Home Owner Tips:

Hose Bibbs otherwise known as wall faucet or hydrant

As autumn approaches disconnect hoses from outside hosebibs -- the valves on exterior walls for connecting yard hoses. These valves can split inside the wall if a connected hose (or other connected device) is exposed to freezing temperatures -- and here in Summit County (at 8700-plus feet above sea level) this can happen as early as late August or early September.
You can still use the hose bibb -- to wash cars, water trees & shrubs (they especially need water late season!) -- just remember to disconnect the hose!

Heating Appliance Fall Checkup

As winter nears, it’s a good idea to have your heating checked -- especially to insure safety of vents.
Furnaces may need clean filters: blowers and draft inducers need cleaning.
Older furnaces may have stress cracks in the heat exchanger -- this means products of combustion -- flue gasses -- can mix with interior air flow. This condition presents a hazard to health and safety of occupants. Masterwork can conduct a test for carbon monoxide in the heated air space.
Hot water heating systems and boilers are more complex, having more components and safety devices. A good heating technician will check vent and dampers, system pressure, water makeup devices, relief valves, expansion tanks, pumps and test controls -- this is especially important for radiant heating systems.

Many boilers have specialized burners susceptible to dust and dirt, causing poor combustion. Masterwork removes burners to thoroughly brush and blow out; I often will soak them in soapy water and rinse clean, then reassemble burners and fire the boiler. If I see flame quality isn’t good, I will test manifold pressure -- that’s the gas pressure to the burners -- I adjust to meet specifications for each boiler.

Gas Appliance Vents

I recommend gas appliance vents be inspected annually. I often see vent connectors -- the single wall metal vent between appliance and chimney -- deteriorated, sometimes to the point of being crushable by hand ! This most often occurs with boilers that operate at lower-than-designed water temperature (e.g. some radiant systems) -- this causes water vapor in flue gas to condense -- the condensate is very corrosive, thus damaging vent materials.
Vent connectors might also have been installed poorly -- sections not secured together or vents not supported adequately, thus sags or separations can develop over time. These conditions present a hazard to health and safety of occupants.