Stagnant water, which provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes, is the major source of mosquito problems around the home. Some obvious sources of stagnant water include neglected birdbaths, wheelbarrows, tires and children's pools which accumulate rainwater. Aged coffee grounds kill mosquito larvae in water. Water may also puddle around plants when you irrigate your yard. If you have problems with mosquitoes breeding around the home, you can control them with coffee grounds.

Table of Contents Eliminate Attractants Repel Grasshoppers with Garlic Trap and Kill To get grasshoppers to leave your basement, eliminate what attracts them, repel them with garlic, kill them with DE or trap them with sticky tape. Grasshoppers are more attracted to your garden than they are to the basement, but some may take refuge there for various reasons. There's a good chance, though, that the little hoppers you see in your home's nether regions are crickets, especially if they keep you awake at night with their chirping.

Finding a measurement of the amount of gas in a balloon involves finding the balloon's volume. One thing to keep in mind is that the balloon's volume will increase or decrease as gas such as helium is added or subtracted. This fact will also affect the shape of the balloon, which in turn affects the volume. You can find the volume of a balloon using a regular tape measure and the mathematical calculation for this process.

Husky power washers are outdoor tools designed to clean large, hard surfaces with a forceful blast of water. Typical cleaning surfaces include patios, decks, sidewalks, driveways, home exteriors and even cars and bicycles. While regular cleaning and maintenance should help keep the Husky washer working correctly, problems with leaking may occur occasionally. If the manifold is leaking, some repair efforts may restore function without having to replace the manifold.

If you are a contractor or do-it-yourselfer, you need to have a rough idea as to how big your roof is before you can start buying materials and making repairs. Determining the quantity of roofing supplies you need will help you make a budget for the project. But it can be difficult to get up on a roof and hand-measure it. Laser distance measurers, however, can make this process easier.

As you use a hot water heater to warm the water in your household, "bleeding" your tank helps ensure the system continues to work well. Bleeding helps remove mineral deposits that settle at the bottom, which potentially affects the heating capability. Bleed your hot water heater to keep it in good working condition. Your tank needs to be bled at least once a year, but if your hot water heater experiences a lot of sediment buildup from hard water, perform this biannually.

DCS is the brand name for a line of stainless-steel gas grills manufactured by Fisher & Paykel. The electric ignition system works with a 9-volt battery to light the gas burners, eliminating push-button igniter systems that have mechanical parts that can fail. Fisher & Paykel recommends replacing the battery once a year, but you may need to install a new battery more frequently depending on how often you grill. Changing the battery takes less than five minutes, and no special tools are needed.

A wood burning stove often sits on a hearth pad. This pad must be fire resistant and able to withstand the weight of the stove. The hearth pad can be as simple as a metal shield or even a concrete slab, but the stove must sit on a non-combustible surface. Make a Hearth Pad If you sit your stove on carpet, wood, vinyl or some other combustible material, the heat from the stove can damage, and even worse, ignite the floor materials.

While making the existing window larger is not a possibility, in most cases replacing it with a larger window is. It will require some adjustments to the wall frame to accommodate the larger window. Check the interior and exterior surface of the wall surrounding the window you propose to enlarge for obstructions such as masonry, drain pipes, or other immovable objects that may prevent you from enlarging the opening in the direction you desire.

When granite is clean and polished it has a brilliant shine that can make your floors, counters or backsplashes look pristine and luxurious. Absolute black granite is a very dark and pure black color that can look very glossy when you polish it correctly. If the surface of your granite is cracked, chipped or etched you will need to take it to be automatically and professionally polished. If the surface is dull but otherwise intact, you can polish it yourself at home.