DIY Life

Rust never sleeps, they say. The longer you leave exposed, rusting pipes untreated in your yard...well, you are ruining your pipes as they are eaten away by the elements. Rusty pipes, such as those leading to a gas meter, also make a house look a bit shabby and unloved. Let's take a look at how to deal with rusty pipes on your home's exterior. Spring is the perfect time to tackle this project!

Step 1. Select your paint
Go with a good brand like Rust-Oleum. By the way, Rust-Oleum has a fabulous website with lots of helpful advice for beginners. The company even has a special section on best products for really rusty surfaces. I recommend you check it out before heading to the paint store.

You will want to use an oil-based enamel paint. Oil-based paints are sticky and are not water-soluble. This makes application and cleanup a little tougher, but it's so worth it because oil-based paints are made to last. You have a choice between brush-on paint or spray paint. Personally, I prefer the traditional brush-on kind. On the other hand, spray paints mean no messy brushes to clean up when you're done!

Yesterday, I put $20 worth of gas into my car. I can remember the day when that would have filled it up, but instead it gave me just over 5.5 gallons. Gas prices are definitely at a high point, and it's predicted they could rise further by summer.

Though you can save money at the pump by reducing the number of miles you drive, sometimes it's impossible to cut back enough to make a difference. You can, however, save a few bucks by following these few tricks from Yahoo Finance.

• Consider checking a website like GasPriceWatch.com, which is fed by tipsters but also has a Certified Pricing Program. (Driving all over town looking for low prices, however, will burn any pennies you save. Look for a station near where you'll be anyway on your daily travels.)
• Fill up at low peak times when prices are likely to be their lowest -- before sunrise, late at night, and -- in some states -- mid-week.
• Fill up when you hit 1/4 tank. Make sure the price on the sign matches the one on the pump and that it's set to zero when you begin fueling.
• Investigate ways to improve your gas mileage.
• Take good care of your car. Check your tire pressure regularly and unload seasonal items such as snow tires.
• Though many financial experts don't recommend using credit cards, according to Yahoo Finance, using a credit card with cash rewards can help you earn rebates when you buy gas.
  

It may not take all of the sting out of today's rapidly rising gas prices, but by planning ahead, you may be able to save a few dollars off your monthly gas bill.

There's no such thing as a good sewer odor, right? If there's a persistent, but unexplained, stink emanating from your bathroom the cause could be sewer gas. Sewer gas is supposed to stay down inside your municipal sewer system or private septic tank. Problems occur when it finds its way back up into the house via your toilet. Eeew.

Surprise, surprise. Plumbing experts say sewer gas is something you should take care of, and not just for the obvious reason that the stink is absolutely revolting. Did you know that sewer gas is toxic when breathed in repeatedly? It's also associated with a buildup of methane gas, which is explosive. Eeek! Now that's a potty problem!

According to trusty home repair extraordinaire, Tim "Ask the Builder" Carter, it's best to locate the root cause of the problem as soon as possible. Tim says the cause of the stink is usually a blockage or a crack in the plumbing drain line or vent pipe, with the latter being a lot harder to detect. Plumbers can find the leaks by forcing colored smoke from a smoke generating machine through the pipes. Cool!

Read more at AskTheBuilder.com.

Yeah, yeah. Spring is awesome. All those pretty flowers blooming. Pastel clothing. Bunnies. Blossoms. Baskets of eggs. Picnics. Outdoor weddings. Lush green lawns. Hmm. What about the down-side of Spring? Yes. There is one. Here are my personal pet peeves regarding the prettiest, perkiest season of all:

1. Return of the lawn mower. Remember how "winterize lawn mower" was on your to-do list back in September? Just never got around to it, did you? Well, guess what? It's too late and now Spring is back. Time to deal with the consequences. Your mower, having been neglected in the garage for six months with a tank full of fuel, will be hell to start again. Have fun with that.

2. Wrestling the garden hose. Spring means planting time, and planting means watering to get new plants established. Planting is satisfying work, but my most hated gardening task is watering. Actually, the water is kind of lovely. It's the hose I hate.

There are all sorts of gas saving devices on the market. Many of them have some impact, while others are complete scams offering no fuel economy benefit and even damaging your engine. If you're looking for some practical tips The Federal Trade Commision offers these tips for improving gas milaege. You'll have to stop the aggressive driving and stick to the speed limits, but you'll quickly notice the savings. Here are their main headings; make sure you check out the full release for some important information.

