Check Your Roof And Gutters For Leaf Build-Up

The leaves have started to fall from the trees around your home, now is the time to check for leaf build-up. You can probably see the roof top from the ground.

Are the leaves piling up in the valleys of the roof? Do the leaves fill and top the gutters? This may be a good time to correct this issue. If the rain water can't get to the gutters and downspouts, water will be flowing over the top and possibly creating new problems around the house.

This is something that a homeowner can do themselves, you will need a few common items to do the job. A blower or small rack to clear out the valleys comes in handy. The gutters will need to be scooped out by hand or purchase a scooper designed for gutter cleaning.

If you've neglected doing this for a while the gutters may be filled with moist decomposing debris. It can be a smelly mess, gloves and a mask may help.

Of course there are business that do this sort of thing. Look up gutter cleaning in your local area for help with this.

Good Luck in all your home maintenance projects.

Is Your Tile Roof Ready For The Rainy Season?

While doing a regular annual inspection of this roof, I discovered several broken and missing tiles. Last years storms caused tree limbs to fall onto the house damaged the concrete tile roofing. Luckily we had some matching tiles that made the repairs unnoticable when completed.

Broken roof tiles initially may not show signs of leaking right away. However, constant water flowing under the tiles will probably cause much more damage if left uncorrected. This is something that a homeowner can do themselves, or have a qualified roofing contractor do a visual inspection of the home. Either way, it is important to regularly inspected roof tiles before it is leaking inside the home.

New Paint Can Change The Whole Room

A new coat of paint can change the whole look of a room. You don't need to get to fancy, or hire a decorator. Pick up some colors from your local paint or hardware store and brush on some sample areas. Ask your family and friends what they think of the colors. You may be surprised at their response, they may have some good suggestions themselves. Heck, you may be able to convince them to help.

Shur-Line 500 Premium Paint Edger
How To Paint: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners Covering Watercolors, Acrylics and Oils

My Kitchen Cabinets Are Falling!

I had gotten a call about a problem with the upper cabinets in the kitchen of an apartment. "The cabinets are falling off the wall" the manager said. I thought that was going to be a over-exageration, but promptly got to the property. Must to my surprise - the kitchen cabinets were falling off the wall!

Apparently, the original installer used 6 nails to hold the cabinets to the wall; three missed hitting any wood framing and over time, the remaining three slipped from the weight. The tenant literally had a wood box holding the cabinets up.

We pulled all the original nails, lifted the whole cabinet system and secured the unit to the walls with 3" screws at the top and bottom of each cabinet section.

Replace Dual Pane Windows - General Contractor May Not Be Needed

I had the opportunity to replace some dual pane windows here in Placerville, Cameron Park, and Sacramento recently, it was easier than I expected. As a general contractor in Placerville, I have never been called to replace the dual pane window itself. Usually I get calls to change out the entire window, frame, siding, etc.

I am here to tell you that replacing the dual pane glass is much easier than expected. You will need some simple tools - screwdriver, tape measure, etc. It certainly is not brain surgery. In the worse case, bring the parts to a glass shop and have them finish the work for you.

If, however, you do manage to do this yourself, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars. And if one window has failed, surely others will fail in the future.

Here is one of many web sites to help you with the dual pane window replacement.

Good Luck.

Improve the value of your home with a new shower enclosure.

Got a call about improving some residencial showers in a home.

The bathrooms were a little outdated, in need of repair, and some improvements would add value to the home in the long run. Sometimes it is difficult to justify the cost of the improvement. If this is the case, maybe sitting down with a realtor, or contractor, and get an objective assessment of the added value of the improvement is necessary.

Sterling CI2900A-32S/W Economy Shower Kit Corner Entry 32" x 32" x 72" Bypass Hammered Glass with Wh

Interior Wall Repair in Sacramento

During the rainy season, water damage tends to increase. The problem with that is we can not always assume that the rains have caused the water problem that we see. In the picture above, water has damaged the sheetrock wall in the interior of the laundry room. The area is moist and could in fact be caused by the rains. However, in that same vicinity is a copper plumbing line, that also needs to be checked.
A variety of tests can be done to find the source of this problem but this is my recommendation to the owners. Have a licensed contractor test the walls for moisture with a moisture meter, this will determine if water is running down the wall from a higher location. Once the origin of the water leak has been determined, open the wall to inspect the problem. If it is a plumbing leak, the pipe will be repaired. If the roof is leaking, the roof will be repaired. In either case the wet water damaged walls will be removed and patched.

Plumbing repairs inside apartment wall in Sacramento, Ca

 Some pictures of a plumbing leak, a cracked 4-way fitting, inside a common wall. The repair was in an apartment comunity in Sacramento, Ca.

Pictures shown inset are the fitting as seen in the wall originally, after cut out, and a visual look laying on floor to show how the fitting had cracked. The larger picture is the new 4 way installed and functioning.

Top of the Google search results for Contractors in Placerville

It took some time, but we finally made it to the top of this search list.You can too!