Questions tagged [repair]
Questions regarding fixing something after it is damaged or broken.
128
questions
32
votes
8
answers
158k
views
How do I rehang a wooden door with worn screw holes?
I have a wood door in one of my rooms where the top screws no longer hold the hinge to the wall because the screw holes have worn loose. I have tried slightly larger screws and filling with wood ...
user2278
25
votes
4
answers
5k
views
How do I fix a hole in drywall?
There is a hole in my drywall from a doorknob repeatedly hitting it, is there a straightforward way to fix it?
- 455
11
votes
3
answers
146k
views
How can I remove blackened water stains from a hardwood floor?
We have several large (3' x 6') blackened areas on our hardwood floor where water damage occurred. This discoloration goes deep. Our goal is to sand the floors and apply a clear coat, but we first ...
- 1,842
7
votes
4
answers
27k
views
How do I fix a hole in a hollow door?
My son sometimes has a temper, and has been known to hit his door when sent to his room. He has actually done so enough to punch a bit of a hole in it. I'm trying to figure out what might be doable to ...
- 423
12
votes
2
answers
30k
views
How do I fill holes around a light switch?
I have a light switch where the plaster board around the edges of the face plate have broken away.
I was thinking of using some kind of filler like Polycell to fill the holes but I'm not really sure ...
- 225
10
votes
10
answers
72k
views
My dryer heating element broke in two: Can I just wrap the ends together?
I have a Whirlpool Estate dryer that recently quit drying. I narrowed the problem down to the heating element, then removed the element assembly and found a clean break in the coil at one end. A ...
- 203
4
votes
2
answers
25k
views
How do I prepare a chipped, peeling, deeply cracked wall for painting?
I recently moved into a new apartment where it was understood I would handle the maintenance if they provided the materials. This was an attractive proposition. I am little excited to get my hands ...
- 195
2
votes
2
answers
458
views
What's the proper way to fill this hole?
Recently a dip formed in our flooring inside our sports performance training facility. We discovered that the concrete job there had a good number of stones in it, and I believe that it was that ...
- 169
1
vote
1
answer
863
views
Electric oven: Bake and Broil not Working
isherwood: Same oven as prior question, but new issue.
In bake mode, the broil and bake elements get warm. Neither element gets hot. In broil mode, neither element gets warm.
The cycle lamp is on ...
- 99
22
votes
7
answers
9k
views
How do I safely replace a worn out electrical outlet?
I have a number of outlets that are old and worn out (plugs fall out of them mainly.)
Obviously I need to turn off the breaker to replace them safely.
Any guidance on how to rewire them, how to ...
- 435
12
votes
10
answers
9k
views
Was my approach to repairing stripped holes in a door jamb appropriate?
Two of the screw holes on the doorframe of a bedroom in my house are completely stripped out, to fill them in I soaked small strips of paper towel in wood glue and carefully stuffed them deep until ...
- 121
11
votes
1
answer
120k
views
Why is my air conditioner tripping the circuit breaker?
Our air conditioner recently stopped blowing out cold air. When I went to check on it, I noticed that the outside unit wasn't coming on. We had had problems with ants in the contacter in the past, ...
10
votes
3
answers
19k
views
Is there any way to fix a hinge pulled out of particle board cabinet door?
I hit my head on the open door cabinet over the sink, yet again, and slammed the door shut in anger. Adding insult to injury, the whole hinge pulled out of the particle board and took a big chunk of ...
- 203
9
votes
2
answers
8k
views
How can I further diagnose my central air conditioning compressor fan motor and capacitor?
I have a 15 year old Bryant Central Air unit in my house. Yesterday it stopped working. Here is what I have checked.
The breaker in the basement is not tripped.
The furnace works fine from the ...
- 345
8
votes
3
answers
18k
views
How can I replace a board in floating wood floor?
I have a condo with a concrete subfloor so I floated an engineered wood floor above it. It's not a "click-lock" floor, it's a glued T&G install.
A contractor recently did some work in the unit ...
- 9,847
8
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How to identify the type of plastic
I'm wondering if there's a practical method of recognizing what kind of plastic a something is made of. This is a recurring issue I face when trying to fix/glue/work-with plastic stuff around the ...
- 285
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
first time drywall repair
I need to fix a hole that is about 12x16. I am cutting it to the studs and plan to attach both sides of new piece to a stud. I am capable, but there is a lot of info out there.
