Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Tributes have been paid to a popular plumber who sold his business to British Gas for 30 million five decades after starting out as a sole trader running a business from his dining table.

Phil Jones who founded PH Jones, a central heating company which employed 850 people, died suddenly on Christmas Day. He was 74.

Mr Jones launched the firm in Malpas, near Whitchurch, with his wife Brenda back in 1963 and sold it to British Gas in May 2011.

He also founded Beech House Nursing Home, in Wollerton, near Market Drayton, opening the business in 1990 and going on to sell it in 2005.

Today his daughter Wendy Raichura described her father as an inspirational man who adored his three children and 12 grandchildren.

She said: My dad was very bright and full of fun and mischief. He was always disruptive especially at the dinner table when playing with his grandchildren who he loved to bits.

He was always laughing and was never stressed and was a great entrepreneur.

He really was very intelligent and very inspirational.

He did so well in life but his real talent was that could reach out and connect with everyone. Whether it was children, teenagers, humble people or lords and ladies, he could connect with them all.

Mr Joness two sons Martin and Chris also worked for the family firm and helped the business grow.

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Tributes to plumber who sold company he founded to British Gas for £30m

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - Plumbing companies across East Texas worked all day Monday to fix pipes that burst in the cold weather. Through the wet and the cold, plumbers say they'll be there for you all night.

"We're going to get really wet and it's going to be cold," Patton Waldrop, a plumber with C. Woods Company, said.

At 11 o'clock this morning a small busted pipe was just the beginning. Busted water lines and backed up toilets are all in a cold days work for plumbers Cory Daniels and Patton Waldrop.

"About 7:00 in the morning and everything was frozen solid, nothing would thaw out, James Montgomery, an employee at Pets Fur People, said, so it's just one of those deals where we had to just wait and see what would happen."

A burst pipe happened. That's when Montgomery called the plumber. The busted pipe at Pets Fur People was the first call of that icy morning.

"We're waiting on it, you know, it's coming, busted water lines everywhere," Cory Daniels, a plumber with C. Woods Company, said.

Calls like that trickled in Monday morning, but by the afternoon phone lines were flooded.

"We're real busy, we're getting calls. Just earlier I called back to the office and we're getting them every 10 minutes," Daniels said.

Longview reported no major issues. Neither did The City of Tyler, but plumbing companies across East Texas are drowning in service calls.

"It's just one of the deals that happens, you just got to deal with it," Montgomery said.

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Plumbing companies bursting with service calls

Posted on: 4:54 pm, January 6, 2014, by Scott Wise and Wayne Covil, updated on: 05:18pm, January 6, 2014

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) From your faucets to your pets, now is the time to make sure your house and animals are ready for Tuesdays record-cold weather.

Dogs and cats can suffer frostbite, just like humans.

Especially areas like their toes and ears and tails can be sensitive to those kind of things, but hypothermia can affect them the same as us, Colonial Heights Veterinarian Hospital Stacy Riddle said.

When preparing your home for sub-freezing temperatures, start outside first.

You should go around your house and make sure all your vents are closed to keep air from flowing under the house and freezing up pipes like this hose bib here, Calvin Adkins, with AA Plumbing, said. Air could blow under it, freeze that pipe, so its good to close all air gaps.

Once inside, focus on kitchens with faucets on an outside wall.

Its good to open the cabinet doors at night, that will let a little heat there and sometimes you could maybe let the faucet run a little bit, Adkins said.

Experts advise using a supplemental heat source, like gas log, to help heat your home.

They suggest you avoid moving your thermostat up as temperatures go down.

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Things you should do NOW to protect your home during the freeze

UC Riverside entomologists devise a technique that involves mixing a synthetic pheromone in insecticide sprays

By Iqbal Pittalwala on January 6, 2014

Photo shows Argentine ants. Photo credit: D-H Choe Lab, UC Riverside.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. After being inadvertently introduced in the United States from South America, Argentine ants have successfully invaded urban, agricultural, and natural settings nationwide. In urban California, the Argentine ant is among the primary pest ants. For example, this particular species of ants makes up 85 percent of ants sampled by commercial pest control companies in just the Greater San Diego Area.

Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside have now developed a pheromone-assisted technique as an economically viable approach to maximize the efficacy of conventional sprays targeting the invasive Argentine ant.

