On older classic cars the fuel pump was part of the engine and cars that had carburetors had a fuel bowl that would hold enough gas to get your car started and allow the fuel pump to start pumping gas to your engine. Today most cars even carburetored engines have an electric fuel pump that sends fuel to the engine but all fuel injected vehicles have them and its probably likely that your car …
How To Find A Leak In Your Roof To Determine If It Can Be Repaired Without A Total Re-Shingle
Roofing
Winter and Spring Rains are often a time where leaks show up from our roofs and a friend is asking if they can repair the roof or if they will have to replace it. So far they haven’t found the leak so lets go through what you should do if you have a leak in your roof and it is showing up as water coming through your drywall ceiling.
It can be a pretty scary …
How To Grow Vegetables Indoors During The Winter
Homesteading, Vegetables
If you are someone that likes to garden or if you would just like to have a small supply of freshly grown vegetables for your table there are a few plants that do well enough indoors during the winter that they are worth giving a try.
If you are a seasoned gardener then you may already be set up to grow your seedlings for transplanting in the spring. Cold Weather plants seem to do the …
How To Find The Best Land For Your Homestead
Home Buying Guides, Homesteading
A lot of people are considering homesteading as a primary lifestyle and if you are thinking about it yourself then one of the first things you have to decide on is the land you will purchase to build your home.
Finding land can be difficult but it is not impossible and even finding a good piece of land that you can afford is something most of us can do.
For many people the ability to build …
How To Make Better Use Of A Bricked In Garage Window
Concrete, Doors & Windows, Framing
A friend is asking about a garage window on the side of their home that has been partly bricked in by the previous owner. It seems that previously it was fitted with a double hung window but now there is a pattern of brick that has been placed to offer ventilation and some light. Additionally it seems that on the interior the previous owner had ended up covering the window with plywood.
The first consideration …
How To Deal With Knob And Tube Wiring In Your Home
Electrical & Lighting
It is 2018 as I am writing this and I still get an unimaginable number of people requesting help with Knob and Tube wiring in their homes. I find this totally unacceptable because this type of electrical wiring has not been installed in homes since the 1950’s at the latest but normal installs ended as far back as the 1930’s. This is basically technology from the 1800’s that was only used in later years …
How To Frame Stud Walls For A Rough Window Opening
Doors & Windows, Framing
If you are building your own home or if you are retrofitting your window openings for new windows it is important that you always follow the manufacture recommendations for door and window openings but in general all rough openings for windows and doors are made two inches wider and two inches taller than the size of the door or window that will fit the opening. Often this size is reduced to 1 inch on …
How To Increase Horsepower And Torque On Your Stock Engine
Engines
If you are like most people there are times when you wish your vehicle had a little more strength but upgrading your engine can seem pretty complex. In this How To we will look at the basic ways to increase your engine’s power and talk about the cost and how complex it can get for the average weekend mechanic.
The first thing you need to do is understand that there are only so many things …
How To Avoid The Worst Mistakes When Buying Land For Your Home
Home Buying Guides, Homesteading
When you are thinking about purchasing a property for a homestead there are a few big things that you need to look into before finalizing any deal. This list should not be thought of as the only things you need to consider and research but it should be used as a starting point.
Who Owns The Property
This is very important especially when buying property online. If a piece of land is advertised for sale you …
How To Find Water On Land Before You Buy It
Homesteading, Plumbing
If you are considering buying land to build a home on probably the most important thing you have to make sure you have access to is potable water. Without water you can’t grow crops or maintain animals but most important you can’t survive yourself. The alternative is to truck in water and that really isn’t an option for many people.
So how do you find water on your land? The easiest way is to …
How To Clear Your Field For Planting Crops
Homesteading, Vegetables
If you are lucky enough to have enough land to plant a large amount of crops or maybe if you have a field that has been mismanaged for a long time and you just want to start over you have a lot of options for clearing the area from tall grasses and preparing it for planting.
The first thing is we aren’t talking about converting a wooded lot or one with a large amount of …
How To Enter Into A Contract To Purchase Land For Your Homestead
Home Buying Guides, Homesteading
A friend of ours is considering buying about 6 acres of land from a friend of their family and they expect to work on the land slowly and build on it within the next 5 years or so. They are asking for advice on what they need to look for before they get into the deal.The price is extremely reasonable and under $20,000 total.
First I want to say I am not a lawyer and …