How to Caulk a Bathtub

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If you need to caulk a tub or shower, it is easier to use a caulk with added silicone. Most are labeled tub and tile caulk. If you use a pure 100% silicone, it is much harder to control.

To remove the old caulk, a two sided removal tool is the most effective. Use a plastic scraper to get most of the old caulk off and if needed, finish with a one sided razor, keeping the edge at a very small angle.

If you have any mold or mildew, remove it before applying the new caulk or it will bleed through. Use bleach at 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. Wear rubber gloves and do not mix with any other chemical. Rinse thoroughly.

Apply the new tub and tile caulk in a small bead and smooth with your finger or a smoothing tool. If you apply too much, just remove the excess with your finger or a paper towel and keep working it while it is wet till it looks good.

With a little practice, you can get a professional finish.

How to Grow Grass

 

Purchase a good quality grass seed designed for the area it will be grown. Pick sunny, shade or a sun/shade blend. Your new seeds will need water, soil, light and fertilizer.

Step one is to get the seed spread out and touching soil. The seeds need to be in contact with soil to help germination and to start the rooting of new seedlings. As the seed sprouts roots, the soil helps maintain consistent moisture, nutrients and temperature.

Spread out your seeds onto the bare soil at a rate of 12 to 16 seeds per square inch. Next, rake the area lightly to mix the seeds and soil. You don’t want the seeds deeper than ¼”. Some seeds should be seen on the surface and some should be lightly covered.

Step two is putting down a small amount of starter fertilizer or a garden soil with starter fertilizer. After germinating, the seedling pushes out its roots and leaves. This process uses up all the seeds nutrient stores. The seedling now need to pull nutrients from the soil to survive.

If you use garden soil, rake the area again. You are just adding a small amount to provide nutrients for the seedlings, don't bury the seeds. Starter fertilizers helps build root growth and provide nutrients for photosynthesis.

Step three is water. You need to mist the area twice a day for at least 2 weeks and preferably up to 4 weeks. Most seed mixtures are a blend of seeds with different germination rates. It is important to keep the seeds moist, but not saturated. If the seeds or sprouts dry out, they die. You want a light mist to cover the seeds till the ground is wet, down to an inch. You don’t want to use sprinklers that will pour water in the area and cause the seed to be moved around. You want a hose attachment that will mist the area for about 5 minutes. Most seeds will germinate within 2 weeks, but some can take up to 4 weeks. So even when you start to see growth, keep misting the area. The seedlings need water too. You are going for moist, not soggy.

Step four is light. Your seedlings need light for photosynthesis. As the leaves push out of the seed and the food reserves are used up, the seedling needs to draw nutrients from the soil and create food from photosynthesis. This is why the seeds should not be too deep into the soil.

Step five is temperature. The best time to grow grass is in the spring or fall. Ideal air temperature is between 45 and 75 degrees. The perfect soil temperature is 55 to 65 degrees. In most parts of the country, spring and fall are the best times to grow grass. High temperatures dry out the soil too fast and can kill seeds and seedlings.

The most important step is misting the area twice a day. This is where most people fail to be consistent. If the seeds or seedlings dry out, they will die.

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Unclogging a Tub

Unclogging a tub is fast and easy with The Drain Claw. With a simple push and twist, you can unclog bath drains because of hair without chemicals. The Drain Claw is also reusable and Made in the USA.

Caulk Remover for Tubs and Showers

There are a variety of tools on the market for caulk removal. One the most effective I've found is a caulk removal tool with a hard plastic V shape. It will allow you to get into the corner and scrape away at both sides of the caulk bead. You can then clean up the remaining caulk with a plastic scraper or a single edge razor blade.

After removing the caulk, always clean up any mold or mildew with bleach or a mold killer. If you do not kill the existing mold, it will bleed through the new caulk.

How to Kill Ants

I show how to kill ants.

For ants in the home, an ant trap is the safest most effective way to get rid of them.

