Before a leaking pipe can destroy your sub-floor and the dry wall absorbs the water and warps, and mold invades your home, fix the leaking pipe! Don't put it off.
Just heard from a Denver metro area homeowner today concerning mold. Some years ago, there was a leak which wet her drywall. She noticed black mold at the base board and didn't think too much of it until she removed the wall paper. In the process of removing the wall paper with a compound mixed with water, the wall became wet of course. Because of this, the next day she discovered that the mold had grown. A mold expert was brought in and this particular mold is the nasty kind. To solve her problem, the house must be fogged and the wall torn out by people in protective suits. This is a costly operation which could have been avoided had the homeowner known what to look for at the very beginning. This also explained why she was not feeling quite right all these years. Don't let this happen to you.
Examine your home on a regular basis. Check all the pipes. Look for leaks at the faucets, under the sinks, at the shower heads, in the basement, in your crawl space, at the outside faucets. If you find any, repair the leaks immediately before secondary damage sets in that could become more costly than you can imagine. If you can't fix it yourself, hire a handyman or plumber. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.
Which brings me to what to look for and what to expect in your handyman. Many people do not realize that a handyman is a craftsman of many different trades. He is a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician, etc. He needs to know all of the crafts in order to figure out how best to repair whatever ails your home. He has to be innovative and inventive because the process of repair is different and more difficult than building the original. An exceptional handyman can repair almost everything in a home. If he can't, he'll tell you and he'll find someone who can for you.
Send Grandma an e-mail with your questions to grandmashandymanservice@msn.com and we'll do our best to answer directly and in future columns.