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Placerville, CA

Is That a Drain line? This Can't Be Good

Tom Arstingstall - Dry Rot, Water Damage General Contractor in Sacramento: Builder-Contractor in Placerville, CA

Okay, so I’m looking at a property to give the owners an estimate for repairs in Placerville, and I see the darnedest thing. I am looking at the back side of the building and I see this galvanizes pipe poking out of the building. It is not strapped and is loose to the touch. It is connected to some flexible rubber tubing going away from the property. So I followed it.

Improper drainage line for washer

In the middle of the yard is a puddle of soapy water. What? This can’t be good. Apparently the pipe at the house is the clothes washer drain line. It flows out to the middle of the yard and soaks into the ground.

Soapy water from washing machine

I am sure that this is not the proper way the drain this water. Looking inside the room was not done with a permit, it couldn’t have. There were many things that needed attention. The drain line was just the tip of the iceberg.

Placerville Contractor Enjoys Girl Scout Cookies

Tom Arstingstall - Dry Rot, Water Damage General Contractor in Sacramento: Builder-Contractor in Placerville, CA

Placerville Contractor Enjoys Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scout Cookies


It’s the time of year when the little girl scouts are testing the entrepreneurial waters. I’ve seen them at the grocery store, door-to-door, and of course – prepaid sales. I really do enjoy those girl scout cookies, can’t seem to keep them around for very long. Maybe it time to get some more.




Ever wonder which are the best selling cookies?

 25% Thin Mints®

 19% Samoas®/Caramel deLites®

 13% Peanut Butter Patties®/Tagalongs®

 11% Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos®

 9% Shortbread/Trefoils®


What's your favorite?

Water Damage Repair in Placerville - Before and After

Tom Arstingstall - Dry Rot, Water Damage General Contractor in Sacramento: Builder-Contractor in Placerville, CA


Water Damage Repair in Placerville - Before and After


Early in the Water Damage Repair project, things can look a bit overwhelming. There will be damaged materials, discolored surfaces, and maybe even some dry rot involved; all of this can be corrected by a professional.

water damage dry rot Placerville

After correcting the source of the problem, the rebuilding can begin. You will be amazed how quickly the change will occur. Once the new building materials have been installed, and the finishing touches applied, you will be pleased with how things have turned out.

Drywall texture complete

If you are in need of dry rot or water damage repair in the Placerville, Ca area, give us a call.

Tromler Construction

916-765-5366

ActiveRain Communities – Adding Neighborhoods

Tom Arstingstall - Dry Rot, Water Damage General Contractor in Sacramento: Builder-Contractor in Placerville, CA

ActiveRain Communities – Adding Neighborhoods

I learned something new by visiting the Video Tutorials section of ActiveRain University. I watch a video on Communities and saw how to add a community to the site.

Here is what I did to add my community.

Click the Hyper-Local Pages box, and then fill in the information in the State, County, and City drop downs. Once you do that, you will be prompted for a neighborhood. If your neighborhood is not there – Add it yourself!

Click on the Add Neighborhood link, and a new window will open. Click on the screen to set the red pin marker. Be sure to include the name of the neighborhood. When you are finished, click on Add Community at the bottom.

That is how you add a community to Hyper-local.

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure – A Contractor’s Solution

Tom Arstingstall - Dry Rot, Water Damage General Contractor in Sacramento: Builder-Contractor in Placerville, CA

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure – A Contractor’s Solution

I don’t know about you but I hate throwing things away that still have value. As a contractor I accumulate building materials, parts, tools, and other things that are perfectly good but I do not use regularly. What do I do with this stuff?

For example, if I were to do a small renovation job in a bathroom, I would have some extra flooring, tiles, maybe the old cabinets, or some

specialty tool. If I still had a use for the items, and plan on using it in the future, I’d save it until then. Otherwise, all the rest would go to the landfill. I have thrown away some perfectly good things because there was no other place to go.

Habitat for Humanity has a retail store that can help me with this problem. Think of this store as a home improvement thrift store. It can be a treasure for many people in need of that one rare item, probably at a discounted cost too.

So if I’m changing the shower doors to a shower, I can donate the old one. They clean it up and sell it to someone who needs a used shower door and not an all new assembly.

Getting new windows, cabinets, sink or toilet? Donate the old one! Apparently, there is a demand for this sort of thing. That baby blue toilet that you are getting rid of is just what someone is looking for.

So check your garage, do you have something that was left over from a “project” that you completed? There is a market for it. The Habitat for Humanity in my community welcomes all donations. It is tax deductible and all proceeds go toward the efforts of Habitat for Humanity. They do some good things for communities all across the nation; check out their web site for more information.

El Dorado County Habitat for Humanity