The Ethics In Business Award is given each year to one for-profit company, and one non-profit organization. A Master’s Hands was one of 9 finalists, and won the award for the former category.

In the picture to the right, co-founders Jim and Michele Bartlett receive the award from Golden Rotary Club President Peggy Halderman (L), and Gold Sponsor 1st Bank President, Emily Robinson.

Each nominee was judged based on maintaining an ethical standard with integrity and conviction, as demonstrated by the treatment of customers, employees, community, and the environment.

The award is a plaque with a bronze miniature statue of Thomas Jefferson, who adhered to a principle of high integrity. Jefferson declared: “I have but one system of ethics for men and nations — to be grateful, to be faithful to all engagements and under all circumstances, to be open and generous, promoting in the long run even the interest of both; and I am sure it promotes their happiness.”

This recognition was also placed into the US Congressional Record by US Representative Ed Perlmutter.

A Master’s Hands was recognized by the West Chamber as “Business of the Year” at its annual Chairman’s Inaugural Luncheon on Friday, January 18th.  In this photo co-founders Michele and Jim Bartlett are receiving the award from West Chamber CEO Brian Willms.

On Friday January 18th 2013 at the Annual Chairman’s Inaugural Luncheon for the West Chamber, A Master’s Hands, LLC was recognized, being named Business of the Year (companies under 50 employees)!  Company co-founders Jim & Michele Bartlett received the award from West Chamber President & CEO Brian Willms and Emcee Gregg Moss from Channel 9 News.

When we experience warm weather during the winter here in Colorado (such as 65-degree days in January like we’re having right now!), many people take the opportunity to play a little golf, or even wash the cars out on the driveway.  Keeping the car clean by removing salt and road grime is smart.  Smarter still is to be sure to disconnect the garden hose from the hose bib (outside spigot) when you’re finished.  If you don’t you could find yourself with broken pipes inside the house when things get colder.  Why?  Here’s the scoop:

Houses built in 4-season climates like we have here in Colorado are outfitted with frost-free hose bibs…ones that turn off the water well inside the house when you turn the shut-off knob on the exterior.  This is done via a long stem on the hose bib that extended through the wall back into the heated portion of the home.  So, when you turn off the water it shuts off back in side the home.  Then, the remaining water in the pipe that extends beyond that shutoff point drains down and out, leaving the portion of the hose bib that’s “exposed” to weather and cold temperatures completely empty.  And an empty pipe can’t be frozen and burst open by extremely cold temperatures because there’s nothing inside it to expand and crack the pipe.  Makes sense, right?  Here’s the rub:  if you leave a hose connected to the spigot, that can prevent the extra water from draining out of the hose bib after it’s shut off.  Result?  When temperatures drop again, that water is trapped inside the tube that should be empty, the water freezes and expands, and crack! — the pipe pops open.  

The crack usually isn’t very big…but it’s big enough to cause a huge problem the next time you use the hose.  Here’s what happens:  You open the valve again, and water begins to flow back into that tube from the shut-off point back inside the heated portion of the home.  Most of it may continue forward and flow out the spigot and into the hose…but a portion of it will spray out of the crack in that pipe….and into the walls inside your home.  And since this  is usually in the basement or crawl space, you may not immediately notice the problem — until you hear a strange noise, or walk downstairs and step into a puddle where dry carpet used to be!

As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”  In this case, maybe 1,000 pounds!

If you do experience a broken hose bib, we’d be gad to be of service to you.  We can open up the associated walls or ceiling areas (as needed) to reach the broken hose bib, then replace the cracked pipes, and button everything back up again!

Only the very best businesses are chosen to receive the 2012 CMUS Talk of the Town Customer Satisfaction Award. The award was created to showcase companies that excel in serving their customers and getting their high marks. Based on research gathered during the past 12 months, A Master’s Hands LLC has earned top honors and now has its very own award page at www.talkofthetownnews.com/awards2012/7204683225.

Celebration Media U.S. (CMUS) is a co-sponsor of the award and an independent professional research and marketing company that monitors positive and negative reviews, blogs, business rating services, social networks, and other industry resources to determine the highest-rated and top-reviewed businesses in all 50 states of the country and parts of Canada.

