Post-Summer Fix Ups

Ramsin Khachi shows us how to fix what your kids might have wrecked during their summer vacation from your walls to your floors to your screen door. Plus he teaches us how to properly unclog your skin.

Wood Repair

Tools used:

Trade Secret touch-up system for wood. Includes Filler, Stain pen, Sealant.

• Most minor damage to stained wood in a house can easily be repaired and touched up
• If you simply have a nick in the finish, use a similar coloured furniture marker or permanent marker to dab a little colour on the spot and then blend it in using your finger
• If you have a piece that’s been nicked out, reset it using wood glue. Take care to clean excess glue with a damp cloth. Let the piece set for several hours until dry.
• Using a furniture wax crayon run it across the damage to fill any divots. Clean excess crayon off of the surrounding surface and use the furniture marker to blend in the colour to the surrounding wood surface.
• Using a small artists brush, apply a very small amount of clear finish lacquer of urethane and feather the edges to blend it into the surrounding finish.

Screen Replacement

Tools used:

• Screening Spline
• Utility knife
• DIY insect screen repair kit

1. Remove the screen frame from window or door and lay it on a flat surface. Cut a piece of replacement screen with sufficient excess material to clamp around the edges of the frame while you work.
2. The screen is held in channel in the frame by a plastic spline. Use a sharp object to remove the end of the spline and pull it out of the channel and discard. The screen will come out easily now and can be discarded.  
3. Lay the screen over the notched side of the frame with the curved side down. Use clamps to hold the screen, pulled tightly into place while you work.
4. Once you've creased the screen all the way around the frame, begin placing the spline in the channel. Start on one side and use your fingers to push the spline into the channel from one side of the screen to the other (see image). Try to install the material so that it is neat and flat, but don't worry about getting the screen overly tight. 
5. Install the new spline by pressing it into the frame's groove using a rolling spline-tool. Gently pull the spline tight with one hand as you carefully press it into the groove with the roller. As the spline goes into the groove, it will pull the screen tighter into place. Once you reach the corners, carefully use a flat head screw driver to push the corners into place. A slip of the roller or screw driver now puts you back to square one.
6. Once you’ve reached around with the spline to your starting point, snip the excess spline and push end into channel. Use a utility knife to trim off the excess screen mesh from the outside of the frame. Allow the blade to ride along the outside of the frame's groove to ensure a straight, clean cut without damaging the body of the new screen.

Sink
Most bathroom sinks have a pop up stopper in the drain. This stopper will catch large debris and hair but will eventually get clogged over time. It needs to be removed and cleaned from time to time to ensure proper and good function of the drain.

1. Make sure sink is not filled with any water and taps are not running
2. Reach under the sink to the back of the drain where the pop up mechanism is connected with a small rod
3. Undo the retaining nut that connects the rod to the back of the vertical drain pipe
4. Gently pull back on the rod as this will free the pop up mechanism
5. From the top, pull the pop up mechanism out and clean it thoroughly
6. Now replace the pop up mechanism into the drain while pulling back on the attachment to the drain. Make sure pop up is lined up as you push rod back into place. The rod should seat into a loop at the bottom of the pop up and hold it into place.
7. Tighten the round retaining nut and run water to ensure there are no leaks.

Cleaning and covering wall stains

Tools used:

• KILZ Original spray primer
• ZEP Heavy Duty Degreaser
• MR CLEAN magic erasers
• 1000+ Stain remover 125 ml bottle
• Performance select paint brush

Stains on walls can most often be removed with the proper type of cleaner. A non-staining degreaser is best to remove most stains. Citrus cleaners and glass cleaner work very well.

• Apply some cleaner to a clean paper towel or cotton cloth. Make sure it is white with no dies that can transfer to the wall
• Gently clean the marks off of the wall and then wipe the area with clean fresh water to remove residue from the cleaner.
• If you have a stubborn grease or wax stain that will not come off, you will have to apply some stain blocking primer to the surface to cover the stain and let dry. If you have any leftover paint, you will be able to touch up the area. If not, you may need to paint the entire wall.
• Use a brush and apply some paint over the primed surface. Apply light coats of paint and feather the edges out to blend into the surrounding surface. Using a damp paper towel, dab the feathered edges until they blend in nicely. Once the paint dries, it will darken and blend into the wall colour nicely.