Is Your Toilet Running?

Denver Water is reminding customers to check their toilets to see if they are running. They say that between 100-250 gallons of water can be wasted daily by one toilet.

Sometimes you can hear the water running constantly, sometimes you hear it refill every once in a while and sometimes a slow leak can’t be heard.

A way to check is to put some food coloring in the tank and don’t flush it for a thirty minutes. If the color appears in the bowl, you have a leak.

So what should you do? Don’t ignore it as that will cost you more in the long run. I have been called on occasion where a customer had a clogged toilet and it was running at the same time. Water is flowing onto the floor and you have an emergency. That doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time the leak get’s worse until you have a constant stream going down the drain.

Toilet repairs are usually easy and inexpensive. You may have $20.00 in parts and around 15 minutes to an hour of labor. It’s not something to put off because of cost.

While you are checking out your toilets, look at your faucets too. Are they dripping? If so, I can guarantee that they will not get better on their own but the drip will soon turn to a steady stream. Faucets can usually be repaired with a new washer or cartridge. If they are left too long then other parts may need to be replaced.

If you have any of these problems, give me a call and I will try to give you an idea over the phone of what it will cost to repair. You may find that it will be easier and less expensive that you thought.

Philip

Window Well Scenes

Recently I installed window well scenes for a customer. I was amazed how beautiful they were and how they changed the window well view. I guess anything would look better than the corrugated metal you usually see.

The scenes were easy to install. The metal had to be prepared and then Velcro was attached to the metal. The scene is then rolled out and stuck to the Velcro. There may be a little cutting to fit the window well size. A 100’ X 60” scene costs around $60. Depending on the condition of the window well and access, installation takes from 30 to 45 minutes.

The scenes are manufactured by a company called Sinergi. They are available at Lowes and I found another company in the Denver area called Window Well Art Company that also carries them.

Here are links to those companies:
Sinergi
Lowes
Window Well Art Company

If you have plain corrugated window wells, these scenes could make a huge difference in your basement view.

Philip

Procrastination

Sometimes when we put things off it ends up costing us a lot more in the end. I received a call on Wednesday from a customer who put off shutting down her swamp cooler. She was reminded when a passerby noticed water spraying from the broken water line on her roof. The Good Samaritan notified her and helped shut off the water.

Today I finished the job by disconnecting the water line, draining and covering the cooler. Next spring part or all of the water line will have to be replaced.

It’s never a good idea to ignore a needed repair if it involves water. In this case freezing weather caused a break. An ignored water leak will usually lead to damage that will cost more than the basic repair would have. Many other needed repairs follow the same pattern. A small repair overlooked leads to a bigger expense later.

If there is a repair you have been ignoring? Give me a call and we can discuss it. You might find out that it will be less expensive to repair that you expected. In any case, you will know what you need to do.

Keeping these thoughts in mind will save you money in the long run.

Philip

Overcharge

An elderly customer called me a couple weeks ago. She wondered if I could be with her when she met with the representative of an electrical company who had done some work for her. She felt she was being taken advantage of. She also explained that the electrician told her that she needed new smoke alarms without ever looking at the ones she already had.

The company is called Mister Sparky Electric. It’s related to One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.

The issue that had her attention was that she was being told that it was now the law that she had to have a Carbon Monoxide Detector on her furnace. She put down a deposit on the unit that was going to cost around $500. After talking to her daughter and doing some research she found out that it was not the law and the units that Mister Sparky was selling were not even ready for sale yet. This made her angry and suspicious.

The three companies mentioned above are the type that advertises "No Surprise" Straightforward Pricing. What this means is a guy comes out, looks over the job and then gives a price. If you accept it then you sign a contract. It sounds good but what I keep coming across with many companies like this is the price they give seems excessively high. That’s not to say they don’t do good work, it just costs a LOT! A way the company drums up business is by offering “free” electrical inspections.

My customer cancelled the Carbon Monoxide Detector and said she would not be using this company any longer. She showed me the bill from the previous work and I was astonished at the charges. Here is what I saw: After doing an “inspection” the electrician determined she needed her whole house surge protector replaced. Contrary to the claim of pricing being up front, he replaced it and told her after. He also replaced three circuit breakers.

The cost for the whole house surge protector was $258. You can buy the surge protector for under $100 retail. That means the labor charge was over $150. The installation consists of disconnecting and reconnecting a few wires – maybe a ten minute job. The cost for the three circuit breakers was $251. The circuit breakers probably cost under $10 dollars each and about five minutes to replace. To me that is an excessive charge.

