Home Improvement

Three Reasons not to buy a tankless water heater if you live in Simi Valley

June 24, 2011 By Ted Mackel 2 Comments

There are three very good reasons not to buy a Tankless Water Heater if you live in Simi Valley California. One involving safety, one involving economics and last just living issues. If your water heater has finally gone out and you are looking for replacement, consider the following before opting for a tankless replacement.

1. The number one reason involves safety for your family. Simi Valley is in earthquake country, Those that remember the effects of the Northridge Earthquake might not realize how fast time flies and it is now 17 years after that big quake. Are you earthquake safe in your house? Do you have 3 days provisions for your family in case the next “Big One” hits? Your 50 gallon traditional tank style Water heater may be your only source of clean drinking water in the event we have another large earthquake. Make sure your Water heater is braced and strapped so it will not fall over during an earthquake. I have posted Simi Valley Earthquake preparedness – Water Heater Bracing

2. Cost; while there are a buzzillion commercials on the radio these days talking about tankless water heaters, tankless systems are often significantly more expensive. Tankless heaters are the buzz, they are sexy and they might sound like a good thing, but for those of us in earthquake country, would you rather have a 50 gallon reserve of clean drinking water or the latest fad.

3. When there is a power outage, you have no hot water with a tankless system If the gas or power goes out to your Hot water heater, you will still have hot water for a couple hours.

Please make sure your water heater is properly strapped and braced. If you need assistance from a licensed plumber, for Simi Valley Plumbers, you can call Beck’s Plumbing at (805) 300-6146 or T-Top Plumbing at (805) 527-886

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Home Safety Tagged With: earthquake, Simi Valley, tankless, water heaters

Ted makes a guest apperance on the Cindy Dole Home Wizards Show KFWB 980 am

May 4, 2010 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

Saturday, May 1, 2010 (Los Angeles) - I was given the privilege of a guest spot on the Cindy Dole Home Wizards Show on KFWB 980 am. The show airs every Saturday morning from 8 AM to 10 AM. Cindy covers a variety of topics on home improvement and gardening. I’ve always been a fan of talk radio and prefer to listen to talk radio over other programming. Cindy Dole’s Home Wizards Show, is great programming for Saturday morning that I can turn on my transistor radio while working around my home or listen in my car on a Saturday morning on the way to meet clients and show property.

It’s no secret that people love the topics of real estate and home improvement. Some my most read articles on my blog are home improvement articles. Cindy’s show this time moved away from home improvement and gardening and focused in on a very serious topic related to home ownership and that topic was reminiscing events of the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the preparation for future earthquakes in Southern California. Two important issues came to surface immediately. First, was understanding that Northridge type events are more common for those of us in Southern California. Examples would be the Whittier Narrows earthquake, the San Fernando/ Sylmar earthquake, etc.

The second issue that came to surface from the experts was that they believe a section of the San Andreas fault between Palm Springs and Palmdale has a high probability rupture in the next 30 years. The difference between an earthquake generated from the San Andreas fault versus our more recent events is that a much larger magnitude quake accompanied by longer shake times (up to two minutes) – will most likely occur.

: My Brother Pete’s Bed with the chimney on top – seconds after he got out of the way

In sharing my experiences during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and sitting in studio with the experts I quickly realized that 16 years has passed, which has created some complacency in my own preparation. This is an important topic to stay in touch with to make sure your home is safe, that you have enough supplies for several days and that you have adequate insurance in case of loss.

Good news for those of you contemplating purchasing a home. Sellers now supply a natural hazards disclosure report prepared by a third-party company that shows where fault lines and liquefaction zones are located in relation to the property you are planning to purchase. Other hazards such as flooding and fire zones are included in that report as well. If your home is located in one of these hazard zones, it helps to know so you can plan accordingly and be prepared for future likely events.

Also mandatory retrofit items for Ventura County / Simi Valley Home Sellers include water heater bracing and in Los Angeles County a earthquake shutoff valve for your natural gas service.

