Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. If you are installing a new smoke detector, I would look at the 10 year smoke detector. It has a battery that is designed to last the life of the alarm.
Regular smoke detectors need to have the battery replaced every year and the whole unit needs to be replaced every 10 years.
Some 10 year smoke alarms have sealed batteries that cannot be removed. They are an excellent choice for landlords. They also have units that have locking mounting brackets to keep them in place.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. You can easily convert a table lamp into a touch control with a touch control dimmer switch.
You need to have a metal socket and a metal body on the lamp for it to work. You also need to use a regular incandescent light bulb for it to function.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. I show two types of lamp timers for security. I like the basic manual timer that allows you to set specific times for the lamp to turn on and off. It is inexpensive and easy to program.
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The National Fire Protection Association recommends that you change your smoke alarm battery once a year. Many fire departments suggest that you change your batteries twice a year.
For an easy way to stay safe, I like using a 10 year smoke alarm battery. It is designed specifically for smoke alarms.
It is excellent for hard to reach smoke alarms and for family or friend that may be forgetful. For a few dollars more than a regular battery, you have the security of 10 years of protection.
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A 4 way switch is used when you have three or more locations that operate a light or group of lights. The lever does not have an ON or OFF label. A 4 way switch is always wired between a pair of 3 way switches. When you have more than 3 switches, you will always have a pair of 3 way switches and all the other switches will be 4 way switches. The 4 way switches will always be wired between the pair of 3 way switches.
A 4 way switch has 4 screw terminals and a green grounding screw. The 4 screw terminals will be grouped in pairs. They may be marked Line 1 and Line 2, or Input and Output, or you may have two screw terminals colored dark and two screws colored light.
To replace a 4 way switch, you will first turn off the power to the circuit that you are working on. After unscrewing the cover plate and the switch, pull out the old switch and mark one group of wires with masking tape. You want to identify the pair of wires going to Line1 or Input or the dark colored screws. These 2 wires will be coming from one cable that is grouped together. In the box, you will have 2 cables connecting to the 4 way switch. You may or may not have a grounding wire.
The pair of wires from one cable should be identified before you remove the old switch. If you removed the old switch and did not mark the wires, you need to find the 2 cables. Each cable will have 2 wires or 2 wires and a ground, grouped together coming into the box. These 2 wires must be connected to one of the paired groups of screw terminals.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. If you don't have a miter saw, a coping saw does a great job of creating a nice corner joint in molding.
The thin steel scrolling blade on a coping saw allows you to make intricate shapes in wood. It is designed to cut on the pull stroke, which helps keep the blade straight and easy to control.
By tracing the outline of the molding onto the adjacent piece, you can quickly create a clean looking coped corner.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. For a very easy to use snowblower, I like the Toro 1800 Power Curve. This snowblower is an electric unit. It runs and performs like a gas snow thrower without the maintenance.
The Toro Power Curve 1800 is 18" wide and will cut into snow 10" deep. Depending on how wet the snow is, it can throw snow up to 30 feet. It will move 700 pounds of snow a minute.
It has an adjustable chute to put the snow where you want it and a scraper that clears snow right down to the pavement.
The handle has a large switch for instant on and off with either hand. It has a key you can use to make it child safe.
The snowblower is very light and easy to store. If you are looking for a low maintenance snowblower for the average sized home, this will do a great job. Your only limitation is the length of your extension cord. I've had mine for about 10 years.
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For fast convenient charging of your mobile devices, you can get the Leviton T5630. This wall outlet has 2 USB outlets along with a regular outlet.
You can charge 2 devices at the same time. There is a smart chip that will adjust to the device you have plugged in. The right side is designed to handle larger devices like tablets. The left side is for smaller items like smart phones and e-readers.
Leviton said that this outlet was optimized for Apple products like the IPod.
The USB outlets are set up vertically to reduce stress on the cord and give room to plug regular items below the cords easily.
If you have a desktop or office area with an outlet at desk height, this is a nice convenience. I think this would be great in a dorm room.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. If you have a garbage disposal that is not grinding, it is usually because of a clog. If the motor is humming and not grinding, you can use a garbage disposal tool to rotate the blades and free the clog. If you turn on the garbage disposal and you don't hear anything from the motor, you may have tripped the internal breaker.
Most garbage disposals have a ¼" six sided hole to accept a hex key or Allen Wrench. After shutting off the electric, insert the key and twist back and forth to loosen the clog. You may have to do this a couple times.
If the internal breaker has tripped, you just have to press the button on the bottom of the unit to reset it.
When using your garbage disposal, don't grind fibrous material like corn husks, cucumber skins, celery, onion skins and similar items.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. I had a subscriber ask what shower head is the best. So I brought home some popular sellers to test.
My kids like the wide sunflower style. It gives a very wide soft spray. Both styles that I show have an even spray.
The 3rd shower head is a very inexpensive plastic style and does not have a very good spray pattern. I spent a lot of time adjusting the head. If I tightened it up, it only shot a small spray from one side of the head. The force was weak and uneven. This type sells well because of the price, but I did not like the quality of the spray.
The second inexpensive shower head had very low pressure, but this model had a better spray pattern.
The small heavy metal shower head has a very interesting even spray. It feels like a powerful, fine mist.
The last shower head was very strong and even. I like the rubber nozzles that can be rubbed to break up a buildup of minerals.
Most shower heads are designed to give a low flow of water. If you are in an area with low water pressure, you can remove the restrictor in most models to give a stronger flow of water.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. A flush valve repair kit will repair the seat on a flush valve.
