How to Install a Garbage Disposal

First we need to find out if the garbage disposal is deffective. Turn on the switch and listen. If you have no sound at all, make sure your garbage disposal is plugged in correctly. If there is a sound (like a humming sound) but the actual teeth/blades aren't moving, then what you want to do is manually turn the blades. Sometimes water can turn to rust and bind the blades from moving. This is what can cause the humming sound. How to do this? Unplug your garbage disposal. Get an allen wrench key and go to the bottom of the garbage disposal and there will be an allen wrench socket for that key to go into. Turn either counter clockwise or clockwise. Doesn't matter. You might have to use a little pressure. If it turns freely, plug everything back in and turn it on. If you still have no sound, check the reset button that's next to the allen wrench key. If still nothing, you probably have a deffective garbage disposal. So let's replace it.

Unplug the deffective garbage disposal. By the way, I see a problem here. They were using a regular household plug for the garbage disposal. That's a no no. They should have a GFI outlet that the garbage disposal plugs into. So if you have this situation and you're within 4 ft of a wet area you should really have a GFI outlet that your disposal plugs into. (A GFI outlet is one that has the red and black buttons. One will say test and the other says reset)

Now with no power going to the garbage disposal we need to unhook all of the hoses and traps from the garbarge disposal.

Take the allen key and put it in the hole at the top of the garbage disposal indicated in the two pictures above. Turn clockwise until it turns off. You should only have to turn a half of turn and it should drop out of the sink. Be careful, there could still be some chunks of food or water in it so keep it upright.

Now with the garbage disposal out of the sink, it's time to put the new garbage disposal in. You can also replace the silver ring that's attached to the actual sink. But in this case it's still good and there's no reason to replace it.

If you have a dishwasher you're going to have to pop this piece out that's blocking the dishwasher drain. Your dishwasher hose drain is going to connect to this one inch drainhole from the garbage disposal. (very important to remove this piece otherwise it will be VERY MESSY when you put a load of dishes into your dishwasher. hahaha)

A common mistake that a lot of people make (even me) is when they unscrew the electrical plate to hook up their new pigtail plug they hook it up in the box itself (as seen in the second picture). But now you can't put the cover back on with the cord of the pigtail sticking out of the box. The right way to do it is...

This is the right way. First get a connector (picture 1). It may not come with it. Screw it into the hole next to the wire panel as seen in picture 2. Then install your pigtail through the connector and out of the box. Connect black and black, white and white and screw the ground (which is the green) to the green screw as seen in picture 3.

Now with everything wired and ready to go we're going to hook up the new garbage disposal to the sink. We're going to get our trusty allen wrench and slide it in the hole of the mounting bracket. While holding the bottom of the garbage disposal firmly to the sink you need to turn it a half turn. It should tighten right on as seen in picture 1. Then hook up the trap. IMPORTANT: make sure to use a new gasket when hooking up the trap. The garbage disposal should come with one. If you have a dishwasher, don't foret your dishwasher drain line. And we're done!

Now that we've got it plugged in, turn the water on, making sure it's on the garbage disposal side of the sink and turn the garbage disposal on. Let it run for about 15-30 seconds as you're looking underneath the sink for leaks. If everything looks and sounds good...then you're good! Way to make it happen with Ron!

How to Install Vinyl Windows

Most houses have to retrofit windows because the measurements of the old windows are odd sizes. Home Depot, Lowes and other major hardware stores won't carry the odd sizes so you will have to retrofit (special order) the new window. In this case, my friends, the Chases, have new construction size windows. Meaning the windows are 4x4, 3x3, 5x5, etc (even though it is not a newly built home). This means that Home Depot and Lowes will carry these size windows and there is no special ordering involved. However, these windows come with a plastic flange that plaster or siding will attach to. I will be cutting off this plastic flange so we don't have to damage the existing plaster and re-lathe and plaster around the new window. This way will save time and money. I will be adding backer rod and caulking to it. I'll show you. Let's make it happen!


Your standard 4x4 wood window. We want to update the house by putting in a new standard 4x4 vinyl window.

First we want to measure the existing RO (rough opening) to make sure that the window that we purchased will fit in there BEFORE we take apart the old window.

Now that we know that the new window will fit we want to take out the old window without breaking it and the way we do that is by prying all the existing molding from the inside jams. Those are what are holding the window in.

From the inside of the house you want to take out all the casing (molding) from around the window. Without this molding the window should come right out.

Most old sliding wood windows will have a wire or some kind of spring on the sides of the window so that the window won't slam shut. When taking out the window you'll have to remove this wire or spring. In this case it's a spring and we're cutting it off with snips.

Now that we have our inside pane removed we move to the outside. Pop the exterior moldings off and....

it should slide right out! Again we'll have to snip out the spring. On this particular window both panes were able to slide so both panes had a spring (or in some cases a wire)

Break time! Just kidding. Now that we have our old, outdated window taken out and the inside jams are all smooth (no nails) we're ready to install the new window. First let me show you what I was talking about with that flange.