The player below is the recording of Saturday’s Show. You can subscribe to Cindy’s Show on iTunes or listen live every Saturday Morning at 8:00 am on KFWB 980 am.

If you can’t see the player for the show above here is the link

Cindy Dole Home Wizards Show on KFWB 980 am May 1st Earthquake Special

Make sure to Follw Cindy on Twitter @CindyDole

Also Cindy has a Facebook Page Cindy Dole on Facebook

And of course her webpage www.CindyDole.com

Northridge Earthquake 15 year Aniversary

Simi Valley Earthquake Preparedness Emergency Gas Shut Off

Simi Valley Earthquake Preparedness Water Heater Bracing

Cindy Dole’s Remembering Northridge Quake 1994

Search for Homes in Simi Valley California

Thanks for reading Simi Valley’s Premiere Real Estate Blog!
Author – Ted Mackel Simi Valley Real Estate Agent – Keller Williams Realty
Ted Mackel is a top producer at Keller Williams Realty Simi Valley,
specializing in Simi Valley Real Estate
(805) 432-7705

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Home Safety, Real Estate News Tagged With: 1994, Cindy Dole, Home Wizards, KFWB, KFWB 980 AM, Northridge Earthquake

Inexpensive ways to increase the value of your Simi Valley Home (Part I – Video Below)

November 23, 2009 By Ted Mackel 2 Comments

Looking for inexpensive ways to make your Simi Valley home more attractive for buyers?

But wait a minute, aren’t homes selling with multiple offers, bidding wars and buyers being left out? Certainly in the lower price ranges homes are selling quickly and with multiple offers; however, homes in all price ranges with serious deferred maintenance and other issues are being scrutinized by buyers and sometimes left on the market.

A factor that has become glaringly obvious is that homes in the lower price ranges that do not sell in the first 30 to 60 days end up with a scarlet letter that causes buyers to be very cautious before proceeding.

So what can you do to get your Simi Valley house ready and not have it cost you a fortune?

Curb appeal – First Impressions are important in any market. What does your house say when buyers drive by?

There are two categories under curb appeal in which to view your home.

First is the landscaping

Trees are the most overlooked and poorly planned landscaping item at most homes. Many times the tree species was too large for the yard to begin with or was misplaced in the yard. There are what I call the “volunteers”, these are the trees that are grown from seeds that are deposited in your yard from bird droppings. Most of these volunteer type trees are fast growing deep rooted and destructive, as the birds sit on rain gutters, utility lines, roof edges fences and deposit the seeds where they grow and breakup sidewalks, perimeter walls and fences, impact foundations, grow up against the roof, and rub up against the house. I’ve seen were large trees over the course of years have rubbed the stucco color coat off the side of homes.

Most home owners do not understand that when they plant a tree in their yard, that will need to be pruned and maintained every few years. If not, they will overgrow and create far more costlier problems than the cost to prune and maintain the trees. See this example of how a poorly placed and improper species planting in my yard by the previous owner created a big time maintenance issue. Trees and Overhead Power Lines

Overgrown shrubs and trees negatively impact the growth of your lawn as fallen leaves and lack of sun kill off portions of the lawn. Trimming the trees and shrubs will make a huge difference in the appearance of your home.

Make sure that all dead branches are removed from the trees and that the trees are pruned and thinned. Check the shrubs and planters removing old worn-out plants and weeds. Any shrubs that are growing up and blocking Windows and pathways need to be cut back. If you enjoy potted plants, make sure that you are not overcrowding the front of your house and even the front doorway with too many potted plants.

Depending on the season, after you get your yard cleaned up, perennial flowers such as lavender, gold strum, daisies, asters, chrysanthemums or hibiscus can be picked up at places like the Simi Valley Home Depot, Lowe’s or the Do It Center in flats very inexpensively.

If the time of year is right to bring in some new plants and color, make sure your sprinkler system is working.

Second is the exterior appearance of your Simi Valley house.