You may not know it, but you are an agent of change.   If nobody has ever told you that, just take my word for it.  If you’re a voter, you are a potential agent of change….if you’re willing to act when needed.   Well, now there’s a very real need!

Normally at A Master’s Hands, we stay away from politics – in our business, and in our blog posts – and we don’t want to alienate any of our clients or those who follow our blog.  However, today, I’m breaking my own unwritten “no-politics rule”, because there’s something going on in U.S. politics right now that we need to make sure you know about and understand, because it affects all of us in many ways…some of which we might not even fully realize yet.

Using websites to blog, to publish, to communicate things online that once upon a time would have been relegated to an unread private journal (or simply remained unspoken, uncreated, unshared) makes you a part of one of the biggest changes in modern history: the democratization of publishing and the independent web.

Every time you read someone else’s blog post (like this one), or click Publish yourself to post a blog entry, you are a part of that Internet-based change…part of what is making the world “flat” (see “The World is Flat“)….equalizing things, leveling the playing field in many respects for smaller developing countries, giving them essentially free access to huge amounts of data, knowledge, etc.  So, whether you just like to read, or are posting political insights, a joke or a story about something that happened to you, this is a topic that should matter to you….a lot!  If you use free on-line services such as Craigslist, Backpage, Facebook, or other similar services, you also are experiencing the power of the world wide web…which is now suddenly at risk.

How would you feel if the web stopped being so free and independent?   We are very concerned about two bills that threaten to do exactly this, and as an active participant in one of the biggest changes in modern history, you should be, too.

You may have heard people talking/blogging/twittering about SOPA — the Stop Online Piracy Act. The recent SOPA-related boycott of GoDaddy was all over the news, with many people expressing their outrage over the possibilities of SOPA, but when I ask people about SOPA and its sister bill in the Senate, PIPA (Protect IP Act), many folks don’t really know what the bills propose, or what we stand to lose. If you aren’t shocked by the potential impact….e.g. the havoc that could be wreaked by SOPA/PIPA, please… for the next four minutes, instead of checking email or Facebook, watch this video.

Some thoughts:

• In the U.S. our legal system maintains that the burden of proof is on the accuser, and that people are innocent until proven guilty. This tenet seems to be on the chopping block when it comes to the web if these bills pass, as companies could shut down sites based on accusation alone.
• Laws are not like lines of computer code; they are not easily reverted/edited if someone wakes up and suddenly realizes there’s a better way to do things.  We should not be so quick to codify something this far-reaching.
• The people writing these laws are not the people writing or overseeing the independent web, and they are certainly not out to protect it. We have to stand up for it ourselves.

Blogging is a form of activism.  You can be an agent of change. Some people will tell you that taking action is useless, that online petitions, phone calls to representatives, and other actions won’t change a single mind, especially one that’s been convinced of something by lobbyist dollars. To those people, we repeat the words of Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

We are not a small group. Millions of people use blog engines to post and to read news.  Millions also use sites such as Craigslist to help market their services.  If such sites were shut down simply based on one accusation, many small businesses would see revenues dry up overnight.  As an example, the blog engine we use to power our entire website for A Master’s Hands is called WordPress, an open-source (free) application.  WordPress is said to power about 15% of the web.  Each of us who are using and benefiting from this application can make an impact, and you can be an agent of change.  Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and learn about a number of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly.  The Senate votes in less than two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason to change their current positions on this proposed legislation before then.  Please… Make your voice heard.

Thanks in advance! — Jim Bartlett, Founder

The web is continually evolving, and there are more and more ways to get the word out about services a company provides.  The latest we discovered is called Thumbtack.  This on-line service is definitely worthwhile checking out.  See our information about Remodeling and Handyman Services at Thumbtack!

The day after the food-heavy Thanksgiving holiday is typically the busiest of the year for handymen and residential plumbers, sort of like a “Black Friday” for drains and pipes.

