Try these top solutions for stubborn drain clogs

Drain clogs don’t happen that often, or at least they shouldn’t, but when they do, you want to bust the clog quickly and without a lot of mess. Here are some solutions.

My favorite clog-buster tool these days is the flexible plastic barbed strip that you can buy at the hardware store just for this purpose. It is best for hair clogs that aren’t deep down in your drain. In most cases, you don’t even need to remove the drain cover to use it.

A plumber’s snake or auger also is a great tool. These thin metal cables are easy to get down into a drain and usually are long enough to get to and past just about every clog in the house. A little wiggle every now and then will get you through the tight spots and dislodge most of the debris. If you can’t get to the clog from one drain, you probably can reach it from another drain or a cleanout plug. When wound back up, they can easily be stored away, too.

And let’s not forget the plunger or plumber’s friend. This wonderful gadget is great and can be used to push or pull a clog out of most drains. Keep in mind that if your drain has an overflow hole, try to cover it with tape or plug it with something that can’t be sucked into it from the force of the plunger. If working on a double sink, close off one side. Also, if you put a little petroleum jelly around the rim of the plunger where it sits over the drain, you will get a tighter seal and better suction.

If you are working with standing water, you can use a wet shop vacuum to clean that up. You even can suck a clog out with these sometimes.

A Drain King also is a very handy gadget. This is made to hook on the end of a garden hose. It fits down into the drain and, when the water is pumped through the hose, it expands and forces out the water at a higher pressure and can bust through some pretty bad clogs.

Chemicals should be your last resort. Once used, you can’t do too much more without danger or getting the caustic material on your hands, or worse.

Prevention always is a good plan and, unless you just enjoy the challenge, worth the extra effort.

Q: I have squeaky wooden floors in my home. I’ve tried several suggestions to fix them but have never found something that can be installed permanently to stop the noise. What would you suggest I try next? — R.E.

A:

There’s a super kit that you can buy at your hardware store called Squeeeeek No More that works really well for situations like yours. The special screws are made to go through carpet without damaging it and will work on wood floors too. Once installed, the heads break off just below the surface so that it’s not sticking up any longer and can be puttied over on wood floors. Check it out at www. floorsqueaks.com.

Petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly is an in- credibly useful concoction. It’s perfect in the shop and super in the home. I bet you would love a list of some of the many uses that we have found for this stuff in and around the house.

Some you may have tried but, hopefully, others will be new to you. You may have some clever uses that we didn’t list. If so, let me know, and they’ll be added to the list. If you would like a copy, send your request along with a self-addressed stamped envelope to The Super Handyman, in care of the Houston Chronicle, P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210; allow six to eight weeks for delivery. The list is also posted at www. thesuperhandyman.com. ‘See’ what’s going on in hard-to-reach places

I do disaster-relief work for a volunteer organization and, with a lot of local flooding, have been very busy lately. The unit I worked on had a washing machine, and while doing a load, the drain line came out of the stand pipe. This was not only messy, but hard to reach to fix. In order to “see” what was going on, we taped a mirror to the end of a broom handle and held it behind the washer to figure out what had happened and how to maneuver it back into place. We managed to use another broom to push the hose back into the pipe, too. The mirror trick really was helpful, and if we hadn’t figured that out, it would have cost us a lot of extra time and effort. Maybe it will help you one of these days.

Dear Kelly: I’ve been using your tip of putting a slit section of garden hose over the blade of my hand saw for years. I keep it in place with rubber bands, and find that it works really well to protect the blade from damage.

I was trying to cut through some dense wood and placed the garden hose on top of the hand saw in order to be able to use my other hand on top of the blade for some extra power. It helped me get through this wood more easily, and without hurting my hand, too. — H.F.

A super hint — When it’s break time and you’re in the middle of a painting project, grab a clothespin and clamp it to the top rim of your paint tray. It will give you a neat place to set your roller handle that allows you to leave the roller in the tray without sitting in the paint while you are gone.

Dear Ms. Carrell: Ever since my back went out, I’ve tried to find ways to still do what I want and need to do in my yard but without hurting my back anymore. Now when I need to move heavy bags of fertilizer and mulch around the yard, I set them right on top of my mower. The mower is easy to roll around the yard and carries the load just fine, and it’s easier to use than a wheelbarrow. — S.D.

Q: Our entryway floor is made of some sort of smooth white stone. It’s shiny around the edges but rather scuffed in the center and in hightraffic areas. What can I use to safely shine and polish it? — C.R.

A: Check your hardware store or a flooring dealer for a marble polishing compound. A soft cloth can be used to polish it. If the area is large, you may want to use a power buffer. This should offer some protection, too. You could add a rug as a little extra protection against mud or dirt tracked in. Easy-to-clean DIY rug

In high-traffic areas, rugs can be used to protect the flooring underneath. You can purchase a rug or two, but you also can make your own. And since cleaning the rugs is going to be an ongoing chore, why not make your “rug” from a scrap of vinyl flooring? Check dealers for scraps and remnants that you can use. You can make your rug look more like the real thing by drilling some holes around the edges and adding some tassels made of twine or cord. It will be super easy to clean and when it wears out, it will be easy to replace.

Dear Kelly: I installed some really nice shelves and drawers in my closet. It was a fun project and quite an upgrade from the white, wire shelves that were originally there. I installed the old wire shelves in my garage. They do a great job there, and the fact that they are wire makes it easy to use hooks to hang things from them. They offer great off-theground storage for a lot of the off-season stuff. — S.T.

Dear Super Handy-Mom: We planted trees in our yard when we bought our home, and now they are huge. We even got a letter from the city telling us that we needed to cut them back a little.

We didn’t have a pole saw, but we created one from a hand saw tied to a long pole. It was not pretty, but it worked great. — B.C.