How To Make a Bunk Bed (courtesy of buildeazy.com)

How To Make Pendant Lights out of Thrifty Vintage Finds (courtesy of RetroRenation.com)

Hi! I’m Pam Kueber from RetroRenovation.com.

Hi! I’m Susan Schneider from Shandells.com,

…and we’re here today to talk to you about how to take thrifty finds from, maybe Grandma’s attic or your local re-store – even take just unique household items – and transform them into pendant lighting that you can enjoy every day! The name of the show is, “Put A Bulb In It”.

So, what do we mean by Put A Bulb In It? Well, Pam sent me an email with these amazing pendants from all over the country, different artists and different vessels and all different things, and I said, wow, this should be something fun to do! So, I went out to our local thrift store and our local junk store to see what was around that I could put a bulb in. And this is what I came back with. Here is a before and after of a Put A Bulb In It.

This is a pair of lamps that I found. Not the favorites, but they were ok, but they were glass, they had a beautiful shape, they were fluted, they had a wonderful scallop on it. But, the best thing is, they had a hole in it. Everything is already pre-made, easy for you to take everything apart, turn it upside down and Put A Bulb In It.

Hey, Precautionary Pam here, warning you, as I often do on the site, about making sure whenever you undertake a project, that you’re using proper environmental and safety procedures. Now, with the project, we’re not really giving you the advice – the DIY advice – about how to do wiring or hanging, or even about the exact wattage that should go into these puppies. That’s because every project’s gonna be different. So, make sure, when you’re going through the actual steps of rewiring, hanging and putting in the bulbs,that you’re consulting with proper, expert, professional advice. A local electrician can be a great resource. Another place to get started with good information about lots of safety stuff in the house is Underwriter’sLaboratories.com. Again, always be sure to renovate safe!

Oh! Am I live? OK. Hey Pam! I went shopping after that wonderful email that you sent me about those pendant lamps. And look at what I found here, on the table! Oh! It’s just amazing! But, let’s start with how this all started with putting a bulb in it. It started with a Ball jar. Mason jar, canning jar, they were putting bulbs in it and hanging pendants. A company that advertises with you, Barnlight Electric, they have them right on their site. So, if you don’t want to do any of this and be creative on your own, they’re made up, ready to go from them. But, here we are today, looking at all these different things that we can put a bulb in it, and we’re gonna do it ourselves.

What we need is a vessel – a glass vessel is what we have here. And we need 2 things to be with this – we need a cap and we need a hole. This one has a cap. All we need to do is to make a hole through this. We need to trash the inside here, to break the porcelain,then put a hole in it. Then, we can electrify this, hang it as a pendant. So, that’s one that’s around all over. I went and I said, let’s do something a little bit different. Here’s some old-fashioned sugar shakers. They have a wonderful column, with all the ridges going up and down. An architectural feel. And when the light comes through this, it’s a bit of a prism. This one here has a hole as well as a cap. Very easily to be electrified. Hang the pendant in the kitchen, over a dining suite, would be perfect – Put A Bulb In It! And then, we have colored glass. Colored glass – we can have green, there’s blue, there’s amber, pink, just all different jars. All that you can find in your thrift store and your bottle shops locally. And, most of them all come with caps in it. And, you can find a box of old jar caps and match your caps to it. Here we are with green ones – all we have to do it drill, put the electrical in, and there we have green pendants to hang in the kitchen.

Then I though, oh! I found these. These were peanut butter jars. They were so adorable! They were shaped a little bit different. They were rectangle, they had embossed peanuts all around them. So I thought, wow, wouldn’t these look great! Instead of the round, normal ones, have a little bit different of a shape. They have a cap in it. You unscrew these, make a hole in it, electrify it, hang up, and there you have a pendant all to your own!

These are kind of utilitarian, kitchen vessels that are all around the house. Let’s go a little bit fancier. I found these little, tiny lamps which were ok. But the nicest part about it is they were all crystal. Crystal, and they were all pressed glass. And, the best part is, they all have holes in it – that’s what you need! Unless you want to go down the route of drilling your own glass, but, that’s up to you. These have holes in it. I took them apart, cleaned them up, hang them up all electrified together, at different heights or 3 over a dining room table, 3 over a counter in a kitchen. There, you have your pendants, unique to yourself, to Put A Bulb In It!

OK, down to the next one. These were mid-century, probably outdoor fixtures that hung outside. Now, we’re gonna reclaim them, we’re gonna re-purpose them to indoor lighting. We’re gonna make a pendant out of them. What we want for this is, we need something to hold it up. So, we need a cap to go on top. The cap will hold all your electrical on the inside, and they have little tiny screws here that screw right into this lip, to hold it in. So therefore, you can hang them on their own, together, in clusters of 3, 4 and 5. Be creative, enjoy, and see what’s out there!

And also I found these, which are great. Beehive design with an iridescent feel to them. And the same thing as the ones with the gold on top of it, you need the cap that screws onto the little lip that holds it up. Then you put the electrical inside of it, and there we have a pendant, all to its own.

