Home Repairs You Can Do Yourself
Welcome to my home, let me get that plaster off your jacket and don’t worry about that switch, it sticks. Does this sound like your home? Well it doesn’t have to. Here are two common repairs that home owners should know how to do.
Replacing a faulty light switch.
Do you know that the average electrician charges $67 an hour for the first hour to do work on your home. And it’s a good bet that if he stepped into yours, He will charge you a minimum of an hour to do any work.
So one of the most common house repairs that I will cover is a simple on that anyone can do with a few simple tools. This is replacing a faulty light switch. If you have a switch that is mushy or doesn’t turn off the light every time you flip the switch, chances are you just need a new switch. It’s easy so, let’s get started.
First and foremost with this one is some safety. You have to turn off the power to the switch to not get electrocuted. That means you have to go to the circuit breaker box and turn off the circuit you are going to work on or pull the fuse for that circuit.
A circuit breaker is like a switch for the outlets and lights and things in your house, but in the case of an overload it opens so you dont have a fire. A fuse is a small round or tube like device that plugs into the box to interrupt a circuit if there is an overload.
Usually there are groups of rooms on the same breaker or fuse. If they are not labeled it’s easy to tell you if you get the right one. Turn on the light that has the sticky switch and turn off breakers or pull fuses till the light goes out, bingo.
Unscrew the little screws that hold the cover on. Then unscrew the two screws that are holding the switch into the box. Do not take the wires off the switch yet, we’ll do that after we get a new one and put this one back into the wall after we make sure what kind of replacement we need.
While your gone, you don’t want any little ones coming around and playing with open wiring so if you have little children around, put the switch back in the wall and put the cover back on. Even if you think you are going to be home before they get home, things happen and it’s important to be safe.
You need to see if the switch has two or three main wires. This will be the kind of switch you need to buy for a replacement.
If the switch you are replacing has two wires that should be white and black and two screws on the switch it is a single pole switch. It may also have a green wire onto a green terminal or screw, this is the ground. In this case there is only one switch controlling the light, hence single pole for the one pole in the switch.
At this point do not take the wires off the switch, you will do that when you get a new one and just before you replace it. That way when you remove the wires one at a time from the old one and put one at a time on the new one you won’t get the wrong one on the wrong screw.
If it has no green terminal or screw don’t worry about it. Some older devices, switches and outlets didn’t have grounds. If yours doesn’t, there is no worry about not having it or having to install one.
If the switch is part of a circuit that has two switches controlling one light you will have to get a three way switch. There will be three terminals on the switch for wires, two that are colored the same and one that is different. The two that are the same are the travelers and the one by itself is the common.
When you find out what kind of switch you need it’s off to the hardware or home improvement store. A switch like the two pole will run you a dollar or less, the three way switch will be around two or so. If the one you get has a green screw on it and yours at home doesn’t don’t worry about it, you won’t hook it up if there is no ground wire in the box.
When you get back and before you take off the cover and pull the switch out ensure the power is off to the light you are working on. In electricity you always check yourself that power is off and stays that way. So make sure.
Then with the new switch in hand you will need to unscrew each wire terminal and put the wire from the old switch to the new one. Use a common screw driver and if you need help bending the wires use a needle nose pliers. Having the new switch just like the old one, move each wire to the same position of the new switch. Hold the switch just in the same position as the old one with the on/off or the screws in the same direction.
Each wire goes to the corresponding one on the new switch. On a single pole it should be white goes to the silver screw, black goes to the brass screw.
On the three way switch you need to pay attention to the old switch and the new one and get the two wires going to the same colored screws on the same as the old one.
If there is a green wire move that one also. After all the wires are back on look and see that you did it right. You should have all the wires on correctly and no bare metal parts of the wires should be touching any other bare metal except the terminals they are screwed into.
Then push the switch back into the outlet box and install the screws holding it on. Put the cover back on and turn the power back on to the circuit.
You’ve just saved yourself at least sixty dollars from the electrician with this little do it yourselfer.
Repairing a Hole in Plaster
There are two types of plaster jobs that you can fix when it comes to repair jobs in a home.
One is the regular sheet rock and the other is the lathe and plaster. The sheet rock is in newer homes and consists of sheet of that white board that is a gypsum compound screwed onto beams of wood or metal in your wall.
The other and older kind is the plaster on lathe boards. Lathe is small pieces of wood about a quarter of an inch thick and an inch wide nailed to the wooden studs in your wall.
You can tell when you get a hole in the wall and can or cannot see inside which kind it is. This is only important if it is a larger hole so we’ll get started on smaller holes first. You need to get some repair stuff and a couple of tools if it’s a small hole.
