Maintenance of Hot Water Boiler

Long time plumber and pipefitter, Jeff Bishop describes how he repaired my 30-year old hot water boiler located at 500 Lebaum St. SE.

Jeff also showed the rust grime that came out of the boiler.

Seven years ago, Jeff installed the radiators in the basement.

This house is profiled in my blog: RUNIN Anacostia.


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The Long Living Boiler

Jeff Bishop had to flush out the boiler and radiators today. The person who soldered the pipes for the HW heater did a messy job.  The sweating was unprofessional.  So Jeff came to provide advice.


Jeff came in and flushed the pipes for the boiler.  This boiler is likely 25-30 years old.  Few contractors understand hot water heat.   They can lat 50 years with proper controls and maintenance.


 A major drawback is that central air conditioning cannot be installed without a seperate air handler and ductwork which is a huge expense. Ultimately these factors should be reflected in the value of the home. Central air conditioning is almost a given in 2007 where it didn't exist in 1955.

A water boiler feeds radiators as opposed to the boiler that heats air.

Not staying cherry red.  When gas hits it it lights.  Jeff did find out there was a problem with the thermocouple (which costs less than $10).  Then he realized that it was the valve.


Next he had to flush out the radiators.  He charged $300 for the flush and another $300 for the repair.

Waterproofing Lebaum Street

French Drain for House

We installed this French Drain for Lebaum Street.

MLK: Please Change the Filters

AC Blowing Warm Air

While out of town, the AC stopped pumping out cool air.  The fan was still working but just ambient air. When Mike opened up the unit, he discovered that the capacitor blew out.   After changing out the capacitor, now the condenser wasn't coming on. (The capacitor has three connections -- one for the fan and two for the condenser.

Now that the capacitor is replaced, the next thing we need to troubleshoot is the contact.

Ikea Comes to the Rescue

In just three short years, my tenant had destroyed my countertop.

Not able to wait any longer, I went ahead and moved forward with the new installation.  Instead of purchasing cheaper quality material,  I was enamored by what you could do with Ikea.
This was a proof in concept showing that we can get quality countertops from Ikea.




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House showing the scenic Oxon Run trail