Here’s the absolute best thing that I found – this wonderful crystal lamp. Look at this – I thought this was great! It had a fabulous shape to it, wonderful design. It wasn’t my favorite as a lamp. Some people might like it, but I didn’t. And I thought, wow, let’s take this apart. Because this is not one piece of crystal…this is 3. So, I took this apart, cleaned it all up, and look at this. Classical, beautiful shapes that you will electrify to make a 3-pendant ceiling fixture. There you go, Pam. Stuff I found on my trip, to Put A Bulb In It!

Pam! What did you bring me?

Ok Susan! I got so excited! I went through all of my junking areas – the attic, the basement, my office – everyone knows – looking for things that we can put a bulb in, so I want to make sure that I have the right idea now. Vintage cheese grater – can we put a bulb in it?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Put 7 of them across your counter!

You know, I knew the answer was yes, because that’s exactly what in that 70s house…That 70s Show…the kitchen, if you look carefully, it has 7 pendant lights basically made out of cheese graters. And these are great!

What about a vintage coffee cup? It’s kind of translucent. This is my Blue Heaven pattern. Can we turn this into a little light?

Yes, we can. I love the pattern, will be great. Doesn’t have a hole in it, so, what I would suggest is, take this to your local tile guy, your glass guy. They’re the ones who are gonna be able to drill through glass and tile.

Tile guy. I wouldn’t have ever thought about that – that’s a great idea.

Tile guys. The important thing about drilling glass is you need water. You need the fusion of water, because that’s what’s gonna make it…you might lose some…it might happen. It’s always the weakest link that’s gonna blow. But, you can Put A Bulb In It. Good idea, too, ’cause that’s not enough coffee for me!

Alright, so how about a pendant made out of an old cake topper?

I love it! I love the shape, because it’s wonderfully smooth…we’re gonna lose this, but you know what? If you’re gonna hang it up, you’re not gonna see this. I mean, take it off and repurpose it for something else.

You wanna put 2 lights on this one?

2 lights. I like them. You’ll get a lot more light, instead of driving down. Remember, you’re gonna have to hang it up high enough so you’re not gonna have a bulb sticking in your eyes. So, the cluster lights is gonna be an easier way to go with that one.

The other idea I had – I didn’t have one at home – but when I saw this I thought, you know, there are a lot of chipping, painted cake plate toppers that would be beautiful as pendant lights.

That’s great! There’s ones with plaid all around it, just fabulous. And those are all around.

I’m super proud of this one – this is the coffee holder for one of those big Westbend guys, and I thought, oh, that would be cute! Can we Put A Bulb In It?

Yes, we can! It would take a little bit more than just, you know, throwing some wires on this, because if you want to keep the shaft and use it to hold your pendant, then we need a welder. Epoxy is not gonna hold this together. You need this to be solidly fixed, welded. You need holes drilled into your metals, so you could put a cluster body inside there.

Ok, so a little bit more professionalism if you’re gonna keep this piece, but if you’re just gonna use this as a shade, it looks to me like you could put a bulb in this one really easily.

Absolutely. This piece can come off, this one would be a lot easier. If you want to keep this, which I think we both agree is the nicer of the 2 because of its wonderful shape here, then you need to go to your professional to help you out. Yea, get some help.

Um, ok, Susan, you’re a gluten food girl…

I know, and I don’t use one anymore!

So, can we turn this into a pendant light?

Yes, we can. We can turn it into a pendant light, and what about doing it as a ceiling light? You know…doing it the other way around, so that light seeps down this way. It’s been done, but who says it can’t be done again? Perfect to put a bulb in.

OK, I’m kinda pushing limits here, he ain’t heavy, he’s my blender. It’s pretty heavy, this one. It’s like an old Oster blender top. Can we put a bulb in it?

Yes, we can put a bulb in it. It has all of the parameters. It has a top here, it has a hole, so all we have to do is take out the spinning mechanism. You can put your electrical through here, and you can hang it up. But, this needs to go into a support stud. Because, you know, you don’t want to be drinking your morning coffee and having this hit your head.

So, you need a stud for this one?

Yes, you need a stud for this one. Love the birdcage!

The birdcage. Now, this isn’t real dear. This I just got at my – I think TJMax about 5 years ago.

But, you know what? Even thought it’s not dear, it might be the perfect thing for the room that you need. So, regardless of…what about a hallway?

And, we talked about how you could cut this out and put glass in the bottom and it would shine down – more light down as well as out. And you had another idea…

I had another great idea is to open it up, and then line the insides with rice paper…a color – you know, yellow, blue green – make it bright and fun. There’s so much to do, and you can sit/put birds in it!

