Pro Handyman Blog

If your kitchen range hood makes a loud noise when you turn it on, you may want to play handyman and snoop around. True, it may be a motor that is going to die, or it may be something that has come loose in the cabinet. It also may be a clogged filter.

Range hoods come with a filter to try to minimize smells associated with cooking, particularly range hoods that recirculate air back into the room. The motor may be suffering from lack of air. As the motor pulls air from below, the air filter is so clogged that no air gets to the motor and so the motor tends to bow the filter towards it. If you remove the clogged air filter and turn the motor on, you will see what I mean…it should run much smoother.

Some quality range hoods have a filter that you can throw in the dishwasher and clean. The builder-grade units have a disposable filter with a series of layers designed to filter the air. These tend to get so caked up with grease that they stop any movement of air from getting to the motor. I suppose it could be said that they are doing their job, but that the homeowner should have replaced it a long time ago.

You can get replacements from a home center, although for add sizes, you may have to visit an appliance dealer. They just slide out and back in again.

If you are tired of banging your cabinets up every time you open the refrigerator door, then get ready to spend an hour, or call your handyman, to forever rid yourself of that headache. You can reverse the swing of your refrigerator’s door so that the hinges are mounted on the opposite side than they currently are. This fix is good for units that have a top and bottom configuration, for example, the freezer is on top and the refrigerator is on the bottom.

Your refrigerator is made so that you can move the handles and hinges from one side to the other with minimal effort. Each door is held in place with brackets on top and bottom, and you’ll also notice symmetrical holes on each side. These holes fit the pattern of the brackets that hold the hinges and the handle. Whichever side doesn’t have the hardware screwed into it will have the plastic caps to cover the holes.

Before you start working, unplug the refrigerator to avoid getting shocked. Obviously, you must work fast to keep the food cold. Remove the food from the doors and place all edibles inside the compartments to preserve them, as well as to remove the weight from the door shelves while the doors themselves are loose.

You can remove the plastic caps with a standard screwdriver wrapped in masking tape (to avoid scratching the fridge). Hand on to them as you will insert them over the holes where the handles and hinges are currently.

Realize, too, that different refrigerators have different configurations and that some additional steps may be necessary, such as removing a drawer attached to the door.

Start with either door and remove the handle first. The handle may be attached just to the front of the door, or more likely it will be wrapped and secured to the top and bottom edges of the door. You will be able to remove the fasteners with a screwdriver, allen wrench, or hex-head driver. Now, transfer the decorative caps to the opposite side of the refrigerator to plug the new holes.

For the hinges, the bottom hinge will bear the brunt of the weight of the door, so start by removing the top hinge. Remove the screws that hold the hinge on and then you can lift the door off the post of the bottom hinge. On some doors, you may have to rotate the door 180-degrees and remove some trim pieces.

To reinstall the door, simply secure the bottom hinge into the holes that were previously covered by the caps. Once the bottom hinge is set, you can place the door onto the post of the bottom hinge. Straighten out the door and then secure the top hinge to both the door and the fridge. After that, just screw the handle back on the plug it back in.

If that wooden chair leg is wobbling again, pay attention or call your handyman. Wooden chairs and wood bar stools are put together similarly. The ends of the legs typically are round like a dowel, and the seat that they mate with receive the round end of the dowel. This assembly is glued together and sometimes pinned with a brad to hold it together until it dries.

Sometimes this glue-to-wood bond breaks and it needs to be repaired. There really is no stronger bond than glue and wood as the chemical reaction makes the joint rock solid. This bond is far stronger than any nail or screw into wood.

The key is to remove the old glue from both the end of the leg and the hole into which it mates. To clean the end of the dowel, you can use sandpaper and go to work. Larger grit sandpaper will remove material faster. For the hole in the wood chair, you can use a wire brush (like you find to clean copper pipe) and chuck it into a drill. Once you chew through some glue, you can move to a smaller sanding drum. The goal is to get down to bare wood so that the glue-to-wood bond can take hold. You may find that with all of this sanding the dowel may have a little play in it when gluing it back together. You can use a plane and cut a few thin shavings from scrap wood. You can use this to build back up the thickness of the dowel.

Slather everything up with wood glue and push it all together. You can use a variety of clamps to hold everything together until it dries.

Installing a toilet paper holder or a towel bar is virtually identical and is an easy handyman job. It is a matter of selecting the location and securing it. For a towel bar, it will typically be installed in drywall, whereas the toilet paper holder will be installed in either drywall or the side of the bathroom vanity.

Both use the same mechanisms to attach the fixture to the surface. For the toilet paper holder, since it is so small and doesn’t support any more weight than a roll of toilet paper, you can install this wherever is convenient. You might even sit on the toilet and mark an area that will work. This is very effective for small spaces.

Once you have the area chosen, screw the brackets to the surface. The flat portion of the brackets will mount to the wall and the ends of the bracket will angle away from the wall. When both brackets are mounted, place the arms of the holder on the bracket and tighten the set screw until it grasps the bracket and tightens. Then you can install the spool and roll of toilet paper.

The only different consideration for the towel bar is that you may want some larger screws to hold the brackets to the wall, and preferably into the wall studs. You can use a large screw and screw at least one side into a stud, but the other side likely won’t match up. For the other side, you can use a large wall anchor such as a butterfly bolt or an EZ anchor.

Lots of us consider playing handyman for the weekend. If you are looking to replace your carpeting with a different flooring material, for example, ceramic tile, vinyl, etc. you are first going to have to remove the carpet. Here’s how to do it.

I generally start at a corner of the room and pull up the corner of the carpet. It will lift easily from the tack strip. Continue lifting the carpet around the perimeter of the room until you get to an obstacle (like a door). If the hallway, for example, will remain carpeted, use a utility knife and cut the carpet inside the room you are removing. It is imperative that you leave enough carpet to make repairs to the threshold. Don’t cut right up to the threshold, instead leave 6-8 inches to play with. Once you have the problem areas cut and the perimeter lifted, you can fold the carpet over and cut the backing. This will cut easily and allow you to roll it up and remove it from the room.

The carpet pad is next to go. This is usually glued down to the wood sub floor or concrete pad and will easily lift off. Once you remove that from the room, you will need to get rid of the tack strip. Use heavy gloves and eye protection and slide a pry bar under the nail heads. Hit the pry bar with a hammer and lift the tack strip from the floor. It tends to break into many pieces so be careful. You will need to go around the room and remove nail heads from the floor that you missed. When everything has been removed, scrape, sweep and vacuum up the debris to leave a clean surface for your new floor installation.