished framing the addition and were doing the final framing details. In the kitchen of the addition was an angled wall. During the rough framing this wall was not framed to save time. So this day I decided to get all the "loose ends" done.

Here is the actual job, track hoe barely fits!

It was a beautifully sunny and warm day. I took my daughter Danielle to the job with me so that she could enter all of my receipts into my laptop for me. She used to love to come to work with me when she was little, and I kinda think she was happy to accompany me once again. So she got started in the kitchen on my makeshift desk going over the bag of receipts, and myself and one of my helpers, John, started doing the finish work 

We finished installing three pocket door frames, and started working on the angles in the kitchen. But to do this, I took a small, three foot piece of two by four and tried to get the correct angle before I cut a full two by four. The first one I cut was off by just a small degree, so I took another piece of wood, marked it and went into the other room to cut it.  I set the piece of wood on the table saw, and adjusted the the angle just a few more degrees to match my pencil mark.

I started up the table saw, and it made a whizzing scream, like it always does.....

I started the angle cut. Now just for those who have never used a table saw before, an angle cut into a solid piece of lumber puts a heavy strain on the blade and the motor. You can hear the motor struggling to keep its rpm's at the designated speed. And the blade will get a lot hotter and will sometimes cause the wood to smoke, and turn blackened. You really need to know what you're doing, and in this instance you need to back off, and drive the wood through really slowly.

John was standing to the right of the table saw watching the procedure, and I was about three quarters into the cut when BANG!!!!.....there was one of the loudest explosions I've ever heard! The noise was incredible, and I was in "shell shock" and my brain seemed to be echoing. The first thing I noticed was the fine particles of wood floating in front of my face,,,(again....in slow motion!). There was a deafening constant sound in which I had no idea of what it was.

Here is John after the explosion..hahaha

In a dream like state, I looked to my right to see my helper John laying on the floor, and then looked to my left to see my daughter running into the room. Still in a daze, I yelled to John if he was okay. He looked over his arms, and said that yes, he was fine. There was still a deafening sound, and as I looked at the table saw I noticed that the metal plate from the top of the table saw was bent up and the blade was hitting it. I yelled to John to unplug the saw, and he did.

I looked at my daughter, who was pale due to the shock of the noise, and her eyes were wide open, and she said to me in a panicked voice.

"Are you okay Dad?"

"Yeah, I think so" as I looked down at my hands to make sure that there was still ten fingers. My mind was just adjusting to the now eerily quite room.

"Oh my God.....Dad, you have a piece of wood stuck in your arm!!" yelled Danielle.

This IS my arm, but a clever reenactment!!

I looked down again and found it odd that first I hadn't noticed the large piece of wood sticking out of my forearm, when I checked to see if I had all of my fingers, and that I felt absolutely no pain. But now looking at this intruder, I grabbed it just out of sheer reaction and said.

"Well, that doesn't belong there!" and pulled it out.

SQUIRT.....SQUIRT.....SQUIRT...

By pulling this piece of wood out I had created a blood fountain, and streams of blood were shooting about five feet across the room. I immediately put my hand over the hole in my arm, and Danielle said in a panic.

"Oh my God, C'mon Dad, lets go to the truck and get the first aid kit.....keep pressure on it!!"

We all ran to my truck, and the blood was oozing through my fingers, and was dripping all over myself, and the sidewalk. John jumped into my truck to get the first aid kit, and Danielle said to get a rag to hold over the wound. John handed me a rag, but it happened to be the dirtiest rag in the truck! Danielle yelled.

"What the hell, why would you give him a rag like that? Aren't there any clean rags around?" Which was when she noticed the brand new unopened "bag O rags" right next to Johns leg.

We got the blood fountain under control, Danielle drove me to the local "Medimerge" and after the doctor went "drilling" around in my arm looking for stray splinters, she gave me a shot for the pain, which immediately kicked in.. 

We went back to the house to find John cleaning up the blood off of the walls, and floor. I went to examine the table saw and I noticed that a screw that held the metal plate in position, had sheared off ! The saw was ruined, but I was glad that no one was critically injured. Actually by this point the pain medication was kicking my butt pretty good, and both John and Danielle mentioned that I should see if I could get a prescription for this medicine, because I was so funny!

