A few weeks ago I stopped by Corey Hubbell’s glass design studio in Redmond at the urging of my friend Charles from AquaSports, and I was simply amazed at the quality and quantity of beautiful blown glassware Corey has for sale.  Here are some shots I took of his warehouse with my Blackberry.

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Prices that I saw ranged from around $20 for small pieces such as a Christmas ornament, to several hundred dollars for larger, ornate pieces.  Right now he’s having a moving sale, with discounts of 15% to 50% off, so it’s a great time to stop by.

Also, Corey’s work helps support his own efforts as part of a mission team that aids in the maintaining and rebuilding of a school for disabled children in Peru – an even better reason to stop by!

New Address:  7102 180th Avenue NE, Redmond, WA 98052 (Map below)  425-882-4971

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I’ve been passing out a resource list of my top recommended service providers for Seattle and the Eastside to my clients (if you’re a client and are wondering why you haven’t gotten one yet it’s just because I haven’t given them all out yet – you’ll get one soon!)

Anyway, it’s great to get feedback from people who use the list, and I thought it was worth mentioning that just in the past week I had clients use and give good reviews to the two electricians and the plumber I recommended.  Here they are again:

Roger Hill, Hill Electric
(425) 485-4321
Eastside for sure, don’t know how much of Seattle he covers.

Brian McManis, Eagle Electric
(206) 271-3678
All of Seattle and Eastside.

Jeff Morelli, New Concepts Plumbing
(425) 418-3304 or (206) 948-1617
All of Seattle and Eastside.

If you’re looking for a heating and cooling contractor in the Seattle or Eastside areas, here are three recommendations.  (Two I’ve used successfully, and one was recommended by a long-time agent who has sent me good people in the past.)

Eastside:

Tom Duff, Highlander Heating and Cooling:  (425) 868-2971 *

Seattle and Eastside:

Bassett Home Heating Inc.: (425) 398-1666

Seattle (and maybe Eastside):

Mark at Matrix Energy Services:  (206) 682-0212 *

(The * means that I’ve used this contractor.)

As always, I recommend the best people I know but don’t assume any liability.  Feedback on your experience with anyone I recommend is greatly appreciated!

Whenever you buy a home, even if it’s new construction, it’s a good idea to have the sewer line scoped.  That means hiring a sewer scoping contractor to check for damage by running a video camera down the line from the home to the street by means of a long steel cable.

In the Seattle area this typically costs around $200 to $300.  Considering that problems arising from sewer lines due to root intrusion, damage, degradation of materials, or simply poor installation can cost well into the tens of thousands of dollars (and are typically not covered by home insurance or the local utility company, since they usually fall outside the footprint of the home but are still on your property) it’s an investment well spent.

The company I recommend is Hydrophysics Pipe Inspection, owned by Tom Delamare.  Sewer scoping is all they do, so they know how to handle complicated situations such as having to remove a toilet in order to access the sewer line.  It also means that they have nothing to gain by diagnosing a problem, so there’s no potential conflict of interest.

Over the years I’ve found their service to be excellent – although I have to say I’m always secretly disappointed that we never get any great footage of a dead cow floating nonchalantly by (sewer lines are pretty boring, for the most part.)

You can schedule a sewer scoping with Hydrophysics at (425) 775-8445 or (866) 775-8445.

Are you thinking about refinancing your existing home mortgage?  If so, there’s a handy guide to home loan refinancing from the Federal Reserve Board that covers some important topics, such as:

• Comparing home loan refinance options
• Understanding ‘no cost’ refinances
• Calculating when you will recoup the expense of refinancing your mortgage
• Home mortgage prepayment penalties

There’s also a glossary of home loan refinance terms that’s highly useful.

The pamphlet dates from 2008 and is 29 pages, it opens up in just a few seconds via pdf – here’s the link:

A Consumer’s Guide to Mortgage Refinancings

By the way, if you would like recommendations to two mortgage professionals who I think are extremely good, just call or drop me a line.  (They are also listed on my Resources page.)

I wanted to put in a plug for Jeff Fravel, owner of The Clean Doctor, for window, roof and gutter cleaning.  I used him a couple of times and he always does a good job and leaves the premises very clean. 

Jeff does roof cleaning using a blower, not the hard pressure washing that can decrease the life of your composition roof, and he also does roof moss control and pressure washing of walkways and driveways.  It’s very useful to have one person who does all of those things, instead of having to hire two or more different contractors.  Jeff is also licensed, bonded and insured.

Here’s his contact info:

Jeff Fravel
The Clean Doctor
thecleandoctor@gmail.com
(206) 227-1542

Please note: I recommend the best people and resources I know, but I don’t assume any liability, so please use your best judgment.  I would love to hear feedback (good or bad) about your experiences with any resource that I recommend.