The condition of your roof - If your roof is visible and made of composition shingles, consider a tuneup for these types of roof systems 10 or more years old. A roofer can install new Ridge caps, check and seal roof Jack flashings, chimney flashings, and drip edge flashings. If your roof has turbine venting these can be checked adjusted and or replaced if necessary. On my house I had all the equipment, pipes and the flashing painted a matching brown. The new Ridge caps and freshly painted vents made my 15 year old roof look almost new. Fascia boards and the eaves with peeling and worn-out paint provide perfect attack points for wood destroying organisms such as dry rot and termites. Unprotected wood in the Southern California sun can be damaged quickly. Along with the fascia boards and eaves, the trim around the Windows and doors may need attention too.
The front door - If your door is dirty and the paint is still intact, dust, shoe marks, and handprints should be cleaned off the door. If the paint or finish is peeling and/or worn off, the door should be repainted. Make sure any screen doors, door bells and most importantly the doorknob and deadbolt are all in working order and not in disrepair. Also any keys you have made for the realt0r lockboxes should work without any problems. After a number of years, continual copies of keys can create difficult to open locks. A locksmith can come adjust the locks or you if you are handy, take the locks and deadbolts to a locksmith to have them keyed alike with a new key combo; which will generally charge approximately $10 per cylinder to have re-key.

After sprucing up the trim and front door you may want to wash the stucco and/or siding and any cobwebs in the eaves. If the stucco or siding is in poor condition repair and paint may be needed.

In the order of things to do here is how I would tackle my own Simi Valley home.

The front door-paint and/or clean and adjusts the locks.
Shrubs and planters-cleanup, spruce up and add color.
Trees-remove volunteers that have grown up too close to the house or fences.
Trees-prune overgrown trees that are blocking the view of the house.
Roof tuneup-replace Ridge caps.
Roof tuneup-paint flashings.
Cleanup, repair and paint exterior of home,

Depending on the interior condition of the home, maybe only several of the above items need to be taken care. An overall budget and plan for the interior and exterior preparation of your home needs to be compared to any kind of improvement of sale price you can anticipate for your home.

While the above outline has many items, you may have a home that only needs a few of the minor items dealt with before your home is placed on the market.

Put yourself in the shoes of a buyer and try to look at your house as a buyer would, critical, concerned and looking for issues that might aid their negotiations. Tackle those issues now and take those items off the negotiating table.

If you’d like a free evaluation of your home’s condition I’d be happy to come over and go through your home and give you some tips and ideas on how to improve that first impression.

For more tips and ideas see:

Thanks for reading Simi Valley’s Premiere Real Estate Blog!

Author – Ted Mackel Simi Valley Real Estate Agent – Keller Williams Realty

Ted Mackel is a top producer at Keller Williams Realty Simi Valley,

specializing in Simi Valley Real Estate

(805) 432-7705

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Sellers Tagged With: homes, house, landscaping, Simi Valley

Are you being eaten out of house & Home Simi Valley Termite Inspection?

September 24, 2009 By Ted Mackel 2 Comments

Are you being eaten out of house & Home Simi Valley Termite Inspection?

Simi-Valley-Termite-repairs-dry-rot Understanding how a termite inspection will impact the sale of your Simi Valley Home is an important issue. Early action can save you frustration and headache. If you are planning to list your home, now is the time to get and inspection. Inspections are cheap ranging form $75.00 to $100.00 depending on the company. If you have a pest control service for regular pest control call you company and ask if they have a discount for inspection and any work they recommend. If you do not have a termite company here are a few local companies you can call.