My arm eventually healed nicely, and now I was again in the market for a table saw. This time I spent the extra few hundred dollars and bought the best table saw in the store!

The moral of this story: Don't be cheap, it can be hazardous to your health!  
 

TIP OF THE DAY:

Table Saw Safety Tips:

1. The operator should check the following points before operating the table saw:

a. Operator must wear safety glasses
b. If the material chips severely, a face shield should be used in addition to safety glasses
c. Blade should be checked for tightness
d. Check the hood guard and anti-kickback devices for proper operation
e. Verify location of off switch and/or emergency power disconnect
f. If used, check to ensure the fence is set properly and tight
g. Ensure that the table is clear of materials, tools, and debris

2. All table saws must have a hood guard, splitter, and anti-kickback device installed. One or more of these devices may be removed ONLY if absolutely necessary to perform a specific cut (e.g. dado or rabbit) and only with the approval of a shop supervisor. These safety devices must be re-installed immediately after completing the cut(s).
3. The fence and miter gauge should never be used together. Use the fence for ripping and the miter gauge for cross-cutting.

A good table saw!

4. Push sticks, feather boards, hold-downs, etc. must be used whenever an operation is performed that would require the operator's hands to pass within 6 inches of the saw blade.
5. When boards over 3 feet in any dimension are cut, a helper should be used to assist in supporting the work.
6. Blade height should be set so that the top of the teeth extend no more than 1/4 inch above the wood.
7. The operator should stand to the side of the wood while it is being fed through the saw.

8. After completing work, the saw blade should be lowered below the table.
9. A two foot perimeter around the saw should be kept clear of debris and sawdust.
10. When changing the blade or servicing the saw, the power disconnect must be locked in the "off" position. For saws with a cord and plug, the saw must be unplugged. The saw must be tested after disconnecting power and before beginning service.

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

Holy cow !!...No.....It's a Bull !!

Funny what life has in store for us....

About ten years ago I worked for a small builder who built only modular homes. He was actually a very nice person, and he was a great guy to work for.....until he died. The story of his death will be another post, because as it was a tragic thing to happen, there is a very funny story around it.


He was the kind of builder who would hang around the job site, even though there was nothing for him to do. He was very particular on the accuracy of all the work. You see a modular home is built in a factory and therefore the foundation MUST be square and level. The reason for this (even though it should be square and level all of the time) is because when the house is delivered....it's a completed house, and they come with a crew and a huge crane to set this house. There is only one chance to make this house fit, or the builder gets to pay huge amounts of money to keep them there until the foundation is repaired, or if the foundation is that bad, they have to come back.

There was one time that I left the job at the end of the day, and I was about five minutes away, and I realized that I had forgotten my lunch pail in which I kept my wallet, so I turned around and headed back to the job site. As I pulled up to the house, there was the builder checking my work. I admit I was a bit offended because I prided myself in the perfection of my work. I did give him some heat about this, but really, I understood.

The house was located almost an hour from me, in the heart of farm country.....and...Yes.....we have farms in New Jersey! 

So, as the project proceeded, and the house was set, and the electrician and plumbers made their connections, and the home was just about completed, we found that the builder had passed away. He was found laying on another site that he was building a house on, laying next to the half finished foundation. This was not a good thing for the obvious reasons, but he owed me quite a bit of money, which I never saw a dime of.

The house before....PLAIN

After about a month, I got a call from the people who bought the house and they asked if I would finish the work, and they would pay me out of their pockets. They were desperate to move in and I was happy to be able to get back at least some of the money that I lost. I did the work for them, and they were happy. It was a nice house....architecturally simple, but nice.

The owners stayed in touch over the years, and every once in a while they would call me to do something or other for them.
Fast forward to two years ago....


Then one day, I got a call from the homeowner, Nancy who wanted to put an addition on her home, and pretty much just add some character to it. I of course was happy to oblige. It was a great feeling that she thought of me fondly enough to do this work for her. I priced it, and after very little negotiation, we started the work. We got started with the excavation, and the footings went in. The work was moving along quite nicely considering that working on a modular home is a lot more difficult that working on a home that was built on site.We got it to a point where we were almost finished and it came time to build the massive front porch.

The same house....can you believe it!

That day was such a beautiful day to work outside. 

