Get those dents out!
Aluminum is one of the most valuable metals we have for use around the house: light, strong, cheap, and durable. It's useful enough that many people use aluminum siding as the exoskeleton of their house, using it to protect them from the elements and seal off as much of the environment as possible. But there is one disadvantage to aluminum: it can dent. When it does dent, especially in your home siding, what exactly can you do?
You're about to find out some of the best dent removal tricks out there. What will you need? Start with a drill, a sheet metal screw, a flat washer, a pair of pliers, metal filler, sand paper, and metal primer.
It's a tall order, but you should be able to retrieve many of these items at a relatively low price at a local hardware store. Once you have your tools and supplies ready, it's time to get down to business.
The process of removing a dent in aluminum siding is essentially to drill a hole, use that hole to pull back the dent, and then cover up the hole so that it looks like nothing was ever there. You can begin by drilling a couple of small holes (one-eight of an inch in diameter) and screwing in the sheet metal screw you have with a sheet metal washer partially into the hole. This will give you some leverage with which to pull the aluminum dent out. Pull on the screw with the pliers, protecting your hands. The washer will protect the rest of the aluminum on your siding from the pliers.
Once you've pulled out the dent, remove everything and take a look at the holes you drilled. It's time to fill them up with metal or body filler, also making sure to fill up any of the residual dent so that everything is relatively smooth. It will probably take a couple of coats of body filler in order to make sure that everything is smooth.
After those coats have dried, sand everything even. Clean out the scrapings so that the area is dry, and then apply a metal primer. After this primer has dried, apply some metal paint to the area - everything should look properly covered, as if the dent and the holes were never there.
Voila! You've fixed your own aluminum siding. Now you'll have a couple of extra supplies and tools around the house if you need to make similar repairs somewhere else.
Photo Credits: D. Bjorn
Originally posted 2009-08-05 06:00:34.
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Posted by Fix Handyman on March 12, 2010 in
Handyman, House, How to Fix
How to Fix Chipped, Broken Plaster
Plaster can be a great material to use in construction because of its flexibility, but it also has some downsides. One downside? It can easily become chipped or cracked, which is why the do-it-yourselfer in your home will want to make sure to understand some quick, easy ways to fix and smoothen out that plaster. If that's what you want to learn today, you've come to the right place: let's explore some quick steps to restoring a plaster finish.
- First, get your tools ready.
What will you need when you're fixing up some plaster? A good utility knife, a plaster compound (such as plaster of paris), brushes, a scraper, a wood block, sandpaper, primer, and paint are some general items you'll either find in your tool shed or at the local hardware store. Once you have these items ready, you're ready to take a better look at the chip in your plaster.
- Treat the chip first.
This usually includes cutting away loose chunks of plaster with your knife while making sure that you don't do anything to cause further damage to the surrounding plaster. Once you've cleared the debris, shake off smaller particles with a towel and use your vacuum cleaner to get the hard-to-reach dust and plaster bits.
- Next, get out your plaster compound.
Mix it up into a hearty paste - try to make it less flexible rather than erring on the side of making it too thin. Before you apply the plaster, moisten the area by using your brush - this will help when applying the plaster of paris. Next, apply your plaster compound, making sure that it is well-set into the chip. Smoothen out the surface with your scraper and then take 24 hours off while your plaster compound hardens.
- Sand down the area after 24 hours.
Once your 24 hours have passed, it's time to take another look at your chip repair. Chances are that it doesn't look that good yet - but that's why you're going to want to sand down the area and smoothen it out. You can also re-plaster any areas that haven't been fixed yet, but remember that you'll want to give it 24 hours to dry.
- After sanding, apply primer and then your paint.
After you've sanded out the area smooth, it's time to apply your primer. Your primer is crucial for creating a smooth, durable coat of paint. Once your primer has dried (this might take a considerable amount of time), you can then apply your paint and let it try. Voila!
Photo Credits: amarette.
Originally posted 2009-07-23 08:00:37.
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Posted by Fix Handyman on March 9, 2010 in
Handyman, How to Fix
Measure the hole before starting repair.
When you own your own home, seeing a hole in your drywall can be really frustrating. You've went through all the work to attain a mortgage loan, work forty hours a week to make the payments, and still everything seems to take time and money! But what if you had another option that didn't take nearly as much of your time and money? That solution is known as skillful home improvement. Even if you've never fancied yourself a do-it-yourselfer, with this article, you may just find yourself inspired.
First, repairing a small hole in your drywall will mean finding some necessary tools. In addition to primer and properly-colored paint, you'll want to find a wallboard taping knife at least half a foot wide, a drywall sanding block, wallboard joint compound, and a metal drywall patch with adhesive mesh. Note: you're going to want to measure the drywall hole size before buying the metal drywall patch.
