At times I have written about proper etiquette when borrowing tools and your “Neighborly Responsibilities” (http://blog.davezillion.com/?p=539). Well let’s just say there are also some expectations that go along with asking someone for some assistance around the old hacienda. You need to be properly prepared whenever asking a brother/sister, best friend, or some who you have connected with on DaveZillion for some help with a project that you either don’t have experience with or just need an extra set of hands. If you have ever asked someone for some help and they have never been available after that first and only project, it is very possible that you were not properly prepared when the time came to “Get Stuff Done”. The last thing that someone wants to do is waste their precious time preparing for a project instead of simply jumping in and completing the task at hand.
About a week ago, I finally found some time to help a good friend with dropping a dead tree that was close to his house. Several days prior to tackling the project, I talked to my friend and thought that we had every thing all set. Well, let’s just say what should have taken about 30 – 40 minutes turned into a 3 hour ordeal. When I got there, none of the lawn decorations or patio furniture had been moved from the area of where the tree would be dropped. After taking care of that mess he proceeded to get me his chain saw (which I told him to equip with either a sharpened or new chain) and it was so dull I don’t think it would have cut through butter. I spent the next hour, or so, sharpening the chain (a job I simply hate). Then finally spent the last 30 minutes of a full afternoon completing the job at hand of dropping the tree and cutting it up. If this guy was not one of my good friends I don’t think that I would be jumping at the chance to give him a hand any time in the near future.
The point I am trying to impart here is that we all need a hand and or some assistance at some point in time, but we should always be diligent in getting things prepared to the best of our ability before we bring in the reinforcements to get the job done!!!!!
Caldo’s here to give you a virtual hand with all of your home projects. Send me questions at caldo@davezillion.com
Our DaveZillion members are great, they often admit their stubbornness, (I know that it is tough, but, yes honey I’m working on that too). Anyhow, about a year ago someone sent me a question at
caldo@davezillion.com asking for help because his basement continued to take on water during heavy rain storms no matter what steps he took to resolve the problem. Every severe storm he’d plan ahead but ultimately in the end find himself down in the basement ankle deep in water hoping his shop vac didn’t short out and electrocute him. As you know, every one’s basement problems are often “complicated.” After taking in all of those complicated facts and attempted resolutions from his email, that I must say he impressively described, I replied back with one simple question:
Are your gutters equiped with leaders and are they releasing water far enough away from your house and foundation?
He replied back that gutters weren’t the problem and that all down spouts were good. That’s too bad I thought, I can’t travel there to check out his situation but I also realize that most “complicated” situations often have a simple solution. I wished him the best and to let me know when he figures it out.
NEWS FLASH and fast forward to today: My water-filled basement buddy reached back out to me and said (to paraphrase due to “exciting” language) You won’t believe this Caldo, the gutters were the problem. The leaders were not long enough and they were dumping the water to close to the house. Note, I take no satisfaction in being right even if I am ussualy correct!!!..hmmm
To summarize, he thought that the leaders from his gutters that were on the other side of his basement that dumped water onto the driveway in front of his garage had no impact on his basement. But what he didn’t consider is that often a garage foundation has a minimal footing and underneath is just gravel which is an open invitation for larger quantities of water. Depending on the slope and topography of the property, the water could easily move to a basement in this situation, and remember, water has no prejiduce - it will go anywhere.
But simply gutters and down spouts your thinking – how much additional water could that mean, what’s the big deal for this guy’s driveway? Well think of it this way. Rain falls on every square inch of your property. If your driveway was simply taking in those square inches, probably no big deal. But now think of a gutter system. Whether your house is 1,200 square feet or 4,000 square feet, chances are at least one half (for a single story home) or one fourth (for a two story home) of that square footage’s is collecting water and funneling it toward 4 specific areas and the water is now unnaturally ending up in one place.
I’ve said before that often times the solution to a problem is right under your nose, this time it was on the driveway. For once, maybe it’s not so bad to have “your mind in the gutter…”
Caldo’s here to give you a virtual hand with all of your home projects. Send me questions at caldo@davezillion.com
I have a trap, he has a trap, and she has a trap, why does everyone have a trap? Under every sink or open drain you should find that U shaped thing called a trap. How many people know why a trap under a sink exists? What I thought was very general knowledge; I recently found out that probably 70% of people don’t know the deal.
Although a trap may be a handy catch all device for jewelry or other small items, shockingly, this is not it’s designated purpose. A trap actually serves as a sealant to block undesirable odors and sewage gases from coming back through your drain pipes and infesting your home or apartment. That’s right, very simple; the U shape plumbing under your sink is there so that it “Traps” water – always filling the pipe, thus blocking any smells.
Thanks to our DaveZillion member for asking why his washing machine and ejector pump hooked into his main septic line was stinking up the joint. Lets just say, he didn’t have the trap!
Please send me your comments if you were aware of this or not – I need to validate my 70% estimate, as I may have a small wager out there with a buddy…
Caldo’s here to give you a virtual hand with all of your home projects. Send me questions at caldo@davezillion.com
So I was on my cell phone with my buddy talking about something really not worth talking about. He interrupted me and said that he hadn’t eaten all day and was hungry but couldn’t cook his frozen pizza because his oven is broken. I asked if his grill was broken too. You can see where I am going with this can’t you… He said “My grill is working fine but what the hell does that have to do with this?” I instructed him to fire up the grill and set it on medium. Unbox the frozen pizza and cook it on the grill and let me know how it worked out. Lets just say even when he gets his new oven, frozen pizzas will be cooked on the grill.
Often times the solution to a problem is right under your nose, or out on the back patio…..
Caldo’s here to give you a virtual hand with all of your home projects. Send me questions at caldo@davezillion.com
First off, let me welcome all our new DaveZillion Members…..
One of the DaveZillion.com features that I like and have found to be a great help is the “Tool Share” section. My DZ community has posted numerous tools on the tool share section and most have taken advantage of their neighbors resources. It is very clear how the tool share works but if you need a little clarification please read below:
“Don’t waste your money buying or renting a tool that you’ll only use once every few years. The DaveZillion ToolShare allows members to share their tools. To access this service, simply register a tool or tools you are willing to share with other members. Once you register at least one item, you will have access to the wealth of tools located in our library.”
Now, to the “Concept” behind the title of the Blog (Neighborly Responsibilities). Sharing resources is a wonderful concept and once it is time to return what has been graciously shared it is only proper that you return what you have borrowed in the same working condition and often times cleaner than when you received it. I recall about two months ago when the deck belt snapped on my mower and my wife had planned a picnic while only giving me a days notice. Of course, I went to my DZ“Tool Share” to find someone willing to share a mower and/or tractor and found one of my neighbors on the list. Well, needless to say, the tractor worked fine but it’s appearance left something to be desired. I mowed my lawn and then spent about 15 minutes cleaning up the tractor. When I returned it to my neighbor he was thrilled with how clean his tractor looked and I think he was just as appreciative to have it returned cleaner that it left as I was to be able to borrow it. On the flip side, once well before the DZ concept, I let one of my neighbors borrow a 40 foot ladder. The morning after I saw the ladder sitting in the woods in the rain. It stayed there in the rain for about 3 days until I trekked over there myself and brought it home. Obviously the neighbor didn’t ask to borrow any tools after the incident. We still got along great as neighbors but I understood his limitations in understanding his “Neighborly Responsibilities”.
Be gracious and courteous when borrowing your neighbors tools and always treat them as your own (OR BETTER).
Caldo’s here to give you a virtual hand with all of your home projects. Send me questions at caldo@davezillion.com
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