This is Part one of our series on addressing some of the impossible (OK, more like extremely difficult) tasks electricians come across when rewiring homes. Part one begins with possibly the most obvious issue: how do you rewire lights and fans on the ceiling of the first floor of a two-story home? By no means is this article going to be comprehensive enough for you to do the entire job on your own. More, it's designed to give you some ideas, and to encourage electricians and tradesmen in the decisions they are already making. Lastly, it will give homeowners a better appreciation for just how difficult a job rewiring an older home can be. It's never easy or straightforward and doing it right will result in a large amount of debris and a LOT of holes to be patched up. Expect that when you get into it and you won't be surprised on the back end.
Living in a 1920's home is wonderful - you get style, character, and an established neighborhood all rolled into one. But some of the antique "innovations" of the 1920s may not cut it for modern use. I mean, let's face it, plumbing back then was barely in existence, let alone up to modern building codes. But most of us aren't dealing with a simple and straightforward update to modern systems and styles. No, we're often undoing someone else's botched mess. Much of what makes a simple renovation into a full-blown remodel has to do with inferior work performed decades ago. What you have, in our case, was a situation where a bathroom was simply in desperate need of an update to bring it into the 21st century - but while letting it retain a bit of old world charm. That was our challenge - and we started where all good projects start: at the drawing board.
I ran into a situation where someone had installed a toilet with a 15-inch offset from the finished rear wall of a bathroom. The typical offset is 12-inches for most residential toilets. As a result, there was a full 4-inches behind the toilet, making it look like it was trying to participate in the activities of the bathroom rather than sit quietly until needed. While this would seem to be a hopeless situation - I mean who wants to completely remove and cut out a new toilet drain hole? - there is a way to make it right. Shop at your local home improvement store or neighborhood hardware store and you'll find a device called a toilet offset flange. This product is designed to give you approximately 2-inches of extra distance in any direction from the existing toilet sewage pipe.
No other flooring material offers the warmth, beauty, and value of real wood. Wood flooring provides a timeless beauty that can enhance the décor of just about any room. Many of today’s wood floors are affordable and durable with nearly no limit on styles, colors and species of wood available, Installing a prefinished hardwood floor in your home can be one of the best ways to upgrade your home. While there are many products that look like hardwood flooring on the market, it is difficulty to really replicate the feeling of real wood under your feet. Doing the prep and installation of a hardwood floor can be daunting, but the fact that you don't have to sand and finish a prefinished floor makes it a compelling choice. Normally the finish coatings on prefinished flooring is many times more durable than traditional flooring finishes. If you have the time and a helper, laying your own hardwood floor is probably one of the most rewording DIY projects you can tackle.
If you are thinking of putting your home on the market, now is a great time to do a little preparation work to get it ready to show to potential buyers. And sometimes, it's the little details that make all the difference. By careful planning, a little elbow grease and just a little bit of maintenance know-how, you can make your home shine. With a market that is already flooded with an excess inventory of homes for sale, taking care of your home's looks and functions can really help to give you an upper hand. It can be easy for your home to just blend in so what we have tried to do is come up with a list of things that you can do to give your home a boost.
While we are not really in the habit of covering too many automotive tools and problems, it seems that oxygen sensors are one area that keeps creeping back into my project list. With all the computer gadgetry on cars today, many car problems can seem daunting. Don't you just hate it when the check engine light comes on in your car? Often it's for something as relatively simple as an oxygen sensor that's gone bad. This is especially true if your automobile has around 100 thousand miles on it. The normal expected life span of an oxygen sensor is somewhere in the range of 60 to 90 thousand miles. The good news with oxygen sensors is that there really is not too much to mess up if you try to tackle the job yourself to save a few bucks.
If you've ever lived in an old house - a really old house, then you are likely familiar with the problem of termites and what they can do to wood floors. The good news is that if you have access to replacement wood (in our case, pine boards taken from the attic, which used to house a second story until an unfortunate "incident" with a tree some years ago), you can do a remarkable repair job that will look good as new in virtually no time flat.
Most home appliances take AC voltage, supplied to your house from the utility company, and use it to make heat, light, turn a motor or, commonly, all three at the same time. But when the appliance stops functioning, a logical approach to troubleshooting comes in handy. The most common problems with household appliances are mechanical in nature: a broken or worn out component (such as a switch or motor), a loose wire, or a bad connection. Troubleshooting appliances comes down to checking for proper voltage at each circuit component, typically 110 to 120 volts AC, as well as checking the integrity of components and connections using functions found on Amprobe multimeters.
We came across a great article over at Geeky-Gadgets.com that involved a home-made dock for your iPhone, that would place it on top of your iPad. Why? Well, it seems some users would like to talk around doing their work while streaming a movie or watching TV on the iPhone. I know, why not just surf in front of your TV? Stop asking questions, this is a DIY moment of greatness - and when has practicality ever stood in the way of a cool project? In either case, it's a relatively simple project and involves the use of a Dremel rotary tool, super glue and some epoxy paint.
When you are wiring a house, either high or low voltage there are several situations where you will come across the need to arm yourself with good electrical wire pulling tools. It's simply part of the job and something that even the best laid plans will intersect with from time to time. Overall this isn't a terribly difficult situation to deal with, but depending upon whether you are in the midst of a complex retrofit, or a more open new construction situation, the tools you use can change the job from one of extreme frustration to one that is more or less routine.
A raised flower bed or garden is a great way to grow things when you have poor soil conditions, limited space or just want to create a very manageable area for planting. We will take a quick look at what is involved in planning and building a raised flower bed or garden.
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