 

The sun was so bright and the smell of the country was so overwhelmingly hypnotic. These kind of days remind me of how much I love doing this kind of work. So this particular day we had to lay the block for the porch. I was working in the trench, just about up to my hips, and it was really hard to move around.


The helper I had with me was a good guy, but for some reason, he would talk to himself, or just grunt every now and then. At this moment he was mixing cement in my cement mixer which was just out of my site. I could hear the engine, but for me it was just background noise.  All of a sudden I hear this grunting noise......I kinda ignored it, as I figured it was just my man doing his grunt thing. Then I heard it again......and again....Now my curiosity got the best of me, and in a joking manner yelled to him, "Geez.....what the heck are you grunting for now?" 


I tried to look towards the front of the house to see if he was there, but being in that trench, it was just too difficult. Then I hear the grunt again....but louder...."What the heck is wrong with you man??" Just as I said this my helper walked around the front towards me and asked "did you want me? I couldn't hear you because the mixer was running"  I asked him why he was making those crazy grunting noises, and he should be thankful that the homeowner wasn't around. "What are you talking about....I'm not grunting, you must be hearing things" I replied...."Whatever!"


 Then as I started to look away to resume my work, I noticed out of the corner of my eye....his face contorted.......a look of horror came over his face and he started running away, and said something weird. I wasn't sure of what he said but I thought this was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and laughed out loud. I struggled to turn around in the trench, and no more than ten feet from my face was a giant BULL!!! He snorted at me, while looking straight in my eyes. I panicked, and tried to get out of that trench, but the harder I tried, the more I fell into it. I'm sure that the bull was amused. I remember thinking how lucky I was for not wearing a red shirt that day.....

Not the same bull....For illustration purposes!

Just as I made it out of the trench, there was about ten people running towards the house from behind the bull. "Don't make any sudden moves!" yells one of the men.....SURE!!! TOO LATE! I was out of the trench, and stepping backwards away from the bull as he kept close watch on me. As I turned to run, he lurched towards me, and I guess it was a lucky break, but I fell flat on my face.....back in the trench.


The bull posse chased that bull all over the neighborhood for about two hours, running on foot and riding four wheelers. Sadly (for the bull) he was finally cornered, by the farmer, and they shot him....in the neighbor's backyard........and that's no BULL!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Speaking of Bulls.......

A Bull Float!

If you want to install maybe a small patio or sidewalk yourself, here are a few tips of the trade.  First you need to form out the area with lumber, usually 2" x 4" lumber, making sure that it's square and level. Purchase the "ready mix" concrete from your local home improvement center. There is a part on the back of the bag that will show you how to figure the amount of bags you will need. Get your bags home, and mix up the concrete, I would suggest mixing two bags at a time....at the most. Mix it to the instructions on the bag. Pour your now mixed concrete into your forms.....level it out, and mix more until you fill the forms to the top. Making sure that you purchase more than you might need (you can always take the extra back for a refund) tamp it down with the flat end of a steel rake. Now use a BULL -float to put your first finish on the concrete....these can be rented at your local rental store. Let it harden to the point that when you touch it, you can just about leave an indent with the tip of your finger. Now take a dampened sponge, and with a light circular motion add the final touches to your work of art. Make sure to clean your tools, because if you don't you will run into a ton of Bull when you return it to the rental store!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Unscrupulous Contractors? but what about Unscrupulous customers?!

The fact that there are unscrupulous contractors is a sad reality.

Doesn't look nice on the kitchen ceiling!

What brings this to mind is today I was at one of my local home improvement centers, and while I was walking through the store, a woman stopped me to ask if I do plumbing. I explained to her that I was a general contractor and I also installed the Pelican™ whole house water systems, so I knew plumbing well. She explained to me that she hired a plumber to fix a leak, and he claimed that he did, but two days after the pipe from the upstairs bathroom had not only leaked again, but this time it overflowed into the kitchen ceiling. The guy came back, charged her again, and took the damaged sheetrock down, and left the hole. He told her to purchase a plastic access door to put in the ceiling. I have an appointment to meet with her on Monday.
As I continued on to the "pro desk" to check out, there was a woman there who was complaining about her current contractor, and what a crook he was. Yes.....I was eavesdropping, and I stealth-fully took out my wallet and handed her my business card. She gave me a funny look and started telling me about the nightmare she was currently living through. Seems she hired a contractor to put an addition on her house, and she angrily proceeded to tell me how shoddy the work was, and how this guy would not show up for days on end, yet she had no shingles on her roof. She told me that he hasn't passed one inspection yet, and all the things that went wrong with this contractor, so much so, that she asked him to leave, but he refused, and she ended up having the police escort him off of her property. She said to me.....

