If you see one of these you are looking at a part of a Radon mitigation system. Basically a simple system that creates a negative pressure (suction) under the concrete slab floor of a house, or in the case of a crawl space under sealed plastic sheeting covering the dirt or gravel floor. So you […]Read More about Radon Mitigation System Gauge
Direct Vent Flue Termination Explained
Very few modern homes are being built with wood burning fireplaces, instead builders are installing vented gas log fireplaces. These cost a lot less money and time to install. These gas fire places still need a “chimney” or flue just like their wood burning cousins, but with a difference. If the fireplace is on an […]Read More about Direct Vent Flue Termination Explained
Radon Mitigation System Installed
If you are looking at buying a home or walking around your neighborhood you may have seen this disk shaped gizmo with a pipe up the side of a house. In the last twenty years there has been a growing interest in testing for Radon (a gas generated deep in the earth as limestone deteriorates) […]Read More about Radon Mitigation System Installed
Garage Receptacle for a Refrigerator or Freezer?
Have you ever wondered why there is sometimes a single receptacle in your garage? You know that the regular looking one with the buttons is a GFCI protected receptacle (and it often supply’s power to your exterior receptacles). The GFCI is a safety type receptacle that turns off the power to the circuit in the […]Read More about Garage Receptacle for a Refrigerator or Freezer?
Basement Damp, Moisture Management System
You are in a basement and at the bottom of the exterior foundation walls there is a plastic or metal panel along a section of, or all round the room. What is it? You wonder, looking further you will notice that the floor was removed and filled back in with a concrete patch and there […]Read More about Basement Damp, Moisture Management System
Window Fogged, Glass Seal Failing
It’s not privacy glass even though it works as one. Insulated glass that is standard in all modern windows is made up of two panels of glass separated by a filler piece. The seal between the filler and the glass can develop a small hole allowing air into the enclosed space between the glass panes. […]Read More about Window Fogged, Glass Seal Failing
Dryer Vent Option
This often evokes the question, what is that? It is not a chimney, it’s not a plumbing vent, an oil tank filler or any of the other suggested uses we have heard.The answer is simple, it’s an exterior clothes dryer vent.This vent remains sealed when the dryer is off, air from the dryer opens it […]Read More about Dryer Vent Option
Door Bell Transformer Identified
This funky and worrying thing with wires hanging out of it is often found in the oddest of places. They can be found on the wall in a closet, in the basement or in the ceiling joists, beside the breaker panel, just about anywhere in a home.Nervous buyers often stare at those wires with anxious […]Read More about Door Bell Transformer Identified
Telephone Interface (a piece of history)
The telephone has just about disappeared from homes. Back when they were connected by wire to the telephone exchange there needed to be a connector inside the house that connected the home wiring to the phone company wiring.The connector is called a telephone interface which is the modern version of the connector in the photo. […]Read More about Telephone Interface (a piece of history)
Adding Water Softener Hook Up? Bad Value
Looking at plumbing in a house have you ever wondered what different things are? There is that usual loop of pipe, which for no apparent reason loops down from ceiling in the basement? Or the two copper pipes about a foot apart one above the other that are sticking straight out and capped off? The […]Read More about Adding Water Softener Hook Up? Bad Value
Radiant Heat Ceilings Explained
Walking through a home you might notice a non descriptive box in every room, some may have numbers on a dial 50, 60, 70, and wonder what it is. What you are looking at is a thermostat for a radiant heat ceiling an alternative to a furnace or boiler. The house is not heated by […]Read More about Radiant Heat Ceilings Explained
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