Appendix B
Online Resources
Chapter 1: Your Personal Toolkit
If you want to learn more about hand and power tools, consider a hands-on, education vacation! Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (ladies, Habitat’s Women Build program is a great way to learn your way around a house). Go to www.habitat.org or www.habitat.org/wb/ (for Women Build). Or, sign up for a weekend or more at a school that offers hands-on training; this is a more expensive option, as you will pay tuition, plus the cost of a local room and meals. But the courses are great fun, and introduce you to other folks who like to work on their houses. Here are a couple:
Yestermorrow Design/Build School, Warren, VT: www.yestermorrow.org
Shelter Institute, Woolwich, ME: www.shelterinstitute.com
If you’re shopping for tools, try tag sales, especially estate sales. You may find some very good buys. And if you’re traveling in the state of Maine, check out one of the three stores owned by the Jonesport Wood Company. You can fill a bag with tools for very little money! Info at:
Chapter 2: Your Most Important Tool: The Safety Drill
For information on safety glasses with magnifying (reader) lenses, go to www.aosafetycom. , click on “eyewear,” and look for the “Readers” product.
Chapter 3: Your Supply Closet
WD-40 is such a popular lubricant, with so many uses, that its manufacturer started a fan club where users can post some of the nifty ways they’ve used the product around the house and at work. Register for all this helpful DIY info at http://fanclub.wd40.com.
Chapter 4: A Map of Your World
If you have a well and septic system, rather than municipal or private water and sanitary service (sewer system), these websites will give you more information than you’ll probably ever need:
For water wells, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a huge amount of information you can access through www.epa.gov/safewater/privatewells/.
For septic systems, www.inspect-ny.com/septbook.htm is comprehensive and easy to navigate.
Chapter 5: Walls: From Trash Talk to Smooth Talk
Plaster walls are tough to repair. If you’ve got an old house with lots of plaster and lots of damage, you’ll probably need professional help to repair it. The National Park Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, publishes a vast amount of how-to information for preserving and repairing old buildings—not only plaster, but old windows, roofing materials, floors, and so on. Check out their online resources at www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/presbhom.htm.
Chapter 6: Floors and Ceilings: Beneath Your Feet and (Not Really) Over Your Head
For further information about hardwood floors, visit the website of the American Hardwood Information Center: www.hardwoodinfo.com.
A good general website for flooring information: www.floorfacts.com.
The Carpet & Rug Institute (an industry organization) has a large website with a spot-cleaning section: www.carpet-rug.com.
Chapter 7: Stairs: A Few Steps to a Happy Landing
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has an extensive website and many downloadable publications that address safety issues for children and seniors: www.cpsc.gov.
Chapter 8: Getting Clear About Windows
If your windows are beyond repair, you’ll need the latest information on replacements. Pay particular attention to energy efficiency, and get windows that can save you money on heating and cooling your house. Here are two helpful sites to check out:
The Efficient Windows Collaborative: www.efficientwindows.org
National Fenestration Ratings Council: www.nfrc.org/windowshop/
Chapter 9: Doors: An Open-and-Shut Case
The Old House Parts Company has been salvaging old mantels, woodwork, doors, windows, and hardware from antique—and just plain old—houses for many years. You may be able to locate parts for old doorknobs and locksets here, if you can’t find them anywhere else. They’ll be happy to work with you by fax or e-mail:
1 Trackside Drive, Kennebunk, Maine 04043
Phone: (207) 985-1999
Fax: (207) 985-1911
www.oldhouseparts.com
Phone: (207) 985-1999
Fax: (207) 985-1911
www.oldhouseparts.com
Chapter 10: Solving Pipe Problems
If your home is old and has never been re-plumbed with new copper or PVC (plastic) pipes, there may be lengths of lead pipe, or lead solder used in connecting other metal pipe. For more information about pipes, lead, and drinking water, visit this address at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) website: www.epa.gov/safewater/.
