Steps to Diagnose and Repair a Humid Air Conditioner Resources Richard installed the Healthy Climate Solutions MERV 16 air filter, manufactured by Lennox. 9 Air Conditioner Maintenance and Care Tips Expert assistance with this project was provided by 4 Seasons Air Conditioning & Heating and by Air Conditioning Contractors of Central Florida.
Steps for Removing Grease Stains Step 1: Sop up any wet areas Apply cornmeal or sawdust (this is especially important immediately after a spill) Leave it on the stain for three hours and sweep up. Then, use one of these methods to remove the stain: Step 2: Sprinkle dry dishwasher detergent on wet concrete Let it stand a few minutes and then pour boiling water on the area. Scrub and rinse....
So here’s how to get candle wax off any surface for good, without scratching up your furniture or staining your walls in the process. Wood When removing wax from wood, first harden the wax with an ice cube, then carefully scrape it off with an expired credit card or a plastic ruler. Rub away residue with cream furniture wax. Vinyl Flooring Soak the spot with hot water, and wipe away the wax with a dry cloth....
Start With the Fireplace The chimney is where the smoke exits your house from the fire burning in your fireplace. But the fireplace is where all the action starts. Before you gather the firewood and get ready to hunker down, take a moment to review how to make your fireplace clean, debris free, and ready for winter. Plenty of soot and ash may have accumulated from previous fires, and it’s a good idea to sweep the ashes from the fireplace, leaving about an inch to insulate embers....
—Tabby McCarthy, Olanthe, Kansas Roger Cook replies: A wet walkway is not only a slipping hazard, it contributes to damaging frost heaves that can break apart pavement. If you can’t relocate the downspout, route the water under your walk and out to a dry well buried in your lawn. What Is a Dry Well? Roger Cook replies: This perforated, open-bottom plastic barrel, which sits in a hole and is surrounded by stones, captures water coming off your roof, and lets it slowly disperse into the ground....
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The LiveRoof modular system they chose is typical of residential models, consisting of plastic trays filled with a soilless engineered growing medium and fully mature sedum plants that can handle both deluge and drought. At 40 pounds each, the trays are heavy and meant to be installed by a certified contractor; R&S Landscaping did the job here. See how this roof went from bare to bountiful—plus the latest on living roof DIY options....
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How Does a Mini Split Work? It’s simple physics—heat will always transfer to cold. Using something called an inverter, the mini split is capable of capturing heat through a cold line of refrigerant and moving it to the desired location. In the summer, the heat is extracted from the air in the house and dumped outside, making it cold. In the winter, heat is scavenged from the outside and pushed back into the house....
Upper crown molding: Classical Craftsman Collection Crown, WOCM005. Fascia board: Classical Colonial Collection Crown WOCM002. Both from WindsorONE. Lower crown molding: AB405 3⅛-inch crown; Ring’s End How to Install Three-Piece Crown Molding Overview Project timeline Friday: Mark the room’s framing, and install the cleats. Saturday: Assemble and install the half beams and backing blocks. Sunday: Lay out the cuts, and cut and install the upper and lower crown moldings....
Plant What They Don’t Like Squirrels and chipmunks avoid daffodils—which are poisonous—as well as alliums, scilla, hyacinth, grape hyacinth (muscari), fritillaria, camassia, chionodoxa, snowdrop (galanthus), and summer snowflake (leucojum). Tulips, unfortunately, are a delicacy for them. Still, if they become hungry enough, they’ll eat everything in sight. Install a Barrier Line the bottom of your planting bed with wire hardware cloth or woven shade cloth, which is easier to work with....
Adhesive Removers There are lots of products available that will do a great job of removing glues and sticky residues from a variety of surfaces, but they’re often harsh and can damage or discolor a surface. Goof Off and Goo Gone are specifically designed to remove adhesive, and both products work well. Just be sure to read the directions carefully. How to Get Sticker Residue off Glass Surfaces If you’re removing sticker residue from glass, including mirrors, the good news is that the job shouldn’t be too difficult....
Fasten the plywood-backed radiant-heat panels to the subfloor with 1⅝-in. screws. Stretch a continuous length of PEX tubing back and forth across the floor. Use a rubber mallet to tap the tubing into the grooves of the radiant-heat panels. Run the tubing ends down through the floor to the boiler. Mount the manifold to a wall near the boiler, then connect the tubing ends to the manifold. Run piping from the boiler to the manifold....
Mold doesn’t just eat away at your wood, wallpaper, or grout. Its spores get airborne and cause all kinds of health problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says enough evidence exists to link mold to upper respiratory tract symptoms like itchy eyes and runny nose to cough and wheeze in otherwise healthy people. What is black mold? When people say “black mold,” they refer to Stachybotrys, a greenish-black mold that grows on damp material with a high cellulose content....
TIP 1: Load a brush by dipping the bristles half way into the paint and tapping them on the inside of the bucket. For easier cleaning after the job, first dip the bristles in the solvent that is the base of your paint—water for latex and mineral spirits for oil—before painting. This will keep the bristles at the ferrule from drying out before you can clean them. TIP 2: To cut in a straight line, press the tips of the bristles against the wall just enough to arch them but not enough to paint with the sides of the bristles....
Severe Weather Supplies
says Benjamin Terrill, who lives in this west-facing, 3,600-square-foot house in Wichita, Kansas, with wife Holly and daughter Madeline. So we asked Chicago architect David Raino-Ogden what he’d do to increase its appeal. Built in 1880, with a couple of additions tacked on later, the house has good proportions, Raino-Ogden notes. “But the porch feels heavy and disconnected from the style of the house,” he says. After: Reclaim Home Heritage To remedy the issues with the exterior, and reclaim the home’s heritage, Raino-Ogden suggests swapping sturdy porch columns for slender wood ones with paneled bases....
How to Prepare a Charcoal Grill for Winter Build a fire Light up your grill one last time (sorry, no food—you’re just trying to cook off anything accumulated on the grate). A couple of hours at 500°–660°F should cook off any heavier grease. How to Clean a Grill Clean it out Once it’s thoroughly cooled, check to be sure any leftover food scraps and residue are completely gone. They’re attractive to animals and insects looking for winter hangouts....
