Category Tip of the Week

Doors are among the hand full of things in life that are meant to swing free. However, there are times when a door can swing too freely. If your door swings shut on its own you can make a small adjustment that will fix the problem.

Take the center hinge pin out. Place it on a hard surface like the garage floor or the driveway. With a hammer, gently tap the center of the pin to put a slight bend in the pin. Be careful to avoid tapping so hard that the pin bends too much. Once you have achieved a slight deflection in the pin put it back into the hinge. You will need the hammer to drive it into place because of the bend.

The deflection in the pin causes just enough friction to keep the door from swinging on its own.

We frequently get questions about painting over oil base paint with a latex base product. There is a common belief that one cannot paint over oil base paint with latex paint. This is not true. With proper preparation, which frequently includes the use of a primer like “Gripper”TM from Glidden, you can paint over just about anything.

Still, lots of people want to know how to tell if they have oil or latex base paint on the wall. A simple way to tell is to take denatured alcohol and apply it to a small inconspicuous spot. If the paint dissolves it is latex. If it is unaffected by the alcohol it is an oil base product. That’s easy enough.

Here are a couple other things to remember:

· When you want a nice hard finish that will resist dents and dings an oil base product or enamel is best.

· If you are painting outside or somewhere that will be subject to significant temperature variation use a latex base product. These products are much more “flexible” once they cure and they handle the expansion and contraction associated with temperature change much better than an oil product which cures to a hard rigid finish.

· If you are painting over an oil base product or a latex product that has a gloss sheen you should sand the surface prior to applying primer. This will “knock” the gloss off and improve the adhesion of the paint.

· If you are going over an oil product that is on the outside of a home with a latex product we recommend priming. In addition you should make sure that any area where the oil paint has cracked or peeled is repaired by sanding and priming.

· Remember to sand the edges of spots that have peeled and fill them back in with an exterior spackle so the rough edges do not “telegraph” through the new coat of paint.

Callers and visitors to our website are sometimes baffled by a foul odor in a powder room or guest bathroom that is not frequently used. As you can imagine this could be somewhat disturbing. Closer inspection usually reveals that the odor is coming out of the sink or the drain in a tub or shower.

Rest assured that nothing has died in the plumbing. What has happened is evaporation. All plumbing fixtures are designed with a trap that holds water. The purpose of this trap, in addition to catching the occasional earring or ring, is to create a seal between the living space and the foul sewer gas that is in the sewer lines. If a fixture goes a long time without being used the water evaporates allowing the sewer gas into the room. You will find that just running the water and allowing the trap to fill up again will solve the problem.

Sometimes this phenomenon occurs in a fixture that is frequently used. In this situation you may want to check for a venting problem in the plumbing. Sometimes improper or blocked venting will cause a vacuum effect that draws the water out of the trap allowing the sewer gas in.

The spray on your kitchen sink is a handy device but when it stops working or loses pressure it can be frustrating. Many times replacing the spray head and hose may not do the trick.

Here is a quick diagnostic step you can take. Turn the faucet on and then press the lever to turn the spray on. If the water stream through the faucet does not shut off or decrease significantly and if the pressure at the spray head is low the problem is probably not the spray head. It is likely the diverter. The diverter is a small device that is located at the base of the faucet and accessible from under the sink. It can also be located at the base of the faucet and can be accessed by taking the base of the faucet off.

The problem with the diverter is usually very simple. It is often a matter of some debris from the water line lodging in the diverter. A paper clip or large safety pin will do the trick to eliminate the debris and the spray should be good to go.

Nothing perks up a bathroom remodel like a great ceramic floor. Unfortunately the tile and the tile backer used raise the level of the floor and create a potential problem when it comes time to put the toilet back in place. You will discover that the floor flange to which the toilet is mounted is anywhere from ½ to ¾” maybe more below the surface of the tile.

This is not an unsolvable problem. You can purchase a “spacer” that can be attached to the existing floor flange so the surface of the flange is level to the surface of the floor. These spacers can be stacked if needed.

It seems like every week we get at least one call about removing wallpaper or the remnants of wallpaper. Earlier this year we dealt with this topic in a Tip of the Week. Since then we have come across some new information. One of our callers put us on to a trick he uses…Fabric Softener. That’s right, liquid fabric softener. He prepares the wall the same way as always using a “Paper Tiger” to perforate the surface of the paper so the fabric softener can get to the back of the paper and dissolve the glue. Once the fabric softener has been on awhile he peels the wallpaper off in sheets with very little residue left behind.

