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Before we get in to the fun stuff on
this page, I have to tell you something VERY important;
DRAIN AND TURN OFF (on the
inside of the house) YOUR OUTSIDE HOSE BIBS (TAPS).
Freezing water makes for cracked pipes
and thawed pipes make for floods and big messes.
If you don't know how to do this, or
where to find the relative shut offs, drop me an email and I'll tell
you.
A Few
Tricks
To clean the road pitch from
your car's windshield, use a
dose of Cola on a rag and wipe
away. The acids in the Cola eat
up the gunk on the glass and
leave a clean window to see
through.
True lube or Not true lube?
That's the question. It's a
common myth that spray
"lubricants" such as WD-40 are
"the cat's meow" for quick, easy
lubrication of machinery, etc.
In reality, they're not
lubricants at all! Their
cans typically advertise that
they "stop squeaks", "clean",
"protect", "displace moisture"
and "loosen parts" and say
nothing about lubrication
properties. That's because
they're actually penetrating
oils, formulated to loosen rust
and dissolve grease. In fact,
using these to lubricate moving
parts will actually remove all
the oil and grease, leaving your
parts with no lubrication
whatsoever!
By the way..... "W/D" stands for
"water displacement", and the first 39 tries didn't work.
http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventions/a/WDFourty.htm
Some holiday advice. If
someone isn't stopping by every
day to check on the animals and
plants, collect the mail, e.t.c.,
then take this piece of wisdom
that'll save you a call to the
insurance company when you get
home. Turn off the main shut off
for the water to your house.
Most of us know the problem with
vandals, the garden hose and the
mail slot, but imagine a pipe in
the house breaking. Imagine the
washing machine hose or the
basin hose letting go. If you
don't know where to find the
main water shut off, look for
the outside hose bib (tap) at
the front of the house. directly
behind (usually), on the inside
of the house, you should find
two shut offs - one for the
outside hose bib (which should
be shut off in the winter, but
that's another lecture), and
another for the main. The main
will be before the one for
outside and have the "Pressure
Regulating Valve" or P.R.V. very
close by. If the main isn't
there (some apartments and
condos are more difficult), call
a certified plumber or City Hall
to get further information.
Another holiday safety thought;
Put important papers and things
in the freezer to protect them
from a fire. It's a cheap safe.
To clean up the dust created
when sanding drywall mud, add
vinegar to the cleaning water.
Without the vinegar, the dust
will just smear everywhere.
Got
Nail Polish?
If you've
got cats that like to jump at
bugs (and whatever else) through
the screen on the patio door and
have (more than once) caught
their little claws in the screen
- enough to tear the screen.
Here's a quick mend for the
small nicks and tears. Apply a
drop or two of clear nail polish
to "paint" over the tear. (This
also works with ladies nylons -
to stop runs). Oh. One more use
for the clear nail polish. On
the "European style" cabinets
with the adjustable hinges,
apply a little drop over the
adjusting screws after you tweek
the hinges (because they're
always going out of line). This
temporarily welds the screws
from loosening. When the time
comes to adjust again or remove
the hinges, a quick "crack" of
the screw will break the weld.
Here's
one for the entertainer in the
family. To take the wrinkles out
of the vinyl table cloth, use a
hair dryer on "High" and hold it
about 8 inches away from the
table cloth, over top of the
wrinkles. As the vinyl begins to
feel soft and pliable, smooth
out the wrinkles with your hand.
To
remove writing marker from the
walls, just soak a cotton ball
in rubbing alcohol and rub the
mark. The alcohol breaks down
the pigment in the marker
without damaging the paint.
Aunt
Problem? Not that one - ANT.
Sprinkle cayenne pepper in
doorways, window sills, or any
other point of entry about once
a month. When the leader of the
"recon" troop picks up the
scent, the soldiers will do an
abrupt "about face". No
pepper? A line of chalk, flour,
sage, or salted cucumber
peelings (??) also work. For
some reason, they won't cross
it.
Breakfast Time! Dropped the egg
on the floor? Apparently, drop
some salt on it, wait ten
minutes, then SWEEP it
up. The salt does something
cosmic to the egg and makes it
easier to pick up. That "beats"
smearing it all over the floor -
that is unless you have radiant
floor heating to cook it. My
mother's floor was clean enough
to eat off of. Well, that's what
she said.
The "Final Word" on ceiling fans
is simply this; Counterclockwise
(that's laying on the floor,
looking up at it) for the Fall
and Winter (heating) months, and
clockwise for the Spring and
Summer (cooling) months. If you
feel that the fan is cooling
too much, lower the speed to
a dull roar or turn it off
completely.
With this you
really will be able to give the
waste disposal a good clean.
Make vinegar ice cubes and feed
them down the disposal. After
grinding, run cold water
through. The grinding effect of
the ice will sort out any
stubborn items and it will
remove the odours and smells as
well.
Apply a small amount of
petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to
the threads of any incandescent
light bulb - especially bulbs
that get really hot, like pot
lights. This stops the threads
from locking and makes taking
out the burned out bulb easier.
Run some powdered orange or
lime drink crystals through a
normal cycle on the dishwasher
to eliminate odours and clean
the inside.
Clean the dryer venting out
regularly to improve efficiency
and reduce fire hazards.
Wipe your aluminum ladder
with acetone to eliminate the
dreaded dirty staining on your
hands.
