SPEND-A-LITTLE SPEND-A-LITTLE SAVE-A-LOT

Introduction
For most people, a home is the single most expensive investment they’ll ever make, not just in terms of money but also sweat and emotional equity. With everything you’ve invested in your home, it makes sense to keep it and its systems running at peak efficiency, right? That’s the reason this book exists. I wanted to assemble a collection of projects that would make a real difference once completed — and not simply the same old projects normally found in a home improvement book. Each of the following pages is filled with tips and tricks I’ve learned through years of personal experience on job sites, as well as the many TV shows I’ve produced and hosted. I truly believe that if a person has the desire to accomplish a project, and is willing to put in the time necessary to learn the techniques and tools involved, the sky is the limit. That’s the goal of this book: to give you the knowledge I’ve gained that will manifest itself as confidence in your own abilities. Combine that newlygained confidence with a good set of tools and you may never have to call a handyman again!

Starting Outside

From the time of the Great Flood, water has been a real source of pain and gnashing of teeth with us humans. It seems so benign, even comforting at times. Given the chance, though, water will turn on you in a heartbeat — so be prepared! In the world of home ownership, water can lead to everything from cracked foundations to long-lasting mold problems within a structure. I’ve even seen the results of water pushing rocks and branches through cinder block walls. It’s a pretty amazing liquid!

It’s a good idea to start at the top of your house to see where water might become a problem. This, of course, means getting on the roof, since the source of most water infiltration comes from overhead — in the form of rain. You see, disguised as a gentle, refreshing rain, water cleverly diverts your attention while it looks for the smallest hole or crack in your roof. When it finds it, things can get ugly very quickly. Roof leaks are one of the most frustrating problems in a home. Even professionals have trouble finding their source. The reason is simple — if water finds a small entryway through your roofing material, the evil force known as gravity pulls it down the underside of the sheathing for a short, or possibly long distance. It then soaks through the insulation between your ceiling joists and manifests itself inside your home as a giant ugly stain on your ceiling, or worse — in your wall where you can’t even see it! That’s when the mold issue can start, but we’ll get to that later. The reason it’s so aggravating and tough to fix is the aforementioned gravity issue. Just because the stain 

Peeling drywall in a closet from nail pop leak!

Finding a Hole in Your Roof

appeared in your living room doesn’t mean the hole is directly overhead. The good news is, there’s at least one trick you can employ to find the offending hole in the roof. 

LOOK FOR THE STAIN OR WORSE, THE PEELING PLASTER OR DRYWALL Once you’ve discovered that you have a leak, or that your roof has one, it’s time to put on your investigator’s hat and take a trip into your attic. Orient yourself so that you know approximately where the stained ceiling is and head in that direction. You should do this on a rainy day, as you’re more likely to catch the culprit in action. Once you’ve reached the area where the water is soaking your ceiling, take a look at the roof rafters and sheathing. If the water is actively coming in, follow it up to its source. If it’s not raining, look for a water stain and again, follow it to the likely point of entry. The good news is — you’re about halfway to fixing the problem! Again, try to get a good idea of what section of roofing you’re looking at so you can find it from the other side

HVAC–Heating & Air Conditioning

HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. In general terms, it’s the largest appliance system you most likely have in your home. It might even be the most expensive piece of equipment you own, with the possible exception of some high-end stoves and refrigerators. This is a fact that many people learn only when their system needs replacing and they begin getting estimates. 

The Basics

If you think about it, you probably spend some time cleaning your oven (or at least setting it to clean itself) and vacuuming the coils on your refrigerator (if you don’t, you should as it can prevent premature failure of that appliance!). It makes sense, then, that you spend a little time each month making sure your HVAC system is clean, tight and bright, as my high school auto shop teacher used to say about cars. He was a wise man and if heeded, his words could save you a lot of money and trouble in the long run.

   The most common type of HVAC system in use is the split system. It is composed of an inside unit that contains tains a furnace, an evaporator and an air-handling unit, and an outside unit that houses a condenser and compressor. Both units share a need to be clean to operate at their peak efficiency.

Easy Ways to Save Energy

Before you go running through your house with a caulk gun ready to seal every crack and crevice in sight, let’s spend a moment thinking about where and why leaks occur. And when I say leaks, I mean air leaks. These are the small openings that are present in every home in the country that allow the inside air to leak out and the outside air to leak in causing drafts and lost money in the form of higher energy bills.

The Logic Behind Leaks

When a home is built, it generally consists of a lot of wood nailed together, some insulation and drywall added, then small strips of wood trim slapped up to cover all the little cracks and holes you’d see otherwise. In most cases, the builder will take the time to fill the small voids around window and doorframes that could potentially be sources of air penetration. If you have an older home, chances are that the builder simply used wads of fiberglass insulation stuffed into those gaps to do the job. Or the builder may have used nothing at all! In these photos of a door in a house I’m renovating, you can see the gap the trim was covering. In this case, the builder simply left an empty void, creating an area where air can leak. It may not seem like much, but if you add up all of the small nooks and crannies like this one, you’ll end up with a hole the size of a window. And since you most likely wouldn’t leave a window open and the furnace or air conditioner running, doesn’t it make sense to close these holes as well? If you’ve ever taken off the trim from around a window or door and noticed that the insulation used to fill the small voids in the framing has turned black, you’ll understand why using insulation is a great way to simply filter the air. The insulation turned dark because of the dust and dirt particles that were caught as the air passed back and forth. Unfortunately, fiberglass insulation does little to stop the movement of the air. 

Preventing Molehills from Becoming Mountains

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression before — “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill.” That’s what this section is all about — small problems that can get nasty really quickly if they’re not remedied early. It’s common sense and much easier to solve a problem when it’s smaller rather than larger. Take, for instance, a nail hole I found protruding from the roof of my home (there are pictures in the first section). Had I checked and repaired the situation early on, I wouldn’t have had the problem of wet and disintegrating drywall on the ceiling of the spare bedroom. Now, I have two problems to fix. You get the idea. The worst thing you can do with a small needed repair is ignore it!

I was working with some guys I’d hired to do some concrete work around my house one day when one of them said, “Concrete is gonna do two things — shrink and crack.” And he’s right — you can lay money on it. The key is to fix the cracks before they become large problems. Here’s how it works: Cracks allow water to seep under the concrete surface to the substrate below. Then when it freezes, the water turns to ice and expands, causing pressure below and making the crack larger. Let that cycle continue long enough and you’ll have a huge expense on your hands. It’s a good idea to get right on the fix as soon as you see the problem. Below is what can happen when you ignore cracks in concrete. Seeds get inside the crack and begin sproutFilling Cracks in Concrete ing. Soon you have a miniature garden growing on your patio. The weeds and grass begin to grow, causing the cracks to widen. Before you know it, you’re faced with a huge repair bill! The patio on the right will likely have to be completely demolished and re-poured. Once the cracks have spread that badly, it’s difficult to make any repairs that will last. The first step is to take a good, close look at your concrete surfaces. Whether it’s a patio, walkway or porch. The key is to locate and identify cracks early on. And don’t forget to check the area where the concrete surface meets the wall of your home! Let’s divide the repairs into two categories: Small cracks (less than 1⁄8") and large cracks (more than 1⁄8").