Measure the hole in your drywall - since we describe it as a "small" hole, there's a good chance it's somewhere up to 8 inches. Once you've got it measured, go to your hardware store and buy the drywall patch mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Once you have this patch, you can simply peel it and apply it to the part of the wall with the hole in it.
Take your wallboard taping knife and apply the wallboard joint compound to the patch, being sure to fill all of the holes in the area. Give it a good two or three coats to make sure the entire area is well-covered and relatively smooth (if it's not perfect, don't worry; you'll be sanding it down once it dries).
After waiting for it to dry, take your sanding block and sand off the area so that it's smooth and consistent with the rest of the drywall. Don't worry about making mistakes, because you can simply fill those in and begin the process of filling in and sanding over again. It's frustrating, sure, but that doesn't mean you can't get past it.
With the area properly sanded and dried, you should be ready to apply the primer. Now you can put the primer on the area and wait for it to dry. Once it's dried, roll the paint on (much like how you would apply the paint on the rest of the wall) and voila! You have a fixed drywall hole.
Photo Credits: soxophone player
Originally posted 2009-09-30 03:55:55.
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Posted by Fix Handyman on January 26, 2010 in
Drywall, Handyman, How to Fix
Fixing old doors.
With winter rolling around and tough economic times, the name of the game for many people across the northern hemisphere is this: how to save money on heating in your home without investing in a new heater or breaking their back to improve their home. One of the best ways you can fix the problem is by attacking the key areas where your home is losing heat - and one of these areas is simple: your door.
Many doors today already come with weather-stripping that traps in air automatically with every time they're shut. But that's no guarantee your door has the same. Here's a quick guide to setting up weather stripping on your door.
One of the first things to do is consider the material you want to use: weather stripping is seen in rubber, foam, metal, and plastic. Go to a local hardware store and find the appropriate materials - but not without measuring your door fir so that you understand exactly how much weather stripping you'll be needing.
You can attach the stripping to the door as directed at your local hardware store - it's not a bad idea to ask for help if you're stuck here, especially when it comes to all of the different varieties of weather stripping available. Once you are ready to attach the stripping, go ahead and do it, being as thorough as possible and working to make sure everything stays symmetrical and relatively tight.
Once you've attached the weather stripping - and before you move on to the next door - test to see how well you've done. Some people do this by lighting a stick of incense near the door to see if there are any areas that are leaking air. Light the incense and go to the other side of the door - once there, if you see incense floating out, you need further stripping. Make sure you note where the incense is getting through so that you can fix the appropriate location on the door when you come back around.
After you have a handle on your weather-stripping abilities, go ahead and install weather stripping on all of the doors in your home that needs stripping. Now, you're all set! You can enjoy a more thoroughly-insulated home this winter; this means a tighter energy bill and a more peaceful state of mind. One more tip: keep the money you save on energy to invest in more home improvements!
Photo Credits: boboroshi
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Posted by Fix Handyman on December 24, 2009 in
Handyman, How to Fix, doors
Got yourself a leaky toilet?
Although most people don't know this, some toilets can leak water even when you're not doing anything. If you've inspected your toilet before in order to see if it was wasting any water, only to notice that no water was wasted, this article might have the solution for your water wasting problems: your toilet may be inefficient - and even leaking - while you sleep! If you want to make your toilet more efficient and stop wasting water
through either a leak or through simple inefficiency, this article is for you.
The first thing you can do to detect a leak is to place a drop of food coloring in your toilet bowl. If water is leaking anywhere, you'll instantly detect it because of the changed color, so be sure to drop in plenty. Check the toilet tank to see if anything has leaked from the bowl - if there has, you're looking at a very hard-to-detect toilet leak that you've only seen because you've taken the time to look it up.
In order to fix this leak, you'll have to check in a number of places. Check common areas like the flapper. If there are any problems, you may have to replace an individual part of your toilet. In order to do this, try and find the most appropriate part - the same part, if possible - and buy it online or at your local hardware store.
What about a toilet that doesn't leak, but has simply started to become inefficient? If ecology is a major issue in your toilet flushing needs, you can always replace the unit itself in order to have a consistently low flush. But if you simply want to upgrade your current toilet so that you're losing less water each time you flush, you can simply replace the flush valve! You don't always need to get a new toilet in order to flush less each time.
If you're tight on money, you can simply replace the flush valve in order to make your toilet more efficient and lest wasteful. You can also fix the toilet by replacing an individual part if there is a leak and one part is causing the error. Remember to keep mental pictures of all of the repairs and upgrades you make in case you ever have to treat another toilet that has become inefficient. Next time, you'll be ready, and you'll know exactly what to do!
