Weep holes are an important concept when it comes to maintaining your home. They're not well understood though, because they're difficult to find (look where the white stick is pointing) and sometimes confusing, when you don't understand why there's a hole in your home's exterior envelope. So …
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Gable Vents for Ventilation
If you had to draw a picture of a house, most likely you'd draw the roof with two sloping sides that meet at the top of the roof to form a triangle. The triangles at the front and back of the house (or on the sides of the house) are called the gable ends of the house. Older homes have gable …
PEX Tubing
PEX is an abbreviation for polyethylene with cross-links, a new type of tubing used in residential plumbing systems. It is considered a viable alternative to older PVC, CPVC and copper "water pipes", ranging in size from 1/4 inch to 4 inches. It comes in white, although it's more common to see red …
Knockdown Drywall Texture
Drywall comes in large sheets, typically 4 x 8 feet (longer sizes in new construction) similar to plywood. The seams where two pieces of drywall meet, or around small drywall repairs, have to be hidden. This is done with a thin layer of joint compound, that is spread over the entire …
Fascia Boards
At the edge of your roof, there are several different trim boards that cover and protect the roofing framework behind this outside envelope. The fascia boards are like the trim around doors and windows, hiding the framing that makes up your roof. Fascia boards are the easiest to see. They're the …
Sponge Test for Wood Rot
When explaining home construction, maintenance and repair concepts, it helps to use examples of things most people are familiar with. That's why I like to talk about the spongy or sponge test. The sponge test is a very easy way to identify if you've got problems with wood rot. Curious to …
