Floors stay in great shape when you clean up after pets

Man's best friend is great when he's bringing you your slippers or fetching the newspaper. But when your dog has an "accident" on the floor or chews up your favorite couch, it's time to teach him a new trick.

Professional dog trainers are your best choice for actual training information. But we can help with the cleanup.

If your dog - or cat, for that matter - makes a boo-boo on your floor, there are some things you need to do, and the sooner, the better.

First of all, use paper towels to absorb as much as you can. Remove everything you can pick up, and dispose of it.

If the "mistake" was made on a carpet, then we suggest using a spray-on cleaner made with enzymes that's specially formulated to take care of animal waste. These are available at a pet store. They have the power to completely remove the stain and the smell that comes with it. This will eliminate the probability of the animal returning to the scene of the crime for a repeat performance. Follow the directions, and repeat if necessary. Even if you can't smell it, your pet can.

If the boo-boo has penetrated the carpet and gone to the concrete or wood underneath, you may have to pull up the carpet and treat the flooring, too. If you can't remove the smell from the concrete, you can try sealing it with a penetrating sealer and then putting the carpet back in place.

Tile floors are easily cleaned with a bleach-and-water mix. The grout can be treated with the enzymes to remove any odor that was absorbed.

Wood floors can be cleaned with the enzymes as well, but special care must be taken to prevent too much moisture from getting into the wood and damaging it. If the wood has started to swell, you might be able to dry it with a hair dryer to remove the moisture. If it can't be removed, then you may have to sand and refinish the floor.

Long walks on a regular schedule can prevent a lot of confusion, not to mention accidents, and can help Rover stay your BFF!

Instant table

It's easy to handle a large dinner crowd with a sheet of plywood. That's right. All you have to do is set a large piece of plywood over your existing tabletop and voila - you have a new, larger table for you and your guests. You even can double your seating, in some cases. Place a rubber mat or some nonskid rubber bumpers between the table and the plywood to make sure it doesn't slip. Then cover the whole thing with a tablecloth and serve your dinner. The only thing you need to make sure of is that you don't run out of food!

Simultaneous sawing

Whether you are working on a renovation or just your favorite hobby, you'll appreciate this tip. Repetitive cuts can get monotonous, and worse yet, can be a little different each time. But if you stack your lumber - two or more pieces - together and tape them with masking tape, you can cut several pieces at once. This saves time and eliminates those slight differences.

Super hints

• If you need to secure your garage door, just disconnect the opener and install a large C-clamp on the track just above one of the wheels. The door will no longer go up.

• Powdered shop compounds are part of the standard arsenal of our workshops. I store mine in plastic containers that seal tightly. That way, I don't have to worry about moisture turning the powder into a brick. You can label the plastic tub or just store the whole box or bag inside the plasticware.

• One more thing you can do with a dryer sheet before you toss it into the trash is wipe off all TV screens, computer monitors and other electronics.

Q. We have guttering over our patio roof, but it always leaks in a corner. Now we have some mildew on the patio, and it just keeps getting worse. What should I do?

A. The guttering might need to be adjusted for proper drainage, cleaned out or otherwise repaired. If the corner flow is high, you might add a guard in that corner. Once you have that fixed, you can use bleach to clean the mildew away. Once the mildew is gone, you can paint or add a water sealant to the area to keep the moisture from being a problem.

Q. Our home has a front-facing garage. The door is very plain, and we are thinking about repainting it to try to make it look nicer. What do you recommend?

A. The door should have paint on it for protection, but we suggest using a neutral color that blends in with your home. Then you might paint your front door a contrasting color. Maybe add some new house numbers, a new lamp on the front porch and some plants - something to draw the eye away from the garage door and toward the front entrance.

Q. We have a food disposer in our kitchen sink. It isn't very old, but seems to get jammed quite often and just doesn't seem to have much power. Can it be repaired, or do we need to replace it?

A. You can try cleaning it thoroughly, but it might not make much of a difference. It's possible that even if you feel like it's free of debris, it still might have enough stuck in it to slow it down, even though it still works. Remove the rubber guard on the drain and use a flashlight to really get a good look at it. Turn it from the bottom with the supplied wrench, and see if there is still something wedged in it. If that doesn't do it, then you probably ought to think about replacing it.

Reader tips

• I have tried a dozen different things to keep the fleas away from our dogs and yard. I think they are under control now, but we had to treat the yard, the house, the dogs and their beds to get them under control. I found that I could stuff some cedar shavings into the dogs' beds and some in their doghouse, and this seems to drive the pests away. Apparently fleas don't like the smell. It works, so I thought I would pass it along to you and your readers.

• We bought some metal wire fencing to put around our garden. We have a nice border, but the dogs kept running through it, so we needed a taller fence. The one we bought was just a basic, 18-inch-tall curved wire design. The wire looked OK, but my wife wanted it to match the copper lights she had around the yard. I painted it with some copper spray paint. It was easy to do, and she loves it. Now it matches the rest of the decorations in the yard and looks different from a standard wire fence.

• I use a waterless cleaner when I am working on greasy, grimy messes in my garage. I keep it right on my workbench, and it works really well. I also have found that it works great at removing paint from my hands and even paintbrush's after I have finished painting. Just use it like you would for any mess, only let it sit on the paint for a little bit. Some scrubbing is needed for really caked-on paint.

• You'll love this idea. I had some old shades that were plastic and were starting to look really bad. I bought a roll of brown craft paper and cut new shades out of it. Then I removed the plastic shades from the rollers and glued on the paper shades. They work just the same but look great. I folded the ends over and glued them together to create a clean edge. One of these days, I'll get around to putting up real shades, but for now, these work great.

• I like the stenciled walls I see in other people's homes, but I'm not artistic at all. I know the stencils are supposed to make it easier, but I still can mess them up if I try hard enough. I have found some great paint markers, though. They are much easier to handle, and even I can get a good line and solid color with them. I can use the stencils, and I don't worry about running paint or splotchy colors. The markers stay up well and look sharp. They are great for other projects around the house, too. I used some that I bought at my crafts store, and there are several brands and sizes to choose from.

Shoptalk

• It's almost time to deal with falling leaves again. Blowers work well to move them, but most are loud, to say the least, and can be heavy or awkward to handle. Husqvarna has recently come up with a new model that is powerful yet extremely quiet. The backpack style is lighter in weight than others its size, and has much less vibration as well. It's actually comfortable to use. But the quiet factor is the reason we like it. It's so quiet that you can barely hear it running at all. Check it out at lawn-mower-supply stores and at www.husqvarna.com. You will be amazed.

• If you are in the market for a new extension ladder, check out the Xtend & Climb. This ladder stacks down on itself when compressed, and can extend up to 16 feet. This means it takes very little space to store it, and it does the work of a standard extension ladder. You easily can store it in a closet or under a bed, and it's great for most homeowners. This is a great idea and worth checking out at www.extendandclimb.com.

• Has your water pressure dropped off through the years, your hot water especially? Many times this is due to a buildup of mineral deposits in your plumbing system. There's a little trick you can play with a dime on your pipes to clear out some of these deposits. I've written down the steps so that you can try this yourself. Find them on our website. With any luck at all, you'll improve your water pressure, and you'll even get your dime back!

• 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.