If you’ve just finished
painting a room or rooms in your
house, keeping the left over
paint, let alone remembering
what the colour was, can be a
hard job. With an indelible ink
marker or ball point pen, write
the paint manufacturer, colour
(code if available), and sheen
on the top of the door (closet
or entry). One day when you want
to do a little touch up or buy
more paint and you have disposed
of the leftovers in the last
month’s garage purge, you’ll
remember to look on top of the
door and be a few steps ahead.
There are two pitfalls though.
One - Changing the doors without
transferring the information.
Two - forgetting to look on top
of the door. (OK maybe three -
painting over the writing).
Scissors – Dull? Cut a few
strips of aluminum (tin) foil to
crispen the edge. Sticky blades? Cut a few
strips of wax paper to lube ‘em
up.
Does cutting onions make you
cry even if you cut them under
running water or the hood fan?
Try stabbing a piece of bread
and push it to the handle before
you cut. The bread will absorb
the fumes.
An unused shower in the
basement will emit a sewer smell
if the p-trap in the ground
dries up. A regular dump of
water ( a gallon or two will do)
down the drain will keep the
sewer gasses out. Also, a little
cooking oil after the water will
sit on top of the water and
lessen the water evaporation.
At
Christmas time, avoid putting
all of the packaging from the
big ticket items out to the curb
at one time. A thief will see
this and consider it an open
invite to your house the next
time you’re not at home.
Bathroom Fans
Ventilation in a home is as
important as a knob is on a
door. We’ve all seen the kitchen
window fog up when the water in
the kettle boils, or when we get
out of the shower to find the
mirror in the same state. In the
kitchen, we have the hood fan
over the stove to help this
area, but the more important
area is often neglected. Yes,
I’m talking about the bathroom.
Now I know someone will say that
they leave the door open, or
window opened a bit. The problem
with both of those is that warm
air rises; in order for the
steamy air to escape out either
of those exits, it needs to get
down about 10 inches to get
under a header in the wall. Once
it cools, it leaves behind the
moisture on the ceiling and
walls, and the damage is
underway. Now, if there is a fan
in the ceiling, the warm air is
sucked up and out of the room
and vented through the roof,
gable end wall, or even the
soffitting. It is still
important to leave the window or
door open a bit to allow cool
air to fill the bottom of the
room to help push the warm air
up. It’s this cycle that will
greatly reduce, or eliminate
costly damage to the ceiling,
eliminate musty smells and
reduce the chance of mold
growing on the ceiling or in the
attic.
Great!
What size fan do you need?
According to The National
Kitchen and Bath Association,
to properly vent a room, a fan
should move 1 cubic foot of air
per minute (C.F.M.) per square
foot of area - minimum.
How do I
calculate the size fan for my
bathroom?
- For an 8 foot ceiling,
take the square footage of the
room, multiply it by 1.1.
- For any ceiling over 8
feet, take the height of the
ceiling and multiply by .1375.
Take this figure and multiply
by the square footage of the
room. This will equal the
recommended CFM's. (Example-
10' x 12' room with 10'
ceilings. 10' x .1375 =1.37 x
120 square feet = 164 CFM's.)
- Both calculations will
give you the minimum
recommended CFM.
The fan
should run for about 15 – 20
minutes after the showering, or
enough time to recycle the air
entirely.
The
chart below shows the
calculations for required amount
of "exchanges" for each room;
That
being said, if you already have
a fan in the bathroom and it’s
not being used because it
doesn’t work, or it’s noisy, or
it’s connected to the light,
there are a few things to do to
make repairs. If it doesn’t work
or it’s noisy, the motor unit
can be replaced, or an entirely
new unit can be installed –
perhaps one with a lower noise
rating (sone). If it’s not being
used because of how it’s
controlled, we fix that by
either installing a spring wound
timer, which is usually a 30
minute version so that it’s
turned all the way on, a 10 – 15
minute shower is had, then it
runs for the 15 minutes after to
clear the room , or at least a
separate switch from the light
so that it can be turned on
during the day when the light
may not be needed.
There’s
a wide variety of fans
available: with lights, motion
sensors, humidistats, inline or
ceiling mount, quiet running,
and priced from under $50.00 to
over $300 (CDN).
(Source -
National Kitchen and Bath
Association)
A word about caulking.
In the industry, we throw the
word "caulk" around as a general
word for "sealant". It is
imperative that you get the
right sealant for the right job.
I’ve been in a lot of houses for
repairs to the bathroom and
kitchen areas because of water
ingress or leakage. The most
common problem that I see is the
improper use of silicone. In wet
areas (tub, shower, kitchen
backsplash, e.t.c.) the correct
sealant to use is a 100% joint
rubber silicone (It should smell
like vinegar fresh out of the
tube). As the different surfaces
(tub to tile or surround or
countertop to tile) expand and
contract, it’s the rubber and
the acetic acid (the vinegar
like smell) that allows the
expansion to happen without
losing the adhesion. Another
place that I’ve seen silicone
used incorrectly is on the
exterior of the house –
typically around the chimney and
windows. Over the years, the
stucco around these two places
has become cracked or something
has shown up in the form of a
leak. Silicone is NOT for
exterior use. The ultraviolet
rays from the sun hit it and, in
a matter of hours, renders it
useless.
One downfall of the silicone the
working with it – an
inexperienced hand (or a finger,
truly) can make quite a mess.
Painting 100% joint rubber
silicone with latex paint is not
possible, an oil based paint is
necessary.
When in doubt, ask your supplier
for the right sealant. You may
not need silicone.
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