Fix It Blog

My Home Project Accomplishment

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:36:33 -0400

Recently, I decided that my room needs a fresh coat of paint. I got some estimates and realized it was pretty expensive to get a professional paint job

How to Easily: Fix Floor

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:50:21 -0400

Your Project list says Fix floor. This can be a challenging project. I'll show you how to easily make repairing and replacing your floor easy as 1, 2, 3.

Fix Sticking Door

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:49:35 -0400

Does your door Stick? Time for a Fix Sticking Door home improvement project. I'll show you easily how to fix that sticking door and you can do it in about 10 minutes or less.

Contribute To Fix Home Projects Yourself

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 08:22:56 -0500

Would you like to share your knowledge about home projects? Great, find out how you can submit your story or tip here.

Toilet Turmoil - That Funny Flapper Valve

Tue, 6 Jan 2009 11:22:31 -0500

I received this email from Bernie: --- when you flush toilet and only a quarter of the tank water flushes because the flapper valve closes too quickly does the flapper valve require replacing? --- Bernie is asking a great question and at some point or another, we are all going to come across a toilet challenge. Here is what I wrote back to Bernie. --- Hey Bernie, Thanks for the email. You have an interesting challenge in front of you. Let's first take a quick look at how the flapper valve works: When you flush your toilet, the water drains from your tank and exposes your flapper valve to the air. Your Flapper valve is hollow with an opening on the bottom. This is designed to capture some of that air. This air is what allows your flapper valve to stay open while the water drains from the toilet the next time you flush. You're mentioning that your tank only drains about 1/4 of the way before the flapper valve closes. I don't anticipate this is the case, but first, check to see if the opening on the lower side of the flapper valve is clogged. If it is, clean it out and you should be good to go. What I anticipate the problem is that the chain (connecting to the handle) isn't lifting up the flapper valve far enough and therefore, the flapper valve is being pulled down by the suction of the water leaving the tank. With this in mind, simply shorten your chain. This will, in turn, raise the flapper valve higher when you flush and should solve your problem. Best of luck to you and keep me posted on your progress. Thanks Jeff Hensiek

Fix It Friends

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:57:52 -0500

Are you interested in who I recommend for my fix it projects - my Fix It Friends? Then you are at the right place.

How to Fix Toilet - Step-by-Step

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:57:26 -0500

Next on your Honey Do List - Fix Toilet! I'll sho you the most common toilet problems and also how to fix them step-by-step

Bathroom Renovations

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:50:00 -0500

Easy Bathroom Renovations

Fix Leaky Faucet for $3 or less

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 17:26:14 -0500

Take 'Fix Leaky Faucet' off of your 'honey do list'. Fixing a leaky faucet is easier, faster and cheaper than most people think.

Fix It Before It Burns Down!

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:51:51 -0400

FIRE! Not a great thing, unless you are camping and then, it's a lot of fun.

My daughters teacher asked me the other day to take a look at their Kiln house. The teacher and her students were complaining that the door was getting too hot for them and they wanted my opinion on the situation to see if I could help.

(A Kiln, is a big clay bucket or tube that gets to be about 2000 degrees. They use it to 'fire' clay and make it nice and hard.)

I took one look a the kiln and realized we have potentially larger issues than just the door getting hot.

For starters, the rafters are starting to turn a little black. If this was an old shed, then I probably wouldn't even bat an eyelash at it, however, this is a new shed and the rafters are chard. What this means is that it is getting so hot in the kiln shed (even though they have 2 vents already) that the wood is literally about ready to catch fire. This is in need of some MAJOR HELP and RIGHT NOW!

I've recruited a buddy of mine and this coming weekend, we are going to be working on the project. I'll be taking some pictures and even some video and we'll be able to see what we do. Stay tuned and next week, I'll show you what we ended up doing.

Until Then
Jeff Hensiek

Fix It - Do You Have the 'Right' tools?

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:18:54 -0400

Have you ever built a greenhouse?

Today was my first go at it. My wife and I were helping my oldest daughter (and her class) build a greenhouse. We couldn't have picked a worse day. It was starting to rain and we were getting some sleet. Anyway, I found out that not all tools, while advertised as comfortable, are not all that comfortable. Especially when it comes to drills.

As you know, I have 2 cordless drills. And I really enjoy them. They have both been good work horse drills. (to take a look at the drills I use, click here) However, after you use them for about 30 minutes non stop, drilling in about 100 screws or more in one shot, your hand gets tired.

I'm going to have to get with Black & Decker to build a new drill. One that doesn't cause fatigue on your hand. My hand typically starts to hurt where the drill is being cradled (between the thumb and the first finger on my right hand).