He also told her she needed a GFI on her kitchen outlets. He was going to charge $169. The parts would have cost $15 to $25 and maybe fifteen minutes to install. She was wise to turn down the job.

The truth is that most people have no idea how long these jobs should take or what the parts actually cost. They trust the company because the “troubleshooter” recommends them.

In my Handyman business I am fair and honest with my customers. If someone wants an upfront price I will take all possibilities into consideration when I give them the price but would consider it unethical to charge them two or three times what the job is worth.

The lesson is to look beyond shiny trucks, spiffy uniforms and well-known names. Find service people who do good work for a fair price. When you call The Handymen, I guarantee you will get both.

Philip

Sewer Gas Smell

I received a phone call from a friend about a smell in the basement. They were sure it was sewer gas. There had been some maintenance done in the street; could have it resulted from that?

The first question is to make sure you know the difference between the smell of sewer gas and natural gas. Natural gas has a very distinctive “rotten egg” smell. If you have never smelled either you may need someone with an experienced nose to point out the difference. Otherwise what you smell may be a pair of stinky sneakers.

You really should know what natural gas smells like so that if you ever smell it you know to get out of the house and call the fire department. It isn’t something you want to mess with.

It you do smell sewer gas, the most likely culprit is a drain trap that has dried out. Places to check are floor drains, tub and shower drains, sink drains and toilets. If these are not used regularly they can dry out and let the sewer gas into the house. Make sure to run water in them every few months. You can pour a bucket of water into the floor drains. Another possibility is if the wax seal at the base of a toilet has been compromised and is allowing the gas to escape.

There are other possibilities that allow sewer gas to escape such as a broken vent pipe but that’s less common. In those cases it may require a plumber with specialized equipment to locate the source.

After I talked to my friend I found out that there was a bathroom in the basement that was rarely used. They ran water in all the drains and the smell went away. They were relieved that their fears of a much larger job didn’t come to pass.

Philip

Would You Like $1000?

Would you like an extra $1000? Then be careful who you hire for service work. That’s what one of my regular customers learned today.

I received the call last Friday. Would I be willing to clean out a sump pump pit? It seemed that an odor was coming from the pit. It was located under the basement bathroom vanity that may need to be removed to get access to the pump.

When I arrived this morning I heard more of the story. They had called a plumber (AppleTree Plumbing) who told them the pit needed to be cleaned out but it seemed the plumber didn’t want to do the job. He also told them if the pump needed to be replaced it would cost $1200.

When I took a look at the sump pit I could see that it wasn’t very deep and the vanity wouldn’t have to be removed; that was good news. I removed the sump pump from the pit and found out there was a cement pad in the bottom of the pit. That was good because it keeps the pump out of the mud. There was a small amount of debris in the pit but not more than a handful.

I tested the pump and found out it wasn’t working. I picked up a new one and soon had the pit back in working order. The smell was probably coming from stagnation because the old pump didn’t work.

A new pump cost about $100 and with labor the bill was a little over $200. By calling me, my customer ended up saving $1000.

It hear this type of story on a regular basis. Companies take advantage of a customer not knowing what is involved in a job and how much it should really cost. Of course what they do is not illegal but I don’t think it’s ethical. I understand that when a job is bid there is a cushion built in for unforeseen circumstances but I think the difference between $200 and $1200 is what most of us would call a rip-off.

The lesson here is to be careful who you hire. It really means a lot to have a workman who is honest and cares more about helping you than making a quick profit.

Philip

Shower Head

Are you happy with your shower head?

For very little money you can change your shower head to one you are really delighted with.

I have two types in my home. Upstairs I have the massage type with an extension hose. With a turn of the dial on the head it can be changed from a refreshing rain to a pulsating massage. The extension hose is great if you want to wash down the tub walls and even reaches down if you are sitting in the tub.

Downstairs where some of my kids take a shower I have an extreme water saving model. It only used 1.6 gallons per minute. That’s about half of a regular water saving model. That really helps to save water during long showers.

The super water saver model shower head costs about $13. The type with extension hose and massage head ranges in price from around $30 on up to $60. There are also a lot of other choices in conventional and not so conventional shower heads.

You can see many different shower head possibilities at your local home improvement store. Installation is usually very simple. I’ll be glad to give you a hand with that.

Philip
303-232-3347