“People try to grind up turkey skin,” says Jerry Feiman, owner of Jerry’s Plumbing in Ventura, Calif. “They put too many veggies down the disposal all at once.”

The intensity of cooking and associated use of the kitchen sink, combined with visiting relatives using showers, toilets and washing machines can take a toll on plumbing and sewer lines this time of year.

“The week after Thanksgiving is often one of the busiest weeks of the year for us,” says Jim Bartlett of A Master’s Hands, LLC.   He anticipates many calls from clients with clogs in their kitchen sinks and toilets.

“We try to work around people’s schedules,” says Bartlett.  “Some people need to have us respond to their issues in the evening.”

The Thanksgiving-triggered business usually starts the evening before Turkey Day.  Calls tend to slow down on Thanksgiving itself, because many people are worried about extra charges associated with calling for assistance on a holiday.  Others may just want to get through the “big meal” without interruption, if possible.

Bartlett says the most common Thanksgiving problem his company gets calls about is a clogged kitchen sink, resulting from improper use of the garbage disposal.

It’s important to run lots of water when using a disposal, says Bartlett.  He recommends not feeding stringy vegetables, or starchy material like potato peelings into the disposal.  If you must pour grease down the drain, make sure you run a lot of hot water as you do so.  That will ensure it makes its way completely through your home’s plumbing.

To avoid disposal/sink problems altogether, Bartlett recommends putting all the above mentioned “throwaways” in a separate container and tossing them in the trash, rather than putting them through the disposal.   “Many people just put too much garbage down the drain,” says Bartlett.  “If you limit it to just the small table scraps as you rinse off plates before putting them in the dishwasher, that will ensure you get through the holiday period without needing to call us.”  Food prep waste (peels, cuttings, fat, grease, etc., should be put into the trash he says.

Bartlett also says homeowners should realize that just because a disposal turns on doesn’t mean it’s necessarily working properly.  Homeowners sometimes don’t know a disposal isn’t really working properly until they overload it on the big day and everything backs up.

Toilets also can also stop up from heavy use. Some homeowners with low-flow toilets make the mistake of putting bricks in the tanks with the intent of saving water.  But without sufficient water per flush to create the necessary “siphon” action, the toilet won’t fully flush.  Repeated usage in this manner can lead to stopped up plumbing, and a call for professional assistance.  Sometimes the culprit behind a clog is too much toilet paper being used – something that’s difficult to control (much less monitor) with visiting friends and family members with children.  Of course, tampons and other feminine products always are a no-no for flushing.

If it works its way down into the main line, a bad sink or toilet clog can stop up the entire plumbing system in the home, creating indoor floods.

“While we’re happy to assist clients who have emergencies around Thanksgiving, we’d much prefer to see everyone adopt these common-sense approaches that can help avoid common problems,” says Bartlett.

Going on vacation this winter? Be sure to turn off the main water shut-off valve where it comes into the house. Also turn off the gas (or electric) for the hot water heater.

The reason for this recommendation is that there’s always the potential that your electric power will go out while you’re away, or that something will fail in your furnace (ignitor, flame sensor, smart gas valve, etc). Either way, your home could suddenly lose its source of heat, water pipes could freeze and burst, and water would continue to flow continuously into your home until someone shuts it off. Many people can tell stories of when their clothes washer, icemaker, or dishwasher sprung a leak while they were asleep or at work, resulting in a major flood that ruined carpets, hardwood flooring, drywall ceilings, etc. Just imagine if such a leak occurred while you were away for a long weekend, or for a full week or more? You could run around the house shutting off supply lines to toilets, sinks, and all appliances, but that not only takes time, it still leaves many pipes in walls and ceilings fully pressurized. Thus, it’s much easier (and better) to shut off all pressure into the home at the main shut-off valve. It’s always best to anticipate a “what if” and prepare to avoid it than face the possibility of returning to a flooded home.

