One of the least fun parts of plumbing is cleaning out that nasty little thing called a p-trap under your sink.   It seams that is holds every nasty thing you could possibly put in your sink, then it ferments for several years…Nasty!

What exactly is this piece of pluming for?  Why is it called a ‘P’ Trap? Why would you put a piece of plumbing in that plugs up so easy?

- A P-trap and an S-trap are made to stop gas (mainly methane) from coming back into your house.  If you are wondering what methane can do watch “Christmas Vacation” with Chevy Chase.  His brother in law dumps his camper’s sewer into the storm drain, releasing ignitable gas, then blows himself up – funny movie but good example of why you should use a p-trap.   This gas is not only flammable but it also carries quite a bad odor…knowing where it came from should help you realize this:).

- The ‘P’ in p-trap actually comes from its shape.  Look at the side profile and imagine a p and there it is (without the back, but still a p).  The side profile of an ‘S’ trap is of course you guessed it – an S.

- This thing plugs up fast because it holds water, oil, soap, shaving cream, food and whatever else you can put in it (if it is rised out well most stuff will just go down the drain)…The nature of the thing holding water is actually the reason it can block air.   Water holds a level under the lowest level of the wall drain, water is actually trapped by gravity making an air tight seal in the plumbing (this is difficult to visualize without a drawing, see below.)

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Do you have a toilet that is constantly cycling (filling with water), but you are not flushing it. I made a quick video just for this purpose…Here are the two ‘main’ problems toilets have when they get older (even some newer).
1. The float is mis-adjusted and the water is just allowed to run down the overflow piping – this is an easy fix, just adjust the float rod with the finger fastener or adjust it with a screw (most old toilets have this type).

2. The flapper that holds the water in the toilet tank has lost its flexibility and just lets the water pass by it. Another easy fix, just replace the flapper with one purchased at the hardware store. hint** Turn off the water on the toilet and flush it…then remove the flapper and take it to the hardware store with you. This step will help you insure that you will not purchase the wrong one.

- There are other issues with toilets that will waste water or cause the toilet not to function, these two are the most common…If your issue cannot be fixed by checking these two things then you probably need a new float assembly. This is easy to install and I will follow up with a video on that subject soon.

***note the secondary float on the flapper is supposed to be adjusted the other way…I noticed my blooper after the fact:). If you want more water on your flush adjust the secondary float down towards the flapper, less water – move it towards the lid of the toilet.

Thank you for reading and watching,
Luke

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Duct Tape, extremely useful for many temporary fixes around the house and garage, has a special place in my toolbox. I use it for many items from patching my surfboard to pulling out splinters. Here are some hints using this great stuff…I hope it helps you out, please feel free to add your uses in the comments. Also, as most of you know, duct tape comes in all kinds of colors, use appropriate colors with the repair you are working on.

- Pulling out splinters, cactus spurs, porcupine quils, bee stingers, etc..

- Holding a picture level, by reducing slippage.

- Removing Warts, in conjunction with salitic acid.

- Replace shipping tape for heavy items that may get out of the box.

- Temporarily repair an air mattress or air toy.

- Repair a book binding and cover.

- Repair a shower curtain with the same color tape.

- Temporary vacuum system repair. Duct tape works well on vacuum, but not so well on internal pressure leaking out.

- Depth gauge on a drill bit

- Protect glass from shattering

- Protect laminate counter top from chipping while it is being cut with a saw.

Please add to this list…as you can see it is very short for a tape like duct tape.

Luke Spencer

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Is your hot water heater system (hydronic) not working well or are some of your rooms cold and some hot? Some do not know that many hot water heating systems need to have the air bled off them at least once a year (usually done right before it starts getting cold). Air naturally works its way into the system through small leaks in the system and needs to be removed. Each radiator has a small bleed valve that usually can be opened with a special wrench or a flat bladed screwdriver (sometimes a special tool). When bleeding the system here is the general steps that need to be taken to get the air out of your system.
– First of all remember the water coming out of the system when it is running is generally either very hot or in steam form. Protect yourself with a pair of leather gloves and bleed the water off into a coffee cup with a handle.
- Start up the system just like you normally would during the winter, make sure the thermostat is set high enough to keep the water running for an hour.
- Bleed the air off the first radiator after the pump…this radiator generally doesn’t have much air in it, if it does expect the rest of the radiators to be worse off.
- Open the valves as little as possible, you will hear the air hissing out of the valve. Eventually you will get a little steam, then steam and water. When you get steam and water you will know that you are done, and can close the valve.
- Remember if you feel a radiator and it is cold to touch on the top, it most likely needs to have the air bled off of it (when the heater is on).

If you have more heater bleeding tips please feel free to comment.
Thank you for reading,
Luke Spencer

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Nails, Hammer, and Wood – Sometimes you are short on tools and supplies when you are repairing your house. Knowing nail tricks is important when you lack the things to make your job easier (mainly nail guns). Here are a few things that I hope will help you on that new job…

1) Don’t choke your hammer! – holding your hammer in the middle causes you to hit with a stiff wrist drastically reducing your power and increasing the likelihood of a smashed finger. Fix this by using your hammer’s handle, it may seem difficult at first but once you learn it will feel very awkward to do it any other way.

