Seasonal Reminder – Fall 2011

The Fall Season has been here for a month, but with baseball still in season (go Rangers) and the temperatures barely below 60, it still feels like late summer.  If you are in the northern climates this is your opportunity to “batten down the hatches” by tightening up the house. Re-caulking, sealing, and roof inspections are in order. Checking door and window seals are also in order. For the rest of us, the lower temperatures are a relief, summer is mostly over and we can attack those projects we wouldn’t touch during the summer.

1. Heating/Cooling-Air Filters:If you live in a dusty area and/or have been using your air conditioner a lot, inspect you filter and change it if it has noticeable build up from your spring change out.
2. Exterior Inspection:  Walk round the house, look for bird and wasp nests, as well as locations that rodents might be using to get in the house. Remove the nests and use caulk to re-seal  any breaches in structure that may be an entry point for rodents or bugs.  Dont forget to look at you electrical service entry as spring and summer growth, additional tree trimming may be required.
3. Roofing-Looking For Leaks:  Winters are a bad time to look for roof leaks so inspect your roof for leaks, trim away any tree limbs and clean debris off the roof. Look for raised nails and any breaches in the roof surface and all the exposed vents.
4. Sealing the Leaks: Summertime weather can cause the home exterior to dry out. Look for cracks and voids in building materials. Seal them with a good latex caulk. Larger voids should be filled (first) with a foam spray caulk, then to make it dressed for paint, use the latex caulk to finish it off and paint as necessary.
5. Interior Inspection: Flush kitchen and bathroom sinks with scalding hot water for approximately 3-5 minutes to clear out any build up.
6. Surface Water Drainage: Culverts, waterways and landscape drainage systems should be cleared of debris and overgrowth that has occurred.
7. Electrical Service-Smoke Detectors: Clean your smoke detectors of cob webs and check the condition of  the battery.
8. Chimney Flue Inspections and Cleaning: For our northern friends this is the time to ensure your stoves and fireplaces are prepared for the winter use. Inspect the stove seals, clean the chimneys and flues.
9. Drain and cut-off sprinklers: If you are in the northern climates, its time to turn off these services to protect them through the winter. In the south, southwest and western part of the US, we can wait a few more months. For more details see Winterizing Plumbing.
10. Smoke Detectors: As we enter the heating season, it’s a good time to clean the cob webs and change the battery.
11. Lawn Sprinkler Adjustment: Whether you have to shut down your sprinkler or just reduce your watering schedule, now is the time.
12. Power Outages: For some of us, this time of year can bring extended power outages, check out this post to make sure you are prepared

Cutting the Cord IV.I

 If you have read my posts on this subject, cutting the cable cord is a growing interest.  CNET correspondent David Katzmaier revealed the reality of his journey that resulted in returning to cable. Cutting the cord can be difficult and you may/may not be a candidate for the transition. Since I am not complete with the cut over, I thought I would do a state-of-the-transition of my own, but more in a techno-nerd sort of way. Here are some things I have learned along the way as well as some concerns and considerations:

