One of the major initiatives of both the previous and current presidential administrations is to promote a healthier and more active lifestyle among federal employees, with an ultimate goal of the effort expanding its reach into the private sector through government contractors and other workers, eventually lowering health care costs and premiums for the entire country. Yeah, I know it's a pretty grand plan, and one not likely to work as designed or in a short amount of time, but all politics and opinions aside, some of the overall benefits of the plan aren't too shabby. Plus, with the state of the American waistline these days, I think we need all the help we can get.

One element of this initiative (and benefit to many living and employed in the D.C. Metro area) is a weekly farmers' market in the courtyard entrance of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in downtown D.C. at 1900 E St. NW. OPM invites local vendors in to set up booths and sell their various goods to area employees, George Washington University students, and passers by, not just people who work at the Office of Personnel Management. Each Wednesday during the spring and summer months, farmers, bakeries, florists, and many other local businesses show up to sell their fresh quality items at very good prices.

This past Wednesday I decided to drop by to see what was being offered. The following photos show some of the vendors that you would typically see at this market.


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As you may recall, we had a bit of an ugly leak from our master bedroom ceiling a couple weeks back that damaged our newly repaired, replastered, and repainted bedroom ceiling. It turned out that this leak was caused by a clogged trap in our attic air handler's condensate line. It was an extremely frustrating situation because it never should have happened in the first place. Had the air handler been installed correctly, the water would have gone into the overflow pan and drained away until I corrected the issue. But alas, it wasn't installed properly, and we were left with a wet ceiling and heated emotions.

It made no sense to me that:

  1. The trap was positioned in a way that I couldn't effectively clean it out if it was clogged.
  2. There was no way to tell if the trap was clogged until it began overflowing.
  3. There was no shutoff mechanism that would turn the AC off in the event of a clog.
  4. The entire unit was out of level and pitched in a way that meant the overflow pan wasn't catching all of the overflowing water.

It just seemed to me that there had to be a better way, so I hit up my good buddy, the Internet, looking for an "air conditioner condensate overflow traps with shutoff sensor." As it turns out, our situation, no matter how frustrating, was quite a common one. So common that, in addition to Internet message board posts all over the place with the exact same gripes, I found options all over the place for auto shutoff switches that sense a backup or clog in your condensate drain. 

If you have an air handler in your attic or near a finished section of your house, and your condensate drain trap looks similar to the one we used to have in the following photo, you may want to pay attention to this little tutorial on replacing it before you have a problem similar to what we experienced.

Of all of the options that I came across, for just over $30 we ended up purchasing the mechanism that seemed to most simple in its function, most ingenious, and most understandable in its operation. This unit is the SmartTrap EZT210 (The EZT211 is the same thing, it just doesn't come with the snake). This particular device has a clear trap so you can see if a clog is occurring, multiple cleanout points so you don't have to drill holes in the PVC like I did, an overflow float with kill switch that shuts down your AC if a clog is encountered, and a small cleanout brush to take care of any buildup before there is an issue.  

Follow along as I walk you through the install of a SmartTrap in your HVAC system. If you are doing this yourself, make sure you get a properly sized SmartTrap based on the size of your condensate drain.


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In our first post about our vestibule renovation, we covered the ins and outs of the project that transformed the walls, ceiling, and molding from a dingy and lumpy mess into a small space we could work with. Though this was a major step in the right direction, it was only the first step in a much larger project.

To complete this entire project, we will also need to lay a new tile floor, replace the inner doors with a new front door, replace the outer door with new double doors, either replace the outer transom glass with leaded glass or add numbers, and attempt to make the inner transom operable with salvaged hardware. Based on these requirements, the next step that we opted to tackle seemed the "easiest" of the choices and involved the replacement of the shoddily installed marble floor that had previously adorned the space.


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Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Toolbox Tuesday: Do Your Best, Then Caulk the Rest
Posted by Alex

For this week's Toolbox Tuesday we're going to take a slightly different approach. Rather than cover a specific tool in my collection, I'm going to cover a specific product that I would quite honestly be lost without. The product that I'm speaking of and attribute many of my home improvement successes to is...caulk.

I know, this doesn't particularly strike many people as a "tool," but it is something that I often keep in my tool box, or at least close at hand. Besides, I'm not talking about just any caulk, I'm talking about a specific brand of latex caulk that I'd be up DIY creek if I didn't have. I'm talking about Sashco Sealants' "Big Stretch Caulk."

When you live in a house that has settled so much that there isn't a 90 degree angle to be found, a house with walls and ceilings so crooked, wavy, and cracked that you can't make a good tight miter joint to save your life, you need a good quality caulk to fill those voids to make your amateur joints look professional.

For the first few projects that Wendy and I worked on which involved the installation of painted crown molding, we were shocked by the large gaps left by the uneven walls. The very first crown molding install in our front parlor actually went something like this:

After working all day on installing crown on the various intricate and slightly off angles and slightly curved wall, the following conversation took place. 

Wendy: How's the crown molding going?
Alex: Just finished nailing it in place. Haven't caulked or painted yet. What do you think?
Wendy: Really? Hmm...maybe we should have hired someone?
Alex: Seriously?? Seriously?? Do you know how hard this is?? (Now picture me stomping off.) 

At this point in the project, Wendy hadn't seen the magical miracles that caulk can work. Not knowing the difference in caulk brands, I picked up a standard "White Latex Caulk" from Home Depot. I applied the caulk, and within hours Wendy was back on the DIY train. She had a little hesitation there at first, but all was good. 

That is until about eight months later when we noticed that the caulk we had applied and painted in the living room and entry hallway had separated from the wall or ceiling in places, and had begun cracking along the majority of the molding. Thus began my love/hate relationship with caulk. 

If you own a house with crown molding, there is a good chance you've seen these cracks at the base or top of your crown. I've seen it on DIY jobs, professional and newly constructed houses, and houses that had just had a high end renovation completed by a reputable contractor. To me, this is simply not acceptable performance for a finishing product. I put a good deal of time and effort into doing a project the right way, and the last thing I want is for the finishing element of the project to fail within a year of install, making it look amateurish.


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What is one important factor to consider when selecting a future home? Safety. This was definitely something that was a concern to me when we were thinking about living in the city. Back in December 2002 after first touring what would become our home, Alex, Mel (our cat) and I would perform weekly drive bys of the neighborhood and surrounding areas to just...well...check things out. (And yes, we really are those crazy people that would bring our cat along to see his future home. But not quite eHarmony cat girl crazy.)

Based on our initial assesment, we came to the following conclusions:

  1. The person who would be our next door neighbor must be a good person, or at least an animal lover. This was based on the "In case of fire, please recue my dog" sticker in his front window.
  2. Two doors down lived an elderly gentleman, who noted our presence each time and who appeared to be a built in security patrol for the neighborhood.
  3. The area was definitely "transitional." At that time, the movie theater was boarded up, and the area close to the metro left less to be desired than other parts of Old Town. We were cautious, but hopeful.

Conclusions two and three proved to be spot on, especially the second. After purchasing the home, we were soon approached by our elderly neighbor, who introduced himself as Paul Harris, self-proclaimed neighborhood watch. He quickly gave us the lay of the land, which included filling us in on proper parking and garbage protocol, told us about previous owners of our home and the history of the neighborhood, and expressed a persistent yet genuine interest in our house projects.

For the eight and a half years that we knew him, Paul had his finger on the pulse of the neighborhood. He knew when people came and went, stopped people in the alley to ensure they were visiting someone, and took it upon himself to point out projects or improvements he saw necessary, our home included.


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