All about Appliances Installs
Categories: Uncategorized

All About Choosing The Right Driving School

As you know, this site is dedicated to showing you some advice on installing things into your home. We here, want to show you how to install your most precious thing to you to the most expensive and potentially dangerous thing in your home.

And that is, installing your child to the steering wheel of your care. It is the time when your teenager is ready to learn to drive.

As you know, your teenager is able to get their drivers license here in California at the young age of 16 years old. However, they have to have a drivers permit to drive for a minimum of 6 months before being able to apply for a drivers license.

To get their permit, they must attend a drivers training course that is offered by countless schools throughout the state. These schools give parents a huge break in training your teenager with everything they need to pass the tests the DMV makes new drivers take to receive their permits. They are specifically designed to properly train and teach teenagers all the rules and laws they must follow in order to make sure they not only past the test but also become safe drivers.

After your teenager passes their first initial test, they will receive a permit to drive with an adult that is older than 25 years of age. They cannot drive with anyone under the age of 25. This gives parents the opportunity to go out and practice driving with their teenager whenever they have time and at places, they feel comfortable driving.

Now, before heading on down to your local DMV office in the town you live in to get your teenager their legit drivers license they will first need to complete 6 hours of driver’s training by a licensed and drivers trainer school instructor. These hours do not have to be continuous. They can be broken up into a series of sections or steps. Many driving schools can break it up into 6 different hours on 6 different days or set it up for three two hour courses down over a week or so. These prices can range from anywhere to $350 to $600 depending on the city that you live in.  For many parents, this is money well spent. Many driving schools offer a pass the test Guarantee so you can rest assured that your child will past the DMV test.

In a way, it good that these driving schools have come to exist since the early part of the late 1990s. Although some parents did a good job in training their child to drive and past the DMV tests, many parents are pretty poor drivers themselves and would pass on bad habits to their children. Another great thing about these driving schools is that it allowed parents to schedule their kids to train at specific times. Kids, in general, take things more seriously when things are done in an instructional course just like school. This allowed busy parents that had no time to teach their kids themselves to be able to help them get their drivers license.

In addition to having that mandatory 6 hours of training, students also must complete an additional 50 hours of behind-the-wheel driving practice. This is easily done with parents and their kids driving around doing everyday normal things like going to get groceries. All of these things are necessary for teenagers to receive their drivers’ license.

All this great information was brought to you by our friends over at Jersey Safe Driving School.

Categories: Refridgerator

What Type Of Refrigerator Should You Buy

Choosing The Right Refrigerator

You want to know what a huge moment of panic is for any person in this country is? Think it’s an earthquake? How about a flat tire on the highway? Losing your wallet in a busy store? Nope! Coming home and having a lukewarm fridge waiting to greet you.

Nothing get’s people in panic mode and rushing to a huge box store quicker than having a busted refrigerator. The thing is, most people know there fridge is about to go with the weird sounds it starts to make and things like the freezer not freezing right, yet the delay the purchase. Why?

A lot of people don’t know how to choose the right refrigerator for themselves.

First of all, you got top-mounted freezer refrigerators, bottom mounted freezer refrigerators, you got side by side, you got French door, and finally counter-depth refrigerators. Let’s not forget about those fancy four-door fridges Samsung also offers. Then you got the different sizes. For example, you got tiny 18 cubic foot refrigerators that usually go into apartments, then you got monster sized french door refrigerators that can go up to 30 cubic feet in size.

With so many options, I can see why people would hesitate and pull the trigger on getting the right refrigerator for themselves. So here I’m going to break down the different sizes and options to look for in choosing a refrigerator for yourself.

First off, what do you currently have? If the refrigerator that you have your house right now is working just fine why change it? Simply go pick up the same one you got right now and a slightly cleaner and more modern look and you’re good to go. Look on the inside and it will tell you the measurements and the cubic dimensions of the refrigerator. That way you know what size of refrigerator you need to go get.

If the refrigerator that you have right now is something that you’ve always hated and it breaking down has been a blessing in disguise, then it’s time to look at your different options.

If you live in an apartment and it’s just you and a girlfriend, then you’re probably starving half the time and don’t really have any food to store and probably don’t even cook that much. A small top-mounted freezer refrigerator would probably work great for you. You could also go with the option of a bottom mounted freezer refrigerator. Either way, a small 18 to 20 refrigerator would work just fine. All you have to worry about is picking the color.