"What makes you any different from these other stupid dishonest contractors? I've lost all of my faith that any contractor will be honest and do good work!"

I explained to her that I pride myself in my work and my work ethics, and she hesitantly took my card, and said she "may" call me.

Through the years in business I've heard many horror stories about bad contractors, 

and that infuriates me because it pretty much gives all contractors a bad rap. It makes it almost impossible to convince someone who's been burnt to trust another contractor. Luckily for me, I believe when I start a job, my customer might be a little shaky with their trust, but after a few days, I'm sure that they believe that they had made the right choice, and that's very important to me!
But the funny thing is.....people will be people. And just like anything else there are all kinds. I have personally run into unscrupulous customers a few times. There is one about "Ralphy", but I'm saving that one for Christmas.....it's that good! There was a guy that tried to squeeze me into siding his whole Garage, because he claimed that the new siding was a slightly different shade to his fifteen year old vinyl siding, even though I mentioned in his proposal that the new siding would be slightly different. Then there was a guy who wanted me to start his job without a down payment, again a deposit was stated on his proposal. He expected me to bring over eight thousand dollars of material to his house with out giving me a penny....I told him to find someone else to do his work.

This brings to mind a time I did a job for someone, and he decided that he was just not going to pay me.

I was hired by these seemingly very nice people to build them a fireplace....where there was none. There was, of course a payment plan that was agreed upon between myself and the couple. I got my deposit the day I had the material delivered, and we went ahead and started this job. A fireplace is not a small job, and it takes tons of material.....literally, and it's extremely labor intensive, not to mention that you have to have the knowledge of the workings of a fireplace.
We excavated six feet below grade for the base, and poured the concrete footing. Next we built up the base, which is solid masonry. We had to cut an opening in the exterior wall to open up the room for the firebox. This was time for my second payment, which took about a week to get, but I did get it and all was fine. I continually got compliments of how beautiful the work was from the woman, who was home most of the time, and she was the ideal customer.

I finished the fireplace, cleaned up the property, and removed all of my equipment. The last payment was now due. This last payment was mostly what I was going to make on the job. Oddly the day we cleaned up, no one was home. I went back the next day.....again, no one answered the door. I phoned them, left messages, but I never got a call back. I started to think that this was going to be a problem, as it was the holiday season and that job was going to be my Christmas shopping money.
Another week passed, and still no answers or call backs. By the forth week I started to panic and now my messages were more angry, and I asked "Just call me if there's a problem"  Still I received no response from this couple. It was now a week before Christmas and I figured that I had nothing to lose, so I left them a message that I would be by their house the following Monday, and I expected a check for the full amount or we were going to have issues. I hoped that I would finally get a call over the weekend, but I got no such call.
Monday morning my men arrived at my shop. I instructed them to load up my scaffold in my truck, and to make sure that there was at least two sledge hammers. I explained to them what I was planning, and as much as they stood behind me faithfully, they thought that I had gone off the deep end. Really though I just wanted to scare the homeowners into maybe paying me. I pulled up to the house with my truck bursting over the sides with equipment, and instructed my men to set up the scaffold......they did. I went to the door and rang the doorbell.......no answer. Two of my men where at the steady with the sledgehammers....just waiting for me to give them the go ahead. I told them secretly to hold off.......not just yet. I looked into the garage window and noticed that both the cars were parked in there! Both of these people were home!!

Get off that scaffold, or I'm gonna shoot!

