Mike Holmes' "Buy it right" show.

[Cooler]

I was not a fan of Mike Holmes' previous two shows.  Perhaps it was the wife beaters he wore or his holier than thou attitude ("only Mike Holmes can build it right"), but whatever the reason I could not bear to watch it after one or two episodes.  It is clear, however, that he knows what he is talking about.

I find that his new show hits the sweet spot.  He points out problems and praises advantages of each house he visits with his clients (and he has given up the wife beaters).

On a recent episode he advised the buyers that they replace the dryer vent hose with solid aluminum pipe and that they use only the aluminum tape to join the pipes together.  I always thought that the tape was a shoddy example of short-cutting a job.  But he explained that the screws'  points inside the pipes becomes hooks for the lint to attach to, inviting a dryer vent fire.

As coincidental as possible, immediately after watching that episode I went to the basement to transfer the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer and I saw that the dryer vent hose had pulled free from the vent itself.  When I tried to reattach it the vinyl fell apart.  

If that had happened the day before I would have bought some new dryer vent hose and redid it as before.

Instead I got the smooth walled tubing and two elbows and one hose clamp.  It took about a half an hour to complete--probably about 15 or 20 minutes longer than the hose would have taken.  It also cost about $20.00 more.  

But all in all I'm glad I did it the Holmes' way.

[Admiral]

LOL, never heard of the term wife beater, had to look it up.  In NJ/NY this would be a guinea tee, a semi-Italian slur that goes back, way back.

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

LOL, never heard of the term wife beater, had to look it up.  In NJ/NY this would be a guinea tee, a semi-Italian slur that goes back, way back.

I am glad you translated that. I had no idea what that was either. I thought it was a pair of boots or something. I too am from NJ so I got the T shirt thing. 

That is what my dryer vent is made of too. Every once in awhile take it off and clean it out if need be. One thing to remember this time of the year, if you live in a snow area for the winter, make sure you clear away the vent outside so that there is no backup and the dryer vents properly.

[K. L. McReynolds]

Helped build a HfH house once that had to have a 30' run of dryer vent. I used the pipe, tape, and a booster fan that was mounted about halfway in the line.

This house has the laundry space next to the back door. A 6' flex pipe is a straight run and works just fine.

[Cooler]

LOL, never heard of the term wife beater, had to look it up.  In NJ/NY this would be a guinea tee, a semi-Italian slur that goes back, way back.

I'm from Long Island and I never used the term "wife beater" until about 10 years ago.  It seems less politically incorrect than the other terms I was familiar with (similar to yours).

I have always associated wearing that type of tee shirts with people that I would not like to hang around with.

[MsNomer]

I had to look it up myself. Maybe I don't consider them sexy because that's what my Daddy wore as underwear.

[MikeBob]

I would not even go with aluminum, I would go with steel.

[EricU]

I used steel because that's what I had. I've always worried about it, our dryer is a little further away from the wall than I would like. Every time the thermal breaker blows in the dryer blows I go into the pipe and it's pretty clean.  I suppose I should do something about it, they crippled the rim joist to put it outside.  So far no problems other than bad air sealing though.

[Admiral]

I have always associated wearing that type of tee shirts with people that I would not like to hang around with.

Like Tony Soprano????

[toolmiser]

I also enjoy the show. I like that he is going for good "bones", and mentions that things could be done at a later date. Seems to get stuck on some of the same things such as gutters.