I have been taking the photos off the camera this morning of our latest job and shaking my head at what we are finding. As we have been doing the demo work on this project in Snohomish (technically, but it is closer to Woodenville) and are finding some great examples of what not to do.

The first problem we found was the exhaust for the range hood. At first blush you might think that it was fine. But you may notice that it is taped up with paper tape. That must not have stuck or sealed well enough, so someone went over it with plastic packing tape at some point as well. Sure sounds like the materials I want on the inside of a vent pipe that is over a stove.

The reality is that it probably never would have to resist fire, but I wouldn't want to chance it, and I know for a fact that it wasn't doing its job of moving all the air up and out! Plus, to add insult to injury, I am betting it vents straight into the attic space

As we pulled the old flooring up I noticed that the threshold for the front door was loose. That is going away anyway, so I pulled it up to find that all of the wood underneath it was just gone! Someone had installed the door over particle board with no caulk or flashing, just some tar paper to protect the wood from any water that seeped in underneath the threshold.

 

Luckily we got to it in time and the floor joists are still pretty well intact. But we will need to cut the floor back and replace the wood in the entry way. Which is always a load of fun (please note the sarcasm.) The lesson here is be careful of who you get to do work on your home. I would bet that most of this work was done by a previous home owner, but the BIG boo-boo with the roofing that I will cover later this week was done by a professional roofing company. While the cheap road may sound attractive when you are getting work done, the money saved will be outweighed by the cost of fixing problems like this down the road a few years!

I whole heartedly support what Allen has to say here.  When things look bad, you should look to what you could be doing, not what you aren't having fall in your lap.  Especially for real estate agents, a lot of people got used to manna falling from the sky and now they don't know how to hunt for food.

I believe it is in the ancient classic The Three Rings, Miyamato Musahi talks about fighting a battle on what he refers to 'dying ground'.  This is a situation where you are cut off stuck in a swamp, surrounded and have little or no hope for winning.  His opinion (and mine) is that when things are dire, it is time to stop thinking and ACT!

If you have no clients, then get out and look for some!  Knock on doors if you have to, call past clients, anything!  Don't just sit around lamenting your fate while your boots fill with mud.

Get up, turn off the TV and the radio and start fighting!

Over the weekend I had a call to go out and look at painting the exterior of a newer home and the fence along the property line.  The woman on the phone said it had been painted several times, but the paint was still peeling off.  UH-OH I thought to myself. 

New paint honestly sticks really well so over wood siding there is one main reason that exterior paint fails and that is lack of a good primer. So I show up to look the place over and sure enough, the paint is failing everywhere to a greater or lesser degree.  Paint usually fails where it takes the most abuse and that is South side, but the paint on all sides of the house and fence was peeling and failing.

The unfortunate part about this is that there is no easy fix.  Any paint that goes on over the top is only going to mask the underlying issue.  I can scrape loose what is peeling, primer and paint over those portions, but in all likelyhood the other areas will eventually fail as well. 

The root problem is the original paint job was done incorrectly and from what all I can see, they used cheap paint and either used a very crappy primer or no primer at all. A good primer bonds to the wood and gives the paint something stable to stick to.  As with most things in life, having a good base to work up from is essential to having a good paint job.

To fix a problem like this there is really only one real solution and as you can imagine it involves power tools, time and a whole lot of headache!  In case you haven't learned contractor speak, those three words all equate directly to money, especially when all three are combined together! 

Now it is time for me to give her a call and give her the bad news...

 

 

It is time to put he house on the market, and everything looks OK, but the kitchen isn't quite up to speed. It might be just a little bland, or feel a little off, but we all know that the kitchen is one of the major selling points of a home. So what to do?

First off, clear out those cabinets! Buyers might not all open the kitchen cabinets when they tour your home, but some will and do you really want them to see shelves packed to the gills? No, clear things out and give your kitchen a mini-staging of sorts. Leave what you need to function, but clear out all the unnecessary stuff. You know you have stuff that can get packed up, we all do!

While you are doing all this, take a good hard look at it and see just how clean is it. Has the grease taken up residence in the nooks and crannies? It may be time to break out the cleaning gloves and really make the cabinets shine. After you get done, if you have wood cabinets and they are dinged up, you may consider giving them a wipe down with Old English if you can find some. For cabinets that have a haze to the clear coat on the porous ends like a lot of the oak cabinets doors get (or like in my house where they used cheap finish) then find some spray varathane or polyurethane. Sand off any loose material and a quick coat or two will really make a difference! As an aside I have found this is a great way to breath some new life into oak bathroom vanities as well.

