Archive for the ‘Bathrooms’ Category

If you’ve never sliced the top of your thumb cutting open the edge of a tube of caulk, you have greater dexterity than most part-time home handy workers. I grew up around ratchet-rod caulk guns and cursed a few. Today’s drip-free caulking guns operate by a spring-loaded pressure rod that works smoothly off of the pressure of your finger.  A quick trip to the hardware or home improvement store will convince you that there’s a wider selection of caulks and guns than you’ve seen before.

You’ll need the right caulk for your project-at-hand. Shop wisely and ask a clerk for help. Generally speaking, you’re probably looking for:

•    Silicone Caulk: for a premium-grade, waterproofing job. Great for kitchens and baths.
•    Vinyl Latex Caulk: for a water-resistant, quick adhesive job in wet areas of the bath.
•    Butyl Rubber Caulk: for sealing outdoor gutter seams, storm doors and windows.

Caulking, Simplified

Do you have the caulk in the gun and are ready to spread? Hold on, turbo! Even the best-quality caulk may have trouble adhering to a dirty surface or crease filled with remnants of old caulk. It won’t adhere to soap, either, so clean the surface with plain, warm water.  For rooting out old caulk, you’ll need anything from a sharp blade (for silicone) to a heat gun, screwdriver, or caulk softener (for latex or acrylic).

The tip of the caulk cartridge at the business end of the gun should be cut to match the depth of your job. Use steady pressure on the trigger as you work the tip at a 45-degree angle to area you’re filling. And here’s a tip you might otherwise overlook: always caulk a bathtub when it’s filled with water.  Otherwise the tub will ride high and when it’s filled for the first time, the weight of water and bather can crack the new caulk.

It’s best to work at the careful, steady pace to get the caulk applied during a single repair. It can try your patience to match up your tracks and at the same time lay down a seamless, protective sealant.  Caulk, like other adhesives, cures as it sets.

If you’re caulking cracks in your exterior concrete, be sure to buy siliconized latex concrete caulk. Again, your success will depend on how well you clean the cracks of debris and old patching compounds or sealants.

Years ago I was visiting a friend in Tokyo and was astonished that she took water from the tap for tea, and it was too hot to drink. This was way back in 1979. I was amazed that all the hot water for the home’s kitchen and bath came from a heat-on-demand water tank powered by natural gas. Later that year, I saw passive solar water heating systems on the roofs of homes just outside of Tel Aviv. Thirty years later I’ve yet to see these systesm in widespread adoption around the states.

Then you consider that tank-less, heat-on-demand systems are available—with models that just heat your teapot, while others power the shower—they’re still a ways off from popular use around the states.  You’ll probably remember (or still have) one of those tea elements for plugging in and using electrical power to heat coffee. That’s as far as most of us go.

The Savings?

You might save a hundred dollars a year in energy bills from an on-demand system. But if you’re considering buying an on-demand heater to cover all your hot water needs, be sure to consider the size of your family, the cost of installing a system, the tank capacity, and the amount of hot water you need every day. The Department of Energy says a majority of systems can generate 2-5 gallons a minute, depending on the fuel source. From your own experience you know that gas-fired heaters are quicker to raise your water to the right temperature than electric ones.

Tax Credits for Tank-less  Water Heaters

You can read up on the 2009-2010 tax credit at the Alliance to Save Energy website.  In essence, your potential credit for installing a tank-less unit for the credit depends on your finding a system that can heat the water to efficiency standards based on source (electric, gas, oil, propane). An acceptable energy factor may be hard to find. The credit may only be $300, but pennies saved by energy efficiency can add up.

According to the Department of Energy, the energy factor is determined by  fuel consumption and the speed of recovery,  and how much heat is lost in the cycle of briefly storing and pumping out the water. When shopping around, examine units for a high-number energy factor, meaning the most-efficient for home use.

Dedicating a tank-less heater to appliances, spas, or as a secondary power source can prove a wise choice if there’s no constant or huge demand.