Just as I was going to give the go ahead to start knocking down my work of art, three police cars screeched up to the property. Five policemen came running across the lawn with their guns drawn, screaming to my men to "put down those hammers!" Two of the policemen rushed over to me, and at first I thought I was either gonna get shot or arrested. I explained my situation to these two policemen, and they became a little more empathetic of my dilemma. Just then like a miracle, the front door opens up and both the husband and wife come out!!! The husband is screaming to the police to have me arrested for trespassing!! I MUST be dreaming!! The police calm him down and explain to the man that he should pay me, and if not, then why. The guy unbelievably claimed that he didn't have the money to pay me and he was afraid to tell me because he thought that I was going to hurt him! One of the policemen came over to me, and told me to "just take this a## hole to court, and he promised to testify about what the guy said. Then he tells me that I HAVE to take my equipment off of the guys property, and absolutely do not touch the fireplace, because once the material is on the owners property it is no longer yours. I complied but wasn't happy, as this guy stood out there the whole time and watched us remove the equipment. I did take him to court, ....won and  FINALLY got my money.....almost a year later. 

TIP OF THE DAY: 

Scaffold......

Again, hoping spring finally arrives we want to spruce up our houses for the summer, so that we can lay back and enjoy our hard work.  But there are a few projects that require us to either use a ladder or another type of elevating device. Such things may include....painting or repairing the ceiling on our porch, or fixing a section of gutter, or painting the fascia boards. Sure you can use a ladder, but ladders can be dangerous. In the United States more than 500,000 people a year are treated for ladder-related injuries, and that number does not include people who suffered injuries but did not go to a medical care provider for treatment. About 300 people in this country die from ladder-related injuries annually. 

The solution is to rent a section of scaffold! These can be rented at almost any rental establishment that carries construction equipment. They even rent scaffold at the major home improvement stores. The reason that I prefer scaffolding is mostly it has four legs, and you can span a few planks across the top, and have a movable platform, and if properly placed you will feel more confident while working, and even get the job done much quicker. 

Just make sure that you don't set up your scaffold on next to that guys fireplace!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Let's go shopping......WAIT!...That's my credit card!

When I was a young man, one of my Uncles told me how important it was to have good credit.

The EXACT car that I had!

I valued his words, and I worked hard for many years to attain a good credit rating. The first time I ever applied for credit was in my late teens, I purchased a 1969 Buick Riviera ( I Loved that car!) and got a loan for $400.00 at a credit union. I paid it back in full and on time. That was the start of my journey in obtaining good credit status. Through the years, I had many credit cards, and my goal was to have an American Express because my Uncle told me that to have one of these cards surely meant you were successful.
The funny thing about credit was, you never worried about someone else stealing your identity. You never had to worry about someone stealing your credit card numbers and maxing out your card. But today it's a different story. Credit card fraud is identity theft in its most simple and common form. It can be accomplished either through a unscrupulous waiter or cashier or it can happen when your pre-approved credit card offers fall into the wrong hands. All a person has to do is get these out of your mailbox (or trash can) and mail them in with a change of address request and start spending. Someone can even apply for a credit card in your name if they have the right information. You won't know a thing about it until the credit card company tracks you down and demands payment for the purchases "you" have racked up.

This happened to me today on my Lowe's Business Card....

Welcome to Lowe's....

I received my Lowe's bill in the mail today, and looking over it, I see that the payment due was $268.79....I thought to myself, how can this be, I only have a $695.00 purchase on it? Looking down into the "purchases" area, I had a heart attack....there were two big charges, one for $2,100.00 and another for $2,680.00....These charges were made at a Lowe's in Staten Island....And this person re-supplied his home with new appliances like a 28 cubic foot refrigerator, washer and dryer..WITH the pedestals! etc...
I called the number on the card, and it took about fifteen minutes, and seven puzzles to get to talk to a human being, and really, I use that term very loosely. After talking to five of the most stupid people on the face of the Earth, I insisted to talk to a Supervisor. FINALLY, someone with a brain! Come to find out that this person made other charges after the billing cycle, to the tune of $12,689.00!!!!! All at the same store in Staten Island! They issued me a new card and will be investigating the jerk that somehow got my number....

This subject brings me to my current Construction Story from beyond....

