DIY Life

Wholeheartedly adore your car? Or is it just a people mover? Either way, maintenance is critical for the health of your vehicle and is therefore a great investment. But ... could you possibly be paying too much? Here are five easy suggestions for cutting those maintenance expenses down to size.

1. Use the manufacturer's maintenance schedule, not the dealer's. When your dealership tells you your car is "due" for x, y and z maintenance tasks, verify exactly what that means. The manufacturer's recommendations? Surprise! They probably are referring to their own schedule, which likely recommends more frequent work ... and more money out of your pocket.

2. Buy regular gas, not premium. It's a fact: most vehicles run just fine on regular gas. That even includes cars designed to run on premium fuel. Unless you're a car buff whose mechanical "baby" must have only the best, opt for good old regular gas ... and save your money for important stuff like repairs.

Looks like it's time to bid farewell to another hot, humid summer and welcome a cooler season. But before you say goodbye, give your air conditioner a good cleaning to thank it for its hard work these past few months. AOL's Mr. Fix-It Eric Stromer shows us how...




An important thing to remember:
Call a technician if you have a defective condenser or any problems with the refrigeration system -- this is a closed system that you should not attempt to repair without the aid of a licensed provider.

And of course, the cleaner your air conditioner, the less maintenance you'll have in the long haul. As with all appliances, keep your unit clean, tidy and up to date on all repairs and/or maintenance checks. You'll be glad you did when next summer's heat wave hits!

Speaking of air conditioner's, consider a fun (and green!) way to garden with the last few days of air conditioner use you've got...

My youngest dog has finally outgrown the puppy stage where he feels the need to chew on everything that exists in a two-dimensional form. I've been saving dozens of items for this glorious moment; items that need to be repaired but that I didn't want to risk fixing until I was sure it wouldn't happen again (boy, I hope my dogs read that last sentence).

So, to congratulate my young puppy (Go, George!), we have Mr. Fix-It himself, Eric Stromer, teaching us how to repair all of those incredibly broken power cords:



Such handy advice, right? I can't wait to get my hands dirty and repair some of my own, especially with such easy instructions! So gather your tools (wire cutter and replacement plug-- that's it!), get to work, and vow never to throw out a power cord or perfectly handy tool again!

Note: If anyone wants to practice this tutorial, I have plenty of broken cords to choose from!

Once there was a young woman who considered herself fairly handy in all things DIY. One stormy day, she heard a loud crash. Stepping outside, she discovered a fallen pine branch had clipped the trunk of her vehicle. The damage? Two quarter-sized dents in the paintwork. "My car!" she exclaimed and shook her fist angrily at the tree.

"I bet I can fix this myself," she mused. Next came a twinge of doubt, but she brushed it away. "A well-aimed tap with a hammer should pop that sucker right back out again," she told herself. The outcome to this particular DIY project was ... er ... not so great. Those taps were a tad too vigorous, leaving the car with unsightly bumps where the dents had been. Whoops.

Yes, that woman was me, and I learned my lesson. Turns out you can fix dents without special panel repair skills. You may not even need specialized or expensive tools. But you must do your homework first. Don't just grab a hammer and chisel like I did. (Gulp.)

Look: I'm completely addicted to those glossy Before and After-type home renovation magazines. But I often scoff at the money spent on those gorgeous refits. There's no way I can sink that kind of money into my, er, sinks. That is, while I can afford one nice (alas, not luxe) renovation job, I can't swing it for both bathrooms. What's a girl to do?

After four years (yes, really) of on-and-off agonizing, I've decided on what I hope is a winning strategy: A fairly major renovation of our master bathroom -- which has the world's tiniest shower stall -- with only minor upgrades to our hall bath. I'll be doing the easier repairs and all the cosmetic stuff myself, but hiring in experts for the bigger tasks.

In the coming weeks, I'll be blogging about my progress. First stop is this new photo gallery on how to repair small holes in a bathtub. Please come back often to see how I'm doing! And don't forget: We love feedback. Post your thoughts and/or suggestions in Comments below.

Your roof is wearing out – right now. Thanks to the UV radiation that bakes roof shingles until they are brittle, the summer sun takes more years out of a roof's life than any other environmental factor. If your roof is looking a little worse for wear, the summer is also a good time to think about having it repaired or replaced.

On my national home improvement radio show, roofing ranks among the top ten most asked-about topics; of those questions, the decision to repair or replace is a frequent area of confusion.

First, roof leaks can almost always be repaired without replacing the roof. Most roofs leak due to flashing problems, typically at an intersection of two roof components; roof and plumbing vent, roof and chimney, roof and wall, etc. An easy way to help pinpoint that leak is by strategically rinsing down each area with a hose until the offending spot is found.

To learn more about replacing a roof, read on.

Duct tape has to be among the handiest fix-it tools around. That big, fat roll of tape sure is bulky, though. Consider stowing just a small amount in your pocket, bag, or glove compartment. That way you'll always have some tape on hand, and there'll be no more riffling through the garage searching for the main roll of tape.

Here's how Lifehacker's Brad Isaac made his own pocket-sized duct tape dispenser from a drinking straw. You will need a roll of duct tape, a drinking straw, and a pair of scissors. Carefully wind a length of duct tape around and around the straw, then cut the excess straw on either side. Voila! You have a decent amount of duct tape that slips into your pocket for those unexpected little repair jobs around the house, car, at work, or camping out.

[via Lifehacker]

My husband has a freakishly organized tool box. I tease him that it's because he spends all his time in front of the computer instead of working around the house, but the truth is, he just likes to keep things tidy so that he can easily find the tool he's looking for. Part of me admires him -- you know, the part that's not too busy teasing him!

