Ups and Downs

In my day we never locked our doors, but I would not try that today. As a kid I came and went and never needed a key. When my kids were kids, they never needed a key either. We had an attached garage with a keypad outside. A lot of people with attached garages use their keypads to enter their house.

As a handyman I often receive questions about garage doors and garage door openers, here is one that was a little different.

"Our house is about fourteen years old, and most everything is still original. Recently our garage door opener raised and lowered for the last time. We had a door company put in a new Genie door opener. We got three remotes, but we did not get a new outside keypad. The old keypad is still attached outside, but does not work. We have been spoiled by the convenience of the out side keypad, and want one with this garage door opener.
Can we get an outside keypad for the new garage door opener, and if we find one how hard is it to wire?"



It is possible to reuse your old keypad. The old keypad should have two wires coming from it that can be hooked up to the base unit in the garage. The wired keypads, are just switches, so if you hook up the old pad, it will open and close the door using your old code. If you want to replace your old keypad, you can find the one you need on this site; http://www.geniedoor.com/index.shtml. You can replace the old keypad with a wired keypad, or you can pay a little more and get a wireless keypad. The geniedoor site has several to chose from. The advantage of wireless keypads is there is no drilling or wiring to do.

As a handyman I would sub out any major electrical work, but minor electrical and low voltage electric such as key pads, I took care of myself. So as a homeowner never take on a job you feel is over your head.

Not So Cool

From my point of view when it comes to home remodeling or home repairs, I feel there is no substitute for the professional handyman or other service technicians. However I also think that a homeowner can learn to do simple repairs and trouble shooting in their own home, as long as they know their limits and call a professional when the job is over their heads. sometimes things are simple if you know the basic things to look for. Here is an example of some questions I receive from homeowners;


"We live in a warm climate, so we use our air-conditioner a lot. We have been using our air-conditioner for the past two weeks. We have it serviced every year, in fact we had it serviced three weeks ago, and everything checked out great. But now it is hot in my house and the inside unit is running but the outside unit is not.

Is there anything I can do or check myself before I call for service?"

In a lot of cases this is a simple fix, and you can solve it yourself. The first thing I would look for is a tripped A/C breaker. There are two breakers to the outside unit. The one to check first is the one that is in the main breaker panel. Look in the main panel and find the breaker for the air conditioner. The A/C breaker is going to be a double pole breaker (240 amp breaker). Turn it completely off even if it appears to be off, then turn it back on again. If it trips again, leave it alone and call your service tech. If it stays on, then check if the unit is working. If the unit is still not working, you will need to check the breaker (quick disconnect) that is located outside near the unit, and repeat the same steps you did on the inside unit. If none of this works, it still could be a simple fix like a broken wire, or a bad capacitor, but unless you are skilled in this area it is time to call a service tech.

In this case it was a tripped breaker in the main panel, and it is run fine since.

Gutter Pains

Gutter problems are not only a pain when they are not working correctly, but can cause costly problems such as damaged siding, leaking windows, and even foundation failure. Gutters and downspout problems is also a leading cause of leaky basements. Fixing this problem is money well spent and will prevent and will prolong the life of your home.

Here is a question I received about gutter problems;


"I live in a twenty year-old ranch house on a large wooded lot. I know that it is important to keep the gutters clean and I always do. When we get a good rainfall, I can look out of the window and see the water cascading over the gutters. I check the gutters and they are clean, but they still run over. What could be causing the gutters to overflow?"



I get this question often, but in most cases it is only a few things that can cause this. One of the most common problems comes from having long runs of gutters, with very few downspouts. Runs over thirty feet without a downspout, could back up in heavy rains. This happens just because the downspouts cannot drain the water fast enough.

Another cause can be that the downspout is clogged. The best way to check this is to run water in the gutters and check to see if you have a good flow coming out of the downspout.

If your down spouts drain to an under ground drain, the problem may be that the under ground pipes are clogged. To check this, run water directly into the downspouts for about ten minutes. If the water starts backing up, it is time to have the drainpipes cleaned out.

After you have determined that the gutters and down spouts are working properly, you could install some basket strainers in the top of the downspouts. This will help keep the downspouts and or drains from getting clogged.

I recommend that you call your local professional handyman; he can help you with this problem and recommend products that can eliminate the cutter cleaning process.

Let's go Fishing

Don't Get your Lights turned Off!

As a handyman, I often hear my clients say, “I am going to put in new lights my self”. Of all the projects in the home, the scariest and the most mysterious projects involve electricity. It is very wise to do the research before jumping into this project. You will find that besides knowing the proper safety procedures, the actual work is pretty easy.

For the do-it-yourselfer, I recommend that you turn off the electricity at the main panel, but remember that this does not always kill all the power. Some main panels have a true main that will kill all the power to the house. Some panels may have a circuit breaker that is marked 'main', but this circuit breaker may only turn off some circuits, leaving others on. Some panels are designed so that it takes up to six breakers to suspend all the power to the house. Some panels may be wired incorrectly making it impossible to turn off all the power.

