Plumbing problems aren't always evident from inside the house. Inspecting your crawl space for problems is a good way to find hidden leaks and damage. Follow along in the video with a crawl space inspection that finds some hidden problems.

You try to open your garage door one morning and hear a huge metallic bang. The door isn't opening but the opener still works. What happened? The most common reason for this to occur is that the torsion springs failed. Check out the video below for 3 signs to check to determine if your torsion springs are broken.

Sliding screen door not sliding well? Does it take more than one hand to open and shut? Follow these easy process to adjust and lubricate your sliding screen door. Most doors only require a screwdriver, a quality spray lubricant and about 10 minutes of your time.

Good video embedded below about the basics of home smoke alarms. Great information from the National Fire Protection Agency. If you are planning on upgrading your smoke alarms keep the recommendation of a combo unit that includes both photoelectric and ionization detection of fires in the home. 

Houses heated by electricity often have a mix of electric baseboard and in wall heaters. When in wall heaters are present, there is often a blackish discoloration or "sooting" on the heater grill and surrounding wall.

Look at the heater grill cover and you will often see this condition present. This discoloration is caused by lint and debris on the grill and heating element. This build up results in excess heat being retained and will eventually cause the "sooting" condition. 

It looks like the original post was a bit short or possibly the bottom rotted away. To fix the bad post, the previous owner added a short section of newer pressure treated wood and butted the two ends together. At least he/she toenailed it together though they forgot to add more than one nail for the post support bracket.

Though the owner did make the post a bit longer they did so by making the overall structure weaker. This post is not going to do well with a large group of people moving on the deck during a BBQ.

There were actually two posts repaired this way on this particular deck. Both need to be replaced with the correct length of post (using one piece of wood) and correctly fastened to the concrete footing and beam above. 

Look at this video from This Old House. They do a great job of showing the correct way to replace a damaged deck support post.

Water heaters are one of the most important things for daily comfort in our homes. Who doesn't look forward to that hot shower in the morning to get you going for the day? We rely on our water heaters to work day in and day out throughout years of service and rarely think about them. They are usually hidden away in the garage working hard to make hot water for daily use and slowly corroding away.

Since they are so back of mind, it's a good idea to check on them every once in a while. Catching problems early saves you in the long run, emergency service calls by a plumber tend to be a bit spendy.

Something that is easy to catch if you look for it is early signs of galvanic corrosion at the supply lines. Galvanic corrosion happens when two dissimilar metals make contact in a wet environment. The supply pipes to a water heater are a prime location for this to occur.

What causes it? Like the root of a lot of problems in a house - water. Obviously water flows through the pipes and it can act as a bridge for an electrical charge. The pipe connections have to be shielded from water. This is usually done with a dielectric union and teflon tape. In the picture above likely both of these safeguards have failed. 

This can be an easy fix if caught early. The dielectric union needs to be replaced and the connections need to be well protected with teflon tape. 
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I recommend watching this video from This Old House to learn more about this issue.