Neither David nor I have actually tried this method but if you are a regular listener to the show you know we apply some basic rules of commons sense, a little physics, a little chemistry and a little experience to the situations we encounter before offering an opinion. When we did that with the fabric softener as wallpaper remover concept it passed the test. First, Fabric softener is more viscous than many wallpaper removers so it clings to the wall better and thus can be more effective. Second, it has less water in it than most wallpaper removers and steam so as it works it does not cause the face veneer of the wallpaper to separate from the backing, which is what causes the remnants of wallpaper to stick to the wall. Finally fabric softeners act like a surfactant. That’s fifty cent word but if you look it up at Dictionary.com it will tell you that a surfactant is: “A substance that, when dissolved in water, lowers the surface tension of the water and increases the solubility of organic compounds. Surfactants are used in inks to increase the effects of capillary action; detergents are surfactants that help remove organic compounds from a substance by making them dissolve more readily in the water in which the substance is washed.”1 If you think about fabric softener from this perspective it is a natural solution (No pun intended) for wallpaper removal. So when you’re faced with the need to “Take it all off” we say “Go for it”… the fabric softener that is.

Pardon the pun but if you listen to our show regularly you know pun is part of the package. At any rate, what you do to maintain your wooden floor can be different depending on the finish the floor has on it. If you have a recently purchased product you can be fairly certain that it is some version of polyurethane. However, in older homes it can be less certain and more difficult to tell if your floor has a wax or a polyurethane finish on it. The real problem comes if you try to put the wrong product over wax or polyurethane. Here is a simple test. Find an inconspicuous place on the floor (behind a door or in a corner) and apply a drop of water to the floor. Let it sit until it dries. Go back and check the spot. If the spot has turned white and cannot be easily wiped away the floor is waxed. If the spot does not discolor or is easily wiped away it is polyurethane.

Now, for those of you who have the white spot on your floor, do not fret. In a previous tip of the week we told you how to take water spots off of furniture. The same process will work here.

If you have active young children and if active means that they can’t keep their hands, feet crayons, pens or lipstick off the walls of your home, then this tip is for you.

In the past when it came to painting your home’s interior walls you had to make a choice between using a flat paint and a semi-gloss or “higher sheen” finish. You were forced to this crossroads because you wanted a finish that would resist dirt better and be more durable if scrubbed. In choosing the higher sheen you got dirt resistance and scrub-ability but you settled for a less pleasing visual effect. While the semi-gloss paints take more abuse they also show every small defect in the wall’s surface. Flat paint on the other hand is typically more pleasing in most rooms of the home and it hides small inconsistencies in the surface of the wall.

Good news. Glidden® has a great new product, Glidden Evermore™ Super Washable Flat Paint. (Before we go on you should know that Glidden has not paid us to make these observations). Glidden® uses special polymers that repel stains. As a result the stain does not penetrate the surface of the paint making them easier to scrub away without affecting the color or sheen of the paint.

You can get more information about Evermore™ Super Washable Flat Paint at www.Glidden.com.

We are talking about septic systems. No one wants to deal with this topic let alone the aftermath of problems with a septic system. It is typically out of site and out of mind until it decides to “raise a stink” and then it is too late.

Just because your septic system does not give you any trouble does not mean you should ignore it. Simple, inexpensive steps can and should be taken routinely to ensure a long trouble-free life for the system that keeps certain undesirable things out of your life…or at least out of your living space.

* Add bacteria and / or bacteria booster to your system at least every other month. You can use more expensive additives (only a few dollars for each application) or you can do as my septic man suggests and flush a cake of Brewer’s Yeast down the toilet each month.

* Depending on use, you should have the tank pumped out every three to five years.

* Know where your leech field is and do not drive heavy equipment over it.

* Avoid putting harsh chemicals down the drain. They kill the bacteria that digest the solid waste.

* Know and mark the location of the tank clean out access. This will save wear and tear on the lawn and a lot of reseeding.

* Use common sense. Things that are not readily biodegradable such as feminine sanitary products should be thrown away not flushed.

A bucket of joint compound (affectionately termed “drywall mud”) can cover a multitude of sins in any project. It can also come in handy if you have an unexpected repair to make. Of course one of the home improvement frustrations is opening the bucket of mud to make one of those emergency repairs only to find it hard as a rock. So how do you make sure that the bucket of mud in the garage or basement is ready to use when you are ready to work?

Saving the mud almost indefinitely is very easy. When you have completed a project and you are ready to store the mud follow these easy steps. Use your trowel to clean the mud off the inside of the bucket. Smooth off the top of the remaining mud and then pour about ½ to 1 inch of water on top of the mud. Pour it in slowly and do not mix it with the mud. Then seal the bucket with the original lid. The layer of water creates a seal between the mud and the air. This prevents the mud from drying out.

When you are ready to use the mud the next time pour off all of the excess water, mix the mud and you are ready to go. So before you kick the bucket…of mud…prematurely, try this little trick.