Best answer:

Answer by Andrew Twidwell; The thermostat in the water heater is designed to be the most efficient way to heat the water for your shower and your household needs. If you are going to be away for several days, turn the thermostat to “pilot” position and remember to turn it back on a day before you need to shower.

The federal government decided that after 1994 toilets shouldn’t use any more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Manufacturers had to comply, but by most accounts their early efforts were a flop.

That was a decade and a half ago. The redesigned low-flow models that followed work as well or better than older models that used as much as 7 gallons of water per flush. There is, in fact, a joint U.S.-Canadian evaluation program called Maximum Performance (or MaP) that uses soybean paste encased in latex to see just how well these low-flow toilets work. And most of them work very well. Test results are easily accessible on the Internet.

High-efficiency toilets use even less water than standard low-flow models, some as little as 1.1 gallons. Dual-flush toilets, which have separate flush modes for solid and liquid waste, are another water-saving option. The differences in performance may seem trivial, but switching from a standard to a low-flow toilet can save thousands of gallons of water per year. If your thinking of switching that old WC in your Auburn or Grass Valley Home, give us a call; 530-272-9120 in Grass Valley or 530-886-8700 in Auburn and surrounding areas.

Question: You probably think I have bats in the belfry, but my real problem is squirrels in the attic. Their scurrying and chattering drive me nutty! I know this isn’t part of your trade, but I suspect that people in any home repair business may have encountered this problem. How do I get rid of the creatures (a humane solution, please)?

Reply: You guessed right. Anyone who has worked in home repairs for a length of time gets it all. We fix our share of doorknobs and table legs and get asked to help with everything from auto repairs to marriage counseling. Plumbers, Electrician, and HVAC technicians have had to deal with pets ranging from hamsters to boa constrictors (not in the same house, you can be sure). Yep, people in the home repair business hear a thing or two about squirrels invading peoples’ living space.

They can be worse house guests than a lot of mothers-in-law. Don’t think for a moment that the critters actually prefer to live in tree trunks. If they had their druthers, they’d snuggle up next to you in bed waiting out the cold, snowy, cruel winter.

As long as temperatures are above freezing, approximately, squirrels prefer to scurry and chatter in the great outdoors. Once the thermometer drops, however, they are apt to invade attics and crawl spaces, which are quite a bit warmer than their natural homes.

Worse, squirrels can sense even cozier living on the other side of a ceiling or wall. They will try to improve their living standards by scratching through plaster, wallboard or even wood. Typically squirrels spend their winter daylight hours searching for scarce food. For their work activities they prefer a late shift starting at night or in the pre-dawn hours – just when most of us like to sleep. Pleasant dreams!

Scurrying and chattering are the least of the problems they can cause. In extreme cases they have been known to set houses in Auburn on fire by nibbling through electrical wiring. Given enough time, they also can cause significant structural damage to wooden beams. Unfortunately, many home insurance policies exclude coverage from “rodent” damage, which is how squirrels get categorized. If you can recruit a raccoon family to move in instead, you’re better off.

There are all sorts of home remedies for getting rid of them, none of which have a perfect track record of success. The presence of a dog or cat in the house sometimes serves as a deterrent, but not always. Most of the time squirrels are clever enough to set up housekeeping out of harm’s way of any pets. Mothballs work sometimes, sometimes not. People have been known to set out rat poison, though this is very risky. Barbarism aside, if the critters die in an attic or crawl space…enough said, since you may be reading this over dinner.

There also are electronic devices on the market that emit noises that are supposed to annoy pests as much as rap music does normal human adults. These may work for awhile, and then the critters get used to the noise and next thing you know they are dancing to the electronic “music.” (Perhaps this is how the adverb “squirrely” arose to describe preferences outside the human norm.)

Squirrels are gregarious creatures, and if one makes his way into the attic, it won’t be long before a whole family sets up housekeeping. A nightmare scenario is to have a female give birth up there.

So how do you get rid of these Grass Valley house guests from hell? The best chance of success comes with hiring a professional rodent control firm. Most use non-lethal squirrel traps. These are pretty straightforward devices. Made of tightly spaced metal rod, they have doors that allow access but shut behind the creature once inside. You also can get them in many hardware stores. Peanut butter or a variety of other common household foods can be used as bait.

