Posts Tagged ‘home repair’

Replacing The Broken Sprinkler Pipe

Monday, May 10th, 2010

A broken sprinkler pipe can leak gallons of water every day and cost you lots of money. It can also cause a loss of water pressure to your sprinkler heads, as well as cause water damage to foundations, or other structures in the immediate area.

Fortunately, fixing the problem isn’t too hard if you don’t mind getting dirty. Buy supplies. Nothing is worse than having to run to the hardware store in the middle of a project. See the list of things you need below. PVC pipe, PVC sleeve connectors, PVC pipe cutters or hack saw, PVC glue, PVC primer and safety glasses.

Firstly, turn off the water supply to your sprinkler system. This can usually be done by turning off the water supply to the house at the city meter. More appropriately, if you have a separate meter or a well, there should be a cutoff valve located near your sprinkler control box. Also, it is advised to cover the eyes with the safety glasses before getting involved in pipe mending.

Protecting Your Roof Against Animals

Monday, May 10th, 2010

If your home is located in a hilly region or a remote area then you are bound to get troubled by unwanted creatures and animals. The animals such as monkeys, cats, opossums, raccoons, rats etc. climb up to the roof and create a mess. Sometimes, the damage becomes so intense that it calls for the replacement for the affected part of the roof. Hence, the homeowners residing in such areas must always be prepared for such uninvited guests.

Moreover, the invasion of the animals on your roof can create irritating sounds at any time of the day. You would not like to get disturbed in the middle of the night due to such mischief of the animals.

The attic space of the home is often occupied by the creatures such as bats and rats. Their movement becomes more intense during nighttime which wakes you up instantly from a sweet sleep. Before moving ahead to the roof, observe the attic space of the home architecture.

Tips On Installing The Lighting Fixtures Outside

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

Mini lights can surely enhance the beauty of outer parts of your house. It would be spectacular to see numerous mini lights twinkling around plants. You can also install tiny lights to highlight any special area like porch or footways. It would also provide you with the visibility in the dark. Installing mini lights is a simple process.

First step should be to create a proper plan. Though you can also spread some strands of mini lights on smaller plants or bushes but it can become messy. Instead you can decide on a layout regarding the fixing of lights. Prepare an outline of places where you want to use the mini lights.

When planning the lighting layout, list out the areas of the home architecture that fall under the first sight of the visitors. The window panes, garage doors, roof edges, balcony eaves etc. are the structures that fetch the attention of the visitors from outside. Use various associated items such as gutter hooks and cup hooks to add to the beauty of the area.

Use strands of tiny lights in the garden area to highlight tall trees and bushes. Wrap mini lights around plants. Start the process from top to the bottom. To reach the top of tall trees, you may use ladder.

Troubleshooting: Water Softeners

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Water softener is an ingredient or device that is used to improve the quality of your supply water by diminishing ‘hard water’ percentage, or the minerals that are responsible for making your skin dry. The main parts of a water softener are a brine tank and a tube that needs to be installed on the faucet or water source. Not for every other problem you have to call your plumber as some of the troubles can be sorted out without the need of the expert. Some of those common problems are listed down.

In your water softener stops working suddenly then what would you do? Most of the owners choose to call the expert without even knowing the actual problem. In several cases, the problem does not require the assistance of the plumber and can be sorted out with just a little effort. Below are some of the common problems associated with water softeners, and their quick and easy fixes.

If you are having trouble with power, check if the main plug is plugged or not. You can also try resetting the electronic controls of the device. To resume the normal working of the device, try changing its fuse and then press the ‘Recharge’ button.

How To Install Access Points In A Plumbing System ?

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Whenever a plumbing problem occurs, you must be able to access the faulty plumbing segment with ease. There are certain fixtures or components that allow an easy access to their respective plumbing segments. One can easily diagnose and fix the concerned plumbing fault with the help of such access points.

The plumbing traps are one such component that offers easy access to the drainage pipes and fixtures. A trap is a curved piece of pipe that maintains a water-seal in between the passage of drainage. The seal acts as a barrier between the sewage gases and the sink inlet. Whenever the water in the seal starts exhausting, some water is allowed to occupy the trap-seal from the drain-pipe. In case of clogs, the trap can be opened to eliminate the hidden clog with ease.

Besides the traps, the location of the faucet valves and the main valve must be kept in mind. One can minimize the damage caused by a plumbing emergency if the exact location of the water-control valves is known. Moreover, the valves must be turned off before initiating a plumbing operation. In order to turn off an individual faucet valve, bend down to locate a handle underneath the corresponding faucet unit.

