Here we are going to share 10 easy and practical DIY handyman solutions for some of the most common household maintenance and repair problems out there.
1. How to ease picture hanging?
Everyone has had the difficult time with wall hanging of photos, paintings, art installations and my personal hardest – TV wall mountings. The general rule of thumb says that a photo should be 60 inches from the floor or 5-6 inches above your sofa or couch, thus giving it a lovely and aesthetic look and feel. The hard part here is to nail down where to nail it down.
There is a handyman tool called Hang & Level and it’s among those repairmen tools you can call “a real lifesaver”. Use it to hang your pictures
- Move the item you want to hang and the level together along the wall until you find the most suitable place to mount.
- When ready, remove picture or photo, but still hold the tool steady.
- Press the button on the device and mark the place where you want to nail.
For more stability you can press the two buttons for double markings.
2. How to fix rugs and carpets from running off?
Rugs and carpets do often run off and that is because of the daily household use. If not pressed down by large piece of furniture, rugs and carpets might become an ongoing problem. If you allow it, you will surely require some sort of maintenance and fix up on a regular basis. When you move, change or relocate any piece of furniture so does the rug or carpet. Rug pads are an expensive DIY handyman solution, but not the most handy of all.
If you don’t care what the bottom of your carpet looks like a good and cheap repair is to apply double sided tape. Apply it an inch away from the edge. The great thing about such a repairman’s move is that it’s cheap and it’s wood friendly. In case you want to change your home interior – there won’t be any sticky markings or floor damage, which will save you the need of any extra handyman services in the longterm.
3. How to treat scratches and maintenance on wooden furniture and floors?
Scratched wooden surfaces are an inevitable part of the household everyday usage. Floors, built in wardrobes, bookcases, tables and shelving – they all eventually receive some sort of scratch or damage. It is unavoidable, no matter how handy of a man you are, and how carefully you try to save those. An easy and clever way to fix up oak tables damage is by masking or repolish. Pine floors i.e. are quite difficult.
Floor sanding is a costly way to maintenance and requires both a lot of time and patience, plus it often results in unevening your wooden surface. There is another simpler handyman repair, which is more manageable as a way to fix up and you could immediately try it. Take a wet towel and spread it over the scratch. Use an iron over the towel and by perform circular movements for three to five minutes. This method will make the wood swell thus permanently remove any imperfections. Colouring the scratch with a special type of marker is another handy man’s trick. Wood-repair markers can easily conceal a scratch. They are handy and cheap, compared to professional handyman services.
4. What handy fixes are there for holes in the wall?
Picture hanging is a tough task that can leave your wall riddled with cracks, holes and other imperfections. If you are not the ultimate handyman, each and all of your attempts to hang a picture, or hanging whatsoever else will leave a mark or two on the wall. It may not even be your fault that a small blemish turned out to be a wall crack.
Weather changes can cause wooden surfaces to expand or contract and thus result in substantial damage to your wall. There is a handy fix-up for small blemishes:
- Use toothpaste to cover those.
- Squirt enough to fill the whole and scrape the excess off.
- For more persistent holes use sand flat and paint.
- If that still doesn’t help – visit your local handyman or hardware store and get a wall repair patch kit.
- Repeat the same steps.
The kit contains all a DIY household handy man might need.
5. What handy tricks are there for cleaning the drain?
Every time a drain is blocked, you have to dump some sort of a chemical solution. When that doesn’t help you have to call an emergency plumber to help out and unclog the drain, right?
The issue here lies in the chemical solutions usage, which is temporary and may or may not solve your problem and even cause more. There are cases where a chemical solution meant to unblock your drain actually corrodes the pipe and thus damages it often beyond repair. In order to avoid drain repairs you can choose a simpler and safer DIY handyman fix.
Most clogs happen on the P-trap of the sink, which you can easily access. The P-trap is where the pipe curves beneath your sink. Place a bucket underneath in order to prevent spillages, unscrew the bottom part, which usually comes off easily. Make sure you clear all debris in the pipe before screwing it back.
If you don’t have the stomach to handle dirt and grime, or any other reason there is another handyman fix-up to do this. Drain-Fx is a solution shaped as a serpentine with two ends. One end is attached to your sink valve and the other goes down the drain to blast off water under pressure and thus unclog the blockage in your drainage system.
6. How to fix creaky and wobbly chairs?
Often household furnishing has been in use for quite a while. Wooden chairs, tables, wardrobes and etc. Needless to say as time passes, the same chairs and tables get older and tend to cause creaky noises when used. Body weight loosens the table/chair screws and joints and there’s a handy way to repair that. Tightening the screws, even if they don’t look loose, can help reduce creaky sounds and wobbly chairs. The next thing is to dismantle the joints and then reassemble properly. If everything else fails, you can use Wonderlok ‘Em Instant Loose Chair Repair. A single bottle can be used for up to 8 chairs.
7. What is a handy way to clean the toilet drain?
Toilets nowadays aren’t designed with powerful flushing systems. The P-stack or U bend is the same as the one beneath your sink. It might hold large objects such as children’s action figures, toothbrushes and God knows what else.
Before throwing the plunger aside for being ineffective, make sure you’re using the right handyman technique. The plunger must be completely submerged in water. If it isn’t – pour until it is. One or two light plunges won’t fix anything properly, so plunge vigorously. If this fails – go to the local hardware store and buy the so called plumber snake. This tool can reach places that plungers can’t. Insert the flexible end in your toilet drain and begin swivelling downwards. The plumber’s spring end can break blockages and retrieve objects.
8. How to patch ripped vinyl – Is duct tape the best handyman solution?
Using duct tape to repair a ripped vinyl looks simply horrible. People often believe that this is the only handyman fix-up not knowing any other handy alternatives.
Special types of glue can keep their elasticity after drying. Two examples are Loctite vinyl or Fantastic Elastic. They are perfect for patching tents, punctured beach balls and ripped furnishing. You can apply a thin line on the edges of the ripped area and glue them together. Use a patch to strengthen the ruptured area, place it underneath the vinyl so it won’t be easily seen.
9. Are loose kitchen doors easy fix?
Door repairs are often a nightmare. Especially kitchen doors get slammed and shut on a regular basis and after while, they become ever more harder to fully close, due to sagging or shifting.
The handy handyman solution here is to loose all screws, while holding the door and thus adjust it. When done, make sure to screw those properly! Some hinges offer the option to adjust the door up, down, or side to side by simply adjusting a dedicated screw.
10. How to maintenance heavy sliding doors?
Doors that used to slide with no more than a gentle push often do end up as barely sliding. When you use full strength to move them a bit – you definitely need a good door repair. Rubbish stuck between the narrow track and wheels a common cause of the problem. It’s easy to miss, because it’s a tight area and you don’t have a clear view. Run a paintbrush through the track, or pressurised air to remove debris.
If that doesn’t help you can always adjust the wheels up or down. There is a screw above each wheel that turned clockwise raises or counter-clockwise lowers the wheel. When everything else fails use WD-40 spray on the track. This can dissolve residue and dirt, but it can also act as a lubricant to help the door movement.
Conclusion:
Wall mounting, loose carpets or rugs, damaged wooden surfaces, holes in the wall, clogged drain, creaky furniture, bathroom fixes, ripped vinyls, door repairs and maintenance of sliding doors. You are now officially a DIY handyman!