Diamond Certified Blog

Have a fireplace? Make sure you properly store your firewood to avoid insect infestations and other problems. Read more

More than 120 years since its inception, chiropractic treatment has finally come into its own as a health care alternative, having gained widespread acceptance by professionals and patients alike. According to Dr. Jag Dhesi, owner of Springtown Wellness Center in Livermore, more people than ever are turning to chiropractic treatment because they’re attracted by its attestable results and natural, non-invasive character. “There are few instances in health care where a patient comes into an appointment wincing with pain and walks out pain-free—especially without any kind of injection, pill or surgical procedure,” he says. “However, with chiropractic, that’s often the case.” Read more

A lifelong animal lover, David Weiss has been serving Sonoma County residents and their pets at Four Paws Pet Ranch in Santa Rosa since 2009. We asked David some common questions about pet boarding in order to gain a better understanding of the field.

Q: Why should I bring my dog to a boarding facility when I can just leave it at home?
A: To put it in a nutshell, leaving your dog at a boarding facility will keep it active and engaged. Not everyone realizes that most dogs are pack animals by nature, which means they’re social. When you leave your dog home alone, he’ll generally spend the whole day lying there, Read more

Updated October 24, 2018

Citing a phenomenon known as Pineapple Express, climatologists are predicting heavy rainfall for Northern California this winter. Wikipedia defines Pineapple Express as “a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of atmospheric moisture and associated with heavy precipitation from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands and extending to any location along the Pacific coast of North America.” While it’s uncertain just how much rain this weather pattern will bring, it’s a good idea to prepare your home for a potentially wet winter. Here are some important steps: Read more

When working with a service company, sometimes a dispute arises from an unmet expectation or a simple misunderstanding. Many disagreements are resolved after the parties work with each other using the contract for guidance. Sometimes people find it difficult to resolve a dispute on their own. The Diamond Certified Resource is here to help. Our mediation department helps people craft their own agreements. Diamond Certified dispute resolution is always free and we back it up per the terms of our Performance Guarantee. Read more

With Eric Stratton of Advanced Instruments Hearing Aid Center

Since hearing loss is a gradual regression, most people who experience it fail to notice the symptoms. In fact, it’s common for those with hearing loss to be in denial about it, blaming their communication issues on the assertion that other people don’t speak clearly or loudly enough.

This highlights one of the great complicating factors of hearing loss: our use of language to communicate. Due to the complexity of verbal interaction (including the wide variety of tonal inflections), sufficient hearing is just as important as clear articulation. If someone speaks to you and you misunderstand even a single word, Read more

I decided to write about this topic after talking to my recently married son and his new wife about some aspects of getting their finances in order that they hadn’t thought about. After a wedding, it’s easy to get distracted writing thank-you notes instead of doing important paperwork and planning related to your new legal status as a married couple.

The first thing that may come to mind is taxes. According to Geoffrey Kulik, a partner at Sterck Kulik O’Neill Accounting Group, Inc., newlyweds have to file their taxes for the entire year as either “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately.” “Because of the way the laws are written, this change of status could result in a significantly higher, Read more

Most people assume electrical work is best left to a professional, and for the most part, they’re right. However, in the instance of a power outage, there are a couple of things that even a novice can do to restore it. We’ve asked four Diamond Certified Expert Contributors to explain simple steps homeowners can take to restore power to their homes and avoid unnecessary service calls.

How to reset a GFI

Due to the presence of water, safety codes require the electrical outlets in bathrooms and kitchens to be equipped with ground fault interrupters (GFIs), which protect against electric shock in the event of a “ground fault,” which is an inadvertent electrical path between a source of current and a grounded surface. Read more

Overview
Founded in 1884, Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (PDCA) is a national trade association dedicated to promoting high standards of excellence in the painting and decorating industry. Today, with more than 2,000 members throughout North America, PDCA continues to benefit contractors and consumers alike by endorsing professional ethics and education.

Industry standards
PDCA established its Industry Standards to protect contractors and consumers by defining proper procedures and workmanship expectations. The PDCA Industry Standards also serve as a time-saving resource for contractors when it comes to composing work bids and contracts. Read more

The other day, I was about to hop in the back seat of my friend’s SUV, but I quickly changed my mind. The child safety seats—one for an infant and one for a preschooler—had been carefully installed and appeared to be permanently locked down.

Car seats have improved dramatically in both safety and design since they gained more widespread use in the ’70s. Today, most people know that young children should sit in the back of a car and use some kind of safety seat until they’re about 12 years old, depending on their weight. Read more