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Earthquake retrofit begins in crawl space

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, September 3, 2008.

Last week, a reader asked our opinion about insulating his crawl space and doing a little earthquake retrofitting under his home. We recommended that he install batt insulation between the floor joists, retrofit the cripple walls with plywood sheathing to make a shear wall, and put down a plastic vapor barrier over the dirt in the crawlspace.  more...

Rid septic system of tree roots

By Barry Stone, Wednesday, September 3, 2008.

DEAR BARRY: We moved into our home about three months ago, and this week we had a professional inspection of the septic system. The septic contractor found a large mass of tree roots in the tank and recommended that we flush about 10 pounds of copper sulfate down the toilet. He said this would eventually kill the roots. I'm concerned that the copper sulfate won't get rid of the roots, or that it might harm or kill the two large trees in my front yard. What do you recommend? --James  more...

Real estate quakes and aftershocks Premium Content

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, September 3, 2008.

This week my office had a little shakeup. We received the news that we would be merging with another office. Based on the aftershocks from those outside of the office, and even from some within who are relatively new to real estate, you would have thought that the end of the world was imminent.  more...