Nails or screws?
Do I ...
- 81
7
votes
3
answers
17k
views
What, if anything, do I do to repair notched floor joists?
I have been building for a long time, so I know where floor joists can be bored or notched without compromising their strength. Unfortunately, I have a client whose floor joists were hacked at by ...
- 842
6
votes
4
answers
16k
views
How can I fix a toilet that flushes incompletely?
The toilet in one of our bathrooms routinely flushes incompletely. It does not clog or back up, but it takes several fill/flush cycles to get all the "material" to go down. It just seems to be weak ...
- 532
5
votes
12
answers
241k
views
What could cause my washing machine to stop before the rinse cycle?
My washing machine will get stuck right before the rinse cycle. The washing machine will be full of water. The way to "fix it" is to twist the knob right after the "rinse" line, find the sweet spot, ...
- 81
5
votes
5
answers
14k
views
What do I need to do to fix stripped door hinge screw holes?
The door to my basement broke. The bottom hinge has three screws; the top and bottom one turn endlessly. You can see the pictures here.
I understand that there's a matchstick/toothpick trick, where ...
- 392
4
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Freezer too warm - thermostat or leak?
Frigidaire FRS26LR5CW0 side by side fridge/freezer. Freezer side is cool, but not cold - things were slowly thawing and new stuff not freezing so I had to remove everything. Fridge side is just cool ...
- 41
3
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How to unfix a pvc tube glued to another pvc tube?
I have the following drained pvc tube pipe. As you can see from the picture below, I want to detach the part that I've circled in green (the upper part).
The pvc part has been glued.
After many ...
- 205
3
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How to repair cracks in concrete overhang over entrance
I have a slab of concrete over the front entrance of my house with some serious cracks in it. I don't actually know what the proper name for it is, which makes this difficult to Google - so I've ...
- 131
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Can a plastic fridge shelf be definitively repaired?
I have a fridge with a plastic shelf which first cracked, then finally split. Being short of cash and a replacement seemingly being not terribly easy to find, I thought I would see if it repairable.
...
- 395
2
votes
3
answers
6k
views
How to Replace bottom of exterior door
I have a 1938 house. The back door which is half glass on top is solid wood. There is rot at the bottom because of no weather protection. I’d like to replace with a new solid piece of wood.
Not sure ...
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Repairing a leaky valve stem
I'm replacing the valve stems for my 1960's bathtub handles. There's a hot and cold handle, and they both are leaking profusely from the stem (not drips, but streams of water).
This picture generally ...
- 417
1
vote
1
answer
7k
views
How to repair a basement ceiling's old school interlocking tiles?
I'd like to repair this hole, but I am running into trouble as I've tried rotating the fallen tiles every which way, but nothing seems to work. Don't know if I have to start from or work back to the ...
- 1,074
1
vote
2
answers
8k
views
I have a number of sagging drawers due to broken rear brackets on sliding drawers. Can anyone help me find replacement brackets (pictured below)?
I have reversed some that have broken on the bottom to the other side, which is a temporary fix. These brackets are not flush with the back wood panel but fit over a 1" x 1/2" strip.
Any help with ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
3k
views
Is there a way to fix a small chip in a wall's paint?
I'm not sure exactly with what I've bumped my wall and caused this this:
Is there anything that can be done to fix this without repainting the entire room?
I've been reading around a bit, and not ...
- 159
0
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Roof Leak without any Visible Shingle Damage or Issue
We recently discovered a leak manifesting itself with stains in our ceiling. It likely happened a few days ago when we had about 2-3" of rain overnight. We have never had a leak before, and the ...
- 289
0
votes
0
answers
186
views
Besides welding, are there other ways to connect this gear to its axle?
This is washing machine's agitator axle and a gear from transmission. The weld that connected them both had failed.
Since I don't have welder at my disposal, I am wondering, if besides welding there ...
- 474
0
votes
1
answer
483
views
How do I fix gaps around my lean-to greenhouse?
Added this to gardening and was advised to post here.
I got my greenhouse and didn’t account for the sloping away of the wall it was to go against. Meaning a small gap at the bottom becomes 4” at the ...
- 103
0
votes
1
answer
339
views
Fence Post Replacement Recipe
What tools and materials do I need to replace a fence post? What steps should I follow?
