I’m Gary Pardun and I have enjoyed remodeling and improving my homes and the homes of our friends for over 35 years. We’ve had homes in Atlanta, Kansas, Nashville, Chapel Hill, and South Carolina, and I worked on all of them. Lots of kitchen and bathroom remodels. Lots of hardwood floor installations. Innumerable repairs. I love it all.
My day job is to develop database replication software for Micro Focus Corporation.
With this website I want to pass on some of the lessons I’ve learned to save people like you from making the same mistakes that I made and make doing it yourself more fun, easier and provide more satisfaction.
Besides, I’ve read so many poorly written instructions from manufacturers that I feel compelled to try to explain the steps more clearly so that others don’t have to suffer through them.
I love repairing and building things myself. I bet you do too.
Do you often say, If you want it done right do it yourself?
Gary’s Fix is for you.
Are manufacturer’s instructions pathologically incomprehensible?
Gary’s Fix is for you.
Would you rather build it yourself than pay a “professional” to do it?
Gary’s Fix is for you.
When something is broken would you prefer to first see if you can fix it before automatically replacing it?
Gary’s Fix is for you.
The solutions on this site come from actual experiences. Real-life upgrades. Real-life repairs.
Each solution has a skill level rating indicated by the number of hammers:
what’s a hammer?
can hit a nail
can saw and nail (but not at the same time)
can cut miters and finish nail
can compound miter, rough in a sink, and wire a 3-way switch
Reader comments are incorporated in the solutions to make them even better.
Let’s fix it!
gary
Please see Gary’s Fix privacy policy.
Very cool blog! Thx!
Hi Mr Fix-it. I was wondering, how often should I have my boiler tuned up? And what should I be asking the boiler guy to check on?
Thanks!
Assuming you are talking about your house heating system rather than a pot for cooking eggs, you should have your boiler maintained annually. The technician should:
Make sure there are no cracks or leaks in the heat exchanger or the venting system.
Clean the condensate system.
Clean the burner, ignitor, and flame sensor.
Make sure the air intake is clear.
Verify the flame is the proper color.
Ensure that the low-water shutoff device works properly.
Test the system and check for leaks and proper heating.
Stay warm!