Saving money sounds good at first, but when it comes to home repairs, you have to decide if you want to save money now or later. What most homeowners don’t realize is that unlicensed contractors are cheaper for multiple reasons. The obvious one is that they do not acquire a bond to protect their work and thus, do not have to pay licensing fees. [Read more…]
Do You Know How to Maintain Your Home?
Sometimes it’s called a “Honeydo” list. You know the one—”Honey, can you unclog the drain?” or “Honey, can you fix the roof?” It’s hard to ignore the Honeydo list, but it is essential. Why? Because keeping up with maintenance on your home is a lot cheaper than fixing it when something goes wrong.
Your home may be the biggest investment you will ever make, and even though you’d rather be watching the game or playing golf, maintenance is a necessary evil. It’s the best way to ensure it keeps its value and ensures it will provide a comfortable, safe shelter for you and your family for a long time. [Read more…]
How to Prevent Water Damage in Your Home: Part One
A washing machine is more dangerous than you think...
There’s ways to prevent water damage in your home that are just common sense—don’t let your 5-year-old run the bath water for themselves, for instance, or making sure you hire a professional install your windows so you know they are watertight.
But there’s smaller, less obvious ways that you prevent water damage by regularly checking the areas that are most likely to suffer from it. Modern homes have plenty of appliances, sinks, showers and other places where water is merely controlled by hoses, taps or buttons. And let’s not even get into how electricity and water do not mix! [Read more…]
Why Strap Your Water Heater to a Wall?
We recommend that you have a professional plumber install your water heater and strap it correctly.
First of all, because it’s California state law. It’s true, and it makes sense. Besides great weather, superb wines and Hollywood, California is certainly known for its earthquakes. And because of that, California state law requires that any new or used water heater sold on or after July 1, 1991 to be strapped securely to a wall.
NO exceptions are allowed for any home, public building or multi-family property, including office buildings, apartment or condominium complexes or public spaces. Why? Because if an earthquake hits and that water heater falls over, there’s a serious potential for both water damage and a fire that could endanger the building and people in it, who may be trapped by debris or unconscious after the quake. [Read more…]