Years ago I had a back operation, and my doctor told me to never carry my wallet in my back pocket. After the operation and recovery I took his advice and kept my wallet in my lunch pail. At the time I had a fairly large crew, and one of my men, Damien (not the Antichrist one) who was working for me at the time was a guy that had worked for me a couple of years before, and had to leave to go to California because his Grandmother was dying. He was a good kid ( I thought) and when he came back to NJ. he asked for his job back. He explained that he was at an all time low and needed help.
I hired him back and took him under my wing. The first couple of weeks I gave him some extra money to help him along. I paid him as an apprentice, and kept him close to me so that he would learn the trade. It was going good for about five months, and I really enjoyed having him around. Then one warm winter's day I was working on a scaffold, and asked him to go into my van and get me my two foot level. I remember thinking that it took him a long time, but I didn't really give it a second thought.
The next day Damien didn't show up for work, and the next day, and the next day. I was kind of hurt, but I thought that something had to be wrong because this kid really respected and looked up to me. I tried to call him, but never got an answer. About a week into this my wife and I went Christmas shopping for a second time. When it came time to pay the bill, I pulled out my wallet to get my credit card, but it was gone! I panicked....I thought that I left it at the last place we shopped about two weeks prior.

I got home, and immediately called the credit card company to report my card lost. 

The representative then asked me about certain charges that were made the days after I had used it last. There were things like: train tickets to New York, and a $350.00 bill from Hooter's, and an awesome stereo from  P.C. Richards, and tons more. There were over $3,800.00 worth of charges. After MY investigation it turns out it was Damien, who stole my credit card, from MY wallet, in my lunch pail, in my van. I pressed charges against him, and I never saw him again. Funny though, I think I would forgive him, and maybe even hire him back.....mostly because I now wear Cargo pants, and always keep my wallet in my side pocket!

TIP OF THE DAY: 

Credit Cards....

Now that Punxsutawney Phil has lied to us all about an early Spring, we should start thinking about some big home improvement projects, so when the weather actually does warm up, you will have a plan in place!

I find that one of the best things about doing projects is using a credit card (Make sure to pay it in full at the end of the month!) with a good rewards program attached to it. It's good because you don't need to carry cash around with you, and every dollar you spend accumulates points for some nice goodies. I recently got a really cool Blu-Ray DVD player with all the bells and whistles. With this I can watch all the Blu-Ray movies that I got as gifts, and my home movies that I put on DVD, my favorite one was the year that Damien got better gifts than my kids got!  

See you next time......from beyond.........

Watch your step....PLEASE!

Through the years I've completed many additions on homes.

Through the years in business I've expanded my knowledge from doing just masonry to additions, home inspections, and now I am an authorized Pelican™ Dealer and Installer. I believe that in this economy diversification is what we need to stay ahead of others.
But I must admit that I love doing additions! They are challenging,.....some very challenging, and in some cases, fairly long term. It's a nice feeling to park my tool trailer for a few months, and become part of my customers lives. But this story in particular is about doing a major addition on my own home. My wife and I  purchased a small 2 bedroom, 1 bath Raised Ranch shortly after we were married. We had just had our second child and even though it was small, I liked to say that it kept us a "close" family. We talked about expanding, but I was just starting in business and we were just getting by.
Ten years passed.......another kid......I was getting itchy to expand our house to fit our ever expanding family. Looking back, I'm not really sure how we fit thirty something of our relatives in that house for certain occasions....but we did. At the time we were seeing a ton of Sears cabinet resurfacing commercials, and I got the bug to do our kitchen. I explained to my wife how I would put all new cabinets, and appliances in and I was going to make her kitchen beautiful. She suggested that we called Sears for our "Free in home estimate" I reluctantly agreed. This slick salesman came to our home with a suitcase and laid a bunch of samples all over our table and what he was proposing to do was to keep our cabinet frames, and just put a laminate over them, install new doors on the cabinets, and a new laminate counter-top.....all for the low price of........$16,000!!! But he had a really nice certificate already made out with my name on it for a 10% off, but only if I committed right then and there.

I told him to pack his bags and hit the road!

I told him that I would completely gut the kitchen, and put in new electric, new sheetrock, new cabinets, new counter-tops, new floor, new appliances and after all that was done, I was going to take my family on vacation with the money that was left over.....and I did. We were thrilled with our new kitchen! I felt so proud to be able to give my wife such a beautiful kitchen after putting up with the old outdated one, which she never once complained about.
Almost one year to the day I surprised my wife with a set of blueprints for our addition. She was in shock, but she was excited to see these plans, and was excited to get started. Within a week, I had the lumber
delivered, and the dumpster arrived in our driveway......we were off!

The actual addition in progress!