1. Cold Turkey: As the author of the CNET article mentioned, he went cold turkey in one fail swoop and besides the immediate cable withdrawals he also struggled with antenna adjustment issues. A broadcast antenna can experience similar reception issues found with satellite services more so than cable or phone based services. 
2. Antenna Reception: As noted in my earlier entries, having a good antenna and good broadcast antenna service will be paramount. This is the core of your (off cable) service. If you have poor reception, pixeling, or blocking you will get quite frustrated with the service. If your antenna service is marginal on a good day, it will be poor on a bad day. Wind, rain, tree’s with large leaves in the summer will all negatively impact the reception. If you are old enough to remember depending on a TV antenna for all of your broadcast television, you will remember fuzzy, scratchy and intermittent service. This can also occur with the digital antenna.
3. Limited Reception: Some channels will not show up. Obtaining ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX are the big broadcast providers. However, due to antenna placement, you may have difficulty receiving all of them. Even being relatively close you may find it difficult to get good reception. Spend the money on a good antenna, mast, coax, splitters and amplifiers to ensure high quality reception. If you are not a much of a technogeek, consider hiring a professional to establish your antenna service. As a DIYer project, its quite a trial and error process.
4.  Antenna Placement: Even though having an antenna on a 10 ft. mast may work for many urban dwellers, antenna masts of greater proportion may be required. In my case, I have struggled with getting adequate reception of the 4 major networks off of a 10 ft. mast (and I live in the city).  I have continued to tweak my arrangement and after about 2 months. I have been monitoring the quality during some spring showers and it appears to be working pretty well. 
5. It’s Not the Same: To put it bluntly, cable TV services do a decent job to create a seamless one remote solution. Without the cable box, you will have to manage your watching habits a bit more. Using the tuner built into the TV, you will have to select different input sources that you have to move across to see what you want. For instance: the Broadcast antenna will be source one, where the Roku box will be another as well as a DVD player. Most modern TV’s have multiple input sources built into the tuner .
6. No Online TV Schedule: With Cable, it got real convenient to channel surf the TV guide to see what else is on. Right now, an online TV schedule does not exist in my arrangement. However, as an option, TV Guide has a mobile app for Iphones and Itouch devices. You can program in your zip code to see localized TV programing. (NOTE: Once I install the Channel Master DVR, the TV guide is part of the programing, so I assume I will regain the surfing feature.)
7. Multiple TV’s: Much like the cable boxes, if you want to watch multiple viewings through the Roku box, you will need more that one (there are other methods to use one centralized Roku box, but it will cost as much as just adding a second box). However, if you are just looking at broadcast TV on a specific set; no additional boxes are required.
8. Sports: If you are tied to live time sports beyond your normal region or programing area; cutting the cord will be an issue. If you are still committed to making the move, you might consider looking at the online sources for real-time sports outside of your region

Cut the Cord Gradually: This would be my biggest recommendation. It’s best to wean the household off the cable instead of the flash cut.

1. Dedicate one television to the conversion: This will allow you to gradually move toward using this solution as an acceptable viewing solution.
2. Connect the new antenna to this TV to work out any bugs found in the reception. As I mentioned, we struggled with getting adequate antenna service to work a reliably as the Cable Service. For that reason we continued to go back to the other room. Since it appears we have cleared up the problem, we dont find it necessary to go to the other TV to watch broadcast television. This process will also help you identify what programing you are really watching. If you find you have to watch Overhauling, or the DIY network, it may be a struggle to make the final cut.  
3. Live with the solution for a month or so: Get the antenna service working well. Purchase the Roku box and use that to watch on demand movies. We got the Roku box and we have watched a few movies, but maybe 3 over the last week, which is a lot less than I thought I would be watching.
4. The good news: Broadcast and Internet TV options continue to grow. Stay tuned for my next installment of “Cutting the Cord”.  My next step is to purchase the Channel Master DVR (recently reduced to $299 on Amazon).

Stay tuned!

BOB

Earth Day 2011

There are thousands of ways to celebrate Earth Day this weekend. If you decide to celebrate with your house, here are a few items that can make a difference for the earth as well as your house.

1. Fix a Water Leak: We had “fix a leak week” in March. But if you missed it, this is a great time to take a look at your water service to see if you have any water leaks that need repairing. Read “Chasing Water Leaks Part I” and “Chasing Water Leaks Part II” for the full details on finding those water leaks.
2. Add a  Digital Thermostat to your HVAC System: Also known as programmable or setback thermostat. This device will reduce your electricty usage by 10%  over 12 months. This chart reflects a general guideline for timing and temperature.
3. Add Attic Insulation: Not only will you get a tax credit, you can reduce your overall heating and cooling bills. Read the Insulation articles to see if you have enough.
4. Plant a Tree: Granted, you may not see immediate results to your efforts, but strategically placing a tree on the correct side of your house will shade the house from extreme heat and late afternoon sun.

Have Fun: Enjoy the day. Spend some time under the shade of a tree and just enjoy this great place we live on.

Happy Easter too!

BOB

Landscape Drainage

When it rains it pours. Here in my home state you don’t complain about rain very often as we rarely get enough of it. You can go an entire month without rain, then get  a months worth of rain in a day…..

Proper drainage is generally dealt with when the house is constructed, however changes in the property such as landscaping, pools, concrete surfaces and new structures can create or increase drainage issues.  Many times, proper drainage is the cause, but not recognized as the problem. Look at the following items to see if you have any of these problems. If you do, proper drainage may be the culprit.  

