Not every project goes as well as planned. We would be happy to spend a few minutes answering your questions.
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Here is a handyman fix when you want to make a gate self closing. If you line everything up, the gate should also be self latching. You will need a few dollars in parts and under an hour to perform the job.
This works best for small side yard gates, such as those you would walk through to get to the back yard from the front yard…typically about 3 feet wide. This will not work for the larger gates that open to allow an RV or a boat to pull through.
You can buy a self closing spring that attaches to the gate on one side and the wall on the other. The instructions that come with the springs are good and you shouldn’t need to do a whole lot of thinking about it.
Typically, the most challenging part of the job is mounting the ends of the spring. If you have a wood gate, you can obviously use wood screws. For wrought iron gates, use self-tapping screws. For the wall, you will most likely need some type of a masonry fastener. I like tapcon screws for this. Follow the instructions on the package and secure each side of the spring to the appropriate surface.
The last step is to place the spring under tension so that it forces the gate to close once it is opened. You will insert a pin into one of the holes at the top of the spring after you tension it. Use a wrench and turn the spring in the direction that makes the gate close. When you run out of space, insert the pin to hold the tension. Again turn the top of the spring with a wrench (after removing the pin), add tension, and replace the pin. You will follow this pattern until you have the desired amount of tension.
A handyman is always asked to hang, mount, install, and secure different items to different materials. Installing brackets to masonry looks daunting to the beginner, but it is very easy with the right tools. I love using tapcon screws. They are specifically made for concrete and masonry surfaces and go in quickly. The only thing to be aware of is that you need to use a tapcon bit to bore a pilot hole for the screw.
These screws can withstand large amounts of pressure for both pull-out and shear. Did I mention that they are fast?
They come in different sizes and diameters, as well as phillips head, standard head and hex head variations. You will need to chuck the appropriate sized bit into a drill and bore out a hole. The nice thing is that the bits and screws are small diameter and so you won’t have to remove a lot of material to use the screw. Mark out where you want a hole, and drill it out. Place the bracket (or whatever you want to mount to the surface) against the surface over the hole and insert the tapcon screw. The screws will take some elbow grease to fully seat them. The threads are cut in such a way as to scratch a groove on the interior of the hole you drilled. So although they won’t go in like butter, the entire job from drilling to screwing will take about 5 minutes.
I see it all the time as a handyman. How many times have you run over the sprinkler heads with the lawnmower? Probably a few. There is an easy way to lower the height of the sprinkler heads. Look to the risers.
The riser will screw into an elbow underground. The sprinkler head screws onto the top of the riser. The riser is made up of sections that you can cut to fit your needs. Some installers get lazy and just screw the entire riser into the elbow and consequently, the sprinkler head sticks up in the air.
You want to get to the riser to cut it to the proper length. Unscrew the sprinkler head. If the riser comes out with it, great…the job just became a little shorter. If the riser is still stuck in the ground, grab it and unscrew it. You may need to get an extractor for this, but it should come out with just your fingers.
With the riser out of the ground, use a hacksaw and cut it to the proper length. This may take some trial and error, so only cut one section off at a time. Screw the sprinkler head back on and then screw the riser into the elbow. Ideally, the sprinkler head should be about level with the surface of the ground.
We all buy inexpensive furniture that sometimes needs a handyman to revive it. Furniture made from particle board is awfully weak. It is held together with fasteners and dowels. Moving this type of furniture often leads to damage and the particle board pieces breaking around the fasteners.
A handyman tip is to repair the damage with brackets. There are many different types of brackets made for this application. If you have a desk, for example, and the side separates from the top, you can use a couple of “L” brackets. I would use a flat bracket for the rear of the desk. One leg of the bracket will get secured to the top back edge of the desk, and the other leg will get secured to the vertical rear side of the leg. The will give the desk more support against collapsing.
You can also use another bracket and fasten one leg to the underside of the desk, and fasten the other leg to the vertical side of the leg. These brackets will be hidden under the desk. They get attached with two screws per leg for a total of four screws. You can also try to glue back any parts that may have chipped out before installing the brackets.
We have all been faced with burned out light bulbs in tall ceilings. Most of us will use a ladder and climb on up, wondering whether to stand on the top step to reach the bulb (don’t do it). Folks, don’t grab the ladder, grab a pole instead.
Homebuyers love wide open spaces and tall ceilings. Unfortunately, light bulbs and smoke detectors go there too. So here is a little tip if you haven’t already done it. You can buy a small suction cup that screws onto the end of a typical pole handle that will allow you to reach the burned out bulb and replace it. You can use a broom handle or even a specialty painter’s telescoping pole for this, as the threads are the same. The cup will screw right on to the end of the pole. The cup has a string attached to the underside of it so that you can release the cup from the bulb once you have reinstalled the new one. It is a matter of sticking the cup to the bottom of the bulbs and turning the pole to remove it. After you replace the new bulb, just pull the string to remove the cup from the bulb. This works great for larger, flatter flood light bulbs.
There a several different mechanisms that are designed for different bulbs. You can buy a mechanism that expands over the bulbs and removes it. These are for standard incandescent bulbs, and grab the sides of the bulb, rather than just the bottom.
Measurements are important. As a handyman, we measure things every day and they have to be accurate. You can buy digital measurement devices, but for old school tape measures, you have to follow a few simple rules to get accuracy.
