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
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
Box of Drywall Nails
Drywall can make a great surface for your home, but if you don't know how to work with it, it can be just as frustrating as most materials. This is particularly the case if you've got some annoying drywall nails on your hands. As drywall gets older and the wood changes, nails can sometimes change position, leading them to make bumps in the wall or even crack them open. If you want to fix those annoying drywall nails, this article will help you get started.
First, consult this article on "How Stuff Works" in order to check out the equipment you might be needing. A nail set will come in handy, as well as some basic tools like a hammer and sandpaper.
Next, you'll want to drive the popped nails back to where they were. If one is sticking out too far, simply remove it so that you can drive it back in again. You can use your nail set at this point. Remember that you're using your nail set, so the nail might go deeper than you originally thought it would be.
One of the reasons this nail might have popped out in the first place is that the change in the wood put pressure on it, squeezing it out of place. You can relieve some of this pressure by driving in a new nail about two inches above the old one onto the same stud in the drywall.
At this point, your drywall won't look very good - in fact, you will probably have two holes with nails in them. That's why it's important to be ready to cover up the drywall again. Clean out the area and then fill in the holes with a spackling compound. You can use your putty knife for this. Make sure the area is even with the rest of the drywall. After this spackle has dried, sand down the area and then apply primer and paint to match the rest of the drywall. Make sure that you touch up this area as needed, but allow it time to dry.
After these repairs, your drywall should look good as new, and hopefully with the repairs you've made, you won't have to worry about that drywall nail popping out again for a while. Doing these quick repairs should help you better understand how drywall works, as well.
Photo Credits: Bistrosavage
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Posted by Fix Handyman on January 21, 2010 in
Drywall, Handyman, How to Fix, Walls
Needs staining.
The wood deck is one of the hallmarks of the do-it-yourself home improvement buff, but what happens if you come across a home that has a wood deck that needs to be repaired? You may know a lot about building decks, but in order to fix one up and bring it up to your standards of quality, you'll have to think about things in a different way. Here are just a few tips for fixing and sealing a wood deck.
Test out the old deck. If the old deck is rotted and unfit, you'll simply want to replace it. Only leave a deck mostly in tact if you know that it's strong enough to function fully after being repaired.
It gets worse before it gets better: If you've ever cleaned out your garage before, you know that sometimes, home improvement means that things will get worse before they get better. If you really want to do a number on your wood deck and bring it up to snuff, then start out with a "it gets worse before it gets better" mindset. Take out anything resembling a loose nail. Destroy wood that has rotted and throw it out. If there's a part of the deck that doesn't look like it will mesh with a repaired one, get rid of it.
Sure, it might feel like you're building a new deck from scratch after this. But the end result will look more uniform and new if you really do a number on the old deck.
Replace what you've taken out. If you did a number on your deck, then you have more than a few holes to plug. If this is the case, you'll want to simply replace the old parts that came out with new ones. Make sure that every piece of wood in the structure is strong so that the entire deck will function like a new deck. When in doubt, take out an entire board and simply replace it with a new one.
Seal the deck. Seal the deck at the same point in which you would seal a new one.
Make the deck look uniform. After you've sealed the deck, it's time to make the deck look as uniform as possible. You can do this by staining all of the wood a similar color. Be sure to ask someone in the know about wood staining before you try it out - you don't want to end up with a mismatched deck. You can think about painting a deck if the staining won't work.
Photo Credits: tuchodi
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Posted by Fix Handyman on December 29, 2009 in
Deck, Handyman, How to Fix
Let's fix that cabinet door!
One of the primary rules of home improvement is simple: conservation. If something is broken, you'll want to fix it instead of replace it. This is true for most of your household items, whether you're talking about an old bed or a faulty cabinet door. Rather than go through the trouble to replace a broken down cabinet door, it's important to see if you can fix it first. You might be surprised how often you can.
When you're working with a cabinet door - or a door of any kind, for that matter - you'll be focusing on hinges. A door hinge essentially joins two structures of wood together to form the opening and closing we recognize as a door. If there is simply a problem with the wood itself, your woodworking skills will come in handy, but you won't have to worry about the hinges. If the problem in your cabinet door rests in how it actually swings, you'll be focusing on the hinges.