Your thermostat, when working properly, runs on a transformer to set and adjust the amount of heat your furnace delivers to your home. Imagine how you might feel one cold winter morning when you adjust your thermostat and nothing happens! Brrr! There are simple ways to troubleshoot your problem, but ultimately you may have more on your hands than you can handle. Let’s look at some simple causes.

Your thermostat unit may have a short, a circuit may have blown or tripped a breaker, or a dusty thermostat unit may be blocked from reading the proper settings. At the heart of the thermostat is the bimetallic coil, a wound strip of metal that expands or contracts under the influence of temperatures. Wouldn’t you be lucky if all you needed to do to get the thermostat working again was to dust off the coil?

You need to eliminate some of the suspects, one-by-one, flipping back the breakers, replacing fuses, or checking your electrical connections.

Beware the Fouled Heat Anticipator

If you open your thermostat, you’ll most likely find a disc connected by a thin wire to the bimetallic coil. When the heat anticipator is adjusted properly, it heats the coil to room temperature so that your furnace won’t keep bursting on and off with minute changes in heat or cold. If it operates too often, it can harm your thermostat or heating unit.

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Make sure that the thermostat box has been mounted on the level. A crooked unit can affect the workings of the coil and heat anticipator.

In most units, the anticipator is connected over a scale printed on the circular disc. By moving the tab to and fro over the temperature settings, you just might free a stuck heat anticipator.

The disc on the anticipator usually has the word “longer” etched or printed on it. For a unit that turns on and off too frequently or fails to reach the temperature set on the thermostat, you should adjust the anticipator arm toward the word “longer” and give it a few hours to see if it solves your dilemma. By using the correct anticipator setting, you conserve energy, by using pre-heated air already in the furnace system to fill your home before additional heat is generated.

If that doesn’t work, you may have to call in an HVAC contractor to snoop out the cause.

There’s a wrench to fit every home-improvement nut. It’s an old joke, but true enough. Tools, sadly, are pricey if you’re after quality. Most contractors I know build up their tool collection over a period of years. They pack their trucks with the essential items, and carry indispensable tools in their belt.  As the adage goes, you need the tool the matches the job.

If you’re just putting together your tool set, look for used tools online or sales at home improvement stores. The exact tools you need vary by the jobs you intend to perform on your own. If you get in over your head, you can do more damage than it costs to call in a professional.

Essential Tools for Home Repair or Renovation

Experts at Popular Mechanics say a sledgehammer is the most-important tool, followed by a center punch, putty knife, adjustable wrench, socket wrench set, metal file, combination square, and combination wrench. I think you might survive without the sledgehammer if you’re doing home repair work on your own.

You can find this initial group of tools reasonably priced and put them together in short order. The power tools, of course, cost more and require stands, power cords and supply, and workshop space. Some of us are lucky enough to inherit tools from our parents or relatives, or have them around for myriad quick fixes around the house.

The second tier of tools, says Popular Mechanics, consists of a bow saw, jigsaw, coping saw, side-cutting pliers, crosscut saw, snips, roundhouse shovel, needle-nose pliers, and a cordless drill. The trio of indispensable tools for plumbing repairs include a pipe wrench, pliers of all sizes and adjustable models, and an adjustable and crescent wrench.

Squaring Away Your Repair Tools

Organizing your repair tools so they are there when you need them can be a project unto itself.  If you plan on doing work off property, you might want a toolbox for your truck.  In the garage, you can thrive with a well organized peg boards and hooks, shelves, and storage cabinets. Put each family of tools together in their own shelf, slot, or see-through plastic container.

While you’re building up your toolbox, consider whether you have duplicates and which tools are in need of oiling, repair, or replacements.  Relying on someone else for your tools can be tricky. Many home carpenters and fix-it enthusiasts are protective of their tools.

During repairs, you may want to strap on a tool belt with the leather pouches arranged intuitively with nails, hammer, screwdrivers, bolts, tape, and measuring tape in easy reach.

