The pressure referred to here is the WATER PRESSURE IN YOUR HOME.  Some homeowners in Fearrington Village recently attended a presentation sponsored by Fearrington Village Green Scene.  A portion of the presentation focused on PRESSURE REDUCING VALVES (PRVs).

These valves regulate the flow of water into Fearrington Village and others regulate the flow of water into individual homes.  The presenters from the Chatham County Public Utilities recommended homeowners engage a plumber to locate, check, clean and/or replace the valve into your home every 5 years.  Note that the cost of the plumber’s services and any parts or replacement items is a homeowner responsibility.

Having a properly functioning PRV can help avoid a compromised flow of water into your home which can result in interior damage if leakage and/or breakage occur.

Originally written in May 2014

Did you know you can open your garage door, even during a power outage? We certainly didn’t, and we weren’t able to help our neighbor when the power went out a couple of weeks ago. She had an important appointment but couldn’t get to her car because she couldn’t open her garage door. Thankfully, a knowledgeable Good Samaritan neighbor climbed through the garage window and pulled on the emergency release cable to unhook the door from the chain-driven trolley that electrically opens and closes the door. He then manually lifted the door open, and our neighbor was able to make her appointment.

What do you do if the garage window is inaccessible or you aren’t as spry as our Good Samaritan? It turns out you can open the garage door manually from the outside, subject to a couple of caveats explained in the next paragraph. You may have noticed on the outside of your garage door there is a keyhole lock high in the center of the door. Your garage door opener was designed so that the same key that opens the door by the electric power lift fits in that keyhole and turns a lock connected to the emergency release cable inside the garage. Turn the key a quarter of a turn and pull. The lock and the cable can be pulled out through the door. Once the slack is taken up in the cable, a good firm pull should release the trolley and the door can be lifted manually by pressing both hands against the door and pushing up. Once power is restored, activating the electric opener will cause the chain-driven trolley to move on its track and reconnect to the door.

If the key won’t turn the lock, try spraying a lubricant such as WD-40 or silicone spray into the keyhole. Gently working the key back and forth should loosen the mechanism enough to allow the key to turn. You may find, however, that the key won’t fit the lock. That could mean at some time in the past, the lock was changed. If you can’t find the correct key among that bag of miscellaneous “lost” keys you have been keeping (or if the lubricate doesn’t work), you need a new lock and cable set. A call to Berkeley Property Management (919-448-5150) will give you the name and number of the garage door company that can install a new lock and cable set. Then, come the next power outage, you’ll be able to reach your automobile, should you need to.

WSG Webmaster

A Weathersfield neighbor recently discovered that accumulating dirt and mulch had buried his HVAC system’s condensation drainpipes.  This caused moisture to back up into the duct system in the crawl space.  Normally, the excess moisture our air conditioning units release is removed through the condensation drain pipe that runs from the unit to outside the home’s foundation.  But, if the end of the drain pipe is blocked, this moisture can’t drain away and can back up into the crawl space and even the duct system.  This can create mold and mildew in the crawl space and the home. 

What can you do?  Walk around the foundation of your home.  Look for the drain pipe (2 pipes if you have two HVAC units).  They are usually on the side or back of the house, low to the ground.  Or, ask your HVAC service to locate these pipes during your next HVAC maintenance service.  Keeping those drain pipes clear is simple but important preventive maintenance.