Friday, February 28, 2014

How to Repair a Metal Staircase Rail

Lag bolt 3-inch
By Gary Boutin
 
Supplies and Tools:  

Adjustable crescent wrench 12-inch
Lag bolt 3-inch


For my regular viewers, I am back from a little crisis that happened a few months when I crashed my personal computer. In October 2013, I started working part-time as an associate for The Home Depot. The Home Depot trains their associates very well on the building materials products which I am selling to my customers. My benefit is I learned even more for future blogs

George Morco new home had a very loose metal staircase rail which had no lag bolt on the top and the bottom bolt was pulled out of the metal railing. The lag bolt fell off from from heavy abuse. George had told me that the last renters had a huge family and they rode the metal banister from the top to the bottom. That was the reason why is was staircase was so loose. He called my repair service to repair this little job.

This post shows the three steps to repair the loose metal railing.

Step 1: Fig.1 shows the metal rail has a missing lag bolt near the rug edge and the bottom lag bolt has been pulled out because it was very loose.  
Fig.1 Lag bolts loose
Step 2: Fig.2 shows the metal leg was bent out of shape and needed to be bent back to shape to fit the existing holes.
Fig.2 Staircase rail is bent
Step 3: Fig.3 shows the two lag bolts are in place. The bottom lag bolt was placed using a 12-inch crescent wrench. The wrench needs to be at least 12-inches to get the torque to thread the lag bolt into the stair wood studs. Now the stair rail is secure for the new occupants.


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Note: The DIY Advisor assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any jobs. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed contractor if in doubt about any steps on these posts. All names were changed to protect client's privacy. DIY Advisor. Reproduction of site content including photos without permission prohibited. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011-

How to Repair Mobile Home Leaking Sewage Pipes Clamps

Fig.1 The main access
By Gary Boutin

Parts and Supplies:  
Flat-tipped screwdriver

Mr. George Lue lives in a beautiful mobile home park in Fontana, California. His home is a permanent structures in this park. He has called me for estimates in the past but this time he needed my repair service to address a major leak in the sewage system outside his home. He had received a repair ticket by the park administrator to have the sewage leakage repaired immediately. This post address this problem. 

This post shows six steps on troubleshooting and repairing a leaking sewage pipe in a permanent mobile home. 

Step 1: Fig.1 shows all the electrical and the sewage pipes in one area. A service technician at the mobile park informed George that his sewage pipes underneath his mobile home were loose was dripping with sewage.
Step 2: Fig.2 shows the separation of pipes until the sewage main pipe was freed. The metal pipe on the left side is the electrical for the mobile home. This pipe has a waterproofed exterior casing that protects the electrical wires feeding the mobile home electric power. Notice below the two large stainless steel bands this is the only way to secure the main sewage from draining. 
Fig.2 Sewage by electric pipe
Step 3: The hard part of this job was to go underneath the mobile home and check each sewage lines. Mobile home are not sealed and have rodents and spiders all around the bottom of the floor. All the lines underneath the mobile home were sealed and not dripping with sewage. There was no puddles underneath the mobile home floor. The problem seemed that the two stainless steel clamps were loose and needed tightening.
Step 4: Fig.3 shows pictures shows the snake pipe entry. If the sewage was clogged this would be the access pipe to place a plumber's snake. Regular home have them too, but they are usually 1-1/2 wide and are near bathroom, and sinks. This snake access pipe is a 4-inch drain line and it's for a permanent mobile home.
Fig.3 Top of snake pipe
Step 5: Fig.4 shows the main sewage pipe. Tightened each stainless steel pipe clamps with a flat head screwdriver or a hex-head socket wrench. Once this was done, each toilet and each sink were filled with water and then all the drains were emptied at once, and no leak developed. 
Fig.4 Stainless steel clamps
Step 6: Fig.5 shows the main electrical panel, the water spigot and the sewage drain. Now everything is fine.
Fig.5 The main panel


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Note: The DIY Advisor assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any jobs. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed contractor if in doubt about any steps on these posts. All names were changed to protect client's privacy. DIY Advisor. Reproduction of site content including photos without permission prohibited. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011-

