With the increasing emphasis on DIY learning some DIY home hacks to ease one’s labour are the need of the hour. Gharpedia shares a few pointers through this blog.
Out of the many things that we need to thank for the wily virus, one thing is for making us less dependent on external labour and contract agencies. While our foreign counterparts believe in doing things on their own, when it comes to Mera Bharat Mahan there’s still a lot of dependence on labourers, gardeners, house help, chefs et al. But the pandemic and the series of lockdowns clamped to arrest the spread of Covid-19 have changed this with more-and-more households looking-up the internet and learning how to do most jobs on their own, may it be repairing a creaking door hinge or making a door glide, fixing a sticky door or hammering a nail for a photo frame.
Here’s sharing some DIY home hacks to ease all these arduous tasks –
DIY Tools for Home
If you are (or want to be) a do-it-yourself(er), here are ten categories of must-have tools you should have to help you with most projects –
Following is the basic tool kit list:
- Claw hammer
- Level
- Pliers
- Screwdrivers
- Adjustable wrenches
- Utility knife (average-sized and heavy-duty)
- Retractable, metal tape measure
- Small all-purpose saw
- Small drill
- Safety goggles
- Nails
- Screws
- Nuts and Bolts
- Masking Tape
- Duct Tape
- Electrical Tape
- Sandpaper
- Glue
As you get more and more into do-it-yourself projects, you will get a better idea of which tools you use most and which need upgrading. You will also understand which are the essential tools for home. At some point, you may want to treat yourself to a power saw or a sander or whatever will make your workshop more complete. If you want to know more about the must-haves for your toolkit, you can go through our blog Must-haves for Your Toolkit.
The main thing is to know what you’re doing before you do it. Be careful…and yes, have fun!
DIY Home Hacks for Cleaning Rusty Tools
Author Robert Hughes once remarked, “A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop.”
As far as we’re concerned, you can either get the rust off that monkey wrench or prevent rust on tools by just following a few DIY home hacks.
Following is the list of DIY home hacks for cleaning rusty tools:
- If you have a tool that is so rusty, that you’re ready to throw it away, give it a final chance to un-rust. Get a container – most tools will be able to stand in a wide-mouth jar – and fill it with apple cider vinegar. Put the rusty tool in, and let it marinate overnight. The next day, clean the tool with a cloth. It should be rust-free and usable again.
- You can also use sandpaper to take rust off a tool. Start with a fine grade and if it doesn’t work then use coarse sandpaper.
- Try getting rid of the rust with a moistened steel wool pad.
- If you want to remove a nut, bolt or screw but it won’t budge, do the unexpected and try turning it to the right, tightening it a bit. If it gets tighter, the chances are you can then undo it by turning it to the left. Pour a little cola on the culprit, wait for one to two minutes for the soda to eat into the rust and then have a go at it.
- Distilled white vinegar, iodine or 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide may help loosen a rusty nut, bolt or screw. Dab it on with a cotton ball and let it soak for about five minutes before turning it …yes, to the left!
If none of these hacks works in cleaning rusty tools, you may have to replace the tool with something new. Replacing tools might be pocket-friendly but replacing things like rusted tiles or rusted railing is not economical. You can repair the rusted railing of your home by applying rust-removing chemicals or primer.
How to Fix a Nail in the Wall?
Following are the steps on how to fix a nail in the wall:
- Close up a large screw hole and start over.
- Get a little carpenter’s glue or wood putty (available at hardware stores), a wooden golf tee, a hammer and a saw.
- Dip the tee in the glue or putty, hammer the tee into the screw hole and let it dry overnight.
- Then saw off the part of the tee that’s jutting out of the wall, sand it flush, and you’re ready to create a new hole for a screw or a nail.
How to Fix Loose Screws
Following are the DIY home hacks to fix loose screws:
- If the screw is just a little loose, dip it into a bottle of clear nail polish (or coat the screw’s hole with a just-dipped nail polish brush). Let it sit for a minute and then screw in the screw. This remedy is especially helpful if the screw is attached to a knob, like on a dresser drawer.
- Take a twist tie from a loaf of bread; fold it over; then cut the unfolded, open ends so that the tie is the length of the screw’s hole. Place the V-shaped end of the twist-tie into the hole and then put in the screw. If there’s not enough room for the screw, cut the twist-tie in half, reinsert only one side of the twist-tie in the hole, and then reinsert the screw.
- If the hole has got too large for the screw, soak a piece of cotton ball in white glue and stuff it into the hole. Let it stay that way until it dries – at least for 24 hours – then screw in the screw.
Nails and screws both have a unique purpose to solve. When it comes to choosing between the two for fixing furniture, one might get confused. To get a clear picture of what to use, you must go through our blog.
Keeping Screws, Nails, Nuts and Bolts Together
When you take something apart, don’t risk losing any of the hardware, especially if you need to put the object back together again. As you remove them, stick all the nails, nuts, bolts and screws on a thick piece of tape. It’s a good idea to stick the parts on the tape in the same order that you remove them; you may also want to write down the order as a backup…
How To Drill into Drywall?
Following are steps on how to drill into drywall:
- If you’re putting up a shelf or a mirror or a towel bar, you’ll want the solid backing of studs (the vertical 2’X4’ boards behind finished walls) to hang them securely. If you do not have a battery-powered stud finder (available at hardware stores) you can use an electric razor.
- Plug it in and move it on the wall as though you were giving it a shave. When the razor passes over a stud, the sound will change from a hollow bass to an up-front buzz. Once you have found a stud, there should be another stud 16’ or 24’ away.
- When you know the exact spot on the drywall where you plan to hammer in a nail, place a piece of masking or transparent tape there. It should help prevent the plaster from chipping off as the nail goes in.
- Once the nail is in the drywall, gently and slowly peel off the tape so that the paint and plaster remain intact.
Hammer Safety Tips
If the nail in question is in an awkward spot and it’s difficult to hold in place while you hammer (or if you hit your finger more often than the nail) the answer to the problem is a strip of clay (available at crafts and toy stores). Stick the clay on the wall, and let it hold the nail for you. Once you’ve nailed the job, peel off the clay. By following such DIY home hacks, you can definitely save your finger from getting hurt.
DIY Home Hacks While Using a Screwdriver
Following are a few tips while using a screwdriver:
- To keep a screwdriver from slipping off the head of the screw, rub chalk at the end of the screwdriver before using it.
- Before screwing in a screw, screw it in and out of a bar of soap. The soap-coated screw should then screw into your target easily.
How To Fix Squeaky Hinges?
Following are the DIY home hacks on how to fix squeaky hinges:
- If the hinges on a door or cabinet are squeaking just dab a bit of petroleum jelly or foam shaving cream on the noisy part
- You can also spray the hinges with non-stick vegetable spray.
- Keep opening and closing the door until the jelly or spray works its way in and thoroughly lubricates the hinges.
Troubleshooting Drawer Slides
Rub a bar of soap or candle wax on the tracks or runners of a drawer, and voila… they’ll open and close by themselves.
How To Fix a Sticky Door?
Following are the ways to fix a sticky door:
- The first step is to locate the exact spot which is responsible for the sticky door then simply keep on sandpapering that portion (albeit slowly) until it stops sticking.
- In case the bottom of the door is rubbing against the floor, then go ahead and insert coarse sandpaper between the floor and the door…then open and close repeatedly until the trouble spot is sanded down.
How To Cover Marks on Walls?
If there are annoying little marks throughout your home and you are thinking of how to hide bad walls, consider covering them up with correction fluid. Even though the white fluid may be whiter than most kitchen sinks or bathroom tiles, it will cover up a dark ding and make it a lot less noticeable. If the surface on which you apply the cover-ups is shiny, dab a little colourless nail polish over the correction fluid.
DIY Home Hacks: Some Important Pointers
- While doing DIY home hacks, it is wise to wear your safety goggles to protect your eyes from any dust particles.
- To prevent rust, keep pieces of chalk or a few charcoal briquettes in your toolbox. This chalk or charcoal will absorb the excess moisture that causes rust. In case you don’t use a toolbox, prevent rust from forming by cleaning your tools with steel wool, and then applying a thin coat of petroleum jelly.
- When you need to remember which way to loosen or tighten a nut, bolt or screw try this – ‘righty tightly, lefty loosely!’
- If you rub the head of your hammer with fine sandpaper every so often, it will help prevent the hammer from slipping off the nail and hitting your finger or the wall.
- If you need to use an electric drill in a dark area, tape a small flashlight (such as a penlight) to the side of the drill to make the work more visible – this will make it easier and safer to do the job.
- When a small job requires sandpapering, it may be more efficient to use an emery board than to try to manoeuvre a piece of sandpaper in a tiny or hard-to-reach place.
- While sanding, do this in order to ensure that you are sanding the door (and not the floor!) – Staple a piece of thin cardboard on the bottom of the sandpaper (this should be done in such a way that the thin cardboard rests on the floor while the coarse sandpaper is up against the bottom of the door).
- In addition to white, liquid-paper correction fluid comes in several colours such as ivory, blue, green, pink, ledger buff and canary yellow. You can also get a matching paint sample from your local paint or hardware store.
Are you ready to take a plunge into the DIY segment, now? All the very best!
Now that you are aware of a bunch of DIY home hacks on how to fix squeaky hinges, how to hide bad walls or even how to fix a nail in the wall, you must go through our blog on how to unclog a shower drain without calling a plumber.
How To Unclog A Shower Drain – Tips And Tricks
Author Bio
Huta Raval – An English Literature and Journalism Topper, Huta Raval has graduated from the L D Arts College, Ahmedabad. Post serving for 23 years in the NBFC and Public Library Sectors her desire for ‘writing the unwritten’ brought her to the creative field of content writing. Her clientele comprises of NGOs, Blogging Platforms, Newspapers, Academic Institutions, et al.
