Art & Creativity

Lose the Plumber. Fix Your Garbage Disposal and Save $180

We love our favorite plumber but only when we really need to call them. Garbage disposals are the kitchen's workhorse but love to quit at the most inopportune times and many times you can repair or replace the disposal yourself.

Hands down, my most popular tutorial is on repairing your garbage disposal. Repairing them can be surprisingly easy and you can do it. I'll show you how make the repairs you need quickly and possibly save $180 or more in a plumbing service call. In this tutorial, I'll walk you through the most common garbage disposal repairs and also tell you how to avoid clogs and slow draining situations.

And get familiar with how the garbage disposal is constructed with Anatomy of a Garbage Disposal for a graphic overview of the disposal's components. And if it's your sink that's causing trouble, see Unclogging a Sink.

Lose the Plumber. Fix Your Garbage Disposal and Save $180 originally appeared on About.com Home Repair on Sunday, July 25th, 2010 at 15:10:20.

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Multiplying Onion (Shallot) Recipes Needed STAT!

Marlingardener is experiencing a mixed blessing: "My good neighbor gave us a handful of multiplying onions, which I planted and ended up with about a peck basket full. I consider myself a good cook, innovative and creative, but I have no idea what to do with these things.

Please, can someone give me an idea of how to use them, a recipe or two or more, preferably more? The alternative is to set up a target and see who can throw the onions and hit the bull's eye. The prize will be a handful of multiplying onions to plant."

I have to confess, I picked this for Question of the Week because I too have a heapin' helping of shallots in my garden. So help us out here, ">what's you favorite way to use shallots?

And if you don't know what multiplier onions are or how to grow shallots, stay tuned; they are going to be the Featured Plant, on Friday.

Photo: © Marie Iannotti

Multiplying Onion (Shallot) Recipes Needed STAT! originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 01:01:38.

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August To-Do List for the Yard

"Your garden is hardier than you think and there are plenty of gardening tasks for August that will keep your flower and vegetable gardens going longer, as well as opportunities to get a head start on next year's garden plans," says Marie Iannotti. As incredible as it may sound, your August yard to-do list, depending on where you live, may include ordering spring bulbs!

I have to admit that I find Marie's August yard to-do list a bit inconvenient. August is the last hurrah for summer in my region, meaning I want to spend as much time at the beach as possible. Soon enough, autumn will be here and I'll be raking leaves!

August To-Do List for the Yard originally appeared on About.com Landscaping on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 07:48:53.

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What's a 10' x 10' Kitchen?

If you answered:  a kitchen which is ten feet by ten feet, or 100 square feet, you're only halfway there.

The term 10' x 10' kitchen is often used as a convenient yardstick by cabinet manufacturers to symbolize a certain quantity, sizing, and even quality of kitchen cabinets.  Even though few houses really have 100 square foot kitchens anymore, this 10' x 10' kitchen cabinetry can be applied to bigger floor plans, if desired.

Most notably, this could represent an L-shaped floor plan of 200 square feet, with the 10' x 10' kitchen on one half of the 200 sq. feet and a kitchen table occupying the other half.

It can also be broken up into kitchens of the same size, but different layouts:  galley or corridor-style, or a one-wall layout.

Finally, the 10' x 10' kitchen does tend to represent a kind of contractor-grade set of cabinetry.  For the quoted price--and from what I've seen, they tend to hover around the $4,500 to $7,500 range--you get about 11 or 12 cabinets.

Janis Christie / Getty Images

What's a 10' x 10' Kitchen? originally appeared on About.com Home Renovations on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 22:34:54.

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