1. On the Road: Drive More Efficiently
2. At the Garage: Maintain Your Car
3. At the Pump: Use the Octane Level You Need
4. In Advertising: Check Out Claims About "Gas-Saving" Gadgets
5. In the Showroom: Consider the Alternatives

Tip #5 talks about the hybrid alternative. This may be the right fit if you're looking for a new car. It's the perfect way to lessen the damage on your wallet along with the damage on the environment. If you're considering this option, here are some things to know before buying a hybrid car.

[via: Do It Yourself]

Engine-cooking is totally new to me, but apparently a tradition dating back to the first cars. I don't actually plan on testing this out, but I'll point you to the instructions and if you do give it a go let me know. With extraordinarily high gas prices it does make sense to double the use you get from running your car.

If you're just driving to work, get your breakfast sandwich hot and ready by the time you get to work. If you're heading out on a longer road trip you can make a roast complete with potato and veggie sides. Make sure you match the meal to the trip. Running your car any longer than you need to for the drive is a real waste since it puts out unnecessary emissions and is probably your most expensive way to cook.

If you're interested in this wacky approach to cooking, you'll need to wrap the food in tinfoil, and follow conventional oven cooking instructions. I can't help but feel that this isn't sanitary, though the food is never actually exposed to the engine. If you're interested in trying a carbecue of your own, check out these instructions (make sure you read the warnings on this one). Here are some things you might want to try, and their cooking times in miles:

• Shrimp: 30-50 miles
• Trout or Salmon: 60-100 miles
• Chicken breasts: 60 miles at 65 mph
• Chicken wings: 140-200 miles
• Pork tenderloin: 250 miles
• Sliced, peeled potatoes: 55 miles

So, next time you're headed out to a dinner party and you're asked to bring an appetizer, maybe you can throw some wings on your engine and they'll be hot and ready when you arrive.

We all like making things out of miniature electronics (don't we), but I've just found a use for the world's smallest camcorder. Yes, this thing is battery powered and the size of a pack of gum, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in covert usage.

In the past few months, I've heard from many people that gas tanks of parked cars are being invaded by siphoning gas thieves. It's no wonder -- gas is not exactly cheap these days. It's hard to imagine that different thieves hit different cars all the time in the same area, so wouldn't it be cool to use one of these inside the wheel well of a parked car or truck and make a video of a thief stealing gas from your precious vehicle?

The camcorder in question records at 15 frames per second (not the best, but passable) in the 3GP format, which is most commonly used in newer multimedia cellphones. I can't begin to imagine the uses for a highly covert miniature camcorder like this, but busting gas thieves and providing evidence to the police sounds like a good starter use to me. The unit stores video on a standard microSD card and has a wide angle 3.6mm lens. While not the best specs for video recording (far from it), the size alone makes this gadget exceptionally useful.

Electric cars are gaining in popularity. Whle many people are not running out to invest in a new car, they are interested in ways to convert their current vehicle to something more environmentally friendly. I didn't know that you could do this sort of thing yourself, but there is a whole community of people doing it. DIY Electric Car Forums is a great place to learn about the benefits, and process of converting your own car from gas to electric. Forum users are actively discussing the conversion process and the necessary materials to do that. Part manufacturers and dealers participate on the forum, answering questions and relaying information about their parts.

While this forum is only a month old, there is a good supply of information and it would be a great place to learn form. Users are quickly pulling together resources to share with each other. Alternatively, if you have done a conversion or know something about electric cars, take a look through the questions and share some of your expertise. People have posted detailed instructions for each part of the conversion in their wiki and the feeds are also an excellent resource.

Depending on who you ask, the future of car fuel is going to be either hydrogen, electric, or biodiesel. Each technology has its pros and cons (and when you're talking about lowering our dependency on petroleum-based fuels, the pros always outweigh the cons), but from a strictly DIY point-of-view, biodiesel takes the cake.

For those of you who might not know, biodiesel is a fuel made primarily from biological sources - it's "biodegradable, non-toxic, and typically produces about 60% less net carbon dioxide emissions than petroleum-based diesel." The best thing about biodiesel, however, is its accessibility and DIY-ability. If you have a car with a diesel engine, you can easily whip up a batch of biodiesel in your backyard, and be driving down the highway on a french-fry-scented cloud of eco-friendliness in no time.

The Garden State (where I happen to live) is one of only two states where it's illegal to fill 'er up yourself. Only gas station 'professionals' can pump gas in New Jersey and Oregon -- coming from Maine, this was a big change for me. I happen to think that everyone should know how to pump gas. With the exception of a few elderly and disabled persons, most people are perfectly capable of getting out of their car for five minutes and place a nozzle in their gas tank. It not only saves time ... it saves money.