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Home Maintenance Tips For Homeowners | Homeowners Tips
Oct 11, 2023
Homeowners’ tips on maintenance, lawns, and renovation. We know that it’s a busy season for home renovation projects. That's why we invited experts to share tips with you on how to do home maintenance yourself. 00:00 - Introduction 00:12 - How to save on plumbing and HVAC? (plumbing and HVAC maintenance tips) 07:31 - How to prevent roofing issues? 08:53 - How to choose the best gutter guards? 10:42 - What lawnmower to choose for the yard? 13:45 - How to plan a home renovation? 15:33 - Conclusion More tips from our experts: https://www.youtube.com/c/RoofingInsightsBrand https://www.youtube.com/c/MowersNBlowers https://www.thegentlemenpros.com/Calgary/Plumbers/ https://www.sellmysahousefast.com/ #Roofing #Plumbing #HVAC #Lawnmowers #HomeRenovation #ExpertTalksWithPissedConsumer #PissedConsumer Support Pissed Consumer video interview project: https://www.pissedconsumer.com/donate.html Subscribe to Pissed Consumer social media accounts:
View Video Transcript
0:00
So let's first start, I guess, with plumbing and probably the biggest appliance that you have in
0:22
the plumbing side of things is your hot water tank. Now, a hot water tank, the best thing to
0:27
do is maintain a hot water tank is flush it annually, get all of the sediment and build up
0:31
in that hot water tank out for it to be able to run as long as possible and as efficient as possible
0:38
Now, if you don't need to do, if you don't know how to do that or don't feel comfortable, by all
0:42
means have a professional come in, but it's not something in my mind that a professional needs to
0:47
do. You can save yourself, you know, a lot of money over the course of the lifetime of that
0:53
hot water tank by being able to do it yourself. There are some great YouTube videos out there
0:58
I know when we go out to a consumer and we flush their hot water tank, we invite them to come along
1:04
and we show them the steps to be able to do it safely and so that they can get, so that they can
1:10
do that themselves the next time. Again, if they don't, if they don't feel comfortable with that
1:14
we're more than happy to come back and take care of that for them. So with maintenance of a plumbing
1:20
system, I think that, that, you know, with a hot water tank, that's something that needs to be done
1:25
The other side to that is the next biggest problem that you have in a home is usually drains
1:29
And there's two different levels to drains. There's ones with the shower, the sinks
1:33
and then there's your, your main drain going out of the home. So on your, your drains with your
1:41
showers and your sinks, there's a product that we found out of, I believe it's out of Florida down
1:48
the states that's a bacteria that you can put in your drain and it maintains it and you have to be
1:54
careful what you're putting in drains there's a lot of products out there that are strong acids that are very um you know probably not too environmentally friendly but more more importantly
2:03
are very hard on a plumbing system especially if you have an older plumbing system that is
2:07
has metal with it because it reacts uh very very strongly with it i've been in systems where it's
2:14
actually eaten out the bottom of the pipes because of the acid that's being put through
2:18
So I don't recommend products that are, you know, that are that strong acid that can eat through the
2:25
hair and that kind of stuff, but they're also eating through other things. Look for other products
2:29
or else learn how to clean it out manually. There's different YouTube videos again, or have a
2:35
professional come in. The other side to that, the other big problem that people have is their main
2:41
sewers that go out. And depending again of what part of the country you live in, where we are
2:47
because of the frost levels, those pipes need to be eight feet plus underneath the ground. And so
2:53
it's a major to dig those up. In other warmer climates where it doesn't freeze, there can be
2:59
as little as six inches below the ground. But one of the problems with a sewer or a main drain
3:06
going out of the house is you don't know you have a problem until you have a problem
3:11
And the only way to find that out is by having usually a contractor come in with a camera and camera down that line to make sure that it's in good condition
3:22
Because a lot of times you'll get root intrusion that grows in, starts to break up that pipe, creates dams and things get caught on it
3:30
And you don't know that that's happening because it's underground, it's concealed
3:35
The only way, too, is with a camera inspection. Now, we obviously live in a day and age where we've got these cool tools and we're able to see what's going on down there
3:44
I recommend doing that before or once a year. Also strongly highly recommend can tell you the amount of times when we get a phone call of somebody who just moved in and they have a backup and we go in and see that they have massive root intrusion that could have been found out before they moved into a home
4:03