How is the lighting? If the fixture in the kitchen is out of date or isn't putting out enough light then it is time to find a replacement. I have a preference for sleek enclosed fluorescent lights in the kitchen and I can usually find decent ones for under $75, but you will have to see what works in your space. Just please, no nasty cheap track lights over the stove please. They get gross and nasty in a very short amount of time. Take one more look around. Is the space under the cabinets dark and spooky? For a very reasonable price and a little bit of time, you can install under the cabinet lights that plug into a wall socket.

Ok, so things are clean and the finish is looking better again. What about the knobs and pulls? Do you have any? Are they clean and pretty? Replacing all the knobs and pulls in a kitchen is where you will really can give a kitchen some pop. Good knobs and pulls aren't cheap by any means, but they are the topper to the cake that really can make a kitchen stand out. If your knobs are ready to be replaced (or you don't have any) then count up what you need and go shopping. I like the Internet, just make sure that you have an accurate count of what you need, and that you shop around. Prices can vary considerably! One other tip on hardware, if you go to a big box store for yours, don't assume that all the knobs and pulls in any one bin are the same. Make sure that you check each one as you pull them out, and that they are all the same!

So for a few dollars and a little time, you can really make a kitchen shine. No, it won't make up for peeling flooring, or burned laminate counter tops, but it will take a kitchen that is just so-so and make it look nice again.

When was the last time you updated your business card? 
Can people really still recognize you from the photo on your card?  I ask this because Brandi Pierce ofaShadow Web & Graphic Design in seattle sent me an invite to an event they are hosting where they are giving people's business cards a thorough make over and shooting new head shots for them at the same time.  This got me to thinking about the business cards I see floating around.

Most of the business cards I encounter are completely unremarkable, and a few are even a bit on the laughable side. 
As professionals we all think we can do everything, and that usually goes for designing our cards as well. Additionally I really hate it when people have photos of themselves on their cards from say 1973.  Our business cards are often times the first and only piece of marketing material that prospects will see, shouldn't they WOW people, or at least not make them snicker?

Pause for a moment and consider the value that those business cards of your have. 
Does the picture on it really look like you, and does the picture look good?  Does you card convey the right message to people, does it say anything other than 'YAWN....  Here is my phone number?'  Odds are that all of our cards could use a little punching up.  At the very least those hard working scraps of paper deserve a new picture of you on them.  So before you order your next box of cards, show them some love.  They are out there working for you day and night, so why not give them the tools to actually make a good impression?

Get professional help!
If you are in the Seattle area, you really ought to take advantage of the Headshot and Business Card Design event that Brandi and Summer Myers are putting on September 21.  For $150 they will not only shoot you a new head shot (which if you have ever had it professionally done isn't cheap) and give your business card a make over.  This is a really good deal!  If you aren't then right now, grab your box of business cards and put a note and a rubber band around the last 200 that it is time to go get your cards re-designed and new pictures taken.  The business you lose from having cards that don't wow people will cost you far more than the price of a new picture and having them professionally designed!

VOC free paint, Low VOC paint, and natural finishes.  What's the big deal?

Being eco friendly and 'green' is the in thing these days.  The do-it-yourself channels are stuffing their time slots with celebrities showing how green and environmentally friendly their homes are, and companies can't get happily little earth friendly stickers on their products fast enough.  The problem is that a little too much hype is getting mixed into things, and that brings me to the subject of this post, paint!

What are VOC's? Click Here to Read About Them!

Over the last couple of years, as demand for healthier, and more eco friendly products has risen, paint manufacturers have scrambled to fill the void.   At first the Low-VOC paints were marginal at best, not very color stable and only came in flat or eggshell finishes.  Now however, there is a veritable tidal wave of 'green' paint pushing its way into the market in every color and sheen.  Even Home Depot has gotten on the band wagon with their FreshAire line of paint (you know it has to be good since they added the extra 'e' to it!)

Low VOC and VOC free, what's the difference? 
By legal definition any paint that has less than 5g/liter of VOC's can be defined as VOC-Free.  Note that they aren't actually VOC free, just that they just have a lot less than other paints which may contain 60+ grams per liter of paint.  That works out to about half a pound per gallon that will eventually boil off into the air in your home.  Low VOC paints in comparison generally come in below 50g/liter for VOC's.

