Dormant Wasp Hives Are A Reminder     While tearing apart some deck railing yesterday, I came across some dormant wasp hives. In this 5 foot section of railing there must have been 10-12 hives, one was small and active. It was a reminder of a couple of things.   During the hotter month we will be seeing much more of the active wasp hives. Be careful when demolishing in the areas that we have seen them nesting. Carry some wasp spray to be safe from the swarm.   We learned yesterday to be more careful and ready for the stinging insects in the future.     03/24/2015

Sometimes You Don’t Need a Ladder to See You Have Dry Rotted Fascia Boards   A woman had called wanting a dry rot expert to come look at her home for dry rot damage in her North Sacramento Home. Since this is what we do, repair dry rot in Sacramento, I returned her call for more information. We schedule something right away for me to come give her a free estimate. Dry rot damage is not all that uncommon in the Sacramento Region, the severity will vary depending on the regular maintenance of the home. Knowing where to look for the common areas of rotting wood helps but sometimes it can be obvious, even without a ladder. This call was a good example. While it does take some time to get a thorough look at all the problem areas, the more severely damaged wood may be easily seen. The fascia... 03/14/2015

  So What is Involved In Replacing a Beam?   I recently posted about a deck that had signs of movement and cracking in Sacramento. The cracks were in the stucco covering the wood support beam and need to be looked at. Upon opening the area of the beam support, we could see that the wood beam was rotted and needed to be replaced. So how do you remove a wood beam to is holding up a very heavy upstairs deck? Very carefully! It is important that there is enough support to hold the existing deck in place while removing and replacing the damaged wood. So the best approach is to build a temporary beam or support system that will hold things safely for a little while. In our case, this Sacramento deck had to be lifted a bit to get it back up to the original height before the framing started to ... 02/10/2015

  That “Musty” Smell Could Have Been Your First Clue   In Sacramento, a common spot for water to leak and create rot is under the kitchen sink; we see this in many apartments and homes. The trouble is that many store a lot of things under the sink and getting a good visual look is impossible without emptying the contents of the cabinet. So how could I possibly know that there was a slow leak under the sink? One of the first clues should be the smell; moist wood will begin to have a “musty” smell to it. Don’t ignore the problem. If it has gotten to the point of giving off an odor, the problem is usually pretty serious. In the photo, this cabinet base shelf was replaced by the maintenance staff about a year ago. The leak returned and went undetected again for a while. When I walked into t... 09/18/2013

    I have been looking at more and more jobs with these sorts of signs in the window, not For Sale signs on the lawn. Many of the homes are bank owned, foreclosures and other special situations. The type of sale doesn’t have too much of an effect on me and the work we do. As a general rule the home are in need of some serious repairs; dry rot, water damage, and deferred maintenance are common place in this properties. If we are called early enough, we can quickly get the home ready for move in or rental.     07/13/2013

  Is That Daylight That I See Shining Through? It Doesn’t Look Watertight.   Okay, so I’m looking at the inside of an attached storage area on the backside of a building checking for signs of water damage. There were many areas that you could actually see daylight shining through the walls. As a general rule, if you can see daylight, water can also make its way through too. Many of the areas where we saw daylight had signs of water intrusion. Before it gets too bad, correcting these areas should be a high priority. If you do not know what to look for, consider contacting a qualified dry rot repair contractor. Looking for a Dry Rot Repair Contractor in Sacramento?   02/16/2013

Photos - 9/12 Tea Party Rally in Sacramento, California Yesterday, Bob and I rode our bike to the 9/12 Tea Party Rally at McClellan Park in North Highlands, near Sacramento, California. The weather was a perfect 85 degrees during the ride and until about 1:30pm or so...then it felt like 95 degrees on the asphalt! There were a variety of speakers who discussed politics, taxation, government, tea party history and the local chapters. Here is a photo that I took with my iPhone: There are some definite benefits to riding a motorcyle to an event like this, like easy parking...but a couple of negatives I experienced were: I couldn't buy anything (well, Bob may not think of that as a negative!) because we don't have saddlebags on the bike and I didn't want to carry a backpack, and we couldn't ... 09/13/2010