Home Management

Posts Tagged ‘household tasks’

A pile of laundry, a library or a refrigerator to disorderly collapse. Which of these situations is troubling you most? That’s the first thing to do tomorrow (or, if you can today).

Shake off the work that disturbs me most is my new way to manage the chores. I decided to implement when, for various reasons, could not do my cleanup plan. My to-do list was so extensive that it did not start any of them or tried to perform them all at once.

Then I decided to try a new strategy … and has given me good results. I have no fixed days for washing floors or dusting the library. Now, every night I take a mental note of the chores that I do (cleaning windows, ironing, sorting, etc.). And I choose one to do tomorrow. What? The one that annoys me to have pending.

It’s that simple. Not always have a formal cleanup plan is the best option to keep a house clean and tidy.

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Open a plug and check how much of end of the cable has to be prepared. Cut back the outer insulation. It can usually be split length wise and the surplus cut off. Bare the wire ends far enough for them to wrap around screw terminals or fit into those with holes. In most plugs the earth wire has to be longer than the other two. Wire ends can be bared by careful work with a knife, but there is less risk of cutting the wire as well as the insulation if a stripper, looking like pincers, is used.

If you have a 13 amp plug with a fuse, the live wire may connect under or alongside the fuse. The neutral terminal is at the other side. There will be a flex-retaining clip at the entrance to the plug. This takes any strain, instead of it being transferred to the terminals. Make sure the outer casing will go under that clip when the wires have been cut to length.

If the wires go around screws, wrap them in the direction of tightening. Make sure there are no loose stands. Tighten the retaining clip and re-assemble.

At the other end of the cable, connections to an appliance are generally similar but the outer insulation may have to be cut back more to allow a spread of the wires. Connect brown or red to the terminal marked L and black or blue to that marked N. The earth connection will probably be to an unmarked screw in the casing or a metal part. See that any strain on the cable will be taken by a flex retaining clip and not by the electrical connections.

For a lamp socket connected with twin flex, pull out the plug or switch off the mains, then check how the electrical connections are relieved of load. Usually they loop under a central plastic part and the cover screwing down may further tighten them. Do not bare any more of the ends than are needed to fit into the screwed ends of the contact plungers.

To wire a table lamp with a switch built in, make sure it is the live wire that goes to the switch. The other wire goes to the lamp holder. If a torpedo-shaped switch is to be put in the flex, cut the live wire and bare its ends. The other wire will go straight through the switch casing. Adjust the amount of the live wire ends used to make connections to the switch, so there is equal tension on both parts of the cable when the switch is assembled.

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The basic fuse is a piece of wire between terminals on or in a ceramic block that can be pulled away from the fuse box. Fuse wire can be bought wound on a car, usually in 5 amp, 15 amp, and 30 amp sizes. Do not strain new wire between terminals. There should be some slackness. The ceramic part of their fuse may be marked with a figure to indicate the size wire to use, or it could be color coded: white for 5, blue for 15 and red for 30 amp.

A cartridge fuse is less troublesome to fit. It is a tube containing the wire, with metal ends to fit into spring clips. Each cartridge fuse is color coded; the most common are 3 amp, used for appliances up to 720 watts and 13 amp for those with a range of 720 to 3000 watts. A 13 amp plug can be fitted with a 3 amp or a 13 amp fuse. Lightly loaded equipment, such as radios and clocks, may have 3 amp fuses, but fires and other heavily loaded equipment require 13 amp fuses.

Some appliances, although they use below 720 watts, still need a 13 amp fuse because of the higher starting current required especially if they incorporate an electronic motor. A circuit breaker may look like a switch or have a projecting knob or button. If it becomes overloaded, the switch jumps to the off position or the button pops out. Both can be reset by removing them back.

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Older wiring had red insulation for the live line, black for the neutral line and green for the earth wire. Newer wires conform to European standards and have brown for the live line, blue for the neutral line and green and yellow bands for the earth line. Twin cables with only live and neutral lines are used for lighting and some equipment, including that which is double insulated and marked with a square within a square.

For most other equipment it is important for safety that the earth wire is connected at a plug and to a meal part of the equipment. Modern wiring uses three pin 13 amp plugs with flat pins. Older circuits may have plugs with round pins, using 15 amp plugs for fires and other equipment with heavy loads, and 5 amp plugs of a smaller size for lightly loaded equipment.

If new wire is to be fitted to an appliance, make sure the new cable is of the same size and type as the old. Compare the number rand size of copper wires. Do not use twin wires where the appliance has an earth connection. For any sort of portable appliance, use flex of the correct size, not cable intended for rigid wiring.

If you have any doubt and do not have old cable to compare, tell your supplier what you need the cable for. Open a plug and check how much of the end of the cable has to be prepared. Cut back the outer insulation. It can usually be split length wise and the surplus cut off. Bare the wire ends far enough for them to wrap around screw terminals or fit into those with holes. In most plugs the earth wire has to be longer than the other two.

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Check the available length and width of the rolls of paper. The shop will charge for trimming, which removes the manufacturer’s edge by machine, much more accurately than can be done by hand. Some papers are now pre-trimmed. Measure the walls to be covered and estimate how much paper will be needed. If the paper is plain there will be little waste. If there is a prominent patter, adjoining pieces will have to be matched and this can mean quite long ends going to waste.

