Riveting class

Seminar gives women tools in home repair

— Who knew toilet bowls and electrical outlets could be so empowering?

At first glance, the Arkansas Extended Learning Center’s recent class “Handy Around the House: Home Repair 101” was simply a Saturday seminar on tackling minor home repairs.

Instructors Joe Morrison, a retired mechanic from American Airlines, and his son, Adam, who works in residential and commercial maintenance for Mulheam Wilson Constructors, offered lots of straightforward, practical fix-it advice.

But a closer look at the day-long session and those attending - 13 of the 17 students at Cammack Village’s community hall were women - revealed the how-to lesson offered much more and brings to mind the power and poise of Norman Rockwell’s rendition of World War II era Rosie the Riveter, taking a lunch break from her job in the factory with her circa 1940s rivet gun resting on her lap.

Because this wasn’t just a course in how to fix things around the house. It was an opportunity for homeowners to gain the knowledge and confidence to truly own their houses, above and beyond making that monthly mortgage payment.

‘ALWAYS SOMETHING GOING ON’

Lou Ellen Stevens of Little Rock, who’s 62 and single, says she devoted her Saturday to the home repair course because “It seems like there’s always something going on in the house,” she explains. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I learn some of this stuff and even though I’m single, not be afraid to tackle it myself?’”

Stevens adds, “Most men already know these things,” because it’s knowledge which is often passed down from fathers to sons.

She was looking forward to the second half of the session in which electricity would be addressed: “I want to know if you need to turn off every single thing or just a breaker.”

The desire by homeowners to tackle the fix-it problems is a growing one, says Dana Venhaus, director of the Arkansas Extended Learning Center.

“Lately in the last couple of semesters, the handyman classes have become even more poplar,” she says. “I think people are wanting to do more of these kinds of things themselves, especially in this economy.”

AELC, a private, independent business, began 14 years ago, growing out of a program originally connected with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Today, AELC holds summer, fall and winter sessions offering a variety of educational classes for everyone from kids and teens to adults and senior citizens.

A MORE FRUGAL FIX

It’s not just women who are looking for tool-time empowerment.

“This session has more women,” Venhaus says, “but in the one before it, there were more men.”

In addition to the two teaching the class, there was another father and son team taking the class: Shree Sharma of Little Rock, 36, who makes his living as a pathologist while his 15-year-old son, Kanha, is a student at Central High.

After a few times of bumbling around their home and trying to repair things, the two decided to empower themselves with this course.

“In the home, I have some problems I don’t know how to fix,” Sharma says. “We were recently trying to fix a door. Generally, Kanha comes up with an idea on how to approach it and we turn to You-Tube and Hulu videos.”

“But my methods usually don’t work,” his son adds, laughing.

The Morrisons’ classroom instructional tools included a wooden demonstration “wall” with a wired and working light socket and bulb, electrical light switch, and outlet attached; a disconnected toilet; and a large table covered with a variety of tools.

Right from the start, they captured the class’s attentionand kept it, offering helpful hints.

This was the reality version of comedian Tim Allen’s popular 1990s TV comedy Home Improvement.

Rule No. 1: Make sure the water is turned off.

Rule No. 2: When in doubt or when you no long feel comfortable, it’s time to call a plumber.

The first tip: Invest in a simple, inexpensive tool for cleaning drains of collected hair and gunk. The thin, long, flexible plastic tool with barbs running along its length is less than $5 at most hardware and home improvement stores.

The pair almost got a round of applause from their appreciative audience for that one alone.

RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB

“The bottom line is there are so many products out there to choose from,” Adam says, gesturing toward the nearby table covered with tools.

After scratching the surface, the pair delved into plumbing problems, explaining the purpose of a drain’s Ptrap (to hold some collected water so no sewer gases can enter the home).

“A lot of the grease is going to settle in that P-trap,” Adam says of a clogged kitchen sink. “You can use a lot of hot water to clean it out. If that doesn’t work, you can buy a new trap for about $2.”

If a clogged drain is an ongoing issue, the Morrisons recommend a regular maintenance routine of adding enzymes to keep pipes cleared naturally through a biological process and warn against regularly using harshchemicals to remove clogs.

“If you use those often with a chrome pipe it will eat that pipe up,” Joe says. “And it’s also not good for the cast-iron pipes found in older homes.”

The Morrisons advise that do-it-yourselfers tackle a problem slowly at first, using the least aggressive method and then gradually increasing to more aggressive methods until they are successful.

The father and son duo explained the basic mechanics of how things are assembled - “If one pipe goes inside of another one, there’s going to be a gasket or washer that makes it seal,” Adam says.

And they offered words of warning.

“Don’t use a drain snake, which run $30 for a small one up to $80 for a commercialgrade quality, on a toilet,” Joe says. “If you rub steel on porcelain, that stain will never go away.”

And when working with porcelain, take care not to tighten nuts and bolts too much, because ceramic is breakable.

“If you can wiggle the toilet, tighten some more and test it again,” Adam says. “When it stops wiggling, stop tightening.”TRICKS OF THE TRADE

The interior of the toilet tank was explored with the different parts and their functions discussed.

“Whether it’s a $99 toilet or a $2,000 one, the anatomy of them are going to be pretty much the same,” Joe says.

“There’s not a lot of surprises there,” Adam adds. “It’s really just a matter of getting in there and finding out how your stuff is put together and not being afraid to do so - that’s really the basics of home repair.”

Another hint: When caulking tile, before starting, apply a cleaner like Windex or dishwashing liquid on the areas were caulk is not desired.

Questions were asked and answered.

“How do you remove the crossbars inside a drain?”

“With something called a drain wrench.”

Sometimes, the students were the teachers. Student Laura Generou of Little Rock offered a handy tip of her own.

“I also love to bake and I put my caulking in a pastry bag and use my cake decorating tools,” Generou said.

“I have not heard of that,” Adam said. “But I’ll have to try it.”

Next came repairingdoors and latches, installing weather-stripping and repairing Sheetrock. The class concluded with a lesson in electrical basics.

The most important rule when working with electricity: Turn the electricity off at the breaker box.

As the talk turned to gold, black or red “hot” wires versus silver or white “neutral” wires, 220 volts, and threeway light switches, some attendees grew even more interested in learning more, but others seemed to hesitant to tackle electrical projects themselves.

Nevertheless, a lot of know-how was shared in the six hours, which seemed to pass surprisingly quickly.

After saying their “thankyous” to the Morrisons, the students departed for their homes where their personal “to-do” lists awaited.

A second session will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 23 at Cammack Village’s communityhall, 2710 N. McKinley St. Cost: $129. For more information AELC’s courses, visit extendedlearning.

HomeStyle, Pages 33 on 12/22/2012

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