Resurfacing Concrete

Image of resurfaced concrete stoop. Single coat.

I recently wanted to resurface my concrete stoop in front of the home. After much research on the web, I came across an excellent article from the manufacturer Quickrete. Additionally I called their help line and they were extremely helpful in guiding me in how to apply the resurfacing.
Here's a link to the pdf.http://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/Projects/ResurfacingConcrete.pdf
There may also be a video of the procedure at the site.
I am not an employee of Quikcrete or in any way connected to them. I provide this because it might help somebody else.
Good luck

Remove Netflix User From Blu Ray Device or TV

Updated 12/26/2011: Procedure works on the following devices as reported by
visitors


Panasonic BD 65
Blu-Ray

Samsung BD-C6500
Blu-Ray

Panasonic BDT 210
Blu-Ray 3D

Panasonic BD-85
Blu-Ray

Panasonic TC-P50S30
Plasma TV

Wii -Need somebody to verify. Reading the web indicates that this procedure
will work on the Wii as well. But unsure.


Updated 10/13/2011




I had the situation where my son activated Netflix to demonstrate how it works. But he left and I tried to activate with a new Netflix account and it did not permit me. I always got the red banner with a white screen below.
Here's how the Netflix person told me how to fix it and it works. I had called Panasonic and they said call Netflix.
A really nice lady helped me.
So what you do is follow this "sequence"
Press the up arrow 2 times
Then the down arrow 2 times
And now the left arrow 1 time, followed by the right arrow 1 time.
And, repeat , left 1 time, right 1 time
Finally, up arrow 4 times.
Wait a while, power it down, go back to the Netflix page and see if shows you a deactivation page which is self explanatory.
If it didn't work first, try again . It worked for me.

Updated 11/20/2011: This below comment from a visitor is very well written. If you follow his instructions to the letter it should work just fine:
"Quoting this because it worked the EXACT same way for me, including pressing OK to exit: I have a Panasonic BD65. You have to enter this sequence(above) after entering the netflix application but before it loads the instant queue. I entered the sequence while it was showing the spinning circle saying it was getting the instant queue. It then shows some account information and has an option to select for deactivating. The screen then just sat there saying deactivating until I hit the remote ok button - this exited Netflix and took me back the Viera Cast screen".

Updated 10/20/2011: Your comments are appreciated. It would be great if you also provided the name of the device for which you applied the procedure.
I want to make a table of those for which it works so people can easily scan it.

Updated 10/13/2011:I'm getting a lot of hits per the statistics, over 24 per day! Please leave a comment such as "it worked", "it failed".

Updated 9/13/2011: There are some great comments / usage tips from people who found this useful. If my procedure doesn't work for you, please review the comments.
I'm also getting the feeling that this procedure works with other Blu Ray players, (one post), but I don't have the ability to test them.

I publish all comments unless they are inappropriate
Fixingthingsguy

Replacing the base under the kitchen sink I found......

While replacing the base * of the kitchen sink, I discovered, that the forced air duct was not connected to the register( on the left by the edge). In this picture you are looking under the sink through the right door of the cabinet.

It has been that way for 27 years! The forced air was being fed into a huge pizza box space, uninsulated, with gaps that led the air to the basement, and probably outside. Probably cost me several thousand dollars in 27 years.

* I haven't shown the removal effort. There are other web sites, many, that show that.

Anyway, because of the peculiar set up, there was no easy way to buy ductwork. The duct was at right angles to the opening under the sink and fortunately almost aligned and not too ofset. So with a friendly help from a Master Plumber at Home Depot I constructed a new ductwork that fed the forced air to the register on the left. On the right hand side I added a support cross piece so that I could lay 2 pieces of the new base. For extra insurance, I added a bunch of insulation. The register is visible now and the orientation of the picture should be evident.

And now here is the finished work, with two pieces painted white. You can see a slight gap. I chose just to seat the pieces this way and if it doesn't work out I'll add some screws to anchor it. I left it that way in case I have to replace it again, only in another 30 years, I hope.

Note: How do you know you have this situation in your home? A fellow told me to see if the space under the sink was hot (in winter) or you can drive a small hole and see if there is any air coming out.

Weatherizing Double Hung Windows

I have double hung windows that have Aluminum tracks that are spring loaded. There are no counterbalancing weights. The Aluminum track under pressure holds the window.
While I was replacing the brick moulding I noticed that the way these windows are built is there is a wide opening behind the tracks and the vertical window support(don't know the term for it, the vertical wood that the track fits on to!)
Anyway,there is no impediment for air to flow through these tracks, in and out.
So this winter I'm got some v-shaped plastic weatherstrip that has adhesive onone side and I'm slipping it betwee the stop and the aluminum. Hopefully that will shut off air going out/coming in.
I also have storm windows so that might be why I haven't had a more severe loss of warm air.
I'll let you know next spring how it worked out.