But what does it all mean? 
The main concern is your indoor air quality.  The VOC's we are talking about are things like Ethylene glycol and the very familiar formaldehyde. These are the chemicals that will work their way out of the paint, with the majority boiling off in the first few days after the paint is applied.  Sources disagree on how long paint continues to off-gas VOC's but I would expect them to taper off and continue to emit some level of VOC's for several years albeit in very small quantities. These chemicals are listed as causing eye and lung irritation, allergic reaction, and long term exposure (like for us in the trades) can do bad things to the Kidneys and Liver.  They just aren't things you want to be breathing!

OK, so what if those chemicals REALLY bug you? 
There are those of you out there that can not tolerate ANY VOC's and I have to say life must be rough because VOC's are everywhere!  There are options for wall coatings though, all using more natural ingredients such as clay, natural resins, natural oils and so on.  For those that are very sensitive these are definitely the way to go, and will only set you back slightly more than using high end VOC Free paint.  Real Milk Paint for example can be ordered online for just under $50 a gallon.

A non-technical comparison of paints.

Regular paint	Man this place stinks!
Low-VOC Paint	Wow, this isn't too bad!
No/Ultra Low VOC Paint	Are you really painting in here?
Organic and Truly No Voc Paint	Can we eat this stuff?

So what paint do I suggest?
For the most part I feel comfortable putting low VOC paint on my clients homes if they aren't going to be moving into them for a few days. By then the majority of the VOC's have left the paint, and if the home is ventilated, will have dissipated.   In general though, I prefer to use a Zero VOC paint such as Miller Paint's Acro Pure.  This reduces their (and my painting crew's) exposure to anything nasty and lets me sleep good at night.

What is right for you?
That ultimately is your decision.  But for my clients I prefer to absorb the cost of using a little better paint to make their homes a little more healthy and possibly their lives a little bit better.  In general though, considering that the cost of the paint you use to paint your home is only a small portion of the total bill I always recommend using the best paint possible!

I hate to say it, but some of you agents are soft!
I see a fair number of homes that are up for sale in my travels, and I have to say that some of you listing agents out there are not educating your sellers on what it means to be competitive!  I know it is hard to tell your sellers that they need to maintain or even update their house if they want it to sell, but sometimes the truth hurts.  This goes beyond the simple tired paint that is the most common, and I am speaking to you agents out there with homes that have worn out counter tops, randomly sprinkled gold tone fixtures or lighting, original shag carpeting, and failed caulking or grout in the shower and tub.  We won't even go into the landscaping...

Be honest with your sellers about what needs to be done to impress buyers!
Yes, they might bristle when you tell them their house, as it sits, just plain sucks.  You know that is what buyers will think when they walk through the door.  If you are really wanting to not feel the heat, or just can't bear to break the news to them that their 'lovely' house is really a pit, then make it part of the listing agreement that a home stager will need to come in and make some changes and recommendations.  Then at least they won't hate you (at least as much.)

What is the worst that can happen?
You might be worried that if you are honest with them, that they will hate you and not let you sell their home.  Lets consider this against the fact that if you do list their 'lived in' property (at top of the market price of course) it will most likely sit there and ferment on the market.  15, 30, 90 days in they will start to blame you for their home not selling.  You know how this story goes.  Now nothing you want to suggest is right, and there is little that you can do to salvage the listing and the clients.  So you spend time, energy and money just to have a listing that doesn't sell and clients that loathe your name.  Sounds fun doesn't it?

Be honest, get it fixed and get it sold!
Be honest with them, get the property in good enough shape to compete with the other homes on the market.  You know it doesn't have to be perfect, but buyers have to not snicker when they walk in, or worse yet, when they drive by.  In most cases the sellers will recoup the added expense of having the home polished a bit at closing time, either in actual sale price or in saved payments because the property didn't sit for a year before selling.  In the end your clients really just want their property sold, and will forget all about your initial comments about the condition of their property just about the time the sign the closing papers.

Be brave, you can do it!

 

For anyone trying to get around in Lynnwood Wednesday morning, life was complicated by a big traffic clog on 196th with crews working to replace power poles.  I was actually on my way to an appointment and had to use some 'creative' driving practices to get inside the area that was roped off.  The rumor was that someone had hit the power poles on the corner of 196th and 52nd.  As usual, the truth was even better.  Turns out they were 'adjusting' the power lines when three less than structurally sound poles decided they were tired and started leaning out over the road.

They were still working on it around noon when I snuck back out of the area, and I would guess there were there for a while yet after I left.  It would figure that the one time I didn't head out of the house with my camera, I would see something really news worthy.  So if you were wondering what happened, now you know!

