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MY SUN DAY NEWS

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Sun City in Huntley
 
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July 25, 2019

Ask the Woodchucks

Ask the Woodchucks: May 30, 2019

A reader asked where he could get LED bulbs that fit in the lighted house number plate. We didn’t know so we asked our readers and one responded.

Ask the Woodchucks: May 16, 2019

Another reader wrote in with additional information on Wet and Forget. A recent reader noted “I have a half-gallon of Wet and Forget left plus the gallon sprayer but being 5-foot-1-inch tall, I just can’t get high enough to remove it and only doing the bottom 1/4 looks awful. Ladder? No way.”

Ask the Woodchucks: Shower temperature adjustment

While taking a shower the other night, I noticed that the water temperature was not as hot as I like it even though the handle was turned all the way up. I wrote about this problem and how to adjust the temperature years ago but I could not remember how to do it.

Ask the Woodchucks: April 18, 2019

This is so easy to remove that I can’t imagine why so many residents ignore this really simple project.

Ask the Woodchucks: Unknown Whistling noise

I have a question concerning water pipe noise that you might be able to help me with. Whenever I run water in the house and then turn it off, I hear a high-pitched tone that goes on for about 5 seconds before going away.

Ask the Woodchucks: March 7, 2019

I remember reading in your column about replacing the switch that controls the front porch and garage lights that includes the flashing in case of emergency. Can you tell me what to get for a replacement for this switch?

Ask the Woodchucks: February 21, 2019

I just saw your answer in the Sun Day to my question. You avoided the question, or possibly you did not understand…The question is: What is the purpose or function of expansion tank? Simple question?

Ask the Woodchucks: January 24, 2019

I am often asked how we know how to repair so many different things. We have all been fixing things for 40-60 years, so we have a lot of experience, but the internet has added substantially to our competence.

Ask the Woodchucks: January 10, 2019

I’m wondering if lock boxes are allowed here at Sun City? I know other Del Webb communities allow them. How would one go about getting one and who could install it?

Ask the Woodchucks: December 13, 2018

My wife would like to replace the mirror in the small bathroom of our Adler. I have loosened the metal clips and it won’t slide out. I tried to pry it from the wall, but it will not release. Thinking it was taped or glued to the wall, I pushed a putty knife behind the mirror and hit something which felt metallic. Any thoughts on how to get the mirror off the wall without breaking it or destroying the wall?

Ask the Woodchucks: December 6, 2018

We have lived in Sun City since 2006 and each year the sewer clean-out pipe in front of the house has risen a little out of the ground. It is now 14 inches above ground level. Is there any way to get it back down to where it belongs?

Ask the Woodchucks: Vacation checklist

As many Sun City residents pack for warmer climates, it is important to spend an hour or so to get your house ready for winter. When you are going to be away for a week or more, you should prepare your home so there will be no surprises on your return.

Question: When should you replace your furnace?

This column was not written to tell you when to replace your furnace and air conditioner, but rather to tell you how I decided and let you gather facts to make a decision that fits your needs. Replacing a furnace is usually done with different criteria than replacing your car.

Ask the Woodchucks: October 18, 2018

I moved into Sun City about six months ago and would like to replace or repaint my faded address numbers. Is there anywhere that you know of that they can be purchased? If not, any hints as to what type of paint can be used for touching up the numbers?

Ask the Woodchucks: October 4, 2018

Our garage door keypad is not working. It has worked fine for six years but last week when I enter the code nothing happens.

Ask the Woodchucks: Refrigerator Preventative Maintenance

There are several areas of a refrigerator that need to be maintained to keep it operating properly.

Ask the Woodchucks: September 6, 2018

Water keeps dripping down the copper tube on the side of our water heater onto the floor. Is this a problem, or is it normal?

Ask the Woodchucks: Fix a Leaky Sillcock

You have two or more sillcocks on your house even if you don’t know the name sillcock. They are the outside faucets where you connect garden hoses and they often leak. If a sillcock leaks when the water is on, you are in luck as the fix is relatively easy. This leak is caused by a loose packing nut.

Ask the Woodchucks: August 9, 2018

My wife and I just moved into a house in Del Web and are doing some renovating as we move in. The Patio door needs replacing and the lock at the bottom doesn’t work, as it’s broken. The lock at the middle that locks to the frame on the wall has the handle broken. Plastic cover is broken off!

Ask the Woodchucks: July 26, 2018

I have lived in Sun City since 1999. Some of my windows are very difficult to open and close. How can I repair them?

Ask the Woodchucks: Fire Extinguishers

Every home in Sun City should be equipped with fire extinguishers. The most likely location to have a small fire that you could fight with a fire extinguisher is in the kitchen. However, a grease fire in a pan on the stove should not be blasted with a fire extinguisher. If you do that, you will blow the grease and the fire onto the wall behind the stove and possibly set the whole kitchen on fire.

Ask the Woodchucks: Animal problem

When I returned from Arizona there was a large pile of crushed rock beside my front porch. I could not think of why someone would pour crushed rock there or what it was for. On closer examination there was a hole under the stoop. It was becoming clear that an animal was carving out a den under the front porch. In removing the gravel I found that 6 five gallon buckets full had been removed from under the front porch. Occasionally over the years, chipmunks had made their homes under the porch but they only removed about two cups of gravel.

Ask the Woodchucks: June 14, 2018

In the last issue, we tried to answer a question about hanging cabinets on a garage wall that was insulated with foam. We were not familiar with that type of construction and did not properly answer the question. One of our readers was familiar with foam-insulated walls and provided us with the following answer.

Ask the Woodchucks: May 31, 2018

The doors on our kitchen and bathroom cabinets don’t self-close any more. Our house is an original Del Webb house built in 2001. The hinges are Amerock and they have a flat spring steel spring built into the hinge that closes the door. The spring no longer is strong enough to close the door, and some of them are broken.

Repair a Squeaky door

As the houses in Sun City get older, and lubricant on door hinges dries up, they start to squeak.

Ask the Woodchucks: April 19, 2018

How old is your furnace and when do you plan to replace it?