The only way to make sure that you are not working with live wires is to test the wires on which you are going to work. This can be done with an inexpensive no-contact circuit tester. You simply put it on a wire that has insulation and it tells you if it is live or not.

In common house circuits, the black wire is usually the hot wire and the white wire is the neutral wire, but both have the potential to carry current. With this in mind, you should turn off the current at the main panel and still check each wire with your tester before touching them.

One of the most common mistakes is turning off the light switch and thinking that just because the light went out the wires are not hot. Switches can be wired to the neutral (which is improper) leaving power at the light even when the switch is turned off.

Do your research. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions, and most of all, be safe.

Where is a Stud When You Need One?

A lot of people find a great deal of satisfaction doing their own small home improvements. As a handyman it was common for a client to ask me advice on a small project they wanted to take on to do themselves. Granted most of the time after I explained what needed to be done, they asked me how much I would charge to make the improvements. My advice to my clients, is never take on a job that feels out of their skill level. If you are trying to do your own home repairs or home improvements for your own satisfaction, that is one thing. But if you are just trying to save money, be very careful. In most cases where a homeowner took on a project they were not qualified to do, it cost them a lot more to fix what they did then the job would have cost for a contractor to do it right the first time.

Okay, back to some of the questions I receive. Here is an actual question from a client;

"We are remodeling our family room, and one of the larger aspects of this project consists of floor-to-ceiling shelves on three walls. We had the shelves custom made, and delivered. Now we are ready to install them. The problem we are having is locating the where the studs are behind the drywall. We are over our budget now and did not want to add the expense of buying a stud finder. We were told to tap on the walls and listen for the change in sound. This is not working for us".
"Do you have any ideas for us"?


The drywall is attached to the studs with nails or screws every sixteen inches on center. The studs are a little less than two inches wide. The drywall is four foot wide. Each piece of drywall ends in the middle of a stud, then the next piece starts. Where these two pieces meet, joint tape is used to finish the seam. Keep in mind that this seam is in the middle of the stud. So if you can find a seam, you can measure sixteen inches from the center of this seam to find the center of the next stud.
The best way I know to find the seams is to use a drop light, or a lamp without the shade will work also. Take the light and hold it about a foot away from the wall and look for the silhouette of the joint tape. The center of the joint is the center of a stud, now remember sixteen inches on center, and you should find as many studs as you need.

Not a Cloud In The Sky, They Are In My Windows

As a Handyman I receive a lot of questions about windows. This example is very typical of the questions I receive;

“We own an older house that, until six months ago, had single-pane, wood windows. We had all new double hung, double pane windows installed the first of the year”.

“Recently we have noticed that the larger window in the living room is cloudy. This is very noticeable in the morning, because the sun shines directly in this window. We tried to clean the window, but it appears that the cloudiness is inside of the double panes”.
“Is this normal for this type of window or should we call the window company”?

Cloudiness between the double panes is a problem. A vacuum exists between the double panes, and the seals ensure it. If cloudiness or moisture is present between the panes, it means that the seal is no longer doing its job. Depending on the size and the style of the window, the repair can be costly.
Since the windows are less than a year old, they are probably still under warranty. Report this to the window company as broken seals. Also it is a good idea to check all of the other windows for cloudiness.

I have always encouraged my clients to use quality products on any home repair. If you use cheap low quality products, you will be replacing them much sooner than you want to. I always say, “you will pay now or you will pay later”. Quality product cost more in the beginning, but will save you money and aggravation in the long run. It will also give you more time to go fishing.

BAD VIBES

It is nice to be remembered as a handyman, like when an old client has a problem and calls for help. It is even nicer, when I can help. I did some work for Janet and her family some years ago, and when she had this problem, it was nice that she called. This is how she explained her problem:
“We recently bought a new house. It is a two-story home with vinyl siding. We love it and everything is great until the wind blows. Then the siding vibrates very badly, so badly it feels like the whole house is vibrating, and it is also very loud. We are in a new subdivision that is currently very exposed to any wind. On the side that vibrates, there are only a few windows, and the vinyl siding goes from the foundation to roof. We are desperate enough that we are thinking about having the home re-sided with some other material. We know others that have vinyl siding and they don’t have the noise and vibration that we do. Is this a bad siding, or can something be done to correct the problem?"

A common problem with vinyl siding is not the siding it self, but a problem with the instalation. It is not uncommon to find that the installers did not consider the wind direction when they lapped the siding. Common vinyl siding is hung loosely to keep it looking straight.
Common vinyl comes in 12-foot lengths. The laps should be made into the wind, so the wind does not get under it. Roofers, when installing the ridge cap frequently make this same mistake.
I have seen some success in making the vibration stop when the overlapped seams are caulked with silicon, but this is not always a positive cure, but it is worth a try before residing the house.
If new siding is the option, a seamless vinyl is a better choice. The seamless, besides being one piece, is anchored, not hung like conventional siding. Oh how things change.