If you have replaced a toilet flap and the tank is still leaking into the bowl, you may need to replace the flush valve. An alternative, is the flush valve repair kit. It is a flap and seat combination that you attach to the top of the old seat without removing the tank.
This is an easy fix for old toilets. With the putty provided, you can repair the flush valve without tools.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. Adding a second closet pole will double your storage. This is an easy do it yourself project.
For small homes and condos, this is a great project to help organize your clothes.
You will need to purchase a clothes pole, a center bracket and sockets for the end of the pole. I like to add a length of wood under the socket to give it more support. If you have a lot of weight with your clothes and the screw in the socket isn't in a stud, it can tear free. The length of wood will allow you to catch the stud and give you a solid surface to screw into. I used a 1" x 4".
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. If you need to create a pilot hole and you don't have a drill bit, you can use a finish nail.
A finish nail makes a great bit in soft wood, just put it into the chuck of your drill and use it like a drill bit.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. A drywall hammer does a great job of seating drywall nails without tearing through the paper.
The drywall hammer head has a wide bevel with indents. This allows you to create a nice dimple in the drywall and stipples the wallboard to hold joint compound better.
The first drywall hammers were designed to allow workers to cut out electrical holes with the axe end and score the drywall to be cut to length. The hook shape on the axe end was intended carry large pieces of drywall. There was also a nail puller cut into the axe.
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For drafty outlets and switches, an easy insulation tip is a foam sealer.
They are fire retardant foam pads that stop drafts and heat loss.
Easy to install and when you do all the outside walls of your home, you can stop a substantial amount of heat loss.
You can pick these up at any hardware store. If they don't have it, they can order it for you.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. A toilet plunger with a flanged bottom is the best plunger for a toilet. The flange will allow you to get a very good seal as you plunge the toilet.
A soft rubber plunger will allow you to not only plunge down and push a clog out of your toilet, but it will also allow you to create a pulling motion if you have an object in your toilet that you want to pull out of the trap. By pushing down slowly and then pulling it up quickly, you can suck items out of the toilet.
For a powerful plunger, the bellows style creates about 7 times the force of a regular plunger. Just make sure to slowly push out the air and fill with water to get the best results.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. A ceiling medallion is an easy fix for a space around a ceiling fan.
You can purchase large and small medallions for your ceiling fan. They come very plain or decorative. Most can be stained or painted to match the ceiling or your decor.
You can also buy a medallion that is cut in half to slip under a light fixture or ceiling fan.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. One potentially dangerous appliance is a microwave oven. I show an easy way to test if your microwave is safe.
While the microwave oven is heating up your food, a faulty door or gasket can expose you to dangerous levels of radiation. Researchers say that microwave radiation can cause skin cancer, cataracts, headaches, nerve damage, birth defects in pregnant women and problems with some pacemakers.
Slamming the door to your microwave and a buildup of debris along the seals are the most common problems. A simple door adjustment or cleaning will solve most minor problems. With older models, a professional should take a look at the oven.
You can pick up one of these detectors at most hardware stores. If they don't have it, they should be able to order it for you.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. I show a couple tips on how to replace a toilet handle.
There are 3 styles of toilet handle. You need to know if you have a front, angle or side mount. Check the packaging when looking for a toilet lever.
I found that the universal toilet flush handle will work fine on a front or angle mount, but it does not work well on a side mount. If you have a toilet with a flush handle on the side, purchase a style specific for that.
The retaining nut on a toilet handle has a reverse thread.
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I show how to replace the motor and fan in a Nautilus exhaust fan in a bathroom.
I wasn't able to purchase the whole kit with the housing, so I just replaced the motor and fan.
If you have a fan that needs to be replaced, this is a great do it yourself job. You only need a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench.
If you remove the old bracket with the fan attached and bring it to the hardware store, you will be able to match up a new replacement kit, or match up a new motor quickly.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips.
An important yearly routine for every homeowner is cleaning the clothes dryer duct.
The lint that builds up is highly flammable and causes thousands of lint fires every year.
Most homes will have a 6 to 8 foot solid or flexible duct to the outside of the home. You can easily clean the duct with a tool like the one I show. For homes with longer duct work, there are duct cleaners that have a series of flexible rods that you can connect together to clean longer distances.
Make sure that the duct from your dryer is aluminum and not vinyl. Vinyl duct will not contain a lint fire and will produce toxic fumes.
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If you are replacing a duct for your clothes dryer, you need to use solid or flexible aluminum.
Do not use vinyl. Vinyl can burn and release a toxic gas, it will not protect you from a lint fire.
There are thousands of lint fires a year from dryers. It is important to use the proper duct and clean it at least once a year.
Solid duct is the safest. There are 2 kinds of flexible aluminum duct popular in the market. The thicker style is the safest. Check the instructions on you dryer, every manufacturer has different requirements for their product. Follow their suggestions for safety and to protect your warranty.
Visit http://www.askthehardwareguy.com for more tips. I cover the steps to replace a thermocouple on a hot water tank with a sealed combustion chamber.
For safety, hot water tanks now have a sealed inner door to the combustion chamber. You will have an igniter connected to the burner to light your pilot. There are several ways that companies seal the burner chamber. You can have 2 or 4 screws and they can have a Phillips or an Allen head.
When you are replacing the thermocouple, you may have to cut a slit in the door gasket to change out the thermocouple. When you push it back into the door, it will reseal. Be careful when removing and reinstalling the nuts to the thermocouple, burner tube and pilot tube. The metal is very soft and can easily be cross threaded or cracked it tightened too much.
This is an easy do it yourself project, perfect for homeowners.
