Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Repair”
Does your home have rotten wood? Does the paint feel soft and spongy? Do you suspect the weather is getting into your wood and causing problems? Does the house/cabin smell ‘funny’ when you open the door? Then you might have some rot somewhere… I have spent almost 40 years working on old homes like yours and I am perfecting the art of carefully removing only the rotten parts and replacing them with new wood. Often the damage is only local, you don’t have to tear down the whole wall just …
Now if you’re reading this because you have a settlement problem then stop, take a deep breath and try to relax. I know cracks, settlement and underpinning walls can induce bowel clenching fear into the strongest heart. But fear not; it’s often quite a simple repair. Note, I said simple, not easy! It is almost certainly going to be hard work and it’s fiddly to do in confined spaces. But it is doable if you have the time and a little patience. It’s not even terribly expensive material wise, concrete …
Sometimes you just run out of times you can re-tighten a wood screw. Or sometimes you want to move a screw just a tiny bit. And yet other times a screw is just in the wrong place and you need to start over. Fortunately the solution to fix all of the above is simple and quick. Essentially, you’re going to fill in the existing screw hole with new wood so you can start again. (Incidentally, if your particular screw is just a bit loose, you can pop a matchstick/ cocktail …
Ifixit are leaders in tech tear-downs and finding out what’s easy to fix and whats going to trip you up. Here is their brilliant manifesto which you can download and print out at home, or generously they will send you a 11″x17″ poster if you just cover the cost of shipping. Order or download your ifixit manifesto here, (will ship worldwide). Here it is in all it’s magnificence… Stay well Ian
Holding a cycle whilst trying to repair or maintain it is a pain. But not any more for me though, because today I made myself a quick and easy tool to hold a bike steady whilst I do what needs to be done. For example; this week I’ve been repainting and re-purposing my daughters old bike for my younger son. A ‘rat’ bike he wanted, as ‘black as your hat’ he said… I’d seen cycle maintenance stands in the store of course, but found it difficult to justify the outlay …
Don’t throw away your old wire brushes, restore them Does your wire brush look anything like the one above? Pretty useless huh? And yes, yes, I know you’re not supposed to put too much pressure on the tip of a wire brush, but hey, I’m a contractor, time is money right? So if you’re like me and you let impatience get the better of you and you’re lifting up the rear of the brush for that little more ‘oomph’, prematurely wearing out the tips, then read on… This quick tip …
And avoid paying for repairs or replacements Picture the situation where something works just fine one minute, and then the next minute it doesn’t. Or maybe a situation where the item in question was working fine when you put it away and then the next time you go to use it, you get nothing? Sound familiar? Then you might have a broken solder joint on a printed circuit board (or PCB for short). Broken solder joints (don’t worry they don’t hurt…) A cracked, fractured or broken solder joint is sometimes (erroneously) …
