The sink in our bathroom has been draining slowly for some time now and suddenly it just sort of stopped draining all together. What should I do? 

Thanks,

Stopped-Up

Nevada City, Ca.

Dear Stopped up in Nevada City,

  Keep a sharp eye out for signs of a sluggish drain. It’s easier to unclog a slow drain than it is to open a drain that has completely stopped. When the drain is slow, you can try a couple of easy things first. First try pouring scalding water down the drain to loosen any buildup of grease or soap scum. If that doesn’t help, you can clean the stopper, pop-up or drain screen. (This is not for the faint of heart.  My wife makes a funny face whenever I clean the pop-up.) If this doesn’t solve the problem, the next thing you’ll want to do is grab a plunger. If you don’t have a plunger, or if you have one of those silly little guys from the grocery store, go out and buy a good one.  Pick a plunger with a large enough suction cup to completely cover the drain and create an airtight seal against the surrounding sink. The one I use is black rubber with a yellow handle and has a cone on the bottom which can be folded up when I use it for clearing sinks or tubs. First cover the drain with the plunger and fill the sink with hot water and completely cover the suction cup. Seal off the overflow if you have one with a wet sponge or a rag. Push out any trapped air beneath the cup, and then give the plunger 5 to 10 vigorous up-and-down pumping strokes to jolt loose the clog. It may take 3 or 5 times to do the job. (One thing you should know is a plunger works with both the up and down stroke, so really tug up on it.)

 If none of this works you could try using a hand cranking snake, but let me tell you from my experience, they don’t work so well. They take a lot of effort with very little affect. You really need a good electric snake to do the job right. You may be able to rent one from the rental yard, but it helps if you know how to use it, they can be very dangerous to use.

 One other thing you can do before the drain gets clogged is to use an enzyme drain cleaning product. The enzymes help to digest the organic material and break it down to it basic element. It’s a great, environmentally safe product. And if you’re on a septic system the enzymes will work their way down into the tank and digest the gunk in the septic tank as well.

 If none of this works, well then I guess it’s time to call out the professionals.

• It does not matter what kind of wood you burn: as long as it is really, truly seasoned. In the case of hardwoods, especially oak, they must be seasoned for over one full year! That means last year’s wood – NOT this years wood! If you’re wondering about which wood is really the best, or what causes the least creosote to build up, the answer is the same! Properly seasoned wood produces the most heat, and produces the least creosote! It’s not the kind of wood you burn that makes the difference, but whether or not the wood is seasoned. Firewood that hasn’t been split for over a year isn’t worth a darn! On the other hand, dry well seasoned wood is just great! Seasoned wood burns hot and clean!
   
• If you have trouble starting your fire, or if you have trouble keeping your fire going, you are probably using this years wood – which means that it’s not seasoned. Unseasoned, or green wood, is extremely frustrating and disappointing. If wood is not properly seasoned it will be hard to light. It will keep going out. It will smolder. It won’t put out heat. It just burns poorly and inefficiently. It is also the moisture in wood which causes creosote to build up at an accelerated rate. One fresh-cut cord of oak may contain enough water to nearly fill six, 55 gallon drums. The moisture content in the wood determines how much heat the fire puts out, and how much creosote will build up in your chimney.
   
• If you are going spend hundreds of dollars on firewood, it’s essential to KNOW that the wood you are buying REALLY IS seasoned! Seasoned wood looks  dark, or gray when compared to green wood  – but if you split a piece of seasoned wood – it’s WHITE on the inside. It’s brittle, or gnarly. It has cracks running through each piece, and a lot of little cracks on the inner rings. Unseasoned wood has a wet, fresh looking center, with lighter (“drier-looking”) wood near the edges or ends which have been exposed since cutting. When firewood is very fresh, the bark will be tightly attached. Avoid these hassles at all costs! When you get cold, you’ll be miserable if your firewood does not produce the heat you need. Only well seasoned wood produces pleasant, trouble free heat.
• Depending upon when it was cut down, softwoods like fir or pine might be dry enough in just one year to burn nicely. But, a year is not enough for hardwoods: especially oak!  As far as quality is concerned, madrone is unquestionably the best wood!  Madrone is extremely dense, HARD wood. It burns extremely HOT, and it burns for a long time. Next, comes live oak, eucalyptus, walnut, and then all other oaks*. Fir is probably the most trouble free wood you can buy overall. But, if you read further down you’ll see it’s advantages and disadvantages. *White oak is troublesome wood. Though it is often mixed in, it’s a disappointing hassle. Remember that piece of wood that just NEVER seems to burn up? That’s white oak. Stay away from large quantities green wood, and accept as little white oak as possible – though it is difficult to avoid it entirely.
• DO NOT cover your wood with a tarp …. or you will prohibit evaporation! Use a shed, or buy a prefab wood crib.

