Category Archives: Maintenance and Repair

Maintenance, installs, or repairs made during the project.

Cleaning out the Garage

Posted on June 12, 2018 by ellen

Unfortunately the charge cord that came with the JuiceBox is only 20 ft. long. And the 30 amp outlet is in the storage cabinet at the far end from the garage door. That means that the car has to be … Continue reading →

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If It’s On A List, Then It Must Get Done

Posted on April 14, 2018 by ellen

Sooner or later the list must get done. It is past time to come up with a Spring list and I’m looking at the items that I have paid no attention to for a season and feeling like I had … Continue reading →

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Painted Garage Door

Posted on April 8, 2018 by ellen

I  was surprised that our garage door was so shy. I had to look long and hard for any photos of the door before it was painted. This is how it looked when we bought the house. There was always … Continue reading →

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New Switch for Tile Saw

Posted on March 8, 2018 by ellen

I bought a Husky bridge style wet tile saw for a bathroom remodel tile project in our Tempe house in 2007. That was the first really creative tile layout that I designed and it turned out pretty well I thought. … Continue reading →

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Exterior Door Trim

Posted on November 23, 2017 by ellen

I finally let the trim on the front door get so badly peeled and chipped that I had to paint it before winter set in. The sad truth is that something went terribly wrong when we had these doors painted by … Continue reading →

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Annual Garage Clean Out

Posted on October 20, 2017 by ellen

Each fall it is time to empty the garage enough to store the car out of the snow and park the mower inside too. This year we did not beat the first snow as it came in October. But we … Continue reading →

Posted in Maintenance and Repair, Tools | 1 Comment

Problem with Hoppe Three Point Lock on ThermaTru Door

Posted on September 24, 2017 by ellen

One of the sets of french doors was stuck closed. It appeared that the three point lock was stuck at the top of the door keeping it from opening. I thought I was going to have to take the door … Continue reading →

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Guests! An Ebay Scam and ERV Maintenance

Posted on September 24, 2017 by ellen

We have had the pleasure of several recent guests who have stayed in the new master bedroom and bath. The new curtains have made the space more private and it has proved to be great to have another bathroom with … Continue reading →

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SPT Dishwasher Repair

Posted on June 24, 2017 by ellen

We use our small dishwasher regularly and over the past months we noticed the dishes have not been getting as clean. I cleaned the filters, took apart the arms and cleared them of debris and cleaned the stainless steel interior. … Continue reading →

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Whoa! Living Room Put Together

Posted on June 24, 2017 by ellen

We have been pushing ourselves to get the house together after the drywall installation. I finally finished the rest of the concrete floor with steaming, washing, staining spots and cracks, sealing and polishing. Today we were able to move some … Continue reading →

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Outlet and Switch Repair

Posted on May 30, 2017 by ellen

Unfortunately due to my incompetent electricians who put the electrical boxes in crooked and at any depth they chose, and perhaps some of the drywall shimming, the outlets and switches almost all have to be shimmed out to install the … Continue reading →

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Decorative Cracks in the Concrete

Posted on May 23, 2017 by ellen

The steamer works great to get the blobs of paint and dried compound off the floor. There were some unprotected areas like in this closet that really needed work. I used one of the small bristle brush attachments to scrub … Continue reading →

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Kitchen Sink Sound Proofing Decor

Posted on May 20, 2017 by ellen

I’m going to start spending more time on decorative touches and less on large building projects. We have all the finish work to complete now that the drywall is installed. The kitchen sink bottom is visible under the open cabinet … Continue reading →

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Wet Look Counter Top

Posted on May 17, 2017 by ellen

The kitchen counter next to the sink was starting to turn grey and rot. Despite the silicone coating under the sink rim, water was collecting in a low spot on the pine counter. I read about finishing the wood with … Continue reading →

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Cleaning the Concrete Floor

Posted on May 14, 2017 by ellen

The drywall and paint process made a big mess on the concrete. Although they vacuumed and swept, and they put paper on the floor before sanding and painting, the whole floor has ground in drywall dust on it. I contacted … Continue reading →

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Safety for the Birdies

Posted on May 1, 2017 by ellen

Covering the chimney opening with barrier wire has been on the to do list for some time. Luckily some square wire mesh was accessible in the full garage so I cut some and installed it on the chimney. Every spring … Continue reading →

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Fixing the ERV

Posted on April 23, 2017 by ellen

I broke the ERV by trying to install an automated control system with the Nest to the Boost control and with Lutron devices to the 0-10 variable control system. The support for the Recouperator was very helpful and sent a … Continue reading →

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Broken Ventilation System!

Posted on April 3, 2017 by ellen

Amazing isn’t it? I can’t be satisfied with the existing system, I had to try to control it automatically. That would be OK if not for the problems I cause. The first project was just to connect the system to … Continue reading →

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Central Vacuum in Action

Posted on February 28, 2017 by ellen

Ahhh. Listen to the whooshing sound of the air sucking up tons of dirt. Wow, look at the dust disappearing from the duster into the innards of the pipe opening. A bit louder but what a great tool the power … Continue reading →

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Moved Modem

Posted on February 26, 2017 by ellen

Ever since we moved in, the modem for our internet connection has been installed right at the garage door. There is a closet built in there now and although the electricians installed an extra outlet for the equipment, it did … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Electrical, Maintenance and Repair, Tools | Comments Off on Moved Modem