Michael Therriault's Blog

The Life and Times of a Pocono Contractor - It's moving day! No not for us, but for one of our many long term clients. She's moving 30 miles or so up the line and needed help with the heavy stuff. Movers are awfully expensive and in the past she's hired my "boys" to do all sorts of odd jobs. Most...

Do you know how to properly test your smoke alarm?  Most people will say to press the little red button. If the alarm goes off it's working properly. The fact is that nothing could be further from the truth. Over time the sensing chamber in the alarm may become obstructed by dust and dirt making ...

The Life and Times of a Pocono Contractor - I hate getting this call. It's 6pm on a Friday night, the outside temperature is under 15 degrees and one of my regular customers calls saying they have no water. You arrive at you're customer's house only to find it's the well pump. Okay, it's 7:30, no...

Your home is most likely the biggest investment you will ever make! To make sure your investment is properly protected you should:   Hire a Realtor to assist you in finding the property that best suits your needs and your pocket book. A qualified informed Realtor will guide you through the necess...

If you live in the Pocono's you know that having a wet crawlspace is a constant problem. You might wonder why a wet crawlspace is a problem, after all...you don't spend time in the crawlspace. Well, the answer is that this is where your home's support structure begins. First you have the foundati...

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Especially when it comes to your home. Pa winters are rough on old houses, especially those built in the Poconos. One such example can be seen in these pictures: It’s always easier to prevent a problem than to repair one. If you notice any signs th...

All of us know that not every investment yields a timely return. For the past 5 years my client’s have been asking why I don’t plow. My answer’s always the same. My truck is very reliable but it’s a 1997 with over 275,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. I didn’t think it would be a...

Well, if no one took the time to look you might be shocked to find out that the area under your house is a nesting ground for critters, pooled water, decayed wood and other factors that contribute to poor air quality within your home. I recently got a call from a young couple complaining their ho...

  This past Saturday I found what appeared to be a tasty and easy recipe posted by Karen Burket. Since I had all the ingredients minus the salmon I decided I would prepare it for dinner Sunday and surprise my wife. Baja Salmon Salad served with a bottle of your favorite chilled wine made for a pe...

There’s so much to share on AR beyond Real Estate. I always walk away with something new. Yesterday there was a recipe for “Baja” Salmon Salad, which I will be re-blogging, later. Today it was a recipe for Easy Summer Pie; I will re-blog that one later as well. We usually don’t work on Sunday, bu...