2) Don’t put a nail in the corner or the end of a board – This may not be possible for certain situations, but you should avoid nailing close to the end of a board whenever possible. If you must nail in a corner, center the nail (or pre-drill if possible).

3) Blunt your nails when nailing into hardwood – Take the head of the nail and place it on a hard surface, tap the point of the nail until it slightly flattens. This will make the nail into a punch instead of a wedge that splits the wood. (again pre-drill whenever possible – use a bit that is half the width of the nail).

4) Use a quick clamp to nail loose boards together – Using a quick clamp helps you to increase your accuracy and reduces the likelihood that you will be doing to much with your nail holding hand.

5) If you lose your punch…try a nail – A 16d framing nail will work as a punch for small trim nails. If you choose to do this make sure you are using your safety glasses, this can occasionally make small pieces of nail fly.

More about nails:
– Easy trim Nailing
– What’s a Penny?

If you have any nail tricks feel free to add them in the comments section…thank you for reading.

Luke

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I answered a question recently about a someone’s possible attic space, this is what they wanted to know -> “How much space will I have in my garage attic if it is 25′x25′ and the roof pitch is 6?” I believe this person was trying to put a room in the attic of the garage (not sure if it was for a frog or storage)… Here is how you work out this problem. First when someone says they want a roof pitch of 6 they are saying that the roof rises at 6 inches per foot of travel (approx 27 degrees). We will assume that the garage will have a Gable roof, not a Hip roof (a gable roof is like putting two rectangles at an angle at either side of the building with gables on the other sides, a hip roof would have 4 triangles with the points of the four triangles meeting at the apex of the roof like a 4 sided pyramid – for a square roof).
Split the width of the building in half for easy measurement – 25/2 = 12.5ft. If we want to find the approximate area that will be 8 ft in height we will need to take 12.5 ft run x 6 in (.5ft) rise = 6.25ft. – This means that with this current set-up the garage roof will never reach 8ft. We will have to change the pitch if we want to use this space for a frog (or add a 3-4 foot wall before adding the roof, which would raise the roof). If we change the roof to a 12 pitch (45 degrees), we will reach 8 feet rise in 8 feet of run – this means that we will have 4.5 feet of floor space in 12.5 feet of run (12.5 – 8 = 4.5) and 9 feet in a 25 feet of width. If we take the total length of the gabled roof 25 feet x 9 feet for the width = 425sq ft. This is approximate square feet, it could be more or less depending on framing, usage of areas under 8ft., etc. Remember when you change the pitch to 12, there will be more shingles and more rafter material. Also the roofer will charge you more because 12 pitch is too steep to walk on without some sort of mechanical assistance (usually 2×4 toe boards). Compare price and design with adding 4 feet of wall after the floor level and determine which one fits your budget and house best.

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If your old house is like my old house then it squeaks and sticks in places not even Shurlock Homes would be able to find. It is important to use the right lube for the job. Using the wrong lube can be very irritating because it will not last and in some cases will not work for your problem. I have 50 year old hinges in the house that squeak within a week of an application of the wrong lubricant (I think they were made with a hammer and anvil). Here are some of the lubricants that I use around my house:

Lithium Grease – This is made for mechanical joints (metal on metal), it is usually used in areas that see frequent use because it is very thick (this helps it stay in place for a long time). I use this on door hinges, Squeaky Oven Hinges, Any sort of metal rubbing on metal, etc…

Paraffin Wax – This is a great lubricant for wood on wood or metal on wood applications. I use this on wooden furniture, kitchen cabinets, dinner tables.

Paste Wax – This is for buffing and cleaning metal tables. I use this on my table saw to help the wood to slide easier.

WD-40 – This is my magic spray. I use this for all kinds of things, cleans, lubricates, penetrates, protects, etc. I use this to clean tar from my hands, remove rust with a wire brush, loosen screws, quick lubes. *3 in 1 oil is a sort of little brother to wd-40, I use it in about the same way…if I have a door hinge that is squeaking and needs to be fixed in a hurry this is what I use (grease takes time because you have to remove the hinge pin).

Spray Silicon – This spray can be used on plastic, metal, & wood. I use this lubricant when I want to lubricate something that has a tendency to get dusty, or when I have something plastic needs to be lubricated.

