Lock The Door

This morning, I came downstairs with my daughter to find the front door open and my 4yo-son's bike with the training wheels missing.  There wasn't any sign of him on the our street.  I put my daughter in the jogging stroller and race to the corner of the block to see if he decided to visit the neighbors or if he was on that street and saw no sign.  Realizing that I'd take too long with the stroller, especially if I guessed wrong, I banged on the neighbor's door to leave her with them while I took the car.  No one answered, so I ran make to the house, took her out of the stroller to look for the keys. 

I carried her upstairs, I carried her downstairs, I dumped out my purse and spilt the coffee and cleared my desk onto the floor and finally found my keys.  I dashed to the car and tried to put her in her car seat but she squirmed and screamed and fought with me (it is amazing how strong a 25lb girl can be) so I put her in the front seat and buckled her in, hoping I remembered to drive carefully in my neighborhood.  As I was backing out of the driveway, I looked down the street and saw my son, rounding the corner, peddling his bike as fast as he could, not even wearing his favorite helmet.  We got out of the car and waited for him. 

He arrived, panting, and exclaimed that he couldn't find me and thought I'd taken a walk around the block without him and he couldn't find his helmet anywhere!  I clocked the distance later and found that he'd biked half a mile before I saw him on his way home.  Needless to say, we had a discussion about the rules of leaving the house and I'll be finding a way to lock the door that he can't unlock until he is a little older.  I haven't figured out what yet.

In honor of the fun kids have with locks, unlocking and locking, I decided to replace the kids bathroom door knob with the broken lock.  My son got stuck in this bathroom once for about 10 minutes and finally was able to turn the knob just as we were trying to figure out whether to break the door or the window.  We weren't able to unlock the door from the outside because the place where you can put a screwdriver in to unlock it was stripped and stuck, not turning.  I couldn't get a good picture of this.

First, pop the flange thingy off with a screw driver.

 My ratcheting screwdriver is too big to fit next to the handle, so I had to settle for a little one.  The hole doesn't line up with the screws until the flange is popped, then you rotate it around to two screws.  I didn't get pictures of the rest of removing the old handle.  Basically, this handle came off, then I pushed in the latch to remove the other handle and then the piece with the latch.

This is the new piece.

.

Push in the latch and insert the inside piece.  Then I played with the locking mechanism before it is assembled so maybe I will remember how it looks. 

Attaching the outside knob, it was hard to line up the screws so I held it back to see until they were threaded.

I'm amazed how simply adding new hardware changes the look of an old, ugly door.

Add the matching frame piece, thanks to mommy's little helper. (who moments before was hiding all the pieces and tools in the other room)

Test out the lock again, though I have access to the screws on the outside of this knob and can simply remove it to gain access.

What I needed here is an orange juice and vodka so that I would have used all the kinds of screwdrivers, but I'm really not a fan of vodka.  Someone gave me a bottle that was half full in 1999 because they were moving and it is still about half full.  I used some to clean an infected bb-gun wound on my cat once when I had nothing else and everything was closed.  He made a sound I'd never heard before, but he got over it.  I may have used it once as a household cleaner too.

I found an old list with a few more things I'd overlooked...
77) Loose toilet seat cover in kid's bathroom
78) master bath squeaky/rusty door
79) loose faucet in 1/2 bath
80) kitchen faucet squirts water from the base if you press on the spout even a little
81) secure shelves to the wall, especially since second kid is a climber.
82) make a dust cover for the new printer.
83) paneling on house needs to be repaired and painted.

Hubby keeps pointing out that we should attach a soaker hose to the rainbarrells and run it to the garden to get better use out of them.  I keep snapping at him for bringing up projects that he could do himself, usually when he mentions it multiple times, but really it is something that needs to be done and I might as well add it to the list, especially after the water bill we got today.

Day 24, Score: -63 (1 new fixed, 9 new broken, total fixed=21, total broken 84), Funds: $17.42

Shoemaker

 OK, maybe just shoe repair, though I wish I knew how to make shoes.  I really don't like shoe shopping.  I can't even like a shoe until I've worn it for a couple of weeks and about 60% of the shoes I buy just sit in my closet, worn twice and then finally dumped at Goodwill.  So, when I like a pair of shoes, I keep it as long as possible.  
 