If you live in a house I have a lot of around then you should pick a side-by-side refrigerator or a French door version. The French Door version refrigerator is basically side-by-side what’s a bottom freezer drawer. A lot of people do not like the side-by-side version of a refrigerator because it limits the amount of food you could put in both the refrigerator side and the freezer side. There are also people that do not like having a freezer drawer on the bottom of a refrigerator. They feel like they lose some of their Frozen Foods deep in the crevices in the drawer. So was that you have to really consider what your preferences are.

For sheer size, french doors are usually the best option. Whirlpool makes a few that are about 30 cubic feet in size. These are basically monster sized refrigerators. If you have a huge family and store a lot of food this is probably your best option. There is also huge sized side by side refrigerators but the room in here is nowhere near what a French door can give you.

As for the width of a refrigerator, once you get to the big size refrigerators, they are all pretty much no bigger than 36 in wide. They have to build them that way or else they will not be able to get them into a house. As you get bigger in size what changes are the actual depth of the fridge. You also have to consider if it has a water dispenser and ice dispenser. These add to the bulk of a fridge as well. Some people like the water dispensers and others like to go completely without it. It all depends on you.

Then there are people that want the look of the French door or a side by side later but also want a compact and smaller design. You see, most refrigerators have a great deal of depth to them. What this means is that when you place it into it’s a slot in your kitchen, it will more than likely stick out quite a few inches. The bigger the refrigerator the more it will stick out. For this reason, big manufacturers have created refrigerators called counter depth refrigerators. What this means is that you get a refrigerator that is approximately 36 in wide but the depth of the refrigerator extremely shallow. What this allows is for the refrigerator to fit flush into the spot in your kitchen. This gives your refrigerator more of a built-in type of look.

It really does make your kitchen look beautiful with a counter depth refrigerator. The only problem with these is that you will be limited to the amount of space that you have inside. Not only that, the price tag on one of these goes up big time compared to its regular depth model. For example, a high-end Samsung French door refrigerator can run about $2,000. For that exact same model in a counter depth will run you about $2,800 instead. So, this is something you really have to look into.

So, there you have it. A quick rundown on choosing the right type of refrigerator for yourself and your family. Now all you gotta figure out is how to get rid of the old one with your local junk removal service.

Categories: Microwaves

How To Install an OTR Microwave

If you got a range, then you more than likely have a microwave sitting on the top of it mounted onto the wall. These are usually referred to as OTR (Over The Range) microwaves. If your has popped its last back of popcorn or heated up last nights leftover meatloaf for the last time and needs to be replaced, we are here to give you a quick rundown on how to install an OTR microwave.

You might be surprised, but these things are not all that hard to install. They are usually just held in place by a simple bracket that is mounted up behind the microwave that the microwave simply rest on and a couple of screws drilled on top of it that connect it over the cabinet. Most of the time, the bracket behind the wall will usually work for any OTR microwave you are looking to install so you won’t need to install a new one. But even if you don’t, attaching a new bracket is a piece of cake.

The first thing you need to do is to remove the old microwave, to begin with. Doing this will pretty much show you how the new one will go in. You’ll need a step stool first so you can see the area over the microwave. First off, open up the doors to the cabinet above the microwave. If you’re on the stool, look on the bottom of the cabinet. Look for two screws. Once you find the screws, use a power drill to drill one screw out first and then get a buddy or anybody to hold the OTR microwave in place before you take out the second one. Once you find someone, have them hold it and take out the second screw. The microwave will want to fall forward. Get down off the stool and gently lean the appliance towards you and that should release it from the hooks that it’s on which is actually the bracket. There are small grooves on the bottom back part of the microwave that rest on hooks on the bracket.

Simply unplug the power cord and dis-attach it from the vent and pull the OTR of and set it to the side. That’s it. Surprisingly, that’s all there is to take one of those things off.

Next, open up the new microwave and basically reverse the entire process. First off, make sure the brackets hooks will properly fit the grooves on the back of the new OTR. If they don’t, no biggie, simply attach the new bracket that will come with the new microwave. Unscrew the screws off the wall to pull off the old bracket. The good thing about drilling the screws out is that it will more than likely have the screws already set up into the studs of the walls. You need to make sure that the bracket is drilled on the stud to be able to hold the weight of the microwave.

Once you pop the new bracket in, it’s time to install the new OTR above your range. Have your buddy give you a hand. Lift the new microwave and rest the grooves into the hooks. Once you know that the OTR is hooked on, simply lift the microwave up and flush with the cabinet. This should line it up with the screw holes that were there before. Once you got it up, make sure you attach the vent properly and then drill the long screw into the microwave followed by the other Plug that bad boy in and you are good to go! That’s all there is to it. Installing an OTR microwave is a piece of cake.