This flange is used to attach to the king studs (the 2x4s on the sides), the head (the 4x4 on the top) and the sill (the 2x4 on the bottom). We will not be using these flanges to attach the window to our framing because we do not want to mess up our existing plaster. If we were to use these flanges we would have to take 6 inches of plaster out all the way around the window and then screw the flanges to the existing framing (king studs, head and sill). I would not recommend cutting the flange off unless you have a 3/4 inch slope windowsill. With the 3/4 inch slope windowsill water will never enter the window because water travels downhill and not uphill.

You want to pre-drill a hole in the bottom, top and sides of the window so that once you have the window up it's easier to screw it in.

Center your window. In this case we have a 48 inch RO (rough opening) and a 47 1/2 inch window. So, by centering the window you will have a 1/4 inch gap on each side of the window. Set a 1/4 inch shim on each side of the bottom of the window and screw both ends of the bottom. Make sure you are flush with the interior of the drywall so the molding can go right around it.

Level up the side and...

screw the top. Again, make sure the top is flush with the interior drywall. The exterior side doesn't really matter right now because you are going to cover it with molding anyway. Do the same to both sides of the window.

Now with the window installed add backer rod (a foam round backing) Backer rod is so that you don't waste a lot of caulking. You want to push your backer rod about 1/4 inch into the gap between the window and the framing. Install the backer rod all the way around the window. **Side note: Another option is to use spray foam but to me it's messy (it'll get all over your new window), it costs more and backer rod is just plain easier to work with. **

With your backer rod installed go ahead and caulk around the window applying the caulk against the backer rod (1/4 inch deep). Most caulking says it won't shrink but just in case check it in the morning and make sure there are no shrink spots. Shrink spots are gaps or holes where water can get through and cause water damage. After your caulking go ahead and apply your finish molding to the inside and outside of your window.

And...you're done! Once again...we made it happen! Stay tuned to see how me and Mr. Michael Chase apply the molding.

P.S. Thanks to my friend, Heather, for taking some great pictures and helping me with this project!

Replacing an Old Exhaust Fan

Today's project - How to Install an Exhaust Fan. An exhaust fan is used to eliminate steam from taking a hot shower. It also serves to eliminate the unpleasant odors that may occur after a night out at a Mexican restaurant! lol.

I am replacing an old exhaust fan that no longer works. So the first thing I need to do is remove the old cover. Then go into the attic and see what we're working with. WOW! Three things I don't like about this.

(1) This crappy electrical that was ran. If you look close you can see that it is exposed and the wires don't even have wire nuts on them. They are just taped together which is not the proper way to finish.

(2) There is a plumbing pipe ran right across our exhaust fan that we want to take out of the ceiling.

(3) The old exhaust fan didn't even have a duct attached to it. Therefore, all the steam and smell was just in the attic. That can cause a bad mold problem in your drywall. No bueno!

Now that we've removed our old exhaust fan...

...we are going to put the new exhaust fan in a different spot to move it away from the plumbing pipe.


Take your new exhaust fan and mark out the exact size with a marker and mark all the way around it. Make sure before you mark it that it's nicely squared, centered and right where you want it to be.

Then just cut out the square right on your line. Save the piece that you cut out to use later to patch up the hole from the old exhaust fan! (Money saving tip!)

Make sure you find the right breaker that controls the power to your exhaust fan and make sure it's off. To check if the power is off you can use your tongue or.....the safe way is to use an electrical tester. :)

Connect your basic wiring. Black on black, white on white, ground on ground.

Install the fan fixture.

Make sure everything is screwed on tight.

Go ahead and plug in your light fixture and install your bulb.

Put the cover on and you're done! Mmmm...not quite.







We have to install our ducts so the steam and our unpleasant air can be blown outside. We don't want it just circulating inside our attic. The steam can create mold if it gets on the drywall. This is something that they didn't do with the old exhaust fan.

It's best to chose the 'accordion' type duct. It stretches between 2ft and 4ft so you have a margin for error.

The duct that we are using is 4 inches in diameter so using a hole saw at 4 inches you can drill a hole into the plaster. Insert your duct. Don't forget to caulk around your ducts for waterproofing.

Insert plastic fitting onto the exhaust fan.

Then attach your accordion type duct from the plastic fitting to the duct.

Don't forget to attach your hose clamps to secure it.

Now we have to patch up the existing hole because we moved the exhaust fan over to avoid the plumbing pipes. Remember when we marked the ceiling for the new exhaust fan? Use the piece you cut out to patch the hole from the old exhaust fan and you won't have to buy drywall!

Apply your yellow mesh.



Then apply your mud around the joints.

Not bad for a first coat. Two more coats and we're ready to paint. To learn more about how to patch drywall see my old post titled, "Got a Hole in the Wall?"

Turn the power back on and make sure everything works. And now we're done! Way to make it happen!