There are benefits to both, but the biggest differences between them are maintenance and cost. You can probably get a wood fence installed (depending on where, length, and type) for $25.00 per linear foot, or possibly less. Vinyl can be closer to the $35.00 per linear foot (again depending on where, length, and type.)

Wood fencing starts to become more expensive around the 3-5 year mark when the weather starts requiring your maintenance costs to add up on the fence. You can spray your fence to protect it with a water proofer, or sealer, but again, these products generally require a fresh application yearly. Depending on your location and the climate, the water, weather, and sun can really work quickly on a wooden fence to cause damage. Even you own sprinlkers for your yard can work against you on a wooden fence. Here is a picture of a wooden fence herre in the St George, UT area that Wright Way Contracting, LLC. just recently replaced with vinyl fencing. 

Here is a picture of the fence replaced with vinyl fencing. 

Vinyl fencing is mostly maintenance free. It is water proof, UV resistant, and can be installed in pretty much the same way as wood fencing. While the panels are pretty light weight, the posts are cemented in just like a wood fence. You can cement the pressure treated wood posts with the vinyl sleeved over the wood and cemented with it for greater support, or the vinyl posts can be cemented as stand alone posts with no wood posts under. I have heard of some installers not using cement. This installation is not recommended, and beware of any installer stating that cementing the posts is not necesary. 

The bottom line is, make a decision that is right for you. My opinion is that it is well work the extra up front cost to save money on mantenance and replacement down the line, but as you can see there are different looks also to be aware of. They are now  starting to use vinyl that looks more like wood instead of the plain white, like shown above. 

I have been to about 20 garbage disposal calls in the last 3 months. I have only replaced one, and that was today, so it prompted me to write this. Most of the time a garbage disposal has just gotten something in it that is binding it, or there is another problem that is easily repaired rather than replaced. This is a good thing cause they sure seem to have gotten expensive in my last 15 years of doing this. I used to get them for $50 and now the cheap ones are $85... but I digress.

If you flip the switch, and nothing happens, check first a small red button on the bottom of the disposal. This is a motor overheat switch, which trips when the motor gets hot. Push the button back in to reset, and check to see if that solved the problem. 

If you flip the switch and there is a hum noise coming from the disposal, but it is not working, turn the switch off right away so you don't overheat it. Take a disposal wrench (a silver allen wrench) that is sometimes found in the cabinet under the sink, as they come with disposals, or you can get one from the hardware store for about $5.00.

With the switch off, insert the allen wrench tip into a same sized hole in the bottom center of the garbage disposal under the sink, and turn the wrench back and fourth to try to loosen what is caught in the disposal keeping it from turning. Most of the time just loosening it is only part of it, then you need to (with switch off) reach your hand in and remove what is stuck. Use caution doing this as it has been my experience that glass is a prime culprit, followed by screws, and any other plastic, metal, or whatever you thought came up missing about a week earlier. If you are able to remove carefully anything in the disposal,  you can then, once your hand are out of the way, try again and repeat this process until the sound of the disposal running sounds normal again, or like it usually does, and not grinding.

If you flip the switch and there is no noise, and the reset botton is not tripped, check the plug and cord for power. Usually just a GFCI needs to be reset, or a tripped breaker. 

If the disposal is corroded through, and leaking, or if you turn with the wrench, and it is difficult to turn with nothing caught in it, only then will you need to replace it with a new one. Happy repairing, and feel free co contact me with questions, or leave comments.

Had a call today for replacing a kitchen faucet, bathroom faucet, and shower head. All 3 fixtures were barely dribbling with no water pressure. I took off shower head and faucet aerators, and cleaned white debris out. Pressure was fine after that. Rather than spending money to replace fixtures that will only clog up again, I took the time to drain and flush the water heater. This can be a common problem in older water heaters, especially with hard water and no water softener. The water heater cooks the minerals right out of the water and over time the water heater can litterally fill with debris that will clog lines and fixtures, and also can cut down on the heating efficiency. 

6 to 10years is the standard expected life of a water heater. Like many things, there is no exact answer. They can last 15 or 20 years, or 6 might be all you get. How well its built is only part of the equasion. The water and minerals, how high the temperature is set, and regular maintenace can all affect how long it will last. Regular maintenance including flushing and inspecting the tank once a year can be a great help to the tank lasting longer, as well as alert you to problems prior to them causing any damage to the plumbing fixture throughout the house.