For example, a fence post in the middle of a 6-foot tall wood privacy fence. Each panel has two 2" x 4" (...
- 761
30
votes
10
answers
21k
views
What are the most important things to check/do after buying a home?
We are in the process of purchasing a home that is over 20 years old. What are some of the most important things we should check/patch/do right away to make sure the home is running correctly and ...
24
votes
10
answers
162k
views
How can I fill a screw hole so it can be used again?
My dishwasher attaches to the cabinets on the side via a screw. This hole has become a little stripped, is there a way to fill it in and then screw in to it again? I can't change the location of ...
- 929
23
votes
11
answers
103k
views
How can I fix a garbage disposal with crushed glass in it?
I have a garbage disposal that had a shot glass fall in. It got ground up. The disposal got jammed; I unjammed it and now it makes a glass grinding noise because of the shards inside.
How do I clear ...
- 845
16
votes
7
answers
221k
views
How do I repair a curtain rod anchor that was ripped out of the wall?
My children managed to pull on the curtains hard enough to yank the bracket which attached the curtain rod to the wall out. What is the best way to repair this?
Here's what it looks like:
- 716
13
votes
2
answers
10k
views
If an AC guy checks a system and finds it 100% out of refrigerant, what is the correct next step?
I'm doing a sort of feasibility follow up regarding a visit from our neighborhood AC repair person. He checked our system and found it was completely out of refrigerant. He added 7.5 lbs.
I'll add ...
- 305
12
votes
1
answer
9k
views
Can I raise a sagging shed roof by winching the walls back into place?
TL;DR
Can I fix the sag by slowly jacking up the ridge, simultaneously tightening some steel cables attached to the top of each wall?
Measuring between the top of the wall and the top of the ridge, ...
- 237
12
votes
12
answers
170k
views
Can I accelerate caulk drying by using a fan or heater on it?
From what I've found online, caulking takes 24-48 hours to dry. For my purposes, I need to apply caulking to my kitchen sink.
However, I am in a time crunch, so I would like to know how caulking ...
- 485
11
votes
9
answers
123k
views
How do I remove a 4x4 fence post that is snapped off at ground level?
I'm trying to come up with a cheap and easy way to remove a broken-off fence post. It's a 4x4 lumber post that's snapped off flush to the ground, without any concrete around it.* I'd like to pull it ...
- 15.7k
11
votes
7
answers
3k
views
How do I balance a ceiling fan?
About a year ago I installed a new ceiling fan in my living room and when it was installed it was balanced nicely, but it has a little wobble.
How do I bring it back in to balance?
- 213
11
votes
6
answers
93k
views
Should we skim-coat or drywall over a textured plaster wall to smooth it out?
Our new house has textured plaster walls that my wife and I don't like. We originally wanted to skim coat the walls to smooth them out, but a contractor suggested that we could put up drywall over it ...
- 435
9
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Can I install drywall on the ceiling, without removing crown molding?
I'm in the process of replacing a failing plaster ceiling in my finished basement with drywall. I originally had intended only to scrape down the popcorn finish and have it skim coated, so I did not ...
- 497
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What can be done to fix a squeak in stairs?
This might be better suited as a community wiki, what do you think?
My parents house has very squeaky stairs. The house is over 100 years old, so it's to be expected. What can be done to fix a squeak ...
- 183
8
votes
6
answers
31k
views
How do I hang shelves on poor quality brick/concrete walls?
I'm trying to install some shelves in my apartment (brick/concrete) but when I drill holes the walls almost seem like they're made of sand. I'm not able to securely fix the screws (I'm using wall ...
- 307
8
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Preparing an old metal cabinet for painting
I bought an old metal cabinet that needs some restoration work, maybe not the best idea for a guy with no DIY experience and two left hands. So first I asked at a paint shop how much it would be to do ...
- 283
7
votes
3
answers
39k
views
How do I repair screw holes in a brick wall?
I have screw holes which were put in to support a curtain rail. The curtain's been pulled out a few times by accident, and now the screw holes are crumbling and I don't know how to repair that portion ...
- 315
7
votes
4
answers
103k
views
Why does my ice maker make a knocking sound and not produce ice?
My ice maker is making knocking noises every few hours and rarely produces ice. Every now and then (once a month or so) it actually starts making ice and the noises stop for a day.
It's a GE french ...
- 408