Do It Yourself (DIY)
Do it yourself tips, projects and fails.
Do it yourself is often born out of necessity. Finding a trustworthy person to do certain tasks at a reasonable price is often difficult.
In some cases, finances dictate that you need to take on a major project by yourself. One example is patching and sealing an deteriorating asphalt driveway. To have it resurfaced by a contractor would cost upwards of 15 thousand dollars which exceeded the available funds. The alternative was to patch and seal it to stabilize it for now.
Filled and unfilled driveway cracks
Other projects are small such as adding a spinner handle on a water shut off valve to speed things up. This is something that requires a bit of ingenuity to conceive and execute.
There are also things you do out of expediency such as using a pipe wrench to straighten bent metal.
Unclogging a power washer foam lance
I purchased a MATCC Foam Canon / Lance a while back. It worked like a charm. I tried to use it this summer and it wouldn’t draw from the bottle nor would it foam. The solution was simple
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The importance of do it yourself during an emergency
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused widespread shutdowns. Homeowners and renters may find themselves with sudden maintenance issues. Can you handle it?
Continue readingRaising the blade for more clearance on a Sears Lawn Tractor.
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I have a well worn Sears LT 1000 lawn tractor that I use for grass cutting, hauling firewood, mulching leaves and snow plowing on 2 1/2 acres. Quite often, we get snow before I’m ready to remove the cutting deck. That means that I have to install the plow. The problem is that when the plow is raised, the ground clearance of the plow is about 1/2 inch. That leads to the plow bottoming out on the lawn and leaving huge ugly divots.
Continue readingTired of a dry room? A cheap, simple humidifier hack
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This is an easy, inexpensive hack to get some extra humidity into a room. It’s not elegant but it works well as a humidifier.
Continue readingUsing a remote meat thermometer to measure HVAC duct temperature.
I needed to get an accurate reading of the air temperature in my ducts when the furnace was running and during the cool down process.
Continue readingDiagnosing a burning smell from a Vehicle with a laser thermometer
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My mom smelled something that smelled like wiring burning while driving her truck. She took it to the service center but they didn’t find anything. When she pulled up for Easter dinner, I could smell it. The engine compartment seemed OK. I got out the laser thermometer and took readings on the calipers. That identified the problem.
Continue reading35+ year old furnace was not heating. 2 year old Wifi thermostat was the problem.
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After troubleshooting my furnace I realized that the problem wasn’t in my furnace. The problem was that my wifi thermostat was not responding to commands
Continue readingHow heavy is that log?
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I was cutting and stacking some large pieces of White Oak that Asplundh had trimmed for Peco. They left the logs neatly stacked by the street.
They seemed heavy. I found a free online calculator that gives you an idea of what any given log weighs.
Continue readingA quick fix for a broken Ford key fob
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I’ve had Explorers and Mountaineers. One annoying problem is that the key ring part of the key fob breaks. Here is a solution
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Add a booster fan for chilly rooms with hot air registers (works with air conditioning also)
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I have forced air central heat. My office is in a breezeway and doesn’t get quite enough heat. A simple solution is a booster fan for your register.