If you use spays or powders, you only kill the ants you see. The queen is laying hundreds of new eggs every day. By using a trap, the ants bring the poisoned food back to the colony and share it will all the other ants, including the queen. This will solve your ant problem.

Briggs Vacuity Toilet

The Briggs Vacuity is a unique toilet that uses a vacuum jug to help with flushing and to conserve water. Plunging a Vacuity takes a few steps that you don't have to do with other toilets.

First, take off the lid to the tank. Remove the vacuum jug to expose the vacuum tube under it. You can cover the opening of the vacuum tube with your hand or stuff a wet rag into the opening. Keep pressure on the opening to keep air from escaping while you plunge the toilet with a toilet plunger. You want a plunger with a flange on it designed for toilet bowls. Remove the rag if you used one and replace the vacuum jug. Flush to test. Repeat if necessary.

American Standard Flush Valve

If you need to change the flush valve of an American Standard Toilet, it will help to bring the part with you to the hardware store. There are at least 6 styles of flush valve or flaps. For one style, there are 3 unique shapes. For the style I am showing, there is a #4, #5 and a #6.

In many toilets, they will accept the universal flap style, but not all the American Standard.
If you have a toilet tank that is slowly leaking, causing the fill valve to turn on and refill the tank with water, you probably have to replace the toilet flap or flush valve. For the American Standard, if it has a circular rubber disc that lifts to flush the toilet, try to replace just this first. You should bring the part with you to the store to find a match; there are a couple different styles of this too. It will be connected by a screw or snap fitting.

How to Replace a Toilet Flapper

A leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day. For most toilets, the flush valve uses a basic flap style gasket. This is an easy do it yourself project.

 Check the style you have before you run to the hardware store and bring it along. There are a few different shapes depending on the toilet.

Mansfield Flush Valve

The Mansfield flush valve is a unique style. The valve seal is part of the overflow pipe. To repair a leaking toilet, you must take off the refill tube, unscrew the top cap and remove the overflow pipe.

You can now get to the valve seal. By pulling at the seal from the side, you can pull it out of the body of the flush valve. To put in a new seal, you need to position it into the top groove on the flush valve.

The Mansfield 210 and 211 flush valve can have a chain attached to the bottom of the overflow tube or the handle passing through the plastic loop on the top of the tower. Both styles use the same rubber seal.

Combination Square

A combination square is a versatile tool for homeowners who like do it yourself projects. It has many features that will make your work easier and more professional.

Some of the things a combination square will do is, lay out a precise line at 90° and 45°. Check plumb and vertical. Draw quick straight lines down a piece of material. Set a router bit to the correct depth. Mark lines around a post quickly and accurately. It has a level. You can square the blade and guide on a table saw or a miter saw, just to name a few.

How to Remove a Stripped Screw

If you need to remove a stripped screw, there are a few different types of screw extractors you can buy. I like this style screw extractor for screws that have an indent like, Phillips or square drive screws. For slotted screws or broken bolts, it is more effective to use an extractor that requires a pilot hole to be driven first.

In most cases, if you have an old fence or deck that has rusted, stripped screws, you can just force this style into the top of the screw and remove it without having to ream it out first. In some cases it will actually grab better if you just use the extractor side only.

The Saw You Should Have in Your Tool Box

2,000 Year Old Saw Works Great

The Japanese Pull Saw has been around for more than 2,000 years. It is designed to cut on the pull stroke rather than the push stroke like Western saws.

The metals used on pull saws are designed to have very high tensile strength, for being pulled. So they can be very hard and thin. This gives you a very sharp and thin blade. This thin blade creates a very fine cut width, or kerf. Western style push saws have to be thicker and stand up to the compression of being pushed through material. Pushing a saw can cause flexing of the blade and a loss of control.

The thin hard blade on a Japanese pull saw will allow you to get a very precise, accurate cut with great control. The thin blade also lets you cut fast with less effort than a push style. Having a thin blade gives flexibility in tight corners and hard to reach situations.