Do it yourself projects for home

Fix your hot water heater problem and save up to $450

sfarren — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:53:02 +0000

Ok. So for some strange reason for the past two weeks the longest shower you have been able to take is like 5 minutes. You used to be able to take 30 minute showers with no problem but now not so much. So what do you do? Do you call the plumber that is going to charge you $100 to even get in his truck and come out to your house? Or do you try to fix your hot water heater problem yourself?

My guess, if you are anything like me, is you will continue to take cold showers for a few more weeks. Then on one Sunday morning, when everyone in the house has caught onto the fact that there is not enough hot water to go around, you will take the cold shower before going to church and now you will fix the problem.

So here we go. The first thing you will need to do is to figure out which element on your hot water heater as gone out. Easy, right? Yes and no. The problem is, if you are like most people, your element is in the tank. Also keep in mind that most of the time you can not tell if an element is good or bad by just looking at it. You will have to make a small investment in an ohm meter.

I got this multi meter for $8

You will also need an element remover tool.

This was like $5 (the screw driver was mine, you will need your own)

So now you total investment (so far) is like $13. Now what?

You will need to trip the breaker for your hot water heater. Most of the time they are marked in the box, some times they may not be. The hot water heater in our house is on 2 30am breakers. The next thing you will need to do is determine which element is bad. You do this by disconnecting one wire from the element on your hot water heater and testing the continuity (that’s why you need the ohm meter).

Now just so you know, every element that I have ever replaced that was bad was the bottom element. For some reason they always seem to be the ones that burn out the fastest. I don’t know why that’s just they way it has happened for me.

Once you have determined which element is bad you will need to get a replacement element. Now for the most part the elements are pretty much universal. The only thing you need to be sure of is if you are dealing with 110v element or a 220v element. The bottom element in my 50gal hot water heater is a 220v. I would venture to guess this is the case in medium to large hot water heaters.

Now need to drain the hot water heater. First, and this is very very important, you need to turn the water off to the hot water heater. Some times there is a shut off valve that goes directly into the hot water heater, sometimes you have to shut off the main to the house. Some times in older homes you need to shut off the water at the street. Then you will need to connect a (standard) garden hose to your hot water tank.

After that you will just open the valve and let it drain. You can also open the pressure relief valve to help the drain time. I often make a trip to the local Menard’s to kill time. Trust me when I tell you, you do not want to remove an element with water still in the tank…it causes a mess.

Just make sure you get the right element (110v vs 220v) keep in mind that sometimes the elements may look different but as long as you stay in the right voltage they will work.

This is the new element. You will need to make sure the gasket is in place just above the threads.

Like this.

Then, using you element removal tool you just turn the old element out (to the left, just like a screw) and turn the new element in.

Be sure to put back all your wires, don’t worry about which wire goes to which screw it’s all the same.

Then turn of the water. Go open a faucet at the sink (for the hot of course) and let all the air out of your system. Next you can turn on the breaker to your hot water tank. Now wait about an half an hour and you should have hot water. So how did you save $450? Well as I said most plumbers will charge you $100 just to go to your house. Now after that they can charge what ever they like. $100 diagnostic, 2 hours to change the element (upwords $150) and $100 for parts. I paid $8 for the multi meter, $5 for the element tool, $16 for the element and approx $21 for water and other miscellaneous. That’s a total of $50. $500 for the professional plumber – $50 for the DIY’r = $450 saved!

Until next time,

Scott

How to wire an electrical outlet

sfarren — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:19:11 +0000

So whether you are installing an electrical outlet for the first time or replacing a worn out one, the question always comes up on How to wire an electrical outlet.

You’re in luck because it really is not difficult and you will look like a superstar to your wife for getting the job done without spending a ton of time or money.

The first thing you will need to do is check for current. You can use a voltmeter or just a simple lighted tester. I bought this one for about $2 at Menard’s. It doesn’t matter which side you touch the red or black wire to (just not ground) because we have A/C power. If the light is out you have no power. If the light is on, trip the breaker.

Next thing you will want to do is expose the wires that you working on. You will need to strip the back about a half inch or so.

TIP: If you are going to be doing a lot of stripping I bought these self stripping wire strippers for $13, but if you are just doing a little bit you can buy a cheaper wire stripper or even a utility knife will work in a pinch.

Once you have the wires stripped and ready, you will want to twist a little hook in the wires with a pair of needle nose pliers, like this

IMPORTANT POINT: Never ever, ever put a black and a white wire on the same side of the outlet. The two screws per side are there to allow you to run outlets in parallel.

