I get pictures in all the time from friends in the trades… thought I would share a few today. To the best of my knowledge these are all real, no photo shop. While these are all pretty funny I hope they serve as a reminder to how a bad decision is only one step away from something far worse. Enjoy.
No way this is going to go well
“almost got it man, get another ladder”
Well, points for the hard hat anyway
“No way am I buying jack stands”
You have to admire this… that was not easy
I see “this guy” at the home stores all the time
Not sure who is better off here…
Dang it!
Painters… what can you say
“dude, gun it – you got this”
Maybe a little better plan would have been in order
I get calls all the time asking me “do you know a good … we have a serious problem”. So I thought I would post this up on the blog today and share some information. I personally do business with these companies and will vouch for their integrity and honesty. Do yourself a favor and save these contacts in your computer, phone, or put them on the fridge. A bad situation can get a lot better or a lot worse – most of that depends on who you call for help!
BRENNECO Plumbing(765-448-6190): Simply the best choice in town for quality plumbing. They do everything from helping out with a clogged line, sump pump and water heater work, all the way up to full scale commercial pipe fitting. They also deal with sprinklers, steam heat, boiler, and hot water circulating systems.
MECKO’S Heating and Cooling(765-447-7555): There are two things that are a must for a heating and air contractor. Honesty and 24 hour service that is reliable and ready to roll. Mecko’s has you covered on both accounts. They provide full heating and air conditioning sales and service, as well as duct cleaning and specialty ventilation installs. Smiles are guaranteed!
ARNIE COOK Roofing (765-420-7663): It is VERY hard to find a reliable, quality, sincere, passionate (and let’s be honest – sober) roofer these days. Arnie Cook is the real deal… one of the rare finds in the industry that treats roofing like the skilled trade that it is. If you need a new roof, repair work, emergency storm repairs, or just some quality advice Arnie is your guy!
ARTISAN ELECTRIC(765-414-3913): That’s us – you didn’t think I would skip the chance to put in a plug for the best little electrical shop in town did you J Our tag line is “For Solutions and Results” – that is what we do.
HAYS AND SONS Complete Restoration(765-449-9111): So sometimes really bad things happen (some worse than others). This is the place to go when it gets ugly. Trees on the house, water in the basement, fires, floods, wind damage, all those things that we try not to think about – that is what Hays and Sons does. They have a full shop, all the correct equipment and contacts, and a 24 hour crew on staff ready to roll when you need the help!
Lucky 7 – seven tips you can use to qualify contractors BEFORE you invite them into your home or business to do work. The bottom line is – CHECK THEM OUT.
ANGIE’S LIST – already a proven tool that covers a lot more ground these days then just contractors.
BBB- the Better Business Bureau has an ever growing data base of information on contractors – you can find out a lot from their web site or a phone call.
CITY ENGINEERS OFFICE – a call to the City Engineers Office in the town or county where you live can reveal a lot. Find out if the trade you are researching requires a state license, and if the specific contractor you are researching is bonded with the city or county they are working in.
TRAINING & EDUCATION- Find out how the contractor you are researching got their training. Did they (and the employees that will be sent out to YOUR job) go thru a certified apprenticeship or trade school? If not, how did they become “qualified” – make sure you are satisfied with this answer!
GET IT IN WRITING – a proper estimate for work should be fully itemized and in writing. It should be clear what is and what is not going to be done for the dollars you are about to spend. If you don’t like the way the estimate looks, ask them to submit a new document with a full scope of work or move on.
WARRANTY AGREEMENT – make sure you know up front what the guarantee on the workmanship and material is. Let them know prior to the start of work what your expectations are and ask for a signed / dated copy of the agreement at the completion of work.
FULL DISCLOSURE – It’s your money, ask where it is going. If things seem “off” and you feel like there is a potential issue then require a schedule of values prior to hiring someone for a job. A schedule of values is a document used to break down and track all the cost in a job, including % mark up of material and profit. A good contractor should be willing to share this information with you up front. If it smells like a rat, then it is usually a rat.
So there you have it, follow the Lucky 7 and you will really help narwow the field to those contractors who can and will provide you with the solutions and results you are paying for!
