Family Handyman Whole House Repair Guide Vol. 2: 300+ Step-by-Step Repairs, Hints and Tips for Today's Homeowners

Whole House Repair Guide

Chief Content Officer, Home & Garden: Jeanne Sidner

Content Director: Mark Hagen

Creative Director: Raeann Thompson

Senior Art Director: Kristen Stecklein

Senior Designer: Anna Jo Beck

Deputy Editor, Copy Desk: Dulcie Shoener

Copy Editor: Sara Strauss

Associate Assigning Editor: Mary Flanagan

Contributing Editor: Kathy Childers

Whole House Repair Guide is published by Home Service Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Trusted Media Brands, Inc. ©2023. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited. This volume may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Family Handyman is a registered trademark of Trusted Media Brands, Inc.

Text, photography and illustrations for Whole House Repair Guide are based on articles previously published in Family Handyman magazine (familyhandyman.com

). For more information on advertising in Family Handyman magazine, call (646) 518-4215.

ISBN: 979-8-88977-026-8

ISBN: 979-8-88977-034-3 (eBook)

We are committed to both the quality of our products and the service we provide to our customers. We value your comments, so please feel free to contact us at [email protected]

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For more Family Handyman products and information, visit our website www.familyhandyman.com

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A NOTE TO OUR READERS: All do-it-yourself activities involve a degree of risk. Skills, materials, tools and site conditions vary widely. Although the editors have made every effort to ensure accuracy, the reader remains responsible for the selection and use of tools, materials and methods. Always obey local codes and laws, follow manufacturers’ operating instructions and observe safety precautions.

SAFETY FIRST–ALWAYS!

Tackling home improvement proj ects and repairs can be endlessly rewarding. But as most of us know, with the rewards come risks. DIYers use chain saws, climb ladders and tear into walls that can contain big, hazardous surprises.

The good news is that armed with the right knowledge, tools and procedures, home owners can minimize risk. As you go about your projects and repairs, stay alert for these hazards:

Aluminum wiring

Aluminum wiring, installed in millions of homes between 1965 and 1973, requires special techniques and materials to make safe connections. This wiring is dull gray, not the dull orange characteristic of copper. Hire a licensed electrician certified to work with it. For more information, go to cpsc.gov

and search for aluminum wiring.

Spontaneous combustion

Rags saturated with oil finishes, such as Danish oil and linseed oil, as well as oil-based paints and stains, can spontaneously combust if left bunched up. Always dry the rags outdoors, spread out loosely. When the oil has thoroughly dried, you can safely throw the rags in the trash.

Vision and hearing protection

Safety glasses or goggles should be worn whenever you’re working on DIY projects that involve chemicals, dust or anything that could shatter or chip off and hit your eye. Also, sounds louder than 80 decibels (dB) are considered potentially dangerous. For instance, sound levels from a lawn mower can be 90 dB, and levels from shop tools and chain saws can be 90 to 100 dB.

Lead paint

If your home was built before 1979, it may contain lead paint, which is a serious health hazard, especially for children 6 years old or under. Take precautions when you scrape or remove it. Contact your public health department for detailed safety information or call 800-424-LEAD (5323) to receive an information pamphlet. Or visit epa.gov/lead

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Buried utilities

A few days before you dig in your yard, have your underground water, gas and electrical lines marked. Just call 811 or go to call811.com

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Smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms

The risk of dying in a reported home-structure fire is cut in half in homes with working smoke alarms. Test your smoke alarms every month, replace batteries as necessary and replace units that are more than 10 years old. As you make your home more energy efficient and airtight, existing ducts and chimneys can’t always successfully vent combustion gases, including potentially deadly carbon monoxide (CO). Install a UL-listed CO detector, and test your CO and smoke alarms at the same time.

Five-gallon buckets and window-covering cords

Anywhere from 10 to 40 children a year drown in 5-gallon buckets, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. Always store empty buckets upside down and ones con taining liquid with the covers securely snapped.

