Toilets
What two tools should be next to every toilet?
Plunger and brush
What are the three prongs on a standard outlet? Which is which.
Hot/positive (top left), neutral (top right), and ground (bottom).
How big is a 2 x 4?
1.5 by 3.5 inches. It was 2" by 4" when it was freshly cut, but then we let it dry and trimmed 1/4" off all sides.
Imagine you're cold, and turning on the thermostat to heat up a room. Which will make the room heat up faster? Setting it to 70, or 75?
No difference. Turning to 75 just means that, once you reach 70, it keeps going.
Name the two things to do when our vacuum does the quick ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON-OFF thing.
Empty the canister and check both ends of the hose connection for blockages.
What will happen if you slowly poor a gallon of water into a toilet bowl?
Nothing. The water will slowly poor down the sewer.
What does a circuit breaker do?
It stops the flow of electricity to one part of the house if too much electricity flows through it. Too much electricity can mean a problem or electrical fire, and this is a safety tool to prevent that.
How do you (temporarily) remove an interior door?
Knock the pin out of the hinge with a punch tool and remove the door. This is also what you'd lubricate if the door is squeaking.
Why is the water cold initially when you turn the hot water handle on a faucet?
How long should you run the exhaust fan after a shower is completed?
15 minutes or half the length of the shower, whichever is greater. The fan removes steam, but won't do much to remove condensation on walls. So please squeegee the shower after you use it.
What will happen if you quickly pour a gallon of water into a toilet bowl?
It will flush! This is functionally what happens when you push the plunger.
How does the power company know how much electricity we use each month?
There's a power meter on the side of the house that measures electricity as it enters the house. That data is either read by an employee of the power company or it is sent wirelessly.
Which is easier: moving an outlet two feet up or down, or moving an outlet two feet left or right? Why?
All walls have tall pieces of wood called studs holding up the ceiling. These run vertically, and there isn't any space inside the wall to go around them. The space between the studs is filled with insulation to keep us warm and minimize noise. It's easy to move up or down through insulation, and difficult to move left or right through wood.
In the winter, does the ceiling fan make your room hotter or colder?
Hotter. They circulate the warm air that has risen to the ceiling. Ceiling fans have different settings for winter and summer, but just keeping them on will help regulate temperature.
What happens if you mix bleach and ammonia, two common cleaning products?
You make poisonous chlorine gas. Do not mix cleaning products.
What does the trap do on/in a toilet?
It prevents sewer gas from entering the bathroom.
What does an AC adapter do, and why is that important?
It converts alternating current to direct current, which many small devices need. You must only use the right adapter with a DC device.
What is a load-bearing wall, and why is that important?
Some walls in our house are directly responsible for holding up the higher floors and the roof. Those walls cannot be moved or damaged during home renovation without major structural changes.
This is why we have that pole in the basement! It is holding up a beam that supports the stairs and the kids' rooms.
What does the fan setting on the thermostat do?
It runs the fan portion of our HVAC system without heating or cooling the air. This helps circulate and even out the hot and cold air already in our house, reducing energy costs.
How do we deal with a dish that wasn't properly cleaned in the dishwasher?
Scrape and handwash.
What does it mean when a toilet is "running"?
The seal in the tank isn't closing, and small amounts of water are streaming into the bowl.
To fix, open the lid on top of the tank and make sure the gasket is seated correctly. There will be water in the tank, but it's clean sink water that will be used on the next flush.
What is grounding, and why is it important?
Grounding gives excess electricity a path to return to the earth instead of going through you. It is an important safety feature for all electronics.
To achieve this, the ground wires on every outlet in our house eventually connect to the outside of our main plumbing line.
Name all of the major systems that are running through our walls.
Electrical, water (hot and cold), sewer, HVAC, air intake for HVAC, wired cable connections.
The dryer has an outlet as well, but most of that system isn't technically in the walls.
Other homes might include wired internet, alternative HVAC systems (radiator/boiler systems, radiant heat)
What should you do to prevent pipe freezing on cold winter nights? (Bonus 100 points: how do we fix a frozen pipe?)
Leave water barely tricling on sinks adjacent to an exterior wall, while leaving the cabinet beneath those sinks open for air circulation.
Bonus: identify where the freezing occurs by feeling for a temperature change, then slowly heat that section of pipe with a hair dryer.
Name at least four of the appliances, systems, or other cleaning devices that have a filter that must be cleaned or changed regularly.
Washing machine (small door on front of machine)
Dryer (lint trap: empty every cycle)
Washing machine (filter in bottom of tank)
Vacuum (two filters!)
HVAC system (furnace filters)
Fridge (water filter)
Gutters aren't technically a filter, but provide a similar function and require similar maintanance.