Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[LazyErik]

I had to replace an igniter in my furnace. Apparently somethings do stop a trane.

 

[bld999]

I had to replace an igniter in my furnace. Apparently somethings do stop a trane.

I always thought that was a goofy wordplay thing. Gas furnaces are mostly just boxes full of commodity parts with different hood ornaments outside.

 

[W2R]

I have another testimonial for JB Weld.

You know all that wrought iron work that New Orleans is famous for? Well, several years ago I broke off one of the elaborate finials atop my wrought iron gate. To make a long story short, I was heaving a very heavy log over the gate and missed, breaking it off (don't ask, it was a really bad day).

In 2010, I researched the problem and decided that my only shot at fixing it would be to try gluing it back on with JB Weld. The problem was to get it straight, since both Frank and I have severe astigmatism. He used some sort of guide and glued it back on for me using a ton of JB Weld. It is perfectly straight, looks great, and you can't even tell that the gate was ever broken.

I don't heave logs over the gate any more....

But as for fixing things lately, I haven't had to. I have replaced a few things but that is about it.

 

[Lisa99]

Not a repair technically but we've completed the pantry wall of our DIY kitchen remodel. Now for the island and stove/ sink wall and we'll be done. I don't have a before pic in my iPad but the cabinets were a nasty white thermafoil. This is the after. We added tons of pullout drawers inside the pantries that have soft close dampers and the doors themselves are on self close hinges as well. They're so much more functional than what we had before.

 

[misty57]

Saturday I went to do a load of laundry in my 13 yr. old Maytag Neptune front loader and the tub had a couple gallons of water that had collected in it. DH and DBIL (who happened to be visiting) pulled it out, cleaned a screen, flushed a couple of hoses, and it seems good to go. They still have no clue what caused the fix because in their flushing they never found much of anything.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Not a repair technically but we've completed the pantry wall of our DIY kitchen remodel. Now for the island and stove/ sink wall and we'll be done. I don't have a before pic in my iPad but the cabinets were a nasty white thermafoil. This is the after. We added tons of pullout drawers inside the pantries that have soft close dampers and the doors themselves are on self close hinges as well. They're so much more functional than what we had before.

Beautiful! Where did you get your cabinets?

I want to try DIY but haven't quite convinced DH we can do it.

 

[ls99]

Starter gear stripped, just before last grass cut. Removed starter, got new gear for $5.- from the mower shop down the road. 10 minutes to install, including re-mounting strater.
Good for the next 20 years or so.

 

[ls99]

The polycarbonate lenses are covered with a UV protective coating from the factory. Over the years, that coating loses its protective properties and deteriorates. Once you clean up the yellow stuff, it will come back over time. I have heard that an occasional coat of Sunblock will help keep the lenses clear. Or you can spray them with acrylic clear coat paint.

Did the sam e cleanup un my suburban's headlights. I use RainX, seem to keep clear for a about 2 years. Then another toothpasete job. Rinse, repeat.

 

[akck]

I wanted to do one last lawn mow in order to get the last major leaf drop mulched and bagged. Well, the pull rope finally broke after nursing it along for the last two years. So I took it off and replaced the broken line. Unfortunately, I was one, maybe two turns short of having the cord snap back quickly after a pull. Fortunately, it's a Honda motor that starts after the second pull. I'll give it another turn or two next spring.

 

[BruceinGa]

I haven't used my moulding chopper and mat cutter in a few years, mainly because they don't cut accurately. I spend two or three hours yesterday evening making the necessary adjustments.

 

[Ronstar]

My chimney chaise has a galvanized top that has been rusting for years. I sanded off the rust, sprayed on Rustoleum galvanizing compound, stained the siding on the sides of the chaise and caulked the seam where the chimney collar meets the top of the chaise.

 

[Htown Harry]

My chimney chaise has a galvanized top that has been rusting for years. I sanded off the rust, sprayed on Rustoleum galvanizing compound, stained the siding on the sides of the chaise and caulked the seam where the chimney collar meets the top of the chaise.

I'm glad you made it back down to tell us the story.

On the other hand, there's nothing quite like a big star mounted at the top of a chimney to get me in the holiday spirit.

 

[Ronstar]

DW made me buy and use fall safety equipment, but the rope was the problem. After I tethered myself to the chaise, i kept stepping on the slack piece of rope. So I didn't use it for the chaise project - only for gutter cleaning

 

[aja8888]

Garage door opener quit. Took it apart and found the worm gear drive ate the gear:



Ordered this repair kit:

41A2817 LM Chamberlain Craftsman Liftmaster Garage Door Opener Gear Kit 41C4220A | eBay

$20 repair saved from buying a $200 opener. Nice polyethylene gear set from China in most garage door units. After a few years, the lithium grease dries out and one day it's all over for the gear. Nice..get used to Chinese low quality parts.