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

How to Repair an Irrigation Broken Pipe and Cover Missing

Fig.1 Broken irrigation pipe
By Gary Boutin

Supplies and Tools:
Bow rake 12-inch 
Diameter 90-degree PVC elbow fitting 3-inch 
Garden hoe 
Irrigation cover 3-inch   
PVC drain pipe 3-inch   
Red Hot PVC Blue Glue Size: 0.25 Pint

I was called by a Mr. Applehumber in Santa Clarita, California. They were selling their homes and moving up to Colorado. After the Realtor checked their beautiful home, she requested a huge laundry list of repairs. Jim wanted to find out why his front planting area would not drain. 

This post shows the 6 steps to repair a missing irrigation front garden pipe and cover. 

Step 1: The area was dug out to find the drain pipe to find out why the front garden area would not drain. The drain pipe was solid and not broken, but only the pipe end was damaged and the cover was missing completely. Fig.1 shows the existing 90-degree bend was broken and had not been sealed with adhesive.
Step 2: Fig.2 shows the new 90-Elbow and irrigation cover needed for this job.
Fig.2 Irrigation grate and new elbow
Step 3: Fig.3 shows the  90-Degree PVC Elbow placed into the existing 3-inch PVC drain pipe. Use Nitrile gloves if using the PVC adhesive so you do not get it on your hands. Red hot Blue glue can be difficult to remove from your hands. The glove will prevent your hands from turning blue.
Fig.3 Fitted on pipe
Nitrile glove
Step 4: Fig.4 shows the top of the irrigation cover and fig.5 shows the side angle of the irrigation pipe and cover. Use Red Hot PVC Blue Glue to glue the irrigation cover onto the irrigation pipe.
Fig.4 Top cover of new irrigation cover
Fig.5 Side view of irrigation cover
Step 5: Fig.6 shows a leaf rake to move the soil back into the irrigation hole. Fig.7 shows the garden hoe breaking up the dirt clogs in the front garden to make it level without any clumps.
Fig.6 Leaf rake
Fig.7 Garden hoe
Step 6: Fig.8 shows a the area is leveled and the dark spot shows the new irrigation cover. Now Jim has a front garden that can drain.
Fig.8 Job finished

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Note: The DIY Advisor assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any jobs. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed contractor if in doubt about any steps on these posts. All names were changed to protect client's privacy. DIY Advisor. Reproduction of site content including photos without permission prohibited. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011-

Saturday, February 15, 2014

How to Install a Bathroom Faucet Plunger Missing Knob

Fig.1 Faucet with no plunger knob
By Gary Boutin

Parts and Supplies:
Faucet plunger knob

For my regular viewers, I am back from a little crisis that happened four months ago. I crashed my personal computer and it took many months to figure out my blogger and e-mail accounts. In October 2013, I started working part-time as an associate for The Home depot. The Home Depot trains their associates very well on the building and lumber products that I am selling. My benefit is I learned even more for future posts.  

I was called by a Mr. Applehumber in Santa Clarita, California. They were selling their homes and moving up to Colorado. After the Realtor checked their beautiful home, she requested a huge laundry list of repairs. Jim showed me several sinks missing the faucet plunger, below this short post shows how this repair was handled.

This post shows the three steps to install a faucet plunger knob.

Step 1: Fig.1 shows the faucet plunger knob was missing from the faucet.
Step 2: Fig.2 shows what the plunger knob looks like. This one was purchased at Ace Hardware store in Santa Clarita, California.
Fig.2 Missing 
plunger
Step 3: Fig.3 shows the new knob was placed on the plunger faucet. Inside the plastic know are pre-drilled threads, turning the new knob counter-clockwise or left the knob was screwed onto the facet plunger metal shaft.
Fig.3 Plunger replaced
This part was not at any of the large building supply warehouse stores, it was lucky that this part was available at Ace Hardware, it shows the versatility of this store. The staff was very informative on how to attach the clear plastic knob.

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Note: The DIY Advisor assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any jobs. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed contractor if in doubt about any steps on these posts. All names were changed to protect client's privacy. DIY Advisor. Reproduction of site content including photos without permission prohibited. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011-