
Means of Egress
For safety purposes, every bedroom or room used for sleeping purposes in a home is required to have an emergency escape route. This is called an egress window—egress meaning the action of going out or leaving a place. Another function of the egress window is to provide easy access into a house for firefighters. Therefore, depending on the code where you live, minimum egress window size requirements are specified. For example, here are the minimum sizes required based on vario

Improper Slope
Do you have issues with water flowing toward instead of away from your house? Do you get water in your basement? The cause could be improper slope around your house. If water doesn't flow away easily from the house, it will pool in areas causing damage to foundation walls and possibly leading to the water leaking into basements. The pooling water can also cause slippery spots--moss in the summer and ice in the winter. The recommened slope for driveways or other non-permeable


How to Remove a Broken Light Bulb Base
We're sure most of you might have come across this little problem before. A light bulb has gone out and in the process of trying to switch out the bulb, the glass breaks. We came across this very issue this weekend when replacing an outdoor flood light. Since it was an outdoor light it was subject to the weather elements and the bulb basically fell away from the base as soon as it was touched—probably part of the reason it was no longer working. So, now how to unscrew the ba


Water Stains on the Ceiling
Brown water stains on your ceilings indicates a current or past leak. The tough part is understanding exactly where the leak is coming from. Water travels. It doesn't always drip directly below the source of the leak. Water can travel along roof panels or lumber in the attic before dripping onto insulation. A stain found in the basement could have started as far away as the roof. Water spots can likely originate from skylight damage, windows, condensation, a hole in the roof,