Photo credits: pokpok313
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Posted by Fix Handyman on December 17, 2009 in
Bathroom, Handyman, How to Fix, toilet
Painting the wall.
One of the most frequent themes in home repair and decoration is painting. Just go into your local hardware store and you'll see how much is dedicated to paint - from the brushes to the cans, to finding the ideal mixture of a paint color for your room. So when your home has an amateur paint job in one of the rooms, it definitely sticks out. How can you paint like a professional without paying professional prices for an expertly-crafted paint job in your favorite room?
If you want to paint like a professional, you'll have to prepare like one. This separates the professionals from the amateurs. If you want to put up a professional paint job in your home, start with preparing by removing light switch and outlet covers, removing other hardware that can get in the way, removing fixtures that can get in the way, and taping off the edges that you can't quite get rid of. Preparation for your paint job is crucial, so make sure you don't slack here. Once you've done a good job preparing for a professional paint job, you'll find that the rest of the job feels as easy as "connect-the-dots."
After a first-rate job of preparing the room for painting, it's time to put on the first-rate paint itself. First, put on a coat of primer if you feel like you need it. Let the primer dry - and make sure that you've applied the primer to all of the areas you plan on brushing and rolling paint onto. With the primer ready to accept your paint, start working from the top-down: start with the ceiling, move to the walls, and then handle areas such as the finishing paint near windows.
As you paint, make sure to be generous with your paint, but consistent. Don't slop paint on and spread it around like it's jelly; instead, just be sure to do a thorough job. Being thorough is exactly what separates an amateur paint job from a professional job, so be sure that you follow through on this point.
Be sure to let your paint dry before you evaluate it. You might find that your paint job is great and ready to go! If it needs another layer of thickness, apply another coat and let that dry. Once you're finished, put the room back in its original order and enjoy a fresh coat of paint and the new color you've applied.
Photo Credits: Patrick Goossens
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Posted by Fix Handyman on October 22, 2009 in
Handyman, House, How to Fix
Get Rid of Rust
When it comes to the bathroom, there's nothing we want to see in there except anything that's brightly-colored. Yellows, greens, rusts, and especially browns are often strictly forbidden in many peoples' bathrooms. So when a rust color starts appearing in your toilet and you can't simply clean it off with a quick swipe of the toilet brush, you know you've got a rust problem - and it needs to go away quickly. So how exactly do you do that? Well, luckily, you've come to the right place: here you'll find out how to get rid of those pesky stains once and for all.
First, you'll have to check your own home for rust remover. If you live by yourself and don't remember buying any, you'll probably want to head to the local hardware store or appropriate retail outlet to buy a rust remover. Don't assume that your ordinary, around-the-kitchen cleaners will work in removing this rust. Instead, make sure that you know you have something that works.
What works? Well, you can start with a dedicated product like Shaw's Pads. What are these pads? They're simple cleaning devices made specifically for eliminating the kinds of stains you're facing in your toilet or bathtub. The web site may not look like much, but hey - if it works, it works.
There are other products available that can help remove the stains in your toilet. Look for a "Pumice stick" at your hardware store. All you do is take the stick and rub it against the stain, working up a "paste" that will help you clean off the stain, which you can then simply flush down the toilet.
Perhaps what's important in addressing toilet stains is what you don't do. The solutions to a toilet stain are relatively simple once you know them; but if you don't know how to fix them, you'll want to do your research first! Since this article has started you off in the right direction, you should have a better idea of how to eliminate those pesky toilet rust stains. Feel free to eliminate rust stains on similar bathroom fixtures like sinks and bath tubs, as well.
Remember, home improvement doesn't necessarily start with the tools; it starts with your knowledge. The more you know about what works and what doesn't, the quicker and safer your repairs will be.
Photo Credits: Fermion
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Posted by Fix Handyman on October 2, 2009 in
Bathroom, home repair, toilet
Poorly-Finished Wood Deck
Re-finishing your wood deck isn't the most difficult operation around the house, but you'll find that it can be a very rewarding project, especially when summer rolls around. But exactly how easy is it? In this article, you'll find some basic steps and strategies for re-finishing your wood deck to restore its original luster.
- "Check your deck" and make sure the structure is ready for finishing. It may sound a little simple, but if you want to make sure you'll have a great restored deck, you'll want to make sure there aren't any major repairs needed first. Check the structure of the deck, because if you are finishing a deck that's flawed, you're simply dressing up something that's fundamentally poor. Make the necessary repairs before you re-finish your deck.
- Clean your deck with a power washer. It's possible to rent a power washer from a local hardware store or retail outlet, so be sure that you make full use of it and give your deck a thorough cleaning. Before you power wash your deck, make sure it's clear of any major items that you don't want to get wet, and be sure that nearby objects won't be harmed if they're touched by the water. Then it's a matter of blasting away the dirt - enjoy it!
