For most people, tackling an at-home project or repair is way too intimidating for them to try – but what if it didn’t have to be? We looked around and found ACTUAL solutions to even the most headache-inducing at-home problems. So scroll down to take a look at some of the most brilliant home repair hacks – it will save you time, money, and a whole lot of stress.
Get Some Superglue To Keep Screws Together
Though installing a simple screw sounds mostly simple, the process of doing so isn’t always straightforward. Screws often easily roll away or slip off, resulting in several minutes wasted trying to look for it. The task becomes particularly hard when you have to put the screw at a specific angle.
But what if we told you that there is a simple solution to prevent the hustle? If you grab some rubber glue and put on the tip of the screwdriver, you should be able to successfully prevent any screws from slipping off your drill or screwdriver.
Nail Holes Can Easily Be Filled With Toothpaste
When you’re living in a place you’re likely to find yourself with a few photos and paintings hung on the wall. So when it’s time to go, you have to clear everything. But what happens with those inevitable nail holes on the wall?
It’s the kind of thing that, if seen by a landlord, will most probably be taken from that security deposit. In order to avoid this, there are many simple ways to close those holes, and one of the simple ones is by making use of white non-gel toothpaste. Fill the holes with a bit of toothpaste and your wall will be completely seamless.
Restore Wood Furniture With Coffee Grounds
Most of us have spilled a drink once or twice on a piece of furniture in our home. When that drink happens to be coffee though, we all know how its stain can prevail more than any other. But for pieces of furniture such as cabinets, dressers, and any other thing that uses unfinished wood, you can use coffee grounds.
All you have to do is simply rub coffee grounds on it. That will not only give it a cool brown color without you having to spend any money on paint but will also fill out any scratches and nicks the piece of furniture might have.
A Super Simple Way To Protect Your Fingers While Hammering
Though you may want to hammer a nail or two in the house, you would most probably prefer to do so without hurting your fingers. Unfortunately, it’s a recurring accident with homeowners, but one that you can once again easily prevent.
You can use anything from a bobby pin, clothes pegs, or even a fine-tooth comb to protect your fingers. You simply have to place the nail into the object you choose to use and then line it up on the wall.
Before Cutting Tiles, Soak Them
If you plan to cut some tiles, there is one home hack that you absolutely need to know. It will not only make your life much easier but will also save you a lot of sweat and tears.
Start by making a pre-cut or rivet into the tile before you start. Then, measure out how much exactly you need to cut and begin the cutting process. Afterward, soak the end in some water for a few hours, and voila! It will be much easier to chop off with way less effort!
Soap Can Easily Silence Wooden Drawers
Noisy wooden drawers can be the absolute worst, and it’s one of those things that we often just procrastinate to fix. Unfortunately, though, the noise doesn’t easily disappear and eventually requires you’re gonna have to do something about it.
Luckily, we have just the perfect solution for you. Get some soap, either a bar or liquid soap can work, and rub it along the faulty drawer’s rails. That should easily make it quiet again, at least temporarily.
Struggling With Removing Old Stickers? Use A Blow Dryer!
Whether it’s a brand new chair to complete the living room or a waffle maker, we all want our new purchase to look new for as long as possible. Unfortunately, though, there is an annoying downside to new packaged things – huge packaging stickers.
They not only look terrible on the new appliance but are also a huge pain to peel off without making it come apart. Well, fear no more! The next time you have to peel off a sticker, simply grab a blow dryer and dry it. The heat will help to weaken the glue and will allow you to effortlessly take it off.
Vinegar Can Revitalize Shower-Heads
Vinegar can be a very useful item to have in our home. Unfortunately with time, showerheads tend to have their flow slowed down as a result of calcification.
So instead of taking bad showers or spending tons of money on fancy products, you can fix that showerhead with items you already have in your home. Get a plastic bag and fill it halfway with vinegar, tie it, and let it soak overnight. By the morning, the water pressure will have already improved.
Use Baby Powder To Finally Silence Those Noisy Floorboards
Baby powder is another wonderful tool to use in DYI projects around the house. And if you have hardwood floors at home then baby powder might be exactly what you’ve been looking for. Though most of us can agree that hardwood floors give an incredibly classy vibe to your home, they do come with some disadvantages.
The main one involves that thorn that constantly squeaks as a result of the pieces of wood rubbing together. To stop that, fill a small squeeze bottle with baby powder and squeeze it between the floorboards. Bush it down the cracks and you should be good to go!
