Comments on: Help! Household Woes Edition

By: Brittney

Brittney — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:30:16 +0000

Hrm, being as we are new home owners and playing the fun game of “How do I fix whatever that is without tons of cash?” I decided to google ideas! LOL.

Bathroom
It seems lots of folks with older homes who repainted have found this happens.. It appears to be surfactant leaching: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal;jsessionid=fSp5KjtGLnXQq0tzb5LPgJJW8xJgnb1Pd9MZyhBsQkHjp0N4Y9kG!1516808341?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=fc_businessresources&np=public_site/articles/learn_how/lh_int_surfactant_leaching

Key
Super glue extraction method: http://www.ehow.com/how_117121_extract-broken-key.html

Windows
Hrm. They may just need replacing. The previous owners of our house left a window open during a storm and it had a lot of water damage. We were able to break it off, then nab some cheap plywood at Home Depot to nail back in its place. Painted it high gloss white like the rest of the sills and ta-da!

By: Emily Jane

Emily Jane — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:28:44 +0000

Ack! The key reminds me of a situation I had with an old roommate – he was such a mooch he used all my stuff, left my plates and stuff to mold in his gross bedroom, didn’t pay his share of the internet so we got cut off, so when I signed up with another service provider for my computer (in my bedroom) only, and had a lock put on my door, he tried to force a key into the lock just like that, it snapped off and left me unable to get into my own bedroom!! You can buy a new doorknob and key, just unscrew the one you have and it’s pretty easy. You can pick them up at any hardware store :)

We had those drips in our last apartment too, and some on the ceiling – do you have a fan in your bathroom? That was our problem – it took a bit of scrubbing when we moved out but some cleaning solution, a good arm and some scouring sponges took care of it for us. And keeping the doors/windows open while we used the shower.

Good luck! :)

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:08:02 +0000

maybe this will help with the key:

http://www.ehow.com/how_16770_remove-broken-key.html

By: Julienne

Julienne — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:56:37 +0000

We had those drips too and it was just from the steam in the bathroom and the little bit of dust and grime that naturally accumulates on walls. We washed down all of our walls and it kept the streaks at bay for a little while.

The broken key in the lock? Maybe a locksmith could come and you wouldn’t have to replace the whole thing, but that might cost as much as just replacing it.

And I am no help on the windowsills! Sorry!

By: kait

kait — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:31:49 +0000

Oh man. I’m sorry to be of no help– but this is the exact reason I’m renting rather than owning!

Re: the drips in the bathroom: did the previous owners smoke? It may be nicotine remnants, but that is an absolute long shot.