Products
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VetoPro Pac
Take my advice and replace your tool box with a VetoProPac. Whether you are a do it yourselfer or a trade professional you will never regret replacing your tool box with one of the three choices of VetoProPac. I have the XL model and I wish I had switched out of my tool box many years ago instead of months ago. I liked my XL so much that I purchased a LC model and sent it to my son in New York. Go to their website and take a look.
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Ultimate Performance Primer-Sealer
I always have this on hand at home. I never paint anything until I have primed with this first. You can purchase a spray can for small areas or gallon or 5 gallon containers. Follow the directions, use it in a well ventilated area and you will never have a stain leak through your final coat of paint again. Blocks burned wood charcoal stain and oder, cedar sap stain, water stains, marker or pen stains. Besides its stain blocking qualities I like it because it cleans up with household ammonia and dries in 30 minutes or less if you put a fan on it. You can prime, and in less than an hour be painting.
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Second Use Building Materials
If you are looking for interesting or period accurate building materials put into your house like glass or brass door knobs, pedestal sinks, clawfoot tubs, paneled solid wood interior doors or if you are specifically looking for an item to match the original items and styles as you restore your home visit my friends at Second Use Building Materials (7953 Second Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98108; 206.763.6929). They specialize in used building materials and regularly deconstruct commerical, school and residential buildings to salvage good usable items that are ready to be applied in their next structure reincarnation. Every time I am in there I find something I want to take home. One of my favorite finds is a depression glass cobalt blue drawer handle that I mounted on a upper corner cabinet I converted into a corner vanity for my master bathroom. I picked up the cabinet, sink and faucet there too (these items were new). Check them out, but give yourself plenty of time to browse around. Inventory changes weekly. Go to their website to get a taste of what is available and do not hesitate to call them to ask if they have what you are looking for.
Services
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Pro-Vac
Pro-Vac is the company that helped me at my home for 6 hours on Christmas Eve from 9AM to 3PM to clean a side sewer blockage. Besides coming out on Christmas Eve for a not so fun task, they were prompt, professional, kept me informed of what was happening, let me look over their shoulder whenever I wanted and in the afternoon the owner came to my house to allow his staff person to make a Christmas family event and finished the job. I had one of my most anticipated Christmas Eve showers in a long time after we were through.
For more info: phone: 1-888-565-5665; e-mail: info@pro-vac.com
Their website says: "Pro-Vac is a full service storm/sewer maintenance and environmental service company. For over 20 years we have served both large an small customers throughout the Pacific Northwest.
We provide a wide variety of solutions and work with property managers to control cleaning costs, set annual budgets, and track site maintenance. We have the areas most experienced operators and specialists.
Pro-Vac is now one of the Northwest's largest and most experienced full-service environmental, sewer, septic and storm water management companies, serving Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
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Puge Sound Consumers Checkbook magazine
PUGET SOUND CONSUMERS CHECKBOOK is the magazine that reviews and rates service companies in our area. Center for the Study of Services is a nonprofit consumer organization that accepts no advertising and names names of thousands of local area's best & worst service companies in their region specific Checkbook magazines. Call 1-800-475-7283 or click on the link above to subscribe.
"Each issue of CHECKBOOK is an invaluable, impartial compendium of information" ... Colston E. Warne, Founding President of Consumers Union, Publisher of Consumer Reports.
I look forward to each new edition and trust the reviews to be an excellent starting place to start looking for a service provider. I selected my doctor and dentist by using their reviews of local service providers.
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The Home Owners Club
The Home Owners Club 206-622-3500If selecting the contractor to do the home repair, maintenance or improvement job of your dreams is what terrifies you the most, please call the Home Owners Club for some peace of mind. I have used their service, I have met with the owner and I trust their service and the leadership of the organization. For over 45 years, local home owners have trusted the Home Owners Club for quality home improvements and repairs at fair prices. With both its knowledgeable field inspectors and its roster of over 150 carefully screened contractors, the Club can handle virtually any home maintenance need; and satisfaction is guaranteed for all work done through the Home Owners Club
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Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties
Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties 425-451-7920
The members of MBA-KS are serious about their building business and are in business for the long run. If you are comfortable interviewing and screening contractors for your job this is a good place to start.