Special thanks to our friends over in Visalia, CA that run and operate their own appliance installation service but also do tree services.

Categories: Dryers

Did You Know You Can Change A Dryers Vent?

Laundry rooms in homes come in all types of shapes and sizes. Some are upstairs in an apartment or condo. Others sit inside a hallway hiding behind a couple of fold away or accordion doors. Some are in garages and others have an entire room dedicated specifically for a washer and dryer. Whatever the case may be, washers and dryers are getting so big in size that they take up a whole lot of room. Sometimes, you are squeezing a new set of washer and dryer into a home and you just can’t get that last bit pushed on a dryer.

Why?

Because the dryer needs space to provide adequate room for the ventilation hose to come off the back of the dryer and into the wall. All dryers come with the vent coming directly off of the back of them. This makes it easy to connect a foil vent straight to the back wall that it will be setting up to. However, sometimes that vent hole in a home isn’t always directly behind a dryer. Sometimes it’s facing to the right wall or left wall of a dryer. Sometimes, the dryer vent is sitting up high and even at times behind the washing machine spot!

So what do most people do when this is the case?

The rig the whole ventilation system behind the dryer in a way that takes up a bunch of space or in a way that creates a super long dryer vent being dragged out 5 feet longer than it needs to be. Another thing that can happen is that you smash the dryer vent hose too much when pushing the dryer back that prevents enough airflow or ventilation to give your dryer enough air to heat up properly. This will cause some seriously long dry times and wear out your dryer a whole lot faster.

So what are our options?

Vent out your dryer from the side! People have no idea that you can change the dryer vent hole on a dryer to the side of the unit. If you look closely, you will see that it has a cut to be “punched out” for you to switch it over. The difficulty of switching the vent hole varies from brand to brand. A few of this brands actually require an additional “side vent kit” to be purchased and are sold separately.

For example, LG makes some really nice dryers and you can purchase a side vent kit online for their dryer. These usually run for around $50. Once you order the kit, you have to follow the instruction to set up the vent on the side. Some vents kits require some serious steps while others are pretty quick. With LG, their dryers require that you take the top of the unit off, remove the rubber belt around the drum of the dryer, carefully pull out the drum and giving you access to the bottom of the dryer where you while adding the side vent kit to it. Seem’s difficult, but with the right tools and a buddy, it should go pretty smoothly. I found a video online that shows you each step. Special thanks to my buddy out in Jersey that owns a business for showing me how to do this. Now check out the video below.

Categories: Uncategorized

Installing A New Fridge in Your Kitchen

When it comes to the installation of appliances in your lovely kitchen, of all the appliances that will go there, the refrigerator has got to be the simplest of appliances to hook up. Seriously, it is! But, and this is a huge BUT, refrigerators are insanely heavy, bulky, and awkward to put into a house. So many problems can happen when bringing in a new fridge into your house. You can dent your new fridge easily right when you bring it in through the front door. You can bang up your door or door trim as you bring in your new fridge too. Here, we will break down a simple systematic process on how to install your refrigerator into your kitchen.

Step Number 1

The very first thing you need to do to get your new refrigerator installed is to make sure you have a big enough entrance in your house to get the fridge in. Most French door fridges (fridges with double-door on top and a freezer drawer on the bottom) measure 33 inches wide to about 34 inches. Most front doors can handle a fridge that way getting through but to make sure measure everything up first.
Once measure, we recommend removing the front door entirely. It isn’t hard to do at all. All you do is use a hammer and a small screwdriver to simply tap underneath the hinges to pop up the pins holding the door in place. Leave the door closed as you do this to give you the easiest access to the pins and to make sure the door doesn’t fall and break something. Once the pins are out, pull the door off and set it aside.

Step Number 2

Use a dolly or moving straps to take out the old fridge. You got to options here. Moving straps or a dolly. They both have pros and cons. The straps make it remarkably easy to move even the bulkiest of objects and make it easy to maneuver around. The problem is that the two people using them have to be fairly strong. Sure, they show a small framed female helping a guy on the box, but let’s be serious here. It isn’t going to happen with a 300+ lbs. fridge! But, if you are two strong individuals, then the straps are the way to go.