• What REALLY causes creosote to build up? Creosote is the condensation of unburned, flammable particulates present in the exhausting flue gas (smoke). The actual cause of creosote condensation, is the surface temperature of the flue in which the flue gas comes in contact. Like hot breath on a cold mirror, if the surface temperature of the flue is cool, it will cause the vaporized carbon particles in the flue gas (smoke) to solidify. This condensation is creosote build-up. If the wood you are using is rain logged, or green, the fire will tend to smolder. Wet wood causes the whole system to be cool, and inefficient. But, dry wood means a hot fire! A hot fire means a hot flue, and a hot flue means much less creosote.
   
• Back in the early 1980′s, tests were conducted to discover which kind of wood created the most creosote in a regular “open” fireplace. The results were surprising. Contrary to popular opinion, the hardwood’s, like oak and madrone, created MORE creosote than the softwoods, like fir and pine. The reason for this, is that if the softwoods are dry, they create a hotter, more intense fire. The draft created by the hotter fire moves the air up the chimney faster! Because it is moving faster, the flue gas does not have as much time to condense as creosote inside the chimney. Also, because the flue gas is hotter: it does not cool down to the condensation point as quickly. On the contrary, the dense hardwood’s tend to smolder more, so their flue gas temperature is cooler. Thus, more creosote is able to condense on the surface of the flue. So, saying that “fir builds up more creosote than oak” just isn’t true! It is a misunderstanding to think that it’s the pitch in wood which causes creosote. It’s not the pitch that is the problem, it’s the water IN the pitch. Once the water in the wood has evaporated, that pitch becomes high octane fuel! When dry, softwoods burn extremely hot!
   
• Which kind of wood is better? That depends on what you want. If you are a first time fire-burner, or if you only want to burn a couple dozen fires a year: definitely go with a DRY softwood, like fir. Your odds for being happy are infinitely higher with fir, especially if you are just now buying wood for this year.  The fresh aroma of fir creates a lovely holiday ambiance! Fir seasons quickly, and when it is dry it is truly delightful, trouble free wood!  It’s easy to get going. It smells great. It’s easy to split for kindling. It creates BIG, friendly, luxurious fires! But, it doesn’t last as long as oak or madrone! You must feed a stove more frequently to keep it going with fir, and there is no guarantee that there will still be live hot coals in the morning. Cord for cord the hardwood’s may be a better deal.

• Hardwood’s, like madrone, live oak, eucalyptus, walnut, black oak etc., are the choice of the serious fire burner. You may pay $300 for a cord of oak, and only $250 for a cord of fir. BUT, because the oak is more dense, it weighs much more than the fir. So you actually get more for your money with hardwood. In fact, you may get almost twice the fire for the money! Because hardwoods are denser, they provide more available fuel in the same space. So, hardwoods burn longer. If hardwoods are properly seasoned, they do burn very hot. (Look for oak mixed with madrone.) The fuel available in hardwood enables stoves or inserts to sustain high temperatures for significantly longer periods. Also, unless the stove is shut down tight, hardwoods may keep a hot live coal bed for days. So as a rule, airtight stoves, or inserts, perform best with dry hardwoods. It is, however, always important to have a large supply of really good kindling – because hardwood is difficult to start. Having a quantity of fir on hand is great source of good kindling.

• When buying firewood, remember that first and foremost, it must be properly seasoned. The best way to get seasoned wood is to buy THIS years wood for NEXT year! For a scrupulous first time wood buyer, a moisture tester may be a good investment. Wood sellers will often tell you that even though this wood was split this year, it will be just fine. Except in the cases of fir or pine, that is not true. Look for gray, or darkened, brittle wood that has a lot of cracks in the inner rings. Seasoned wood looks gray, or dark and dingy because it has been sitting sitting in the sun, drying, and collecting dust for a while. But, if you split it: it’s dry and very WHITE inside! Unseasoned wood has the fresh clean look of new lumber at a building supply store. Unseasoned wood  has that same fresh look on the INSIDE when it’s split. Though seasoned wood is darker on the outside, it’s bone white on the inside.
   