Take a look at the hinges first: what appears to be the problem? If there are loose screws, you can tighten them right away. Once you test-swing the door a couple of more times, you should be able to tell if this fixed the problem. Many broken hinges will continue to remain loose even after the screws are tightened. This implies a problem with the hinge itself. For example, if the screws are tightly locked into the wood, but the hinge is not tightly locked to the screws, you'll need to repair the hinge holes that the screws are attached to.
How can you do this? You can try to take out the screws and fill in the holes with glue, reinforcing them with small pieces of wood like toothpicks. This essentially helps re-build the loose area of the hinge so that you can re-insert the screws after the glue has dried. If there is still a problem, it might be with the quality of the wood itself. You might need to move the hinge up or down to a stronger area of the wood, though you may also want to consider the possibility of replacing the doors altogether.
Of course, since one of the primary rules of home improvement is to conserve, make sure you properly diagnose the real problem with your hinges by exploring the various possibilities first. If at first you don't succeed, try again.
Photo Credits: Greg_e
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Posted by Fix Handyman on August 18, 2009 in
Furniture, Handyman, How to Fix
Do you feel a draft?
One of the tools with the most uses around the house is simple: duct tape. A few rolls of duct tape in your tool shed will help you construct a temporary fix around most things, and will help to make sure that more brittle objects like glass can be rounded off so that they pose less of a safety threat. When it comes to the minor inconveniences, duct tape can deliver there, too. That's why you can repair a torn shower curtain with duct tape. Still curious as to how it's done? Let's explore.
If you tear a shower curtain down, it can puncture each hole that is meant for each of the shower rings - this leads to a "torn piece of paper from a notebook effect" that most people think means they have to go showerless. But in the time between a trip to the local home improvement store, you'll have to get by with a shower or two, especially if you have family in your home. Won't taping each individual hole require too much time and effort?
As it turns out, not if you're creative with your rolls of duct tape. Instead of taping up each hole, simply create a side of duct tape where all of the shower ring holes used to be - this double-sided duct tape edge should have as little adhesive showing as possible. This isn't totally necessary, of course, but it helps make things easier and more comfortable.
Now that you have a side of your shower curtain taped over with duct tape - the side with all of the ring holes - you'll need a way to put that side back up on the shower rings. You can do this by punching your own holes in the curtain and duct tape, essentially creating a new side of the shower curtain for temporary use. Hole punches can work if your rings are small, but you might need some larger holes if your rings are large and plastic. To do this, simply punch a hole and then poke it through with a wooden dowel or a similar object that will expand the hole.
Once you've done this a few times, you should be ready to put your repaired shower curtain up. It won't look like the best shower curtain you've ever used, but it will help ensure that you can close off your shower before buying a new curtain. If you're worried about splashing water out of the shower tub, you won't have to worry anymore; you'll be all set. Just another day in the life of a roll of duct tape.
Photo Credits: massdistraction
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Posted by Fix Handyman on August 14, 2009 in
Bathroom, Handyman, How to Fix, Shower
Clean out that debris!
If there's one thing that separates the do-it-yourself professionals from the amateurs, it's the ability to conserve. Using old things in new ways is the hallmark of the savvy home improvement fanatic, and nothing is when it comes to gutters. If you have an old gutter and want to install a modern rain removal system, there's no reason you can't teach the old dog new tricks and make it work it better ways. It will save you money and time, so why not?
The first thing you'll want to do with an old gutter is to clean it off - cracked-on dirt, debris, and dust can hide some leaks and holes that you need to know about. Be generous with the house and scrub the thing so that it looks as new as it can. After you've let it dry a little, try running some water through it as a test. If there are any leaks or holes, it's time to make sure that those leaks are no more.
In order to repair a leak or a hole in your old gutter, you're going to need to re-seal it. Gutter sealer from your hardware store (if you have caulk-like substances around the house, you might be able to use those) will fill the cracks and trap the water like the gutter was originally meant to. Be sure to check the overlapping on these old gutters, as they are sometimes less efficient than modern ones and may need to be sealed themselves.
Small holes and leaks aren't the only ways you can salvage an old gutter - even the big gaping cracks can be fixed if you have the right materials. If you have two old gutters, for example, you can use the metal of one of them to replace the metal of the other; if you use some roof cement you should be able to press one piece of metal to the other, sealing it off and making the old gutter like new. It might not be the prettiest gutter in the world, but you don't exactly have to put it out front for everyone to see.
