What home repairs are you most Afraid of?

Doesn't that describe life in general? rofl

Reply to
Diesel
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I'd have a fear of a steep pitch roof, but I'm not doing any roofing. Some things I'm willing to pay a pro to do.

I don't have a fear of doing anything else, but I know there are some things I don't know enough to do without help.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I did a Torqueflite rebuild when I was a kid. I was stupider then. I had all the right tools, a couple of ice picks for the snap rings and so forth. There's an overrunning clutch in the rear of the tranny that you can assemble backwards. Don't ask me how I know.

Is it the base gaskets that are blowing vapor? Mine's getting a little loose and that theory about the blow by from the heads being fed into the air cleaner wasn't cutting it. I put one of those breather kits on so now the mist makes sure the underside of the frame doesn't rust.

I have know people that just put a maxipad in the air cleaner cover but that seemed a little primitive.

Reply to
rbowman

What? You don't live in an RV?

Reply to
rbowman

+1. I've been putting off replacing the spud gasket on the toilet. Simple job, empty the tank, take out the two screws, lift it off, put the new gasket on, and bolt it back together, right? I can think of about 35 ways that can go wrong.
Reply to
rbowman

I'm easily pleased. Rub a few coats of turpentine and linseed oil on, call it rustic.

Reply to
rbowman

No, there are *36* -- you will discover the 36th when you finally undertake the job! :(

And, having discovered it, you will slap yourself up-side the head at how OBVIOUS it was!

Reply to
Don Y

Might be considered home repair for those who live in a RV or motor home. I also don't do much with AT, except check fluid. And also replace leaky cooling lines as needed.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Anything involving a ladder.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

Per (PeteCresswell):

... or a chain saw.

In fact, I got rid of my chain saw years ago and have used hand saws since....

The perceived risk did not come close to balancing out the time saved. i.e. The chain saw was just too scary for a marginally-competent occasional user.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

I felled a couple of (large) trees, here, with just a "bow saw": climb into the tree (ladder); tie a rope around the limb you want to remove; loop that rope around another limb; cut; lower to ground; lather, rinse, repeat.

OTOH, when I got to the 18" portion of the trunk, it was much easier to borrow a chainsaw than spend a day with the bow saw cutting the trunk into 18" logs!

Lots of tools are easily misused. I've read reports of folks using wood chisels and losing an eye (I used to work for a hand-tool manufacturer). Neighbor (cop by trade -- I guess that automatically qualified him to operate heavy/construction machinery?) rented a backhoe and promptly dug up a gas line. Folks flip/topple ATV's. Get electrocuted using electrician's pliers. Cut themselves with kitchen knives. etc.

I borrowed a sawzall from a friend many years ago. Went to return it a few weeks later: "Keep it!" "No, I can always come by and borrow it, again, if need be!?" "Judy doesn't like me having sharp things around" at which point, he displayed the missing fingertips on his hand... (something I'd already known -- but was a poignant way to end the discussion! :> )

IME, the problem with most "tools" originates in either ignorance (I once watched a guy using a chainsaw -- running -- like a real saw; as if moving it back and forth was the way to cut through the log!) or being overly tired (and getting sloppy with your thinking).

Reply to
Don Y

...user together, scares the crap out of me! ?

Reply to
bob_villain

My parents used to joke about the "ten minute job" which turns into three days and calling a pro. Sounds like your gasket job, I'd say.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

My BIL was a Kiwi in the air force. He is extremely afraid of height....

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Shoot arrow with fishing line attached over limb. Pull rope over the limb with the line. Tie rope to bumper of '51 Chevy coupe. Drive off. Works like a charm.

My mother went to visit my brother and left some cash for groceries and instructions to do something about the dead elm in the backyard. We immediately drove to Vermont and used the grocery money to buy booze. Returning home, we worked out the limbing process.

My mother wasn't impressed when she returned home, noted the empty bottles, the tire ruts in the lawn, and other ancillary damage. I really don't know what the woman expected was going to happen.

Reply to
rbowman

Word. They are useful but potentially very dangerous tools. Now that I'm getting older, I limit myself to smaller electric chainsaws that have less kickback. I leave the big cutting jobs for the younger folks.

Reply to
Moe DeLoughan

That's different. I used to fly and there was only a few times I was bothered. One was coming out of the little airport on the north side of Ft. Wayne where you flew past a couple of radio antennas. It wasn't being in the plane but my brain imagining me clinging to the side of an

800' antenna. I don't know how they put those things up and I don't want to know.
Reply to
rbowman

Ha! :> I'm not sure how well that would have worked with some of these trees! E.g., one of those out front was over 40' tall. When I finished digging out the root crown, it was well over 3 ft in diameter (i.e., where it entered the ground) and remained so for several feet into the ground (before branching out into the root system).

When the trash man ("bulk pickup") came to take it away, it wouldn't fit into the opening on the rear of the garbage truck.

They used a bobcat to lift it into place, sideways. Then, used that hydraulic "scoop" that normally is used to sweep the garbage up into the "holding area" inside the truck as a giant wood chisel! They kept wacking at the stump with it trying to break it in half "width wise" (the blade of the scoop lining up along the height of the stump).

Was quite a sight! Neighbors came out to watch the garbage truck bouncing up and down each time they drove that scoop into the stump!

"Your tax dollars at work" :< Idiots should have left it for *me* and indicated it was too big!

Or, brought an *open* truck (dump truck, etc. that are also used in these "bulk pickups") to cart it away!

[actually had come comment in the local paper regarding the event! :> ]

Where would you be that Vermont would be a better choice? (or, were you looking to avoid MA taxes?) We used to drive to MA to buy "after 8PM".

(sigh) Women are such killjoys! At times, it seems like their sole purpose in life is to ensure men don't have any "fun"! ;-)

Neighbor's wife used to grumble when he'd head off for the day to "punch holes in some paper" -- with his Coonan .357 automag...

Reply to
Don Y

There are some Youtube showing how they erect those skinny towers. I'm OK with height. Being a HAM I climb tower and do work on antennas. I used to climb poles wearing cogs. Speaking of flying in the Rockies choppers usually fly up and down thru valleys. Sudden wind is common and some times they sway side to side. Feels like we can almost touch the sheer rock faces. Only experienced chopper pilots can fly in the mountain.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Per bob_villain:

When I watch the local tree-trimmers climbing up there, holding on with one hand and cutting branches with a chain saw at arm's length with the other hand, I think of the old Inuit seal/walrus hunters: true day-to-day heroes of their time.

Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

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