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Home Maintenance For Dummies Cheat Sheet
Home maintenance is all about being prepared. If you spend a little time now buying ingredients for cleaners, putting together a toolkit, and staying on top of monthly maintenance tasks, you’ll not only [more…]
Cleaning & Stain Removal For Dummies Cheat Sheet (UK Edition)
Need useful and concise tips for cleaning and stain removal? Look no further. This Cheat Sheet is packed with handy, at-a-glance essentials to help make getting rid of tricky stains and keeping your home [more…]
How to Remove Rust
The real secret to dealing with rust is to remove as much of it as possible before trying to apply a new finish. Depending upon the configuration of the item in question, removing rust can be a tedious [more…]
How to Fix Fireplace Cracks
In a masonry fireplace, firebrick is used to construct the firebox. Refractory brick panels line the firebox of a prefabricated metal fireplace. In both cases, the bricks and fireclay mortar are designed [more…]
How to Care for the Outside of Your Chimney
A chimney can be an exposed pipe, a framed enclosure that is covered with siding (called a sided chase) that houses the flue pipe, or a masonry chimney. The chimney travels from the inside of the home [more…]
Preventing Grills and Patio Furniture from Rusting
Barbecues, patio furniture, handrails, lawn and garden equipment, steel window frames, rain gutters, and downspouts are all susceptible to damage by rust. Aside from its ugly appearance, untreated rust [more…]
How to Fix a Broken Hard-Wired Doorbell
In older homes, doorbells are hardwired into the door frame or very near it. They usually don’t present problems for years. But, inevitably, they no longer work and you have to take them apart to repair [more…]
How to Recane a Chair
Chairs with machine-woven cane are easy to repair. Look at the seat. Does a band of wood on all four sides frame the cane? And is there a “ribbon” between the cane and the wood? If so, you can fix the [more…]
How to Fix Holes in Wood
If you have big holes — from using recycled wood or from a loose knot, for instance — you can fill them with another piece of wood, called a dutchman. This technique has been around as long as people have [more…]
How to Fix Cabinet Doors That Won’t Close
When cabinet doors won’t close, determine whether the door itself is getting stuck or the hinge is keeping it from moving freely. But the door itself may be at fault. Wooden doors can absorb moisture and [more…]
How to Repair Laminate Countertops
Laminate countertops are pretty durable, but they can get nicked and scratched. They can even bubble. But you can fix these minor imperfections and even remove stains. If you have a countertop with a lot [more…]
How to Replace a Window Screen
Rescreening a window is easy. There are two types of screen available: metal and fiberglass. Rescreening with metal is slightly more difficult than with fiberglass [more…]
How to Stop Refrigerator Water Leaks
When you see water under a refrigerator, check the front legs and/or clean the drain hole. Water (actually condensation) is supposed to run from inside the refrigerator into a drain hole, and then into [more…]
How to Fix Refrigerator Temperature Problems
If the main compartment in your refrigerator is too warm or too cold and adjusting the temperature controls doesn’t seem to help, first vacuum the compressor and condenser coils. If they aren’t cleaned [more…]
How to Change the Gasket on Your Refrigerator Door
If your refrigerator food compartment is too warm, one easy solution might be to replace the rubber gasket that runs around the door. It may be so worn or stretched out that it doesn’t seal. Gaskets are [more…]
How to Maintain Your Dishwasher
Dishwashers have hoses, and after time, if the connections get loose or become brittle or cracked, they can leak. The rubber gasket around the dishwasher door also may become worn out and loose, and then [more…]
How to Fix a Broken Toaster
Toasters are uncomplicated appliances with heating elements, a thermostat, switches, and plugs and cords. Most of the time when they malfunction, they just haven’t been cleaned thoroughly enough. Of course [more…]
How to Change a Belt on a Blender, Mixer, or Food Processor
When a blender, mixer, or food processor stops running completely, it usually means that the motor is bad. If you’ve tested the plug, cord, and switch and know the problem doesn’t originate there, the [more…]
How to Maintain Your Vacuum Cleaner
If an upright vacuum cleaner doesn’t work, turn it upside down and look at the base to begin your maintenance troubleshooting. Is there anything wrapped around the beater brushes? If so, just pull those [more…]
Dealing CD, DVD, and VCR Player Problems
CD, DVD, and VCR players let you know right away when they need attention. Although they're relatively trouble-free, when these electronic devices get dirty, they won’t play at all or the picture on the [more…]
How to Unjam CD and DVD Drives and Trays
Unless your home has air purifiers, the dust raised by you and your children and pets gravitates to everything that’s plugged in. Look at the TV a few days after you dust it; it’s coated again. CD and [more…]
How to Maintain Your DVD Player
CD and DVD players have a laser lens that needs to be cleaned periodically. To maintain your DVD player, occasionally unscrew the player’s case, so you can get at the lens to clean it. You need a screwdriver [more…]
How to Reglue Chair Dowel Rods
Some chairs and tables are fitted together with a piece of wood (dowel rod) that runs from one leg to another. The dowels are glued into holes cut into the legs. When a dowel rod becomes loose, you can’t [more…]
How to Repair Enlarged Dowel Rod Holes
Some chairs and tables are fitted together with a dowel rod that runs from one leg to another. The dowels are glued into holes cut into the legs. Wood dries out and shrinks with age. [more…]
How to Fix Cigarette Burns in Wood
If you've got a smoker at home, it’s inevitable that some of your furnishings will be marred by an accidental burn. Getting rid of unsightly cigarette burns is a snap. All you need is nail polish remover [more…]
