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Anyone with long hair can attest to the ongoing struggle to maintain a clog-free sink drain.
With her long hair, Steph is always on the lookout for the device that will keep the drain clear. In this video, she tests out two possible contenders. Take a look to see how each fared!
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Most everything we use in the garage is built for long use, but there are things that are "one and done!" Those are our consumables.
In this post we share 12 consumables we use most often and are sure to always have on hand in the workshop.
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Summer time activities with my grandkids included teaching the two younger ones to sew. Although, I have a Janome sewing machine that I use on a regular basis, I have a few vintage ones as well that I like to use.
Many years ago, my mom passed along her vintage Singer 401A to me. She purchased the machine in 1960 for the sum of $298.70. (That also included the wood cabinet). In today's dollars that would be equivalent to $3,078.92! This is the machine that my sisters and I learned to sew on as 4-H members. While teaching the grandkids, I decided to get the 401A out and let them use it to practice on. It was actually quite an emotional moment seeing them use this machine that I had learned on almost 60 years ago! We were humming along quite nicely with it when I decided it was time to learn to use the zig zag stitch. Well, I turned stitch selector knobs or at least tried and nothing happened! After, they left for the summer, I did a little research to see if I could fix what was wrong. Spoiler, yes, I did get it working once again over the course of three days. But it was not a quick fix! text by Vicki Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! We are continuing our compilation series of like projects and this week, we are spotlighting projects for the kitchen and bathroom!
All are quick and mostly easy improvements, maintenance, or repairs. Take a look, maybe there's a project here that you need to tackle at your house.
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One of the things we learned through our recent partnership with the Sunjoy Company was becoming aware of all the replacement parts they offer.
We have a Hampton Bay grill gazebo that we got at Home Depot a few years ago. We discovered that many of the gazebos on the market today are actually made by Sunjoy and sold under various brands. But! Even if your gazebo is not branded Sunjoy, replacement canopy parts may be available. Replacing the canopy parts certainly extends the life of your gazebo.
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This easy DIY may just save your life!
Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer. It's naturally occurring and can be found in homes and other building everywhere. Testing is a simple way to discover if your home is at risk. text by Vicki Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! In eight years time since starting MDP, we've done a lot of home maintenance projects. Some have been massive, but others, like these, are simple and can be started and finished in the same day!
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This is one of those home maintenance issues that we ignore 'cause out of sight, out of mind. It's not until we look up while standing in front of the stovetop that we see the issue.
The issue in Steph's kitchen was mold and grease! And lots of both on the underside of the vent hood. It was time to deep clean under there!
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She said she was going to do it and she did it...repack the bearings on the trailer!
I (Vicki) had no clue as to what was involved in this process which made it fascinating to watch! After watching her and seeing the video, I think I could actually repack bearings as well. My dad was an auto mechanic all of his life. As many of you know, he passed away in May, 2020. Both Steph and I, during the trailer maintenance process, commented on just how proud he would be of his granddaughter! That thought makes me happy...
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You know, sometimes we live with something broken because we don't know how to fix it or even if a fix is available.
That was the situation with Steph's screen door. It wasn't broken, but the black part did not match the white door. We had one of those "Duh" moments when we realized that replacement parts were readily available and that changing out the screen closer was a really easy fix.
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Here's a super simple project that comes together really quickly. It's perfect for crafting with your grandkids or niblings (that's your nieces and nephews!)
Head to the Dollar Tree to pick up all but the bird seed and you'll be on your way to your own wild kingdom.
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Steph's on-going quest to find a tool or system to rake up leaves in her backyard has finally come to an end!
Steph's backyard is nothing but rock as no grass will grow because of all the tree coverage and ALL those trees drop lots of leaves two times a year! At long last, she has found the ultimate bag/rake combination to clean up the overabundance of leaves!
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Since Mac and Tosh, the retired greyhounds, joined Steph's household, she's become well acquainted with the messes associated with pet ownership.
Read on as she shares what she likes about these three Hoover products and what she would recommend if you also deal with messes of the canine, feline, or human variety!
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As a tea drinker, it's important to have the right water temperature for the type of tea. I bought this stainless steel tea kettle a few years ago, and love it because of the different temperature settings, and the ease of use. But after a few months, it begins to get some harmless limescale at the bottom.
This is what I do to get rid of the limescale. text by Vicki Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! One weekend, while working on refinishing a desk and chair, I went in search of a piece of foam for the chair seat. I didn't find the foam, but instead found this...
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Our discovery of the Flo by Moen came too late to save my house from a very large and expensive flood in 2020.
A tiny leak, from a rarely used toilet, put out enough water to soak the carpet in the two adjoining rooms, as well as causing damage to drywall and a door frame. It's a mess! If I'd had a Flo by Moen installed, the leak would have been a tiny bit of cleanup instead of the major renovation that we are now facing! Check out the video to see more about this device that every homeowner might want to consider!
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We recently helped Steph's neighbor get his yard in shape. It had become overgrown and out of control.
Due to the timing of yard trash pickup, we had to start working in the backyard first in order to get all the yard debris out at the curb for pickup the next day. While Steph worked in the backyard, I started on the front. You can see that process in the first yard makeover video.
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Water leaks! They are the worst and have caused the most damage and work at both of our houses. I've had subtle leaks that weren't detected for a long time to the obvious, like the time I came home and water was pouring out of my garage!
The latest leak was one of the subtle ones. I just happened upon it because I was cleaning around the wood storage area and noticed a dark spot that should not have been there! After clearing out the area, I realized the water was coming under the outside wall into the garage and potentially into my closet on the other side of the garage wall. The culprit was the air conditioning condensation drain pipe that was positioned too close to the wall. As it's been very hot, the a/c has been running constantly meaning there has been a lot of water draining. Unfortunately, the water was running down the outside wall into the garage! We needed to fix the problem ASAP!
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Steph's been using the Ryobi cordless battery powered lawn mower for about a year, so we thought it was time to do a review.
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It's been a year since we installed the temporary fence in Steph's backyard. Since the weather has been so nice this spring, we've been working on projects in her backyard including assessing the condition of the fence.
When the leaves were raked away from the fence, we did find holes. We're not sure what they are from--could be wildlife, branches falling on it or just age. Steph researched some options for repair and this is what she thought would work best. Be sure to watch the video to see what the dogs were up to while we were trying to work and later trying to tape this video!
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Steph's backyard is small and is totally shaded by large oak trees thus no grass grows back there. The ground is covered with pea gravel in lieu of grass which creates a problem when you try to rake leaves.
Steph researched a solution and decided this Ryobi battery powered leaf vacuum/mulcher would be a good choice to deal with the leaf cleanup problem in the backyard.
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As all pet parents know, it is not unusual for their furry friend to have an accident or two in the house.
Steph had it easy with greyhound #1, Mac, who only ever had one accident in the house, but greyhound #2 is an entirely different story! Lots of accidents, lots of messes to clean up! Steph already had a ONEPWR Spotless GO Portable Carpet Cleaner to pick up spills, but has needed to add a few more tools and supplies to deal with Tosh's frequent mishaps!
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Since making improvements to my garage a few years ago, we've noticed a crack in the ceiling that has grown to stretch from the garage door to the back wall!
Steph decided it was time to investigate why it was happening. She contacted Gary, a good friend of hers that has professional drywall experience to help her troubleshoot the problem. With Gary's assistance, she was able to determine why the crack was getting worse, stabilized the problem, and then repaired the cracked drywall.
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Steph is continually on the lookout for new products that easily solve a simple problem. This screen patch is one of those products.
The very first Mother Daughter Projects DIY video and post was re-screening Steph's porch screen. That was almost six years ago and in all that time, the screening never required a repair, well, that is until after Tosh joined the household back in November! Tosh is a retired racing greyhound. There is a bit of a learning curve as the retired racers learn about doors and windows and all things house related. In Tosh's case, she didn't "see" the screen door and ended up putting a small hole in it. Actually, Steph was a bit excited as she could finally try out this new screen patch kit! |