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One of the not so nice things about older houses is the lack of information left behind about its inner workings…specifically in the electrical department. The house we live in now, actually several of the houses we have lived in lacked a breaker diagram in the breaker box (list of breakers and what they control the electricity to). This is always an irritating problem when you have more than 10 breakers in the box. Usually it goes like this “Was it that one”, “No…that was my alarm clock in the bedroom” , “How about that one”, “nope, that was the refrigerator”. A conversation like this on can go on for 30 minutes depending on the size of your house. If your house is laden with clocks and computers it could take another 30 minutes of running around re-setting clocks, timers, and all the other things that rely on the electricity they are plugged into. We as civilized human beings ought to know better, not really…organization is a learned skill and at times I am hard of learning (wording is intentional…no emails please:). I took the time a few months ago to find what each breaker was powering and I put it together in an excell spreadsheet. Of course in doing this I had to reset every clock in my house and I also had to physically test each outlet and light to find out what area each breaker was powering up (I used a non-contact voltage tester). Making a spreadsheet is fairly strait forward, here is an example of the one I created. **Note – there are many spread sheet programs out there, you can use whatever is on your computer…

– I made the cells larger to correspond to the relative breaker size, it was purely preference on my behalf.

Thank you for reading,
Luke

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I remember working under a house several years ago replacing the main iron drain line with PVC. This drain line was like a large misshapen spider with its legs running to all the toilets, sinks and showers. We measured every piece and carefully placed all the pieces only to find out that we started in the wrong place in the middle, causing all the rest of the pieces and angles to be off. This was very irritating, time consuming and cost me a little bit of money.
A couple years later in my career (I didn’t plumb unless I absolutely had to) I ran into another handyman that was more involved with plumbing than I was at the time. We worked on another large plumbing job in a beach front resort in Charleston. He cut all the pieces and dry fit the whole system before gluing it together. This sounds like the obvious solution – lets have a unanimous duh…I don’t know why I didn’t do this the last time I had a large job, I guess it had to do with being lucky for a long period of time. When the complete system was dry fit and in place he used another great idea for the job. He marked each joint on the plumbing with a sharpie marker so that when we started gluing the pipes together all the angles would be facing the correct direction (this is probably the most useful thing I learned from this job.
It has been several years since I have worked on any PVC plumbing requiring many joints and turns. I was looking under my sink and saw the sharpie marks I left when I re-plumed the PVC in the back of my house…I thought it might be a good thing to pass along…I used to do this stuff for a living and I didn’t think about it so I hope my sending out this post helps someone out. If this is already an obvious solution for your plumbing I hope you get this out of the post: You can learn many tricks and tips from someone else, don’t get into the spot where you know so much that you will not slow down to learn something new.

Thank you for reading,
Luke

Similar Post:
Cut PVC With String!

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Just give that drawer a good yank, the thought is very harmless until all of your cooking utensils are on your foot. If you have an older house it is very likely that you have some sticking drawers. There are many types of drawers therefore many different ways to fix them. Fixing your drawers is a simple and usually quick project that will save you hours of cleaning up or worse yet emergency room time.

Object blocking your drawer or jambing your track

First, thing to do when you are fixing your drawers is to make sure that your they are not sticking because of some sort of trash getting inside the track or blocking its proper operation. This situation happens most of the time to my drawers…I put a utensil or other cooking item in the drawer that is too big and jambs proper operation, or a recipe on a 3×5 card falls into the drawer track and gets the wheel messed up.

Broken Tracks, Corroded Track Wheels, Missing Wheels

Second, check to make sure that the wheels on the drawer tracks are operating correctly. Sometimes the track wheels will lose their bearings or get gunked up from many years of continuous use. If this is the case with your drawers attempt to put a little oil (3 in 1) on the wheels to see if they free up for you. If the wheels will not free up, replace the tracks (the tracks are usually found at Lowe’s or home depot in the hardware dept.) Take the old drawer tracks off and bring them with you when you go to purchase the new ones. Ask an associate to get a close match to your hardware.

Drawer is Falling Apart, Drawer is Swollen

Third, if the drawer is falling apart or swelling (from moisture) you will have to do a little more mending. If the sides are falling off the front of the drawer, or back falling off the sides, you will need to find a way to reassemble it. The best way to do this is to squirt a little glue in the damaged joint then screw it together with small trim screws (pre-drill the sides with 1/16″ to prevent splitting). If the drawer is swollen from moisture, the wood must be dried before it will operate. – Place a 60W lamp in front of the drawer for about 8 hours to dry the it out (this will need to be monitored so that you do not start anything on fire). Carefully open the drawer (because it is hot), and let the drawer stand out for about 30 min. – sand with a orbital sander then wax.

Old Stuck Drawers, Wood On Wood Drawer Slides

If you drawers are sticking and you do not have tracks or wheels then you probably have wood sticking on wood. These drawers are in many old houses that were up fitted with custom kitchen cabinets. The best way to fix these old drawers is to pull one out and examine the colors on the sides and bottom, if you see any black streaks it usually means that the wood is rubbing in that area. Sand down the dark area with 100 grit sandpaper, then with 120 or lighter to smooth the surface. Clean all the sawdust off the affected area and rub some gulf (paraffin) wax all over the affected area. Put the drawer back in place, and check for operation. If it works good you are finished, if not go through the steps again. ** Occasionally the drawer will rub over the whole side surface, If this is the case then sand the whole area with an orbital sander, then clean and wax.

Hope this information helps you out

Luke Spencer

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