The addition was started, and there were workers all over the place. I remember telling anyone who came to work there....."Please be careful, I just re-did our kitchen and I don't want anything to happen to it. Well the roof came off without a hitch. Actually it was amazing that with all the cutting and banging there wasn't even the tiniest crack on the ceiling or walls.

But there was this one guy........We'll call him Tom......to protect his identity.

He was the kind of guy that just about everything he did, something got broken or damaged. I was keeping a close watch on him, because on the first day of the demo work, he "accidentally" dropped a two by ten on the stone bird bath that my Grandfather made and broke it to bits. The second day he put a ladder through one of my screens. The third day he was moving some two by fours, and almost knocked one of the other men off of the roof. He was a walking disaster, and we all had to keep a close watch on him, for our own safety. Each morning I would remind everyone, but especially Tom to be careful when working above my new kitchen. On the sixth day, the day after the electrician crew removed the old wires and installed all new wiring, we were ready to put the 3/4" subflooring in. I happened to be in the kitchen at the time, talking to the plumber, when all of a sudden two feet came smashing through the ceiling! Actually it was his feet and his legs too......dangling right in front of my face! I'm not sure how he didn't fall all the way into the kitchen. I knew immediately who it was.....who else could it be! "Tom......you careless son of a ....."  I screamed. I ran out of the house to see the other guys laughing uncontrollably. I ran up the ladder to see Tom struggling to get himself free from his compromised position. Actually it WAS funny to see only the top half of this guy with the look of shock on his face. But at the time, it really was no laughing matter.

For illustration purposes only, Not Tom's legs.

It took three of us to pull him out of the hole, and he was so embarrassed, and apologized profusely that I almost felt bad for him. But somehow, I knew it was gonna be him. I told him to go clean up the newly created mess that he had made in the kitchen. While I was discussing Tom's follies with the rest of the crew on the ceiling rafters, the plumber yelled to me through the newly created passageway....."You better come down here and see what your man did now!" I reluctantly climbed down the ladder because I was afraid that if it was another Tom created disaster, I might have to hurt him. I walked in the kitchen to see Tom running out the back door. The plumber told me that Tom put the ladder against our new counter-top to pull down the dangling sheetrock......but the ladder slipped, and put two really deep scratches across the top of the counter. Tom was fired........
The addition got done in record time, and although I've done a few more major projects on our house, our addition holds the best memories for myself and my family!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Sheetrock repair.....

How to Fix a Big Hole in Drywall

1. Cut away any stray, loose paper parts around the hole to be repaired. If any chunks of drywall are hanging, remove them as well.
2. With the framing square, or simply by eyeballing it, draw a square around the hole. The lines should extend about 1/2" past the edges of the hole.
3. With the drywall saw or jigsaw, cut along the lines of your square.
4. Cut your two plywood strips so that they are three inches longer -- on each end of the strip -- than the hole (i.e., your newly created square).
5. Insert the strips behind the hole, within the wall cavity.
6. With the cordless drill, drive the 1 1/4" screws through the wall and into the wood strips. Essentially, you are building a framework of these two strips for the new piece of drywall to rest on.
7. With the jigsaw or hand saw, cut your extra piece of drywall so that it exactly fits into your newly created "square hole."
8. Screw into the wood strips. Four screws are sufficient.
9. Apply drywall mesh tape over the seams.
10. At this point, fill over mesh tape with joint compound. Let dry, then sand. Fill in once again, dry, and sand until smooth. 
11. Keep Tom away from your house!

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

Put out that damn fire!

As I said on my last post, there are plenty of stories from my own business.

I could keep writing for a couple of years just on the fun and exciting things that I have experienced owning my own business. Just to give you a heads up, not all of them are funny, some will be a lesson on morals, and some are just so hard to believe that I have to tell them. Obviously, since I've been in business for 25 years, it wasn't all bad.
With my mason background, I am well versed in just about all that is masonry. I started my business right after I got married, mostly because I had other people in my family that worked the trade, and I figured that I would never have to worry about not having any work. That didn't always work out. But I must admit I stayed very busy.....that is until the housing market crashed, which changed the face of construction.

This story goes back quite a few years.