Not only does my hand start to fatigue, it also get's tired of pulling the trigger all of the time. Just like when you are using a squirt bottle for a long time, you need to shift fingers, that is what I had to do today.

Here is what I'd like to see, a revamp of the standard drill. Something that will give you the ability to push the screw in forcefully while not fatiguing your hand. Almost like a boxer kind of grip, where you would be 'punching in' the screw. The trigger could be across all fingers and more of a squeeze model like what you have on a compound miter saw. It will also need to be easily controlled with one hand and not fly around like a flag on the top of a pole on a windy day. Of course, it should have very good torque and a long battery life.

Let me know if you are on the same page as I am with respect to drills (or maybe you disagree). Either way, email me by going here.

Let's fix it together.

Jeff Hensiek

Fix it Time! Let's Get 'er done!

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 23:30:32 -0400

Winter time is coming and that means that it is time to get 'er done when it comes to the maintenance around the house.

If you are like me, I've noticed that my house tends to have it's cycles. Here's what I mean. In the winter time, my house tends to get a case of the squeeks.

Without fail, every fall, my doors start to squeak and some of them tend to fit tighter in the door jambs than they used to. This is very normal with it comes to a house. Your house has its cycles and those cycles are a direct result of the weather. In the summer, the whether where I am at is very dry and in the winter, with the snow, we have more humidity. This causes doors, metal hinges and other things to slightly change in size and that causes squeaks.

If it is simply a door hinge, then simply go and get yourself some WD-40 and do a light spray in the hinges. That will take care of the squeak. However, if it is something where the door tends to stick then you might be better off by sanding your door down a little.

Recently, I helped my Dad with this issue. On this page, I detailed out everything you'll need to do in order to fix a sticking door.

Two last things:
1) keep an eye on this blog as I'll be showing you more of my seasonal fix it items
2) let me know what items you are fixing. Click here and tell me what your projects are.

Let's fix it together. Jeff Hensiek

Fix It and the Economy - What can you do to help out your pocket book?

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:05:55 -0400

Wouldn't it be nice if I could just build something and fix the entire economy? That would be amazing! What would it look like? Would it be a large gate that everyone would put on their wallet and they had to enter a long code before they decided to spend something? Or maybe it would be a 'reality check' before you pulled out your credit card?

Well, I can't, however, there are things YOU can do to help out your own pocket book.

Simply put, you can fix things yourself!

Before you think I'm trying to tell everyone in this country to become a licensed General Contractor or a master Electrician or a Master Plumber or (you fill in the blank). Let me let you know, while these people do a very good job for some of the major things, i firmly believe that any homeowner can take care of 90% of all fix it items by themselves.

For instance, I had a plumber over several years ago and they charged me about $150 for a quick 30 minute fix. I had a broken pipe in my wall and I needed it fixed RIGHT NOW! However, take a simpler project like fixing a leaking faucet. I firmly believe that anyone can do this project and save themselves hundreds of dollars.

Here's another example, I had an electrician over quite a while back and they charged me $550 for roughly 3 hours of work. They were running new electrical wiring in an addition that was done on our house. This addition was to be inspected by the county and of course, since I'm not a licensed electrician, any work I would have done wouldn't have passed inspection. So, they did it, however, take a smaller project like changing out the socket in your 3-way table lamp. That is a simple enough project and anyone can do it with in about 10 minutes. I recently did this in my house and saved myself a lot of money.

So, make sure you come to my site www.fix-home-projects-yourself.com frequently and often as I'll be updating the content.

Home Repair Videos

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:11:25 -0400

Sometimes Reading how to do a Home Repair just isn't enough. You want to watch it as well. Sit back with a bowl of popcorn and watch how I do home projects.

Replace Toilet

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:55:24 -0400

Next on the honey do list, Replace toilet. The process is very simple and anyone can do it by following my step by step guide.

Replace Sink

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:42:59 -0400

At some point, you are going to come across the 'replace sink' project. Here is how you do that in just a few easy steps.

How to Fix Drywall Easily and Cheaply

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:36:31 -0400

How to Fix Drywall is one of those things that most people don't do simply because they don't realize how easy it can be

Fix Toilet Problem #3: Your toilet keeps running and you just replaced the flapp

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:51:10 -0400

Is fix toilet the next item on your honey do list? Stop the leaking and dripping and do it in just a few easy steps.

Fix Toilet

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:46:42 -0400

Is fix toilet the next item on your honey do list? Stop the leaking and dripping and do it in just a few easy steps.

Fix Storage For A Closet

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:39:49 -0400

Add more Storage in 5 minutes or less. Here is a quick Fix Storage Project anyone can take on.