By the way, when replacing the brick moulding I got some special adhesive backed tape that has some sort of asphalt backing. I applied it to the outside of the window over the stop and the frame before I installed the brick moulding. So that should help a great deal too.

IF you have any questions, please contact me and I'll explain what I probably have poorly written.

Replacing brick moulding on windows

My brick moulding required a 2 1/2 inch brick mould that is not available in any of the big box stores. My old builders supplier, F.E. Wheaton Co, now has moved to Yorkvill, Il and has been sold to Probuild. They have the material. Unfortunately it is not vinyl, but hey, you probably won't have to replace it again, since the first one lasted 25+ years. Probuild in Yorkville, also has the sill-nose as well as the sill (if you are unfortunate enough to have to replace that).
Again, contact me and I'll show you how to do all this.

Re-Glazing Windows

If you have double hung windows, glazing is probably required to remove and replace the existing glaze(putty). Arduous task, but too expensive to send to the glazier so I learned it myself looking at videos on youtube, etc.

Contact me if you want to know how to do it. You can do it.

Making sliding shelves

Its basically creating a simple drawer and adding slides. Slides are from Blumotion. I did buy two of them and made the rest myself.
The drawer is made from plywood(Baltic type) that is nicer to look.
If you want to make some, contact me and I'll walk you through the steps. You can make 1 and see if you like making them. Or you can buy one and try to make one similar.

Quieten Kitchen Cabinet Doors

I do not like doors that don't shut quietly! These devices are like shock absorbers
and they absorb the force of the door and slow it down to a crawl. Of course you have to have hinges that are designed to close at a slight push. Most cabinets have them I believe. I bought the product from Woodworkers Hardware.

This is another view of the placement of the shock absorber.

Need a remote "ethernet port"? ddwrt for bridging

Took me a while to get to this item. Basically I was driven to get a remote ethernet port because my Panasonic Blu Ray had an ethernet port for services such as Netflix. But Panasonic would sell me a wifi device to attach for about $60-80 as I remember.

So my choices, since I did not want to spend the money, were
a)wire ethernet in the house to the Blu Ray device
or
b)set up a spare linksys wrtgp4 to receive signal over the air from the primary linksys. This technique is called "bridging"

a) was not an option, can be done but pain in the neck.
b) was easier with ddwrt software. You basically have to change the linksys software and apply the ddwrt software on primary and the second linksys. Then you have a linksys talking to another linksys over the air and providing an ethernet port for you at the second linksys. From that port you wire a small ethernet cord to your device and, voila, "bobs your uncle", and you have ethernet at your Blu Ray device.

Now using the ddwrt software is not hard, but you have to follow their instructions precisely, I mean, exactly. If they say hold your breadth for 10 seconds(!) do it or it will fail. :) Anyway go to the ddwrt site and all will be revealed. There's not much point in me repeating all that's there. They have a list of linksys or Cisco as it is now called that work. Pay attention precisely to the version number.
Now all this is a savings if you can get a linksys cheap,which you can by looking on Craigslist. People sell old linksys for $10 or so.

Mostly its a lot of fun to beat the system! Good luck. If questions, leave me a note with your email, I will delete the email before I post it.

Bending Acrylic for Home Projects

TBD

Basement Window Well Cover

TBD

Cleaning Out Basement Egress

Over time the Basement Egress window broke, the metal frame that holds the window (a.k.a buck) got rusted, the space inside the window well got filled with dirt.
Not a nice job, but the window replacement is a snap-in, since its meant to facilitate exit during a fire if you are in the basement. Also had to make an acrylic window cover since its a larger size.
Nothing difficult, just crappy work. But should be done for safety reasons.
Some of the things to do, more will be apparent as you get in there. There is a drain cover that empties into the drain tile and thence to the basement(from where its pumped out). Must be clear and should be tested with a hose.
(This was done about a year ago, so its a little dusty)
Cleaning out
-Removing mud, gravel
-Replacing drain cover
-Test the drain with a hose, fire some water and see if it enters the basement well and then pump it out
-Removing Rust from the "buck"; grind it out, or use Naval Jelly(be safe, eyeglasses, breathing filter), and then paint it.
Replacing the pull-out window; mine is a Monarch from Iowa. Call them for dealer information

iPOD wall charger used to charge Kindle DX(use at your own risk)

I recently left my Kindle DX wall charger at a hotel. There are other ways of course to charge a kindle dx
-plug the kindle dx cable in to the USB port of a computer and follow the kindle instructions
-naturally, use a wall charger if you haven't lost it.
Alternatively, after researching from an Amazon website (http://www.amazon.com/review/R1KDXG1U1SX0JZ?cdPage=2), I charged the Kindle DX. (after verifying the voltages,etc) I plugged the USB end of the provided Kindle DX cable to the iPOD Nano wall charger (pic, above,original from Apple, has a USB receptacle). Worked fine so far. However, I am an amateur, I cannot guarantee this works on your Kindle DX. So if you chose to use, its solely at your risk.

