Tag Archives: Home maintenance

Secure Your Home the Smart Way

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Interested in home security?

Loads of new high tech products are on the market, with lots more on the way.

Consumers are interested in smart home technology and the ability to monitor and control their homes online.

More than half want to know it their smoke alarm goes off, to remotely see who’s at the front door and when anyone enters the home. They also want to be able to control the lights and temperature.

But, don’t forget good practices, such as not announcing your absence on social media.

And use non – tech things, such as deadbolt locks.

For more information see: http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20121213_smarthomes.htm

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Tenant Rage Damages Home

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You have surely heard stories of the tenant form Hell. This story from Oklahoma might be one of the tops.

The owner evicted the tenants after he became suspicious of illegal activity. Apparently, the tenants then became vindictive and did approximately $40,000 intentional damage, including stealing the copper wiring.

The tenants were arrested.

See more here.

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Low Cost Dishwasher Repairs

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Even though I try to focus on real estate I seem to find other problems that I guess are related. A few months back I replaced a defective lid switch on a washing machine.

This morning the dishwasher decided to emit a very annoying beeping and wouldn’t quit. It was also displaying a “F1” fault code. After tracking down a manual I learned that the code indicated a flooding problem. The dishwasher was a Fisher Paykel model DD602. Fisher Paykel is a New Zealand company and they seem to discourage users from performing any repairs. They pointed to a local company for service, but I was not impressed by some comments I found on the web.

I managed to locate a service manual at scribd.com. A video on YouTube proved to be the most help. Water had spilled onto the bottom pan and a flood switch shut the unit down. They suggested that the problem might have been caused by filling the machine too full such that the lid could not close properly and that would allow the water to spill. Once I found how to get access to that part of the unit I was able to dry up the accumulated water. The machine now appears to run properly.

my lesson here is that appliance repairs are not all that difficult once we learn how. I definitely saved a lot of money, but it did take some time learning the process.

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Chinese Drywall, Chinese Copper Pipes, It’s All the Same – Defective

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Do you remember the problems with Chinese drywall. It was making a lot of people sick and I think caused some corrosion and discoloration of the walls.

I think it happened mostly in the South. I didn’t hear of any cases here in Nevada.

Well the wonderful Chinese quality control is on display once again.

Imported Chinese copper pipe already blamed for leaks in hundreds of new homes, may not even be manufactured from copper and could installing copper pipe pose serious toxic health risks, according to a U.S. consumer watchdog group.

This time it happens to be the copper plumbing is failing. Apparently the copper is not all copper. You know that real copper is expensive and the manufacturers managed to slip in a bit of less costly metal along with the copper.

The Chinese manufactured pipes are being found as defective after they begin to slowly leak in crawl spaces under homes and in basements. Standard homeowners’ insurance policies do not cover the damage since policies don’t typically cover defective materials used in the construction of homes.

Apparently this time the problem is occurring nationwide.

Read more: http://www.housingpredictor.com/2012/new-toxic-scare.html

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Want to Sell? Make Your Home Stand Out

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What should you do if you want to sell your home?  How would you display it for the best results?  A recent HGTV show suggested that you should make your home appeal to the masses.

But this brings up a difference of opinion.  Alice Chan disagrees.  She thinks  homes targeted toward the masses are boring white boxes and that a house decorated in a plain manner would soon disappear in a blur.  Nothing would distinguish the house from any of the others that were viewed the same day.

Besides, she argues that the “masses” are not going to buy it and live in it. An individual is.

She believes the home should be targeted toward the type of person you would expect to live in the home.

Read more: http://www.trulia.com/blog/ailce_t_chan/2011/08/don_t_make_your_house_appeal_to_the_masses

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Easy Washing Machine Repair

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I had to repair the washing machine this week. Well, I guess I could have called the Maytag repairman, but I tackled it myself.

So, what does this have to do with real estate? This one just happened to be in my own home, but some of us have rental properties and may see a reason to tackle the problem ourselves. I know that it should probably be the responsibility of the tenants, but we may have our own reasons.

The repair turned out to be very easy once I learned the “secret code“. That was how to get the darned thing apart in the first place. This machine was a Kenmore, made by Whirlpool. The machine wouldn’t spin. See youtube for a lot of video tutorials on the subject, including.

It turned out that the lid switch had broken mounting lugs.


I sourced the replacement switch at Amazon at a significant savings over other sources.

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The End of Summer Brings Mice

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It’s that time of the year again. It seems that as summer is coming to an end, the mice are looking for shelter from the impending weather and the winter. That shelter always seems to be our garage, or ever the house.

We noticed signs of mice so I set some traps. Lo and behold, the first day I (Yes, it’s me. My wife has designated trapping mice as “man’s” work.) caught two mice. The next day produced two more. I don’t know when this will end, but I must persist.

If only the mice would learn that they’re not welcome.

You may want to protect your home or investment, too.

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