Simi Valley Termite Inspectors

Simi Valley Termite Company (805) 522-4334

Gold Coast Termite & Pest Control (805) 526-1150

Zwaag Termite Control (805) 526-7040

Once you are in escrow, a termite inspection will be ordered if you did not do this prior to accepting an offer on your home. Generally, unless otherwise agreed, the Seller will pay for a termite inspection and any corrective work that is outlined in the inspection report. The repair cost will vary dependent upon what is found and the size of structure. Fumigation is based off the cubic volume of the structure and other repairs can include replacing any wood damaged by wood destroying pests and wood destroying organisms (dry rot). The inspection is limited to the accessible areas of the structure, which include the attic Simi-Valley-Termite-fumigation-dry-rot and the crawl space under a raised foundation home. The inspector will look for moisture damage, dry rot and evidence of wood destroying pest activity. The inspector will also look for a tag on the structure (usually located in the garage) of previous termite inspections. A corrective list will be itemized in the report along with a cost to repair any damage found. Older homes that have not been inspected in a long time can not only have physical repair, but also require fumigation, heat treatments or foam treatments.

Make sure to that anything stored up against the walls of your garage is moved back so the inspector can see the perimeter of the garage on the inside.

Here are some of the tell-tale areas you can check for in your home to see if termites and dry rot are about to run up a large repair bill.

Exterior paint on trim and siding. If the paint is flaking and wearing away, exposed wood will be susceptible to wood destroying organisms such as dry rot. Exposed wood needs to be scraped, sanded, primed and repainted. Minor cracks in the wood should be filled with caulking or bondo before primer is applied. Wood areas that are exposed to direct sunlight for the longest hours of the day will show the biggest signs of paint failure.
Any wood touching dirt or grass will be a candidate for dry rot and termites. Keep these areas well sealed with paint and try to control the moisture this wood may be exposed to.
Do not pile fire wood, yard trimmings, debris or lumber up against the side of your home. This will create a perfect highway for termites and other insects to attack your home.
Look for piles of droppings near base-boards, window-sills, interior garage walls, exterior walls of the house. Droppings are small, course, pepper-like pellets that can be reddish-brown in color.

Understanding Section 1 and Section Two repairs on your report. Generally Section One covers any infestation of damage the inspector finds. Repairs and treatment under this section are the responsibility of the seller. Section Two are noted conditions that may lead to future infestation or damage. These items are the responsibility of the buyer.

The above information is provided as a courtesy and is not all inclusive. You should have your home inspected by a licensed professional termite company as you will not be able to identify all the areas of your home that may be affected by wood destroying pests and wood destroying organisms. The information contained herein is believed accurate. It is intended to provide general answers to general questions and is not intended as a substitute for individual legal advice. Advice in specific situations may differ depending upon a wide variety of factors. Therefore, readers with specific legal questions should seek the advice of an attorney

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Sellers Tagged With: dry rot, home, inspection, Simi Valley, Termite

Simi Valley Home Owner Tip – Power Lines & Tree Trimming

April 22, 2009 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

Simi Valley Home Owner Tip – Power Lines & Tree Trimming

Who is responsible for trimming the trees near power lines? What should you worry about?

Simi Valley home Owner Tips The service lines that come from the pole to your home will be maintained by Southern California Edison; however bushes, plants and trees that interfere with those lines are the responsibility of the home owner.

What many home owners do not realize is that Edison will come and disconnect your service for FREE in the morning, so you can have trees trimmed or removed and then come back later in the day and hook you back up for FREE. You will bear the cost of the tree trimming or removal, however many home owners mistakenly think there is a charge to have your service disconnected and try to have vegetation removed which can cause serious damage to your home if debris falls on or comes in contact with the service lines. The weather head on your roof can be damaged and you would need to get an electrician out to fix it before Edison could restore your service.

The side benefit to all this is that in the case of my home the service lines were damaged by the trees and squirrels over the years and were in need of replacement. While my service was dropped out for the tree removal, Edison came replaced the lines – new. I was disconnected from the grid at 8:30 am and back online after the tree was removed at 12:30 pm.

A few ways to avoid all this as a home owner is

Know your vegetation. The tree in my yard planted by the prior owner was planted in the wrong place and was too big a tree for my yard. Consult with an arborist before planting trees.
Trees need regular pruning and trimming and cannot be allowed to grow on their own. Consider the regular maintenance costs for large trees.
Always call Edison first before doing any home improvement near the service line for advise on how to proceed and how Edison may help you.

