Recent content by Riker1384

The coils on the indoor part of our air-conditioning/heat-pump system are dirty. Is this something I should try myself? I'm any sort of professional. Some sites say I could do it myself, some say it should be left to experts.

I don't know that there was any sort of coating on the foundation wall. As far as I remember, all I saw was bare concrete, but I might be mistaken. I don't know anything about a french drain. When they dug, all I saw down in the holes was clay and some rocks. Anyway, we're having new gutters...

It's a good-sized deck. They were required by the building code to dig the post-holes down to the same depth as the bottom of the foundation of the house. They put a little bit of concrete at the bottom of each hole, placed a post on top of that after it set and then filled the holes with dirt...

We recently had a new deck put out back. They dug post-holes about 8 feet deep for it. While the holes were there, we had some rain and 2 of the holes collapsed, with dirt falling away from the house and exposing some of the foundation. They filled them in and completed the deck. I'm not sure...

Thanks, but I don't have any power tools on hand.

The hardware store carries a kit to polish a stainless steel sink that's old and scratched up. It has a collection of abrasive pads. Do these things work? Are they worth the trouble, or is it something that will take many hours?

I need to replace the carpet in a hallway and on some stairs. The stairs have a right-angle turn at the bottom. With the hallway, it's a very irrregular shape due to doorways and closets. Preferably this would be a single carpet for both. I was wondering how this is done and how much it would...

Ours leaked and the float mechanism stopped working. They sent a whole new tower at no charge, but I only changed the seal. I kind of like having more control over the volume of the flush; I can empty the whole tank now if I want.

If it's the Kohler Cimarron, I put one in and the water level is not as advertised! It starts out at that size right after you flush it but then it settles to a lower level. Bastards! We had an old-fashioned toilet before. They told me that it was "within tolerance" and basically convinced me I...

If the thread is going to be revived, I finished it. At first it looked like too much, so I took some away, but then it shrunk so it's concave and mostly under the toilet, not flush with it. It looks like it's sealed all the way around though. Otherwise it's nice and pretty-like. I think I used...

Here's another question: it's an American Standard Chamion and I have to replace the flush tower. The stop valve won't close so that I can work on the toilet. I'm not sure what the different types of valves look like, but it has hex shapes for a wrench at the front and back of the valve. Is...

Can it be installed when the pipe is already in and the hole is small? There's a space under it, smaller than the pipe. I guess I could cut it out bigger though if I had to.

On one of our toilets, the supply pipe slides in and out of the drywall. I worry this might fatigue or break it sometime. There's a (rusted) chrome-type cover that hides the hole in the wall. This also slides, up and down the pipe. What should I use to hold these in place?

I called and they said it wouldn't usually develop a crack right at the top that would make it drain out just a little. They said it could be something wicking it out, which is unlikely since it's new and it's always been this way, or a vent could be making suction if it was really close. They...

My new toilet is on a floor of very small tiles. I want to caulk most of the way around. How should I clean under the edge well enough to make the caulk stick? Will a toothbrush and some dilute bleach work, or what? It's an old floor, not brand new. Is there anything else tricky about it?