Homebodies - Total Home Repair

May 2015

Cat urine damage made this job similar to flood damage repair. There was so much moisture that I had to demo the baseboard, carpet, carpet pad, decking, insulation, parts of the framing for the wall and the floor, and even the tar paper up against the outside wall. I spent extra time and effort trying NOT to demo too much, figuring how could a cat do that much damage, but in the end I had to remove practically everything. Once all the urine-smell was removed and bagged up, I spray-primered all opened surfaces, like the studs and joists, that may have touched urine so as to seal in and thereby neutralize any bad smell that may have been retained in them. Now, the wall itself is fixed and its perfect. The texture is orange peal and I got a perfect match. no ridge line near the sheetrock seam. No concavity--just a really clean job. As of this writing, the new paint doesn't match the existing paint, as you can see in the cover photo, either because the store did something wrong, or because the original painter remixed the paint so that the numbers on the can of touch-up paint they left behind aren't reliable. I am all but finished. I recommend the customer call the original painter and get a second opinion. I am still working with the customer to resolve the issue and the customer, at my say-so, is retaining a couple hundred dollars until he is satisfied. The cover photo shows the repaired corner which was the epicenter of the damage. The customer will hire a flooring company to redo the landing in wood.

$2k

San Jose, CA

Nov 2013

A tile roof is a maintenance free roof (yeah, right). This roof had some serious problems that resulted in rotting of the fascia and eaves. Fortunately, the living space was not affected because that could have resulted in real problems. Maintenance free or not, a roof must be clean, otherwise, moss can grow between the tiles and cause lifting. Since this roof was already leaking, any lifting I deemed unacceptable. So I blew out, sweeped, and powerwashed the roof and gutters for 3-days. So much debris blew off the roof that ultimately I had to powerwash the walls and eaves, squeegee the windows, and sweep up the patios. It was a huge job because the debris was really intense and the house is huge. The roof tiles themselves had to be very clean to insure adhesion of new roofing caulk and mortar, so I washed virtually every inch of every tile. Then, I began repairs over the entire roof. I glued all the ridge tiles because they were unstable--when they shift, they caused the encaps to crack and desintegrate. Then, I remortared all the endcaps and sealed them with roofing grade silicon caulk. Over the section of roof that leaked, I did more intensive repairs. I mortared all gaps between gable tiles and flat tiles because water from the roof was splashing between the tiles and rotting the top of the fascia. The roof leaked into the eaves causing rotting. I lifted and sealed each tile with tile cement, reducing the leaking, but the roof still leaked. Then, I slip-sheathed the entire ridge in one section, but it still leaked a little. Then, I slip-sheathed field tiles, but it still leaked a tiny bit. Then, I added a z-bar to one entire row of tiles--that solved the leak once and for all.

$9k

Palo Alto, CA

Jan 2015

Rehung towel rack and fixed holes in bath wall.

$75

San Jose, CA

Jan 2015

Hung a mirror cabinet in a bathroom

$80

San Jose, CA

Jan 2015

Create a protective enclosure for an electrical service and main panel that keeps out rain, provides access to meter and breakers, and closes up all gaps in siding.

$739

San Jose, CA

Dec 2014

Reattached hinges to doors because the screws were falling out. Sink the hinge screws deeper into frame because they were falling out. Cut closet door across the bottom so that it opens without rubbing too much on the hall rug.

$120

San Jose, CA

Dec 2014

Snaked and cleaned shower drain.

$75

San Jose, CA

Dec 2014

Replaced screws in 4 door hinges because they were weak or backing out

$60

San Jose, CA

Nov 2014

Cleaned gutters using a dry process to remove most of the accumulated dirt. Replaced sections of 2 downspouts because of sever discoloration of the finish.

$220

San Jose, CA