Squirrels are territorial creatures with great homing instincts. This means that once you trap them, it’s important to release them far away. Rodent control professionals recommend taking them over 20 miles from the place of capture. Amazingly, they may otherwise find their way back over shorter distances.

The key to capturing squirrels is to locate where they enter your home. Attic fan openings provide one common means of access. Otherwise look for holes in the roof or gaps around soffits and fascia. The baited trap needs to be placed in the vicinity of the opening.

The last thing you want to do is put the trap inside the attic itself. The odor of bait signals party time to squirrels throughout the neighborhood. Next thing you know, the homesteaders living in the attic become a tribe.

If there is more than one possible opening for them to get in, it may be necessary to put out multiple traps. A technique used by professionals is to place plastic strips across the suspect openings. The critters will chew right through the plastic, but this enables you to identify where they are coming in.

Once you have pinpointed the infiltration site(s), then put out the traps(s). VERY IMPORTANT: Don’t plug up the openings until you are confident there are no more of the critters hanging around inside. Not only will this condemn them to a slow and agonizing death, it’s also inhumane toward the home owners, since death odors can linger for up to two years.

I admire your respect for life of even God’s lowly furry creatures. For readers not so sensitive, and since we live in Nevada County, I conclude with the following recipe:

Brunswick Stew

• • 1 squirrel cut up into six pieces
  • 1 cup flour
  • Salt/pepper
  • 3 TBSP butter
  • 8 cups boiling water
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup lima beans
  • 3 potatoes (quartered)
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 2 onions (sliced)
  • 2 cups canned tomatoes with juice

Roll squirrel pieces in flour and salt & pepper. Brown in butter. Add squirrel and other ingredients except tomatoes to boiling water. Simmer 1.5 to 2 hours. Add tomatoes, simmer another hour.

Serve with fresh bread. Bon appetite.

Andrew Twidwell.

1. 1. Clearing all debris around an area or roof drain, flushing the line to push any other debris through, and to test the line. This should be done 1-3 times a year depending on what sort of debris collects in a given area.
   2. Water consumption assessment. Install a dual flush toilet or an “Ultra Low Fush” 1.2 gpf toilet in your Auburn, Ca home. Over time (in some cases two years), the toilet pays for itself. Another great water saver is a quality 2.5 gallon per minuter shower head. Just these easy steps can save 1000’s of gallons of water a year, and if you install quality components you won’t notice any difference in performance. Do not carelessly leave the water running as a habit.
   3. The next time you receive plumbing services in your Grass Valley home, even while getting an estimate, ask the plumber to test the pressure coming in from the water service. It’s simple, and takes under five minutes to do. Any plumber should carry this gauge and offer this service for free. If the pressure is over 80 psi have the plumber provide you with an estimate on the cost to remedy this problem. High water pressure may cause damage and avoidable repairs that cost a lot more over time.
   4. Tankless water heaters use approximately half the fuel of a conventional water heater. You receive a 30% tax credit of the overall cost up to $1,500.00. You never run out of hot water, and clear up some valuable space.
   5. Keep a constant awareness around your Penn Valley home that it is not OK to dump paper towels, grease, q-tips, tissues, acid, etc. down the drain. This can clog the drain lines and be very costly to the owner if not controlled.

Have you ever had a day like this?

Your water heater springs a leak and floods your garage.

Or your A/C blows hot air on a 97 degree day.

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money for these unexpected problems?

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At ABT we provide service and value that our competition

just can’t match, so call today. Our promise to you is fast,

reliable, local service and now you have a full year to pay for

those unforeseen repairs.

2. Use reclaimed wood for your next project at home. Use your own, or find some on freecycle, Craigslist, at your local transfer station, or recycle.net.

3. There are many places you can exchange or recylce your old electronics.

4. Sell off or post an ad for free metal scrap to be recycled.

5. If you have enough, your old VHS tapes can be recycled

6. Packing tape and stickers cannot be recycled, so use these sparingly in the first place.

7. Tools are very valuable items on eBay. Try selling them in lots to save time, shipping waste, and energy.

8. Empty propane tanks may be able to be taken as scrap metal, or properly disposed of at hazardous waste facilities. Reuse these whenever you can!

