Fix Running Toilet

I found these two great easy home repair ideas in Ladies Home Journal. I like these articles because they give you a list of supplies you need, time estimates and cost savings. One of them is about a natural way to get rid of ants and the other is about how to fix a running toilet.

Natural Way to Get Rid of Ants

Time Commitment - 1 to 2 hours

Supplies – Caulk, sponges, cleaning spray and one of the following – maple syrup and borax, cinnamon, black pepper, vinegar, chalk or cream of wheat.

DIY Solution – Ants invade because they find food. So the first step is a thorough cleaning.

1. Caulk visible cracks around kitchen counters and under the sink.

2. Sprinkle dry Cream of Wheat, indigestible (and lethal) to ants, along the room’s perimeter (solution from 1001 All-Natural Secrets to a Pest-Free Property). Use substances ants don’t like to cross – chalk, cinnamon and ground black pepper are a few – as a barrier to block their main corridors.

3. OR Spray full-strength vinegar near doors and windowsills. OR Mix borax with a little maple syrup (avoid this method if you have pets or kids). With these techniques you should see a major reduction in 30 days or less, depending on the colony size.

HINT: You can also use Borax To kill red ants outside your home, sprinkle a mixture of one part borax and one part sugar around the outside of the nest. The ants will either eat the borax or walk through it, taking it down into the nest.

An Exterminator costs $100
Your Cost $10 ($7 for Borax $3 for caulk)

Total Savings $90

Stop Toilet Tank from Running

Time Commitment – 15 minutes

Supplies – A new flapper

DIY Solution - After you flush a toilet, water flows from the tank to refill the bowl. But f there’s a leak between the tank and the bowl, it’ll keep running … running. The rubber flapper inside the tank is the key. If it’s not sealing tightly, water leaks into the bowl.

Some toilets have a float on a the chain that’s meant to sit at water level, but when it’s installed too low it can pull on the flapper and cause a leak.

Adjust it so it’s higher on the chain or remove it and see if you can do without it.

If that doesn’t work, simply replace the flapper. You can find one at any hardware store.

A Plumber cost – $150

Your Cost $7 (for a flapper)

Here is a twelve minute video which explains how to change the flapper and how to shop at the hardware so you bring home the right flapper.

Cheap Pest Control Items

Spring is here and with it comes beautiful flowers and nice weather. Unfortunately, bugs and pests come too. If you know a something about the helpful bugs that visit or live in your yard or garden, you can save money on pest control. I am talking about natures best pest control – bugs themselves. Not only do you not have to worry about getting rid of these bugs but natures best pest control bugs will work to eliminate bad bugs in your garden.

Sometimes you need to exterminate and other times to let the insects do what they do best – eat other insects. If the insect is damaging your plant then yes, you must get rid of it but if it is a helpful bug that eats other insects, put out the welcome sign.

Sometimes the pests can be picked, washed or vacuumed off plants to control infestations. If you pull weeds on a regular basis you are engaging in one of natures best pest controls.

Here are some bugs that can actually eat bad bugs in your garden…

Centipedes – may look scary buy they feed on slugs and a variety of small insect pests.

Ground beetle – eat slug eggs and babies, plus other soil-dwelling pests.

Hornets and yellow jackets – are effective predators. However, if you are allergic or the hornets and yellow jackets are aggressive you need to get rid of them.

Lace wings – and all their alligator-like larvae eat aphids, scales, motes, caterpillars and other pests.

Lady beetle or lady bug – besides being really cute to look at, their larvae and adult bugs feed on soft-bodied insects such as aphids, mealybugs, scale insects.

Want more cheap natural pest control solutions? Check out our post on Homemade Garden Pest Control

Here is an extra tip I just discovered. If you have fire ant piles on your driveway, you can use regular bleach to destroy to them. The bleach kills the red ants and any weeds growing in the cracks.

Here are some free pest control recipes I got from CleanWaterways.org that are effective and will not hurt the environment:

Natural Roach Repellent and Killer:

Place bay leaves around cracks in room.

