How to Home Repair Yourself - Do It Yourself Home Guide

This article discusses how to home repair yourself - do it yourself home guide. Here is a list of tips and advice for home repair yourself:
• If the nails split the wood, dull the points.
Put the nail head against a hard metal surface and tap the point once lightly with a hammer. If blunting doesn't work: Drill a small pilot hole first, slightly smaller than the diameter of the nail. See home repair for more information.
• Aluminum nails are better than the conventional galvanized steel kind when building a home or an additional room. These nails cost more, but they prevent red rust streak on wood siding and put off the need for repainting.
• Loose screws. To tighten them, place a small piece of nylon fishing line in the screw or bolt hole. Insert the screw or bolt all the way. Result: The resilient nylon locks the screw firmly in place.
• Refrigerator maintenance: Vacuum the accumulated dust and dirt from cooling coils and the compressor motor. Lubricate the compressor according to the manufacturer's manual. Check for loose mounting hardware under the compressor. Also look for damaged electrical contacts. Replace any worn rubber door seals. Be sure the refrigerator is level. Important: Leave enough space behind the refrigerator for ventilation of cooling coils (and easier cleaning).
• Air conditioner maintenance for window units: Replace the air filter. Vacuum the evaporator and condenser coils. Lubricate the fan motor with a few drops of SAE no detergent motor oil. Note: When reinstalling a unit removed during the winter, set it so that it tips slightly to the outside. This makes the water drain toward the condenser coil.
• When replacing fuses, use the S-types rather than Edison-based fuses, to reduce the danger of overloading the wiring. Reason:
With S-types, it's harder to put in a size that's too large, which creates a fire hazard.
• Painted-over wallpaper requires extra effort to remove. What to do: Rough up the paper's surface with coarse-grained sandpaper (the grade sold for electric floor sanders). Score the entire wall. Then use the liquid remover or steam. As the remover penetrates, scrape off the painted paper with a wide-blade putty knife or special scraper.
• For overhead sanding on ceiling or upper walls, fashion a longhandled sander from a floor wax applicator. Steps: Unscrew the wing nuts that attach the applicator pad to the handle. Wrap a sheet of sandpaper around the pad. The sandpaper is held in place when the wing nuts are screwed back into place.
• Cleaning windows. Buy a commercial glass cleaner to get the spray bottle, but after you have used the liquid up mix the cleaning compound yourself. It costs only a fraction as much. Formula: 3 Yz quarts of water, a pint of rubbing alcohol, and Yz cup of sudsy ammonia. Many people add a few ounces of vinegar, but tests show that doesn't really help.

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• Scatter kitty litter or coarse sand on icy walkways. Why: Salt and de-icing chemicals harm grass and plants. Litter granules and sand improve the condition of the soil by providing aeration as well as better drainage.
• Service your snow thrower. Reread your owner's manual. Be sure that all moving parts turn freely. Lubricate the areas of friction. Remove the spark plug to check for carbon deposits on the gap. Replace an old or worn plug. Now, start the engine for a trial run. Before the snow falls: Mark hidden obstacles along the pathways with sticks topped by flags. This enables you to avoid them when they are buried under the snow.
• Roach remedy: Old-fashioned boric acid (available in powder form at local drugstores). Sprinkle the boric acid around the perimeter of the infested room and on sink counters. It will take seven to ten days to work.
• Eliminate mice in the country home: Before leaving for the season, spread ordinary cloves around kitchen pipes, doors, and windowsills, or use mothballs. Reason: Mice don't like strong smells so they'll avoid the area (and you won't have the problem of emptying traps or fearing poison around the house.)
• The north side of a roof often outlasts the south side many years. Reason: The north side is less exposed to the sun's harmful rays. Bottom line: Reroof only the side that needs it. (Note: The same advice works for repainting.)
• TV interference is often caused by an electrical transmission from a household appliance. Recommended: (1) Plug the TV into a TV interference suppressor, which is available at most TV and radio shops. (2) Install new grounding conductors from a washer and dryer to a cold water pipe or other grounding electrode. (3) Tighten the connections at the rear of the TV. (4) Replace antenna wire. Source: Electrical Construction and Maintenance.
• Washer and dryer maintenance: Tighten loose hardware and belts. Repair tub leaks with silicone sealant or epoxy. Replace frayed belts and leaking pump or tub seals. Lubricate pulleys, drive shafts, and other moving parts by following the manufacturer's instructions. Prime cause of machine breakdowns: Worn control switches.
• Beat the cost of buying commercial household cleaning products at the supermarket by making them safely at home. Common ingredients include baking soda, vinegar, salt, and many others.
• Bird droppings mar the beauty of decorative redwood or cedar fences. To prevent the birds from perching: Attach three small screw eyes every few feet along the top of the fence. Run lengths of lightweight plastic fishline through each eye. Result: Three strands of line running along the top of the fence. Point:
Since birds can't grab the thin plastic fishline with their talons, they won't land on the fence. Bonus: From a distance, you won't even be able to notice the fishline.
• Longer-lasting job. Paint adheres better to siding that has been washed. Wet the siding, using a long-handled brush dipped into a bucket of trisodium phosphate. Rinse with water. Dry with a squeegee.
• Refrigerator odors. How to remove a persistent smell: Take everything out. Sponge the entire inside with a solution of one-quarter cup of salt in a pint of water. Then sponge again with a 5 % ammonia solution (one part ammonia to 20 parts water). Leave an open box of baking soda in the refrigerator for a few days. Then replace with a new box, if necessary. (This works for freezers, too.)
• Moving large appliances across the floor.
Squirt liquid dishwashing detergent around the feet of the appliance. With this lubricant, the appliance will glide smoothly across the floor when you push it. Bonus: The liquid can be mopped up easily.
• Furniture care. To cover superficial scratches in dark wood, apply iodine two or three times. After it dries, polish with a hard paste wax. To remove white rings on tables, use a mix of fine ashes and olive oil. Put the mix on the ring, then rub until the white disappears.

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