Notice how the two screws in the above picture are connected with a piece of copper ?

Then it’s just a matter putting the wires on the screws. There is no rule, that I am aware of but I generally run white wires on the silver screws and black wires o the copper screws. Don’t forget the ground…it’s that little green screw shown in the above picture towards the right.

Silver screws, white wire.

Copper screws, black wire.

The last thing to do is secure the outlet in the electrical box. This is a double gang box, which will eventually have two outlets in it.

I hope you see how easy it is to put in your own outlets.

You can also view my youtube video of me installing this light here

Until next time,

Scott

Wiring outdoor lighting

sfarren — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:22:29 +0000

Well it was getting time for our fall party and we realized we had no outdoor lighting for our patio. So wanting to please my wife I suggested installing a new outdoor light on the patio. This, of course, pleased her and gave me a chance at another article “Wiring outdoor lighting“. I bought this light at Menard’s.

When you get your light the first thing you want to do is inspect it to make sure you have all the parts, familiarize yourself with the contents, and complete any preliminary assembly.

the particulars aside most lighting kits will come with a “power” wire, and “neutral” wire and a ground. This brand happened to match my wiring colors it was white (neutral), black (power) and green (ground).

This light also had a handy mounting bracket which I just screwed into the wall.

From there all I had to do was match up the wires, wire nut the wires.

TIP: Always check to make sure the power is OFF before touching any wires.

Then mount it to the wall

Have no wires? Be sure to check out my article on installing a light switch.
You can also view my youtube video of me installing this light here

Until next time,

Scott

How do you install a light switch?

sfarren — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:19:24 +0000

So I needed a light but had no wires run and I needed it by the weekend. Luckily I had done some wiring before (while building my dad's apartment) and no the answer to that age old question “How do you install a light switch?”

The first thing you need to know about a switch is all you are doing is interrupting one side of the power supply. It really doesn’t matter which side of the power supply you interrupt, however traditionally you would interrupt the “hot” side (or the black wire for those of you playing at home). So then what do we do with the neutral wire (white one), simple you wire nut them together

After that it really pretty easy.You take the two remaining black wires and attach them to the two screws on the side of the switch. TIP: Using a pair of needle nose pliers twist hooks in your black wires to make them easier to wrap around the screws.

After you attach the two black wires with the screws, make sure you attach your ground and then screw the switch into the box.

Tip: On one end or the other will be the word “Top” make sure this is facing up when you screw the switch into the box.

You can also view my youtube video of me installing this light switch here

Until next time,

Scott

The ins and outs of building book cases and creative bookcase ideas

sfarren — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:29:30 +0000

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to get that custom look in your home is building book cases.

I have been building book cases every since my wife and I moved into our new home, six years ago. I have built them in every size and shape imaginable. The neat trick is…they really are easy to do and you can build them to any specification you like. You can use a book case or shelving anywhere and turn that awkward space into a useful space.

The first trick to building book cases is figuring out what size of book case you need. I generally leave this up to the wife. She’s pretty handy with a measuring tape. She also enjoys adding projects to my ever increasing “honey do” list.

Simple sketch including dimensions

I always make my cuts first. I cut my two sides and all the shelves I will need. You will want sand the edges after the cuts. This will give a cleaner finish and it helps you not to get splinters

These little sanding blocks are super handing and they only cost about $0.33 a piece.

After you have sanded everything the next thing you need to do is measure and mark you side boards for the shelves.

TIP: I line up the boards and run a screw in the middle at the top…where the top shelf will go. This keeps the boards from moving around on you as you make the marks for the shelves on the board

Board with marks. TIP: Not only do you want to mark the side of the top board…but you will want to mark the face. So when you put the shelf in you can align the middle of the board to the line.

Once you have the boards marked you will take a small drill bit and put 3 holes on each line. Make sure you are drilling through both boards.

Two sets of marks with the three holes drilled in them.

The last step is assembly. First remove the screw holding the two boards together. Then aligning the bottom shelf.

Make sure you line up the middle of the shelf with the line on the face of the board. You can measure for the middle of the shelf if you need it to be precise. Best guess usually works for me, plus I’ve done this a couple of times and that helps.

Attach the shelf to the side using 2 inch screws.

Bottom shelf attached with three screws.

TIP: Once you have attached the bottom shelf, go ahead and attach the top. This will create a “vice” effect for the other shelves and make it a lot easier to assemble.

