Quick, temporary fixes for those inconvenient water leaks

Water leaks are a common household disaster. And they usually happen at night or on the weekend. If you have a lot of experience and can make a proper repair, then do it. But if you are like most of us, you are going to want to stop the leak and patch it up until you can get the proper tools and materials to do the job right.

It's a smart DIY'er who has a few emergency supplies on hand to tackle such a mess.

The first step is to shut off the water source. If your appliance or fixture has a water supply shut-off, use it. If not, you should make sure you know where your main household cutoff is and that you have a "key," or wrench, that will turn it.

Now you can try to patch up the leak. Pipe clamps or worm gear clamps can be used for most pipes. You may want to wrap the pipe with rubber first and then put the hose clamp in place. Keep a variety of clamps handy, just in case you need them.

Plumber's epoxy also is a great thing to have on hand. It comes in a tube, with both components included. They are mixed together and then put over the leak to seal it up. This stuff is pretty amazing.

Hose tape also can be used to temporarily seal a leaky pipe. Check your hardware store for this tape. It works on copper, plastic and rubber.

Remember, most of these are only temporary fixes. You should take care of the leaks with permanent repairs as soon as you can.

Brick tricks

There are some great things you can do with leftover bricks: You can create a border for your shrub beds, make a pathway through a low spot in your yard or use them to store hand tools on your workbench. That's right. Building bricks, or bricks that have holes through the center, are perfect for this use. Just stack them together with the holes lined up and open to the top, and stick tools like screwdrivers and pliers into the holes. The bricks will hold several tools and are heavy enough to stay put, even when the tools are heavy.

Foil those paint splatters

Messes, foiled again! Aluminum foil is great for covering pots and pans and cutting down on kitchen messes, but it can be used for painting jobs, too! Use it to mask off things that are irregularly shaped, like wall sconces, doorknobs, hinges and pipes coming through the wall. You can slop paint all over the place, including on the foil, and just peel it off when you are finished. It works great and saves time.

Super hints

• Store your circular-saw blades on your pegboard wall. Just choose the correct-size hook and start loading your blades. Put a large rubber washer between each to keep the blades from touching and to protect the blades.

• Do the squirrels dig up my plants just to bug me? I'm sure there is a better reason than that. I finally have found a way to keep them out of the flowerpots. I covered the soil of each with river rocks. They are a little too heavy for the squirrels to move easily, and they seem to have moved on. Sorry to my next-door neighbors!

• Clear office folders are the perfect way to store and protect project plans and instructions. You can keep the cover on while you read them and avoid greasy fingerprints and dirty smudges.

Q. I need to try to scrape my ceiling. I have the so-called popcorn ceiling, and it is hard to clean and paint. How can you get this texture off and start over again?

A. Cover up everything else in the room or clear it out, because this will make a mess. Spray a fine mist of water on the ceiling and then use a wide-blade putty knife to scrape it off. Be careful not to gouge the drywall underneath. It should come off fairly easily in most places. Then you can apply new texture, and prime and paint. Primer is very important since your new ceiling will soak up a lot of paint if you don't prime it first.

Q. I have an electrical outlet on my front porch. It works fine, but I hesitate to use it since it's outdoors. Is it safe?

A. It should be protected by a GFCI circuit breaker. You can shut off the power to the circuit and replace that outlet with a GFCI model. Install a sealed cover over the outlet as well. If you can't do the work yourself, hire an electrician to do it. Then you will be able to use it safely.

Q. Our lot has an iron fence around the backyard. We have to maintain it ourselves. Last year I scraped, sanded and repainted it. Now it's rusting again. What can I do to make the finish last longer?

A. You really have to make sure you get all of the rust off the metal. Use a wire brush. Chemical rust removers work pretty well and will be faster. You even can use a rust converter if you can't get the rust off. Use a metal primer and paint made for metal. Rustoleum makes a paint that has a rust preventer built into it.

Q. I have a serious problem. I just painted my kitchen, and now there are stains on the walls. At one time there was a water stain in this area of the wall, but the leak was fixed years ago. What is making it come back now? The leak was repaired.

A. You should use a primer/sealer over any stains on your walls before you apply paint. If you don't, this is exactly what can happen. You need to apply a primer to that wall and then repaint.

Reader tips

• I hope you have a place like this in your town. I'm recently retired, and I decided to create a home office for us to use. In my city, there is an office-furniture dealer that sells used desks, tables and chairs, among other things. These items are donated, and a large percentage of the profits goes to a children's charity. It has great stuff and it's reasonably priced, plus it may be tax deductible. Check your city to see if it has a business like this, and then give it as much support as you can.

• We used your plans to create a picnic table. The table was fun to make and looks great. We made a hole in the center of the table top and have an umbrella stuck through it. My wife came up with a great idea for holding condiments and napkins for our dinners. She placed a round cake pan that has a hole running through the center around the umbrella. It stays put, unlike the napkins, and holds everything we need without taking up a bunch of room.

• We finally retired our old deck furniture and bought new stuff. It's really nice and should last a long time. I was surprised, though, that the "feet" didn't have any type of slides on them. I didn't even notice at first, but I started seeing the scratches on the wood after a few days. I bought some stick-on plastic glides for each piece of furniture. I glued them in place with epoxy glue because I knew that the stick-on adhesive wouldn't last very long. This was very easy to do and has stopped the scratches on the deck surface.

• My kids have a bad habit of letting the screen door slam behind them. It's really loud, and I have asked them to be more careful, but it never happens. I finally put some foam weatherstripping around the door frame and now when the door closes, it hits the foam weatherstripping and not the door frame. It's much quieter now! I'm sure they will find another way to make a racket, but for now, I have control over it!

• I have a baker's rack in my breakfast room. I bought it to hold our microwave and some dishes that we use often. It seemed a little wobbly, so I cut some plywood shelves for it. I thought the shelves would make it sturdier and it also would hold the dishes better. It's like a new rack now, and it's very sturdy - no wobbling ever, anymore.

Shop talk

• The SquareONE is a super gadget that would be a real helper in the shop and home. It's actually triangular shaped, not square, but it does have an easy-to-read building square. It also has a built-in bubble level; locking tape measure; pencil, holder and sharpener; protractor; and even a built-in writing surface. It all comes in a rubber-coated, heavy-duty case. It comes in a variety of sizes, from a 10-foot size to a promotional 3-foot size. To find out more or to find a dealer, visit www.generationtools.com.

• If you have a fireplace, it should be closed when not in use. This will keep the warm or cool air inside your home so you aren't wasting your energy dollars. The damper is meant to do this, but in some cases, it's just not sufficient. The Fireplace Plug is a better solution. Several models are available to fit a variety of fireplaces, both metal and brick, and it even can be used in a gas fireplace. It's very adaptable to fit even custom fireplaces, and is easy to install. It is filled with air once in place, so you get a tight, custom fit, and it can be removed when you wish to use your fireplace. To find out more about The Fireplace Plug, visit the company's website, www.fireplaceplug.com, or call (604) 556-0133.

• Write to Al and Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or visit the Carrells' website at thesuperhandyman.com.

© 2010, Cowles Syndicate Inc.