So I have talked in detail in the past about recessed can light dont’s, and using “Insulated Rated” cans, commonly known as IC cans. Here is a real world example of what “can” go wrong if the incorrect products are installed for the wrong applications.
In this case kraft face insulation bats had been installed over the cans, and then were covered with blown in insulation. The non-insulated rated cans eventually got things dried out enough (and hot enough) to ignite the paper on the back of the insulation. Had this customer not been home to call the fire department at the first signs of smoke they would have lost the whole house. As it was the dining room area was destroyed, and there was smoke damage to the rest of the home.
Note in the picture on the right the warning label on the light fixture…
Things have been pretty crazy around here the last few weeks (in a good way). We are pleased to announce that we have been nominated for the “Indiana’s Favorite Blog” contest.
TODAY is the last day of voting, if you like what you see here please cast a vote for Artisan Electric, here is how you do it >>>
Check this stuff out… one of my favorite full line lighting suppliers / ceiling fan makers. I love their products, top quality and a wide range of styles. Their ceiling fans are some of the best made and their designer line by George Kovacs is very cool stuff (FYI – Kirby Risk is a dealer, which gives us local support on products and better pricing).
I am getting asked about this more and more now, so I went looking for an up-to-date list of the currently available tax credits for homeowners regarding energy efficiency improvements to a dwelling. I found this list on the Energy Star web site, which is good information that could really effect the bottom line of a project.
Tax credits are now available for home improvements:
must be for taxpayer’s principal residence, EXCEPT for geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, and small wind energy systems (where second homes qualify)
$1,500 is the maximum total amount that can be claimed for all products placed in service in 2009 & 2010 for most home improvements, EXCEPT for geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, fuel cells, and small wind energy systems which are not subject to this cap, and are in effect through 2016
improvements made in 2009 will be claimed on your 2009 taxes (filed by April 15, 2010) — use IRS Tax Form 5695 (2009 version) — it will be available late 2009 or early 2010
If you are building a new home, you can qualify for the tax credit for geothermal heat pumps, photovoltaics, solar water heaters, small wind energy systems and fuel cells, but not the tax credits for windows, doors, insulation, roofs, HVAC, or non-solar water heaters.More.
At least half of the energy generated by the “qualifying property” must come from the sun. Homeowners may only claim spending on the solar water heating system property, not the entire water heating system of the household.
The credit is not available for expenses for swimming pools or hot tubs.
The water must be used in the dwelling.
The system must be certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC).
Hybrid gasoline-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel, and fuel cell vehicles
Based on a formula determined by vehicle weight, technology, and fuel economy compared to base year models
There is a 60,000 vehicle limit per manufacturer before a phase-out period begins. Toyota and Honda have already been phased out. Credit is still available for Ford, GM and Nissan.
Use IRS Form 8910 for hybrid vehicles purchased for personal use.
Use IRS Form 3800 for hybrid vehicles purchased for business purposes.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
$2,500–$7,500
The first 250,000 vehicles sold get the full tax credit (then it phases out like the hybrid vehicle tax credits).
Effective January 1, 2009.
1Subject to a $1,500 maximum per homeowner for all improvements combined.
Efficient Cars
Starting January 1, 2009, there is a new tax credit for Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, starting at $2,500 and capped at $7,500 for cars and trucks (the credit is based on the capacity of the battery system). The first 250,000 vehicles sold get the full tax credit (then it phases out like the hybrid vehicle tax credits).
Tax credits are available to buyers of hybrid gasoline-electric, diesel, battery-electric, alternative fuel, and fuel cell vehicles. The tax credit amount is based on a formula determined by vehicle weight, technology, and fuel economy compared to base year models. These credits are available for vehicles placed in service starting January 1, 2006. For hybrid and diesel vehicles made by each manufacturer, the credit will be phased out over 15 months starting after that manufacturer has sold 60,000 eligible vehicles. For vehicles made by manufacturers that have not reached the end of the phase-out, the credits will end for vehicles placed in service after December 31, 2010. See the IRS Website for updated information.
