Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018 i Family Handyman

QUIET POWER HIGH IMPACT, LOW NOISE Impact drivers are one of the coolest tool inventions of the last few decades. They have enough torque to drive construction screws, but they don’t cam out heads the way conventional screw guns do. They’re a must-have tool for any DIYer. The downside? They’ve always been mind-numbingly loud! No more. Instead of a mechanical hammer-type system, several manufacturers now employ a new technology that uses oil to hydraulically drive screws. The 18-volt Makita shown (model XST01Z; about $200 without battery) is one example. Last week, I used it to drive about 25 8-in. construction screws into solid lumber with no problem, and it was so quiet that I forgot my hearing protection! If you don’t yet own an impact driver or want to upgrade…

Pulling into the yard, I could see that a large tree had fallen and damaged the detached garage beyond repair. The owners held a typical policy with coverage of $130,000 on their house. Because the garage was detached, it was considered an “other structure”—this limited it to only 10 percent of the coverage of the main structure. My estimate to rebuild the garage came to $23,000, but the insurance payment could not exceed $13,000. It was terrible to explain all this to people who had no idea they were underinsured. They were not happy.…

If you hang all your cords on one hook, you already know the problem: You have to remove a lot of cords to get at the one you want. This cord rack is the perfect solution. It stacks cords to conserve wall space but lets you grab any cord without digging. Works for hoses, ropes and chains, too! PLANNING AND BUILDING ■ We built our rack from pine. Everything you need is available at home centers, including the bike hooks. ■ Size the rack to suit your situation. You may want a version with longer or shorter arms, one arm or several, more or fewer hooks. ■ Locate the wall studs before you build. You may want to relocate the brackets slightly so they don’t land on a stud, as…

Need more Family Handyman? Get our best tips and hints in your inbox. Sign up at tfhmag.com/diytips GOT A DIY QUESTION? Finding answers is easy at familyhandyman.com. Just use the search box at the top of the page to get expert step-by-step help with your projects. GOT A HANDY HINT OR TIP FOR US? To share your information with us, submit a copy of your original contribution, including photos and/or sketches, by email to: submissions@familyhandyman.com Or mail to: The Family Handyman, 2915 Commers Drive, Suite 700, Eagan, MN 55121 Please include your name, mailing address and email address if you have one, and indicate to which department you are submitting. We reserve the right to publish your submission in any appropriate department, or elsewhere. Contributions will not be acknowledged or…

Dusting mini blinds is a pain. It’s difficult to thoroughly wipe both sides of the slats without bending them in the process. A pair of kitchen tongs makes it a lot easier. First, cut a rag into two small pieces. Then use twist ties or rubber bands to secure the rags around the tongs. You can close the tongs around each slat and wipe away the dust. E. REGALDO C-CLAMP HANDLES Quart-size paint cans don’t have handles, but they’d be so much easier to use if they did. Here’s my solution: Attach a C-clamp to the can. It actually works better than a bail because it’s out of the way for dipping the brush, and it keeps the can from swinging. Your clamp will get paint on it, but cleaning…

+ FAST. You can coat a project in less than half the time it takes to brush on a finish. + EASY. Unlike brushing, wiping on a flawless coat of poly doesn’t require skill or an expensive brush. + DUST TOLERANT. Because the coating is thin and dries fast, “nubs” caused by airborne dust are much less likely. That makes it great for on-site finishing. + NO CLEANUP. Just dispose of the cloth, container and gloves. No brush to clean! – EXPENSIVE. On average, wipe-on poly costs twice as much as brush-on poly. – SLOW BUILD. As a rule, it takes three coats of wipe-on to match the buildup that you get from one coat of brush-on poly. That said, the speed of wipe-on application often makes up for those…

Key house An unoccupied birdhouse makes a handy spot for a spare key. Screen off the bird entrance to keep out tenants. Whether it’s jewelry, important papers or emergency cash, we all have stuff we want to keep safe. We’ll show you 12 clever hiding places to safeguard your treasures. Be sure to catalog the location of everything you’ve hidden and share it with someone you trust, just in case. Not IN the drawer Drawers don’t go all the way to the back of a cabinet, and there’s typically a little space on the underside too. Put cash or important papers in an envelope and tape them to the back or underside of a drawer. Time well spent Store a few small items in a wall or mantel clock, as…

