would ice cubes. Slip an aluminum spacer
onto the back of your screw, and then
thread your knob into a dresser drawer or a
closet door and secure with a nut.
Voila -- even your finicky
aunt will envy her once-battered
castoff.
By Stan Gutelius
The House Doctor
The moment that man left his cave and
started to build his own shelter from the ele-
ments, Mother Nature, detesting these "unnat-
ural" structures sent those very elements to
destroy the shelter. She sent ultra violet light
(sunshine), wind, and fire. When these were
not sufficient, she sent in her big gun--water.
Rain, hail, sleet, snow, and floods. In all its
forms, water is the major enemy of the mod-
ern house.
Sunshine (what little we get in this part
of the country) will cause housing materials
to deteriorate. Wind can blow the siding
from your house or drop a tree on it. Fire can
partially or completely destroy the building.
But water is always present and working to cause
damage in many ways. It will find any open-
ings in your roof and cause leaks. It will get
behind the siding and cause the paint to peel.
It will soak your insulation and make it worth-
less. It will infiltrate the basement and, if it
gets deep enough, drown your
furnace and water heater.
Clearly then, water should
be kept out of our homes at
any cost. Oops! We didn't
learn anything from the ancient
citizens of Troy. We invite
this enemy of our shelter into
the home. We put a pipe
through the basement wall
and distribute water to our
kitchens and bathrooms.
Mother Nature and water
couldn't be happier! Now
water can drip from leaks in
the pipes meant to distribute
it. It can freeze under the right
conditions and cause the pipes
to burst. It can overflow sink,
toilet or tub and cause the
floors to rot. Water vapor
formed when we shower can
cause ideal conditions for the growth of mildew
and mold. Dampness in the basement or
crawl space is an engraved invitation to wood
boring insects to take up residence.
So we are stuck with a contradiction. We
can't live with it and we can't live without it.
The inhabitants of the home have to have
water. The home itself is fighting a never
ending battle against the very thing we need
to sustain life. The home inspector is on the
side of the house. He will spend a great deal
of his time--perhaps the majority of his time--
making sure that moisture has not done major
damage to the structure. He will point out ways
to avoid that damage in the future as well as
pointing out any that may already have
occurred.
The picture is not all bleak. Well main-
tained homes have withstood the ravages of
Mother Nature for centuries. It is the job of
the home inspector to help you understand how
you can put your home in that category. Be
sure to listen when he talks about the dangers
of your home's worst enemy--water.
Gutelius is a Certified Home Inspector in Auburn. He may
be reached at 253-0004 or 253-8983. More information at
www.auburnhomeinspection.com. Got a question for The House
Doc? Send it to The Citizen, 25 Dill St., Auburn, NY
13021 or housedoc@auburnhomeinspection.com
The House Doctor
Water Is The Enemy
K
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M
Y
K
C
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Y
2
March 2006
Today's Home
The Citizen, Auburn, New York
The Citizen, Auburn, New York
Today's Home
March 2006
15
We Have It All:
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To make your own knobs, first gather supplies in one place, including clear casting resin and casting hardener; gloves and ice cube trays. Select
found objects or paper cutouts to embed in the resin.
After pouring a layer of resin and allowing it to dry, take the object you wish to embed in the knob and place it in the mold. After the layers are
complete in the mold, stand the head of a flat-head screw in the resin and allow to dry thoroughly.
When the drying process is finished, the knobs can be popped out of
the trays like ice cubes, top. Then you can use them to revamp an old
dresser or cabinet door.
PetSafe
Professional
by
Pet Containment
Systems of NY
315-655-8337 · www.pcsofny.com
FENCE
PET CONTAINMENT
HOME IMPROVEMENT
CARPET
INTERIORS
INSURANCE
To advertise on Your Home resource, contact The Citizen at 315-253-5311 x217.
Your Home Resource
Total Home
Improvement Service
Residential & Office Cleaning
Landscape-lawn mowing,
snow plowing
315-685-9508
Colleen Sheridan
Interior Decorator
Commercial & Residential work
Tel 315.727.5936
www.downhomeinteriors.com
Like it never even happened
TM
Of Auburn / Cayuga County
Auburn/Cayuga County (315) 252-4858
Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration
Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning
Fingerlakes Associates
Independent thinking-All lines of insurance
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Competitive rates · Extended hours · Superior Service
· Same day quote & policy
315-258-8300
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