In the case of my kids, they just grow out of shoes so fast that it if they manage to wear it out before then, I try patching it until they are ready for the new pair or visit Once Upon a Child for a used pair.   I find the best deals on kid's shoes there and often they email 20% off coupons.

I'm trying this Super Glue Gel for the first time.  I don't know how it will hold up on the shoes.  I help it for about 15 seconds and then clamped it for an hour or so.

I ran out of clamps so I used a clothes pin because it was handy.  I really like the word handy.  I used to watch a show on PBS called the "Red Green Show".  It is a Canadian variety show with a spot about Red and a crazy fix, like the blow torch hot water heater for the shower.  He always ended the segment with, "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

 Duct tape is always handy.

Voila!  I put a little too much glue on these and you can see a little white where is dried on the toes.  If these were my shoes, I would have tried to add black shoe polish, but they'll be scuffed up and good as new in an hour.

Now these will need to be polished, but not from the glue.  They are my favorite dancing boots because they slide on the floor.

I also tackled the CD tower repair after the kids were in bed and I had my TV time.  It was easier than I thought.  I cut the dowel down to size, just long enough to sit across in the two holes, but not as long as the drilled holes. 

 The plan was to push it far enough in one hole that I could pull it back into the other hole and then glue it in place.  The 5/8" rod was just slightly too big for the hole, but some sanding on the rod and a little chiseling in the hole fixed that.  I had also cut it too long and just sanded it down until I could get it in place. 

It fit so well that I didn't need to glue it.  It is the wrong color, but it is just going in the closet for now because me daughter loves to take all the CDs off, hide them around the house and then try to climb up it.  Anyway, the CDs cover it up.  I'll decide to paint or stain it if and when it comes out of the closet.  In the mean time, I'll sell the matching one, hopefully, and raise a few bucks for my other projects.

Day 22, Score: -56 (2 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=20, total broken 75), Funds: $7.42

(note, total fixed is now 20 because one of the things on the list fixed itself.  The calls to another person on my phone stopped.)

Stop light

The brake light was out on my car and I needed to fix that by the end of the week to get my inspection sticker.  I bought the bulb yesterday and for some reason, thought it was $8.88, but I just found the receipt for only $5.94.  Every penny counts. 

Open the back door.  Remove two screws holding the lamp on the frame.












Pop out the lamp.

Twist out the bulb socket.

 Pull out the old bulb and put in the new one.

Easy 5 minutes of work, until I drop the screw in a crack.

The leatherman tool was handy so I tried the pliers, but they didn't quite touch.  However, I discovered that the tool is slightly magnetized and gently pulled the screw up.









Ready for inspection!
















I took my kids shopping at the tractor store (Lowe's) with the $10 coupon.  We bought $67.33 worth of stuff, comprised mostly of the new bathroom door knob, a door chime, and GFCI outlets.  I couldn't find anything in the way of a safety lock for the upstairs windows.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for anyway. 

I finally adjusted my daughter's door to where I'll call it fixed.

Day 21, Score: -58 (2 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=17, total broken 75), Funds: $2.42

Bookkeeping

Here are a few items that have been swimming around in my head.  I needed to get them out so that I can think about other things.

The fog lamp I ordered from Amazon was never sent and the vendor isn't responding so I get the $36.96 back, but now I have to find a fog lamp for my car again. 

The highchair sold for $20 instead of $15, so I can add another $5.  (yay!)

I found a coupon for 20% off a $50 purchase at Lowe's that ends this Friday.  I really wish I had remembered that before I bought the shower valve kit.  There must be something else I need from there in the near future. 

$20 for the last 4 days.  I didn't work an any projects in the list, but instead worked to reduce clutter, listing things on Craigslist, donating and taking used clothes to consign.  I expect to have another $60 from that effort by the end of tomorrow.