Your sewer line is a particularly attractive water source to tree roots, especially if you live in an arid climate. Roots can bore right through the tiniest cracks and holes in any pipe. Once inside the pipe, roots will eventually fill or even break a pipe. If you suspect you have roots in your drain, the best starting point is to hire a professional to run a camera down the drain to see the extent of the problem. Depending on the situation, you have four options. 1 Line replacement This costs $1,500 to $5,000, determined by the length of the line. If you’re on a city sewer system, it could easily be more than that; hand-digging may be required if there are other utility lines nearby. 2 Spot repair With…

1. CLEAN SIDING AND TRIM Dirty surfaces won’t hold paint. Remove dirt, mildew, cobwebs and anything else that isn’t meant to be there. Do the cleaning in stages. Start by applying a solution of bleach, water and a cleaner such as JOMAX (a bleach activator), using a garden sprayer. Next, remove weathered paint and dirt using a pressure washer. Be careful, as you can easily damage siding and trim with a pressure washer. If you don’t feel confident using a pressure washer, a siding cleaner and scrub brush will do the job. Thoroughly rinse to remove any cleaner residue and let the surfaces dry. 2. SCRAPE After the surfaces have dried completely, scrape off any remaining loose or flaking paint. Applying new paint over flaking paint will cause it to…

With something as complicated as homeowners insurance, there’s nothing better than having an insider tell you what’s what. We recently met an expert who’s spent half his life working with insurance claims—as a contractor for homeowners, and later as a claims adjuster. What he told us has changed the way we look at our policies. And even more important, we now understand the limitations of our coverage. 1. Your garage may not be fully covered Policies are set up to insure your main structure and whatever is physically attached to it. This would include an attached garage but NOT a detached garage. Structures like stand-alone garages and sheds are typically covered at only 10 percent of your main dwelling coverage. So, if you carry $200,000 of coverage on your house,…

■ GET A LIST OF DISCOUNTS Insurance companies offer discounts to homeowners for improvements that make their homes a better risk. These include safety features such as indoor sprinklers, smoke detectors and dead bolts. Discount programs change frequently. If you haven’t spoken to your agent within the past year or you’ve made a major home improvement, you may be missing out on significant discounts. ■ INFORM YOUR AGENT ABOUT UPGRADES Insurance companies like to insure homes with newer plumbing and electrical systems as well as burglar alarms and sprinkler systems because these features reduce the risk of fire and water damage. If you upgrade any of these systems in an older home, tell your insurance agent. One homeowner we spoke with called her agent to report recent plumbing upgrades, and…

RECYCLING YOUR COMPUTER? DESTROY YOUR HARD DRIVE Before you scrap your old computer, it’s smart to physically damage the hard drive. It probably holds recoverable personal information, even if it has been “erased.” You can obliterate the drive with an angle grinder as shown above, but all you really need to do is scratch, dent and batter the disk. A screwdriver and hammer will do the job. Removing the drive from the computer is a bit trickier and varies by model. For help with that, search online by typing in your computer model together with “remove hard drive.” ELIZABETH FLAHERTY INSPECT PLUMBING VENTS Next time you’re up on the roof, take a look at the rubber gaskets around plumbing vent pipes. Those gaskets sometimes crack, tear and let in rainwater.…

THE WAY IT CRUMBLES An Epic Collapse A retaining wall that needs to hold back this many tons of soil requires a well-engineered design. Our guess is that this wall didn’t have drainage built in. It looks as though water from a big rain event, with nowhere else for it to go, may have exerted too much pressure on the back of this aging wall. THE RIGHT WAY: A properly designed retaining wall requires a solid, level foundation, properly stepped-back blocks and backfill that drains well. SHOCKING! A HAIR-RAISING SWITCH To meet code, switches and outlets belong inside a correctly sized electrical box. With the setup shown here, a slip of the finger could get you a nasty shock or worse. THE RIGHT WAY: Adding a cord to your disposer…