The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

Brought to you by:

Tuesday Tip: Rewiring European Plugs

If given the chance, I will always buy local. With that, there are plenty of times when you can’t find what you need locally so “Amazon” here I come. In this case I needed a pool pump / filter for a pretty small pool. Unfortunately not everything sold on Amazon is sold or fulfilled by […]

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks Tagged With: Electrical, Wiring July 21, 2020 By SLS Leave a Comment

Wacky Weds: Ingenious light switch idea or hack?

So what happens when you combine; bad framing, an electrician that doesn’t care, with a healthy bit of “here, hold my beer, I can make this work”?

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday July 8, 2020 By SLS Leave a Comment

Monday Musing: COVID19 & moving forward

Has it only been 5 weeks since those Stay at Home Orders started coming out? Originally they were only supposed to last two weeks to help “Flatten the Curve,” then the talk started about the models… Now it seems like everyone has thoughts on should we extend, how we step it down or should we […]

Filed Under: Disaster Preparation April 20, 2020 By SLS 2 Comments

Safety Sunday: Respirators vs. Masks V.3 – The COVID19 Edition

What a crazy time we live in… The good news, there is a ton of good advice out there on avoiding COVID 19 aka Corona Virus aka the Chinese Pandemic. Unfortunately, the flip side is also true, and while one would expect that from those looking to make a quick buck or just don’t know […]

Filed Under: Safety Third? April 12, 2020 By SLS Leave a Comment

Monday Musings: 1st look at 2021 IECC & why the NAHB is seeing Red

As many already know, building codes are updated on a three year cycle. The process for the next code cycle begins even before the ink is dry on the previous version. Due to the complexity of the codes, time required, and the shear amount of proposals to go through most individuals leave it to their […]

Filed Under: Building Codes Tagged With: NADRA, NAHB March 9, 2020 By SLS Leave a Comment

Tuesday Tip: Check your Insurance Coverages Now

It’s that time of year where many of us are pulling together all our tax documents, so why not take a few minutes to look over your home insurance policy while your digging through all those papers that were just thrown in a pile? Those few minutes spent can save you more time, money, & […]

Filed Under: Insurance January 28, 2020 By SLS Leave a Comment

Wacky Weds: Marketing fail, blooper, or???

Ummm…. Seriously, how long has this guy worked in the trades… How did this get past any sort of marketing review? Shoot how did someone in the trades publication that accepted this ad not said anything? You can’t say that they don’t have the budget or technical experience not to have caught this simple mistake […]

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday January 8, 2020 By SLS Leave a Comment

Monday Musings: Smoke Detectors, DST, and…

One of the things I miss about Arizona (besides not dealing with snow on Halloween) is no Daylight Savings Time (DST). As it was originally 6 months long, the “change your smoke detector batteries” movement became popular in the late 80’s / early 90’s depending on where you lived. As we “fall back” yesterday and […]

Filed Under: Fire Safety November 4, 2019 By SLS Leave a Comment

Wacky Weds: Worst Flashing Idea Ever?

One of the biggest tenants of building but especially roofing is getting the water away from the structure as soon as possible. So I have to wonder what this person was thinking… An adjuster showed me this flashing detail for a chimney… Not sure why the roofer didn’t install a cricket to shed water away […]

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: Roofing October 2, 2019 By SLS Leave a Comment

Wacky Weds: More outlets please…

You know there really is nothing wrong with these types of outlet adapters – they are UL listed after all… But when you do this, you just might be… Breaking a few codes, voiding the UL listing, looking to start a fire, & the list goes on. With that here is a bonus one for […]

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday September 18, 2019 By SLS Leave a Comment

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 87
  • Next Page »

Featured Posts

Getting ready for Spring: Your deck & grill

Hopefully, this last snow storm was it for spring (really?) meaning most of us can start getting ready to grill and get back to enjoying the great outdoors. Needless to say for ...

Read More

March – Early Spring Maintenance Checklist

March and the start of spring, is a great time, as it seems to bring out a new life in everything. The trees start to bloom, the animals that were ...

Read More

Preventing or fixing frozen water pipes

Updated: This article was originally posted in early 2010 after the Alabama Department of Health issued the following warning via press release: Prolonged period of cold weather ahead prompts warnings to ...

Read More

BS4D: Saving on Heating Related Energy Costs

For the bulk of the year, energy costs are not a big concern to many and instead most calls relate to comfort, safety or health issues. We are now starting ...

Read More

Common Sense Building: Build Radon Out

Common Sense Building: Build Radon Out

As many of you probably already know, January is National Radon Month. Just like CO, it is an odorless & tasteless gas; however, unlike CO there are no warning signs ...

Read More

FAQ: Ceiling fan direction - summer & winter

One of the biggest questions out there is which direction should my fan be running and how can I tell. You look at the switch and realize it isn't any ...

Read More

FAQ on Duct Cleaning: All Hype or Worthy Expense?

It must be spring time... I got the following in the mail just the other day: 5 different ads all for duct cleaning. With allergy season starting along with my ...

Read More

Random Glossary term

  • VLT

    You know there really is nothing wrong with these types of outlet adapters – they are UL listed after all… But when you do this, you just might be… Breaking a few codes, voiding the UL listing, looking to start a fire, & the list goes on. With that here is a bonus one for […]

The HTRC - Copyright © 2006–2021 by TheHTRC.com & SLS Construction & Building Solutions LLC http://SLS-Construction.com