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Weeds are always a problem in the garden. Sometimes they seem to do better than the plants we buy from the nursery. Graham and Rosemary Haley writing in Haley’s Cleaning Hints; have some clever ideas for getting rid of weeds cheaply and naturally. Here are some of their suggestions:

Weeds in spaces in between patio stones – A nice alternative to killing weeds between your patio stones is to replace the weeds with plants. Simply plant some attractive ground cover seeds between the walkway stones. They’ll stunt the growth of any weeds as they proliferate. My mother-in-law who lived in New Jersey said they always used Portulaca or Moss Rose. Purslane is related to the Moss Rose or Portulaca and would also be pretty.

Natural Weed Killer recipe – Heat a gallon of water with a pound of salt. Stir well and pour between stones.

Vinegar Weed Killer – Pour undiluted white vinegar between the stones.

If you have relatively small unwanted tree stumps, I have a method that works quite well but it does take a while to work. I had several Yaupon trees that had sprung up in an area bordering our yard. We cut down the trees but could not afford to have the ten or twenty stumps that were left ground down. So, I gathered several bags full of dead leaves. Then I took the bag that the leaves were in and covered the stump with it. I piled the leaves on the top of the bag to make it secure. Eventually, with no air to feed it the stump died. I was able to simply rock the stump back and forth a few times and it came out easily.

The Haleys also give some hints for cleaning your paving stones and walkways:

De-ice walkways with fertilizer - Your paving stones will last longer and will be easier to clean in the spring if you don’t use salt to keep winter ice off. Use fertilizer instead.

Make walkway slabs look like new – If your walkway slabs and stones are really looking bad, try painting them. Clean them thoroughly first and then give them a few coats of good concrete paint.

Concrete stains - To remove leaf stains from your concrete patio or walkway, mix a solution of 1 quart water and 1 cup bleach. Then thicken the mixture to a paste by adding flour and smear it on the stained area. Let dry and hose off.

Greasy mark removal – For greasy marks, mix a solution of 1 cup water softener (ex. Borax) and 1 gallon hot water and scrub well.

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Do It Yourself Pest Control

You can spend a small fortune on pest control but did you know you can use some common household items to repel unwanted pests (of the insect kind – doesn’t work for people). Those fabulous Haleys, Graham and Rosemary have some great cheap ideas for pest control. These hints come from their book Haley’s Hints

Ants -

Sage or white pepper will repel ants. Sprinkle around affected areas, in crevices and in cupboards.

You can also used leftover cucumber peelings sprinkled with salt. Place them where you are seeing ants appear.

When camping bring mothballs and create a border around your site to repel ants.

Leave apple pieces, core, or peelings where ants enter. When brought back to the anthill, it’s said the acid in the apple kills the queen and the colony.  Sure would be cheaper than buying the commercial ant killer.

Mix equal parts of honey and boric acid powder and place the mixture on small pieces of paper in the problem areas. The ants carry the concoction back to their nests where the boric acid disrupts their digestive systems. Some ants prefer grease to sweetness, so you may want to try substituting lard or butter, for the honey.

Cockroaches - Boric acid is generally an effective way to get rid of cockroaches. It make take awhile but it will do the job. Sprinkle in cracks and trouble areas and leave the container open in cupboards.

Crawling bugs – Paint baseboards, walls and cracks with a mixture of 3 quarts of boiled water with 2 tablespoons alum.

Flies - Leave a dish of molasses and black pepper where they congregate.

Fruit flies – Place a dish of apple cider vinegar out. The flies will head straight for the vinegar and drown.

Flying bugs – Flying bugs hate smoke, so light an incense stick or candle to drive them away.

Hornets and bees

Use hairspray to stop bees or hornets in action. You can also use a cleaning spray like 409. The spray temporarily keeps the bee or hornet from flying so you can swat it easily.

Pour hot water down crevices and anywhere you suspect hornets are nesting.

Place a glass jug with a small opening outside your door or where you suspect they congregate. Fill the jug half way with water and smear honey or fruit juice along the rim and inside the opening. The bees will gather here and drown in the water. I have heard this works for wasps also.

If the bee is inside the house, turn the lights off inside and turn the patio light on. The bee will generally fly to the light and out the window or door.

Wasps – To discourage wasps, mix tinned tuna with some powdered cleanser and leave where wasps gather.

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