'Home Maintenance' Category

Charitable groups, including the Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries as well as local churches and shelters, accept many items – flatware, dishes, toys, clothing and furniture as long as they are clean and in good condition. If you can’t get your donations to the organization, ask if there is a pick-up service. [...] Read More

Your yard and garden present numerous opportunities for creative and pennywise recycling. Reuse yard waste. Start a stick pile to use as kindling for your or your neighbor’s fireplace. Use scrubbed rocks as paperweights. Fallen leaves or flower petals make quick table decorations or when dried, mounted and framed, simple but beautiful artwork. [...] Read More

Before starting a repair, turn off water to faucet, open the spout to drain, and close the drain. Most drips in a cartridge faucet are caused by worn cartridge. In the faucet shown below, a special tool is needed to remove the cartridge. [...] Read More

Before starting a repair, turn off water to the faucet, open the spout to drain, and close the drain. To stop drips from the spout, replace the inlet seals and springs in the valve seat with duplicates. To stop drips from the base, replace the O-rings at the top and base of the faucet body or replace the whole ball assembly. [...] Read More

Again turn off the water to the faucet before starting a repair, open the spout drain and close the drain. Most leaks in a ceramic faucet can be repaired by cleaning the bottom of the disk cylinder and replacing three flexible washers called inlet seals. Replace the disk cylinder if the faucet continues to leak after these repairs. [...] Read More

Supply pipes, which carry water to the fixtures, may be made of copper, galvanized steel which is silver in color or plastic. Drain pipes are thicker and are made of galvanized steel, plastic or in older homes, cast iron. Steel pipes usually cause the most problems. [...] Read More

If water pressure from a faucet is low or if water squirts out erratically, first check the aerator which is the cylindrical piece at the end of the spout. Wrap tape around it and unscrew it with pliers. Take the small pieces apart and clean them especially the screen. Or you can replace the aerator with a new one. [...] Read More

Most faucet valves can be repaired by a householder armed with the right tools. There are essentially four types of faucets and each with many variations resulting in literally dozens of slightly different parts such as washers and rings for each model. The only way to be sure that you have the correct replacement part is to take apart the faucet, remove the worn or broken item and take it to the hardware or plumbing-supply store to make a match. [...] Read More

Older faucets are compression valve types with rubber washers that must be replaced from time to time. Faucets with cartridge, ball and ceramic-disk valves are called washer-less but still have parts that periodically need to be repaired or replaced. So if they are made by a well-known manufacturer then you will be able to find repair parts easily. [...] Read More