“The Home Improvement Show with Scott Mosby”
Saturday, December 23, 2006, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Topic: Healthy Flues for a Safe Home

We’re taking your calls during the show at 314.436.7900 or toll free at 1.800.925.1120

The discussion is about the risk to home and safety of malfunctioning flues, and how to identify when such a problem exists in your home.

Rusted Flue Cap

Bricks were pulled out of flue

Both buckets of “stuff” was cleaned out of flue

You can barely see the bricks showing in the clean-out opening

Clay flue is missing pieces and needs to be replaced

Bricks in flue

Water damage on sheetrock around flue could indicate condensation and not a
leaky roof.

View our current Mosby Newsletter on chimney flue’s below as we have also posted it here for our Home Improvement Listener’s.

The Holidays Are Also “Flue” Season

A Mosby Total Home Solutions expert was called to a Jennings home to evaluate a sweating chimney. Whenever there is visible moisture inside a home, the easy assumption is a roof or flashing leak. But the Total Home expert knew to go down into the basement. What he discovered was the flue lines coming from the water heater and the furnace were clogged, thus preventing them from venting out through the chimney.

The only visual clue this homeowner had that something was amiss was by identifying interior condensation. A carbon monoxide detector would have also signaled an alert long before the sweating appeared.

Faulty Ventilation = Carbon Monoxide

If flues and chimneys aren’t ventilating properly, carbon monoxide may accumulate in your house. People living with faulty ventilation may feel unwell when they are at home in the winter, experiencing persistent “flu-like” symptoms. Their symptoms subside when they are out of the house for extended periods.

The short list of health problems caused by carbon monoxide includes headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, excessive yawning, heart palpitations and chronic bronchitis. Extreme exposure can result in collapse, unconsciousness or death. It is imperative that you have carbon monoxide detectors placed properly throughout all levels of your house.

Click here for more information on carbon monoxide.

Be Alert to Sights & Sounds

Install carbon monoxide detectors, and should they sound, seek immediate help. Should you see misplaced moisture in your home, do not assume it’s a leaking roof or flashing. Let a Mosby Total Home Solutions expert investigate all areas of your home to find – and fix – the real source of ventilation problems. We want you to have a happy and SAFE holiday season.

A Creve Coeur client had us transform half of their condo basement into 2 bedrooms and a full bath. The finished project is real handsome, especially the bathroom, which is all blue and white and smart.

And one of the bedrooms has a special, retro surprise…

The Murphy Bed (invented by William L. Murphy) came to life in 1916 as a space-saving device for people living in tiny, post-World War 1 apartments. Even if we’ve never experienced one in person, we’re familiar with them from countless movies and cartoons.

As the square footage of American homes began increasing after World War 2, beds that hid in the wall were no longer required as a solution. In 1989, Murphy Bed was legally declared a generic term to describe any bed that folds into a wall. And in 2006, the concept once again became the perfect solution for a lower level office that can do double-duty as a guest bedroom.

Taking these photos was the first time I’d ever encountered an actual fold-away bed. It was both a nostalgic experience and an ingenious way to allow a new room to multi-task in style. It is also very easy to open and close. Everything old is new again, and Mosby extends a big hearty “welcome back” to the Murphy bed!

Scott just received the above Thank You note in the mail. It’s from Jerry Rombach, the executive officer of the Southwest Illinois office of the Home Builders Association. He writes:

As a temporary “victim” of the recent ice storm, I was grateful for your clear and concise tips for surviving the power outages… As a member of the housing industry, I was proud of your role on KMOX. By design or not, you were the very public voice of that industry, and you couldn’t have been better in what was, and is, a very trying time.

On Friday, December 1^st, we all woke up to a disastrous ice storm. At the invitation of KMOX, Scott Mosby sat in with Charlie Brennan for his show from 9 – 11 a.m to answer listeners’ calls and dispense safe and logical advice to those left without power. There were so many people calling with questions about what to do in the aftermath, that Paul Harris asked him to please stay on board for his show from 2- 6 p.m.

Scott continued to answer questions and impart important information on his own KMOX show the next day. All in all, it was an ultra-busy few days for Scott, but he felt good about doing all he could to help out.

Over the course of the following weeks, we at Mosby have been getting word from some of the people who saw Scott as the voice of reason during their trying time. We’ve heard from our own family members about how “Scott was on the radio all day, helping out.” We’ve heard from KMOX listeners who stay tuned all day Friday via battery-powered radios.

We’ve heard from KMOX employees. One example is a KMOX secretary who – having lost power – was heating her home with the gas oven. She and her boys were experiencing patches of dizziness, but didn’t pay it much mind. She then heard Scott Mosby’s emphatic warning to not heat your home by gas oven as it poisons the unventilated air and can lead to death. She promptly turned off the oven, and gave full credit to Scott for saving their lives with this timely information. Bob Hamilton even went so far as to call Scott a hero for all his “wonderful service.”

And then Scott got this note from a colleague in the building industry, which made all we’d been hearing suddenly crystal clear. See, we Mosby employees are used to being surrounded by home experts; maybe we even take it for granted.

But to experience the knowledge and help that Scott offered during a winter storm emergency through other people’s eyes is an enlightening experience for us. We all know him a little too well to start fitting him for a Super Hero cape, but we are awfully proud of our Ice Storm Hero.

“The Home Improvement Show with Scott Mosby”
Saturday, December 9, 2006, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Topic: Water Damage
Your hosts:
Scott Mosby, KMOX Home Answer Man & Mosby Building Arts president
Rich Layton, Mosby Total Home Solutions manager

We’re taking your calls during the show at 314.436.7900 or toll free at 800.925.1120

The discussion is about how to assess and repair water damage to your home. Below are the photos that Scott & Rich refer to when explaining or answering questions.

Door Frame Water Damage

Water Damage On Floor

Moisture Damage on Wall & Floor

Mold Below the Floor

Caulked Seams

Mold in the Ceiling

Moisture has Caused Rot Behind Siding

A summary of this radio program’s information and answers to listeners questions will be available for review on the Mosby website by clicking here.