Got a dry lawn?
Sure, you can read plenty of do-it-yourself articles that focus on home improvement and fixing different appliances and fixtures in your house, but what if your lawn is the thing that needs repair? If you've just gone through a dry month and need your lawn to go from brown to green in a hurry, this post is for you. We'll take a look at some tips and techniques for getting your lawn looking, well, alive again.
- First, be sure what the source of the problem is. If you're not sure that it's the dry weather that's making your lawn brown, you'll want to figure out if it's a shortage of water or an abundance of hungry insects that's making your lawn go brown. If your lawn is brown in patches, there's a good chance that it's something other than the dryness - or at least not the dryness totally - that's effecting your lawn. If your entire front and backyard are both brown, you're probably looking at simple dryness. Hint: a good way to test this is to take out a clump of your lawn and look for the roots. If the roots are eaten up, you have bugs to blame. If not, the weather is probably the factor.
- Next, you'll want to make sure you apply the appropriate amount of water to your lawn. Look up your individual grass type or at least climate and try to find out the typical amount of water your grass needs to look green. You don't want to under-water your grass, but you don't want to over-water it either. Note: making sure you water your grass the proper amount doesn't necessarily mean that you'll want to conserve water. It seemly means that you'll want to find the right amount of water for your grass type - it might be high or low.
- Finally, you'll want to make sure you have strong blades of grass with strong roots. This is achieved by mowing your lawn with a high setting, meaning that you'll leave tall blades of grass. Why? The shorter the blades, the less need they have for strong roots to provide them with strength and nutrients. If you have longer blades of grass on a regular basis, the roots will grow strong and give your grass blades a healthy, attractive look. Remember that the more roots there are, the more water they'll need.
Photo Credits: Bill Hails
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Posted by Fix Handyman on September 28, 2009 in
Handyman, How to Fix, Landscaper, Lawn
Broken door lock?
Having a broken car door lock might not be the most serious situation your car's ever encountered, but it can make you feel "out of commission" nonetheless. After all, your car's lock is vital to feeling safe, and at least erasing the feeling that some one may steal one of your possessions or - worse yet - your car itself. If you need to fix your car door lock in a hurry, this article will be your guide.
First, you'll want to make sure that everything is working well - not just the car lock itself. If you're having trouble using your remote locking mechanism attached to your keychain, then you may want to check the batteries. Believe it or not, this can actually be a relatively common problem with an easy fix: simply replace the batteries in your remote mechanism and give it a test. If your car locks still aren't budging, it's time to move on to the next step.
What is that next step? You'll want to check all of the door locks in your car and see how they're working. If they're all not functioning, then you likely have a problem with a blown fuse. If only one car door lock isn't functioning, then the problem may be with that door lock's solenoid. Now you know where to go in order to fix your locking problem: the answer should lie either with the individual lock or the fuse that is connected to every power lock on your car.
If you're looking at a problem with an individual lock, you'll need to determine what the problem exactly is - it will most likely lie with the wires or the lock mechanism itself. If you can open the door and take a look at the lock, making sure to move it up and down if you can, you should try to see if the lock makes "attempts" at locking. If this is the case, then you're looking at a frozen lock mechanism. If not, you may want to look at the wiring of your lock; this will often call for a replacement.
The car door lock is an important and sometimes tricky thing to figure out. If you have too many doubts about what the problem is, simply contact a professional who can make the right diagnosis. At the very least, see if you can get in touch with a friend who's interested in cars.
Photo Credits: Paul Kehrer
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Posted by Fix Handyman on September 4, 2009 in
Car, How to Fix, Locks, Locksmith, Mechanic, doors
Clogged toilet? Get to work!
Let's face it: when it comes to your bathroom, you don't always have a lot of time to get things done. Emergencies in your bathroom can seem especially high-priority if you've got a quick water leak and need to get something flowing again before your entire room is flooded. If that's the case, you'll want to learn some bathroom basics - and how to handle them in a hurry. Here's how to fix your clogged toilet quickly.
First, if we can assume that you need to plunge a toilet in a hurry, we can also assume that your toilet is probably filling up. It's time to get the plunger quickly. Usually, you'd want to get the plunger after you add some water to the toilet, as plungers work best when the plunger head is also submerged in water. The good news is that during a serious backing up of your toilet, you'll have plenty of water to work with already. (That, of course, is also the bad news.)
This means that you should simply grab the plunger and get to unclogging right away - no waiting for the "right conditions" - just get to work! Next, you'll start plunging by pumping the toilet in rapid succession. Even if you splash some water around on the ground, don't worry. The water can be dried up, but you'll want to get the clog fixed as soon as possible.
A key element in this equation will be the plunger itself. If you don't have a very good plunger under the bathroom sink, you probably won't be able to unclog a toilet quite as quickly. Don't go for the "cute" plungers that look better than the big, clunky ones - you want a big, clunky one. These ones will be able to cover the entire drain in your toilet and move the most water possible, making each pump of the plunger more powerful. It will be difficult to clean out your clogged toilet in a rush if you're using a small, plastic plunger.
It's important that if you need to get your toilet unclogged quickly, you do it right the first time. Make sure that the plunger covers the entire drain of the toilet, as this seal will help to create the force you want. If it takes a couple of extra seconds to make sure you have the plunger on right, that's okay. Those extra seconds will mean that your plunger will be that much more effective when you do start pumping.
After a "bathroom emergency" like unclogging a toilet, you might find yourself amused at how rushed you felt. But if you know how to unclog a toilet the right way, you should feel perfectly relaxed, a true Unclogging Master.
Photo Credits: Two Big Paws
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Posted by Fix Handyman on September 1, 2009 in
Bathroom, Handyman, How to Fix, toilet
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