According to Parents for Window Blind Safety, hundreds of children in the United States are injured every year after becoming entangled in looped window-treatment cords. For more information, visit pfwbs.org

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Working up high

If you have to get up on your roof to do a repair or installation, always install roof brackets and wear a roof harness.

Asbestos

Texture sprayed on ceilings before 1978, adhesives and tiles for vinyl and asphalt floors before 1980, and vermiculite insulation (with gray granules) all may contain asbestos. Other building materials made between 1940 and 1980 could also contain asbestos. If you suspect that the materials you’re removing or working around contain asbestos, contact your health department or visit epa.gov/asbestos

for information.

Chapter One

DECKS & ROOFS

Deck Revival

Prep Your Deck for New Stain

Tips for Maintaining Your Chimney

Wash Off Ugly Roof Stains

Replace a Rain Cap

Nine Easy Gutter Fixes

Chapter Two

ASPHALT & CONCRETE

How to Seal a Driveway

Patch Pitted Asphalt

Fix a Driveway Apron

Sidewalk Surgery

Replace a Small Concrete Pad

Save That Slab

Restore a Garage Floor

Protect & Renew Stamped Concrete

Chapter Three

LANDSCAPE

Touch Up a Vinyl-Clad Fence

Fix Dog Spots in Your Lawn

Repair a Bent Fence Rail

Restore a Weedy & Patchy Lawn

Sprinkler System Fixes

Repair Wet Spots in Your Yard

An Outside Cure for Wet Basements

Chapter Four

ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING

Fix a Broken Phone Charger

Knob-and-Tube Insulation Repair

Patch a Power Tool Cord

Fix a Ceiling Fan

Reseal a Leaky Strainer

Quiet a Noisy Toilet

Unclog a Toilet with Dish Soap

Toilet Tune-Ups

Improve Low Water Pressure

Clear a Clogged Air Gap

Foam a Loose Showerhead

Fix Roots in a Sewer Line

Repair a Well Yourself

Quiet Noisy Pipes

Fix a Shutoff Valve

Cut Rusted Faucet Nuts with an Oscillating Tool

Chapter Five

HVAC

Fix Your Central A/C

Repair or Replace a Condensate Pump

Diagnosing Noise in Ductwork

22 Instant Heating & A/C Fixes

Know Your Furnace

Cleaning Air Ducts

Chapter Six

TOOLS, APPLIANCES & EQUIPMENT

Is Your Square Square?

Sharpen Drill Bits in 30 Seconds

Busted Dryer? Replace the Motor

Quick Fix for a Dryer Door

How to Clean a Refrigerator

17 Quick Appliance Tips

Stinky Washing Machine?