Fix that Clogged Drain

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:14:38 -0400

Do you like standing in a puddle of watter to take a shower? You have a clogged shower or a clogged drain. They are very easy to fix and I'll show you how - step by step.

The 5 minute clogged sink Fix

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:55:30 -0400

Out of my whole entire house, I spend most of my time working on a clogged sink or a clogged drain.

As most of you know, I have two little daughters. They are still at that age where they take baths together. On this day, they were playing a game with the bar of soap.

After we washed their hair and got them all cleaned up we took them out of the bathtub and for some reason the water didn't drain. I immediately go into 'fix it' mode and pull out my 'snake' (by the way, if you don't have a pipe snake, you need one - they are relatively cheep - $10 - and you'll use it over and over).

After putting the snake in the drain, I noticed the water was starting to go down and that indicated that I had probably got the clog, however, when I pulled out the snake, there wasn't anything on it!?!?! Needless to say, I was confused.

I finally recognized what was causing the clog. It was the soap. There was a piece of soap in the end of my snake. I had actually got the clog. It just wasn't what I expected.

So, next time you have a clogged sink or clogged drain, don't be surprised if your clog is actually a piece of soap that just got stuck in the drain.

Fix It - vs. - The Biggest Loser

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:02:08 -0400

Recently I was watching the TV show The Biggest Loser. I, myself, do believe in staying healthy and keeping fit. There is a recumbent bike in my office and every morning, I try to hop on and ride for 20 minutes or so. I got to thinking about it the other day and the participants on The Biggest Loser are exercising for the first time in their lives. It is really difficult for them. If we could fast forward to the end of the show, exercising is 2nd nature to them. This reminds me a lot of fixing home projects. When you first initially tackle a project, it could take you a little while to do it, however, after you have done it several times, a lot of the steps become old hat and you start to do things intuitively. You know what the next step is, you know how to put that light together, you understand more of what is going on and that allows you to complete projects much faster. For instance, about 2 years ago, I built the call center our company uses. We had 5 stations, a little coffee area and a reception area. A buddy of mine and I were working on building the desks. We had gone to the office supply store and purchased 5 identical desks. We made a plan on putting all of the desks together in one evening. So, we got all of the pieces from the first desk out of the box, looked at the instructions, put a piece together, looked at the instructions more, put another piece together, etc. etc. etc. We spent about 2 hours putting one desk together. Fast forward to the 5th desk and we were literally putting the desks together in about 1 hour. We were able to do this because we became more experienced with the process. So, why do I tell you about this? Simply to keep encouraging you in your fix it projects. They may seem difficult or like projects you may not be able to do, however, you can do them. Take you time, follow the directions, and send me an email letting me know what challenges you are facing. Together we will work through the process. That will give you experience and confidence and that will help you to complete all of your honey do list projects.

Fix It With Out Tools

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:21:41 -0400

As most of you know, I have 3 ladies in my house. All with long hair. Needless to say, my sinks and showers are continually clogged. So my bathroom sink was draining slowly. Not a big Fix It job, however, one of those things that people tend to put off for a little while. Anyway, it was getting pretty bad. I decided to clean it out. Most of the times, at least in my house, the gunk that is clogging up the sink is right at the top of the drain. You know, just below that little plug that you can move up and down. So, I took out the plug, cleaned it off and ran some water down the drain to make sure I was good to go. Well, I wasn't. So, next, I went to get my Snake (like a big fancy corkscrew or spring that you can use in your pipes and clean out clogs) and I couldn't find it. Being the resourceful person I am, I decided to 'jimmy rig' something - you know, McGyver style of stuff. So I grabbed my pliers and a metal stake from the garage (don't worry, a metal coat hanger would also do the trick). I put a little hook in one end (like a fishing hook) and started to scrape the sides of the drain. Just as I suspected, I was getting lots of gunk. You see, a lot of times, the hair care products, toothpaste, shaving cream these things can tend to 'grab hold' of the sides of your drain. Then, over time, you get gunky build up. Not only can it cause an odor in your sink, it also makes your sink drain slowly. Most people will go out and get an expensive Drain-O or Foaming Pipe Snake or some sort of chemical to clean your drains. While I do recommend that you occasionally (once every 2-3 years) do a through cleaning like that, these chemical based cleaners can actually deteriorate the pipes in your house. Yes, it would take a lot of time, however, it will happen. So, the best bet is to clean our the drains yourself. It takes less than 10 minutes and is very simple - even for the person who doesn't know how to fix anything. Let me know what is on your fix it - Honey Do list. Jeff Hensiek