Buy enough paper and ensure that all rolls come from the same batch. There may be a slight color variation in another batch. Obviously, running out of paper could be disastrous. It is unwise to assume that room corners are square or upright and even doors and window frames may be further from true than is expected. Use a plumb line to get a line for the first edge and not a corner, door or window which may not be truly upright.

A plumb line is just a weighted string. Hold or hang it and pencil on the wall at intervals down the string. It is usually most convenient to start papering the wall with a window in it, so you are working in the light. Always start from the middle of the wall and work outwards.

Cut pieces of paper the length required, but at the same time match patterns and trim to length accordingly as you go. Have the pile of pieces face down on the pasting table. The alternative is to do one piece at a time and match patterns as you go, but this is slower.

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Soak any old wallpaper with warm water several times or use a stripping solution. Be careful not to dig the scraper into the plaster. If the old paper has a glazed surface, break through this with a wire brush, so that the water can penetrate. Plasterboard that has not been sealed will soften and become damaged with water. Always try a corner first. If the plasterboard under the paper softens, leave the paper on and put the new paper over it.

In a new house, plaster should be left at least six months before covering with paper. Glue size should be applied to an absorbent wall to prevent loss of adhesion by absorption of water from the paste. This is a thin wood glue to be painted on in the proportions stated on the packet – this is important. A painted wall should be sanded and sized before papering.

Fix lining paper horizontally with its edges butting. It may not be necessary to go all over a wall if it is generally smooth. Paper can be pasted over damaged and uneven surfaces only, but hard edges have to be avoided as they may show through the wall paper.

Paste lining paper over the affected area, allowing a small amount to be loose all round. When the paste has dried, tear this surplus away so as to leave a tapered, ragged edge. If there is still any hardness, sand so it blends into the wall.

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Wallpaper is made in so many attractive designs and finishes that it can be used to complement any coloring or furnishing scheme, but for early attempts at hanging avoid the heavier and deeply patterned papers. Lining paper is plain and may be used before wallpaper on painted or poor surfaces. Papering a ceiling is more difficult than a wall, but may be the only way to cover cracks.

Cellulose paste is now the choice for light papers, as it does not stain. The older starch/flour pastes are better for heavier papers. There are some self-adhesive papers that are moistened in a special trough before hanging. For most papers you will need a pasting table, preferably about 2m (61/2ft) by 80cm (21/2ft), but a kitchen table could be used.

A broad pasting brush is used to apply the paste, which is kept in a bucket. Large paperhanger’s scissors are useful, although domestic scissors can be used and a trimming knife with replaceable blades is also handy. A hanging brush is like a narrow clothes brush and is used for smoothing paper. If old paper has to be stripped, a similar scraper to that used for paint stripping can be used.

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When dealing with panels in a door or elsewhere, paint the panels first. Get well into the surrounding angles, but be careful not to have too much paint on the brush, or it will build up in the angles or corners and may run. When dealing with windows, paint the bars and the moldings before the wider parts of the frame.

In other structures, it is normally best to deal with narrow parts before broad. If there are two colors to be used on one piece, it is lighter color first. If it runs over to where the darker color will come, the darker shade will hide the lighter one. Masking tape can be used to define the edge of the second color. With some paints that set very hard, leave the tape until the paint is almost dry then peel it off.

If you wait until the paint is very hard, you may finish with a cracked line. When using a roller for walls and ceilings, have enough paint in the tray and work the roller up and down the slope of the tray. A little experience will show how much paint to take up or work out to allow satisfactory use.

A roller covers large areas quickly, but is unsatisfactory where edges have to be defined. Use a brush around edges. When dealing with a wall or ceiling use the brush at the edges, doing small areas at a time ahead of the roller so that both coats are liquid when they meet.

If all the edges are done first with a brush, the paint may be dry before the roller reaches it and the meet may be obvious.

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How much brushing to give depends on the paint? Some paints have to be applied with minimum brushing. If no limitations are mentioned in the instructions, dip the brush, wipe off some of the paint, and then apply it to the surface, first crossing in at least two directions to spread the coat. Finish with strokes in the direction of the grain or the long way of the piece. As subsequent parts of that surface are painted, make the finishing strokes back towards the previously painted part, lifting the brush as it goes over the edge of that part. In that way, brush marks in the finished surface will be avoided. If you are painting a vertical surface, you may have to brush across if it is wide and shallow, but if possible finish with up and down strokes. Start at the top, so later painting comes below and the final strokes are upwards. There is then less risk of runs where excess paint forms into lumps as it slides down slightly. However, if brushing is in several directions before the final strokes there is little risk of his happening. If a run or sag occurs, let it dry, then sand it level and paint over. On the top coat, try and brush it out while the paint is still wet.

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The quality of the final painted surface depends as much on adequate preparation as on the application of the paint. Nails should be punched below the surface. Knots, which tend to stand up because of their hardness, should be sanded level. Nail holes and cracks should be stopped. Buy stopping in a tube or a powder which is a mixed and pressed in with a filling or putty knife, although an old table knife, will do. Leave it slightly raised to allow for sanding.

Plastic wood makes a harder stopping and it could be used if wood has broken away and has to be built up to trim to shape. Sand the surface all over after stopping. Some porous wood also needs filling, using a paste which is rubbed into the wood and sanded to prevent absorption. Some hand-board is also very absorbent.

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