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Articles by Jeff Palady
Why it's Crucial to Hire a Grant Writer
Writing a grant proposal is not as simple as you may think. The process can be completely overwhelming. Grant writing requires a certain kind of expertise, and even if you’re a good writer, it does not mean you know how to write grants. Whether you’re a small business, a nonprofit organization or an individual, whatever you need help for, your writing must be done flawlessly to be funded for your program of project.
What Is a "Unique Value Proposition" and How Does It Help You?
No matter how brilliant your marketing strategy is, it won’t be nearly as effective without a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) on which to anchor itself. Many entrepreneurs and startups like to skip the step of creating a UVP, but it’s one of the most important elements of almost any successful business—and definitely worth the time it takes to come up with it. What Is a Unique Value Proposition?
Conferences (and Events) On Campus: Is It For You?
For decades, hotels have been the go-to setting for conferences and events. Fortunately, as professional culture continues to change, better options have evolved. Businesses can now choose from a variety of venues featuring the latest technology, collaborative spaces, and amenities not found at more traditional venues.
Tips to Protect Your Plumbing from Damage Over the Holidays
During the holiday season, people often celebrate by spending time with family and friends—and for many of us, that means having guests over, either for a party or as houseguests. Unfortunately for some, this also means extra wear-and-tear on the plumbing. For older homes, the combination of aging pipes and colder weather increases the risk of damage even more.
What the NFL Can Teach You About Your Plumbing
With football season well underway, chances are you’re either cheering on (or complaining about) your favorite teams. If you’re especially dedicated, you might even be obsessing over your office’s fantasy football league by now. But by now, you’re probably wondering why we’re bringing this up. “What could the NFL possibly have in common with my plumbing?” you ask. You’d be surprised. Let’s look at a few lessons the NFL can teach about taking care of your plumbing system.
What Can Happen if You Don’t Fix Broken Plumbing?
Suppose you’re doing some chores around the house, minding your own business, when you discover a wet spot on the floor near the toilet. Or maybe it’s a drip underneath the sink, or a damp area inside a wall. It’s obviously a problem with your plumbing, but since it’s not spraying water everywhere or flooding anybody out, you may be tempted to look the other way. I don’t want to spend the money now,you reason. I’ll look at it later. Not a good idea.
Are “Flushable” Wipes Really Flushable?
There’s a lot of controversy these days about so-called “flushable wipes”—essentially wet wipes produced by various companies alongside the claim that they can be flushed down the toilet. Are these wipes truly safe for your plumbing, and if not, what damage can they do? Let’s cut to the chase. Having seen almost every plumbing problem imaginable over the past two decades in business, we can tell you these “flushable” wipes most definitely are notflushable.
How Extreme Hot and Cold Temperatures Can Strain Your Plumbing
As fall gives way to the cold temperatures of winter, most of us are aware of dangers to our plumbing like freezing pipes. However, extreme temperatures in either direction (both hot and cold) can strain our plumbing in a variety of other ways many of us don’t think about. Let’s explore a few ways that the cold of winter and the heat of summer can both affect your pipes.
Creative Ways Toddlers Have Accidentally Caused Massive Plumbing Damage
To be fair…at almost no time does a toddler ever purposely seek to do damage to their home. Young children learn about the world around them through touching, feeling, trying things out and experimenting; it’s perfectly natural. The problem lies in that our plumbing is often unforgiving to such “experiments.” As a result, as much as we love our kids, sometimes toddlers and plumbing just don’t mix.
What Happens to Things that You Flush Down the Toilet?
When it comes to our plumbing, we usually take an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach when it comes to things that go down the drain or toilet. Once we don’t seeit anymore, we don’t thinkabout it anymore. But those foreign objects you flush down the toilet go somewhere—and in some cases they’re still lurking in your pipes, on the verge of causing a major sewer backup. While it’s not generally pleasing to visualize, let’s talk about what happens when you flush something down the toilet.
Reasons Your Garbage Disposal Might Not Be Working
A garbage disposal is a marvel of modern living—a way to put food scraps safely down the drain without it smelling up the trash or clogging the pipes. But if it stops working, you know it immediately, and pretty soon you have a messy backup to deal with. What are some common reasons why your garbage disposal might stop working, and more importantly, what can you do about it? Let’s look at a few situations.
Spring Cleaning Checklist for Your Plumbing and Pipes
Spring is — finally! — in the air. Which means it’s spring-cleaning time, for your pipes and plumbing as well as for your living-room. Winter can be rough on plumbing, especially exterior plumbing. Freezing and changes in temperature can damage pipework, and we’re not outside as much so we’re less likely to see it. It’s often only in spring that the damage done over the cold months becomes apparent, too.
6 Sewer Cleaning Scams to Watch Out For
With new technology, comes a new generation of scams. Before, a dishonest tradesperson hoping to separate a vulnerable person from their cash might offer dire predictions based on their opinion. Now, it’s possible to fake up the evidence, too. How can you tell whether they’re trying to help you, or trying it on? 1: Special effects at the movies One of the more common call-outs for plumbers is sewer line blockages and partial blockages. We’ll come out and clear the line.
Why Is Your Faucet Dripping Constantly?
A faucet that leaks or drips constantly may seem like little more than an annoyance—something to put on your “honey-do” list and deal with it sometime. But that dripping faucet is probably costing you hundreds of dollars per year on your water bill. In fact, a single faucet losing just 10 drops per minute will waste 347 gallons of water in a year! Suffice it to say you’ll save money by fixing that drip as soon as possible. What causes your faucet to drip constantly?
Can Plumbing Problems Cause Electrical Fires?
