Your Dallas Handyman

Occasionally you may find that one of your ceiling light fixtures seems to have a mind of it’s own, the switch goes on, but the light doesn’t. Or, it comes on and begins to flicker or comes on then turns itself off. This is usually caused by burned wiring within the fixture itself and should be replaced. Causing a fire is a real possibility, but it is unlikely. At the least, it is a real nuisance. Any of these symptoms will require a new fixture to be installed.

Simple light fixtures can cost as little as $8.00 or as much as a few hundred. Here you will learn how to replace a simple common light fixture. It covers the basics, but you can apply these steps to almost any fixture.

Tools you’ll need: Straight and Phillips head screwdrivers; wire strippers, electrical tape for added safety.

1. It’s not necessary to turn off the power at the breaker box, although you may want to for total safety. Just be sure your wall switch remains in the “off” position the entire time you are working. You don’t want to feel 115 volts! Since the wall switch cuts power to the light, you can avoid getting shocked by simply making sure the switch is off. Use a piece of tape to cover the switch while you’re working to keep little hands from turning it on unexpectedly.

2. Remove the glass cover or whatever other aesthetic covering your fixture has and remove the bulbs.

3. There should be either 2 or 4 screws visible at the base of the fixture connected to the junction box in the ceiling. Most of the time there are only 2. Remove or loosen all of them. Most simple fixtures can be removed by loosening the screws and rotating the fixture, then dropping it down and away from the screws through the larger opening in the slots. You should see that once you open it up and find the screws.

4. Make note of three things: the black wire, the white wire and the ground wire and how the fixture is attached by those wires. The ground is usually green and is affixed to the junction box or there is a separate (usually bare) strand of wire just for ground. All of the wires should be connected with wire connectors. The connectors can be unscrewed to expose the bare wire. The new fixture should include new wire connectors for the new assembly.

5. Disconnect all the wires including the ground and remove the old fixture.

6. Make sure your new fixture will align to the old screw position. If not, there should be a new attachment bar included with the new fixture. You may need to install this bar, which is no more than an adapter for new fixture/old junction box. Screw in the new screws, one or two turns so you can align the new fixture later.

7. Re-wire the new fixture the same as the old one. Wire it black to black and white to white with a ground. If the old fixture had no ground wire, you can still ground the new fixture by attaching it to the junction box, although most likely, if the old fixture had no ground before, grounding the new fixture to the junction box will do very little to ground the new fixture. Either way, attach it anyway. Make sure your new wire connectors are tight and there is no exposed wire. I always wind the wires with electrical tape as an added measure of safety before stuffing the wires into the junction box.

8. At this point the new fixture should be wired and hanging from the ceiling. Slip the new fixture through the larger opening of the slots in the fixture base and rotate the fixture. Tighten the screws until the new fixture is snug against the ceiling. There is no need for over-tightening! It will only make impressions of the base of the new fixture against the ceiling.

9. Install new bulbs and the glass covering and you’re done!

If you live in Dallas and need a good handyman, or you just want to check out my websiite you can visit Thousand Hills Properties.

To give your house a maintained, clean appearance, promote friendly neighbor relations and of course gain instant curb appeal, home exterior painting is the first thing you may want to consider. Painting the exterior of your house gives it a fresh and clean look and can add value to your home when you plan to sell. Here are some things to consider before painting the exterior of your home:

1. Powerwash your bricks or siding. You want to be sure your surface starts out clean. Old, peeling paint won’t suddenly be cured because there is fresh paint on top of it. Preparation is always key to a good paint job. You’ll have to do some scraping, but a good power wash is the best way to begin. You can rent a power washer, or hire someone to do the job for you. Be careful when you spray vinyl siding though. A direct hit of pressurized water can dislodge and even remove a well applied siding.
2. Remove staples, nails, hooks and other excess hardware. As a painter, I am still amazed at how much I’ve seen accumulate on a house. Staples from last Christmas’ lights, nails, hooks for hanging planters and so on can accumulate over the years if not attended to regularly. Spend an hour or so and get it all cleaned up!
3. Trim brush, bushes and other growth away from the house. A well manicured yard goes a long way for both the looks of your property and the ease of painting the exterior of your home.
4. Make sure you have all the tools you need for painting. Ladders, brushes, drop cloths, rollers, sandpaper, scrapers, are just the beginning of the things you’ll need. There is also a painters tools checklist on this blog you can check out.
5. Make sure you are physically able to paint your house. This sounds obvious, but just know that you will be climbing ladders, carrying 5 gallon paint buckets and doing a myriad of physical activity every day of the job. At the end of each day, there is clean up as well which takes time. You can eliminate a great deal of the labor if you hire a handyman or a day laborer to assist you. You can save hundreds of dollars in the long run just by hiring out at least some of the work.
6. Write out your cost for painting materials and time before you begin. There is a lot more cost than just the price of paint. Spackling, sand paper, primer, power washing, caulk and other minor home exterior repair items add up. Painting the exterior of your home is a large undertaking. If you’re going to do the job yourself, it may take several weekends to get the job done.
7. Hire out what you don’t want to or can’t do. Hiring a good and reliable handyman can make the difference between being able to, and not being able to paint your house on your own.