Stop Washer and Dryer Vibration

Loosen a Stuck Throttle Cable

Quiet Water Heater Gurgle

Simple Dishwasher Rack Fix

Fix an Electric Water Heater

Free Up a Stuck Trailer Hitch

Misfiring Gas Nailer

Chapter Seven

WALLS, CEILINGS & FLOORS

Patch a Wall

Bleach Away a Water Stain

Ceiling Cover-Up

Fix a Pillowed Ceiling

Recaulk a Tub or Shower

The Best Way to Remove Grout

Replace a Broken Ceramic Tile

Hardwood Flooring Fix

Repair and Reglue Sheet Vinyl Floors

Install a Basement Drain System

How to Clean Carpet

Chapter Eight

DOORS & WINDOWS

Steel Door Repair

Repair a Broken-Out Hinge

Simple Fix for Stripped Screws

Repair a Screen Door

Tips for Replacing Window and Door Screens

Front Entry Face-Lift

Lube a Sticking Vinyl Window or Door

How to Repaint Windows

Repair a Cranky Window

Clean Window Weep Holes

How to Repair a Garage Door Opener

Chapter Nine

FURNITURE, CABINETS & COUNTERTOPS

Refinish Furniture Without Stripping

How to Repair Melamine Chips

Reinforce a Sagging Drawer Bottom

Repair a Broken Drawer Front

Reinforce a Drawer Front

Tighten a Wobbly Chair

Repair an Office Chair

Freshen Up an Old Finish

Correct Bad Brushwork

Make Repairs with Epoxy

Hide Cabinet Damage with Back Plates

Patch a Hole in Leather or Vinyl

Repair Stone Countertops

Hide Scratches with Wax

Add Soft-Close to Cabinets

Chapter Ten

PESTS

Get Rid of Yard Pests

Got Carpenter Ants?

Tips for Trapping Mice

Prevent Nighttime Visitors

How to Beat Bedbugs

Banish Bugs & Crack Down on Critters

Special Section

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Six Silent Signs Your House Is in Trouble

Sharpening Knives and Tools

Eight Ways to Pet-Proof Your House

Portable-Tool Battery Smarts

Prevent Clamp Stains with Waxed Paper

DECKS & ROOFS

Deck Revival

Prep Your Deck for New Stain

Tips for Maintaining Your Chimney

Wash Off Ugly Roof Stains

Replace a Rain Cap

Nine Easy Gutter Fixes

Deck Revival

Upgrade your decking and railings with manufactured boards to make an old deck better than ever.

Are you tired of looking at your worn-out deck? If the framing is in good shape, leave it in place and just replace the old decking and railing. Not only will your deck look better than the original but it will virtually last forever with no maintenance except an occasional cleaning. Our deck was just nine years old, but the railing was warped, and the decking was weathered and cracked. We decided to scrap the treated lumber and upgrade both the decking and the railing to maintenance-free products available at home centers. This is a project a DIYer with intermediate skills can easily tackle.

1. BE PREPARED FOR STRIPPED SCREWS

If the old decking is held down by screws, you’re bound to strip a few of them trying to remove them, so buy a screw extractor before you get started. The one shown here is a Grabit, but there are other brands.

Just bore out the inside of the screw head with the burnishing end of the bit, then flip the bit around and back out the screw. As the bit turns counterclockwise, it digs down into the screw head, creating a very strong connection.

2. STRAIGHTEN BOWED JOISTS

Wood decking is stiff and tends to flatten out the deck, even if joists are bowed. Manufactured decking isn’t nearly as rigid as wood, so before you lay down the new decking, check the joists for flatness. Stretch a string or chalk line across the joists at the middle of the deck. You may need to put a spacer under each end of the string to raise it above the joists. Measure the distance between the string and each joist.

If some joists are bowed way up (more than 1/4 in.), snap a chalk line from the top of one end of the joist to the top of the other, then either plane down to the line or grab your circular saw and cut along it. If a joist is bowed down in the middle, you’ll have to pull some nails and remove it from the deck. Straighten the edge and reinstall it with the straightened edge up. Some of the joists on this project were bowed more than 1 in.

3. BRACE YOUR RAILING POSTS

If you want super sturdy posts, install additional blocking. This is especially important if your balusters aren’t going to be attached to the deck framing. The 5-in. construction screws we chose (the brand is LedgerLOK) are made for treated lumber and don’t require predrilling. We suggest buying cedar posts. Posts made from treated lumber can warp as they dry and wreck your new composite railings.

4. ADD JOIST BLOCKING

If your joists span more than 8 ft., install blocking between the joists. Blocking holds joists straight and adds stiffness to a bouncy deck. It also allows each joist to share the impact of footsteps with neighboring joists and reduces deflection, or flexing. Snap a chalk line at the center of the longest span of the deck framing perpendicular to the joists, and install blocks made from the same size material. Stagger the blocks along the chalk line so you’ll be able to drive the nails or screws straight in from the other side of the joist.