- Start sanding. Once your deck is freshly clean, it's time to make the final preparations for the sealing itself, and that means smoothing out the wood itself. The best way to do this is by sanding, usually with a power sander. Keep the power sander in mind when you head to the hardware store looking for a power washer to rent. Don't go overboard with sanding; simply smoothen out the deck's surface so that the sealant will stick properly to the wood underneath.
- Seal the deck. Once the deck is clean and smoothed out by the power sander, you're ready to seal it. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to seal the deck after using the power sander, as you don't want to leave your deck to the elements overnight. Once you've sealed it, give your deck the proper amount of time to dry off and settle properly. You can then move furniture back onto it and enjoy!
Re-finishing your deck is not the most complicated way to get started with your own home improvement endeavors, but it is rewarding!
Photo Credits: Creativity103
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Posted by Fix Handyman on October 1, 2009 in
Deck, Handyman, How to Fix, Patio
Get your home looking great!
Your home should look beautiful - not only because you live in it, but because you want to show a level of respect and responsibility when it comes to the things you own. Well, or the things you're paying off each month. Either way, if you want a home with beautiful siding, siding spots simply won't do. If you plan on selling a house with siding spots, it might be a good idea to take a Saturday afternoon to fix them. Here's how you can do it.
First, identify all of the spots you plan on fixing. Knowing how much fixing you're going to be doing will allow you to know how much primer and color-matched paint you're going to need. If you still have paint of the original color, make sure you have enough; if not, try visiting the hardware store to have the color matched.
Next, you'll have to find a way to grind the spot smooth. Whether this is with sandpaper or a small power grinder, you might want to get in touch with your hardware store and see what they recommend. If you already have a small power grinder, you shouldn't have too much trouble leveling the surface and preparing it for priming and painting.
Wear the surface down and try to make the level relatively consistent with the rest of the siding. Once the surface has been properly worn down, continue the "prepping" by cleaning out the area of dust and paint chips. You don't want to apply primer and paint over this debris, to try to clean each spot as thoroughly as possible.
Now that you've got a clean spot to paint over, apply your primer. Apply thinly but try to make sure that you also apply evenly and thoroughly. This will allow for more paint to stick to the area and completely fill in the spot.
Once the primer has dried from your siding spots, apply the paint. Use oil or latex-based paint for your siding, and - voila! You should be clear of siding spots.
You'll find that having a home clear of siding spots will help you feel more confident when it's time to sell it. You want your home to look as good as possible when you're selling it, and siding spots simply aren't in the cards. If you're simply taking care of your home for your own sake, you'll feel proud of yourself and might even ask, "what's next?"
Photo Credits: iLoveButter
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Posted by Fix Handyman on September 14, 2009 in
Handyman, House, How to Fix, paint
Fixing your deck stain?
The overall stain of your deck is part of what gives it its charm. The more you use your deck, the happier you are with your deck, but the more you can expect to wear away at the original stain of the wood. If your deck has been in need of a new deck stain for a while now, it's time to actually get around to it and update it with a fresh new look. You don't have to be a deck expert to get this done; you just need the right instructions.
First, you'll want to apply a deck stripper to the deck. This won't solve everything for you, but it will prepare the deck for what will happen in the next steps. Make sure that you choose the appropriate stripper for the kind of wood you have; if you have any questions about this, try asking someone at the local hardware store for some advice, or at least do an internet search on the type of wood you're using.
After this part of the job is finished, you'll want to rent a pressure washer. When you bring it home, be sure that your deck is clear of the big stuff (tables, chairs) and the small stuff (stones, debris). Why? You're going to be spraying down your deck with a high-intensity spray, and you don't want to send anything flying!
In conjunction with the deck stripper you've already applied, your pressure washer should be able to peel off the old stain to your deck, or at least give your deck a new, uniform color. You might also be able to incorporate deck cleaners that remove old stains; once again, questions should be directed to your local hardware or home improvement store. Once you've stripped the stain, wash it out and let the deck dry over the period of a few days.
Now that you've removed the old stain, it's time to select a new stain. You might have had something in mind already, but if you simply wanted to fix the old stain, you've got some thinking to do. Choose a stain that works well for your wood, and if you can, make sure to test the stain on an idle piece of wood to see that it has the color you like.
Once this is ready, you should be good to apply the new stain to your wood. You'll want to let it dry and set in before using your deck; after a period of a few to several days, your deck should be looking brand-new and properly stained. Congratulations! You've fixed a deck stain. Now if you could just get that wine stain out of your shirt...
Photo Credits: Jeff_Werner
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Posted by Fix Handyman on September 3, 2009 in
Backyard, Deck, Handyman, How to Fix
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