The Handyguys August 28th, 2008
Standard Podcast [36:34m]:
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The Handyguys go to the top dog to discuss home inspection!
The Handyguys interview Brion Grant, president of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) , the oldest home inspection organization in North America. Brion Grant explains the importance of hiring the right home inspector; one you can trust and rely on.
Handyguys Brian and Paul know all about home inspectors as they have utilized these experts when purchasing older and newer homes in the past. But how can you be sure that the home inspector you hire is knowledgeable and capable of helping you with the biggest purchase you will ever make? Brion Grant explains that ASHI home inspectors have not only the knowledge to do the job but the experience. In addition to passing certification tests, ASHI inspectors must have performed at least 250 inspections. They have seen a lot and can identify the poorly built deck or dangerous wiring on that new house you are about to purchase.
But don’t just rely on ASHI certification to find your inspector. Like any other contractor, you should ask around and get references before hiring an inspector. Listen in and find out about home inspectors on this week’s podcast.
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The Handyguys August 21st, 2008
Standard Podcast [5:57m]:
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The Handyguys Discuss upcoming fall show ideas
The Handyguys have a short show for you this week. We are taking this opportunity to discuss some of our show ideas and to solicit feedback from our listeners for show ideas.
Some up-coming topics:
- Head to Head tool Challenge, Circular saw
- The Home Inspection process and and interview with ASHI
- How to save money on your energy bills
- Devices to save electricity and/or monitor electricity
- Ways to cut down on heating bills
- Insulation
- Weatherization
- Other Head to Head tool Challenges
We want your feedback! Do you need a recommendation on a tool? Do you want us to put a particular tool through its paces before you buy it? Is there a new gadget on the market and you want to know if its worth the money?
We will continue to answer DIY questions privately and possibly on the air. Feel free to let us know if you think our shows are too long, too short, too boring, too funny, too much detail, not enough detail, etc.
We will be giving away an original Handyguys Podcast shop apron to the first four legitimate show ideas we get. Feel free to call in your show idea to (615) 676-0877, to email us at us@handyguyspodcast.com, comment on this posting or use our contact form. Do we have enough ways for listeners to reach us? I think so.
To comment on this, or any post, just go to the bottom of the show post and click comments. You can see others comments and add your own. That’s a great way for you to participate in the discussion.
If you want the shop apron make sure you include your email address so we can contact you to get your ship to address.
Thanks to all our loyal listeners and sponsors that make this show possible.
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The Handyguys August 14th, 2008
Standard Podcast [23:10m]:
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The Handyguys provide an introduction to DIY home security, surveillance and automation.
The Handyguys give an overview of these technologies in this episode. We may dedicate a show to each of these topics later in the year. If you have any specific products that you would like discussed or have any questions on DIY home automation, home security or surveillance, please contact us. We want to deter the creepy looking creeps from invading our personal space with a cool DIY project.
First off - The Handyguys discuss DIY home security
There are two primary methods of doing DIY home security; wired and wireless. A wired system consists of hard wired sensors on doors, windows, smoke detectors, motion detectors, CO2 detectors, etc. Those wires come back to a main security panel. 
When an alarm is tripped it can notify a central monitoring service, your cell phone, email and/or sound an alarm. The main advantage of a wired system is that it is reliable and requires no batteries. In contrast, a wireless system is much easier to install and the prices are dropping but their entry cost is higher. Complete wireless and wired security packages are available from many different companies. Handyguy Paul is looking into Home Security Store as one possible vendor.
One wireless system that looks easy to install is the InGrid system Like other security systems, InGrid provides central station monitoring and a cool web interface. We may discuss InGrid in detail on a future episode.
The Handyguys then discuss home surveillance
Home surveillance systems are a network of cameras. Two types of video monitoring include overt and covert installations. 
The covert systems are virtually invisible with cameras in things like clocks or teddy bears. The overt system is what Handyguy Paul is more interested in. It includes an obvious camera hooked up to a PC based digital recorder. They are motion activated. Such a system can act as a deterrent and can also be used in identification of criminals and assist prosecution. One DIY kit is from wylife.com The Handyguys Podcast is looking forward to discussing the wylife.com solution in a future episode. If our listeners have a favorite DIY home surveillance system they want us to look into for our episode on home surveillance please let us know.
Lastly The Handyguys discuss home automation
How does home automation fit with home security and home automation? Home automation can traditionally do things like turn on and off lights, control HVAC, etc. Some home automation systems can interface with home security systems. The Handyguys ideally want to find an all in one system that can handle home automation, security and surveillance in one easy to use DIY package. One possible place to get everything needed may be smarthome.com Do any of our listeners have any other suggestions? Let us know.
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The Handyguys August 7th, 2008
Standard Podcast [17:39m]:
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The Handyguys address the soon-to-come fall lawn care season.
Before The Handyguys talk about fall lawn care they address a listener question.
TerBeek sent us the following message -
How can I remove a broken drill bit from the window moulding without damaging the moulding? We were drilling a pilot hole for hardware to hang a custom sized window blind when the bit broke. The molding area isn’t large, limiting the area in which we can install the window treatment hardware. (i.e., we need that bit out, because the hardware can’t be moved up, down, forward or back from the initial pilot hole position.) The bit was very thin, and about half of it remains in the window frame/moulding. It broke off flush with the surface, so we can’t grab it with a pliers. Help! We’re getting sick of the temporary blinds but don’t know what to do to reclaim our pilot hole.
The Handyguys Brian & Paul have some ideas. Listen to the show for their possible solutions.
Now on to Fall lawn care.
We know that this is not a popular thing to say this time of year, but the fall season is just around the corner! And with Fall, comes the most important time in lawn care. It is the time when you need to feed, de-weed, and pamper your lawn to make it strong and healthy for the winter season. For cool season lawns, this is the time for the handguy get to work your yard.
What do the Handyguys recommend? Good fertilizer, a good core aerator, a rake and some new grass seed will be your main tools. In addition to fertilizing and aerating your lawn, you will want to remove all the leaves and possibly over seed some of the weaker areas of your lawn. But before you start, get those kids off the grass and listen to our podcast!
Lastly - We have a winner!
During our show on Glue we announced a contest sponsored by Eclectic Products. We have concluded the contest and drawn a winner. Congratulations to Condoblues… We will contact you directly and send you your prize.
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The Handyguys interview Brion Grant, president of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) , the oldest home inspection organization in North America. Brion Grant explains the importance of hiring the right home inspector; one you can trust and rely on.