The list above does not necessarily reflect a complete list of considerations, it is simply intended to be helpful. I also have a general home maintenance and repair checklist you can download for free at my my primary website. You can go directly to the free download page if you click here. The downloads link is on the right hand side of the page. There’s no charge and it’s a helpful tool if you want to make sure your home is up to date.

I’ve listed below the elements of a typical exterior painting job here in Dallas, but most homes in the US have similar construction. You can also navigate my blog to find other useful tips and lists as well.

• Trim around windows and doors
• Fascia
• Gables
• Soffets
• Paneled siding
• Doors
• Decorative iron
• Trellis
• Fences
• Gates

I hope you found this article useful. Please comment! If you have questions or want to share some tips of your own, please do!~ Phil

One of the greatest return on investments to your home is a good quality paint job. Exteriors need to be maintained regularly to avoid over exposure to the elements, which, if neglected can result in costly repairs on top of the paint job. The main thing to remember is that preparation is key to a good paint job, and preparation is virtually always the majority of the work. It’s a good thing to remember when acquiring bids. Remember that a lot of the cost is surface preparation. Your own Dallas handyman can assist in many ways as well, from prep to clean up and every thing associated with getting the job done efficiently and in a timely manner.

Interior paint jobs begin with surface preparation. How well your walls, trim and ceilings turn out will be a direct result of what goes into preparing them for the final paint. Drywall changes over time. Protruding nails can show up as small bumps over time, cracks from foundation settling and other causes can slowly but surely deteriorate the appearance of a once-beautiful paint job. Depending on your time and money budgets, house painting can become a weekend job that can last several weeks or even months, or can last a week or two as a full-time endeavor.

This post does not cover wall/ceiling/trim preparation, only the actual painting job.

Here are some interior painting tips for the do-it-your-selfer:

1. Create a plan. The total cost of a paint job is far greater than the cost of paint. You’ll need sandpaper, brushes, rollers, drop cloths, ladders, primer, drywall mud, and so forth. Unless you don’t care what the cost in time and money will be, sit down and write out everything you’ll need.

2. Seriously consider neutral tones, especially if you plan to sell your home. Neutral tones are exactly that: neutral. They are most appealing to the eye and enhance the beauty of your furniture. Very light pastels work great too.

3. Unless your existing paint is flat, it will require priming so the new coat will adhere properly. Plan your job accordingly. It may be that only some areas need to be primed. A good primer/sealer is not a bad idea. Consult with the painting guru at your local home improvement store, but be careful, free advice is not always the best advice. My experience is that they are pretty well trained overall and can be a great source for basic home interior painting tips at the very least. I have picked up a wealth of information from the guys and gals behind the counter over the years.

4. Remove all electrical cover plates, curtains, curtain hardware, doors and door hardware before beginning. A clean canvas will give you the best job. Unless you are extremely skilled, you will get drips and over-paint on these items no matter how hard you try not to. You can organize your screws and plates and such in zip-lock bags and help keep you from losing any pieces. Use a magic marker to label the bags if you need to.

5. Start with the ceiling. If you are rolling it, move in about 6 foot square sections and be methodical. Overlap your paint a couple of inches as you move across the ceiling. This will help your progress and your paint thickness will remain the most uniform. It will not be a problem to allow the top inch or two of your wall to get painted along with the ceiling at this stage.

6. Painting walls: Before rolling the walls, I always brush in the top edge of the wall, next to the ceiling. This requires some practice, but as you move along the wall,  you’ll get better and faster. If there is not a great tonal difference between the wall and ceiling colors, small “flubs” will be unnoticeable in the final job. You can always touch up the ceiling later as well. If you just can’t create a nice clean corner, you may need to consider buying a cutting tool or masking the ceiling with painters tape. Try a freehand style first, you may just surprise yourself and you will save a lot of time. All that said, always remember that the final job is a good one or a great one depending on the DETAILS!

7. Baseboards and trim: Unless your are very skilled, you may need to mask the walls before doing your trim. Remember that the edge of your masking will be the edge of the paint so keep it in mind as you tape. Look at it. You should be able to visualize the final edge. Remove doors. I know this is a job in itself, and I’ve seen a lot of hinges painted over, but painting over hinges is sloppy and you can never get all the cracks and crevices properly. I think it’s about the same amount of work to remove the doors and rehang them later as it is to paint over everything and keep touching up. Removing doors before painting gives a far superior finished job. A good question to ask is, do I want a good paint job or a great one? If you are dealing with hardware that has been painted over previously, you may want to consider buying new hardware.

8. Final touch ups: Don’t be afraid to touch up any areas that need it at the final stage. I’ll state again, the difference between a good job and a great job lies in the details. Compared to the entire time it takes to do a room, spending an hour or two touching up is minor and can make a huge difference.

9. Doors: A great trick I’ve used is to screw two 1 x 4 boards, about 3 feet long to the bottom of each door so they will stand up by themselves. You can roll or brush the entire doo0r at one time that way and save a lot of time by avoiding leaning the doors against a wall. Painting doors does not have to be extra hard work!

If you need a handyman in Dallas, Texas you can call me for help at 972-278-2824. What I do is more of a handyman business and have extensive painting experience. Check out my website here. I can step in and correct or finish an incomplete or slow moving job or handle the entire project in most cases. I also broker large and specialty jobs and manage those at no extra cost to you. I work with some of the best contractors in the area and get paid commission for bringing them business. My North Dallas based business is registered with the state of Texas as Thousand Hills Properties.