As an electrical contractor we run into a lot of bad situations. One of the worst is when a client loses all of their digital files, data, and media due to a fire / flood / or not having a back-up drive. We strongly recommend the ioSafe for just this application, built like a tank and very affordable. Check out the review of this thing on MacWorld.
ioSafe Solo
Hard drive that’s tough enough for fire and floods
Imagine confronting a disaster in your home. A house fire. A flood. Or even something as common as a leaky roof. When surveying the damage, you notice your external hard drive. Normally, a hard drive would be ruined by fire or water. No matter the encryption or how shock-resistant the drive, a typical hard drive is not designed to withstand that kind of abuse.
That’s where the ioSafe Solo comes in. The ioSafe Solo is the black box of storage options, providing disaster protection and peace of mind by surviving situations other drives can’t.
The ioSafe Solo’s security features for your data don’t involve encryption, but are of the physical variety. To withstand moisture, the drive is sealed in what the company calls a HydroSafe waterproof package that can handle up to 10 feet of water for three days. The ioSafe Solo also has a ceramic block that is part of the drive’s DataCast fireproof insulation. When reaching temperatures over 160 degrees Fahrenheit, the ceramic block releases water vapor to cool the unit.
The drive includes ioSafe’s Data Recovery Service that is activated with product registration. The service includes a telephone hotline and e-mail address to contact the ioSafe Disaster Response Team. The service also comes with a Data Extraction Guarantee of up to $20,000 and a free replacement ioSafe unit with the recovered data. The Data Recovery Service and the Disaster Response Team are available with the original warranty and can be extended for up to five years.
Trial by water and fire
The company’s press materials claim that the ioSafe Solo can withstand being submerged in ten feet of water. To simulate this, we threw the drive into a large fountain at Marathon Plaza in San Francisco.
Granted, our test did not involve true flood conditions. We submerged the iSafe solo in water for a fraction of the time that a flood would likely submit the drive to. While examining the ioSafe Solo’s water-tight bag, which covers the hard drive mechanism while inside the iSafe solo,I believed that it would withstand being submerged in water for hours, maybe even days.
In order to test the drive in our labs and confirm its waterproof abilities, we had to unscrew the exterior, remove the ceramic interior, and finally cut open the bag itself. This voided the warranty as it made the unit no longer water safe. But when we plugged the exposed Hitachi drive into a WiebeTech SATADock adapter, the drive worked.
To test the ioSafe Solo’s ability to withstand fire, we performed a few tests at The Crucible using a flame cannon. Since we performed the fire test after the water test, we taped the watertight bag closed as best we could. The bagged Hitachi drive was placed inside the ceramic enclosure and metal exterior.
The Crucible’s flame cannon did not achieve the sustained high temperatures that are associated with house fires, but it did exceed over 300 degrees, enough to melt the fan in the back of the drive as well as much of the mounting. The ceramic interior was singed and smelled something awful, but the drive mechanism, despite the compromise of its watertight bag, was intact. I removed the drive mechanism from the case, and attached it to the SATADock, and it worked on our Mac without a hitch.
The ioSafe Solo’s waterproof and fireproof abilities are exceptional, but there is always room for improvement. The ioSafe Solo is not designed to withstand more than normal drops, bruises, and kicks, though when I dropped the ioSafe several times from heights of three to four feet, and the drive mechanism continued to work. It would be nice to see the ioSafe Solo modified to withstand more disastrous rumble tests that would simulate what you might experience in an earthquake or building collapse.
The video below shows how we tested the ioSafe Solo’s waterproof and fireproof capabilities.
Speed
The ioSafe Solo is available in 500GB (tested), 1TB, and 1.5TB capacities. The drive has a Hitachi 7200 rotations-per-minute mechanism, but is sadly limited to only USB connectivity. Its USB speed is sluggish compared to drives that use FireWire or eSATA, but the drive’s USB times show that its performance is similar to other USB drives we’ve tested.
The ioSafe finished our 1GB copy test in 52 seconds, only slightly off the USB times of other desktop drives we’ve reviewed. Western Digital’s My Book Mac Edition (), our top USB-only desktop drive, finished the same test in 49 seconds.
