Not every project goes as well as planned. We would be happy to spend a few minutes answering your questions.
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A customer thought to call his handyman to remove a lock that he had lost the key to. He had locked his side gate with a padlock and wanted to remove the lock. He started using a hacksaw but quickly found that this was going nowhere.
There are a few quick ways to remove a padlock. Bolt cutters work great but you may have to rent them if the lock shaft is casehardened. The longer the handles on the bolt cutter, the more pressure is exerted at the cutting head. You may find it necessary to place one handle against your stomach and then squeeze the other handle with both hands. It’s not he most comfortable way to cut a lock shaft, but sometimes you need to get creative to get maximum force.
The other way I prefer is to grind it off. Use a small grinder with a 4” wheel and cut through the shaft. Yes, you will get a small spray of sparks, but cutting the shaft is pretty effortless using this method. The only challenge you may have is finding electricity close enough to the lock to be able to use the grinder. You other option is a longer cord or a generator.
If you have a patio made up of individual pavers, eventually one will become loose. You can call a handyman or grab some simple items and fix it yourself. This works equally well for walkways made of pavers.
Pavers are typically placed using either concrete or a bed of sand. Sand will need more maintenance than concrete but it won’t take much time or effort. Most of the repairs deal with sand based pavers and so I will focus on that type here.
You will need to remove the paver that is loose and that can be a challenge because there isn’t much space to work with. Pry up a corner and lift it out. You can bend a coat hanger or try to get a screwdriver in there and lift it out. The trick is to have the finished surface of the paver even with the surrounding surfaces. Grab a handful of sand (washed sand from a home center) and lay it down into the void. Place the paver back in place and gently rock it to even out the sand. Once it is steady and solid, you can add more sand in the grout lines and broom it off. You can also sprinkle some water to settle everything down and then add some more sand.
There are times when hanging a picture is tough. There just isn't a wall stud where a handyman needs one. For these situations, there are picture hangers you can buy specifically for mounting in drywall and supporting significant weight.
You can buy a nail and hook set that hang in the drywall at an angle. These will easily support 30-50 pounds. You can also buy a 3-nail hardware hanger that supports an even greater amount of weight. Although the nails are somewhat smaller, there are more mounting points for the hangar to grip.
Both of these types of hangers mount in the same manner. Getting the right angle is important. Don't hammer the nail into the drywall first. Instead, place the hanger in it's final resting place and then insert the nail and hammer it in. If you try to hit the nail into the drywall first, you may not get the correct angle on the nail and the hanger might not sit flush against the wall. Any adjustment to the nail is going to damage the hole in the drywall and consequently reduce the holding power of the hanger.
When you hang the picture on the hanger, obviously be gently about it by setting it easily on the hanger.
If you plan on removing a vanity, here are some handyman tips to make the job a little easier.
After you clean the vanity out of any items, remove any weight, such as drawers or shelves. Then turn the water off to the faucet and disconnect the piping. I would remove the water supply connections at the faucet, with the hope that you may be able to reuse them. Disconnect the drain line and clear it out of the way. Now you can start removing the vanity.
Use a utility knife and cut any caulking around the vanity. Look for this where the backsplash meets the wall and cut through it. Grab a flashlight and look under the sink top for screws holding the vanity to the wall. These will typically be up high in the cabinet right under the counter top. Also look near the cabinet floor for screws to remove. Don’t forget the short wall either as there may be screws around the perimeter of the cabinet.
Lastly, take a look at the flooring. In some cases, if you have ceramic tile for example, the installer may have placed the vanity first and then tiled right up to the toe kick. Keep in mind that you will need to shimmy the vanity up and out of this area. Also, when you install the new vanity, you will have to contend with some flooring issues if the new vanity is not the exact footprint of the old one.
Many shower handles are plastic these days, and any handyman has had plenty of practice replacing them. As you use the handle to turn the water warmer or cooler, over time the parts in the shower valve (the cartridge or the stem and seat) will get corroded, causing you to use more force to turn the handle. This extra force can easily crack a plastic handle.
So when your handle cracks it won’t be long before you have to replace it. You will end up moving the handle but not being able to regulate the water. You may not even be able to turn the water on.
Replacing a plastic handle is very easy and all you will need is a screwdriver. You will need to pry off the cap on the front of the handle. A small standard screwdriver is perfect for this. The cap blends in very well with the handle so you will have to look and feel for it. Look for a ridge and pry it off.
Underneath the cap will be a single screw. Use a Philips head screwdriver and remove this screw. The handle will pull right off. Place the new handle onto the end of the cartridge or stem and reinstall the screw snuggly but don’t over-tighten it, you don’t want to crack the new handle . Push the new cap onto the handle to conceal the screw.
You don’t need a handyman to clean the coils on your refrigerator. This is a five minute job and will help your fridge run better and more efficiently. You will need a coil brush and a vacuum to suck out the debris is loosens.