• Once wood gets over 4-5 years old, it does start to deteriorate, so the best wood is 2-3 years seasoned.  If you find good dry wood of any kind, you will really enjoy your fireplace! But, if you get stuck with green wood, you will be one very frustrated wood burner. Most wood for sale is “this years” wood. If you get serious about wood burning, you must always think one full year ahead! You should always buy this years wood for for NEXT year. Good buys of seasoned wood do come along, but they are often not advertised, because the serious wood burners already know where to go. If you are a first time wood burner, either buy dry, split fir, or hunt down really dry, cracking hardwood. You won’t be sorry if you spend a little more money – just to make sure that you get trouble free firewood.

DIY Electrical testing for your Auburn CA Home;

If the thought of working on an electrical circuit in your Nevada County home makes you cringe, then investing in a good quality multi-meter, voltmeter, ticker tracer or a neon-light tester should be your first order of business. These testers can be inexpensive and are well worth the investment to help protect you from an electric shock. They can be purchased at your local Grass Valley, Ca hardware store or Auburn, Ca home center.

1. Testers and How They Work

A basic neon light tester consist of a neon light bulb that is attached to two leads used for checking if a circuit is “hot” (electrified)or “dead”(not electrified). When you press these two leads into an outlet, the bulb will light if the circuit is “hot” or on. If it doesn’t light, then the circuit is “dead” or off.

Always check to see if the tester is working properly by checking a circuit that you know is working properly before moving on. To double-check that an outlet is actually off, remove the outlet cover and test the screws on the sides of the outlet. But be sure to be safe, the outlet may still be hot(electric). A good habit to practice is to always assume the circuit is electrified or hot, in other words just don’t touch any bare wire with your hands. You can also plug a lamp or vacuum into the outlet just to put your mind at ease.

2. Outlets and Testing

 To test an electrical outlet in your Grass Valley home do the following. A typical outlet has three holes built into it. The shorter straight slot is the “hot” (electric) lead. The longer straight slot is the “neutral” lead (if it’s wired correctly). The slot that looks like a small circle hole is the ground.

To test the ground, test between the “hot” (electrified) and “ground” slots. If the circuit is working and you have a good “ground” connection, the tester will light up. The tester will also light if you test between the “hot” (electric) and “neutral” slots.

 There are plug-in circuit testers are available that will test your circuit for you via three neon lights. They test for an open neutral, lack of a ground, wires on the wrong terminals, and no power. This is a great inexpensive tool to have in your tool box.

3. Switches and Testing

To test a switch in your Auburn home, remove the cover plate and check from the “hot” (electric) screw on the side of the switch to the bare copper wire (ground) or the metal box. Keep in mind that the box may not be grounded, especially if it’s a plastic box.

4. Testing Light Fixtures

When checking the light fixture wiring in your Grass Valley home, take down the light and using a “tick-tracer”, test the circuit to see if it working. This tester lights when you place it close to a wire that has current flowing through it. Again always double check your testers by testing a known working outlet.

To double-check the circuit, first turn off the electricity to that circuit by turning off the light switch. Now, remove the wire nuts from both the black “hot” wires and the white “neutral” wires. Now with the wires exposed you can use your neon light tester. Separate these sets of wires so that they are not touching one another. If the wires touch and they’re hot, look out sparks will fly.

  Turn the circuit back on and check between the black and white wires with the voltmeter or neon tester. Be careful not to touch the exposed wires with your fingers. The voltmeter should show a reading of around 120 volts. Likewise, the neon tester should light if the circuit is working properly.

   That’s it. But I can’t stress enough the fact that you need to be careful and always assume you’re working with electrified lines. And another thing if you don’t feel comfortable, don’t mess with it. With electricity it’s always better to be safe than sorry or dead. There are times in everyone’s life where its just better to hire a professional. Only you can decide when to hire someone.

If you get in over your head or just don’t want to mess with it, give ABT Plumbing, Electric, Heat & Air a call and we’ll be there to help. 530-272-9120

ABT Plumbing, Electric, Heat & Air serves:  Nevada and Placer County, Grass Valley, Ca. Alta Sierra, Ca. Nevada City, Ca. Penn Valley, Ca. Rough and Ready, Ca. Lake Wildwood, Ca. Smartsville, Ca. Colfax, Auburn, Ca. Lake of the Pines, Ca. Meadow Vista, Ca. Newcastle, Ca. and all places in-between.