Seattle Times - Leaning power poles prompt closure of Lynnwood street

Problem: You need to sell your house, it doesn't look bad and you try to keep it up, but the one room in the house that has taken a beating is the bathroom. We put our bathrooms are a lot during the course of our lives, and inevitably it will start show after while, but we don't want buyers to see that. Now for a variety of reasons. You may not want to spend $5000-$25000 to remodel your bathroom right now, there are a few things you can do that will make a big difference and cost you very little money!

1. De-Clutter!
   I think most professional home stagers will agree that clutter is a home's number one enemy. So clear it all out, and I mean, all of it! It is a bathroom you're using regularly then sort through your things and only put back the ones you are actively using. Don't lie to me! I know you have things under your vanity you don't even remember buying.
   

   

   
   
2. Make the Walls Pretty
   The walls of your bathroom take a beating from moisture, hairspray, dirty hands, and toilet 'oopsies'. Go down to your local paint store (no not the big box stores) get 1 gallon of semi gloss paint and asked them what clear they would recommend and how to use it correctly. Then go home and scrub the ceiling and walls thoroughly, let dry for a day or so and then paint. This is a very inexpensive way to get things looking shiny again.
   Of course, if you're in the Lynnwood or Everett areas and don't feel like painting. I think you might be able to figure out who I would tell you to call!


3. Secure the Accesories
   I am going to till you honestly that those little wall anchors that they provide with your towel bars and toilet paper holders SUCK! I has very rarely seen those anchors hold up to the rigors of daily use in a bathroom. Do an inventory of your towel racks, toilet paper holders and so on and see if they are falling off the walls. You may have noticed this in step two, when I told you to paint. My best solution is to get the screw in type wall anchors and remount everything that is loose. Again, this is very inexpensive to do but keeps a bathroom looking like it has been maintained.


4. Clean the Exhaust Fan
   Look up! What is your bathroom fan telling you? Is the cover falling off? Is it full of dust and lint? Grab your trusty stepstool and your vacuum and get up there. Pull the cover off and vacuum out the insides. Getting the lint off the fan will make it work better and actually be quieter when people turn it on. Give the cover some attention and get a clean. You may never look up there, but you can bet that buyers walking through your home will see it.


5. Make it Smell Nice
   No one likes a stinky bathroom! Add a room deodorizer that eliminates odors, but isn't so strong as to be obnoxious. I prefer the industrial canister type, but use what you like, just don't blow people out the door with the scent of flowers!


6. Re-caulk EVERYTHING!
   In any home to people actually live in, you will find caulk that has failed is full of mildew. It is just a fact of life and it happens. Buyers however, hate to see black nasty caulking that is falling off the walls. Get yourself a tube or two of bathroom caulk and a roll of tape and get busy! First dig out all the old nasty stuff in the tub and shower. Once it is clean and dry, run a line of tape down each side of the joint. Apply a bead of caulk, smooth it flat with your finger, and immediately removed the tape. Simple isn't it!
   Again, if you're in the Lynnwood and Everett area and really don't enjoy playing with silicon bathroom caulk, give me a call! I'm starting to actually enjoy the taste of the stuff.


7. Clean and Polish the Tub, toilet and Shower
   Want a secret to make your bathroom really shine? The answer is car wax! If you want to make your porcelain fixtures gleam use a good quality car wax and a buffer. Please though, whatever you do, DO NOT WAX THE BOTTOM OF YOUR TUB! Hopefully you can see the wisdom in this. For your plastic and fiberglass showers look for a gel gloss, product instead to achieve the same look.

If you do all this, your bathroom will look substantially better and you won't be out much money. This isn't to say it's not a bit of work, but it is a great alternative to doing a bathroom remodel. Of course a bathroom remodel isn't a bad and if you really want I suppose you can give me a call!

Chris Cliff
DDIY Home Renewal - Serveing the greater Lynnwood and Everett Washington areas
Painting - Kitchen & Bath Remodeling - Storage Solutions
425-232-4811

Worried about those pesky Zombies?

If you see this on your way home from work, there isn't much I can do for you. So be sure to call me to make your home zombie resistant today! You never know when the next zombie invasion may happen!

Be prepared! Let us reinforce your cellar and first floor doors, shutter your windows, put in a pull down ladder to your attic crawl space and expand your pantry so you can store extra emergency supplies!


And hopefully.... Oh so hopefully, everyone knows I am joking 'cause I am sure one of these days someone is going to call me and be serious about zombie proofing their house!