So, you could decorate the inside and then Put A Bulb In It. Yes! So, this is one of my favorites. It’s an old Lennox pepper mill with the welcoming wheat. I just love the shape! I mean, once you get this idea in your head, you just start looking at these objects in a different way. So, it’s a pepper mill, and obviously there’s a mechanism running down the middle of it that you can rip out. And then, what about this? Can we save this?

Yes, we can. I mean we won’t be able to save the little top here, but what we will do is we’ll drill a bigger hole than the existing hole already in this. So, that’s an easy step. You’re not going into blank, starting from scratch. So we make this hole wider so we can drop the cord down. And I think like a round little bulb on the bottom…I think it would be so adorable with a bulb. Put A Bulb In It!

OK, last but not least, Susan’s favorite – the Good Seasons dressing bottle, which I found at an estate sale in a basement. It’s still got the packaging inside of it, so they never put…how’d you make it back in the day?

Well, exactly like it says. Add vinegar, water, oil, and then put the seasonings. That’s it – every night for dinner! And shake it up. I loved to…

So can we put a bulb in it?

No!

No?

Let’s not put a bulb in it, let’s put a bulb ON it. I mean, can you imagine, just putting a little bulb on it, a little tiny lampshade, in your kitchen, keeping all of this original right here? I think this is our next project, Pam. Let’s Put A Bulb On This.

Alright, so next time we’ll get together and talk about how to Put A Bulb ON It.

Not in it Pam, on it!

You send us your ideas! If you have any lamp bases that you want us to try to work with, challenge us! See what we can do!

I’m Pam Kueber from Retrorenovation.com,

and I’m Susan Schneider from Shandells.com,

and we want to encourage you to Put A Bulb In It!

How To Repair Cane Furniture Part II (courtesy of Wickerworks.com/au)

Step 5 is the diagonals. I’ve started by coming up in the left-hand corner – the nearest corner, this one here. Underneath the yellow golf tee, I’ve come up underneath there, and as you can see, it goes over the verticals, the corner of the verticals there…and these ones, here, the horizontals. So, I’ve gone over the horizontals and the verticals, next one over, and you just keep following that. If you do the opposite, in other words, if you go over the horizontal and under the vertical, you’ll find you get a real zig-zag sort of pattern, and it’s not gonna slide nicely.

So, I just run this bit through first. Don’t forget, keep the cane nice and wet and you’ll find it slides easily. See, a couple of the strands have been put in now. And, when I said start from the corner, you can see down in the bottom here – just drop that – that I came up that one there and did a couple over here, and now I’m coming back. The reason that we start off in the corner is so that when you do come back this way, you’ve got a choice by going over that and coming down in there, or you can come over there. But, you see how awful that would look. So, join it back in the corner, there, get a little V shape and bring that cane underneath there and up here, and off you go. Keep going back and forth. You may get to a point in over this corner where you can join the diagonals so they go both into the same hole, and you will see that in a minute. But, really, it’s just aesthetically, you’ve got to make sure that it looks really nice and keep nice, parallel widths – that’s all you need to do. There’s no law, no rules, no one’s gonna come knock on your door saying you done it wrong. Just make sure you keep a nice, parallel look and that’s it! OK, I’m gonna keep going until I finish this step.

OK, now, were progressing with Step 6. That’s the final one of the diagonals. You can see all of the other ones are in place. I’ll put this black bit underneath so you can see it a little bit better…shows it up a little easier. Once again, I’ve started in the right-hand corner this time, underneath the white peg, and I’m gonna pull it up. And this time, you go over the horizontals and under the verticals. So you do the opposite way of weaving, compared to the first diagonal. It makes a little bit more sense once I’ve woven a few more strands.

So now I’ve finished Step 6, so both of the diagonals are in, you can see that it’s nice and neatly done. I’ll leave the golf tees in for the moment. And Stage 7, Step 7 will be the edge strip that gong all the way around where the outside holes are. You’re going to put the binder cane in, and that’s where we remove the golf tees one by one and tie off underneath.

OK, first of all you need to cut up some little pegs, and these are made out of pith core, or little timber plugs. And I’m just cutting them nice and short and putting a little sharp point on the end, if you want to, in every other hole, going around the back here. So, every 2nd hole, just tuck that into the hole. You can always push them in with your finger, but every 2nd hole, just tuck them in…another one here, and follow them all around. Take this golf tee out, and continue that around.

And you need also a binder cane, which is this one here. It’s a little bit wider than the normal rattan you need for here, so that it covers the holes up. Plug that in there, and then you have the same size cane, which is what we use in the weaving – that was the 2 ml cane, and what you need to do is come out from that hole there, go over the top of it, and pull down really tight. So, you see that for a finish. Come up through the 2nd hole and re-weave that down in that same hole again so you get that nice, little edge for it. So I’m just gonna do a few strands of that to show you what it looks like. Also, start from the back. It makes it easier to finish off, and a lot neater. So, I’m just finishing off where we first started. Just going back over the top , with the binder, just go back over the top of the other a little bit and lock it in. Just pull it a bit tight, and that’s it!