9 Tips For Finding The Best Fence Contractor

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Look for an established fence company There is nothing wrong with a new company, but where did they come from? Do they have experience? Did they recently break off from an established business and why? You want to look for a contractor who can convey true expert knowledge to you. With over 75,000 satisfied customers and almost 40 years of experience, Rolen Brothers Fence Company is a top pick for Northeast Ohio consumers. The original owners who opened the doors in 1972 still oversee operations.

Call the Better Business Bureau This is not 100% foolproof, but it is a safe way to get a general feel for the company. There are too many people working out of their garages and calling themselves professional contractors. These small businesses will not offer the reliability of completing future repairs if necessary. The BBB will let you know who is reputable, and who is not.

Spruce Up The Pond With Pond Lights

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

Adding a pool in your backyard not only bestows you with the relaxation point but also, provides your home a lovely and awesome landscape. But, all the beauty dematerializes after the sunset.

Adding lighting to water features in a yard or garden is one of the most attractive things you can do in your home landscape. Explore some ways to make your pond attractive with lights.

But make sure you are well equipped with the essential things like floating solar pond lights, floating lighted pond fountain, electric or solar, underwater pond light with transformer and electricity source.

With all the above things ready, we can easily begin to light up the pond. We now leave in the social light to float over the surface of the pond. These moving lights need no timer or switch. These lights are left to move freely over the surface of the pond and it illuminates with the fall of night, with the energy provided by the sun light during the day.

Market provides us a variety of clear and colored lights in various sizes, shapes and also in the shape of water lily and other aquatic plants. These lights are grouped like artificial plants or their attachments to lit up in the middle of the pond.

Choose A Suitable Shower Unit

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Various types of shower units are available in market. What you choose depends on your need and choice. Here we will talk about features of all the units so that you can have good idea about all of them. Here we will talk about push-on mixer shower unit, bath mixer shower unit, manual mixer shower unit, thermostatic mixer power shower and electric shower.

In push-on mixer shower unit, hose and spray parts are generally connected to bath tap according to your need. Via taps, different temperature can be set in this. This particular shower unit is not very expensive to purchase and easy to install. You can easily do the hose connection anytime and can also remove that.

In bath mixer shower, the hose and spray are joined with a bath mixer tap. In this, the temperature is adjusted via bath taps but temperature control is quite inconvenient. This shower unit is not very expensive to purchase.

In manual mixer shower unit, the hose and spray are a part of wall unit. In this, hot and cold supplies are joined together in a single valve. For controlling temperature and pressure of the water, you can use one or many different knobs.

Know More About Septic Tanks

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

A sewerage drain field and a septic tank make up a small scale sewage treatment system. A septic tank is basically a rectangular shaped underground receptacle for waste water. It is made of concrete and consists of tanks that are divided into chambers. The first chamber has twice the volume as the second and the majority of the organic solid matter, referred to as sludge, settles here. The second chamber further purifies the waste water.

Waste from toilets, showers and sinks generally move to a septic tank. There in the tank the solid waste easily settles in the bottom most chamber and treated water move to the middle chamber after being treated from the bacteria.

The construction of a septic tank should be in a way that the microorganism could easily break and digest the sludge. For this, the septic tank should be constructed to have inlet, overflow and outlet valves diagonal to each other so that the flow of stream is in vertical pipes.

The treated water then moves to the upper chamber through overflows which prevent large sized particles to move upwards. As a result, comparatively clean water moves to the second chamber and solid waste remains inside the bottom chamber.

A Guide To Toilet Installation

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

In case your toilet is damaged or has incurred some problem then it is advised to replace it with a new one. Installing a new toilet is not a cumbersome job and can be done in an afternoon. Along with many toilets you will get gaskets, washers and hardware for fitting the tank to the bowl.

For the installation of new toilet, you may require toilet bowl, toilet tank, toilet seat, two 1/4″ bolts for bowl to flange, wax ring, 20″ water supply with fitting at valve or floor connection, pair of channel pliers, bucket and screw driver.

The first step for installing a new toilet is to turn off the main water supply and remove all the water from the tank and bowl left after flushing of toilet. Now with the help of channel pliers or a small pipe wrench (8″), take out all the nuts that connects the water line to ballcock valve.

Now with the help of crescent wrench, take out two 1/4″ nuts that hold the bowl to the floor flange. After this, you can take out old toilet fitting and start installing the new toilet fitting.