 I was doing some work for a builder in Hillsborough NJ. He wasn't really the most honest person, but he did build a nice house. This one day in particular I was building a fireplace. Not many people know this but a fireplace is built in "sections" kinda.... First we build the base, this is the part that starts from below grade, and basically comes up to the first floor. Then you stop, get an inspection. Next is the hearth. This has to be formed, partially in the basement, and into the base of the fireplace, then you stop again for another inspection. You then pour concrete to make the base for the hearth, and the floor for your firebox. Now......well, I'm not gonna bore you with the details, but this was the part of the fireplace I was working on when this story begins.

The fireplace being built from inside the house

I was working inside the house building the firebox.....with firebrick. The outside of the fireplace was still low enough that I could see everything on the outside. I had two of my men working on the outside building up the brick, and one of my laborers was out there also. Oh, did I mention that the laborer was "Hank"? The kid who couldn't read a ruler? Well, it was him, he was still working for me (I'm going to heaven....just for this!)
Hank was responsible for making cement in my cement mixer, and making sure that the masons always had plenty of cement. A few words about the mixer we were using first. It was old machine....but with the proper care she was faithful. There were certain rules to follow when operating this machine. The one that applies here is when you were finished mixing a batch of cement you were NOT to close the cover on the motor, because it ran really rich and would backfire (like an M-80) when shut off.
So, I'm working in the house on this beautiful sunny summers day. I would look out every once in a while....just to look. I happened to notice that Hank was looking uncomfortable. He had kind of a confused look on his face. He would look over towards where the cement mixer was, and then look back at me as if to say something.....but he didn't. This went on for a few minutes and it struck up my curiosity so I leaned over to look outside in the direction he was occasionally glancing to. But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He continued to look uneasy, and I finally asked him what was the matter?

"Ummm Dominick......I think the mixer's on fire" he stated in a shaky but low voice....."WHAT??!!! I went over to the nearest window in the house, and sure enough there was smoke bellowing out of the sides of the machine! I yelled to Hank, "Well don't just stand there......go put it out!!"

He was off in a flash, like he was running the 200 meter dash. He flipped open the cover and flames were all over the motor. He looked at me in desperation.....and I yelled from the window..."PUT OUT THAT DAMN FIRE!!" He says to me ....."With what??" "You have fifty gallons of water in that drum! get a bucket of water and throw it on the motor!!" In a mad rush, he grabbed a bucket, haphazardly dunked it into the barrel of water and threw it in the direction of the machine.....HE COMPLETELY MISSED!!!!!

For illustration purposes only, this is not Hank

I was worried that the gas tank might blow, so I was getting desperate. The house was far away enough that  if I ran out it might be too late, so Hank was my only hope (I know, lucky me). I yelled to him "Please Hank do SOMETHING........Throw some sand on it!!" I expected him to grab the nearby shovel, but he proceeds to bend over like.......like a dog that was digging a hole, and started to (I'm not sure how to describe this) well, he just bent over and was throwing sand at the machine through his legs!!!??
Luckily one of my other men heard the commotion, and ran over to the mixer, and put out the fire with a bucket of sand. It turns out that it was probably just in a nick of time, because on inspection of the damage, the fuel line was burned off......Hank was not allowed to use that mixer anymore, I gave him a hoe.

TIP OF THE DAY:

Fireplaces....

Over half of all U.S. homes (55 percent) have at least one fireplace, and they're ranked as the third most desirable feature that people look for when buying a new home, says the National Association of Home Builders.

But there are some things to keep in mind when owning a fireplace:

After a cold winter and heavy use,  you should have your flues checked for a buildup of creosote. If your flue or chimney are blocked by debris or contain cracks or leaks, inadequate venting can occur, and toxic fumes may seep into your home. Further, creosote, a byproduct of burning wood, can build up on the chimney flue and lead to a chimney fire. You can call a professional like D & J Construction to inspect and clean your fireplace. It's a small price to pay for keeping safe.

Another common problem is forgetting to open the damper, or closing it too soon after a fire. The fireplace damper should be opened before lighting the fire, and kept open until all ashes are cool. Closing a damper too soon, even if just the ashes are warm, can allow poisonous gasses like carbon monoxide to build up in your home.

But having a fireplace in your home is a welcoming centerpiece for family and friends and with common sense will bring many long lasting memories!

 

See you next time......from beyond.........