Then, all you need to do is tie off all these loose fits underneath here and snip them off and you’re finished! OK, to finish off underneath, turn the chair upside down and bring some of these canes here and just tuck them up under the next area, which is tricky with one hand! Just like that! And if you want to just finish them all off and nip off the excess, and that should hold quite easily. If you’re really worried about it, I normally put a tiny bit of pba glue just to stop them from moving. That dries clear and then it’s a nice, neat job.

OK, I’ve just finished off a bit of shellacs to brighten the color up, and now you can see that the whole seat has been hand-woven. I get a great deal of satisfaction out of doing these, and
I’m sure you will too. It’s very therapeutic! Just remember to keep the rattan nice and wet when you go to do any weaving, so naturally, stop and start whenever you want to, but maintain this to be wet for weaving. And that’s about it! If this has been helpful for you, leave a comment at the bottom of the video, would be greatly appreciated, and look out for more Need A Good Caning videos. Thanks again, bye for now!

How To Repair Cane Furniture Part 1 (Wickerworks.com/au)

Here we have an antique child’s highchair, and we’re gonna put a new seat in. And, I’ve actually fixed it all up before. It was all cracked around the front area here, as you can see, but, it’s nicely glued up. And, what we’re gonna do is show you how we can hand-weave a new seat – the traditional method of caning, individually laced through all these holes.

What you’re gonna need first of all is a good-sized cane. This one is 2 ½ mil, rattan chair cane, and you can buy it at any supplier. And you also need some golf tees. I’ve got a mixture of wood and plastic golf tees in there, so you can hold the cane in place.

OK, before we get started, what you need to do is soak the cane for about a couple of minutes – 5, 10 minutes at tops – so it becomes a lot more supple, easier to weave, and you can stop and start as often as you like when you’re starting this project, as long as you ensure that the cane is wet. Obviously, if you’ve got cane in the seat partially done, soak that for a little while, and also the new strands that you start weaving, and then that way, you’re gonna find it a lot easier to slide the cane through and make a better job. Because, once it dries out , it tightens up.

Now, there’s a little tip here I want to show you. You won’t be able to see this too well on the camera film, but there’s a little node – little barbs – where the leaves come out from the rattan. It actually grows that way – outwards of course – and the leaves come out this area here. These little barbs catch on your finger, or your fingernail, as you run through there. So, it’s imperative that, when you start weaving – especially the last 2 areas – to run it so that it runs smooth against the rest of the cane. Otherwise, you’re gonna keep catching this on parts of the weave, and it will just cause a bit of a nightmare. In fact, it might even fray or split. So, there’s a little tip for you. Run your finger on the top, and if it’s nice and smooth, that’s the direction you’ve gotta weave, ok? Now, let’s get started!

OK, the very first step you want to do is to ensure that you keep a nice, straight edge from the front to the back – so it’s not sort of going over to the left or the right – by your eyes, make sure you’ve got a nice, straight side there. So you can see that’s pretty straight. You don’t want it over in that hole over there – it would look a bit silly. So, put your first strand here, have a little bit hanging down below here and golf tee in there. Make sure you have the shiny side of the cane up on top, of course, pass it through the hole that you think is dead straight, and bring it up and under next to the right or the left – whichever direction you want to take to. I’m gonna go to the right, because I’m right-handed, so it makes it a little bit easier. Bring it up through the 2nd hole. And, always ensure that you’ve got it nice and fairly tight. Pull it taught. I’m doing this with one hand and holding the camera with the other, but, I can get it fairly tight. And then, when you want to stop, just put a little tee in there, a little golf tee in there and that will hold it in place.

So then, you just keep on going through, down to this hole, run it parallel, into the next hole, crossing, and do that right on to the very end, until you get to the straight, and I’ll show you that in a sec.

So, here’s the first part done, and you can see where I’ve kept it nice and parallel, and there’s no more room for anymore. You don’t need to put any more here. And, so they’re secured by the golf tees. Now, what I’m gonna do is just carry on across the end here. And, once we’ve got all this part in, we’ll go to Stage 2, Step 2.

So, Stage 1 is done. All the strands from the front to the back of the chair are in place. And, I’ve got a fair bit left over, so I’ve brought up the other over here, and now what we’re gonna do is Stage 2 or Step 2 – come across 90° to the first step. So, as you can see – I’ll move the camera around – you’re gonna come across there and weave through those holes and then come out the other hole next to it, and then go back and forth so you’ve got a nice, square pattern.

So, you can now see how we’re forming a nice, square pattern. The cane just sits straight over the top of the first stage. And make sure it stays nice and parallel. And so you’re following every other hole that goes round – every hole that goes round. And we’ll complete that to the very end, here. There’s also a strand parallel to that one. Now, I can get one more in here. As long as it’s run parallel. So, you’ll miss another couple of holes here…so, come up, say from that hole there and run parallel to this string, and that should finish that there off. There’s a few more golf tees in here now – that’s because there’s some ends here that I haven’t tied off but you need to keep them in here, anyway. And then, be sure that you keep this rattan wet as you’re weaving away.