5. TAPE THE JOISTS

Install flashing tape to cover the old joists. If you don’t cover them, water will get trapped in the nail/screw holes and rot the wood from the inside out. You can use tape designed for doors and windows or one for decks. Avoid buying white or shiny silver tape—it may be noticeable in between the deck boards. Flashing tape isn’t cheap. We used a product called Barricade from a local lumberyard. To save money, you could cut the tape in half to double the coverage.

6. BEEF UP THE STAIRS

When replacing wood decking with maintenance-free decking, you may have to add a stringer to the stair framing (check your manufacturer’s specifications). The distance a deck board can span is less on stairs. That’s because the force from stepping down onto a stair tread is much greater than the force from just walking around on the deck. Carefully dismantle the stairs, and use one of the old stringers as a pattern for the new one. Space the stringers at equal intervals and reassemble.

7. TRIM OFF THE DECKING AFTER INSTALLATION

Cut the first and the last deck boards to length before you install them, but run the rest of them long. Snap a line between the two trimmed end boards and cut along the line with a circular saw. The fascia board will fit nice and snug against the decking if you let the deck boards run about 1/16 in. past the joist.

8. REPLACE THE FLASHING

We removed the existing flashing on this deck because it was aluminum, which corrodes when it comes into direct contact with treated lumber. We replaced it with a galvanized steel product designed specifically for deck ledger boards.

You’ll need to remove a couple of courses of siding to make this happen, but it’s a small price to pay to keep water out of your house. Tape the top of the new steel flashing with a flashing tape designed to seal windows and doors or a tape designed for decks. If your house wrap ends at the ledger board and isn’t installed behind it, install the flashing under the house wrap and tape the house wrap to the flashing.

9. USE PLENTY OF SCREWS ON THE FASCIA

Wide PVC and composite fascia boards expand and contract more than regular wood, so they need a lot of fasteners to keep them from becoming distorted. We held the fascia board on with three colored deck screws at the ends and two every 12 in. in the field.

10. USE HIDDEN FASTENERS FOR A CLEAN LOOK

We ordered boards with a groove on each side so we could use the Hideaway Universal Hidden Fasteners from Trex. A pack of 90 clips will finish 50 sq. ft. of decking. This system requires you to partially install clips on both sides of the board before permanently tightening the side that butts the installed boards. These clips are self-gapping, and installation is quick and easy.

Prep Your Deck for New Stain

Spend the time needed to properly remove old stain to ensure the new finish looks great and lasts.

If the stain on your deck is weathered and peeling, you can renew the finish with a few simple steps, starting with removing all the old stain. Solid-color stains protect wood decks and look great when new, but even the best begin to flake and wear away eventually. At that point they need to be completely removed before the deck can be recoated.

First, scrape off as much of the old finish as you can with a paint scraper. As you scrape the wood, reset any nails or screws that stick out from the wood surface.

Next, strip the deck with deck stain remover (1 gallon covers 100 sq. ft.). Tape plastic over nearby siding, and cover or wet down bushes and grass around the deck. Then spread a heavy coat of stain remover over the stained boards. Coat 20 to 30 sq. ft. at a time, keeping the wood wet until the finish is soft enough to be scrubbed off with a stiff brush (Photo 1

). Rinse the residue off with a hose and allow the deck to dry. Use a stripping disc on areas that are heavily discolored or covered with traces of residual stain (Photo 2

). The rough discs work much faster than belt or orbital sanders. They’re available for both angle grinders (the fastest option) and drills (much slower).

Finally, apply a deck brightener/conditioner (Photo 3

) to neutralize the stain remover and to clean and restore the wood to something close to its original color. One gallon covers roughly 200 sq. ft.

After the wood dries, restain or apply a clear penetrating finish. Clear finishes show more of the wood’s natural color but must be reapplied every year. Solid stains protect the wood longer but can be a pain to scrape off. Penetrating stains also need to be reapplied more frequently, but unlike solid stains, they don’t need to be stripped off before renewal.