Four more things are broken...
1) the kids bathroom door lock: it locks, but you can't unlock from the outside using a screwdriver as with the other locks.  This is dangerous with my daughter because she can shut the door and she can push the button to lock it, but she doesn't have the strength to turn the handle to open the door and let herself out.
2) Hubby noticed that my car has a tail light out and I need to take the car in for inspection before the end of the month.  I bought a new bulb for $8.88
3) The toe to my son's shoe is coming unglued and looks easy to fix.
4) I wrote about the door trim to my son's room needing paint in the last post, but I forgot to include it as something broken.

So, I'm starting off the week with the following stats:
Day 20, Score: -60 (0 new fixed, 4 new broken, total fixed=15, total broken 75), Funds: $61.81

I'm thinking about investing in a tile saw...
http://www.lowes.com/pd_320300-46922-3540-01_0__?productId=3185107&Ntt=tile+saw&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dtile%2Bsaw&facetInfo=

I found one on Craigslist for $45, but then a new blade for it would be around $40.

Other things on the list that may need supplies from Lowe's:
6) need a door on master bedroom
8) replace toilet paper holder in 1/2 bath
11) replace kitchen outlets with safe outlets
13) fix utensil drawer
48) 2 outside spigots need to be replaced.
52) Either find the door bell chime cover and put it back on or get a new one
64) add a safety device to upstairs windows
72) the kids bathroom door lock

Oh yeah, guess I'd better take care of the safety items first.  I don't actually need a tile saw to repair the bathroom tile.  Thank goodness I have the list!!!

Crikey! That's Creaky!

Yesterday(Wednesday), I bought a dowel rod to fix a cd tower that is missing one and marigolds for the garden, to hopefully deter whatever is eating the bean plants.  I also picked up the new shower valve I hope to install, so that I could study it, make a plan, and make one trip to Lowe's for supplies (yeah, right).  Grand total...$97.40.  I have an offer on the highchair for $15, yet to be picked up.  My current available funds for Fixit are $31.13, so now I'm in the hole $51.27.  I have a few more things that need to be craigslisted and they should make up the difference.

The cd tower is one of them, if anybody wants cd towers anymore.  A friend gave me two.  I only need one, the other is broken.  I'll keep the repaired one and sell the other.  I hope my friend isn't offended that I'm selling one of them.  I was planning to tackle this project after the kids went to bed, but was reminded of another repair when my daughter started crying because she woke up when the door to her room creaked as I shut it.



Tools Used: hammer, old screwdriver, chisel,
ratcheting screwdriver, WD-40



After getting her back to sleep, I researched door repair on the internet and found this video... http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Fix-a-Squeaky-Door-Hinge-80714279

...and another but I lost the link to that one.  This one focused on the squeaky hinge and the other on the sticking problem.

I fixed 4 doors out of 5 that need repair.  The backyard door is only a year old and is squeaking.  It fits perfectly in the frame still, though I noticed that the contractors did a really sloppy job of installing it and one of the screws is completely stripped.  I braced the door with a newspaper at the bottom. 

Then I knocked out, cleaned and replaced one hinge pin at a time.  Use a hammer and old screw driver to knock out the pin.  Clean with WD-40 and a rag.  Hammer the pin back in before doing the next one.   It worked amazingly well.  I didn't need to add any oil.

The closet door in my daughter's room sticks badly and is hard to open and close.  It is amazing what a little bit of tightening and loosening does to an old door.  The rest of the doors in my house are 33 years old and just don't fit in their frames correctly anymore.  To make the top corner drop, loosen the top hinge and tighten the bottom hinge a little bit, a quarter turn of the screw goes a long way.  To raise the corner, do the opposite.  This did the trick on that door.

Her bedroom door was a bit trickier and I still wouldn't call it completely fixed, just the best I could do.  The screws on the bottom hinge were really loose and when I tightened them, the door wouldn't shut and not from sticking.  The door wants to pull open.  I wonder if the hinges themselves are bent.  I used WD-40 to clean the pins and remove the squeak.  I adjusted the door to the improve the sticking.  At least now the door isn't noisy.