For small nail holes you can use some things you may have around the home. I have seen people use toothpaste as a quick fix for nail holes but you should get some patching plaster or one of the substitutes.
There are now several versions of patching plasters for the walls in your home. I use just regular plaster of paris to patch the walls of my home but you can ask what the differences are and if you like another kind you can use that.
You will need a small putty knife to fill small holes and if you have larger holes to fill you will of course need a wider scraper or spatula.
For the small holes and things like dents or cracks you just need to put some plaster on the edge of the spatula and spread it across the crack or hole. If you use a plaster that is not mixed, a dry powder you need to mix it to the consistency of cookie dough.
Apply the plaster to the hole and run the flat of the spatula across the hole, making sure you fill all of the hole. You want to leave a small bulge on the hole or dent after you get done running the spatula across the hole.
After the plaster is dry you sand the hole flat and then apply some paint to match the rest of the wall.
For holes larger than little nail holes or dents that go all the way through the wall you may need something behind the plasterboard for the new plaster to spread against.
If the hole in your wall goes all the way through and you can’t see anything in there for about 3 inches you have a common wall with wallboard. If there is some stuff with wood slats every couple of inches you have the plaster and lathe.
For holes in wallboard that are not small enough to just put plaster into and smooth you need to fill the hole with something behind it to put the plaster against. You can use a piece of cardboard or thick cardstock. Cut a piece of card board just under the height of the hole but longer than the hole.
What we are going to do is slide the cardboard into the hole and pull it forward against the inside of the wall board to create a temporary block for the plaster to go against. Use a hole punch or knife and poke a hole in the center of the cardboard. Using a rubber band slip one end into the hole and then put a toothpick or something similar that you don’t mind loosing into the loop of rubber band sticking through the cardboard.
Now pull the rubber band tight against the toothpick. You will need something like a ruler and two small cups that will go into the rubber band and hold the cardboard against the inside of the wall. I have found that a ruler and two Styrofoam cups work well for this. Take the cardboard and while holding the rubber band over a finger slide one end into the wall until it goes all the way in. Then slide it back with both ends into the wall until it is centered. You now have the cardboard in the wall while holding it tight to the inside of the wall with the rubber band around your finger.
It should be flat, if it is not you need to use something stronger so it doesn’t bow. Another layer of cardboard or cardstock should do it.
You can use the ruler and two cups to hold the cardboard in place. Use the ruler through the rubber band and put the two cups between the ruler and the wall. You should have the ruler supported by the cups against the wall holding the cad board in the hole of the wall with the rubber band.
There that was easy, now to the real easy part. Slowly work at putting plaster in the hole but don’t go too fast. Start by putting some around the edge to glue to cardboard in place. You want to let the plaster dry before adding more.
You don’t want to slop on too much plaster at once because it will start to drip down before it dries so you need to add only a little at a time. About a quarter of an inch thick is right for each coat.
This may take a couple of days to build up the plaster and finish this part. When the hole is filled almost all the way and you are going to start in near the rubber band you can cut it and push it in. You don’t want to break the card board but you don’t want to plaster the rubber band in the wall. Just cut it close to the card board and poke it in with another toothpick.
Then finish plastering and wait for the last part to dry. By now you should be getting good at smoothing the plaster down with the spatula, so the sanding of the wall flat should go a little easier. Don’t worry if you don’t though. I’ve known guys that do this for a living that still don’t get it very well.
You can use a piece of sandpaper on a wood block or even buy a little handle for the sandpaper. They come in a variety of styles and are made of plastic or rubber for a couple of dollars. A couple of pieces of sandpaper only cost a dollar or two and you should be ready to paint.
For the hole in plaster on lathe boards you should be able to tell this kind of wall easily. A hole will have pieces of plaster falling off and you will be able to see the lathe strips inside. For a larger hole in this kind you should only have to fill the holes with more plaster.
If there are any pieces coming out but still stuck in some, they are loose, just pull them out or pry them with a spatula. Then start filling with plaster going about a quarter of an inch at a time. When your done filling, sand and paint.
For holes on the ceiling you may have to go even slower, using thinner layers of plaster to get it to stick, or using thicker plaster. If your are having a problem with the plaster sticking to the old stuff on the wall try spraying the wall a little with water. Just a quick spray from a water bottle or the kids squirt gun. Use it around the rough edges of the hole, it will help the plaster stick a little.
When you paint if you are having a problem with getting the old paint on the wall to match a can you’ve had sitting around try thinning the paint down with water a little. Take some paint in a Styrofoam cup and add a spoon full of water and stir it. Then paint it on. It will match a little better because the paint on the wall has faded some during the time it’s been on the wall.
