It’s an age old question — do I need a new asphalt shingle roof? If you have a roofer come to your home to do an inspection, chances are they are going to tell you that you need a new roof. And, chances are they need the money more than you need a new roof. So what gives? Do you need a new roof or not? Use these common signs that your asphalt shingle roof needs to be replaced and save yourself the hassle of wondering whether or not you got an honest roofing inspection. [Read more...]
Asphalt Shingle Roofing Advice – Why the Hell do I Need a New Roof?
How to Use a Pressure Washer Without Destroying Things
If you’ve ever had to use a pressure washer to clean off your stained concrete sidewalks and driveway, then you know how useful they can be. Nothing beats a high pressure blast of water to do some real deep cleaning. But if you’ve used your pressure washer to clean up your wood deck, asphalt shingles, soffit, vinyl siding or stucco walls, then you might be doing more harm than good. There’s an old saying that I just invented: “if ‘said product’ was designed to resist water, then why would you clean ‘said product’ with high pressure blasts of the stuff”? Catchy, isn’t it? In this article we’ll cover where, when and how to use a pressure washer and provide some some less destructive but still effective alternatives. [Read more...]
Flat Roof Insulation How To
Like most Southern Californians, we use our garage for just about everything EXCEPT storing a car. It’s a luxury not all parts of the country have, but it affords Californians with some square footage that might normally be a basement in other parts of the country. In our case the garage is a HomeFixated proving ground, workshop and all-around man-cave (you do need to ignore the washer and dryer, which completely mess with the man-cave feng shui). Our garage has a flat and dark-colored roof, and in the summer it turns into an oven that will literally broil you if dare set foot inside it mid-day. When we recently needed to reroof the garage, I decided to capitalize on the opportunity and install some rigid foam board insulation as well. [Read more...]
Zip System Wall and Roof Sheathing — Keep the Job Dry and Kiss House Wraps Goodbye
Zip System by Huber Engineered Woods takes construction to the next level. Wall and roof sheathing (panels) are resin coated for maximum air and water resistance and have a high R-value (thermal resistance value). That means low heat loss and a very energy efficient product. The panels install quickly and joints are sealed with Zip flashing tape — that's it. The system is designed to eliminate the need for house wraps or roofing felt. Take a look at the picture at the left – you can what it looks like up close. The sheathing is an OSB (oriented strand board), coated with a water resistant, threaded resin layer. The panels are pre-marked with a fastening guide for error-free installation. Roof sheathing is red and wall sheathing is green, just in case you've somehow overlooked the large, black lettered warnings "Wall Use Only" and "Roof Use Only" stamped all over each panel. [Read more...]
Snow & Ice on the Roof: What NOT To Do After a Blizzard
It doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen America’s Funniest Home Videos or if you’re the only person on earth who has never wasted time on YouTube: You know something is going to happen anytime a video camera is pointed at a man removing snow and ice from his roof. [Read more...]
SnoJax – Keeping People from Being Buried Alive Since 1976
With names like Snojax and IceJax you might think that we’re talking about characters from a spin off version of Street Fighter. Snojax vs. Chun Li…Round One, Fight! However, these polycarbonate cleats are the brain child of the late Jack McMullen and are manufactured in Mechanicsburg, PA (and really if you’re going to buy anything shouldn’t it be from a place with mechanic in the name, it just says they know what they’re doing). [Read more...]
Back on the (Rain) Chain Gang
Let it be known, I’ll use any excuse to listen to and promote old Pretenders songs. As far as I’m concerned, you just don’t hear tunes from Chrissie Hynde and her crew nearly enough. That’s why when I first came across Rain Chains Direct, and for whatever reason immediately thought of the song Back on the Chain Gang, I knew it was a product worth talking about on HomeFixated.
Don’t get me wrong, the rain chains from Rain Chains Direct are worthy of mention regardless of the song association this silly writer connected to the product – and here’s why. [Read more...]
Spring Cleaning, and Outdoor Maintenance
Pretty much anytime someone mentions: “Spring Cleaning”–my first instinct is to hide in a closet (not to be cleaned) and frame myself inside of it. Despite the fact that I rather enjoy clean areas–the actual doing of the cleaning is what seems to bother me. It’s just so…blech. There are easily a billion things I’d rather be doing than cleaning–but despite my insistence on the idea that gnomes or armies of pixies will actually do it, they never have. So, I present to you: Spring Cleaning Chores with a Twist: Some outdoor chores that probably should be done–and my suggestions on how to make them seem like things I would have thought of–or at least would participate in. [Read more...]
It’Snow Problem With The Roof Rake
Having excess snow on your roof can be dangerous for a few reasons. For one, if it suddenly falls off (which happens frequently), it could fall onto unsuspecting people or items below. While it might seem fluffy and harmless, snow can be surprisingly heavy. If it has a row of hard, sharp icicles attached to it, or ice knives as some call it, it could really, really hurt someone.
The second risk is that your kids, drunk spouse, or neighborhood Jackass enthusiast could get some bright ideas about creating a roof slide: [Read more...]
Gorilla Gripper: Lets You Carry Sheet
There is nothing more frustrating than trying to carry something awkward. The pauses and stops you have to make to switch your hands around is annoying – but what’s worse is when people see you doing this and think you’re stopping because you’re a wimp who can’t handle the weight.
The truth is, not all of us have the “wingspan” of an NBA player. Getting our arms around sheets of plywood, drywall and other building materials is what’s challenging – not the weight.
The makers of Gorilla Gripper understood this and developed a cool little device that solves the problem of carrying these relatively light but majorly awkward items. Take a look at the promo video which involves a magic Gorilla Gripper Genie, straight out of a construction worker’s dreams! [Read more...]