OK, having done Stage 2, now we’re doing Stage 3, and that’s really the same as Stage 1. I’ve come up through this little hole here, as you can see, I’m gonna run parallel to the first stage. On top, once again, and keeping it to the right of the first stage. And you’re gonna go underneath here and, I’m gonna go from left to right just to finish this little bit here off because I’ve got enough cane, and then I’m gonna start on the other area.

So now we’ve successfully done Step 2, or Stage 3, and all the parallel lines are done. And Stage 4 will be doing the same as Step 2 or Stage 2…I’m getting them mixed up here, but it doesn’t really matter there – you get the gist of it all! So, now, we’re gonna go from left to right and follow the Stage 2 ones that run parallel. But, this one is a little bit different. Just start the ball rolling by putting the cane in, and I’ll show you what I mean.

So, for Stage 4, I’ve come up out of this hole here, and if you can see close enough, I’ve gone under the first strand and over the 2nd one. And you have to do that to the next parallel one running here, too – under the first one and over the 2nd one. So, you see, there’s a nice, little square pattern forming there. I’ll just do a couple of other strands so you can see. See these little square patterns forming here? So, don’t forget, it’s under over, under over, under over – just keep on going. And don’t forget to keep the cane fairly damp. I use a little spray bottle, here, which does the trick. Just spray a little water so it slides easier, too. And don’t forget the little tip I told you before with having that running of the cane smoothly up your fingers, because as you start pulling this through, it might catch on some of the cane and break. So make sure it runs nice and smoothly. You don’t need to go right across in one go – you can do it in stages and just gently pull. See? Watch this, where it slides quite easily, and pull that nice and tight til we get to the end, here. Now, when we get to the end here, make sure you don’t get the cane twisting on anything, make sure it stays nice and straight. Keep a nice, straight square pattern here.

And there you go. So, there’s the beginning of Stage 4. So, just keep on doing that, and I’m gonna do a few more strands so you can see what it looks like. So now you can see it’s starting to form a nice square pattern there. I’m just gonna put this black fabric underneath so you can probably see it a lot easier. There you go! That’s a lot better, isn’t it? So, that’s what you’ve got to achieve – keep the squares nice and close to one another and keeping them all parallel. See? It’s looking quite good now! So, I’m gonna finish this off now and then I’ll show you what it looks like when I’ve done the whole – finished the Stage 4.

So here you can see – now, I’ve finished the 4th stage, so we’ve got a nice, square sort of pattern, and all we need to do now is the next 2 stages – these are the diagonals. (Go to How To Repair Cane Furniture Part II)

Top 10 Home Repairs (courtesy of Coldwell Banker and ReelProductions.tv)

Hi! We’re here with John Molke, the housing guru, and John is gonna give us the Top 10 home repair tips for homeowners. So, John, we’re gonna start with #10 – tell us what it is.

Well, one of the things that’s critical, I think, for homeowners to always understand is the location of their furnace filter. Often neglected, the furnace filter is easy to forget because it’s usually in a location that’s hard to access. So, it’s a good idea to keep it changed. It will extend the life of the furnace, and will also make the unit operate much more efficiently, making it warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

That’s perfect – that’s a good tip! Let’s move right on to #9.

Homeowners need to understand a little of the basics of caulking. Outside the house, caulking begins to break down after a year or so. It’s a good idea to understand how to do a little bit of caulking. Just look for those places to keep down the infiltration of air from the outside, and there again, making your home more comfortable.

Going onto the next one would be caulking again, on the inside of the house. Understanding bathroom caulk. Doing a little sealing so that you don’t have to worry about water penetrating the area around your bathtub, shower and so forth. Anywhere that you have cracks in the grout and so forth, can be sealed with caulk.

So, simple caulking, #8 and #9. Let’s move on to #7, then.

I would say, homeowners need to understand about leaky faucets. It’s easy today for homeowners to go to the big box stores – the home centers, and get the repair items necessary to stop a leaky faucet. The instructions are right there on the package, so many homeowners are choosing to do those themselves. You’ll not waste water and you’ll avoid the irritation of a leaky faucet!

And, we all want that! What’s #6, John?

Understanding how to unstop clogged drains. One of the things I recommend is that people pour a cup of white vinegar down their shower drain, in their bathroom sink, once a week, and that will help keep your drain clean.

What is #5?

Homeowners need to understand the location and operation of their electric panel – where those circuit breakers are located, what they control. Hopefully, they’re marked, but, if they’re not, try to work with someone to get them marked properly so that you understand how to re-set a tripped circuit breaker.

Alright, #4…

I recommend that people know how to fix a squeaky door. You can pop the hinge pin out and put a little vaseline on it. It’s a very easy repair, and you put those hinge pins back in, the squeak will be stopped – normally for a year or two.

