Chance Gates' Blog

Frozen pipes are one of the most distressing problems a homeowner can encounter. Here’s how to prevent freezing pipes and how to un-freeze pipes if you’re in a fix.

Freezing can create leaks because the frozen water expands and cracks the copper tubing. Not only do you have little to no water supply, but when the pipes do thaw out, you can have some serious leaks to repair.

Rules to Prevent Frozen Pipes

• Keep all water-supply piping away from outside walls, where it could be exposed to cold winter weather.
• If it is imperative to have pipes located on an outside wall, they must be well-insulated.
• Piping insulation is sold in both rubber and fiberglass.

Tips to Fixing Frozen Pipes

• Try the hair-dryer trick. Find the area where the pipe appears to be frozen, and work the dryer up and down the pipe. If the pipe has cracked, water will start gushing out as soon as the ice is dislodged.
• You may want to know where your nearest turn-off valve is before you try using a hair-dryer.

Duct tape is a fibered tape known for its strength, durability and water resistance. It’s a quick fix for everything from leaky canoes to ripped seat covers to damaged pipes to broken furniture.

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

By Stephanie Andre

RISMEDIA, July 9, 2010–The dog days of summer are here, alive and well. Getting out in the garden and keeping your lawn green are very important but so is conserving water. Remember – it’s the summer; it’s going to rain. From checking the kitchen faucet to watching your laundry loads, there’s plenty we can all do to save water.

Here are some tips from Pennsylvania American Water on how you can conserve water and reduce the environmental impact of water consumption both indoors and outside the home:

1. Water your lawn only when it needs it. An easy test to tell if your lawn needs water is to simply walk across the grass. If you leave footprints, it’s time to water. (An added benefit of watering less often is that fewer, deep-soaking waterings encourage deep root growth and stronger turf.)

2. Water in the early morning. As much as 30 percent of water can be lost to evaporation by watering during midday.

3. Set your lawn mower one notch higher to make your lawn more drought-tolerant.

4. Use drip irrigation hoses to water plants, and water in the early morning or evening.

5. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your sidewalk, driveway, or patio.

6. Forego the hose and wash your car with a bucket and sponge instead. According to EPA WaterSense, a hose left running can waste as much as six gallons per minute while a bucket and sponge uses only a few gallons to do the job.

7. Keep a bottle of cold tap water in the refrigerator. You’ll avoid the cost and environmental impact of bottled water and you’ll have cold water available in the summer without running the faucet.

8. Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when they are full. If you have a water-saver cycle, use it.

9. Adjust the water level of your clothes washer, so that it matches your load size.

10. Regularly check your toilet, faucets and pipes for leaks and have them fixed promptly. An easy test for toilet leaks from EPA WaterSense: Place a drop of food coloring in the tank. If the color tints the water in the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak. Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

I decided that it would be kind of fun remembering some of my fatherhood experience.  One of my many lessons I learned about with my first child goes like this.

As a new farther I found one of the easiest ways of giving my son a bath was to take him into the shower with me.  When I was done I would call to my wife who would come and dry him off, and get him ready for his day.

One morning the baby needed his diaper to be changed.  I figured I needed to shower anyway, I’ll just take him into the shower with me.  The first alarm was the wife telling me “I’m crazy just change the diaper then go shower”.  I was a young man and didn’t believe the wife knew what she was talking about.  The shower is started and set to the proper temperature, as I am taking the diaper off I noticed how the soiled diaper was really pasty.  This set off the second alarm that maybe this was not a good idea, but I’m still confident that this will work.  The third alarm goes off when, right before I climb into the shower, a clump of poop falls on my foot.  I figured I’ll wash my foot, when I’m in the shower no problem.  Notice how I didn’t listen to the third alarm either. Now the fourth alarm really should have stopped me, but I was a young man and could not bring myself to admit that the wife was right.  I was climbing into the shower, I placed my dirty foot into the water to triple check and make sure the water was not to hot.  After all I don’t want the baby to get burned.  When I did this I noticed the poop wasn’t coming off my foot.   I’m not confident now; I’m just hoping that by placing the baby’s bottom closer to the shower that the water pressure will be enough.    I placed the baby up with his behind getting a steady stream of water. OH NO!  It’s not coming off.

Meaningless to say after taking a shower, I got to clean the bathtub. Guys I hate to say it but every once in a while the wife is going to be right.  My new wife tries to tell me that she is right about 80% of the time.  I’m not a young man anymore and I have learned that about 95% of the time I need to apologize.  That is probably the biggest difference between the two marriages; one last less than two years and the other is still going strong after 12.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional I encourage all questions and commnets about the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted here.  I can be reached by email at chance@ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

I usually would not do this but my family has started a biggest loser contest, with weekly weigh ins and all.  It is kind of fun heckling those who are behind (my family way).  Have you ever noticed when your on a diet all the good food you see.

I guess it like when your buying a house, in the Reno/sparks area,  you start to see all the for real estate signs.

So I came across this recipe today and it sure does look good tell me what you think.

White Peach Pie

8-12 ripe white peaches, washed, split, pits removed and wedged into 8ths (leave peels on!)

1 cup vanilla sugar (I use two or three vanilla beans, split and scraped, submerged in 5 lbs. sugar)

1 lemon, cut in half

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3 tablespoons corn starch or tapioca flour

pinch of kosher salt

Grab a big bowl and go to town on the peaches. Wash them gently, cut in half and take out the pits. Use a paring knife. Then cut each half into eight wedges. Use a big spoon to gently mix with remaining ingredients and squeeze lemon juice over everything. Set aside while you make the dough.

Here’s what you need to know about pie dough. There are those who use shortening, and those who use butter. By now you should now I am the butter kind. So. Just use it.  At the restaurant, we make about 20 balls of pie dough at a time. This is the scaled back version.

2 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour

2 sticks COLD sweet salted butter, chopped up into little bits

ice water

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or just a mixing bowl if you’re working by hand) add the flour. Add the chopped up COLD butter. Quickly mix on medium low speed so the butter is in little bits. With the motor running on low dribble in a bit of ice water. Keep dribbling until the mixture comes together, but isn’t too dry or too wet. Just watch. It will happen. Stop the motor…..if you are working by hand, dribble the water and work the dough until it comes together. At this point, you can make two disks, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. If you want to make this for the freezer, wrap in plastic wrap, then store in a freezer bag. Defrost on the counter or in the fridge.

To roll out: flour a board or counter with a little flour, and start rolling with a pin from the middle out.  Roll north, south, east, west. Then flip the dough, adding more flour if you need to. Roll again, north, south, east, west, until it’s bigger than a pie plate, about 12 inches across. Spray a glass deep dish pie plate with cooking spray. Lay the crust inside, giving a little room for shrinkage. Roll out the second crust. Fill the first crush with fruit and dot with butter. Lay the top crust over the fruit, sealing and crimping the edges. Score the top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake on a sheet pan lined with parchment or foil for 1 1/2 hours at 375 degrees until the center filling reads 180 on an instant read thermometer and is bubbling.  Cool on a rack and eat warm or room temperature. Enjoy!

This happens to be one of the recipes from Dish Cafe and Catering Co.  You can see more of her recipes  at http://dishingup.wordpress.com/

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted.  I can be reached by email at  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates