Remodeling: truly living life on the edge!

Ivy says:

Those of you who have ever remodeled your home can totally relate to the title of this post. It’s living life on the edge of sanity, a strange half-life where you have entire useless rooms that you have to keep the kids out of and attempt to find time to work on the rooms.

The worst remodeling is one that affects your kitchen. Even if you are the sort of person who eats take-out for every meal (and believe me, yo, if I could afford to, I would be that sort of person), having the kitchen be out of commission is  still the worst. When I was a kid my parents remodeled our kitchen and we ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two solid weeks. By the time it was all over, I was actually looking forward to some of Mystery Lady X’s burnt offerings.

Today, we put down laminate flooring in our living room, dining area, and hall. It’s nearly finished, but I don’t think we are going to be able to work on the floor tomorrow, so it appears that we are going to have two more days of the disruption. Normally, our kitchen would not be affected, but all the furniture from the dining area had to go into the kitchen, as the other areas of the house were filled with living room furniture.

So, what do you do, how to deal with this? First of all, this is a good time to pull out some crock pot recipes. I also have this fab steamer, which is super handy for steaming rice and chicken at the same time. Clean-up is a snap, and  you don’t have to deal with the oven at all.

Take the kids out of the house if at all possible to get work finished when they are not underfoot. While Mr. Ivy worked on the floors,  I took Nate shopping and to the playground. Nate had a far better day than he would have if I had stayed behind to help.

Recruit friends to help whenever possible. Mr. Ivy has friends who work for beer and burgers. The price is absolutely right! Don’t work your friends to death, though, and remember, the day will come when they need help from you as well. Be sure to reciprocate.

The biggest thing is to keep your humor about the situation. I know, this is sometimes easier said than done, but find the amusing moments in the situation, like when Nate let the cats out of the room they had been shut into, and they came dashing out only to find they couldn’t get any traction on the new wood flooring!

Nate wanted to have his picture taken to prove he was a good helper. I obliged. 

Smelling like smoke?

Dear Home Ec 101:

Have you any idea how to get the smell of smoke and sweat out of car upholstery without making the entire vehicle reek of Febreze? Too much Febreze gives me a massive headache, although I’d almost prefer that over the reek of man sweat in my new (to me) car.

~Longing to be Smokeless in Smyrna

Heather Says:

Something tells me you’re a newly converted non-smoker, congratulations! Three things will help rid your car of its stank. The best part is none of these methods will be covering up the problem with a chemical odor.

1) Shampoo the carpet and upholstery. You can typically rent a RugDoctor type machine from most supermarkets and hardware stores. I would do this on a day where it’s unlikely to rain. The windows should be left down for at least a few hours to allow the carpets to dry and avoid any potential for a mildew.

2) Place a bowl of vinegar in the car over night. Vinegar is great at removing problem odors, although I might recommend driving with the windows cracked so you don’t arrive at work smelling like you’ve been dyeing Easter eggs.

3 ) Leave the windows down as often as possible. Fresh air is will help dissipate any lingering odors.

Enjoy your new (to you) car!

(photo credit clarita)

Where the dryer vent leads, I follow

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I cannot figure out where my dryer vent leads. Seriously, the washer and dryer hookups are in the middle of the house, where there is no wall touching the outside. The only thing I can figure is that it may be going into the crawl space beneath the house. Do I really need to know where it goes, and is venting to the crawl space a problem?

Also, my dryer is not drying well - I have to run it at least twice to dry a load. What is up with that?

Signed,

Dryer Drama in Dyersburg

Ivy says:

Ah, the dryer.  It can keep your workload way down, but can cause so many problems as well. I used to have a lovely clothesline I could let the sheets dry on when I lived in a different place, but I have not put one up at my new house. Sheets dried on a clothesline smell like heaven, seriously.

At any rate, my waxing romantic over sheets dried in the sun is not helping your problem, so let’s get to the issues at hand. A dryer venting into a crawlspace is not good. That moist air can cause all sorts of mold issues, and you do NOT want mold issues. If you walk around your house while the dryer is drying (especially on a cold day) you can generally sniff out where your dryer is venting to.

Most likely it is venting to the outside as most places have building codes that specifically forbid dryers venting into a crawlspace. My dryer is also right in the middle of my home, and I always figured it vented into the crawlspace until I happened to be taking the dog outside one crisp day while I was doing laundry.  It does vent outside, indeed, and I expect yours does as well, you just have not found where it vents yet.

If you are concerned that your dryer is venting into your crawlspace, you can always crawl under your house and look. It’s not as scary as one might think it would be, just make sure you are wearing pants tucked into socks and you take a flashlight and shine it wherever you are about to go. Oh, and put your hair up in a ponytail if you have long hair. Likely the worst thing you’ll run into is spiderwebs, but I’ve seen snakes and mice in my crawlspace before, so be careful.