They supplemented insecticide sprays with (Z)-9-hexadecenal, a pheromone compound attractive to ants, and were able to divert Argentine ants from their trails and nest entrances. Lured by the pheromone, the ants were eventually exposed to the insecticide residue, and killed.

Study results appeared Dec. 23, 2013, in the online fast track edition of the Journal of Economic Entomology.

Field study was conducted to determine if Argentine ants would be attracted from a nest entrance and nearby trails to an aqueous pheromone spray deposit. The red circles indicate the positions of ants. The sand patch on right was sprayed with water supplemented with the synthetic pheromone (Z)-9-hexadecenal. The sand patch on left was sprayed with water only. After a few minutes, the number of ants on the pheromone-treated patch exceeded the number of ants on the water-treated patch. The nest entrance and nearby trails were located between the patches of sand. Image credit: D-H Choe Lab, UC Riverside.

Our experiments with fipronil and bifenthrin sprays indicate that the overall kill of these insecticides on Argentine ant colonies is substantially improved by 57 to 142 percent by incorporating (Z)-9-hexadecenal in the sprays, said Dong-Hwan Choe, an assistant professor of entomology and the research project leader, whose lab focuses on urban entomology, insect behavior and chemical ecology.

According to Choes research team, the current attract-and-kill approach, once it is successfully implemented in practical pest management programs, could potentially provide maximum control efficacy with reduced amount of insecticides applied in the environment.

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Novel “Attract-and-kill” Approach Could Help Tackle Argentine Ants

January 6, 2014

Image Caption: This photo shows Argentine ants. Credit: D-H Choe Lab, UC Riverside

University of California Riverside

UC Riverside entomologists devise a technique that involves mixing a synthetic pheromone in insecticide sprays

After being inadvertently introduced in the United States from South America, Argentine ants have successfully invaded urban, agricultural, and natural settings nationwide. In urban California, the Argentine ant is among the primary pest ants. For example, this particular species of ants makes up 85 percent of ants sampled by commercial pest control companies in just the Greater San Diego Area.

Entomologists at the University of California, Riverside have now developed a pheromone-assisted technique as an economically viable approach to maximize the efficacy of conventional sprays targeting the invasive Argentine ant.

They supplemented insecticide sprays with (Z)-9-hexadecenal, a pheromone compound attractive to ants, and were able to divert Argentine ants from their trails and nest entrances. Lured by the pheromone, the ants were eventually exposed to the insecticide residue, and killed.

Study results appeared Dec. 23, 2013, in the online fast track edition of the Journal of Economic Entomology.

Our experiments with fipronil and bifenthrin sprays indicate that the overall kill of these insecticides on Argentine ant colonies is substantially improved by 57 to 142 percent by incorporating (Z)-9-hexadecenal in the sprays, said Dong-Hwan Choe, an assistant professor of entomology and the research project leader, whose lab focuses on urban entomology, insect behavior and chemical ecology.

According to Choes research team, the current attract-and-kill approach, once it is successfully implemented in practical pest management programs, could potentially provide maximum control efficacy with reduced amount of insecticides applied in the environment.

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Attract-and-kill Approach Developed To Tackle Argentine ants

Pest control ep1 part1
Pest control ep1 part1.

By: hardkill4441

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Pest control ep1 part1 - Video

Council to charge for pest control and stray dog services

7:31pm Monday 6th January 2014 in News

RAT catching and the returning of stray dogs by Stroud District Council (SDC) will now come with a price tag as it looks to plug a gap in its budget.

Getting rid of rats in homes has until now been a free service for the district's residents but they now face paying 45, or 30 for those on income-related benefits.

It will also cost dog owners 25 to have their pet returned if it is lost but micro-chipped, with the concessionary rate now removed, if the proposal is passed this evening (Thursday, January 9) at the Strategy and Resources Committee meeting.

The move was passed by the Environment Comittee at Ebley Mill on December 5 and is expected to be approved tonight, along with a host of other money-saving measures to meet a gap in the medium term financial plan.

SDC expects to earn 32,000 from the extra charges but will keep fees for other pests, including mice, wasps, fleas and other insects, the same.

Rat catching accounted for 1,134 visits by pest control officers last year, or 72 per cent of their total workload.

In his report to the Environment Committee, head of Environmental Health Jon Beckett said that because of the current economic climate, the move may cause concern for some users.

However this needs to be balanced against the fact that the council is facing increased financial pressures and all opportunities to generate income need to be considered, he said.