Alright, moving on, now – we’re at the Top 3 Tips that every homeowner needs to know.

Homeowners need to know the location of their water cut-off valve. You have a cut-off valve in your water meter box outside. It’s a good idea to look at it and just understand. It requires a special key, but you can buy that key at the big box store, at the home centers. It’s a good idea to know the location of every single cut-off valve in your house, should you have a break in a plumbing pipe.

Tip #2?

You need to understand drainage. A little bit about drainage…I use what I call the basketball theory of drainage. Drop a basketball next to your foundation. If it rolls away, you have good drainage. If it rolls next to the house, you have a problem, and that can cause basement leaks, mold, mildew problems, foundation cracking, settling problems. So, it’s very important to understand all the aspects of drainage.

Alright, John, that brings us to our #1 home repair tip. What is it?

You need to keep your house from exploding. Exploding houses are not a good idea!

That’s a pretty good tip!

Your water heater has a safety valve. Many of you may have heard that, occasionally, homes
do explode because the water heater explodes. It builds up too much pressure. Some of the older houses, the pressure valve may have gone bad, or it may not even have a pressure valve! Make sure that you understand where the pressure valve is located, on top of your water heater. You can actually test it. You can lift the little lever to make sure that it’s working properly. And that drains to a line outside your house, into a visible location, so if you see water coming out of that drain, that means the pop-off valve has failed and needs to be replaced.

John, thank you so much – these are great tips! We want to thank the housing guru, John Molke, for all of the Top 10 home repair tips that every homeowner should know!

Learn How To Put on a Slipcover (courtesy of PotteryBarn.com)

Our loose-fit slipcovers are designed to let you re-invent your sofa, simply and affordably. Tailored from easy-to-clean, high quality fabrics, they’re easy to use.

First, take seat and back cushions off your sofa. Unfold the sofa base slipcover and locate the tag that says Back on the slipcover. Loosely drape the slipcover over the base of your sofa, using the tag as a guideline, while centering the skirt pleat at the front of the base.

Begin to customize fit by aligning the slipcover over the sofa arms, pull the slipcover snugly over the front ends and top of arms while leaving the backstraps unattached. Determine the desired length of the front and back of the slipcover. Adjust the front and back length by accumulating all excess fabric on the seat. Note: the slipcover is designed to fit a variety of
furniture styles; as a result, there may be more fabric than you need. Tuck any extra fabric into the crevasses of the sofa base, while leaving enough fabric on the front of the sofa to the desired length.

Place the seat cushions back on the covered sofa frame, and place the fitted elastic, separate seat slipcover over the cushions. Tuck any excess fabric under the seat cushions.

Face the back side of your sofa, and flip the back panel of the base slipcover down, so that you are able to replace the back seat cushions underneath the fabric. Replace the base slipcover over the sofa. Tuck in any excess fabric into the back cushions and re-adjust the fabric on the back of the sofa so it drapes to your liking.

Re-center the skirt and pleat at the front of the sofa. Locate the straps on the slipcover skirt. Wrap the skirt around the base of your furniture. Secure the straps in the back with metal D rings on the slipcover and tighten. Smooth fabric to create an attractive, finished look. Wrinkles will disappear over time, once you have fitted the slipcover. A warm iron can be run over the slipcover to smooth out wrinkles as well.

How To Repair Drywall (courtesy of Howdini.com)

Hi! I’m Lisa Birnbach of Howdini.com. You know that hole in your wall that’s driving you crazy every time you walk past it? Well, Ed DelGrande is here to tell us how to fix it! He’s the author of House Call. How are you?

I’m doing great! I may be good, but, your wall is not good! You know, a lot of people ask me, “Ed, when do you know it’s time to use a patch instead of just spackling a smaller hole?”

I would just sell the house for that hole…

No…well, here’s the rule of thumb. Matter of fact, we’re gonna use a finger, so it’s close to a thumb! When you stick your finger in a hole, that’s big enough to qualify for a patch, so we’re gonna patch this for you right now.

OK, what are patches made out of?

Well, first, you could buy this kit for under $10 – it makes it very easy. See, it comes with the spackle, you also have your putty knives, and then you do have the patches included. So, I would get one of these kits, keep it around the house – you can use it over and over!

OK! And, so, in that one kit, you have everything you need?

Everything you need! Matter fact, I opened up another kit already, and here’s the main thing you need right here, is the patch.

Which is made out of what?

It’s a mesh…and that will actually hold the spackle in place. And plus…feel that. Feel how it’s tacky? It will stick right to the wall for you. But, before you stick it on the wall, you gotta prepare the wall. That’s the pro trick! Get a knife – if you’ve got a razor knife or a sharp knife – and just get all of the loose stuff out of there. Now the patch has something to stick to.

And that was enough?

Yea! That was enough. Remember, this is tacky. You just wanna cover that hole. And use that hole for a bullseye. Put it right in the middle. And, see how it’s lookin’ better already? Then, just push that in place.

