Examining Trees We just finished concluded several days of heavy wind here in Michigan (many of the days had "land bombs," as the weather people kept reminding us). With our occasional windstorms, and with a Michigan winter fast approaching, it is a good idea to occasionally inspect the trees on
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10/31/2010
The Dangers of Trees Around Houses Trees are a wonderful feature of home landscaping, but they can pose a threat to buildings in a number of different ways. Foundation problems are the most common, While they generally won't pierce through a building's foundation, they can penetrate through a pre
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10/31/2010
Smoke Alarms Every year, about three thousand people lose their lives in residential fires. Most of these deaths area caused by smoke inhalation opposed to burns. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, two-thirds of reported deaths caused by home fires over the last six years did no
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10/31/2010
Michigan Innovation: AZT Dr. Jerome Horwitz, a globally renowned Michigan scientist, developed the drug AZT as a cancer-fighting drug in 1964. Scientific thought at that time believed that most cancer were caused by "retroviruses." I'll spare the technical details... retroviruses basically were a
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10/31/2010
Thermostat Problems and Solutions Thermostats help us keep our indoor air temperature comfortable. Most thermostats contain two meters: the "set" or requested temperature, and the actual temperature. Newer thermostats usually have digital displays, which can be used to adjust automated heating a
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10/31/2010
Rafters vs. Trusses One of the frequent questions I am asked is: what is the difference between rafters and trusses? Rafters Rafters are sloped framing members running downard from the peak of the roof all the way to the plates of the outside walls. They are the support for the roof load. Ceiling
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10/31/2010
Backflow Prevention Water is supposed to flow in only one direction in a system. Backflow occurs when the normal water flow in a water system reverses. This can be a dangerous situation, introducing industrial waste, bacteria, and a lot of other unhealthy things into the water systerm. Devices ca
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10/31/2010
It may have been a 42 degree F day in Michigan, but the temperatures are always perfect at the Detroit Zoo's Butterfly House in Royal Oak. The Detroit Zoo is at I-696 and Woodward Avenue.
10/31/2010
What's that white stuff on my bricks? Chances are, that white chalky stuff is efflorescence (pronounced ef-luh-res-uh ns), an accumulation of minerals and salts on brick and cement. We can see it on bricks all over Michigan, on old houses and new. While it is unsightly, efflorescence itself is no
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10/26/2010
Why should I use a space heater? As I write this, it is an unusually warm end-of-October day in Michigan: 65 degrees F. Still, it is inevitable that the weather will turn cold and furnace days will be in full swing. But furnaces aren't the only way to heat a house. Portable space heaters are us
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10/26/2010
