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"  1. Damp Crawlspace Dry-Out Cobwebbed and claustrophobic, crawlspaces are awful places to work--yet they may hold the key to improving your home&amp;#039;s indoor environment. Many dirt-floored crawlspaces lack a vapor barrier (polyethylene sheeting at least 6 mils thick), allowing moisture to seep into the insulation and wood overhead. Hello, mold and mildew. The fix: Unroll the sheet inside the crawlspace and cut it to fit, leaving an extra 6 inches at each wall. Scoot this material up the walls and lock it in place with construction adhesive. If you have multiple sheets, overlap them by 6 inches and tape the seams. Prevent the plastic from shifting on the ground by topping it with sandbags, bricks or smooth stones. 2. Lawnmower Muck Work The instructions inside Briggs &amp;amp;amp; Stratton&amp;#039;s lawnmower tuneup kit recommend replacing or cleaning the air filter every 25 hours or once a season--and you won&amp;#039;t want to do it more often. If it&amp;#039;s a foam filter, squeeze residual oil into a newspaper or rag. Seal the rag in a nonflammable container before tossing it out, to prevent a trash-can fire. Give pleated paper filters a blast of compressed air and knock off the buildup. That&amp;#039;s not the only messy part of mower maintenance. The machine&amp;#039;s second dirtiest spot is the underside of the deck. Scrape off the compacted, moldy grass with a putty knife and a wire brush. In the fall, mow over dry leaves--they&amp;#039;ll scour the living daylights out of the deck. Before storing a self-propelled mower away for the winter, remove its drive-belt cover and pull out any junk that has worked its way inside. 3. Plaster and Lath Pullout When plaster comes down, the dust flies. To cut cleanup time, seal the room&amp;#039;s doors with 2-mil plastic sheeting and cover the floor with Masonite sheets (shiny side up). Set a window fan to blow outward (for lead paint, add a HEPA reverse-flow filter to the fan and a respirator to your face). Al Smith, a general contractor in South River, N.J., says, &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t use a sledgehammer. Instead, poke through the plaster with the head of a crowbar, twist, then pull down.&amp;quot; 4. Range-Hood Degreasing Grease in a kitchen exhaust hood has to go--it&amp;#039;s a fire hazard, says Curt McDonald, a ServiceMaster cleaning pro in Fairbanks, Alaska. Remove the grease filters and fan blades, then spray greasy surfaces with a 15 percent solution of d-limonene citrus cleaner. Keep a plastic sheet beneath the hood to catch drips. Soak filters and blades in a hot d-limonene bath while the cleaner breaks down buildup in the hood. Wipe it out, then scrape remote spots with a putty knife wrapped in cloth.  5. Flooded Carpet Fix A wet carpet can turn into a mildewed mess overnight. But work fast and you just might save that rug, says Danny Brown, owner of a Servpro home cleaning firm in McDonough, Ga. &amp;quot;If the subfloor is concrete slab, pull the carpet back and just rip out and dispose of the padding,&amp;quot; Brown says. Use pliers to pinch one corner of the carpet and pull it away from the tack strips to reveal the pad. Remove the pad, roll the carpet back down and hit it with a wet/dry vacuum. If the carpet has become delaminated, toss it out too. Rent large fans to move air around the room for several days, placing a machine every 12 to 16 linear feet, Brown says. Simultaneously run the air conditioner and a dehumidifier to help remove moisture from the air. 6. Insulation Mess Management This is one of those rare jobs that&amp;#039;s both dirty and fun--prepare to be pulped. Installing blow-in cellulose insulation in an attic on a warm day will leave you covered in paper particles, looking like a Chia Pet. Protect yourself from the flying fibers by wearing a respirator mask, goggles, gloves, long pants tucked into socks, and a long-sleeve shirt with cuffs cinched tight by rubber bands. A hard hat prevents protruding roofing nails from doing real damage. If you set up the hopper indoors, a box fan in the window will blow dust outside.  --&amp;amp;gt; 7. Squirrel Eviction Don&amp;#039;t let a nest of squirrels squat in the attic. First things first: Trap the squirrels and bar them from returning. That means using metal plate covers for vents and fans and galvanized hardware cloth to seal up damaged soffits, fascia boards or roofing where the critters gain entry. Eric Arnold, a wildlife control specialist in Medina, Ohio, advises wearing a half-face respirator (rated for asbestos removal) to guard against leptospirosis and other disease. Disinfect the area by spraying with a 10 percent bleach solution followed by a pesticide application to kill off ticks and fleas. Replace any urine-soaked drywall. For colossal messes, check your insurance policy--it might cover the cleanup.  8. Sewer Rx If every sink and toilet is backing up--not just one--your main sewer line may be clogged. Use a heavy-duty sewer auger in the sewer cleanout in the basement. Start with the smallest blade, says Nebraska-based master plumber Merle Henkenius. &amp;quot;Go into the clog, pull back and see what&amp;#039;s on the head,&amp;quot; he says. If it&amp;#039;s tangled in roots, use the biggest blade to scour the pipe, then flush the line with a root killer. Visible dirt indicates a collapsed sewer pipe. Measure the cable length to the clog and call a plumber. 9. Popcorn Ceiling Makeover Getting rid of a 1970s-era popcorn ceiling is a tough and grubby job, but it&amp;#039;s every bit as satisfying as ridding your closet of leisure suits. First, take a sample of the ceiling material and send it to be analyzed for asbestos. If it comes back positive, call in a remediation firm. If not, get to work--clear the room of furniture, and protect flooring by covering it with thick plastic sheeting taped to the baseboards. Wear a dust mask and goggles. With a heavy-napped paint roller soaked in water, wet a small area of the ceiling and scrape away the moistened popcorn with a 4- to 8-inch drywall taping knife. Repeat. The absorbent popcorn weakens when wet, but be careful--too much moisture can damage the underlying gypsum board. Once the entire ceiling is cleared and dry, smooth it with medium-grit sandpaper. Patch gouges with drywall compound, and apply a stain-killing primer before painting.  10. Rotten Refrigerator Rescue When storms knock out power, the useful life span of a refrigerator goes from years to mere days. Empty out the refrigerator ASAP and you can rescue it, even if the contents are smelling ripe. Wipe down inside surfaces with an ammonia-based detergent. When power returns, run the refrigerator for several days with an opened 5-pound bag of natural charcoal briquettes in the freezer. &amp;quot;Charcoal will filter and deodorize even spoiled fish or meat smells,&amp;quot; Brown says.  11. Toilet Seal Transplant A commode leaking at the bottom may have a broken wax-ring seal between the toilet and the floor&amp;#039;s toilet flange. Replacing the ring is simple--for those with a strong stomach. Here&amp;#039;s how to do it: Turn off the water valve feeding the toilet. Flush and hold down the handle. Pour a bucket of cold water into the bowl to eliminate all but a small amount of water, which you can then sponge up. Separate the toilet tank from the base, and unscrew the nuts holding the toilet to the floor. Gently lift the toilet up and off the bolts and place it on its side on a large plastic garbage bag. Here&amp;#039;s where the ick factor runs high. Scrape off the remains of the old wax ring and any, ahem, residual material from the base of the toilet and flange. Press a new ring over the hole in the base of the toilet and reverse your earlier steps. Place plastic straws on each of the new bolts to help guide the toilet base home. Definitely wear gloves--a tough nitrile pair will resist punctures and splashes.  12. Cat Urine Treatment Cat urine on linoleum or tile flooring is rank but treatable. On hardwood flooring, it&amp;#039;s fatal. The uric acid crystals in cat pee bond tightly to any surface, causing a stubborn odor. Get the stench under control by blotting the affected wood with a rag or mop soaked in 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution. Black stains caused by persistent peeing won&amp;#039;t come out, even with heavy sanding, says Jim Schwab of Carter Wood Floors in Long Beach, Calif. &amp;quot;Refinish the floor with a dark color to cover a big pee stain, or swap in a couple of spare floorboards,&amp;quot; he advises. Use short lengths from inconspicuous parts of the room, or, better yet, leftover planks piled up in the basement. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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