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Easy drywall damage fix

7/21/2017

2 Comments

 
Hole in your drywall that needs to be repaired? Do you have an energetic dog who likes to enthusiastically play tug of war with the curtains to the point of pulling them off the wall like I do? Follow these steps for an easy and quick fix for holes in your drywall. 
Guilty looking dog
The reason there is a hole in my wall. My dog decided to play tug of war with the curtain and pulled the bracket out. She looks a little guilty.
Holes in drywall
There used to be a curtain bracket on this wall. Now there are holes from ripped out drywall anchors.
Holes in drywall
Close up of the damage. Holes are too big to put drywall anchors back in. This area of the wall needs to be fixed.
Tools and Material Required: Utility knife and/or drywall saw, small piece of thin wood (I used 1/2" plywood), replacement piece of drywall.
Step 1

Mark a square around the damaged area. Go big enough to contain all the damage but small enough that the patch will be as inconspicuous as possible. Use a utility knife or a drywall saw to cut along the lines.
Picture
Step 1: Mark a square and cut with a drywall saw.
Step 2

Carefully remove the damaged piece of drywall and save for later. 
Removing damaged drywall
Step 2: Remove the piece of damaged drywall. Try to keep it in one piece so you can use it for a template for the repair piece.
Step 3

Cut a piece of wood to fit the hole. You will use this as a backer piece for the repair. The wood needs to be just a bit thinner than than the width of the hole and long enough to extend past the top and bottom by about an inch each way.
Backer wood for drywall hole
Step 3: Backer piece. I used 1/2 inch plywood cut just a bit narrower than the hole in the drywall. Needs to be long enough to have room for screws above and below the hole.
Step 4

Drive a drywall screw into the middle of the piece of wood to use as a handle. Insert the wood through the hole and center it as best as possible. 
Fitting a backer piece for drywall repair
Step 4: Place the backer piece in the hole and center it.
Step 5

Secure the backer piece with drywall screws above and below the hole. Use the drywall screw in the middle as a handle to hold the wood in place as you get the first screw in.

​
Securing a backer piece to repair drywall hole.
Step 5: Secure the backer piece in place with drywall screws.
Step 6

Cut a piece of drywall to match the hole. Use the piece you removed as a rough template to size the replacement piece correctly.

​
Fitting a replacement piece of drywall
Step 6: Cut a replacement piece of drywall using the saved damaged piece as a template.
Step 7

Fit the replacement piece in place. It may take a bit of shaving and final trim cuts with a utility knife to get a good fit.

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Drywall repair
Step 7: Trim the replacement piece to fit the hole snugly. Try to minimize gaps.
Step 8

Use joint compound to fill in the gaps between the replacement piece and the wall. You can use drywall tape if the piece or gaps are big enough. I chose to just use the compound in this repair as it will be hidden behind a curtain when finished. Thin coats are better and dry to a more pleasing look. It may take 3 or 4 coats to get a smooth surface.
Wet drywall joint compound
Step 8: Drywall joint compound time. Use multiple thin coats and allow each to dry before the next one.

Step 9

Wait for the compound to dry and prime/texture/paint to match the surrounding wall. 

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Finished drywall repair
Step 9: Make it match. Wait for the final coat of drywall compound to dry then prime/texture and paint to match the wall.
2 Comments

Hidden Damage - Wood Next to Concrete

7/14/2017

0 Comments

 
Wooden siding butted against concrete patio
Wood siding all the way to the concrete patio. Missing a gap or flashing to prevent water penetration. This is a suspicious area for hidden damage. You can see some early rot in the siding on the left.
Do you have wall siding that is in contact with concrete? This is a common site of water penetration and long term can lead to hidden damage in the wall framing. There needs to be a gap between wall siding and any contact with concrete or earth to allow water to drain. If this isn't possible, flashing needs to be installed to help with water shedding. 
Siding removed from wall to inspect substructure
Siding that was in contact with the concrete patio has been removed to inspect the wall structure. First glance doesn't look too good. Many areas of rotting framing.
These pictures show a wall where the siding that was in contact with the concrete patio has been removed for further investigation. The siding showed signs of rot and the wall framing behind looks to have been in contact with water for awhile. The sill plate and rim joist (important framing pieces) are rotted out from the long term presence of water. This homeowner will need to consider some extensive repairs. The sill plate and rim joist need to be cut out and replaced with sound wood. 
Probing for rotting wood
Probing for rotting and pinky wood. Looks like water has been getting here for awhile.
Rotting sill plate
Rotting and damage sill plate. This the piece of wood that forms the base of the wall above.
Damaged sill plate from long term water contact
More rot in the sill plate. Those holes go back about halfway through the width of the board.
Rotting sill plate and rim joist
Area of rot in both the sill plate and the rim joist. Both of these pieces of wood are important for structural stability of the wall. They need to be replaced.
0 Comments

Clean your dryer vent!