That's kind of a different topic, but something that is a great thing to do that is a need to do before ever purchasing a home
4:11
So on the plumbing side, those are some of the things that you can do with maintenance
4:16
and also with having a professional that comes in to look at the different things
4:23
that maybe the average consumer doesn't have access to. So that's on the plumbing side
4:29
On the heating side, the biggest thing that I think can be done in maintenance
4:33
is make sure that you are changing your filter constantly. Not only does that filter clean the air so that we can breathe better
4:41
but it also helps to keep that piece of equipment maintained and in good working order
4:48
If you have a dirty piece of equipment, different studies have shown that it can reduce the efficiency of that piece of equipment up to 30-40%
4:59
And if it's dirty, then it's not working properly and it also potentially reduces the lifespan of the different components on that furnace
5:08
whether it's a furnace or an AC both things need to be done
5:15
on the furnace or the AC the time though that it's working the hardest is when it's
5:21
extremely cold outside and it's working overtime and when something works hard that's when it breaks down
5:28
when you need it the most and so I recommend that at the beginning of each season
5:33
that you go in and you can test all the different components whether it's a fan or a relay or whatever it is, to be able to fit into a certain spectrum that the manufacturers put out there
5:44
Not many people do this, unfortunately, but I would have every year, we recommend that you have somebody come in and test
5:52
and make sure that all the components of that furnace or AC fit within the parameter of the manufacturer
5:59
And if it doesn't, replace them. And it's a lot easier to get a heating company or an AC company out to your home when it's not, you know, freezing cold outside or extremely hot for AC and be able to replace those components than when everybody else needs it at the same time
6:19
You're freezing or you're sweating like crazy. And those service companies are just going day and night to try and keep up with the load
6:29
So proactiveness, definitely, especially when it's a life and death situation, which it can turn out to be
6:39
Being a little bit proactive of getting things tested before. And if it needs to be changed out, change it
6:45
It might be working perfectly fine, but if it doesn't fit within the parameters, that's saying, hey, I'm not feeling well
6:50
You know, maybe it's time to change me. On the electrical side of things, we just started an electrical division about three years ago now
6:58
I'm not an electrician myself, but I know we do go in and do electrical inspections to make sure
7:04
that everything is set up right, looking for things like aluminum wiring, making sure that
7:09
it's grounded properly, all those different things. Have an electrician come into your home
7:14
especially if it's an older home, there's a lot of different things that over years can
7:19
start to break down and that you need to, I guess, have maintained by a professional
7:27
by someone who knows what they're talking about. So there's a lot of visual, like you can see cracks
7:40
like if it changes colors, if you see blown shingles, definitely don wait because roof leaks will cost you a lot What I would do at the very least is get it inspected maybe do maintenance package i mean i inspected many roofs that definitely have five six years left in them my neighbor right
7:59
across the street he has algae strikes another problem so you know i treated his roof four years
8:04
ago and four years ago roofers were knocking on his doors telling him roof's gonna leak we treated
8:09
it four years later algae is gone and his roof is still probably gonna last another five ten years
8:15
It's 15 years old roof now. So it's, you know, good roofing system
8:21
But overall, have it inspected. General maintenance, like we're talking about sealants
8:28
Roofs usually leak around penetration. So shingles will not fail you. What will fail is pipe boot around your pipes, maybe chimney flashing around your chimney
8:41
and anywhere you have a valley or you know where siding meets the wall that those are trouble areas
8:49
that needs to be checked but shingles by itself if you don't see missing shingles they probably
8:54
will be okay the problem with the gutter covers is uh it's a do-it-yourself category so a lot of
9:06
people do it themselves unfortunately what you see in big box stores fail within two three years
9:12
so you have millions of homes you have hundreds of products i would say 80 90 percent of them don't
9:19
work for a long period of time so they do fail uh you know i i tell people all the time do not go
9:25
with this with the cheapest one like for example i'll give just one example i don't want to
9:29
disparage the brand but there's a sponge like people literally put sponge inside and all it does
9:35
it will last one or two years it will uh absorb not only moisture but debris seeds and you will
9:44
have stuff growing from it and it's also will change it for i'm going to get super dry and you
9:48
