Next time you pull into your garage, look-up. Chances are you’ll be looking at one of two things: 1) some rafters and the underside of a roof; or 2) a ceiling with a hatch last passed-through by your home inspector when you bought your house. Now, just imagine there’s plywood on top of those rafters … Read more
Still running your air conditioner at night? Well, you really don’t have to. And, you could be even MORE comfortable than you now are. Running an air conditioner is expensive. Not only that, but the air just doesn’t feel as fresh or smell as good as the air outdoors — assuming you don’t live next … Read more
You know what I’m talking about. That door that’s really hard to open. Every time you grab the knob, it’s a game of tug-of-war. And it always ends the same way – the other side suddenly just gives up, the door flies open, hits your foot or throws you off-balance. Or the door that gets … Read more
If America can send a man to the moon, why can’t we make a reliable toilet? You know what I’m talking about—every once in awhile you have to jiggle the handle to make it stop running. Sometimes it doesn’t stop running at all, or it runs for a few minutes, then stops running, then runs … Read more
Many of you have sliding glass doors to your deck or patio. And most are broken in one way or another. But you never think to get them fixed, right? And, you’re not alone. You know what I’m talking about. The glass doors are hard to slide. They sometimes fall off their tracks. The latch … Read more
It’s one of life’s great mysteries. Why do so many people living in upscale subdivisions have mailboxes fit for an Old West ghost town? Posts are slanted like old tombstones, mailboxes are rusted, and the posts look like something you’d hitch a horse to. They spend so much time and money on flower beds, siding, … Read more
Can you never really enjoy using your deck unless you choose not to look at it? There are splinters and cracks you don’t quite know what do about. And it looks like it needs to be stained but you don’t want to spend that kind of money too often. Well, the deck industry has actually … Read more
This recent warmer weather is now drawing people into their backyards, where they catch their first glimpse of the condition of their wooden decks. And for many, it ain’t a pretty sight.
If you don’t like the deck you see, your first instinct might be to stain or paint it, thinking it will cover-up all your problems, so you can go on enjoying it again. Oh, if only life were that easy.
Time for some tough love. Why do you continue to live under the same roof as those small things that never get fixed? They irritate you, and you can never get them out of your mind. Why can’t you ever seem to summon the will to kick them out of your house for good, vowing never to think about them again? Is this one of those strange dependency things you often hear about?
Hey, what’s with that extra door that blocks your front door? That flimsy thing that’s always in the way when you carry bags in and out, and every once in awhile gives you a smart whack on your backside. Why are you hiding your attractive front door behind something that at best is invisible, just glass and a thin frame? And, what joker came up with this idea anyway — the guy who invented plastic slip covers?
The truth is, storm doors are a lot like tonsils. If they become a problem you can live without them. But they can perform helpful functions.