Filed Under: Buyers, Home Improvement, Sellers Tagged With: edison, home, home owner, Simi Valley

Stay Tuned For The Self Installation Videos- My Retrofit Windows Have Arrived

August 20, 2008 By Ted Mackel Leave a Comment

Stay Tuned For The Self Installation Videos- My Retrofit Windows Have Arrived

Installing Retrofit Windows In My Classic 1965 Simi Valley Knob Hill Home

Filed Under: Home Improvement Tagged With: Retrofit Windows

Save Energy & Money with a Whole House Fan Installation

July 25, 2008 By Ted Mackel Leave a Comment

Installing a whole house fan can help reduce your energy bills. Some calculations claim that one of these systems can have an operating cost as little as 1/5th as much as cooling your home with an air conditioner. While these systems excel at night time by drawing in the cooler evening air, most of us are not home during the day which makes for a perfect use of a whole house fan from dinner time to bedtime. The one draw back to these systems is that they are noisy. The fan move a lot of air and the blade cutting the air created the noise.

I was able to install the system on my own and my system rated higher on the difficulty scale as I had several unknown surprises that added to the job. If this job is not your cup of tea, please contact me for a quality referral to a local contractor who can install a system for you.

For those of you that know me on a more personal level, you have seen some to the projects I have taken on at my last home and now I continue at my new home. I grew up with a father who was a MacGyver before there was a TV series and there are some project I like to take on…….just because I can. My construction experience has given me the opportunity to decide which projects I would like to tackle.

I marched down to Home Depot to pick a whole house fan to help cool off the Attic and home in the early evening. Simi Valley tends to cool off at night so running the AC is really not necessary and a whole house fan really helps this process.

The hall way at the top of my stairs really did not have many choices for a location. Support for the roof , natural gas for the fireplace, ducting and electrical circuits all added to the challenge of finding a suitable location.

The HVAC ducting became the main challenge, it had to be moved. Like most old homes when you start working on older items the job will become bigger than originally planned. I wanted to replace a 10 foot section of ducting, but it was old and in bad shape so I ended up replacing all the ducting for three bedrooms.

fig.1

The instructions on/in the box for the fan installation were clear, however I found a mechanical inconsistency in the design. There are two ways to install the fan. The ceiling joists can be cut and blocking can be added to create a square open plenum. The fan is designed so you do not have to cut the joists and you can install the fan with the center joist left in place (See picture 1). This second installation did not show the construction of a plenum. I believe the installation of a plenum is important to keep the air flow coming from the living space and not having the air from the attic just recirculating. Also the absence of the plenum would make it difficult for the louvers to open when you turn on the fan. Last the blown in insulation that covers most of my attic is really unmanageable to not install a plenum.

fig. 2

The outside of the box has a template to line up and cut the hole if your are going to leave the center joist in as I did. Two rectangular holes are cut from the box with a strip of box left in the center (See Picture 2). You need to locate the joist where you plan to install the fan and cut the drywall from the area about the size of the cardboard cut outs on the box. Lining up the cardboard strip on the box with the joist the outline of the hole for the plenum can be traced on the ceiling.

fig.3

Carefully cut out the drywall. Chances are that the cut will not span from joist to joist. This is okay as blocking can be added to create a solid area to attach the screw for the louvered cover. Before working on the blocking and plenum needs to be created so the fan is drawing air from the living space only. The picture with the two yellow arrows shows how 2×6 fillers where nailed between the joist (See Picture 3).

fig.4

The kit includes drywall anchors, but blocking really is the best way to approach this. Depending on how big the gap is 1 x 4 pine will work just fine.

fig. 5

Again my concern for a good plenum to make sure the air flow is coming completely from the house and not pulling attic air, caused me to caulk the cracks. This attic also has blow-in insulation that is very messy, so this will also help keep the mess in the attic.