still will have to clean it so i tell people why would you install something that you still need to
9:53
clean year later and even uh owners of those brands there are several of them and they sell
9:59
it at all big box stores they say yeah you know once a year or twice uh once in two years go
10:04
remove it rinse and put it back like that just defeats the purpose of it like you know why would
10:10
you even have something like that so there's a lot of products that don't work there's a few that
10:15
work really well but overpriced uh like my favorite it's micro mesh type uh costco used to sell them
10:23
i worked with one brand out of florida called leaf solution there's a few micro mesh as a type
10:29
I think micromesh is the best. There's a few others. I would say stay away from plastics and stay away from brands that you see on a big TV
10:46
Right now, the majority of the lawnmowers in the industry right now are made by MTD
10:56
MTD makes the new craftsmen. As you guys know, Craftsman used to be part of Sears
11:01
Of course, Sears is really no longer here. So they sold the Craftsman brand to different companies
11:09
But of the main company that supplies the Craftsman lawn tractors and lawn equipment, if you will, is from MTD
11:17
MTD also owns brands that you've all heard of, like Troybilt, Cub Cadet, Yard Machines, Yardman, Yardworks, Bolins
11:26
All these brands are encompassing the MTD brand. Honestly, they do okay because they're practically the monopoly of lawn equipment nowadays
11:37
But over the past 10 years or so it very shoddy work The things that I see right now brand new for sale from MTD is a very bad quality Most of the engines are manufactured in China and they just slap their name on there you know
11:55
but I would have to say that if you're talking about your residential use
12:00
simple push mower or self-propelled, I would say that Toro makes the best products as well as
12:08
Honda. Of course, that doesn't even need to be spoken of. The Hondas, of course, are the most
12:14
expensive. You can go into Home Depot right now and probably look at a $400 or $500 simple Honda
12:20
pushmower. People will buy it for the Honda name, for the reliability. And of course, it's made in
12:25
Japan. But if you go to the old name of Craftsman, who isn't really Craftsman anymore, it's made by
12:33
MTD. You honestly can go to Walmart and find an MTD simple postmower without a bag for $150
12:42
So then when we're talking about service, like if you took your lawnmower to a guy and says
12:50
hey, I haven't gotten a tune up in a couple of years. Can you tune up my lawnmower? Now
12:54
if your lawnmower is $150 MTD lawnmower that you bought at Walmart, does it make any sense to spend
13:00
$150 to $100 to get a tune-up? No. And that's why I find so many lawnmowers on the street
13:07
is because if they don't start after five years, they go, oh, well, I've used it for five years
13:12
I spent $150. I've got my use out of it. It doesn't start anymore. It's too expensive to fix
13:19
I'll just throw it out and let Henry pick it up. You know what I mean? So those are the
13:24
dynamics of how cheap you can buy a lawnmower. And of course you can buy an expensive Toro for
13:31
$350, $400 or a Honda for $500. But then if you own the Honda, you're less likely to say
13:39
I'm just going to throw it away. You know what I mean? You're going to probably spend $100 and get it tuned up
13:50
We always recommend that people start with some type of vision board
13:56
whether that's printouts from the internet, cutouts from magazines, stocking up your Pinterest board with ideas that you like of a finished product
14:08
what you would like it to look like. um so so we always that's kind of the the foundation of where you want to start is kind
14:16
of have the the in vision and mind um of course budget that's that's going to be a key um you you
14:25
have to know not only what your budget is but how far that budget can take you so that you have a
14:31
realistic expectation of um what kind of project you can take on with your budget um and knowing
14:39
where that money is going to come from is important to a lot of people have money that
14:43
they've saved. And then, of course, a lot of people tap into their home equity to start
14:48
remodeling projects. So knowing what your budget is going to be ahead of time is going to be key
14:53
because that's going to dictate, you know, can you totally remodel your kitchen, bathroom
14:58
living room and do an addition? Or are you just going to spruce up the living room? And so you
15:03
need to know that ahead of time so that you can kind of plan for that. The next thing is, is kind
15:08
of really knowing where you want to go with your materials in terms of do you like tile? Do you like
15:15
wood floors? Do you love granite or do you prefer marble and what comes with marble? So understanding
15:21
kind of the materials that you love and like to work with, your budget, and what you want the end
15:27
product to look like. I mean those are some of the things that you need to consider before you ever
15:30
even start the process
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