The average homeowner probably doesn’t think of plumbing issues as creating fire hazards. After all, aren’t these two completely different systems in the home? Technically, yes they are—but that doesn’t mean one can’t affect the other. Certain plumbing problems can, in fact, cause electrical fires. Sometimes the plumbing itself creates a fire hazard; at other times the hazard happens while trying to repair the problem. Let’s look at a few common examples.
How Much Water Is Wasted Due to Bad Plumbing?
It’s just a dripping faucet, right? Nothing a couple of turns of the screw couldn’t fix—or maybe a new washer at worst. Leaking faucets often make it onto our “honey-do” lists—something we’ll fix when we get around to it. But how much is that dripping faucet actually costing you? You might be surprised. For a bit of context…experts agree that America is currently suffering from a crumbling infrastructure, with much of our plumbing, water delivery and sewage systems now over 100 years old.
Common Plumbing Challenges in Old Buildings
These days, we tend to romanticize older homes and historic buildings. Homeowners often gravitate to vintage houses for their sense of character or so they can fix them up and “flip” them. Aging office buildings have their own sense of style, as well. However—not to put too fine a point on it—behind the nostalgia, these buildings are just plain old. Behind the walls, the infrastructure (e.g., plumbing and electrical) gets difficult to maintain and must eventually be replaced.
Grease-Choked Drains from Holiday Cooking? Here’s Why—and What to Do About It - DBT
If you’re like many of us, the holidays are a time for celebrating with family and friends—including cooking lots of great food. But now the holidays are over, the guests have gone home, and you find yourself left with drains logged from a nasty buildup of grease that got poured down the pipes. What happened, and what can you do to resolve it? Why Grease Should Never Go Down the Drain How did this problem occur to begin with? Isn’t liquid grease safe to go down the drains? Not at all.
Terrible Things that Can Happen to Your Pipes When They Freeze
The winter months can definitely wreak havoc on your water pipes. One of the most common calls we get in the wintertime is to replace pipes that burst during the latest cold snap. What actually happens to your pipes when they freeze, and more importantly, what can you do about it? The Science Behind Frozen Pipes Anytime the temperatures fall below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (the freezing point of water), any exposed water pipes are in danger of freezing.
Water Heater Failure During a Snow Storm! What Do You Do?
It always seems to happen at the worst possible time. You’re in the midst of a winter storm; the wind is howling and the roads are slick to impassable. You’re trying to bundle up and keep warm. Someone tries to run a bath—and there is no hot water. Your water heater has failed. Even if you find a plumber willing to risk life and limb to come to you in the storm, it could be hours before he can get to you. What can you do in the meantime?
When Should You “DIY” Your Plumbing Problem?
Leaky faucets. Basic toilet clogs. Installing a new fixture. Stopping a running toilet. Most homeowners have dealt with issues like these at one time or another. Many minor plumbing fixes don’t require you to call a plumber, but knowing when to call and when to “do it yourself” is still a fine line. If you attempt to fix something outside the realm of your experience, you can actually make the problem worse and more expensive to fix.
Remodeling Your Kitchen or Bathroom: Plumbing “Must Dos”
One common mistake DIY homeowners make with their kitchen or bathroom remodeling projects is to overlook the plumbing while it’s exposed. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” as the mantra goes, and new plumbing only adds to the cost. Only when they notice ponding water under their brand-new kitchen cabinets or seeping through the new tile floors do these unfortunate homeowners realize their mistake.
True Life Tales of Heroic Plumbers
When a clog or a broken pipe is causing flooding issues in your home, it’s natural to think of your local plumber as sort of a hero. (At least, we hope so.) That said, there are times when a plumber’s actions can help the community, rescue an heirloom or even save a life. Let’s look at several true stories of plumbers who went above and beyond the call of duty.
How to Help Your Plumber Help You
One thing to note about plumber service calls—they almost never happen under the best circumstances. You’ve most likely called the plumber because of a leak, a clog, a foul smell, a broken pipe or some other sign that things aren’t working the way they should. Fortunately, there are things you can do to streamline the process so your plumber can identify and fix the problem as quickly and painlessly as possible. Let’s discuss some ways you can help your plumber help you more efficiently.
Why Is Plumbing So Expensive?
When a drain gets clogged, a toilet backs up or a pipe breaks, it’s time to make a call to the plumber—a call many people have come to dread. Naturally they need their problem solved—it’s the bill they could do without. According to HomeAdvisor, the average plumbing service call is about $300, but depending on the severity of the problem and the time and tools it takes to fix it, that cost can easily double or triple. What makes plumbing so expensive?
Fall Plumbing Checklist
With summer soon to be a distant memory, the changing leaves and cooler temperatures remind us that cold weather is not far beyond. Winter is the hardest season of the year where plumbing is concerned—not just because of the danger of frozen pipes but because the stress of the temperature changes themselves can cause the pipes to weaken, leak or break.
What All Homeowners Should Know About Their Plumbing
Along with a mess, toilet clogs cost homeowners tremendous amounts of money and time. Americans spend more than $200 million a year on drain cleaners. Unfortunately, even the best drain formulas won’t unclog serious blockages. Save yourself stress by knowing what not to put down the toilet. Baby wipes or “flushable” wipes. These convenient products make parents feel like stewards of the environment. And they are big business—the industry generates $2.1 billion in annual revenue.
What All Homeowners Should Know About Their Plumbing
Water damage can cause annoying, even dangerous, problems for homeowners, ranging from mold brewing in walls to rotting floorboards. Some people might think that this just the price we have to pay to live in a wet climate. But that’s a mistake. In fact, 93% of water damage claims in the U.S. are preventable. One of the easiest ways to minimize excessive water damage, and related emergencies, is to become familiar with basics of your home's plumbing.
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