These coils cool and condense the refrigerant for your refrigerator. On a standard fridge, they are found either on the bottom or running across the back of the unit. If they run across the back, you will need to pull the fridge out from the wall. If they are on the bottom, you will have to remove the grill to access them. The grill will probably just pop out, but you may need to remove a few screws. It’s a good idea to unplug the refrigerator while you work on it.
Use a coil brush and gently run it across the coils. It will collect some of the dirt and debris, and the rest will fall to the floor. This is where the vacuum comes in. Use the skinny nozzle attachment and suck up any debris laying on the floor or clinging to the coil area.
While you have the tools out, you might as well check the condenser fan and clean it too. If your fridge has the coils on the bottom of the unit, pull the fridge out from the wall and remove the back cover at the bottom. You will see the fan near the condenser. This fan blows across the coils keeping them cool, but it can get clogged up with debris as well. Clean it and vacuum it out and make sure it runs properly.
You should probably do this twice a year or more if you have pets that shed.
Installing a curtain rod is easy, at least for a handyman. If you are moving into a new house you deserve some privacy. Curtains and window coverings are a must. Curtains seem to have taken a back seat to blinds and shutters, but they are still used to hang accents around windows.
Homeowners sometimes get frustrated when installing a curtain rod because they can’t get the screws to penetrate the drywall right above the window. The trick here is to raise the curtain rod up a few inches and then install it. There is metal cornerbead around the perimeter of the window that will make it difficult to drive a nail through. You can do it, but will have to pre-drill a hole to get it through.
It’s easier to just raise the curtain rod a little bit and screw right into the wood frame and studs. By the way, I never use the screws that come with the kit. I use course threaded drywall screws as they go in fast and have plenty of bite. Measure the distances and make sure the wall mounts are level. The last thing you want to do is remove the mounts and reinstall them, which may expose the screw holes.
The very first question a customer asks is “How much do you charge for handyman services?”. I’ve done both hourly and flat rate and I can tell you the least stressful method for both customer and handyman is flat rate. As a customer, don’t you want to know how much the product or service will cost before you agree to buy it? Of course! If I go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac, I don’t want a different price based on which employee is actually flipping the burgers.
If a handyman tells the customer they charge by the hour, take a guess as to what will be the next question the customer will ask? That’s right, “how long will the job take?”. So, even though the technician gave the customer an hourly price, they have calculated the hourly rate and how long the job will take. In effect, the technician has given them a flat rate and will be on the losing end of it. The technician will lose because if the job only takes 2 hours when he told them 3 hours, they will pay you only for the 2 hours, which is absolutely fair. If the job takes 4 hours, the customer will say that the technician told them it would only take 3 hours and pay based on that. True, you can draw up all kinds of legal documents saying that all kinds of unexpected things can go wrong, and you can force payment. However, don’t expect to ever see that customer again.
I find it’s best to give a customer a fair price for the job, and thoroughly explain what you are going to do and why, and what the possible pitfalls could be. If there is any question on the job, give the customer a price range, so at least they know what to expect. It all boils down to good communication.
Our handyman service visits lots of vacant houses to do repairs. A typical walk-through involves checking plumbing, electrical, and appliances. A common item is that the stove or cook top won’t turn on.
If you have a gas stove or cook top and you turn the knob to light the burner, you hear a “click click click” sound. This is the sound of the spark module igniting a spark to light the gas at the burner. When it doesn’t light, people are quick to assume that the igniter or spark module are not working. If you notice, when you turn on one of the burners, all the burners spark, but only one gets the flow of necessary gas to light the burner.
Around the burners are a series of holes that the gas flows through so you get a nice even flame. Look closely at the igniter next to the burner. The hole (or holes) at this location are larger than the rest. This is so more gas will flow at this area so the igniter will light it quickly.
So before you go to the expense of replacing the igniter or spark module, check this large hole in particular to make sure it isn’t obstructed. In many cases, you can simply take something small, like a paper clip, and unplug this port to allow gas to flow to the igniter.
A common handyman repair is for furniture that needs to be assembled. You know the type, a full sized desk that comes in a box that would fit in your pocket. That’s right, lots of assembly required. These types of projects have wood dowels and cams that fit together. The problem is that the wood is typically cheap and isn’t made to take much abuse. The dowels and cams can pull out of the furniture and you are left to create a fix.
You can connect the pieces back together by drilling new holes in the mating surfaces and using new dowels. The holes must be aligned and you can cut a new dowel to fit the diameter of the new holes. Slather up the dowel and holes with wood glue, push everything together, and clamp it until its dry.
The other method is by using a biscuit joiner. This is a tool that cuts a slot (instead of drilling a hole) that align on each mating surface. Into this slot will go a biscuit (a football shaped disc). The biscuits come in different sizes for different applications. Once the slots are cut, apply glue to the biscuit and the slots, push the pieces together and clamp until dry.