Then it’s just a matter of attaching the rest of the shelves.

Here is my completed project. Notice the taller opening, this is where my TV is going to sit.

That is one of the nice things about building your own shelves, you can design them yourself, you can make them to fit any opening you have and can be as creative as you want.

Here are a few more shelves I have built using this same template.

Custom closet shoe shelf, you may remember this shelf from my DIY Closet systems post.

another creative bookcase idea:

With a little crown molding you can really come out with a unique book case. See my post on the super simple way of cutting crown molding for more information.

Here are some plain jane wooden shelves we put in to use up some wasted space in our hall way.

Here is a small side table shelf I built for one of my daughters out of some left over 2x material

She loves it.

As you can see this simple book case design is very versatile and easy to do. I will do another post soon on dressing some up with crown molding and base board. To turn this plain book case into an heirloom.

You can also view my youtube video of me building this bookcase here

Until next time,

Scott

Hosting your cheap 1and1 domain names with your godaddy hosting connection

sfarren — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:57:08 +0000

So you’ve found yourself on a DIY sight looking for a way to link up your cheap “1and1 domain names” with your “godaddy hosting connection”.

Well my friend you have come to the right place. A few days ago, I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure that out too. It took a bit, but I did and now I’m going to share that knowledge with you.

The first thing you need to do is figure out if your domain is available. I have included a domain search tool from 1and1 because that’s is where you will buy it, because it is only $0.99. That’s is crazy. I’ve been snatching these thing up like they are going out of style.

Now after you have found the domain name you want you can just click here to go to 1and1 to register your domain name

Registered? Good…now the fun part.

1. Open a new browser or tab and log into your godaddy account. Click on Hosting>Hosting management…then launch your hosting account.

Note: Now if you don’t have a godaddy hosting account you can get one by clicking below. Awesome deal @1.99 month. But you will have to determine what hosting best suites your needs. I use deluxe Linux.

2. Once you are in your hosting page you now click on Domain

3. After the domain page appears. You need to select “Add new domain”

4. A box will appear asking for your sites information. Just fill it in completely. Be sure to set a directory for your domain…You can chose to create a new one. (this is the part godaddy doesn’t tell you about, at least not directly)

5. click ok…now we wait.

WHY AM I WAITING? Simple, first 1and1 has to get your domain registered and “Ready”. Then godaddy has to get the domain set up on your hosting account. Although it has never taken 72hours…that’s what I am told it could take up too. Generally though, I’ve had everything good to go in about an hour.

6. Go to godaddy click on my hosting (as you did above) and launch you hosting account. This time click on setting and go to DNS Manager

7. This pulls up the “Zone File Editor” page. Click on “Change zone”8. Now select your new 1and1 hosted domain from the list box and click ok.

9. Scroll down to the “Named Server” section and write down the 2 “Points to” domaincontrol DNS names

10. Open another browser or tab and log into your 1and1 account. You will need the customer # that 1and1 send your to log into your account. Once in click the corresponding package for your domain. Then click on domains

11. Once your “domains page” pulls up you will want to select your domain, then click on Edit DNS Settings. NOTE: Make sure your domain status is showing ready.
12. This will bring you to your edit DNS page. Now just select “My name server” from the “name server” drop down list.

13. Then type in the “Points to” named servers from step 9 into “Primary Name Server” and “Secondary Name Server” and click ok.

14. Now you just wait for everything to sync up and you are good to go. You may want to put a temporary index.htm in the path you selected on godaddy for your new domain so you can check it every now and again to make sure everything is working. It generally take a few hours, but the disclaimer if you call anyone is always “Please allow 72hours for the process to complete.

I hope you enjoyed this article.

Oh yeah one last thing. Unless you want to automatically renew these domains next year, make sure you log into your 1and1 account and turn off the autorenew feature.

Until next time,

Scott

How to assemble a bed frame

sfarren — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:29:18 +0000

In this article I will show you how to assemble a bed frame. I’m talking about the foldable bed frames that come free with the “purchase of”. Sometimes they don’t come with instructions, and sometimes they do. However, there are not generally detailed enough for someone who has never put one together before. So let’s get started.

The first thing your going to do is unpack the bed frame and unfold the rails. Then you will locate the corresponding “buttons and slots” that you need. Generally from the inside of the rail to the outside they go twin, full, queen, king.
These are the buttons

These are the slots

Then you just line them up

buttons and slots lined up

And pull them tight

These are the buttons and slots pulled tight

Next you will want to put on the frame guards and casters

Just line the frame guard up with the end of the bed frame (this will be the end opposite the end where the head board attaches)

And slip it on.