Now I can have people over for dinner!

Well yeah, good! See, you’re learning already! You just stuck that up there nice and tight!

Now Ed, you don’t have to trim the patch?

No, because remember, we’re gonna go over that with the spackle, and if you really wanna stick it down, here’s another pro trick. If you just use the putty knife itself to get it good and tight to that wall. Now, here’s the magic spackle! This is my favorite spackle. You can see it’s pink…
Radioactive Pink!

Well, no, not radioactive! But, that pink is a very important color, you know why?

Why?

When it’s wet, it’s pink. When it’s white, it means it’s dry, and you can sand it. Plus, you can see what you’re doing to the wall. Now, watch this. We just got a nice glob of it right here. Start where the hole is, and you’re gonna feather it out. Now, see what I’m doin’ here? It’ll drop – don’t worry. Use some drop cloths, it’ll come off. And this will really get in to all that mesh screen. See how I’m working it in? It takes some practice before you actually go to the wall to your fixings…

But, this is important…you’ve done this a million times! You are biologically a man. But, for people like me who’ve never done this, is is gonna be this easy?

Yes, it should be this easy. Maybe not as quick. That’s the only difference between a pro and an amateur..the pros are just a little quicker!

So, Ed, we just went to the movies – we’re back. The thing is white and dry.

Well, now you’re ready for sanding. And then, once you sand it, wipe it down with a damp cloth and then you can paint it, But, remember Lisa, the paint has to match the walls for that hole to really disappear!

Oh, right! OK! But, you really think I can do this myself?

Absolutely!

And the hole is gone…

It’s gone for good!

OK – thanks so much, Ed!

You’re welcome!

For Howdini.com, I’m Lisa Birnbach!

How To Get Scratches From Hardwood Floors (courtesy of ExpertVillage.com)

Hi! I’m Tim Gibson, and I’m gonna talk to you about how to get scratches out of your hardwood floors. Now, whether it’s an engineered floor – hardwood floor – such as this, or a solid wood floor, the surface is pretty much the same. So, you know, if you have those instances where somebody has moved back a chair and you get a scratch, then there’s some different things you can do without having to refinish the entire floor to take care of that.

Now, first and foremost, most of your hardwood floor products come with some type of a cleaner and a cleaner buffing agent, such as this. So, in most cases, if it’s a really light scratch, you can just use this with a soft, white cloth. In most cases you can either spray it directly on, or spray it on the cloth, and you simply rub. And, this will actually clean and buff the area to get some of those scratches out.

Now, there are some other after market value products that you can put on here, that are specifically formulated to hide surface scratches. Now, if you get some deeper scratches, what you may need to do is, actually get a urethane or a shellac…actually, shellac works very well. And, what you do is, you take some shellac, you cut it with a little bit of denatured alcohol to make a real thin mixture, and then you just take an artist’s paintbrush and paint it into the crack. And then, you let that dry, and then you come back and repeat. Now, after you’ve repeated putting the shellac in there, if you can still see the scratch, then you come back and do it a third time.

Now, if you have a really, deep gouge or something like that, you can also use a product like beeswax. You melt the beeswax into it, sand it lightly and buff it. Use a buffing compound and, again, the cleaning compound, and those are some typical ways that you can take care of scratches in hardwood floors!

How To Tile A Bathroom Wall (courtesy of HomeDepot.com)

For variety and durability, tile is an excellent choice. In addition to giving your home a great look, it also helps protect the walls and floors from various kinds of damage. Tiling gives homeowners and easy, affordable way to add charm and beauty to their homes, with results that rival those of tiling professionals. The Home Depot is here to provide the products and guidance you need to achieve those professional looking results. In our first demonstration, we’ll install wainscot tile, with a cap, in a bathroom.

The first step is to measure the tile. Place 10 tiles, side by side, and measure the length of the row. Divide by 10, and use the resulting number as the tile dimensions for your layout.

Using a level, draw a top line all the way around the room. If you’re tiling only part way up the wall, this line should be where the tiles will stop. If you’re adding a row of cap tiles like we are, draw a horizontal line for those as well.

Now, measure from the floor to the top line, and mark a mid-height line halfway in between. Then, measure from the floor to the top line again, and divide by the size of the tile. If you end up with less than a full tile as your remainder, shift the mid-height line down by that amount, so, you’ll have a row of full tiles at the top and a row of partial tiles at the bottom.

Draw a new, mid-height line around the room, making sure it’s level. Measure the width of each wall, and mark the mid-point on the top line. Using a level, extend this line to the floor.

Now, measure from this line to one end of the wall, and divide by the size of the tile. If the last row of tiles will be less than a half a tile wide, shift the mid-point, so the last row of tile on both ends of the wall will be of equal width, and draw a new line.

Using a chalk line, snap additional vertical and horizontal lines to create a grid of 8 to 12 square foot rectangles on the wall. When this is done, get ready to start tiling!