fig. 6

This is a great picture of a typical home repair gone bad. One of the prior home owners spliced into a circuit in the attic and used this black outdoor braided wire for a dangerous splice and laid the handy-work in the blown-in insulation.

fig. 7

Cleaning up and taking out the splice I installed two J-boxes and added the fan power to this circuit.

fig. 8

Here is a picture of the work. The attic was probably about 130 degrees and the ducting really added time to this job. The new ducts along with the new location of the fan are visible.

fig. 9

The grill cover is fitted in the hole and fasten with screws through the drywall and into the backing (see fig. 4).

fig. 10

To ensure that I had a decent plenum to pull all the air from the house and not have the fan just recirculate the air in the attic. I sealed up all the gaps between the frame and the fan using 1 x 3 pine.

This was a harder project and with the temperatures that attics can reach during the summer, this job is not for everyone. Eventhough you can save quite a bit of money in handling the installation on your own, this job reqires experience working with electricity, and power tools. This project should be approached with caution.

It is very typical for the outside air temperature to cool off quickly in Simi Valley as the sun goes down. A whole house fan creates the oppotunity to draw the fresh cool outside air in and blow the hot air out through the attic. This eliminates the need to run the AC and reduce the cost of the electric bill.

This project is provided as a service. The information in this article is intended to simplify jobs around the house. Tools, products, materials, techniques, building codes and local regulations change; therefore, this website, it’s owners, authors or editors assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any project. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed professional if in doubt about any procedures.

Filed Under: Home Improvement Tagged With: Installation, real estate, Simi Valley, Whole house fan

Acoustic – Popcorn – Cottage Cheese – Ceiling Removal

May 11, 2008 By Ted Mackel 3 Comments

Acoustic – Popcorn – Cottage Cheese – Ceilings or whatever you want to label the typical spray on ceiling textures of years past, accomplished two tasks.

There was less finish plaster work to finish the drywall ceilings.
This texture help keep the echo chamber effect down in large rooms. Typical in the Simi Valley Homes built in the 1960s & 1970s many homes came without carpet, rather they came with asphalt or linoleum style floor tiles. A smooth ceiling under these conditions would have created the sound quality of a gymnasium.

The Acoustic ceiling has fallen out of favor as a interior design style and many homeowners are faced with the dilemma on how to remove the material safely and if they do, there is a worry about asbestos. Homeowners should really take the approach that the material needs to be tested no matter how old or new. The homeowner can take samples and send it in for testing. Precaution should be taken when taking samples.

Homeowners in California can remove acoustic ceilings containing asbestos on their own (make sure to verify this with your local building and safety department), but as soon as the homeowner hires some one to remove any of the asbestos ceiling, the homeowner must hire a license contractor that is registered with the state to handle asbestos removal.

If a homeowner chooses to remove the material on their own, a word of caution, this material is very dangerous and is extremely hazardous to your health and any anyone living in your home as soon as you disturb (remove) the material. The preferred method of wetting the material with water mixed with a small amount of dish soap can help but is not guaranteed to keep Asbestos fibers from becoming airborne.

Warning: Any of the comments to this blog regarding the removal of ceilings is for information purposes only. If you decide to remove an acoustic ceiling, you do so under your own risk and you are advised to seek profession advise and assistance. Nothing contained here on this blog is intended to encourage you to take part in this hazardous activity and you do so under your own free will.

Now that I have the disclaimer out of the way; if the tests comes back negative, still take precaution to use a respirator similar to the type in the picture and not the one that is crossed out. This is a messy job. Typically the material is removed by wetting the material with a garden mist sprayer, letting the water soak in and then using a 5″ drywall taping knife to scrape the material off. You will need to use plastic protective sheets taped to the walls and spread across the floor to keep this mess off the carpets and furniture. A disposable painting paper suit with hood will keep the material out of your hair and clothes.

I want to encourage comments to this blog post by both homeowners and contractors on this topic. Any tips and precautions especially. If you are a licensed contract registered to remove asbestos please make sure to post your contractors license number if you are soliciting business.