1 GET THE OLD STAIN OFF. Give the finish remover 15 to 30 minutes to soften the old stain, then scrub off the old stain using a stiff brush.

2 GRIND THE TOUGH SPOTS. Sand off rough spots on the deck or in small areas with a coarse stripping pad on a grinder or drill.

3 CONDITION THE DECK. Brush on a brightener/conditioner diluted with water. Scrub the deck and rinse it thoroughly to restore the original wood color.

Tips for Maintaining Your Chimney

Take steps today to preserve the integrity of your chimney and avoid costly repairs later.

Most homeowners never think about masonry chimney maintenance beyond the occasional flue cleaning. But ignoring your chimney can cost you big time. A cracked crown or spalling bricks can be expensive to repair.

It doesn’t have to be that way. By simply sealing the bricks and the crown and adding a chimney cap, you’ll greatly extend your chimney’s life. And you can complete all three procedures in just a few hours. You’ll have to climb up on your roof a couple of times, and you must be able to safely reach the chimney crown from your roof. If you can’t reach the chimney crown, have a very steep roof pitch or aren’t comfortable working on a roof, call a pro. If you decide you can handle the heights, make sure you wear a safety harness.

START AT THE CHIMNEY CROWN

Masonry chimneys are capped with a mortar crown to prevent water from getting behind the bricks, alongside the flue and into the house. Over time, normal expansion and contraction cycles can cause cracks to form. Sealing the chimney crown with crown sealer, a flexible elastomeric coating, is the best way to stop existing cracks from spreading and to prevent new ones.

Choose a clear or overcast day for the project (no rain in the forecast for at least four hours). Prepare the crown by cleaning it with a stiff poly or nylon brush. Fill any large cracks with patching cement or 100% silicone caulk (either will cure even after you apply the crown sealer).

Next, wrap duct tape all around the crown about 1/4 in. below the edge of the crown-to-brick seam. Press the tape into the vertical brick joints. Then tape around each flue liner 1 in. above the crown. Lay canvas (not plastic) tarps around the base of the chimney to protect the shingles from crown sealer drips.

Apply crown sealer by hand so you can force it into cracks and get the first coat done quickly. Slip on a disposable glove and apply the sealer (one brand is Chimney RX Brushable Crown Repair; see Photo 1

). Cover the entire crown and then smooth it with a paintbrush (Photo 2

). Wait until the sealer dries tacky to the touch, then apply a second coat with a brush. Clean up with water.

SEAL THE BRICKS

Once the crown sealer feels dry to the touch (30 to 60 minutes), remove the duct tape but leave the roof tarps in place. Then mask off any painted chimney flashings before applying water repellent to the bricks (one brand is Chimney RX Masonry Chimney Water Repellent). Use a low-pressure garden pump sprayer (Photo 3

).

FINISH IT OFF WITH A CHIMNEY CAP

A chimney cap keeps water and critters out of your flue and extends flue life. Many codes require a mesh cap, so check before buying. Chimney expert Jim Smart recommends spending extra to get a stainless steel cap because it will last much longer than the galvanized type. One source for stainless steel caps is efireplacestore.com

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You’ll need the outside dimensions of the flue liner to get the right size cap for your chimney. Then install it on the flue liner (Photo 4

).

1 SEAL THE CHIMNEY CROWN. Scoop up a handful of the sealer and wipe it onto the crown. Force the sealant into the cracks and into the crown-to-brick seam.

2 EVEN OUT THE FIRST COAT. Stroke the wet sealant with a brush to level the high and low spots and create a smooth surface.

3 SEAL THE BRICKS WITH WATER REPELLENT. Start at the bottom of the chimney and spray the brick until the excess repellent runs down about 8 in. below the spray line. Work your way up to the top. Apply a second coat within five minutes using the same technique.

4 INSTALL A CHIMNEY CAP. Set the cap over the flue liner and secure it with screws. Tighten until snug, but no more. Excessive