Next line of the top of the caster with the bottom of the bed frame leg.

And push it in. Gravity and use will seat the caster.

Then you just need to put your box springs and mattress on the frame and make the bed. You are done. It really is that simple.

I’ve also created a video showing step by step how to do this yourself. Please go here to view the video.

Until next time,

Scott

The super simple way to cut crown molding angles

sfarren — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:24:01 +0000

Welcome once again, Since we have been talking a lot about crown molding, I thought it would be good to show the super simple way to “cut crown molding angles“.

I found this one day while trying to figure out the physics of cutting the perfect crown molding angle. After wasting a $20 piece of molding I finally conceded and looked around until I found someone who showed me the easy way to do it. Now I’m going to show you.
First set up your miter box saw and get your crown.
What you want to do is place your crown in the miter box so that it’s setting at a 45 degree angle just as is if it was setting on your wall

Then you just make your cut accordingly

This is an inside corner cut

Which produces this

This is an outside corner cut

Which produces this

Please do yourself a huge favor by a cheap piece of crown to practice on. ”Bed molding” is very inexpensive and we are actually going to use it the DIY Book shelf project I have planned, so it won’t go to waste.

I’ve also created a video showing step by step how to do this yourself. Please go here to view the video.

Until next time,

Scott

acer aspire one replacement screen

sfarren — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:29:35 +0000

This post will take you through a “how to” for the “acer aspire one replacement screen”

You maybe asking yourself, “what does a DIY site have to do with working on computers?”. Simple, if you do it yourself then it’s DIY. So here we go..

The first thing you want to do is verify that screen is cracked. Believe it or not there are times when people will tell you the screen is broken when they really mean the computer will not turn on, or some weird message throw them.

This screen is definitely broken.

The next thing you want to do is remove the battery. You can do that by pulling back the two spring loaded tabs located on the bottom of the computer on either side of the battery
Next you will need to open the laptop and remove the screw head covers from the bezel (little stickers). Using a precision phillips head screwdriver remove the six bezel screws.

Then you will need to gently pry the bezel off. I find a large guitar pick or a “sam’s club membership card” work the best. Then remove the four screws holding the screen in the laptop.

Next you will need to remove the cable. There is only one and it is taped down. Simply pull the tape up and away from the connector to pull the cable out.

Next you will need to remove the brackets from the broken screen and attach them to the new screen. Tip: Do them one at a time transferring them one at a time from the broke screen to the new screen, into their corresponding location.

Once you have done this you can place the new screen face down on the keyboard and attach the cable back in. Then close the laptop being careful not to clamp the new screen in it. Flip it over and reinstall the battery. Flip the laptop right side up and open the the laptop an place the screen back into the top. Test to make sure the connection and screen are good by turning on the laptop and wait for a response

Go ahead and attach the screen back to the lid of the lap top. Tip: The screen screws are slight shorter than the bezel screws

Once you have the screen in you can place the bezel in the laptop from the hinged section up, gently snapping it back into place. Replace the bezel screws and you are good to go.

This laptop belonged to my daughter and she was very happy to get it back. I hope she is a little more careful with it.

I have also created a video of the entire process. Please go to here to see it.

The screen cost me about $50. Definitely cheaper than a new laptop

Until next time,

Scott

How to install door mounted shelves

sfarren — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 03:17:10 +0000

My daughter has been wanting me to install these small “door mounted shelves” in her bathroom cabinets for a while. So I finally conceded and found it was a lot easier that I thought it would be.

The first thing I did was measure the shelves

Then after some quick math I figured the difference between the shelf and the door width and divided that in half in order to get how far in from the outside edge I had to be. TIP: Be sure to measure from the inside of the screw hole to the other inside of the screw hole.

Then I dug around in my screw bucket and found some screws that were large enough to hold the shelf but not so long as to poke out the face of the cabinet door.

After that it was just a matter of screwing in the screws.

These particular shelves had open divots for screw holes. So I was able to place one screw then hold the shelf up and make the mark for the other screw.

Then I just hung the door mounted shelves on the screws and tightened them in.

This was a very easy DIY project that took me less than half an hour to complete (including clean up).

Four shelves in a teenage girls bathroom = happy teenager.

I think we got the shelves at Wal-Mark for like $15.

Until next time,

Scott