Now, as far as your dryer being very slow to dry, there are 2 possible reasons for this. Either your dryer vent is clogged with lint, or your dryer is not heating up properly. Put some wet clothes in your dryer. Make sure it is on a heated dry cycle. After the dryer has been running for a few minutes, your dryer should be warm to the touch.

If it is not, your dryer is not heating properly and you may need to replace your heating element or other parts in your dryer. Here’s a good article about the no-heat dryer, and here’s another about  replacing your dryer’s heating element.

But before you go to all that drama, first check  to make sure your dryer vent is not clogged. Remember a couple of paragraphs ago where I said you should be able to go outside and smell your dryer when it’s running? If you can’t, you might have a kinked or clogged dryer vent.

Unplug your dryer. Pull it away from the wall and remove your dryer vent clamps. (Pictures may come later, but it is laundry day at Chez Ivy, and dryer vents get HOT when they’re in use.) Pull it off your dryer and look for any clumps of wet lint. While you’re back there, grab your vacuum and use the vacuum hose to suck out as much lint as possible. Then put the whole shebang back together and make sure the dryer vent is not kinked and is completely unobstructed.

I hope that helps you fix your dryer!

Itching to be rid of fleas?

Dear HomeEc 101:

My wife and I live alone, no dogs, cats, children, or other pests. Until recently. Immediately after a painter touched up a ceiling, and protected our hardwood floors with a drop cloth, we began to find fleas in our house. 3 flea bombs and 1 pest control visit later, we still have fleas. Help!

Itching in Ithica

Heather says:

Fleas are patient creatures and this is reflected in their life cycle. They tend to wait until conditions are favorable before moving from egg to larvae and larvae to adult.  This ability to bide their time is part of what makes them so difficult to control.  Since new introduction seems unlikely, I bet you’ll be able to get these monsters under control in no time.  Since you have already tried chemical means of pest control I believe you may be experiencing reinfestation as the new batches of eggs hatch.

Thoroughly vacuum your home, paying careful attention to corners, crevices, drapes, and upholstered furniture.  Go as far as to take the cushions out of the slipcovers.  Don’t forget to stick the wand down any heat registers/cold air returns in the floor. Unfortunately you’ll need to repeat this thorough vacuuming until the situation has resolved.  Larvae feed on organic debris, so the frequent vacuuming not only reduces the population, but limits their food supply as well.

You’ll also need to wash your bedding, the suckers like to hide there, as well.  Use HOT water, unless the care label indicates this will damage the material.

If you have a bagged vacuum remove the bag from your home.  Before installing a new one add 1/3 to 1/2 of a dog’s flea collar to the bag. This should kill any errant fleas before they can escape to repopulate your home.  If your vacuum is bagless empty the container outside of your home after each use.

You may be able to lure adult fleas with a flea trap.  These low tech devices are simple to build.  Securely suspend a lightbulb over a shallow dish of soapy water.   In a dim room the fleas are attracted to the light and jump in, but cannot escape.  This may help control the flea laying portion of the population.

For temporary relief consider wearing Skin so Soft as a repellant.

Finally, consider having your carpets and upholstered furniture professionally steamcleaned.  I would only use this as a last resort as you’ve already shelled out for pest control.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

Learn from Crystal - Home Dryer Repair

Heather says:

Let’s give my pal Crystal a round of applause. She saved herself $95 by tackling basic home appliance repair. Not too bad for 1.5 hours worth of work, including the trip to the part store.

She IMed me asking if I knew anything about dryer repair. I suggested she check and see if the belt was broken and linked her to how to install a dryer belt.

After unplugging the dryer and armed with a screwdriver, putty knife, flashlight, and ratchet set she followed the instructions on the site.

The dryer belt was intact, and she referred to another website for suggestions. This site suggested she check the motor, pulley, and door switch.

Using her astute powers of observation she quickly ascertained it was the pulley. A quick trip to the parts store and she returned armed with a new belt and pulley. The original belt was not broken, but had received a lot of wear and damage from the pulley.

While the dryer was disassembled she plugged it in (keeping her hands clear) and made sure the motor ran smoothly.

The most difficult part of the task was threading the belt through the pulley, but between a picture on another site and some advice from the parts store employee she handled it easily. With the belt rethreaded, she reassembled the dryer and gave it a test run.

Remember when you first begin tackling basic repairs, the Internet is an amazing tool for information, but don’t forget there are other resources. Do you have handy friends or relatives? In Crystal’s case the parts store employee was willing to answer her questions and she saved a good chunk of change by being willing to ask. No one is born born knowing how to fix everything and most people enjoy sharing their knowledge.

Way to go Crystal. Thank you for sharing your newfound knowledge and for the pictures, too.

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