The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

Safety Sunday: Reminder, it only takes a split second

One split second of inattention is all it takes… Just as a friendly reminder, it doesn’t matter how much you know, how safe you normally are, all it takes is one bad call or a split second of inattention & you can find yourself injured. For me I got this nice little reminder on Memorial […]

Wacky Weds; Composite Decking Lawsuits & Issues

Recently some calls out for help have been made on some homeowner / DIY friendly boards about forming a class action lawsuit. The culprit? Why it is some composite decking manufacturers & in particular AZEK, Correct Deck / GAF, TimberTech & Trex.  With the exception of AZEK (the start), it appears that most are in […]

My take; Tornados, Storm Shelters & the Codes

The last two weeks we got to see Mother Nature’s furry once again as she rolled across parts of the US & Canada & showed us why Tornado Alley is such an appropriate name. The storms from the 15th were quickly overshadowed by an outbreak that started on the 18th & really grabbed the media’s […]

Wacky Weds; Still Learning

One of my favorite sites for providing some really good content is Green Expo 365 & this last week they held 2 webinars dealing with Indoor Air Quality. Below is the results of one of the polls taken… I got to say I was surprised at the numbers and had to double check the wording to […]

Fixing an Architectural Nightmare

In our last Wacky (semi) Wordless Wednesday piece we had three pictures where we looked at entryway & asked what issues you see, what might you have done differently, or does everything look good to you?  Well lets take a closer look at it… As I mentioned, I can easily see why the architect designed it this […]

Wacky Weds; Architectural Nightmare or no

The world would be a lot duller place if it wasn’t for architects. Unfortunately though they sometimes fail to remember that it’s not just the look that they are going for that counts. It is how all the details tie together that results in a house (or building) that not only looks good, but lives […]

Resistance is futile – Conversion Factors

While no one can say those in the “Green” / Energy Efficiency fields march in lock step like the Borg, I couldn’t resist using that line from Star Trek. The reason, well it appears that a big part of the collective is moving towards using kBtu/SF for measuring usage. For more on this aspect & […]

The Home Builders Energy Efficient Tax Credit – an FAQ

UPDATED: The Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 (aka EPAct) established a $2000 tax credit for eligible contractors / builders for every new home sold that is certified to meet certain “energy efficiency” standards. While this was initially scheduled to expire at the end of 2007, the tax credit has been extended several times, and […]

ENERGY STAR under fire?

“Jessica is sad because she wants to save energy and save money. You can make her smile again…” Huh, what? Well there appears to be “a Washington proposal to change the ENERGY STAR program (that) would deny average consumers the “easy choice” on which they rely. Help us Save ENERGY STAR.” Well if one looks […]

Wacky Weds: Small Footing Issue?

In the spirit of Deck Safety Month; I got to say this one threw me for a loop as it looked like it was sunk into the concrete with a proper footing… Well as they say looks can be deceiving The fix involved digging under the slab (there was no footing) underpinning it & installing […]