DIY Home Improvement

Fix it Now

Craig — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:29:51 +0000

Whatever may be in disrepair around your home will eventually need quite a bit more attention as time elapses. Does your rain gutter hold water from 2 weeks ago when it last rained? As much as we would love to ignore this fact, what you may not realize that the nearest seam is breaking down and starting to leak, could be a small drip straight to the front porch or it might just be working its way through the fascia board and rotting away at the roof’s eave or a few rafter tails. Hence causing more dry rot and or concrete water damage than the earlier quick minor repair, sealing the rain gutter.

Procrastination isn’t the name of the game if we really ever want to get anywhere folks, a buck ahead for that proverbial rainy day and or as Napoleon Hill once wrote “money conscious or poverty conscious” which way is your mind taking you? Another marketing genius and extremely successful self made entrepreneur, is Jeffrey Combs and his whole mantra is about already being instead of waiting to be, it all begins at that perception of ” somethings else that needs to be done as a home improvement project” when it should be thought of as ” protecting the biggest investment in your portfolio”. See you at the new rich extravaganza !!

How to weatherstrip A DOOR [DIY]

Craig — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:21:32 +0000

Saving dollars make more sense than anything these days, so by weatherstripping an exterior door correctly, indeed you will save money by keeping the cold air out in the winter time, as well as during the hot summer months, not “trying to cool off the whole neighborhood”. Mother knows best perhaps, and will often remind us of this.

From door bottoms or door shoe applications, all will effectively seal the interior from the exterior. But before installing either of these there hes to be a threshold on the floor first. Tools required for door weather stripping can be as simple as a hacksaw and a reversible drill/driver and a tape measure. Buying the right one is important to note here, typically an interior door will be 1 3/8″ thick and exterior doors are thicker at 1 3/4″. The anodized aluminum comes in several finishes so you can choose a match per the rest of the doors hardware.

It’s possible you may have to cut the door down a little, depending on the existing conditions. An accurate measurement is required to get the most out of your diy door sealing efforts, but on a scale of difficult being a 10, this door weather strip installation is rated at a 3. All products bought can vary so be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions first. Entry doors have that sweet closing sound with shutting and you will know the difference after your done. Snug as a bug……

Thoughts will become things

Craig — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:14:43 +0000

Every now and then again we will find ourselves fixed on an idea, thought or premonition. And with the constant bombardment of commercialism, media news and advertising surrounding our lives how can this not be? When Andrew Carnegie figured a way to fabricate mountain ores into a battleship, this perhaps did not happen overnight, rather starting as an idea and slowly manifesting into something tangible. The power of your brains or thoughts as well as opposing thumbs can be the sole difference from man to animal.

Many a day and night we have all struggled to grasp and hold onto a simple life changing decision such as maybe “how am i going to stop that leak?” well we here are living flesh that, given all the elements of any equation, the human mind still has to concentrate to a point to enable a solution, think-think-think using your mind is the greatest gift that any one God will have ever granted. An education is imperative, no doubt, but having a masters degree in any field, still requires a plow…..

how to repair a frozen plumbing line

Craig — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:02:40 +0000

While on a recent trip to the northwest doing some research, during a walk through inspection in a 2 story home the kitchen ceiling showed visible drywall water damage. And directly above the ceiling was the upstairs bathroom. They had cut an inspection hole for access and discovered a frozen copper water line that was very near an exterior wall, ironically there was no visible signs of insulation in the exterior wall that was causing the extreme cold temps to permeate the pipes and freezing a section here.

Using a wrench and tapping on the lines it was evident where it became solid and damaging the connections, we had cut this small portion out and removed it and simply added 2 SharkBite fittings for the repair in all of 10 minutes. SharkBite slip locking connector fittings have saved us tons of expense and time with labor costs and their ever present availability.

In this particular short sale acquisition of real property, we did not exert much effort in influencing the lenders BPO agent for it became very clear there were enough visual damages to validate a discounted CMA. Having these tools and knowing how to facilitate them has changed our financial futures forever.

Do It Yourself Home Improvements

DI-Myself — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:40:13 +0000

With the housing market and the economy the way they are, the last thing most people are thinking about is making an investment in their home. While major renovations are probably out of the question, it is still important to maintain your house. This doesn’t require hiring an expensive contractor in most cases, and you can simply perform do it yourself home improvements.

To retain the value of your property, it is important to routinely make improvements and ensure proper upkeep. If you get behind on these, it is easy to let the state of your home deteriorate. A good way to keep up with the work is to make a list of things that need to be done and resolve to mark one thing off the list each weekend.