Remember that gutters are rarely used for decoration: their primary function is simply to move water in a way that keeps the house dry and interacts with the natural environment. When you come across an old gutter that you think might have some life in it, don't necessarily toss it away instantly. Instead, ask yourself more practical questions, like what you can do with the metal, whether you can salvage the gutter, and where it might belong if it can be salvaged. It's up to you to make the most of your possessions. Will you?
Photo Credits: Mitia dd
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Posted by Fix Handyman on August 13, 2009 in
Handyman, How to Fix, gutters
Replace that broken fridge handle quickly and easily.
Around the house, the refrigerator is probably one of the appliances we take most for granted. It keeps our food fresh for days, keeps liquids cool, and the freezer can store foods for months. If you have a broken refrigerator handle, you've already experienced what it's like when this appliance doesn't work like it usually does. You probably have one thought: "I need to get this fixed immediately!" Though the handle breaking can be a minor inconvenience, it's something you'll want to taken care of. Here's how to fix it yourself.
Fortunately, repairing a refrigerator handle is an easy thing. Why's that? Because the simplest way to do it is simply to replace the door handle itself. And in order to accomplish this, you'll follow a few, simple steps.
First, you'll want to get rid of the old door handle. Presumably, you've left this handle on. Identify the areas on the handle that are attached to the refrigerator via screws, and then loosen the screws. Make sure to keep those screws in case you need to use them with your new refrigerator handle. Even if you buy the exact model of refrigerator handle from the manufacturer, there's no guarantee that they'll include the right screws you need. Rather than go through the trouble of finding new ones, simply save the old ones! (This is unless, of course, the screws were the problem in the first place).
Next, it's time to install the new handle. Line it up with the matching holes and twist in the top screw - this will allow the refrigerator handle to hang. Don't necessarily tighten this screw right away, as you'll want some flexibility for later. Next, twist in the bottom screw to near tightness with some flexibility. Now, use the flexibility of the new handle's position to align it correctly with the refrigerator. Tighten the top screw and then the bottom one. Voila!
Often times, repairs like this can be as simple as going online and ordering the right parts. Some manufacturers will even replace broken parts for free - some will do this while requiring that you send them the old part. In either case, make sure to explore your options and take care of this right away: don't let your house deteriorate. You never know when a guest might show up unexpectedly and try to open your refrigerator.
Photo Credits: Avoir Chaud
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Posted by Fix Handyman on August 10, 2009 in
Handyman, How to Fix, appliances, kitchen
Fix your Patio Roof.
One of the most common problems you'll come across in your home improvement is rust. Rust seems to be everywhere, unless you know how to prevent it and how to get rid of it. Oftentimes, the rust will show up in the places you ignore the most - areas like the patio roof, where rust is frequently an issue do-it-yourselfers have to address. So how can you repair your patio roof without doing damage to the patio?
If you're going to be up on your patio roof, you need to address some basics thanks to the theory of gravity. First, you'll need to make sure that your ladder leading up to the roof is secure - have someone else hold it for you to make sure. You'll also want to tread carefully, knowing that your weight is not insignificant and can pose a risk if you're dealing with a particularly weak roof. The higher your roof is, the higher your risks are, so be prepared.
If your patio roof is infected with rust, then you're going to want to clean the roof off as much as possible before you begin work. Brush and sweep away debris, leaves, and other unwelcome contaminants that would get in the way of your tools and the rust on your patio roof. You'll want the roof to be as clean as possible when you begin your work so that nothing interferes later on.
Next, you'll want to use a pressure washer to help you scrape off rust and mildew from the roof. A mixture of three parts water to one part chlorine bleach can be a very effect cleaner - just make sure you don't get it in your eyes or near anyone else, for that matter. This should be a very effective cleaning that will help remove any excess materials you don't want on your roof, paving the way for a smooth foundation. If any parts are still stubborn, you'll want to use sandpaper to actually widdle away at the rust.
Applying a roof sealant will help protect against any holes that might have been brought about by the rust, so apply a coat of sealant next, being careful to make it even. Let this sit and dry for a long time. In order to make sure that the roof is dry, wait for a clear weather report with high pressure systems.
After you've completed the repairs on your roof, be sure to visit it occasionally, checking on the progress of any rust and making sure there are no leaks or potential holes developing. The better prepared you are, the less you'll have to deal with these problems in the future.
Photo Credits: bossco
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Posted by Fix Handyman on August 6, 2009 in
Handyman, How to Fix, Patio
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