Let's Repair it Ourselves!

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alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Let's Repair it Ourselves!

Post by alliesmama4 »

HappyDaze wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:12 am So the "main toilet" started not flushing and I about panicked thinking "EXPENSIVE REPLACEMENT". Went on youtube. First question was "is it a low-flow toilet?" Why yessssss...

Come to find out, low flow toilets have a second hole that can easily get clogged with the minerals from the water, etc.

So - you empty out the water (dumping a big pail of water into the bowl does this trick), dump in a couple gallons of vinegar, let it sit overnight. This process may need to be repeated a couple times.

Alternatively, there is a strong chemical you can buy for this - I prefer the vinegar. I did this once and it made a huge difference. I'm going to do it again just to be on the safe side and will probably do it every so often for maintenance.

"Five Dollar Fix"

Fortunately, we have a spare toilet. Apparently, many decades ago, someone remodeled this house and demolished a bathroom (the remains of the bathroom cabinets are inside of my bedroom closet - very handy!). However - they left - literally - a toilet - in perfect working order - and enclosed it. I literally have a teeny, tiny closet with a working toilet in it.
Good job Sheila. Amazing what you can find to fix things on the internet.
Janet Alliesmama
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Jackielou
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Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:51 pm

Re: Let's Repair it Ourselves!

Post by Jackielou »

Today will once again be some clothing repairs. A couple of seams. I am saving the "turn the collar" fix until I feel like doing it.
Jackie
http://inthelandofthelivingskiesii.blogspot.ca/
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Let's Repair it Ourselves!

Post by alliesmama4 »

My furnace started to act weird during the night. Blowing cold air and running constantly. I have a programable thermostat so got out my manual. I put in new batteries and checked the wiring. Did not touch the wiring since I am not that skilled. However the manual said there might be an interruption in the wiring so I blew hard on the wiring several times incase there was a fleck of dust in that area. After remounting it I moved it over to auxiliary heat manually incase the problem was due to a interruption in the automatic wiring. Now have heat and the furnace is back in to a cycling regularly. Was concerned since our outside temps are (17 F) ( -8 C) with a wind-chill of (8 F) ( -13 C). We had unexpected snow last night with an ice glaze this morning. So our roads were not treated and it would be dangerous to try to have someone come out to check on my furnace. My roads are very rural with lots of hills and sharp twisting turns. Glad I was able to fix things on my own.
Janet Alliesmama
HappyDaze
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Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: Let's Repair it Ourselves!

Post by HappyDaze »

Janet, great job figuring out your furnace problem. I have some mending to do on a quilt that I got at the thrift store a couple years ago. Hope (bless her heart) likes to "dig" on the bed at night before she lays down and she tore the quilt in several places. I don't keep it for looks, I keep it because it's a warm blanket - so, even though my repairs won't be pretty, I might tackle that this weekend. I don't enjoy sewing and I'm not good at it but this quilt is well worth saving and fixing before the tears become worse.

I also have a pillow case with a big tear in it - I might need to patch it rather than just sew the tear closed. It is my only king sized pillow case for my one king sized pillow so I do want to rescue it. Fortunately, I have some scrap material that would make a good patch.

There are probably some other things that could be fixed/repaired around here if I cared to look around.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
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Jackielou
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Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:51 pm

Re: Let's Repair it Ourselves!

Post by Jackielou »

Sat and darned some socks on Tuesday, pretty much all for repairs this week. Hubby did repair my timed light in the bedroom (I use it to read in bed), and changed the light fixtures in the hall way.
Jackie
http://inthelandofthelivingskiesii.blogspot.ca/
HappyDaze
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Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: Let's Repair it Ourselves!

Post by HappyDaze »

During spring cleaning yesterday I decided to clean some dark spots off the large area rug in the "great room" part of my kitchen. Despite regular vacuuming, it had accumulated some "grungy spots" from general use and abuse. The rug is pale yellow and white - a "faded, vintage type pattern".

This rug can't be steam cleaned as it is wool and will shrink, so I used some carpet cleaner and a soft toothbrush to get the dirty spots out. Done and it looked great. UNTIL...I noticed the cleaner had BLEACHED the rug where I sprayed it. It didn't look terrible, since the pattern is yellow and white anyway but I didn't like it and I was quite upset.

Then my daughter suggested doing a gentle scrub of the whole rug with just some cool water and a sponge mop and then strategically BLEACHING some more spots - on purpose! Figuring I had nothing to lose at this point, I let her help me do that and WOW - the rug looks great! It looks as if the "bleached spots" are part of the pattern and it's supposed to be that way. Nobody would ever know by looking at it that it was accidental.

What a relief! I'm sure I was crazy to buy a pale yellow/white rug in the first place but I'm glad we rescued it!!
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
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