Start by fastening a level 1×2 or 1×3 wooden batten, just below the mid-height line. Double-check to make sure it’s level. The batten will keep your first row of tiles straight, which will make the rest of the tiles on the wall straight, as well.

Mix your latex, modified, thin-set mortar, as instructed in the Techniques section of “Tiling 1-2-3”.

Using a square-notch trowel, apply mortar to one of the marked grids along the top of the batten, and comb it into straight, vertical ridges.

Press the first few, full tiles in place above the batten. Use a slight, twisting motion to be sure it makes good contact with the mortar. Do NOT slide the tiles!

After you’ve done 3 or 4 tiles, lift one off and check the back. The mortar should cover the entire surface. If it’s in rows, the trowel ridges on the wall aren’t thick enough. Scrape the mortar off the wall and reapply it, using a trowel with a larger notch. Work up and out, in a stair step pattern. Take your time, and work on the wall in manageable, 8-12 square foot sections. Save any tile that must be cut, last. If any mortar oozes up between the tiles, clean it up before it dries.

Continue until all but the top row of cap tiles are in place. Finish by placing the row of cap tiles along the top of the tiled area. When you’re done, let the mortar cure for at least 12 hours, and remove the batten.

Working from the middle, out and down, set the rest of the tiles. Support each tile with a piece of masking tape attached to the tile above it.

Let the mortar dry completely. Each type of mortar has a different curing time. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Grout is the material that fills the space between the tiles and supports them, almost like glue. Grouting is messy, so be sure you properly cover any areas that you don’t want to get dirty.

Before you start, remove any excess mortar with a razor blade or a putty knife. Using a margin trowel, mix the powdered grout with the liquid and apply it. Skim the excess grout off with the edge of the float. To avoid digging into the joints, move the float diagonally across the tiles.

The grout will set up in about 5 to 15 minutes, and have a putty-like consistency. When a thumbnail pressed against it doesn’t leave an impression, the grout is hard enough for the final cleaning.

With a damp sponge, wipe the tiles diagonally, to clean them. Rinse the sponge frequently in clean water. The sponging process will leave a haze on the tile. To remove it, wipe the surface with a damp rag, then with a clean, dry rag. Repeat this process, until the tile is as reflective as glass. Holding a lamp to the surface will help you check it.

Cure the grout, and let it set thoroughly before applying sealant. The curing process is very important – do not skip this step!

Once the grout is cured, apply sealer with a sponge. Sealing tile grout gives it greater water and mildew resistance, and helps keep it from getting dirty. Make sure to wipe off any drips before the sealer dries. And, if you’re using unglazed tile, seal it as well.

How To Replace A Bathroom Toilet (courtesy of HomeDepot.com)

The next time you’re remodeling, or sprucing up the bathroom in your home, consider replacing your old toilet, along with the other fixtures. It’s easier than you think! And, with today’s wide range of color and design choices, there’s bound to be one that will fit your new look.

Now, before you go shopping, you need to measure the distance from the wall to the floor bolts. If it measure 12 inches, you’re in luck! You have a standard toilet. Sometimes, especially in older homes, this varies – so, know before you go! Once you’ve made your decision and brought your new toilet home, it’s time to remove the existing one.

First things first! You want to turn the water off at the supply valve, and flush the toilet to empty the tank.

Now, remove any water left in the tank or bowl with a sponge and some rags. And be sure to wear some rubber gloves to protect against bacteria.

Now, once the toilet’s dry, remove the tank bolts and disconnect the water supply line.

Now, straddle the bowl, and lift the tank UP off the bowl. And be sure you lift with your legs. These things can be pretty heavy!

With the tank removed, it’s time to work on the bowl. Remove the decorative caps that cover the floor bolts. And, use a socket or adjustable wrench to remove the nuts.

Once the bolts are off, rock the bowl back and forth, until the wax seal underneath is broken, and lift the bowl up off the floor.

Scrape away any remaining wax with a putty knife, and plug up the drain opening with a rag, so you don’t have sewer gases wafting up into your home.

OK! Now for the new toilet!

You may want to start by replacing the existing flange around the drain opening. Or, at least, replace the mounting bolts.

Then, fit a new, wax ring around the base of the toilet. Now, for the tricky part!

Lift the bowl up, and line the toilet up over the anchor bolts. Once the bolts are fed through the holes, rock the bowl back and forth, to seat the wax ring, and then hand-tighten the nuts.

Insert shingles where needed, to make the bowl level, and then tighten the bolts up with an adjustable wrench. Tighten the bolts gradually, alternating from one bolt to the other. And be sure you don’t over-tighten, and crack through the bowl.

Cover the bolts with the supplied caps, and place the tank on the bowl. Guide the tank bolts into the corresponding holes. Tighten the bolts, but don’t over-tighten.

Install the toilet valve assembly.

Reconnect the water supply.

Caulk around the base.

And, you’re all set!

So, the next time you take on a bathroom makeover, consider including a new toilet on your shopping list!