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Council to charge for pest control and stray dog services

By Jonny Irving

Last updated at 11:49, Tuesday, 07 January 2014

The home of a councillor was callously targeted by vandals who used an unknown chemical to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage.

William and Jacquelyne Geddes in their garden

The garden, in Harker, of Jacquelyne Geddes, the city councillor for Stanwix Urban, was broken into overnight between New Years Eve and New Years Day and vandalised while she and husband William were out.

The vandals covered garden furniture and her patios with a substance thought to be something like creosote, which is similar to tar.

It was a noxious substance which had been used. It smelled something like engine oil and was very greasy. It was poured over all the patios and over some garden furniture, she said.

This is an area with a very low risk for crime, so I think we were targeted. It is not a nice thing to happen especially when your husband is a 69-year-old vulnerable pensioner.

She added that the patios were permanently stained and without identifying the substance it could not be cleaned properly, meaning that they might need to be replaced completely.

Mrs Geddes has recently had her patio replaced costing over 1,000 and her garden furniture was also damaged in the attack. She believes that the cost of the vandalism could be more than 5,000.

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Home of Carlisle councillor targeted by vandals

Q. What is the best way to clean my pool enclosure screens?

A. Use a mild soap and water mixture, such as dish soap. Using a soft bristle brush, scrub from side to side, up and down, front and back, and then rinse the screen soap free with a garden hose. After rinsing, snap-dry the screens to shake off most of the water then allow them to air dry. Depending on how dirty your screens are, you may have to repeat this process.

Q. I have some mold on the aluminum pool screen fixtures and casings. I've heard I can clean it safely with bleach water, is that correct?

A. This is a bit more than a "yes or no" question. Have you ever cleaned an aluminum pot with bleach -- depending upon the amount of pure bleach you could compromise the integrity of the aluminum or discolor the pot. The same principle can apply here. You need to be careful how much bleach you mix with the water. It doesn't take much to kill mold but some home owners believe "more is better" and when it comes to using chemicals and cleaning agents that is not necessarily a correct principle. It would be better to use a very light mixture of bleach and water to kill the mold and then follow up with the basic cleaning above. Another consideration is the color of the aluminum -- if your pool enclosure aluminum is white then the mold shows up quicker as opposed to a dark or bronzed aluminum service. Cleaning as outlined in the above question on a regular basis usually impedes the formation of mold...BUT if you are in an area where it just keeps growing quickly then consider the use of a very light bleach mixture occasionally. If the problem is too persistent then first call your pool enclosure company for more direct referrals or a referral to a specialized cleaning service - but this is rarely needed even in areas such as central florida.

Q. How can I scare off ducks when they want to sleep and crap on my screen pool cage when I sleep at night?

A. Here are some suggestions about this from other pool enclosure owners:

A. This is another complicated question. The most important factors are finding out what the pool cage or pool screen enclosure being built for your pool area is rated for with regards to storms, wind and weather. Some companies provide poor, or weaker, structures than other companies. The type of materials, thickness and strength of the aluminum, and the structure of the design are all factors that go into this consideration. The first thing you should do is ask your pool cage company what their ratings are and if they offer any additional strengthening or upgrading to their standard structures. If not, you may want to consider another company. Summer Time Screen Enclosures, Inc. builds very strong cages and enclosures as their standard and can discuss with you any additional considerations you might want.

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Maintenance of pool screen enclosures, pool cages and patio ...

We feel truly lucky and grateful to be receiving a custom trailer stocked with industry tools for our business from BehrPro, said Kinder, a residential pro painter. With our very own professional trailer, my business is in a better position to grow and organize how it approaches residential jobs of all sizes.

The 2013 BehrPro Experience sweepstakes started in May and coincided with the third-annual BehrPro Experience Tour, which traveled around the country to showcase the companys latest products and services developed to support contractors, painters, property managers and remodelers with residential and commercial projects.

Weve felt the economy take a toll on our industry, and winning this sweepstakes could not have come at a better time for me professionally and personally, said McCaffery, a construction pro who also operates a small painting business. The trailer and tools will be helpful for the day-to-day activities at my full-time position and also reduce overhead costs for the paint work I do on the side, allowing me to retain more of the profits. Winning this prize from BehrPro means I can be more independent and not have to rent or borrow a trailer for future jobs something I greatly look forward to!

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BehrPro Sweepstakes Winners Awarded Stocked Trailers