Baby It's Cold Outside!

The temps are dropping fast! If you didn't feel it a few weeks ago, you are well aware of the drafts in your home.

Energy loss is greatest at any opening in your exterior. This is why it is so important to hire a pro to install your doors and windows. They may make it look easy on TV, but believe me this is one DIY project that needs to stay in the DIY project book pages. One mistake, one single seem missed or left exposed, will completely negate all of the efforts to stop energy loss.

*If properly installed, you should never have to put plastic over your windows for the winter.

Air leaks generally come from the seal between the rough framing of the wall and the window or door frame. To check where the air leak is at, take a feather and slowly trace the window or door. Watch for the feather to blow in towards you. If the areas are anywhere in the window itself, contact a window  and door installation contractor and have them complete a thorough inspection of your windows and doors. If it is at the trim, there is DIY project that can stop the leaks by insulating with spray foam.

You will need a hammer, razor knife, 4-6" drywall mud knife, flat bar, and a pair of end nippers (pliers will do).

You first want to score the wall around the trim. This will cut any paint or caulk that is holding the trim to the wall and help prevent damage to the wall.

Now slide your 4-6" drywall knife under the trim at the corner. Line the center of the knife with the first nail and slide under until you hit the nail. Lift the handle prying the trim away from the wall. You will not remove the trim at this point. The purpose is to make enough space between the wall and trim to get the flat bar under the trim doing as little damage to the wall and trim as possible. Work your way around the trim until there is sufficient space to insert the flat bar.

Insert the flat bar at each nail using the 90 degree end of the flat bar. Use your drywall knife to protect the wall from damage by placing it between the wall and flat bar. Pry the trim evenly away from the wall, at each nail location, only lifting the trim about 1/2" at a time. Once you have gone around the trim 2-3 times, the trim should break loose from the wall fairly easy.

Now that the trim is down, pull the nails through the back of the trim. This may tear it up a bit, but the majority of the damage will be on the wall side.

Now that you have exposed the area around the door or window inspect for any signs of water penetration. If you see any mold stop and call a window and door contractor and have them complete a full inspection. 

In the case that all looks good, remove  any fiber insulation from the space between the rough framing of the wall and window frame. It is usually compacted into these spaces, loosing most of it's insulating value.

Now grab a can of DOOR & WINDOW spray foam and fill all gaps and cracks according to the instructions on the can. DO NOT USE ANYTHING BUT PRODUCTS MADE FOR DOORS AND WINDOWS. Using other products can cause damage to the door or window.

Once these areas have been sealed, wait for the foam to dry, cut off any excess with the drywall knife and nail the trim back into place. You will now need to caulk around the trim on all sides and paint. (Make sure that you use PAINTABLE caulk).

Chrismas Lighting Hassles

It is here! Halloween is behind us and will begin to make our behinds big. And now off to the next two major holidays. So where to start? First we need to remove the Halloween decorations and begin to plan our Christmas Lighting. The faster we can get them up, the better chance we can beat the nasty weather.


Where to begin? You really need to ask yourself how much do I want to tackle on my own. You have to ask yourself, "Do you want to light the house and greenery?"

Lighting the house takes a lot of time, planning and a little daredevil. Here are some things to keep in mind when planning your lighting display.

"Hon, I think we need new lights!"

1) Solid Color, Muli-Color, White, or a mix?

2) How many lights are you going to need?

3) Do you have enough power and are the outlets equipped to handle the load?

4) Do you have enough extension cords, surge protectors and timers?

5) Do you have ladders to get to the house?

6) Do you have clips to hang from the gutters and shingles?

Start off by determining how many lights you will need to complete your design. A couple of factor will come into play.

First, how many strings of lights can you put on each run? It is important to not mix and match different brands of lights. Some can connect 3, some 5 and others 8 strands end to end. This is why it is not recommended to blend different brands of lights in one run.

Second is where are my outlets in relation to my runs. You don't want to end up at the end of the house with no where to plug into. It is best to run your lights toward your power source. This doesn't mean that you have to run to the outlet, but if you do end up at the end of the house make sure you have planned to have an extension cord for that area of lights.

That brings up the third item, the longer the run, the more heat you will create in the wire. This will cause fuses to blow on the strands, more burned out bulbs and more heat at the outlet which can cause a fire.