 

[John Galt III]

26 year old Moen kitchen faucet still works, never had a part replaced. But it does leak a bit at the base when in use, and it gets hard to move the handle up and down sometimes. All it needs is a new cartridge, but the old one won't come out easily, so I keep trying different things over the years, to get the cartridge out without destroying it. Ongoing project.................

 

[M Paquette]

Just fixed an antenna. It turns out that stuff waving around high in the air doesn't mix well with 50 mile an hour gusts. *SPROING!*

 

[ls99]

M Pquette's antennae fix is a reminder.

Comcast some weeks ago has decided to scramble all achnnels, even the must carry local stuff, some of which DW used to watch in HD, via the TV's built in QAM decoder. I understand the profit motive on their part, to rent HD capable recivers. But it just pi$$ed me off, maximally. We are paying for a package.

Well anywhooo. The Stations she prefers to watch have transmitters in the 40 to 60 mile range. Regular antennas would not be any use. Multi bay flat panel ones present very high wind load so they were out. Corner reflectors have similar issues.

Soooo smart alec here found a high gain Yagi antenna to suit the purpose. It is an XG91. With a 16 dbi up the 50ies channel range and a good 14 dbi in the 30ies. + a mast head low noise amplifier. This setup gets all except the low band PBS station from Pittsburgh. And one channel on one of the back lobes from Johnstown. With good to excellent signal strenght. No dropouts even in heavy rain or iced over antenna.

Stuff Comcast! That would be an Aussie curse word, for those not aware.

By the way DW is now truly impressed with what real unadulterated HD TV picture as received via OTA ATSC decoder looks like, without the crappy degraded HD that comcast delivers as HD.

If I get ambitious I might make a high gain antenna just for the PBS CH13. A narrow band one. WInter is long, we'll see.

She now understands the stories of why most TV personalities are paying $$$$ for the skills of plastic surgeons.

 

[Brdofpray]

This past summer, starting in July, we had 1 inch of rain per day for 10 days straight. All of this water ran down the drive way into our first perennial garden terrace. This created a small pond, that over ran the terrace wall creating a small water fall, and ran down the hill to the vegetable garden. A another small pond was thus created, (completely killing the garden) before this water overflowed, spilled over the wall in another waterfall, heading to the lake. We had two ponds, and two water falls. Some folks pay big bucks for these features. However, we wanted our gardens back.

I just installed two speed drains connected to a box drain, that channels all water runoff from the drive way, underground and through the terrace. The vegetable garden is now protected by a 25 foot channel drain that catches any water from the hill, and sends it around the garden. This required a fair amount of digging, and burying drain tiles.

Today we received over two inches of rain. I am pleased to report, all drains are functioning as they were designed to function. We have taken back our gardens!

 

[seraphim]

This month I had to replace the brakes on DWs car, replace my old iPad, then replace the OTR microwave. Went a little bit over budget this month lol.

 

[travelover]

DW just told me the garage door opener wasn't working and I was actually secretly pleased, as this garage door opener was installed in 1971 (I have the paperwork from the original owners) and I've been waiting for it to die. It has huge clunky remotes that have cracked and have been taped and glued. One had a door bell button installed in the side when the original button collapsed. I removed the opener's metal case and saw that a wire had just vibrated off. Pushed the connector back on and it is good to go.

 

[W2R]

DW just told me the garage door opener wasn't working and I was actually secretly pleased, as this garage door opener was installed in 1971 (I have the paperwork from the original owners) and I've been waiting for it to die. It has huge clunky remotes that have cracked and have been taped and glued. One had a door bell button installed in the side when the original button collapsed. I removed the opener's metal case and saw that a wire had just vibrated off. Pushed the connector back on and it is good to go.

Sounds to me like it is just a matter of time, so that is what I would tell your DW.

Besides, if you shop for one now, you can take your time and maybe even get it on sale. If you wait until it breaks, chances are that will be at exactly the wrong time, such as when recovering from surgery or heading for the airport for a long trip. Might as well do it now rather than deferring this maintenance issue.

 

[Ronstar]

DW noticed that our refrigerator was roughly room temp on thanksgiving. Freezer was fine. So we put our food in the garage(one good thing about living up north in winter). I took it apart today and found that the fan wasn't running. The fan blade would not turn freely. So I cleaned the contacts on the fan and cleaned/lubed the fan shaft with wd40. Put it back together and it's running fine.

 

[travelover]

........ Might as well do it now rather than deferring this maintenance issue.

What? And not wring out every last minute of its useful life?

 

[travelover]

........ cleaned/lubed the fan shaft with wd40. .......

Might want to lube with light oil. WD40 isn't much of a lubricant.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

The washer resevoir cap on my newly aquired Honda CR-V was in rough shape. Instead of traveling to the dealer for that headache, I decided to make one out of sch 40 PVC pipe. After cutting a 3" section lengthwise, I heated and flattened the piece, then turned it on my lathe for a snap-on fit. I find PVC to be a very versatile material for these kind of projects.