Chapter 11: Controlling the Flow: Faucets, Sprays, and Showerheads
Most large home centers and well-stocked hardware stores have extensive inventories of faucet parts. Danco is one company that provides a huge range of parts, plus a helpful in-store guide to help you match your originals to their replacements. For more information and listing of the company’s retailers: www.danco.com.
Chapter 12: Tub and Toilet Techniques
Small repairs on porcelain tubs and sinks will not provide an ultra-smooth, like-new finish. But there are companies that specialize in refinishing tubs, which are expensive to replace when you factor in the cost of the fixture, removing the old tub, and labor for both removal and new installation, including plumbing. One national company has franchises that do this work, which is comparable to auto-body repair and painting. Visit the website: www.miraclemethod.com.
Also check your local business phone directory under “Bathtub Refinishing.” Be sure to get references for professional service companies with which you are unfamiliar.
Chapter 13: In the Loop: Understanding Your Wiring
Edison Electric Institute, the national association of shareholder-owned electric utility companies, provides a wealth of information about using energy wisely at www.eeiorg/wiseuse.
Chapter 14: Smooth Transitions: Cleaning and Replacing Filters and Hoses
Your electrician can install a device that can turn off the water supply to the washing machine automatically (lots of people forget, with disastrous and expensive results). Called an IntelliFlow, it’s available from a company called Watts. See the website: www.watts.com/pro/divisions/watersafety_flowcontrol/learnabout/learnabout_intelliflow.asp or call at (978) 688-1811.
Chapter 15: Appliance Repairs
Nearly every major appliance manufacturer has a toll-free customer service number, plus a web site that provides comprehensive information on maintenance and repair, including downloadable use and care manuals, and a parts department. Here is contact information for some major producers:
GE Appliances: www.GEappliances.com; 1-800-626-6005
Sears: www.Sears.com; 1-800-469-4663
Whirlpool: www.whirlpool.com; 1-866-698-2538
Maytag: www.maytag.com; 1-800-688-9900
Bosch: www.boschappliances.com; 1-800-921-9622
Jenn-Air: www.jennair.com; 1-800-688-1100
If you can no longer repair your appliance, consider finding a new one that will cost you less to run. Go to the government’s Energy Star website: www.energystar.gov.
Chapter 16: Heating and Cooling
More than half of the homeowners in the U.S. heat with natural gas; about a third use electric heat; seven percent use heating oil; and about five percent use propane. Here are some information packed websites for learning more about your system:
Electric heat: www.energyguide.com/library/EnergyLibraryTopic.asp?bid=austin&prd=10&TID=17212&SubjectID=8372
Oil heat: www.oilheatamerica.com
Chapter 17: Safety Must-Haves
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has a website packed with information about safeguarding your home and family from fire dangers: www.nfpa.org.
NFPA also has a well-known mascot, Sparky the Fire Dog, who guides you through a child- and family-friendly website with illustrations of fire safety tools and techniques: www.sparky.org.
You can get safety decals from your local firehouse to mark children’s bedroom windows so that the fire department can get to them quickly. But many people also worry about their pets being left in the house when there’s an emergency. You can find decals to put on your door that indicate you have pets, and how many you have: www.petalertdecal.com.
Chapter 18: Preventing Repairs: Inside Maintenance
Doing major repairs and replacing equipment is expensive. As part of its fundraising operation to enable more people to become homeowners, Habitat for Humanity operates ReStores in many locations throughout the United States and Canada. Builders and homeowners can salvage good quality building materials and household equipment from renovation projects (that would otherwise wind up in a dumpster and in a landfill), and donate them to ReStores, which will resell these at bargain prices.
My niece, who’s just setting up her home, has shopped the ReStore in her area and found a number of bargains. You can too. Check out the website, which has links to a list of ReStore locations: www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx.
Chapter 19: Preventing Repairs: Outside Maintenance
The American Society of Home Inspectors offers a virtual tour of what a professional covers in a home inspection, inside and out. You’ll need a flash plug-in to play the video (it’s free to download): www.ashi.org/customers/vhi_tour.asp.
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