Fourth, determine how many lights for each tree and shrub that you plan to cover. I am not a big fan of the nets, they look a little too manufactured. Small shrubs will take anywhere from 3-5 25' strands to cover. Medium Shrubs and small trees (saplings) will take 5-10 25' strands and larger to mature trees can take from 15-50 strands depending on how large the canopy has grown.

As far as power goes, every package has the amp rating. You need to add these up and make sure that the circuit you are using can handle the load. It is more than frustrating to setup your lights and have them work as long as someone doesn't run the vacuum or turn on the living room lights.

And last, but not least timers....hmmm...these can be a bit tricky. I found a great product this year. It is a 15 amp 3 outlet digital surge protector. You can run multiple runs from this one device.

In the end, if you have done enough planning, your Holiday lighting experience will be a lot less of a headache and you will have fewer issues through out the season. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Tool Every Home Owner Should Have: Outlet Tester

This is a typical outlet tester. It can identify several common three prong outlet electrical problems. This particular model is the GB Electrical GFI-3501 Ground Fault Receptacle & Outlet Tester. This model will detect:


1) OPEN GROUND (no GROUND wire connection)
2) OPEN NEUTRAL (no NEUTRAL wire connection)
3) OPEN HOT (no HOT wire connection)
4) HOT/GRD REV (uncommon, but usually the HOT is jumping to the NEUTRAL)
5) HOT/NEU REV (HOT and NEUTRAL wires are crossed)


When purchasing a home this little $12 tool can save you big hassles when it comes to one of the major systems of your home. I also use it prior to plugging in any device that require a ground, such as computers and big screen TV's. If the device reads an open ground I know that I need to use a heavy duty surge protector in order to protect my expensive equipment. If you have conduit running through out the house, it is not too expensive to have an electrician run a ground wire from your outlet to the electrical panel. No additional equipment should be required.

Picking one of these along with a non-contact voltage tester can help you save time and money when it comes to locating and repairing electrical issues in your home.

Does anyone know a good plumber?

How do you find a good contractor? Where do you start? How do you know they can do the job? Do they have all of the proper insurance and licensing?

Let's start with the first questions, "How do you find a contractor?". 20 years ago it was a little simpler. You had only a few choices: Ask family, a friend or a neighbor if they knew of anyone, or open the Yellow Book and start flippin' through the directory and ads. Today it is a much different story. Although one can, and should, request referals from family, friends and neighbors, there are so many other ways to find a good reliable contractor.

In today's article I will discuss 4 new was to find a qualified contractor and how you can protect yourself from the get go.

The first place to look is your local Area Chamber of Commerce. Your local CoC will have a business directory listing all of it's members. They may even have it up to date online. The reason that I like the CoC is that members have to pay to participate. So only serious businesses will take the time to sign up and keep up with membership dues.

The second place to look is The Better Business Bureau. Similar to your local CoC, the BBB is membership driven. To become a member you must meet and maintain certain requirements. The greatest aspect is there mediation services. Simply put, if you have an issue with a BBB business that you cannot resolve, the BBB will step in an mediate a resolution with both parties. If the business refuses or does not comply, it will be a black mark on the business.

The third place to look is Online Contractor Services. This can be a bit tricky and overwhelming when you see all of the services trying to get your attention. I will cover the three big boys in the business: Angie's List; Contractors.com; and Service Magic.

Angie's List is a consumer based service. You will pay a $10 activation fee and then subscribe to the service at 1, 2, 3 or 4 year rates. The way it works. Say you have a dining room that needs to be painted. You log in, search for painters, review the contractors and call them to setup estimates. Once you have selected a contractor and the work is complete, you then review the contractor. All reviews are verified by Angie's List prior to posting.

Contractors.com is a business based service. Conctractor sign up and purchase the rights to different regional zones. Contractors.com does verify proper licensing and insurance. Signing up for consumers is free. You simple log in, search for painters and wait for the contractors to call. Once you choose a contractor and they complete the job, just like Angie's List you are able to submit reviews.

Service Magic is also a business based service. Contractor also sign up but instead of purchasing the right to a regional zone, they purchase lead categories based on zip codes. Signing up for the consumer is again free. And just like Contractors.com you will submit your job information and they will assign 3 contractors the lead.