Results of Poor Drainage: 

1. Flooding: This one is pretty obvious, but during heavy rains, water seeks low spots and paths of egress. A good heavy rain of  1-3″ of rain in an hour will identify locations of standing water, pooling  and recognizable paths the water  may be following to enter the structure.
2. Rotting Building Material: House built  prior to 1980 were constructed without any form of treated wood where the framing comes in contact with concrete foundation. Most  issue show up in interior/exterior walls, sill plates and framing structures.  These sill plate can degrade over time due to excessive moisture. Wood rot can occur in wood with a moisture content of  28% or greater which translates to RH of approximately 100%.
3. Structural Movement: If the sill plate has deteriorated due to water exposure,  it can break down and create structural movement that may result in shifts and cracks sheet rock.
4. Foundation Movement:  Excessive water under a foundation can cause the piers and beams to move. Extreme movement can cause permanent damage by cracking concrete slabs and beams. Large cracks can even act like a hinge resulting in constant movement.
5. Moisture Content: High moisture content in the soil under the house (crawl spaces and basements) can cause #6, 7, and 8. 
6. Pest Control: Water and moisture attracts bugs and insects of all types;  the worst of all are termites. By controlling the moisture content in and around the house will positively affect the amount of insect infiltration. The probability of termite infiltration will be high when the moisture content of wood is greater than 20%.
7. Mold: Much like #5, moisture content will impact this problem. Houses (with crawl spaces and basements) that have a relative humidity of 70% or greater can  have a mold problems. Expect to find mold where the moisture content of wood structure to be at 20% or greater.
8. Air Quality: Associated with #5, 6, and 7 will impact this item. Unpleasant, musty or certain health conditions could be due to the presence of mold, animals or  animal feces  can negatively affect the quality of air in the conditioned space of house envelope.

Top Ten List of Construction tasks to encourage proper drainage courtesy of Clemson University.

Correcting Drainage Problems: For the water that reaches the structure surface, it will need a natural or man-made method of  moving water away from the building. The severity of the problem will determine how much drainage work is required.  The best way to deal with it is to address the obvious and monitor the results. If you continue to have the problem, take the next counter-measure to attack the problem. Look at the following solutions to determine which solution best matches your problem.

1. Surface landscape should have at least a 4 degree grade away from the structure:  This will encourage water to move away from the house not toward it. This may be accomplished by regrading the surface material or possibly adding surface material to create the grade. Do you best to avoid the 6″ restriction mentioned in #2.
2. Sill plates: Should be approximately 6″ vertically from the exterior surface grade. Besides the obvious, keeping dirt away from the sill plate will reduce the opportunity for bugs and insects to enter the house through cracks, crevices and weep holes.
3. Crawl Space Height: In a perfect world, the height of the crawl space should be above the exterior surface grade. Adding material in the crawl space can be difficult after the house is built. If possible, dome the grade of the material so it is higher in the middle and lower around the edges. If  you choose to add this material ensure you retain a 24″ clearance for the crawl space. Note: Dont view this item as a requirement as it may be very difficult to complete without negatively effecting other items.
4. Paths and Driveways: Adding these surface as concrete or impervious surfaces will add more water to the problem. If you are considering adding additional paths or driveways, consider using natural porous materials such as gravel, crushed stone or granite.   What ever you do, ensure you retain the same 4% grade away from the structure mentioned in #1
5. Roof Gutters: Ugly as they may be, they serve a purpose. During a heavy rain fall the surface area of the roof takes on a lot of water. Naturally it will run down the roof to the edge. Without gutters this water and the lack of a proper grade can cause excessive water to pool under the house.  Assuming you have the natural grade mentioned in #1, much of the surface water will flow away from the house in a path of least resistance. Hopefully its path takes it to the street, alley or drainage ditch. Additionally, the gutter downspout should extend away from the house at least 10′  with a fall of 6″ over the 10′ distance. This will ensure the water moves away from the structure.
6. Roof Gutters combined with sub surface drain pipes: To reduce the ugliness of the roof gutter downspout, adding sub-surface drains can help. Granted, this can be expensive as these pipes must be ditched into the ground and run far enough away from the house for the water to naturally drain.
7. Dry Creeks: This may be a stone or rock drainage ditch that is normally dry until the rain water needs a place to go. Creating a Dry Creek to channel the water will assist in moving the water around or away from the residential structure. Read more about how to build a dry creek.
8. French Drains: Similar to sub-surface drains, but the pipes are normally perforated. These 4″ pipes pick up the water that is seeping into the ground; like the sub surface drains, these pipes must be ditched away from the house with a fall  and run far enough away to allow the water to drain naturally. TIP: It is not unusual to have both sub-surface and french drains, but they should not be mixed; in other words do not combine them into just one pipe system. This item is easily a topic in its self. Read more about how to build a french drain for more details.
9. Sump pump: This may be considered drastic, but if you have a serious drainage problem and you find that you continue to have large amounts of  water pooling; creating a sump under the house and collecting the water in a pit then pumping it outside the structure and away from the house. 
10. Vapor Barrier: More moisture control then drainage, but they go hand in hand.  With most crawl spaces, the floor is dirt. This is very normal and in the early days of construction, houses were built to allow the flow of air to pass through the house crawl space. However, as we spend more money and time to insulate and tighten up the house we can create a worse problem in the crawl space. The best way to deal with the dirt floor and the moisture associated with it is to cover it with plastic (aka: moisture barrier). By sealing the dirt floor from the crawl space you will dramatically reduce the moisture content that is transmitted through the dirt. Look for a future article on this topic as I am currently completing this project myself.
11. Dehumidifer:  Besides the moisture barrier mentioned, you may also consider using a dehumidifier in the basement or crawl space to further reduce the humidity factor. This is a common solution; some new home builders even require (as part of the home warranty) the homeowner adds a dehumidifier in a basement to keep the warranty intact. 
12. Rain Water Collection: This is an alternative method of dealing with drainage issue. In concept, instead of pushing the water away from the house, the water is collected in cisterns, barrels or tanks using the gutters and drains. The water can be treated or used to water the landscape when its dry. Look for future articles on this subject.