9. Even large items like BBQ grills can be recycled as scrap metal once the propane tank has been removed.

10. Kids toys have a new life when they’re donated to thrift stores like Salvation Army or local churches.

11. Recycle your old prescription bottles, they have a million uses.

12. After they’ve been used up, recycle your old batteries.

13. How about other plastic numbers, what do those mean? You may be able to recycle some of them.

14. Flip flops can be recycled and repurposed a number of creative and unique ways.

15. Can’t figure out what to do with your old lamps, wall decor, or knick knacks? If you can’t eBay them, donate them to a thrift store for charity purposes. Craigslist and Kijiji are good alternatives, too.

16. Recycle your shipping styrofoam or reuse it.

17. Window treatments have the chance to live again as you recycle your curtains into pillows.

18. Carpet can be recycled if it is clean and usable.

19. Donate it, sell it, or recycle your television.

20. Stop by an Aveda location to recycle your bottle caps.

21. The rumor has been floating around that aluminum can’t be recycled. While the rules may differ per town, you can still reuse it a few times by giving it a cleaning.

22. Reuse your old jeans in these 25 ingenious methods.

23. Why trash it? Your shower curtain is a great drop cloth or apron.

24. Your ink cartridges are accepted at many different locations online and in person, like Staples.

25. You might be able to trade in your old printer for a credit on a new one. They’ll recycle it for you. There’s always earth911, too.

26. Tires are a must to be recycled, and it’s very easy.

27. Learn how you can recycle your roof shingles to become part of our roads.

28. Make sure when installing a new car battery that the mechanic will recycle it.batteries

29. Cardboard boxes can be taken at your local recycling station, or sent curbside if they’re small enough in most instances.

30. Save your old packing peanuts and recycle them by giving them to your local shipping company. They will gladly take them off your hands.

31. Your gently used clothing can be resold on eBay, or donated.

32. Good news! #5 plastics can be recycled at many Whole Foods locations.

33. Potato chip bags and those other foil packaging that often are used to wrap up junk food can be recycled at Terracycle.net.

34. Used (many times) ziploc containers and similar disposable plasticware can be recycled usually as #1 plastics.

35. Shaving cream metal cans are accepted in most recycling facilities with other metal cans.

36. Can tabs can be recycled with your cans. Don’t pull them off, that kidney dialysis machine time rumor is false.

37. You couldn’t have enough options to recyle your cellphone

38. Blankets can be recycled by donating them to animal shelters (if clean).

39. Recycle your own scrap wood and furniture by reusing it, or donate it.

40. Save that box and make some Pizza box art, or maybe just recycle it if you follow these instructions.

41. Mattresses, aerosol cans, even washing machines can be recycled.

42. Bread twist ties will be your new best friend after you read these creative uses.

43. Reading glasses can be recycled and donated, and are always in demand.

44. Old books can be sold on Amazon, or donated to thrift stores. There’s always the yard sale option, too.

45. Freecycle your old sports equipment.

46. Did you know your old aluminum siding could be worth a lot of money?

47. Your old greeting cards can even be recycled creatively.

48. Wrapping paper is just paper and has many ways to be reused or recycled.

49. Don’t forget all types of glass bottles can be recycled — wine bottles, jelly jars, colored glass… these are all accepted at most recycling facilities.

50. Your old screened doors have many ways that they can be recycled.

Every once in a while when we go down stairs to our guest room there will be this really foul sewer smell. It mainly happens in the winter. There is a sink down there that we don’t use that often. We have spent hundreds of dollars on plumbers trying to figure this problem out. Any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated.

Stinky,

Grass Valley.

Dear Stinky in Grass Valley,

   This could be real easy. First look at the sink and see if there is any water in the p-trap. The p-trap is that “U” shaped pipe under your sink. It provides a great service. It fills with water and forms a gas tight seal to the main sewer system. Many times I’ll go out and find a shower or a sink in an area that is rarely used and the trap will be dry. I’ll turn the water on, fill the trap and the problem is solved. So obviously that is where I would start.

 If that doesn’t work, it can become more of a challenge. If you have a toilet in the area it could be a broken floor seal or perhaps it could be an open pipe in the wall. There are a few things to check. We have a tool that helps with locating these more difficult problems. We pump smoke in to the drain and vent system and see where the smoke comes out. Easy as that, then of course we fix the sewer gas leak. Like always, look at the most obvious and easy stuff and then move to the more difficult and expensive stuff. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone out to a call for something that isn’t working only to find a valve off, or an appliance unplugged, look for the easy solutions first.