It doesn’t matter whether your fireplace is used for aesthetics or heating the house, every fall is a great time to have a chimney inspection and cleaning if it needs it. If you’re changing the amount of use, the kind of fuel you burn, or your home heating venting, be sure to include a chimney inspection. A chimney fire, no matter the time of year, can be terrifying and catastrophic.

Put your chimney inspection high on your list of winter must-dos. Even if a chimney fire is short-lived, the heat can damage your mortar, wall materials, tiles, and outer masonry.  That’s lasting damage.

Have you put a wood stove back into operation for the winter? Have a professional come in to inspect venting and creosote buildup. The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) warns that you only use seasoned heating wood in your home this winter.

When You Need Chimney Service

The CSIA recommends that you consider three levels of service depending on your existing conditions:

• When an inspector or contractor takes a walk-around your home, ensuring the chimney and flue are in optimal operating condition and free of obstructions.
• When you change the fuel, the lining, flue, or if your home has lived through a heavy storm, fire, or seismic event.
• Chimney components that require taking the system apart are damaged and need inspection and repair.

If your home matches any of these potentially risky conditions—or if you recently acquired the property—you should seek an inspection from a professional.

How to Evaluate a Chimney Contractor

The National Chimney Sweep Guild recommends annual or semi-annual inspections to prevent carbon monoxide poisonings or chimney fires.  Ask potential chimney contractors for references and check out their history in your community.

Ask for free bids on the contractor’s letterhead.  If your potential contractors are licensed, they should not be skittish about showing a license as well as proof of insurance against worker injury or property damage.

Talk to neighbors about references and find out if the work was done on time and to their complete satisfaction. Local and state better business bureaus and consumer protection agencies usually have a black list of contractors who have been sued or have ongoing complaints.

Last, the U.S. Fire Administration reminds all homeowners and renters to keep items that are not considered fuel out of your fireplace. That includes cardboard boxes and flammable liquids. And use a fire screen at all times. If you do have a fire, get everyone out of the house safely and call emergency.

The kids are home from college for the weekend. The washer and dryer are running like some crazy commercial laundromat, the sub-woofer in the living room is pounding like a toothache, and you’ve just booted up your computer to check your savings balance and—wham!—your house goes dark and silent.

Do you have an overloaded circuit or a short? Did the breakers trip? Is there a smoky aroma in the house that doesn’t smell like barbecue?

Thank goodness the age of the glass fuse is behind us. But it can still be infuriating when you have to step outside in a rainstorm, open the electrical panel, and scan for evidence with your flashlight.

In the old days, the fuse would burn out and need replacement before you got things working again. Today, it’s easy to flip the breaker switch that prevented damage. But, beware, a breaker that trips over and over becomes more prone to snapping to the “off” direction as time goes on.

Tracing Your Electrical Woes

It takes a little detective work to find the cause of repeatedly tripped breakers, but it’s worth it.  More often than not, the circuit breaker may be too small to handle the stress on the circuit. So ask yourself, do you really want to overstress the circuit in the first place? Inventory the number of electrical devices or appliances plugged into a single-outlet box.

You may have a short circuit. Tracking down a short circuit takes a little patience. Is the root cause at the wiring, the wall switch, the plugs, or ungrounded wires?  Discover when outages occur. If the lights blink out when you flip a switch and the breaker trips, it may be caused by the fixture attached to the switch.

Do You Use the Right Breakers?

Circuit breakers fall into single- and double-pole varieties.  The single-pole units are used for most household wiring, offering protection for 120 volts from 15 to 20 amps. Double-pole breakers are used to regulate overloads for air conditioning units, washers/dryers, electric stoves on 240 volts from 15 to 50 amps.

If you need to fix a short circuit, don’t touch a thing until you’ve cut the power to the wiring that handles the suspect appliance or device. Inspect all your power cords, wires, and outlets for signs of burns, smoke odor, or other discoloring.  Finally, check insulation for melting or crossed wires. Stay ahead of trouble.