Deactivate Netflix User Account on Panasonic DMP BD65 BD85 Blu Ray, OR How Do I Switch Netflix Accounts

Updated 12/26/2011: Procedure works on the following devices as reported by
visitors


Panasonic BD 65
Blu-Ray

Samsung BD-C6500
Blu-Ray

Panasonic BDT 210
Blu-Ray 3D

Panasonic BD-85
Blu-Ray

Panasonic TC-P50S30
Plasma TV

Wii -Need somebody to verify. Reading the web indicates that this procedure
will work on the Wii as well. But unsure.


Updated 10/13/2011




I had the situation where my son activated Netflix to demonstrate how it works. But he left and I tried to activate with a new Netflix account and it did not permit me. I always got the red banner with a white screen below.
Here's how the Netflix person told me how to fix it and it works. I had called Panasonic and they said call Netflix.
A really nice lady helped me.
So what you do is follow this "sequence"
Press the up arrow 2 times
Then the down arrow 2 times
And now the left arrow 1 time, followed by the right arrow 1 time.
And, repeat , left 1 time, right 1 time
Finally, up arrow 4 times.
Wait a while, power it down, go back to the Netflix page and see if shows you a deactivation page which is self explanatory.
If it didn't work first, try again . It worked for me.

Updated 11/20/2011: This below comment from a visitor is very well written. If you follow his instructions to the letter it should work just fine:
"Quoting this because it worked the EXACT same way for me, including pressing OK to exit: I have a Panasonic BD65. You have to enter this sequence(above) after entering the netflix application but before it loads the instant queue. I entered the sequence while it was showing the spinning circle saying it was getting the instant queue. It then shows some account information and has an option to select for deactivating. The screen then just sat there saying deactivating until I hit the remote ok button - this exited Netflix and took me back the Viera Cast screen".

Updated 10/20/2011: Your comments are appreciated. It would be great if you also provided the name of the device for which you applied the procedure.
I want to make a table of those for which it works so people can easily scan it.

Updated 10/13/2011:I'm getting a lot of hits per the statistics, over 24 per day! Please leave a comment such as "it worked", "it failed".

Updated 9/13/2011: There are some great comments / usage tips from people who found this useful. If my procedure doesn't work for you, please review the comments.
I'm also getting the feeling that this procedure works with other Blu Ray players, (one post), but I don't have the ability to test them.

I publish all comments unless they are inappropriate
Fixingthingsguy

How to fix a Maytag Washer Model A710

I research the web and found little tidbits on how to fix my Maytag A710 (bought July 1984). Its the first time its exhibited problems, which turned out to be that damper pads needed to be replaced. The web was not very helpful and I did not find a clear set of followable instructions. . However, the book that I've imaged below was available at my public library. It is the best thing I've ever seen and shows in detail how to fix, in my case damper pads(parts ~$20). It beats anything on the web by 100%. So, next time, go to the library if you want to know how to fix an appliance.

The site Repairclinic was helpful in providing me with good diagrams. http://www.repairclinic.com/Washing-Machine-Top-Load-Maytag-Style-Appliance-Diagram

The FixYa site was also helpful. http://www.fixya.com/support/t1498578-installing_damper_pads_maytag_a710

Appliance parts warehouse also had good pictures. http://www.appliance-parts-warehouse.com/maytag-parts/model_view_cats.cfm?model=A710

I found these great pictures after I fixed it! http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/JPEG/VINTAGE/3-17-2008-23-01-25--GadgetGary.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/ARCHIVE/VINTAGE/2008/16228x47.htm&usg=__508ppQqxR5gqVp5s1WDXr_sMBMs=&h=1120&w=881&sz=267&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=QPQNHJgTUDiEwM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhow%2Bto%2Bfix%2Ba%2Bmaytag%2Bmodel%2BA710%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

BUT, NOTHING, BEATS THE BOOK BELOW THAT I GOT FROM MY LIBRARY.

Anyway, the symptom of my problem was excessive vibration and occasional sticking of the drum, with associated noise. That has been fixed by replacing the damper pads.

Its not difficult to fix, but it takes time for somebody like me who is not a trained Maytag repair person. You only need a phillips screwdrive, a pair of locking pliers, and a couple of 2x4 pieces.

All of this is well described in below book, which as a disclaimer, was NOT written by me! I don't know if its still published.

Its available on Amazon it appears, and they have a few others such as fixing dishwashers, etc

http://www.amazon.com/Washing-Machine-Repair-Cheap-Easy