Proper drainage can be a difficult nut to crack.  For me, having the correct exterior grade, crawl space height and sill plate clearance has been a struggle if not impossible and I am still working to find the complete solution that normalizes the condition. Look at all these items as a “system solution” and even though you may not be able to fix everything perfectly, the collective impact of solutions can address the problems associated with  poor drainage.

Solar Landscape Lighting – Upgrade

Hopefully you read my article on Solar Landscape Lighting.  In the article I described my journey to create a sustainable landscape lighting system using standard off the shelf landscape lighting fixtures and components, but with a twist. No AC and no transformer; just pure power from the sun. In the article I mentioned that I would probably upgrade the solar panel in the near future. Well sure enough, the future is here! Prices of components have continued to drop and I couldn’t pass up a deal on a 50W panel. In doing so, this allows me the ability to triple the number of the light fixtures. I had already sized the  solar controller and battery to accommodate the expansion. Night pictures are tough to take (for amatures) with a low cost digital camera but I want to show the results.  The above picture is of 5 standard landscape light fixtures with 21 pin LED bulbs using less than 10 watts total.  This is a vast improvement over any “off the shelf” solar landscape lighting system.

New Components:

1. HQRP 50 Watt Solar Panel: At Amazon.com they are priced at about $160. The panel works great, but I had to rework the cable connectors as they use a unique connector that I was unable to match.  I used a marine grade connector instead.  If you remember; I started with a 15W panel that cost $100. This works out to about $3.2 per watt compared to $6.6 per watt with the old panel.

 6 – 144940 20W  Manor House Light Fixtures: individually priced at around $15, this box set of 6 drops the per fixture cost to less than $9. They are readily available at Lowes. Since wattage rating is not an issue; these fixtures are at the low end of the price point and easy to use. The heads are easily adjustable and the bulbs can be changed out without any tools.

1. 6 – MR16 21 Pin LED Light bulb from LED-Mate: I am not 100% satisfied with this supplier but I have had fewer problems with their bulbs than others and they provide you a two year warranty. Their prices have continued to fall and are around $8. If you buy more, they will give you a price break.

 This project started about 2 years ago, and the components have continued to get better in quality and the prices continue to drop. Granted, I have spent well over $1000 in creating this system, but with a lot of trial and error. If I were able to create the system from scratch using the components I currently have deployed  the cost of the system would look like this:

 

As mentioned, the 21 pin LED light bulbs do not have near the output light found in traditional landscape lighting fixtures so to create enough useable light, additional light fixtures are required. Adding 6 more fixtures to the system made a dramatic impact and at this point adding more fixtures will cost me about 20 bucks each since I have already incurred the cost of the system backbone.

Shoot me a note if you are considering a  similar project at homeownerbob@gmail.com.