Save money and headaches by knowing what home repairs you can make on your own. Ready to start fixing up those annoying squeaks, jammed tracks, and damaged contraptions?
Are things in your home keeping you up at night, worrying you while at work, or just plain irritating when you have guests over? Keep reading this guide for 10 DIY repairs you can do in your home today.
Simple DIY Repairs
From squeaking floors to whining doors, to those stuck windows and jammed drains, this is your repair guide for bringing your home back to its glory. Take a look through and see if any catch your eye as the thing that’s been bugging you!
1. Patching Drywall
Want to really show off your handy skills? You can patch your own drywall.
Most home improvement stores offer drywall kits. Use these (at least for ideas!)
You’ll want to clean the wall first, getting rid of any dirt or dust particles that might affect the adhesives.
After cleaning, apply the wall adhesive, then the cross-hatched piece of drywall stitching. Let that dry over.
From here you can reapply paint, but don’t do it all at once. Remember to paint in coats!
2. Dried out Cutting Board
After years of chops, your cutting board may look like it belongs in the fire. But before you toss it, try this:
Mineral Oil.
This can usually be snagged at your local supermarket.
Warm the oil up in a bowl, and then work the oil through the board. Let it sit for at least four hours, then wipe away the excess oil with a cloth.
Wash it up and well-ah! Like new!
3. Door Slams
Sometimes the wind catches it, maybe you’ve been working out in the office and you’re caught off guard by your own strength. Door slams happen.
To lessen the blow and not wake the neighbors, try adding some weather stripping to the bottom of your door. You could also add a few pieces of peel and stick foam to act as a bracer between the door and the frame.
Now the door can handle your muscles!
4. Stained Tub
It’s probably not actually stained. Or even if it is, there are solutions!
Baking soda and bleach.
These work exceptionally well at restoring your tub to its shining gloss. We recommend using a non-scratch brittle brush.
Scrub everything down with the powder or bleach and then let things sit for at least 30 minutes. After that wash it down with water.
5. Squeaky Floor
Maybe you’re trying to sneak that midnight snack — we won’t judge!
To avoid blowing your cover by stepping on that one spot that squawks throughout your whole home, add some talcum powder.
By working the powder into the cracks, this will act as a soft wall between floorboards. So now, when you step, no more cries!
6. Jammed Windows
Trying to open or close a jammed window is infuriating. Don’t burn all your strength just to get a breeze.
The DIY repair to remedy this is by adding a spray lubricant for silicon.
These special lubricants are specifically designed for jams like this. But again, be careful where you spray, you don’t want it to damage or stain your floors!
7. Flattened Couch Cushions
After being sat on time and time again, your couch cushions can get pretty deflated. To fix this, let them sunbathe for a little while.
Sounds crazy, but the sun and heat will actually make your cushions rise back to life like dough in the oven.
While you wait, try out some of those 2019 hobbies you’ve been putting off!
We recommend flipping them every hour and not to leave them out for more than four as you don’t want to fade the color.
8. Squeaky Doors
Those annoying high pitched squawks can be stopped!
The most common remedy is WD-40 — but be careful! WD can stain your door, carpet, and even wood floors if not cleaned up right.
If applying WD-40 to your squeaky door, we recommend spraying it into a cloth and then touching up the hinges.
A safer bet that does the job and is just as good is actually soap.
Taking a bar of soap and rubbing it around your hinges, opening and closing the door to work it in while you do so is a great way to clean up your squeak problem.
9. Clogged Toilet
The throne room needs maintenance every now and then, especially the throne itself.
Most clogs have simple remedies like a plunger. But there are a few scenarios that can get a little more complex. Especially with kids flushing things!
For a higher grade problem, try snaking your drain. A Plumber’s Snake can usually be picked up at your local hardware store. This process is like using a pipe cleaner, just for your water pipes.
If this doesn’t work there is the heavy duty method. And we call it heavy duty because toilets are not light, so make sure you have some help around.
Serious Clogging
Sometimes your drain line can be backed up by a build-up of things you’re not supposed to flush. This may consist of women’s products or, one of the killer culprits, Q-tips!
To remove your toilet and get down into the lines shut the water off first. The process following consists of unbolting and untwisting valves as you remove the toilet to see down into the drain.
After clearing and un-gunking, reattach everything and turn the water back on. You should be ship-shape!
If this process sounds pretty complex. We recommend reaching out to a plumber. If you are a plumber ready to wrestle someone’s piping issues, LinkNow to get known in the field.
10. That Leaky Sink
Everyone’s seen these in the cartoons but do you know how to fix a leaky sink if it’s dripping in your home?
Try the handles.
Making sure those turn off all the way is one of the primary problems. Even though it may appear turned off, underneath that countertop is where the problem may dwell.
Which leads us to the seal, often called the gasket.
Due to water, that little rubber ringlet gets corroded. Once it breaks or tears in an area, the sink won’t actually shut off all the way, even though it appears off.
Think of it like a hole in your hose.
To fix this, unbolt the handle from underneath the sink. After doing so you’ll be able to take the handle out and find the seal.
Take the old off and slip on a new one. This should keep those drips from keeping you up at night.
More DIY
Hopefully these DIY repairs are returning your home to is annoyance-free, fixed-up glory! For more DIY repairs, life-hacks, and day-to-day news check out our blog. If you don’t see what you’re looking for there, feel free to reach out and contact us. We’d love to chat and see what kinds of tips or news you’re looking for!