And the fourth is somewhere you may not have thought of when it comes to finding a legitimate contractors, Criagslist.org. There are a lot of scams on CL, however the majority of contractors on CL are legit. They will have a nice ad, and a link to their website.

Now that you have found a contractor, how can you protect yourself?

1) Did the contractor show up on time to the estimate?

2) When they arrived what was the condition of their vehicle? How were they dressed? Did they put on shoe covers or remove their shoes when they entered your home?

3) Did they bring proper tools to complete a thurough estimate? If someone is coming to estimate a paint job a tape measure and someway to record measurements is a must. If a contractor walks in with out a these two items, this should be a huge red flag.

4) Are they licensed and qualified to complete the work? You need to do your part and research what licensing requirements your local and regional municipalities requires for the scope of work you require. Ask the contractor to provide copies of their current license and then verify the validity with the issuing municipality.

5) Is the contractor properly insured? Ask the contractor to bring a copy of their certificate of insurance when you schedule the estimate. And make sure before giving a deposit for the work have the contractor list you on a certificate of insurance. This will allow you to file claims against the contractors insurance without having to go through the contractor.

6) Get a Lien Waiver when you make the final payment. This little piece of paper gives up the right of the contractor to file a lien on your property.

Hope that this helps you in your quest to complete your home improvement projects. Until next time, what goes up, doesn't have to come down if you properly maintain it.

Energy Savings: Smart Surge Protection

As I turn the lights of in the office at night I turn my head to give the old PC a nod good night and have to do a double take, did I turn the lights out. With all of the gizmos and gadgets, printers and monitors my office is lit up like Mission Control. And then the thought hits me, "How much money is leaking out of my house through LED lights and Standby Power?".

So I started doing some research, and come to find out, 5% of our bill is spent on standby power. Nationally that averages out to nearly $60 a year. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind having this cash back in my pocket. After a search for solutions I found a few devices that will help reduce Standby power loss and reduce our total energy consumption.

The first device is made by Belkin.

Save Energy Automatically

Conserve Smart AV™

Auto-Off Surge Protector

• Control power to 6 devices with your TV's on/off button
• Reduce standby power automatically

Reduce standby power.

Did you know the standby power consumed by your entertainment system when it's not in use is costing you an estimated $76 a year*? Entertainment systems are typically the biggest energy drains in the house, consuming energy 24/7.

One button does it all.

Control power to your whole entertainment system with the push of a button—your TV's power button. Turn off DVD players, VCRs, gaming consoles, receivers, subwoofers and other equipment automatically when you turn off your TV.

Power smart.

The Master Outlet senses when your TV is on or off and controls power to five peripheral outlets for your AV components. Two outlets stay on for devices that need continuous power, like DVRs. That's smart power.

The second device is also made by Belkin, and there are a variety of these devices on the market today.

Conserve Valet™

Smart USB Charging Station

• Charge up to 4 devices at once
• Shuts off automatically and eliminates standby power
• Keeps cords neat

Charge smart.

Most chargers continue to use power as long as they're plugged into the wall—even after you unplug your device. The Conserve Valet Smart USB Charging Station lets you charge all of your mobile devices in one convenient place, and automatically shuts off power—including standby power—after devices are fully charged. It even senses when new devices are added so you always get a full charge, and has an innovative cord management system to keep things neat. Keep your devices ready to go, and save energy, too.

But my personal favorite is The Zap Box.

The Zap Box is a proven, legal and certified power-saving invention that, once installed, will instantly save you money.

The Zap Box works seemlessly in the background.  Once you install it you'll never need to think about it again.  From the second you switch it on, you'll begin lowering your electric bills.
Typical savings for an average US household who use air-conditioners, fridges, freezers, washers and dryers are about 10-15%.

Welcome to Tasks & Tools!

Tasks and Tools is here to help! Are you a home owner for the first time? Or are you a seasoned veteran at home ownership? Do you have rentals? Where ever you are Tasks and Tools will help you complete the tasks around you house and show you the right tools to use.

If you have projects around the house and are not sure were to start, or if you are wondering what gadget is coming out, we are the place to check out. My name is Rob Estoll and I have been in the home trades for over 10 years. Let me help take some of the hassle and headache out of home ownership. From replacing a toilet to renovating the entire bathroom, we can show you, step by step, how to reduce your stress, avoid mistakes and help finish on budget and on time.

We look forward to helping you and your home.

Rob Estoll