Tape measures come in a variety of lengths. You can place the tongue of the tape measure over the edge of the surface you are measuring and stretch it out to get the distance. And then it happens. Either intentionally or not, the tongue lifts off of the surface and the spring tension inside the tape measure draws the tape back into the housing at about 900 miles per hour. This is when the tongue slams against the housing. Repetitive slamming can cause the tongue to become loose and add distance to your measurements. The tongue is usually riveted onto the end of the tape and it doesn’t take much for it to become loose. Kids love to play with these and let the tongue of the tape measure slam into the housing.
So, when you are measuring for accuracy, use the same tape measure. In this way, the measurements will be consistent…even if they are not exact, they will be consistent. You would not have the right distances if you used two separate tape measures on the same project as they would take different measurements of the same surface. If you are measuring a small distance and the tongue is loose, instead of using the tongue as the starting point, slide over and use the 1” mark as the starting point using your fingers to hold it in the starting position.
If you are going to install wallpaper, use this handyman tip: use a sharp blade. Installing wallpaper can be a messy job, and the last thing you want to do is to do the job again. When you fitting wallpaper to the wall, it can be a time consuming process.
After you have activated the adhesive and booked the drop, place the drop onto the wall into position. You will have to adjust it slightly, but try not to move it around too much. You will need to align any pattern in the paper and butt the paper together. Use a damp sponge or a plastic scraper and smooth out the paper, getting rid of any bubbles.
You will need to trim the paper for length. For this you need a new razor blade. You might be tempted to use a blade that is fairly new but don’t do it. The very last thing you want to happen is for the wallpaper to tear. Use the scraper tool and push the wallpaper against the ceiling or baseboard, whichever you are trimming. Start in the middle of the paper and push the bubbles out ending at the baseboard or ceiling. Gently push the paper to the edge and hold the scraper in place while you run the sharp razor blade along the edge. The scraper will act as a guide as you cut. Don’t lift the blade as you cut. Instead, keep the blade cutting and stop, then move the scraper forward and continue cutting the paper until the paper has been completely cut. The waste strip will easily pull away and you will be left with a perfect edge.
Here is a simple handyman fix if you have an air conditioning register that has fallen down or is separating from the ceiling. Your air conditioning system blows air through your house with plenty of force. This pushes against the vent covers and sometimes works them loose.
The first thing to do is to get a ladder and see if you can just tighten the screws that hold the cover to the ceiling. That may be all there is to the fix. However, the screws may have pulled out to the extent that they may not tighten anymore. If that is the case, remove the screws and the vent cover. It is likely that the force of air has pushed against the threads of the screws and the sheet metal no longer holds the screw threads. In this case, I would use a larger screw whose threads will bite into the sheet metal.
While you have the cover removed, it’s probably a good idea to clean the debris and dirt from it. You might even gently wipe the inside of the vent, but be careful as this area can have sharp edges.
Hold the vent cover back up to the ceiling and insert the new screws until snug. It’s a good idea not to close the vent completely. By allowing air to pass into the room, you will maintain good balance in the system and avoid the force pushing against the vent cover.
If you have a leaking sprinkler valve, you may be able to pull off a handyman quick fix, if the leak is in the right spot. A sprinkler valve is made up of two halves, a top and a bottom. If the damage to the valve, usually a small crack, is in the bottom half of the valve, you will have to cut out the valve and replace it. If the damage is in the upper half, you can buy an identical valve and just replace the upper half of the valve. The benefit with this method is that you don’t have to cut out the valve and splice a new one in. This saves a lot of aggravation because working in a sprinkler box, a foot below ground, is very tight quarters which sometimes leads to removing all of the valves just for access.
By being able to replace just the upper half you can gain access without cutting out the valve.
Turn off the water to the sprinkler system and loosen the bleed screw to remove the water pressure. Then remove the screws that hold the top half to the lower half. You will also need to remove the wire nuts that hold the sprinkler valve wires to the timer wires. Pull off the top with the rubber diaphragm and replace the parts from the new valve top onto the old valve bottom. Tighten the screws with uniform pressure and then reattach the wires back together. Turn the water back on and check for leaks, then run through the timer to make sure everything functions.
One of the handyman projects we get called on to complete is repairing house number signs. In many communities, homeowner associations have consistent address signs on homes that are illuminated. Occasionally, these will get damaged and need to be replaced.
The address signs are basically small light fixtures with a plastic cover on them. There is a single bulb that illumines the plastic cover. Vinyl numbers are placed on the cover which are backlit by the bulb. Whether it’s the wind or neighborhood kids, these covers will fall and break. If you don’t replace it soon, you will likely get a letter from your friendly HOA saying you need to fix it quickly.
I would first call the HOA and see if they can direct you to a supplier of these covers. Although you can buy generic covers and numbers at a home center, you want to make sure it matches the neighboring houses. If you install a new cover and numbers that are different than your neighbors, you will probably get a letter from your HOA saying that you are in violation of your community’s standards, etc. So if you can get the information directly from the HOA, you will be better off.
If you are lucky enough to find the correct parts at a home center, it is nothing more that peeling off the correct address numbers and sticking them onto the cover. Then just snap the cover onto the base.
