Beyond Blue Home Improvement Thread

[geoff]

Hi everyone. I'm Geoff and have been a dedicated Volunteer on the forums for 13 years. I am proud to have stopped some of the stigmas that are associated with mental health as well as doing my best to help others too

Before my health went south I was a builder in all aspects of home construction and renovation. If you don't have a handyman around I hope I can offer you some tips that may be of help. I have had many years of experience in home renovation and will do my best to help you out if you are stuck and need some advice

I hope my experience may be of help to the people on Beyond Blue and make their life a little bit better. Even if you need help with the most basic painting job or putting up a shelf I can help there too with some tips

I will do my best to get back to anyone that has a question when I can as this is social yet important thread

Geoff

[Guest_5218]

Hi Geoff, Tony or anyone else with any tips.

My spare bedroom door is not closing. It was fine before I went away for 2 weeks, and the door had been left open during that time. When I got home it was to very hot temperatures and so I attempted to close the door to keep the cool in and not cool areas of the house that werent being used. But the door wouldnt close, it is sticking really badly on the top side. No amount of shoving or dragging or lifting will make it close.

I have checked the hinges and screws and they are not loose, the door jamb appears just fine. This has never happened before and given that nobody was here while we were away, I dont know what could have happened to it. Would a long period of dry weather cause something to happen perhaps? I would have been more inclined to think wet weather would cause an issue with swelling or dampness. But that certainly is not the case here. And all other doors in the house are not affected.

So your thoughts on what may have caused this issue would be appreciated, along with a simple (?) solution if possible. Btw my husband looked at it yesterday and was unable to fix it, so perhaps there is no simple fix. (-:

Sherie

[geoff]

hi Paul, if it's rusting on the top then it's going to rusting on the bottom, and the rusting on the bottom can work it's way up onto the top.
Can you unscrew or unbolt the umbrella from the bottom plate, there has to be some way because normally the bottom plate is attached to the concrete or timber first before the umbrella is inserted into the plate and then attached, probably by a bolt.
If its too big you may need someone to help you lift it out of the plate, let me know if you don't have anyone to help you, then I will suggest other options.
The plate needs to be unscrewed/unbolted from the ground, because fixing the top of it will only work for a short time, the bottom has to be de-rusted and painted as well.
There is paint that will de-rust it, or you could use an angle grinder only if you're not over too strenuous, but you need to derust it and then put an anti-rust paint onto it.
I would use new bolts/screws and there are anti rust ones now, so speak to your hardware store, years ago we used to use galvanised believing that there won't be any rust, but all it takes is a small hole in the galvanising that will start the rust, so it's never 100% proof.
Remember all those galvanised pipes under your house, especially for water, they have probably all rusted out and replaced by copper.
Let me know if that helps. Geoff.

[geoff]

hi Sherie, damp weather could always be the cause for doors not to shut, however a quick and easy way to try and fix this is by getting another piece of solid wood which you can handle quite easily in your hand, then placing it on the door jamb where it's sticking, then get your hammer and hit this piece of wood, pretty hard without hurting yourself, it may or may not move the jamb just enough to close the door.
You can also put a piece of cardboard the size of the hinge between the top hinge and the jamb, this will re-adjust your door pushing the door to alter how it hangs, if it sort of works then increase the thickness of the cardboard, although this may change where your door lock fits into the jamb, if so then re-alter the lock on the jamb, hope that's clear.
If none of this works then the door will need to come off and be planed at the top, and when planing start from one end and finish before you get to the other end, because if you put the plane halfway along the door and then plane you will chip the end of the door.
If the door rattles while it's shut, then there is a plate on the door jamb, it's in the middle of it and you can alter where it sits, maybe if you google this might explain it better, 'how to alter plate on door jamb to stop door rattling'.
Let me know how you get on. Geoff.

[white knight]

Tips

Got a sliding screen door that doesnt slide smoothly?

Take the door out by sliding it open and at one point the bottom of the door will flip out when you lift it.

Once out turn it upside down. You'll find two tiny roller wheels that are held in with screws. Once extracted measure the wheel size. Search for them on ebay. Get the exact size. Slightly bigger wont fit.

Grit often causes the wheels to grind and intermittently stop turning. Just clean out the grit and squirt wd40 into the wheel.

Maintenance saves replacement.

Got an air compressor? Put it on a timer. Nothing worse than "darling, the compressor is going" at 3am! When I use it I just turn the timer on for two hours. I also use a timer for my battery drill.

Do you use green coloured disposable butane cylinders common on some portable bbq or camping heaters? Save a few up then search ebay for a fitting that connects them to a 9kg bottle from your home bbq. You can then fill them up at home prior to camping for a fraction of the $12 cost.

Tony WK

[blondguy]

Hey everyone 🙂

Thanks Geoff....thats great...Ill give it a go...Paul

[geoff]

That's right Tony and sometimes you buy new rollers at a window/door manufacturer. Geoff.

[Guest_5218]

Hey Geoff ... thankyou so much! The cardboard trick worked amazingly well. Would never have thought such a simple thing would make so much difference. I mean this door was majorly stuck! Now it works perfectly. I guess I just leave the cardboard in there, maybe glue it on to make sure it doesnt fall out?

Sherie (-:

[geoff]

hi Sherie, you might have to change it over time just to make it thick again. Geoff.

[Guest_128]

Hi Geoff and all,

sorry for my late return to a really good thread, there are pleanty of people that have no clue about fixing or looking after things, no fault of there own, just how it is.

Our house is brick with a bullnose veranda a breezeway (that we converted into a large office/ storage room,that joins onto a big double garage with laundry and bathroom.( we are still fixing this up our son lives there.

problem is All windows and glass doors are 2200 high.

There is not enough wall space to put new(kitchen with butlers kitchen bought of eBay)

Have thought about just gyprock on the inside ,but think it would look crap on outside, maybe stack stone as feature wall.

hmmmmm

Dory

[Mathy]

Dory,

When you say, “gyprock on the inside, but may look rubbish on the outside”, are you saying that the structure is brick veneer? Meaning gyprock inner linings, timber stud wall and brick/stone external wall?

I’m guessing you want to use gyprock to create a wall inside for your kitchen and you need to fix the exterior wall in some “sort” of masonry/brick look?

I would think “stack wall” could be pricey. There should be other options depending upon what the actual exterior wall is. Also, what state? - weather conditions and all need to be thought of, cheers M 🙂