pridecity
Patients took over asylum
I am unfortunately going to try to stay in this terrible apartment of mine another year. At least until this coming July. I figured it would be a good time to learn some basic repair work seeing as my landlord is "too busy" to be bothered. He's a slum lord to the fullest extent and I'm trying to make the best of my housing situation until I can move. A short list of known problems include:
*leaking toilet
*bad wiring (via loose plugs, broken face plates, shorting out)
*clogged dryer
*mold
I have yet to see where the toilet is leaking exactly. I know it's coming from the tank and is fresh water. The plus side is that the dogs and cats don't seem to mind drinking it out of my bucket. I'm planning on fixing it once I figure out how to turn off the water to the toilet.
The mold is slowly being taken care of by a lot of bleach and soon new caulking around the tub where I've noticed the mold. I just have to scrape off the old stuff, bleach, re-caulk and not shower in that tub for probably three days. A project I want to do when I plan on spending a night or two away from home.
As I said, I seriously do not want to get my landlord involved in any repairs needed. It took him three months to fix the furnace last winter and almost as long to replace the refrigerator when it broke, despite several calls. So, any repairs that need to be made are from my own pocket and time.
That being said, I need advice from the electrical experts. The apartment building I'm in was built in 1970 or around there. I doubt that the wiring has been updated since then. Many of the face plates are broken and I know how to replace those (turn of power, unscrew, replace, turn on power). However, there are several other problems.
I have a major problem with the wall outlet in the living room near the door. At least twice now, this socket has shorted out. Once it killed one of my lamps and once it melted a grounded power strip. I'm not putting my tree up this year because I'm afraid the stupid outlet is going to set the apartment building on fire. What can I do about this outlet?
Next, the outlet that I have my tv plugged into just isn't right. I've never had problems with it power-wise, but the face plate is not flush to the wall. I tried today to push the entire unit into the wall, but it won't budge. I'm worried that the amount of dust on the unit may eventually cause a fire. I am assuming I will need to replace this unit. I will need help with this. I'd also like advice before I take the plunge in trying to do so. Are there other things I can try to get this plug to become flush with the wall?
Lastly for the moment, most of my plugs are loose. Not the units, but when I plug something in, that plug can wiggle out very easily. My cats regularly unplug my power strip that has my living room light and desktop computer plugged in. How can I stiffen up the holds for the plugs?
Edit: According to property records, it was built in 1960, not 1970.
*leaking toilet
*bad wiring (via loose plugs, broken face plates, shorting out)
*clogged dryer
*mold
I have yet to see where the toilet is leaking exactly. I know it's coming from the tank and is fresh water. The plus side is that the dogs and cats don't seem to mind drinking it out of my bucket. I'm planning on fixing it once I figure out how to turn off the water to the toilet.
The mold is slowly being taken care of by a lot of bleach and soon new caulking around the tub where I've noticed the mold. I just have to scrape off the old stuff, bleach, re-caulk and not shower in that tub for probably three days. A project I want to do when I plan on spending a night or two away from home.
As I said, I seriously do not want to get my landlord involved in any repairs needed. It took him three months to fix the furnace last winter and almost as long to replace the refrigerator when it broke, despite several calls. So, any repairs that need to be made are from my own pocket and time.
That being said, I need advice from the electrical experts. The apartment building I'm in was built in 1970 or around there. I doubt that the wiring has been updated since then. Many of the face plates are broken and I know how to replace those (turn of power, unscrew, replace, turn on power). However, there are several other problems.
I have a major problem with the wall outlet in the living room near the door. At least twice now, this socket has shorted out. Once it killed one of my lamps and once it melted a grounded power strip. I'm not putting my tree up this year because I'm afraid the stupid outlet is going to set the apartment building on fire. What can I do about this outlet?
Next, the outlet that I have my tv plugged into just isn't right. I've never had problems with it power-wise, but the face plate is not flush to the wall. I tried today to push the entire unit into the wall, but it won't budge. I'm worried that the amount of dust on the unit may eventually cause a fire. I am assuming I will need to replace this unit. I will need help with this. I'd also like advice before I take the plunge in trying to do so. Are there other things I can try to get this plug to become flush with the wall?
Lastly for the moment, most of my plugs are loose. Not the units, but when I plug something in, that plug can wiggle out very easily. My cats regularly unplug my power strip that has my living room light and desktop computer plugged in. How can I stiffen up the holds for the plugs?
Edit: According to property records, it was built in 1960, not 1970.