3/31/2017

11 Comments

 
It's finally spring and time to think about all those outdoor clean up and maintenance projects. While your are outside, take a minute to look at the dryer vent outlet cover located somewhere on the side of your house. It needs to look nice and clean with freely moveable vent louvers. You don't want it to look like the pictures below. 
Dryer vent clog on outside of house. Vent clogged with lint and debris.
Dirty dryer vent on outside of house. This clog is a fire risk and is decreasing the efficiency of the dryer.
View inside dryer duct showing lint accumulation. This is a fire risk.
View inside a dryer duct with lint accumulation. This is a fire risk and needs to be cleaned out.
Dryer vent clogs like the above have two main implications. The first is that they are a fire risk and a pretty significant one at that. From the FEMA website: "2,900 home clothes dryer fires are reported each year and cause an estimated 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss." The second implication is that a clogged dryer vent leads to decreased efficiency of the dryer. If it is harder to get the exhaust out, the dryer has to work harder and clothes will take longer to dry.

The fix for this is pretty simple. Remove the lint accumulation from the outside (you may need to remove the cover from the wall to do this). You can usually just brush and pull the lint from the cover but a vacuum with a brush attachment can come in handy for this task. If you notice a large amount of lint within the duct work, there is a brush on a long cable that can be used to help clean the system.

To check that everything is working correctly, put the cover back on the wall and turn the dryer on inside. The flap or louvers on the dryer vent cover should open freely and allow the dryer exhaust to blow out without restriction.
Taking care of your clothes dryer is important for home fire safety. The leading cause of home clothes dryer fires is failure to clean them. An estimated 2,900 home dryer fires happen every year, causing 5 deaths, 100 injuries, and $35 million in property loss. Visit the U.S. Fire Administration's website at https://www.usfa.fema.gov for a few simple safety tips to help you prevent a clothes dryer fire.
Picture from the FEMA website on clothes dryer fire prevention.
11 Comments

That hole is pretty small, what could go wrong?

3/17/2017

 
It's such a small hole, why should you bother to seal it? It doesn't look like much could get through. I can ignore it, can't I?
Electrical conduit attached to house with an improperly sealed penetration hole.
It's hard to see from this far away but there is a small hole where the conduit attaches to the house.
Unsealed electrical penetration hole in siding of house.
Look closer and you can begin to see the unsealed opening.
Close up of unsealed electrical conduit penetration in wall siding.
Close up of the unsealed hole. I wonder what is on the other side of this wall?
This hole is hard to see from far away but on closer inspection of the electrical conduit an unsealed siding penetration is easy to notice. The hole is less than an inch wide but this is a lot of room if you are an insect, a drop of water or even a small rodent. From the outside it can be difficult to tell where the hole leads. In this case, with the hole next to the main electrical service meter, you really need to investigate farther.
Inside picture of a unsealed hole in wall siding. Hole leads to the interior of the main electrical panel. Significant amounts of cobwebs and insect debris inside the panel.
The other side of the unsealed hole. It leads right in to the back of the main electrical panel.
Inside of an electrical service panel filled with cobwebs and insect debris.
Electrical panel with evidence of prolonged visiting by (hopefully) friendly neighborhood spiders and insects.
As you can see from the picture above, the hole leads directly to the main electrical service panel for the house. When the panel was opened and the safety cover removed it was quite evident that this panel was found to be an inviting and cosy home for spiders and other insects. 

This is a problem. There is a lot of organic and potentially flammable material in the electrical panel. This can trap heat and serve as a source of ignition for a fire. The panel needs to be cleaned by a qualified party and the hole in the siding needs to be repaired. A little bit of maintenance and routine repair can prevent a much bigger problem down the road. 

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    Brian Jovag, owner of Jovag Home Inspection.

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