The door to my son's room also squeaks and creaks, but not as bad and he sleeps more soundly.  I cleaned the hinge pins.  That really does wonders!  I discovered that the creak wasn't from how the door sits in the frame, but that the hinge is rubbing against the door trim we installed several years ago.  Also, the door frame in the bottom corner is loose.  I nailed that in, then used a sloppy fix for the creak by just chiseling out a bit of the door trim where it is touching the hinge.  It will look better with paint and it does need to be painted since my son decided to color in the grooves of the trim with a pen. (no pictures of this because I forgot earlier and he is already asleep)  I briefly considered moving the trim over a bit, but I seem to remember that we glued it to the wall and then nailed it so trying to take it off may have caused bigger problems.

I'm not sure whether to count this as one fix or four, but I think it is easier to count it as one and cross that off the list than to add the other three to the list and then cross them off.  I tried to fix the door to the garage too, it rubs against the tile floor and is hard to open, but I couldn't tighten/loosen enough to make a difference.  I may have to get the hacksaw out for that one.

P.S.  After publishing this post, I decided to test out and enjoy the fruits of my labor, so I went to open and close my daughter's door after she was asleep.  After being closed for awhile, then opened, something still sticks and I felt the hinges move too much so I'll have to tighten them and try again tomorrow when she is awake.
Score: Day 16, Score: -56 (0 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=15, total broken 71), Funds: -$51.27

Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday-Tuesday

Blogger site was down Thursday when I tried to post.  In case you haven't been following the blog or forgot, here is the problem I've been wrestling.  The sun visor is broken and regular epoxy didn't work.

(Thursday) I bought the RectorSeal Epoxy ($6.46 because they only had the larger tube) to fix the sun visor in my car, but either I didn't do it right or it doesn't live up to its claims.  First, it didn't dry, because I missed the part about kneading the putty to an even shade of grey.  It has an outer layer and an inner core that need to be mixed.  So, I took that off and tried again, then let it sit for an hour.  It seemed hard, but when I put pressure on it, it crumbled and rubbed off the plastic.  Maybe I didn't give it enough time? I am going to try one more time.  This time, I'll clean and roughen the surface of the plastic.

(Friday) I survived the day.  Somehow the kids knew it was Friday 13th and kept getting into scrapes.  I started writing this blog after they went to bed and then went down to work on the re-repair but a new DVD from Netflix was calling me and I ended up watching My Fair Lady instead.  It was disappointing.  I should have just fixed the visor and gone to bed.

(Saturday)  I did research on replacing a three-handle shower valve with a single-handle valve.  I think I can do it, but I'm going to need a whole day sans kids.  Also, the valve I want costs $75 so I  need to raise funds.  I realized that I could fix the wheel on the high chair and sell it on Craigslist, thereby taking something off the list and out of my house and raising some money to fix something else.  I wonder what else I can sell.  I'm a little afraid to go digging in the garage and not just because of the cockroaches.  I know I'll find more things to add to the list.

(Sunday)  I cleaned the surfaces on the sun visor and high chair wheel, using a battery powered engraver that we got for Christmas one year.  Then, I applied the epoxy putty to them both and let them sit for a couple of hours.  I also left a pebble-sized piece of putty on the counter that I would use to test the hardness.  After about 2 hours, I checked and it seemed solid, but not "steel-hard", more like concrete, IMHO, but it seems to do the trick.  The visor went back in the car and is still holding. The wheel on the chair won't come out.  I wonder what else I can use it on.  Two things fixed.  Now to list the chair for sale...

(Monday) I went out to the car to get pictures for the blog, allowing my son to go with me and "help"  He held one of the sun visor screws for me and then asked for the camera.  I never got around to handing him the other screw because he took off down the block with my camera to take pictures and I think I knocked it into the grass when I chased him.  He made it back with the screw, but I can't find the second one.  Sometimes it is a good thing that Hubby never throws anything away, just in case.  I found one in a jar in the garage.