Whether you're cleaning out an old overstuffed tool bag, setting up house for the first time, or putting together some dorm room necessities, you'll want to include these 11 must-have tools. Including the essentials, like a hammer, level, pliers, and screwdrivers, Dustin claims that these tools will get you through basic household repairs and simple projects.

People must feel passionately about their tools, because the comments bring out some heated discussions about the validity of these recommendations, and argue for tools that didn't make the cut. I wouldn't add any tools to the list, but I think every family toolbox needs the the ever-important duct tape, crazy glue, and some other useful odds and ends like zap-straps and string.

What are your household handyman must haves?

Nothing perturbs me more than sitting in a chair and wobbling back and forth because the chair legs need fixing. I get perturbed because once again I spent my money on something cheap, or someone else did, and they just like to be annoying by rocking back and forth.

Over at the Indianapolis Star, our own extremely talented Shelly Leer learned how to fix annoying chair wobbles when a furniture builder showed her how to apply wood glue to the chair using a turkey basting syringe. Genius!

There's a little more to it: please join me after the break to learn how it's done.

Sliding doors come in two flavors: they work like a charm or they're a pain in the buttocks. Because of their very nature, things can go wrong. For most repairs, the door will need to be removed. No big mystery here; just raise it up and swing it outward. Here's a few problems and their solutions:

• The door won't roll. Inspect the rollers. If they're loose, tighten them. If they're broken, replace them. Is the track bent? It can usually be tapped back into shape using a wood block and a hammer.
• The door doesn't glide like it used to or jumps off the track. Check the bottom rollers and track. Clean them both carefully and lubricate them with paraffin or silicone spray.
• The catch doesn't catch. Door catches don't last forever and if they won't catch properly, they won't lock either. Sometimes they get bent and don't mate up properly, and sometimes they just wear out. If it's broken or worn out, just replace it. If it's bent, remove it and clamp it in your vise. Use needle-nose pliers to straighten it out. Replace it and test it. It should click and catch when the door slides up and mates with the frame.
  

Use these tips and you'll be slidin' and glidin' in no time!

In cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Hearth & Home Technologies Inc., has issued a voluntary recall of about 22,000 WSK-300 IntelliSwitch Fireplace Wall Controls. The wall controls were manufactured by Nortech Systems Inc. and sold with Heat & Glo gas direct vent fireplaces.

The wall control system can fail and the fireplace could turn on by itself, causing property damage. If the control system fails there could be a fire hazard if the consumer has left combustible objects in front of the unattended fireplace. Hearth & Home has received 13 reports of a fireplace turning itself on and continuing to operate. Although no fires or injuries have been reported, the firm has received two reports of minor property damage.

Sold by fireplace stores and distributors from January 2007 through February 2008 for between $2,800 and $3,500, the fireplaces were manufactured in the United States. Individual wall control systems were sold by fireplace stores, distributors, and installers from January 2007 through February 2008 for about $180. Please see the CPSC press release for model numbers involved in the recall.

Consumers are advised to disable the fireplace until a repair is performed. Retailers are contacting consumers directly with information on how to disable the fireplace. Hearth & Home will send consumers a free replacement wall control panel. Consumers not contacted by their retailer should contact Hearth & Home at (800) 215-5152 or visit their website at www.heatnglo.com.

Road biking and mountain biking are as different in style as they are in culture.

Road biking requires cyclists working together in order to maximize their performance through drafting and other strategies. In my experience, the drawback is that in contrast to working together to get a better time, road biking can be very "every man for himself" when it comes to helping others with mechanical issues.

Mountain biking, on the other hand, seems to have a culture of assisting anyone who looks like they are struggling, in spite of the need for individual talent and achievement in order to excel at the sport.

There is no drafting on an intense section of single track. I have been lent tools, tubes, chain parts, tech tips, and encouragement during various rides when things have definitely not been going well. Many of these offers came entirely unsolicited from complete strangers who just happened to pass me and my friends when we had stopped to deal with a situation.

After the break I will, in the true spirit of mountain biking, share a few of the more unusual repairs I have encountered when either parts or tools have not been present to do the needed repairs properly.

We have notoriously bad luck with dishwashers at my house. The last one caught on fire, and after my husband, father, stepfather, and repairman each separately reminded me that I needed to scrape the dishes before I loaded them, I nearly fired each of them. Sheesh.

I think I take pretty good care of my dishwasher (yes, I thoroughly scrape each dish before loading), but after reading this post on how to properly clean and maintain one... well, I could probably be doing more.

I clean it regularly and run a cup of vinegar through it, but rarely do I get down in there and disassemble it to make sure nothing has gotten stuck. WikiHow also recommends wiping around the doors and in the "dead spots" where water doesn't reach.

As I said, I usually use vinegar when cleaning my dishwasher, but did you know you can also use Kool-Aid? (Be sure not to use a strong color, however, as it may stain.) Once your dishwasher is freshly cleaned and ready to go, you can get the most out of each cycle using tips and tricks from Good Housekeeping.

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.

Electronics DIY'ers will find this soldering how-to page from AaronCake useful. It's an awesome resource for beginners, with basic definitions, step-by-step instructions, great photos, and helpful tips. Here are a few things I learned:

1. Traditional soldering irons are a much better bet than soldering guns. That's because soldering guns give off too much heat--enough heat to damage the circuit board that you're working on. Oops!

2. You know that distinctive smoke and smell created by soldering? (With two electronics-infatuated brothers, I grew up with that smell!) Well, the odor comes from rosin that's released into the air when the solder melts. It's actually harmful to the eyes and lungs, which is why you should always solder in a well-ventilated space.

3. A bad soldering job results in what's called a "cold joint." You can tell it by sight because the solder is dull and gray-colored. A cold joint doesn't transmit electricity properly. Meaning? You need to re-do the connection.