IKO Armor Plus 20 Roof Shingles Failure

Ahhhh... The American Dream! Home ownership. But is it a dream or a nightmare?

We built our house in 2003 and used IKO Armor Plus 20 roofing shingles. After only 12 years, the roof is failing.

The shingles are heavily warn.

Tiles are lifting and curling. 

I asked a builder to look at the roof and he said the shingles are brittle and can not be replaced.

He said that if I try to put a new roof over the top, the new roof will fail as the old roof crumbles.

It could cost $20,000 to tare off and replace the roof!

There is a class action lawsuit against IKO, but that won't be settled for a long time. The builder I talked to, who has had experience with this IKO problem says the company won't return his calls.

I added myself to a list so I can get updates on the lawsuit. I notified IKO of my concerns. We are going to contact our Home Owner's insurance on Tuesday to discuss our options.

Tune back in and follow our progress with getting the roof replaced.

Winterizing the Humidifier

The house humidity has finally dropped to the point where I need to turn on the furnace's Honeywell HE220 humidifier.

First step is to remove the cover by loosening the screw under the cover.

Remove the filter housing.

Remove the top of the housing and discard the metal filter.

The bottom of the assembly will be caked with water deposites that must be scrapped off and cleaned.

Now it is time for the new filter. I bought this filter at Lowes.

Then I reassemble the housing and return it to the humidifier. Put the cover back on.

Now I can turn the humidifier on. This will allow water to drop over the metal filter. I like to put it on the highest setting, 10, and then adjust it over the coming days until the house humidity becomes comfortable.

The final step is to switch the vent from Summer to Winter to divert the air over the filter.

All done for another year!

While I am at it, I use this opportunity to replace the furnace filter and to inspect the hot water tank for leaks.

More Sound Proofing

I built a nice office in the basement of my house. During the winter the office gets cold and I found out why: one of the Uninsulated walls is blowing cold air into the room! I decided to insulate the wall with Roxul  (http://www.roxul.com/residential/create+a+quiet+home/which+safe+n+sound ) sound proof material.

I have used Roxul throughout my basement and I like it a lot. It doesn't offer complete sound proofing but it does take away some noise. To get real sound proofing, the Roxul would be used with additional techniques. I like Roxul because it is fireproof, which gives peace of mind. It is also insulation. Finally, I like it because it is very easy to cut or rip, which makes it easy to install.

Like most insulation, Roxul can be very itchy if it comes in contact with skin. It is probably overkill to wear a painter's jump suit for installation, but the suits are cheap and I have installed enough Roxul to prefer the comfort.

Another downside is that Roxul is more expensive than other options. Therefore, I don't recommend using Roxul everywhere - only use it where it makes the most sense.

The Roxul installs right into the wall as easy as you can imagine. I simply compress it to fit between the studs and then it expands to stay in place.

With the Roxul installed, my office is now warm and comfy.

Chair Repair

Today's post falls under the category of: if you don't take care of what you have, you won't have anything.

We have some nice wooden chairs that take a ton of abuse from our teenagers. Occasionally, they pull apart.

If a chair in this condition isn't immediately repaired, the chair could break and be ruined. Chair repairs are very simple and anyone can do it. You can repair the chair the easy way or the hard way.

The hard way? Pull the chair completely apart at all the joints. Clean the joints. And Re-glue the chair.

I am going to do the repair the easy way; I am only going to reglue the joints that have come undone.

There is a lot of different kinds of glue out there and everyone has their favorite. This one is my favorite for a very simple reason: it has a screw on cap that prevents the tip from hardening. There is nothing worse than grabbing your glue bottle and having to chip away at harden glue, or try to pull out a nail or pin that has been glued solidly to the nozzle. With this glue, I simply unscrew the cap and I am ready to go.

I clean any loose glue from the joint and then apply ample new glue to the hole and the peg.

I then put the peg back into the hole and apply pressure until the glue sets. I make sure to wipe up any extra glue that has squeezed out of the joint.

The glue I use takes 24 hours to fully set, so, the chair gets set aside for a day.

That is all there is to it!

Car Battery

I tend to be a diY guy because I am too stingy to pay someone else to do something I should be able to do. This approach works out fairly well... Unless we are talking about car repair.

I have never owned a car that was not essential so I have never had something I could tinker with. If my car is broke? I need it fixed ASAP!

My wife's battery died and with some guidance from a friend I was able to replace it. I guess that means I get to keep my Man Card for another year.

I took the old battery to the parts store and exchanged it for a new one.

The van battery is held in place in the van via a plastic clip. After putting the battery in its place, I tightened  the plastic clip's bolt.

The battery is now securely in place.

Next, I connected the first lead.

The second lead had a plastic cap that I needed to remove.

And then I was able to connect the second lead.

And that was it!

Our View

We built our house 12 years ago into a new subdivision. I wanted to be in a subdivision because I believed it would help us should we ever want to sell our house. I had an old house that was in a low traffic area of a town and it took over two years to sell that place. I didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

The new subdivision was awesome. I was surrounded on all sides by farm fields and I had an expansive view in every direction.

And then the subdivision grew. Each year more and more houses were built all around us.

It has reached a point where we are now boxed in, 

The construction of this latest house will take away most of what was left of our view.

On the one hand, I wanted to be in a subdivision to protect my property value. But on the other hand, I would prefer if there were no houses around me, especially houses whose back windows can look directly into mine!

Thankfully, I still have a nice view out the front of the house.

So, that's the trade off. Want to be in a neighborhood? Or by yourself out in the country?

Running Toilet

The guy who made the indoor toilet famous was Thomas Crapper. He sold a valve that would refill a toilet bowl with water. Ever since then, his name has been associated with doing your duty in the bathroom. The next time you go to use the Crapper, you can thank Thomas Crapper for not needing to go outdoors.

The invention has evolved over the years, and is not perfect. Parts wear out and need to be replaced. If you hear the toilet running when it shouldn't be? You crapper probably has a bad flapper.

This is what a flapper looks like. It covers the pipe the runs between the tank and the toilet bowl.

When you push down on the toilet handle, it causes the flapper to raise, which releases all the water in the tank causing it to flush into the bowl, and for your waste to flush down the drain.

If that flapper wears out, it will leak.

First step? Shut off the water.

Next, disconnect the flapper chain from the handle and remove the old flapper. Replace the flapper with a new one.

Turn the water back on. That's all

It takes! In just minutes your crapper will be back to tip top shape!