How To...

Replace damaged siding Free a stripped screw Insulate pipes Match paint colors

I have vinyl siding on my 15-year-old home. There is a silver-dollar-size hole where my daughter hit it with a softball years ago and two more small broken areas. How can I fix these broken places? Or where would I go to find small, matching (color, texture, size) pieces of siding to cover them?

Poolesville

You can't repair vinyl siding, but you can replace damaged pieces. If you don't have a spare, the hardest part is finding pieces that match reasonably well. Online services, such as http://www.sidingmatch.com, offer to identify the manufacturer, but the fee could be $100. And manufacturers change styles regularly, so there's probably no current match for anything more than seven or eight years old, says Jack Leons, sales manager of S&K Roofing, Siding and Windows in Eldersburg, Md. Instead, call a siding installer and ask what leftovers are available, or go to a home center, where you'll find pieces in a few colors for about $10 each. The most important thing is to match the profile so the "boards" of the siding line up. Vinyl siding usually comes in 12-foot-long panels that look like two pieces of wood.

If you can't find a perfect match and if the damage is in a visible spot -- which is, of course, what always seems to happen -- remove a section of siding from an inconspicuous area, such as behind shrubs. Use that to replace the damaged siding, and put the new bad-match piece in its place. If the colors are far off, paint the new piece first with a formula that says it sticks to vinyl. Manufacturers don't recommend painting vinyl siding and warn that warranties don't cover the results, says Dave Johnston, technical director of the Vinyl Siding Institute, a trade group. But in this case, the warranty isn't an issue, so you have nothing to lose.

Removing a piece of siding and installing a new one is easy. From a home center, buy a vinyl unlocking tool, a little pry bar with a hook at the end. Slip it in under the bottom edge at one end of the panel you want to remove. Pull down as you slide the tool along the length of the piece, and the bottom edge will come free. Lift it up the panel, and you'll see the nailing strip of the panel you want to replace. Remove the nails with the claws of a hammer or a small pry bar. Take out the damaged panel, slip in the new one and nail it in place. With the unlocking tool, zip the panel above to the piece you just installed.

***

I have stripped the Phillips head screw on the cold-water faucet of my tub. The handle was loose, and as I tried to tighten it I stripped it. I have since sprayed WD-40 in it, and my son put some Loctite in it and tried to remove it with an Allen wrench. Still no help. Please suggest anything.

Clifton

Sometimes stripped screws can be removed by pressing hard as you turn with a larger-size Phillips screw bit or a square bit. When that doesn't work, you'll need to drill into the screw and insert a fluted shaft known a screw extractor. Turn it counterclockwise with a tap wrench, and it will dig into the sides of the drilled hole and work like a corkscrew to remove the broken part without damaging the threads of the original screw hole. Turn off the water supply and let water drain from the faucet before you begin.

But there's a good chance that a new screw won't fix what made the handle loose in the first place. Given that, you might want to buy new handles from a store that takes returns. Then call a plumber to extract the broken screw, assess the situation and install (and supply) new faucet innards and the new handles.

***

Whenever I turn on the cold water in my townhouse, the water starts cold, then turns warm, almost to the point of my not being able to keeps my hands in it, then gradually turns cold. This happens on every faucet, including the showers. Do you have any idea what could be causing this?