Repair Tips
Lots Of Home Repairs Needed? Think Cash.
When you have a ton of pending tasks piled on your home repair list, you know you need cash. Busted plumbing? Flooded basement? Broken dishwasher? Unless you have home warranty, you’re probably thumbing through the pockets of your jeans on the laundry pile trying to scrape up enough cash to get it fixed. While screaming [...]
Calling On The Pros
If you’re on this site, you probably like to get your hands dirty. You probably enjoy cutting through wood, banging on a hammer or cranking that power chainsaw with the focus of a Zen monk listening out for a one-handed clap. There can be jobs, however, that will prove a little out of your two [...]
Troubleshooting Water Leakage in The Basement
When there is water on the floor of your basement, it could be a number of reasons from:
* a busted pipe
* a crack in the wall where water is seeping through
* your kid playing Aquadoodle at home
Chances are, it’s the second one as it’s the most common source of water leakages in basements. [...]
Removing Paint Stain And Old Hoses
Last week, in my haste to finish up a tall mobile closet I was painting, I accidentally tapped the brush in a long line, leaving an ugly mark across my aluminum ladder. I quickly wiped it off with a rag but, alas, it left a stain. I normally wouldn’t care about the stray paint [...]
Areas To Paint First
When painting a room, I sometimes just splash the paint and start working where it lands. That of course is a terrible way to do it. There is an ideal sequence of areas when painting a room. In order of increasing priority, this should be the order in which to do it:
1. Ceilings
2. Walls
3. Trims
4. [...]
Preparing A Room For Painting
While you can just bring your bucket of color, splash it and brush it anywhere you feel like, a well-done paint job can require a bit more care and diligence.
1. Make sure the walls and other areas to be painted are clean. You don’t want to paint a dirty wall. The dirt will eventually push [...]
How To Strip Damaged Paint
Old paint that has undergone wear and tear will need to be removed when you’re applying new paint.
Peeling and Blistered Paint
These need to be stripped with a paint scraper and evened out. Alternatively, you can remove the whole paint job in its entirety.
Loose Paint
These need to removed with a scraper as well. If they leave [...]
Alligatored Paint
My favorite destroyed paint jobs are alligatored paints. Not because I like alligators but because I like crocodiles. And so far, I haven’t heard of any paint jobs that have been crocodiled. Which is weird, considering they both look like father and baby copies of each other.
Alligatored paint is a term used to refer to [...]
Shaking The Paint
Always ask the store to shake the paint finish for you. This way they’ll be mixed and ready to use out of the can.
It doesn’t matter whether you want to use the paint tonight or next month. You just want the color pigments activated when you step out of the store, instead [...]