DIY Wood Home Construction

Craig — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:11:38 +0000

Building with wood ? Wood construction is here to stay folks and here is only a few of the major reasons why ! Thinking about adding on ? Well you’ll be going greener if you use lumber…… read more below !!
# No other material can match wood’s unique combination of benefits, including strength, affordability, ease of use and environmental superiority.
# Wood-frame construction has a 100-year track record for safety and dependability. That’s why nine out of 10 homes today are built with wood.
# Building codes require all materials to provide the same degree of protection, even for extreme events such as earthquakes and hurricanes. Wood-frame construction is as safe, sturdy and dependable a building material as any other.
# Wood is the best insulator against heat and cold, which makes it the most energy-efficient material that can help keep home energy bills in check. Unlike steel and concrete, wood doesn’t conduct heat and cold. Wood is 400 times less heat conductive than steel, so homes built with wood studs take less energy to heat and cool.
# Wood is the most affordable building material. The economy of wood construction is one of the many reasons why wood-frame construction has remained the preferred method for residential construction.
# Wood is easy to use and widely available. Its practicality and workability make construction simple and efficient for use in residential or commercial applications, including multi-story projects.
# As the world’s only renewable building material, wood can not only be recycled, but regenerated as well. What’s more, trees provide benefits to the environment while they grow, taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen.
# Wood contributes fewer greenhouse gas emissions than its non-renewable counterparts, steel and concrete. While wood accounts for 46% of all industrial raw materials worldwide, it uses a mere 4% of the energy required to produce raw materials into useful products.

Rain Gutter dilemma’s

Craig — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:39:47 +0000

Average homeowners throughout this world can now relax and need not to fret any longer about their rain gutters. With the expansive widths of the average fronts of our homes, my experience here lies in the fact that rain gutters cannot perform as designed.

Water has to have a 1/4″ per foot slope to jettison the moisture to the down spout at the end, and not a sole likes to see a highly noticeable crooked rain gutter attached to the front of their homes. It appears wrong and anti symmetrical, common fascia board widths consist of 4″ to 12″ heights while, after installation causing a loss in fascia profiles when buried by drip edge flashing and shingle overhangs accentuating this dilemma.

I’m launching an all new and improved rain gutter marketing campaign that will easily and virtually correct and eliminate all of these aforementioned appearance and functionality problems. Take this opportunity now and tell me your stories of and why this may inexpensively be of service.Napoleon Hill, Charles Hannel, Henry Ford, Tim Ferriss etc., all these great men that have changed many lives and authored books on self development, championed the fine art of mastermind groups to create change for all as well as a way to wealth through the laws of nature. “success requires no explanations, failure permits no alibis”

Lay one on us today!

Baldwin Lockset installation DIY

Craig — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:59:51 +0000

There are two sizes of Baldwin mortise bodies that are commonly used on conventional residential doors as shown below. You determine which one is right for you by how much room you have on your door “lock stile” and which trimset you have selected. General door hardware specs that any DIY’er CAN DO!

The illustration below is a Baldwin mortise body with a 2.5″ backset. This means that the CENTER of whatever trimset style you select will be 2.5″ from the edge of your door. This body must be cut into the door’s edge approx 3.75″ deep. You will need to drill approx. 5, 3/4″ holes centered on the doors edge 3 1/2″ deep and remove whats left with a sharp 3/4″ wood chisel.

The illustration below is a Baldwin mortise body with a 2.75″ backset. This means that the CENTER of whatever trimset style you select will be 2.75″ from the edge of your door. This body must be cut into the door’s edge approx 4.25″ deep. This type requires a 7/8″ bit drilling 4″ deep and removing the rest with a sharp chisel.

3 way tub/ hot and cold + diverter

Craig — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:33:27 +0000

This is another way to view the 3-way tub / shower diverter fill spout, because with the valve body buried inside the framing [wall] you use and see the hot and cold handles, but the one in the middle is the diverter handle, it’s only function is to put water in the tub or after turning clockwise, closes the tub fill spout and diverts the water to the shower head. Where as the single handle set up will mix the hot and cold and require only the flip of a switch on the tub fill spout itself.

When the 3-way style has a blown valve stem seal, it will noticeably be losing water to the tub as you are trying to take your shower. Wasting water and driving up those utility bills and costing you dollars instead of making any sense. The diy area of this plumbing repair is just a pair of wrenches and a potential valve seat rebuild kit. Most of which anyone can obtain at HomeDepot, in the plumbing repair section. Matching the brand and model is always extremely helpful. If not simply removing the valve stem and having it with you while searching for the plumbing repair part is your next best choice.

Keeping in mind that most bathroom or kitchen remodels are the most lucrative remodeling projects for your investment dollar, when it comes time to sell and move onto the next one.

DIY tub spout diverter repair

Craig — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:55:59 +0000

Hey, tired of the way this economy seems to keep dragging? Let’s face the facts folks, every penny adds to a dollar and so on and so forth…. now take the water bill IE, it can be lowered within a few well invested penny’s on a daily count and of course this goes back to that ever elusive dollar again.

Your bathtub / shower combo has a diverter that when pulled slightly upward stops the tub fill and redirects the water to the shower head. IF the diverter is in proper order it will not allow little , if any water going into the tub. Rather when it’s ready to be replaced or repaired, the volume of water going up and out the shower head has been significantly decreased, because the diverter seal is not sealing 100% and losing/wasting gallons of water straight to the drain below. The end result is more time for rinsing off and higher water/utility bills. The rough plumbing 1/2′ nipple holds the tub spout in place and is very easily screwed off by spinning counter clockwise [lefty loosy-righty tighty] and replacing with a new energy efficient one. Although some replacement parts are available at some of your better home improvement stores in the do-it yourself plumbing repair section, if need be.

Remember that bath and kitchen remodels will bring you the best ROI on your diy home improvements, if done with taste and done correctly.