(Tuesday) I think I'll finally post this tonight.  I just wanted to add that I took the mattresses off my bed and tightened the screws holding the headboard and footboard to the frame, and just in time because they were about to fall off completely.  I used the opportunity to clean really well under the bed and wash the bed skirt.  It doesn't really deserve its own post, but it's one more thing off the list, yay!  On a side note, my mom told me that you can use a wooden toothpick for screws that won't hold anymore.  I guess this would be mainly for wood screw applications, and you are adding wood to the hole that the screw has become too small for.  I'm not sure this is the problem here and I have a metal headboard and footboard anyway, but my husband taught me the trick of adding a little glue to the threads before driving in the screw.  I may do that if it becomes loose again.

Score: Day 14, Score: -56 (3 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=15, total broken 71), Funds: $21.13

I need stronger glue.

The epoxy dried on the sun visor and it didn't hold.  In fact, it rubbed right off as if I had used a glue gun.   I "googled" the part to see how much it would be to replace and found that I can only buy the whole visor at around $125 new or $60 used.  I even called a few local junk yards and couldn't find it.  I found a forum posting, where a lot of people complained about this problem with the Ford Escape and Explorer and that super glue/epoxy didn't work, except one guy who claims that RectorSeal EP-200 Epoxy Putty did the trick.

Here is the description from the website (http://www.rectorseal.com/files/199/dsep200.htm):
"RectorSeal® EP-200 (2 oz.) / EP-400 (4 oz.) epoxy putty is a pre-measured kneadable reinforced epoxy putty stick that cures "steel-hard" within 15 to 20 minutes of mixing at room temperature (77 degree F). The epoxy is extremely tough and durable with exceptional adhesion to a wide range of surfaces.  Within an hour, it can be drilled, tapped, sanded, painted, filed or machined. It can be used to bond, seal, plug, mold or rebuild many different surfaces. The epoxy is capable of withstanding temperatures up to 500 degree F and will even harden under water."

Sweet.  It costs about $3 and I'm going to get some.

In the meantime, I found a new fog lamp at 1/3 cost on Amazon.com and ordered that for $36.96 (including shipping).

The only thing I fixed today was the toy glider.  I used a lot of scotch tape too so this will be the last mission.

Day 9, Score: -59 (1 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=12, total broken 71), Funds: -$2.41 (available $34.55, subtract $36.96, so much for "earning" money.)

Waiting for the glue to dry

I didn't complete any projects today, but did tackle a couple of them.

I disassembled the broken canopy to get it out of the way while I figure out what to do about it and my back porch.  I was so focused on removing bolts that I agreed to my son's request to play with the water hose.  I may even have suggested it when he complained about his feet being dirty and wanted to go inside to clean them.  

Does this look like it can be fixed?!



So, really he was only partly responsible for using it to spray and completely soak his baby sister, making her cry, because what else can you expect a little boy to do when he has control of a garden hose?!  I realized that it was unreasonable for me to be yelling at him and put him in time out so I could regain control of my temper.  I finished taking apart the canopy during nap time. 

I also took a look at the sun visor in my car.  The driver side sags and it is getting worse.

Two screws hold it in and taking it off reveals that the plastic is broken.

I tried gluing it first and then I'll get creative if that doesn't work.  I'm waiting for the glue to dry.  I used duct tape to hold it while the glue dries because the advertised "quick dry" doesn't agree with my idea of quick.







Finally, I glued the toy glider together again while watching a little bit of Season 2 of Glee.  (I admit it, I'm hooked).  Hubby commented that if I mend the glider many more times it will be more glue than wood.  I wonder if it will still fly.

I was reminded today of a couple more old items that need to be fixed.  The baby's highchair has a roller wheel that falls off the leg when you pick up the chair.  My favorite calculator, the reverse polish notation type, that is about 18 years old, had a battery corrode in it.  It looks bad, but I hope I can just clean it up.

Score: Same as last night but with another $5.  I'm starting to feel like I'm earning money instead of just not spending it. 

Day 8, Score: 2 (old score 2, 0 new fixed, 0 new broken, total fixed=11), Funds: $29.55
I'm thinking about changing the scoring to count the total fixed against the total in "The List" which is currently 71 and should stabilize soon.  Then my score would be -60 and the goal is to get that to 0.  However, it is really encouraging to see a positive number most days.  It makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.  Thoughts?