Timed trials
Copy 1GB file to USB 2.0
0:52
Duplicate 1GB file via USB 2.0
1:20
Low-memory Photoshop: USB 2.0
1:27
Scale = Minutes: Seconds
How we tested: We ran all tests with the drive connected to a Mac Pro Quad 2.66GHz Xeon with Mac OS X 10.5 installed and 1GB of RAM. We tested the drive with each available port. We copied a folder containing 1GB of data from our Mac’s hard drive to the external hard drive to test the drive’s write speed. We then duplicated that file on the external drive to test both read and write speeds. We also used the drive as a scratch disk when running our low-memory Adobe Photoshop CS3 Suite test. This test is a set of four tasks performed on a 150MB file, with Photoshop’s memory set to 25 percent.—Macworld Lab Testing by Chris Holt
In our 1GB duplication test, the ioSafe Solo finished at a slightly slower pace that the My Book Mac Edition, completing the test in 1 minute, 20 seconds, a full 6 seconds behind the My Book Mac Edition.
However, the ioSafe Solo had surprisingly fast times in our low memory Photoshop test. On average, the ioSafe solo finished the test in 1 minute, 27 seconds, actually besting the My Book for Mac by 4 seconds.
Obviously, the ioSafe Solo isn’t built for speed, but it’s nice to see it has competitive times for its chosen connectivity. Since USB is so universal, virtually anyone can use the ioSafe’s storage capabilities and security features.
The price of the ioSafe solo depends on both the capacity and the warranty associated with it. The 500GB model, which comes with a three-year warranty and a one-year data recovery system, will set you back $150. That works out to about $.30 per gigabyte. Two additional years of the data recovery service plan costs and additional $50, while a full five-year warranty and five years of the data recovery service will cost an additional $100.
Specifications
Price per gigabyte
$.30
Connectors
USB 2.0 (1)
Rotational Speed
7,200rpm
Other capacities
1TB ($230 to $330), 1.5TB ($300 to $400)
Macworld’s buying advice
Like an airplane’s black box, the ioSafe solo ensures your data will be kept safe even when confronted with disastrous conditions. Perhaps more compelling still, the drive is at a price that makes it affordable to the average consumer. Just as the family safe is designed to keep important paper documents intact no matter what, a family ioSafe Solo will preserve the data you want to keep, come hellfire or high water.
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, the cumulative experience of many masters of craftsmanship. Quality also marks the search for an ideal after necessity has been satisfied and mere usefulness achieved.
So, I get asked this question all the time while doing site visits, “What do you see here that I need to fix right now?” Often times there are a lot of things to talk about, but there are some pretty constant items that come up that almost always need to be addressed… here are 5 of the most important:
1) GFCI OUTLETS: (ground fault circuit interrupters) should be installed to protect outlets within 6′ of any water source, in all unfinished spaces, and for all exterior outlets. These are the outlets with the “push button” resets on them.
2) OPEN SPLICES: all electrical splices should be made in a UL approved junction box with a proper cover. The importance of this is a basic one – the box and cover contain the fire in the event that a junction fails and begins throwing sparks or putting off enough heat to ignite combustible materials. Going the extra mile here and using all metal boxes and covers is preferable.
3) PUSHMATIC BREAKERS: these are the old style of breakers that can be identified as the ones that have to be “pushed” to turn off and on. They are widely known in the trades to be an inferior product that is at the end of it’s life span. These breakers often fail to work correctly when overloads occur.
4) EXTENSION CORDS: extension cords are only designed for temporary use. IF they have to be used as a long standing solution then they need to be 14 or 12 gauge cords with a ground wire (3 prong) so that the conductors in the cord are sized correctly to the breaker that protects the circuit. Failure to do so – like using one of those little brown 16 gauge 2 prong cords to run your toaster or microwave – could lead to the cord catching fire or failing long before the breaker that protects the circuit is designed to trip.
5) 2 PRONG ADAPTERS: in a lot of older homes that have not been updated the electrical circuits do not have a ground. Using a 2 > 3 prong adapter – Especially for APPLIANCE LOADS – is a poor decision. If the equipment that you are trying to plug in has 3 prongs then it needs a ground.
No way this is going to go well
“almost got it man, get another ladder”
Well, points for the hard hat anyway
“No way am I buying jack stands”
You have to admire this… that was not easy
I see “this guy” at the home stores all the time
Not sure who is better off here…
Dang it!
“dude, gun it – you got this”
Maybe a little better plan would have been in order
The futue of the trades?
At least someone is holding the ladder
