DIY Life

When a sink or tub suddenly stops draining, it's tempting to reach for the drain cleaner. Though drain cleaners -- actually powerful, corrosive chemicals -- can work when drains have trivial clogs, they aren't effective against bigger problems. Not only that, they can wreak havoc on your pipes and are terrible for the environment.

Instead, recommends Mother Earth Living take a little time to get a better understanding of how your drain system works, and you'll be able to beat clogs at their source.

Tools you might need:

• a sink plunger
• a bucket
• a pipe wrench
• a flexible wire (like a wire coat hanger twisted out of shape)
• a drain snake

Learn how to get started after the break, but if you're squeamish, don't forget to put on your rubber gloves!

We've all been there: that rising feeling of dread and suspense. No, I'm not talking about one of Jean-Paul Sartre's books. I'm talking about when we flush the toilet and all of a sudden the bowl's contents slowly start moving in completely the wrong direction. What to do?

The first thing, since you're standing right there anyway, is to start kicking the base of the toilet with your foot. After all, the stuff wants to go down, and sometimes all it takes is a helping hand (or foot) to dislodge things and help the process along.

The next thing to try is the trusty old plunger. There are times when smooth, slow strokes will do the trick. Other times it takes quick, sharp jabs.

And if that doesn't work, get to the hardware store and pick up a toilet auger. It's really a snake, but inside a long pole with a hand crank on the end. It works every time and costs much less than a plumber's service call.

Have you ever had one of those "uh-oh" moments where you realize that something small and expensive (think wedding ring) is suddenly missing? Did it fall into the engine block you were just assembling? Did it fall down the sink as you washed your hands? Did junior try to see if it would fit down the shower drain? All of these scenarios have one thing in common (besides divorce papers): You have no way of checking unless you spend some time taking things apart. Rigid has come to the rescue to save you from having to do any unnecessary disassembly.

Enter the SeeSnake Micro. It has a 2.4" color LCD screen that receives its signal via a 3' cable with built in LED lights and camera. It is a hand held, cordless unit that lets everyone get into tight, dark, messy places to find out what went where or what went wrong. It also includes attachments for item retrieval so you may just avoid having to disassemble anything at all. (I know that taking things apart is half the fun, but, really? drain pipes... yechh) If the 3' cable isn't long enough for you Rigid will let you extend it to a total of 30' with the purchase of additional cable.

Is it difficult to find enthusiasm about cleaning the bathroom? Are you living in a place that someone else rented or owned before you? If you said yes to both, try not to think about what may have happened in your bathroom before you moved in. Let's just get to making that place feel like you and your family or friends are the only contaminants.

Here are five inexpensive things you can do to make your bathroom truly feel like it is yours. Doing these will not make the room look new but it will make it feel much more new to you. You'll probably want to wear gloves for most of these. Absent from this list are the obvious cleaning chores that you should be doing regularly -- you know, things like scrubbing the toilet and washing the shower curtain every now and then.

Slow drains are annoying, but they are also a sign of a bigger problem. If you have something clogging your drain it will only build up and become a bigger problem over time. Here are 5 ways to avoid clogging your drains:

1. Use a drain screen
   Hair and soap scum are major culprits in clogging bath and shower drains. Use a drain screen to catch the debris and clean the screen regularly.
   
   
2. Don't pour grease down the drain
   When you finish cooking, let the grease harden and scoop out as much as you can into the garbage. If you pour grease down the drain it will harden in your pipes.
   
   
3. Don't pour anything else down the drain
   Avoid putting any other chemicals down the drain. Even in a laundry room sink, you'll clog the pipes. Chemical drain cleaners can even erode pipes, so use them sparingly.
   
   
4. Clean your sink stoppers
   Pop-up stoppers can accumulate build-up and should be cleaned regularly.
   
   
5. Pour boiling water down the drain
   Pour boiling water down your drains once a week. Make this a regular part of your cleaning routine to clear the pipes of any scum and build-up.
   

If your drain does get clogged, try Heather's vinegar solution. If that doesn't work, you may have to go in to find the offender and tackle it with a plunger.

We've all been there startled awake by a strange sound, sitting up in bed eliminating the possibilities: Burglar? No. Teenager sneaking out? No. Earthquake? No. Raccoons outside? No.

Eventually, we fall back asleep, accepting that it was just the house making its usual nighttime grumblings. This can be unnerving. It can also make you feel concerned that there is something wrong with the house or some warning signs you should be aware of. Typically, this isn't the case. In most cases it's something inside the house, a fridge or furnace, or even the house itself settling and shifting.

Some sounds are there to stay. They are coming from your appliances, your windows, your siding or your foundation. Once you know their sound and you're comfortable with it, you'll probably stop hearing it all together. Other noises can be dealt with. It could a as simple as securing the downspout or putting a little duct tape in the window sill. In this article Jim Sulsiki takes us through common house noises and explains how they can be silenced. Jim suggests that you isolate the sound as it's happening. You won't have much luck finding the noise during the daytime when factors that could have induced the noise (temperature, animals, weather) are no longer in play.

As the weather cools, we're sure to hear some new grumblings coming from our house. Relax, take a look through the suggestions, quiet the ones you can and live with the ones you can't.