Frozen pipes are a problem you never want to deal with but are all too common during extended cold snaps in winter. In the tutorial Thawing a Frozen Water Pipe I'll describe what you can do to prevent frozen water pipes. Frozen water exerts thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch on a pipe and can burst it, causing flooding and major damage to your home. But there are right ways and wrong ways to thaw out a frozen pipe, and knowing how to perform this critical repair and prevent it from from occurring can save your home.

One of the surest ways to have frozen pipe problems is to leave your hose attached to the outside faucet. So do me a favor and as soon as you are done reading this blog post, remove any hoses you have attached to your outdoor faucets and then go in the house and turn off the water to the outside faucet (also called a sill cock). It is critical to remove any hoses attached to the outside faucet! An attached garden hose is sure recipe for frozen pipe damage this winter.

The sill cock only turns water on and off outside, there is (or is supposed to be) a water shut off valve inside the house for the outside faucet. You may have to do some investigating in your home following water supply lines to try and find the shut off valve. They are usually located near the outside faucet.

By removing any hoses and turning off the water supply to the sill cock you have averted major risk of water damage done by a burst frozen pipe.

Happiness is nice hot shower until you come toe-to-toe with the dreaded slow draining bath tub.

So you ignore it as long as you can, but then there comes a point when that drain just has to get cleaned. And if not done correctly, trying to clean the drain is messy and futile. If you just use a cup plunger by itself, not a whole lot is going to happen other than you'll make a big splash. You won't however get a whole lot of drain clearing done.

Why? Because your tub has an overflow drain that will "short circuit" the pressure and vacuum in the drain line needed for the plunger to operate.

In the tutorial Unclog a Tub Drain "MacGyver Style" I'll show you how to use a ubiquitous roll of duct tape to get that overflow drain under control and increase the effectiveness of the plunger.

So make that plunge count and have a read!

We're often hanging things from our walls like pictures and posters, but a heavy object such as a wall shelf requires special installation techniques.  Wall shelves are popular and versatile and are used to support books, art, clothing  and many other items.

In the tutorial How to Install a Wall Shelf I'll show you how you can install a wall shelf in your home or apartment using "easy to follow" instructions and vivid color photos. In the tutorial we'll be using expandable wall anchors and I explain techniques to easily use and install these fasteners in your project. So take a read and make a installing a new wall shelf your next project.

The Wall Anchor. I'm not writing about the type shown in the photo. I mean wall anchors you need when fastening things to the wall in your home. These include types such as molly, toggle, shield, self tapping.

I understand all you want to do is install a a shelf, right?  Not many things are as confusing as what type of wall anchor to use when you want to fasten something to the wall. It seems there are more variations than necessary and then which ones work best or are easiest to use?

I've outlined all you need to know in a visual guide to using wall anchors including which wall fastener to use depending on the type of wall and weight of the object being attached. And I've outlined installation tips and instructions.

I also lay down the straight information on which anchor types work well and which ones are more trouble than they're worth.