If you’re on city / municipal water, your main shut-off valve is usually located in the same area where your water meter is located. If you have a well, the water shut-off will be close to your pressure tank. There are two common types of shut-off valves – gate valves and ball valves; we’ve included photos of both types here. A gate valve is turned off by turning the handle on the valve stem clockwise several times until it stops in the closed position. A ball valve has two positions, on and off. The valve is ON when the handle on the valve is parallel to the water pipes feeding through it, and OFF when it’s perpendicular (at 90 degree angle) to the pipes. Just a quarter-turn of the handle moves it from on to off or vice versa.

Location of Main shut-off valve – near water meter

Typical gate valve

Ball valve – shown in the ON position

The reason for also shutting off the energy source to the hot water heater is two-fold: first, it saves energy to not keep the tank of water heated for a week (or more) while you’re on vacation. Second, if the pressure relief valve on the water heater were to fail and release and dump a good portion of the water out of the heater and you’re not there to notice it and shut things off, not only would you have 40-50 gallons of water (or more) all over everything, but the water heater would then try to heat what’s left in the tank , trying to get to a “full tank of hot water” indication, and would burn itself out trying since the tank would be almost empty. So you’d have a watery mess, and a ruined water heater.

Safe travels this winter, and rest easy knowing the water is shut off back at home!

The Silent Killer: Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Most cases of Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning in residential situations happen to occur during the winter months….which is also flu season. And, thus, because mild-CO-poisoning symptoms (fatigue, dizziness, nausea, etc), tend to mimic the flu, most people may not initially recognize the root cause, or the true danger of the situation.

That’s why it’s particularly important to have carbon monoxide detectors installed and operating in every home – especially in your bedrooms. If one of the detectors sounds an alarm, ventilate your home with fresh air immediately. If you feel dizzy or drowsy, leave the house immediately.

A Tricky Diagnosis

Identifying the source of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide can be a complex task at times because there can be various contributing causes, such as:

• A partially or fully blocked exhaust flue
• Operating unvented appliances for long periods of time
• Operating a heating system that’s out of adjustment, or is damaged
• Back drafts caused by pressure imbalances near the heating appliance
• Leaving a vehicle idling in an attached garage

Any of these situations could set off a CO detector, creating an audible alarm. But by the time a technician arrives, conditions could potentially have changed, making it difficult to make an accurate diagnosis. You can help yourself and our technician by sharing as much information as possible so we can identify the root cause of the problem, and help you get it resolved.

How Carbon Monoxide Forms and How to Detect It

When combustion of fuel occurs normally, one carbon atom connects with two oxygen atoms to form carbon dioxide (CO2), a harmless gas. When combustion is incomplete due to a lack of oxygen, each carbon atom connects with only one oxygen atom. This forms the potentially toxic gas known as carbon monoxide (CO). Some appliances may generate some levels of CO, even when operating normally, which is why it’s critical that they be properly vented.

High CO levels in breathing air inhibit the hemoglobin in our blood, dramatically reducing its ability to carry oxygen throughout the body so it can be delivered to the brain and other organs. Another reason that CO is so dangerous is that it’s an invisible threat: you can’t see it or smell it. This is why electronic CO detectors are so important for family safety.

When CO is present in the home, it’s usually generated by devices that are burning fuel, such as a gas-fired furnace or hot-water heater. Thus, CO is usually contained within hot exhaust fumes that are lighter than ambient-temperature air. Since CO itself is slightly lighter than air and is being carried by hot or warm exhaust gasses, it tends to make its way quickly to the ceiling. Thus, CO detectors are most effective when ceiling-mounted since this location provides for the earliest warning of danger. For multi-story dwellings, the ceiling above the landing at the top of each staircase is an ideal location for a CO detector. Many stores sell CO detectors that are designed to be plugged into an electrical outlet on a wall. While this make for a quick and convenient installation that can be performed by the homeowner, at 12-15 inches off the floor, a wall outlet location is not only the least effective for early warning, it may be accidentally disturbed by children or pets.

Bottom line, you can ensure your family’s safety by being diligent in ensuring all gas- or oil-fired heating appliances (furnaces, hot-water heaters, etc) are properly maintained, and by installing properly located CO detectors in all required areas of your home. Contact A Master’s Hands, LLC for assistance in replacing or installing CO (or combination smoke/CO) detectors in your home.