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Shirey Handyman Service
Shirey Handyman Service 425-392-8301
If you need a skilled, trustworthy, registered, insured and bonded generalist handyman to help you with your maintenance goals or repairs at home this is the place to call. I know the owner of this company through my work with her in the Built Green program at Master Builders and I have a high regard for her professionalism and dedication to quality construction. Shirey Handyman Service was founded by the owners of Shirey Contracting Incorporated. They have been remodeling homes in the Greater Seattle area since 1982, as have most of their craftsman. They are registered, bonded and insured and when they hire a new employee, including their experienced handymen, they do a thorough background check. Call and ask for April, tell her what you need done and she will explain how the program works, tell you when you can be scheduled, and make an estimate on the time required to do the job.
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Painting Done the Old -Fashioned Way
This is who I call when I want painting done at my house. Bob Doxsee, 253-854-2129. Bob does residential, commercial, interiors and exteriors. He will give you a free estimate. Bob only paints with brushes and rollers, no spraying. Ask him why and you will find out about better coverage and learn that some paint manufacturers thin down their paints so they work better in spray equipment.
Books and CD's
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Building Construction Illustrated by Francis D.K. Ching
My copy of this book is paper back, 11.5" by 14" with yellowed dog eared pages and was copyrighted in 1975. I have managed to keep this with me for 30 years because I think it is the best single source of conceptual, clear information on the whole structure. For twenty-five years, Building Construction Illustrated has offered an outstanding introduction to the principles of building construction. Now this Third Edition has been expertly revised and updated to address the latest advances in materials, building technology, and code requirements.
Complete with more than 1,000 illustrations, the book moves through each of the key stages of the design process, from site selection to building components, mechanical systems, and finishes. Topics within each chapter are organized according to the CSI MasterFormat(TM), making the book extremely easy to use.
Special features of this edition include integrated coverage of environmentally friendly materials, sustainable building construction strategies, and ADA requirements, as well as the inclusion of both metric and standard U.S. measurements throughout the book.
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Renovation, 3rd Edition by Michael W. Litchfield
This book is as much concerned with what and why as it is with how to. Thus, for every topic, from foundations to finish flooring, you’ll find the tools and materials you’ll need, the problems you may encounter, and workable solutions to see you through.
I have the second edition and it is the first place I look for help when considering a project.
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EEBA BUILDER'S GUIDE Mixed-Humid Climate
I always have this book in my truck. Be sure to select the one for your climate (Puget Sound is Mixed-Humid). This book considers the house as a system and has sections on framing, foundation, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, insulation, drywall and painting. Not only the hows but the whys.
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Fu-Tung Cheng Design
Expand the possibilities for the interior of your home. Visit Fu-Tung Cheng's website to see some of the remarkable and beautiful things you can do with concrete in the interior of your home. Think about floors, countertops, walls, fireplaces columns and architectural pieces made out of concrete. Fu-Tung's books are suitable for the coffee table but if you are considering new construction, remodeling or even doing something yourself the examples on his website and in his books and CDs will give you ideas that you did not even know were possible. Using concrete as a building material for the interior of a home is not a common thought, but after you look around this site and/or the books available there you will have your eyes opened to some wonderful possiblilities for something beautiful and different. See the design section of my books and CD page for a direct link to purchase his books.
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The Woodburner's Companion
THE WOODBURNER'S COMPANION Practical Ways of Heating with Wood by Dirk Thomas
If you have a woodburing stove this is the book for you. I have read this book and after 25 years experience of heating with wood I still found helpful tips in Dirk's book. If you like to have a fire in your fireplace or are thinking about purchasing a wood stove or fireplace insert this is the book for you. You can order on line from Hood Books or call 717-267-0867 to order a copy that will cost only $20 including shipping. Ask at your local bookstore to see if they carry the book.
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