Using a dolly is also very effective. Try to use a dolly with a strapping unit on it to make sure the fridge is securely strapped onto the dolly. If you don’t, you can hit a bump and have the dolly tilt to the side and off will come to the fridge! You don’t want that! A big drawback of a dolly is that although it helps reduce the weight of a fridge, it creates a lot of weird angles. Once you got a fridge loaded up on a dolly, tilting it to the right angle with the center of gravity set perfectly in the middle basically makes it weightless which is great. The only problem is that you now have it at an angle and turning it makes it a whole lot bigger to move around corners and furniture around your house.

Step Number 3

Once you move your old fridge out of your kitchen and now have placed your new fridge in its spot, it’s time to install it. The only pieces of equipment that you will need are an ice maker line and a ½ inch wrench. That’s all it takes to install a refrigerator. Most home today have a water line faucet right behind where a refrigerator goes. Remove the old water line since you always want new hook ups when installing any new appliance. Attach one end of the ice maker line (these are usually 5 feet long) with your ½ inch wrench. Tighten it nice and firmly. Next, attach the other end to the fridge itself. Most fridges will have the connection on the lower right-hand side if you are behind it and looking towards it. Again, use your ½ inch wrench to tighten up the line onto the fridge.

Step Number 4

Push your fridge into its spot and set the feet on it. Most people don’t know that you should set the feet on a fridge. Adjusting these will vary from brand to brand of fridge and based on models. To adjust the feet, simply turn them out to raise the fridge from off its wheels. You can use your hands to turn them out while someone helps tilt the fridge back. If it’s too hard to turn out, use a set of channel locks or a pair of pliers to turn the wheels out. Another type of feet adjustment on fridges are the ones that have a bolt on the front of the bottom grill cover. For these you will more than likely need a power drill or a ratchet with a ¾ socket end to it. With the ¾ socket or drill end, turn it to the right and left and it will either lower or raise the foot on the fridge to have it come off the rollers. Once you got the fridge where you want it to be, lower the feet so it will stay in its place.

The reason you do this is so the fridge no longer moves around. This also creates a small angle on the fridge that has it tilt back a bit. This allows the doors to close on their own in case a child forgets or you forget to do it. That’s it. That’s all it takes to install a refrigerator. Hooking it up is easy. Getting the old one out and getting the new one in is the hardest part.

Categories: Ranges

Why Professional Appliance Installation Services is a Fast Track to Kitchen Bliss

One of the reasons people choose to install home appliances themselves is to save money. You’ll hear them say it’s quite costly to hire a professional when they can do it themselves. What they never consider is the protection and long-lasting performance that comes with quality services from professionals. In most cases, homeowners successfully manage to install their dishwasher or washing machine without any trouble. However, there are times when you don’t have the know-how and installation skills needed to get it right.

That’s the reason why it’s important to contact the right professional expert, particularly for those who have never installed any home appliance before. Whether you want to install a dishwasher, a washing machine, or any other home appliance, the installation process can be tricky. You have to fit the pipes correctly otherwise your kitchen will end up flooding. Here are reasons why you don’t need to take any risks.

Aesthetics and Style

The best way to work out everything about your appliance is to hire a professional installer. You need to purchase the right size of appliance that will fit in the available space. What happens if you end up buying a dishwasher that’s smaller than the one you had before. How can you tell if it will fit in the available space? Technicians have worked with kitchens and homes for many years and understand how to get you through the process. Uninstalling an old appliance and getting a new one for installation requires one to be careful. They will install your appliance without marking, scuffing, or scratching your countertops, cabinet doors, and floor. This is mistakes you’re likely to make when installing the appliance yourself. You should, therefore, ask yourself how you want your home to look before going ahead with the DIY installation.

Safety and Performance

Professional appliance installation will not only ensure your safety but also maximize the performance of your home appliance. You risk injuring yourself or damaging your valuables during the DIY appliance installation. The best option to avoiding injury and property damage in working with the right professional. This is more crucial where water and electricity are involved. It’s important that your dishwasher, washing machine, or whatever home appliance, is plumbed correctly and installed safely. This will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars in damages. It will also ensure that your appliance is running at its peak performance.

Full Protection and Insurance

What does this have to do with appliance installation? We both know that things can end up not as expected. In the unlikely event of things going in the wrong direction, the professional company will be liable for the cost of injury or repairs. Of course, you have to hire an appliance installation company that has adequate insurance coverage in this case. Once you’ve hired a professional, it’s upon him to get your home appliance to the right location safely and install it correctly. Now, if you choose to handle the installation process yourself and something goes wrong, you’ll be liable for the repairs.