Bath Tub Drain

A plumber is not always needed when you want to unclog your bath drain. You can also deal with a clogged tub drain on your own, if you learn how.

If you look at the structure of a drain, you will always see the same thing. These structures have a curved area, named trap, usually shaped as an U for sinks, and as a P for bath tubs. The name trap is used, because in this area water can be trapped, preventing nasty smells from pipes to get into the house. In time, the trap gets clogged with all kinds of stuff and that is when the bath drain becomes clogged and needs unclogging.

Unclogging can begin from the surface. If you notice that something is blocking the drain, you can reach it out and take it from there. But, in most cases, problems are a little more severe and you will need a wire coat hanger to dig deeper.

Plunge the drain, if you see that your previous efforts do not work too well. First, let water run in the bath tub so it cover the plunger, then block the overflow with some cloth, and try to plunge the drain. You will do that by putting the plunger over the drain and then pushing it up and down several times. Usually, such procedures will make the blockage move and water will run freely through the pipes again.

If the overflow is protected by a plate, you may want to take it out. Take out the screws and then remove the plate, along with the drain mechanism.

The next step, - if the plunger fails to solve the problem - is to use a snake, which is a steel cable. Place it at the plate opening and push it down about three feet. When you feel resistance, turn the snake in all directions to make it push forward. This will help unclog the drain.

With back and forth movements, use the snake to make the blockage start moving from its place. Let the water run into the tub, as that will help the movements you do with the snake. One time may not be enough, so repeat the procedure more than just once.

Creating A Butterfly Garden

Butterflies have enchanted humans for thousands of years. Aside from being beautiful, they often considered to be symbols of hope, beneficial changes, and even spiritual salvation. A great way to bring these lovely creatures closer to your home is with the construction of a garden that includes plants known to attract butterflies. In order to build a successful butterfly garden, you need to consider how to nurture butterflies at every stage of their growth.

From Egg to Chrysalis

Butterflies go through an enormous amount of physical change over the course of their lives. As a result, the types of plants that they need to have on hand varies according to these stages. In many cases, plants with fine leaves are most favored by butterflies looking for a place to lay their eggs. These plants are also commonly used as food resources for the caterpillars once they hatch.

Carrots and parsley are two plants with this type of leave that is so often favored by butterflies. However, if the plants may not be able to serve double-duty because caterpillars will also eat the parsley leaves, you may want to plant some indoors for your cooking needs. Queen Anne lace and milkweed are also highly attractive to butterflies during this stage of their life.

Milkweed is also one of the most favored plants by caterpillars that are building their chrysalises. If you interested in attracting a specific type of butterfly, do some research to find out which specific plants they are most attracted to during this stage. Chances are, if a species of butterfly is known to visit your geographic region, there likely some type of plant in the area that is attractive to them. Your local cooperative extension agent may be able to give you this type of information, or at least help you locate it.

The Butterfly

Once a butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it lives of nectar instead of plant matter. Most butterflies look for brightly colored flowers with many small flowers packed closely together. For example, the Mexican butterfly weed, milkweed, and gayfeather will all attract butterflies. Coneflowers, asters, daisies and Indian blanket flowers also tend to be irresistible to butterflies. You also want to make sure to provide some shelter for butterflies. Typically, cedar butterfly houses will be suitable for this purpose. You can also provide some broad leafed plants that provide refuge during the rain or when there are predators around.

Whether you drawn by the mysterious Monarch Butterflies or simply enjoy the sight of yellow and blue butterflies, there are a number of plants you can use to attract them into your yard. While milkweed and butterfly bushes are two of the most common plants used to attract butterflies, do some research to find out which butterflies are most common to your area. Once you know which butterflies you want to attract, you can begin the process of including plants in your garden that will get their attention and make it easier for them to survive.

Are you interested in improving your home and garden? Then check out www.myhousekeepingblog.com My Housekeeping Blog.

By: Tong Lin

The Right Choice For Many Households

For a bagless vacuum, the Eureka Altima definitely can stand on its own. Ranging somewhere in the middle as far as price when it comes to bag-free vacuums, the Altima from Eureka tends to give you good value, reliability, and the backing of an established company. Many people decide for convenience or other reasons that they would like a vacuum that doesn't need bags. When they go shopping for one, they find that there are quite a few choices. The higher-end bagless vacuums can be very expensive, although on the other end of the spectrum you may have bagless vacuums that look nice but don't work well. The Eureka Altima falls somewhere in the middle when it comes to price, but the quality is surprisingly good.

The Eureka Altima includes a HEPA filter that is a real advantage when it comes to allergy sufferers. With the strong motor that comes with this machine, the HEPA filter works well to remove allergens from the carpet and anywhere else the machine is used. The many settings on the Eureka Altima ensure that you can vacuum effectively on many different lengths of carpet, as well as furniture, floors, and even drapes. This is even better news when it comes to removing allergens, or removing dirt and dust in general.

Like any good all-purpose vacuums, the Eureka Altima has a lot of attachments that make it easier to vacuum just about anywhere. There is the telescopic duster attachment that helps you get into tricky places, and the attachment is even self-cleaning. The "power paw" attachment on the Altima makes it easy to vacuum in angled places such as staircases and furniture. Though the vacuum can be a bit heavy and cumbersome for stairs, a relatively strong person can probably maneuver it well enough to do them. The crevice tool makes it easier to clean in tight places. This can help a lot when you don't want to move things around so you can clean under them.

The manufacturers of the Eureka Altima kept furniture safety in mind when building the vacuum and put guards on the front and sides of the vacuum. This protects the furniture from being scuffed when the vacuum bumps into it. You can actually clean this vacuum's filters too and reuse them, which saves you money and is better for the environment. All in all the Altima has a lot of good features that should please even the most discriminate housekeeper.

Drew enjoys researching and writing about subjects of interest in his sparetime. Recently, he has begun submitting exclusively to www.articleclick.com so be sure to check back often for more of his work.

By: Drew Heavrin