Your dryer vent - it's full of hot air. Your dryer tumbles your clothes with lots of hot air, which is then vented out through a duct to a vent outside the home. When the vent does not have good clearance, airflow is restricted which can have several results: your dryer may take longer to dry your clothes resulting in higher energy usage and [...]
What is a toilet fill valve? A toilet fill valve performs the thankless task of refilling a toilet's tank after each flush. They come in a variety of configurations, based on the size, shape, and design of the toilet. A malfunctioning one can make the toilet run continuously or fail to refill the tank with the right amount of water. When they're installed too [...]
PVC pipe is a no-no. This water heater has a 1/2" PVC extension tube on its temperature-pressure relief valve. PVC stands for Polyvinyl chloride, but a more suitable name might be “Pipe Very Cracky”. The piping is brittle and not rated for use inside a home generally, and especially not as an extension tube on a water heater temperature-pressure relief valve. In addition to [...]
Jiminy Cricket! This wide chimney is missing a cricket. No, not the small, noisy insect. A cricket is a small, peaked roof at the up-slope side of your chimney to deflect water and debris around your chimney. Without a cricket snow and debris can easily build up and lead to water penetration around the chimney. Chimneys that are 30” wide or more should have [...]
Oregon has several sets of rules for smoke alarms. Some rules apply to newly constructed houses, some apply to renovated houses, and some apply to rentals, but the rules that I’ll write about today have to with houses that are being sold. (Note: If you’re interested in the very important and surprising differences between ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms, read our blog about that [...]