Whether it’s a toilet that runs constantly or one that bursts into action after intervals of silence, it’s enough to drive you crazy. It’s bad enough that more than a third of your total water usage goes down the toilet.  Raising the tank level with a brick or water-saving device can spare you gallons, but not if your toilet operates around the clock without flushing.  If it’s not the whoosh that’s crazy-making, it’s the hiss of water refilling the tank.

Simple maintenance or trouble-shooting can put your misery to rest, so why are you living with the noise? Most of the time, it’s a misaligned ball or flapper, a sticky or leaky flush valve, or a bent lift arm that causes all your woes. First, diagnose the cause by eliminating the parts one-by-one, then perform some uncomplicated adjustments or replace the culprits. It’s that simple.

Tracking the Root Causes of Toilet Noise
The best place to begin is with the flapper (or flush valve) that seats on the bottom of the tank. Hold it down with a broom handle or ruler. If you still hear water leaking, then it’s time to replace the flapper. Next, lift the float lift arm as your tank fills and if it continues to run after the level reaches the overflow pipe, you’ve found the cause. Bend the arm upwards and see if that handles it. No? Replace it.

If you have to replace the toilet flapper turn off the water supply via the metal handle behind the unit. The flapper is attached by a hook and chain to the lift arm. When you have the new flapper installed,  be sure to take up the slack on the chain so the lift is taut.

While you’re at it, check the valve seat beneath the flapper. Minerals from hard water can keep the toilet flapper from sealing. Use a sediment cleaner on a wire brush or scouring pad to remedy the problem. A telltale sign of excessive minerals can be a discolored flapper.

Last, if you hear intermittent hissing and refilling, you may have a leaking flush valve.  Experts at Corner Hardware suggest that you add food coloring into your tank water. If the color ends up in your toilet bowl after 20 minutes, the seal to the flush valve may need repairs with a glue-on seat to help the flapper do its job.

Using the illustration: The flapper is the dark blue element that can also be called the flush valve. The float arm is at the top of the illustration, connecting the float  ball to the inlet valve.

When it comes to lighting in your bath, all is certainly vanity. Kidding aside, the kind of lighting you install in your vanity ultimately has more to do with how you look than how your bathroom looks to others.

Uneven lighting over the make-up table or sink can cause your eyes to look like you haven’t had sleep in weeks.  Poor vanity lighting can dramatically alter how you look when in the office or out on the town. If you’re the handyman/woman, you don’t want to skimp on providing adequate overhead lamps, mirror-side sconces, and light bars.

Getting Your Bathroom Lighting Right
Ultimately, the correct lighting around the mirror will light up the subject’s face from all sides. It doesn’t have to be flattering in an inaccurate way, but take it from the hospitality industry:  warm, full lighting provides a satisfying experience.  Experts at This Old House warn consumers that overhead, recessed lighting fixtures cast shadows of the undead on a subject’s face.

Fill-in, accent lighting can make the entire bath a comfortable place, and lighting above the mirror with sconces at eye-level can complete a satisfying effect. You’ll also prosper from an aesthetic standpoint by using halogen bulbs that illuminate the subject with natural tones.  Some homeowners love the effect created by installing a bathroom chandelier just above the vanity.

Low-wattage track lighting angled just right projects lighting into the mirror, and diffusers prevent glare. You may want to experiment with LED track lighting for effect.

Using Sconces in the Bath
You can create a warm and well-lighted effect by using a row of sconces above the mirror. Or, if you’re settling on single sconces, align them on the side of the mirror. Lighting suppliers recommend that your above-mirror vanity fixtures should be at least two-feet long and provide 150 watts at the minimum.

If you really want to dial in control of your bathroom lighting, consider installing an incandescent dimmer on a halogen light. You can save energy when you’re lighting the bath just to find your way around or to use the shower. A combination of ambient lighting and direct vanity lighting on separate controls can provide the most-flexible solution.

If you’re working with a contractor, discuss options to install lighting directly in the mirror set. It can be expensive and risky to try it on your own.