Use Soap To Help Screws Go Into Holes
Many of us have dealt with those annoying screws that simply will not go into a piece of wood. No matter how hard you push them, they will refuse to go in. And while our instinct probably tells us to push a little bit harder, that could result in us getting hurt or even damaging the wood for good.
So, grab yourself a bar of soap and rub the screw onto it. You have to carefully do it on all sides so that it acts as a softener to help the screw glide in easily.
“Professional DIYers” are known to usually avoid using predrilled frames, but some of us just want something simple. So if you do use predrilled frames we have the perfect tip for figuring out where to place the nails.
Tape Can Make Hanging Predrilled Frames Much Easier
Unfortunately, making a quick guestimate doesn’t usually work, since the nails have to be exactly right. So, get yourself some masking or painter’s tape and mark the placement of the holes. Afterward, you can simply put the tape over the wall and know just where each nail goes to.
Use Your Microwave To Refresh Tape That Is Not-So-Sticky
Anyone who is avid about DIY projects probably knows how useful and versatile tape can be. There is one little snag with tape though, it tends to lose some of its stickiness after some time.
But what if we told you that instead of throwing it away, there is a way to reuse it? Just stick the tape in the microwave for a couple of seconds and the tape will be good as new.
Use Some Ice Cube To Make Your Carpet Dents Even
If you’re one of those people who absolutely love carpets, then the odds are that you have at least two or three in your house. If you sometimes get that itch to freshen your home design a bit, moving a carpet that is placed under huge pieces of furniture can be really hard.
The furniture’s weight often leaves those unsightly indentations that seem to be there to stay. The good news is that there actually is a very simple way of getting rid of them. Simply place some ice cubes on them and let them melt. Afterward, mop up the excess water and gently use a toothbrush to even them out.
Use A Mic To Find Hidden Wires
Drilling next to switches or outlets can be pretty scary work. If you’re not very careful, you may get a shock. In order to avoid this, you can actually use a microphone. It’s weird, so stay with us!
If you connect the microphone to a tape recorder, you should be able to find any hidden wires in the wall. You’ll know that the wire is there if the tape recorder hums when the mic is placed near a specific spot. That way you know that you should probably drill somewhere else.
Keep Your Paint Brushes Fresh With A Plastic Bag
Painting walls can be a sort of therapeutic activity, that is if you enjoy painting of course. But sometimes we start painting and fail to realize that the paint won’t be enough for the first go, requiring us to get some more paint and continue our task later.
If that happens, we risk getting back to a brush that is completely hard with the paint that was left to dry. You can avoid this however, if you put the paintbrush in a sealed airtight plastic bag as soon as you’re done using it.
A Potato Can Help You Unscrew A Broken Lightbulb
Removing a socket from a broken lightbulb can seem impossible at times, and it can frustratingly result in a shattered lightbulb in our hands. Well, there is actually a strange way that you can succeed the next time you need to do so.
You can just grab a potato and cut it in half. Then, carefully push its soft side into the broken lightbulb, turn it counterclockwise and remove the broken part.
Use Kool-Aid To Diagnose A Leaking Toilet
A leaking toilet can mean one of two things, spending hours trying to fix it but not succeeding very easily, or paying tons of money for a plumber. Instead, here is a way that you could diagnose the problem yourself, saving you a lot of time and money.
Buy a tiny packet of dark-colored Kool-Aid and pour it into your toilet tank. Half an hour after look at the water in the bowl, if it’s colored then you have a leak, if not, then you might be good.
Close The Gap On A Too-Narrow Bolt With Coins
How many times did we need the proper sized bolt to do some work in the house but we simply couldn’t find one? Well, there’s a way you could adapt to the one you already have, even if it’s too big.
The solution is to get a coin, slip it into the gap that is between the wrench and the bolt, and then fill it up as much as you need. The extra space will be gone and you’ll be able to continue what you’re doing.
Find Nail Holes With Magnets
Every once in a while, we feel like we need to change things up in the house, including painting a wall or changing the wallpaper somewhere. When the moment comes, we probably have to take down anything that is hanging on that wall, but then you might want to hang it back up.
Well, instead of making new holes, you could put a magnet on the existing holes so you can easily find them and reuse them once you finish painting.
Unclog Spray Cans With Gasoline
Mass producing companies make use of a tactic called “planned obsolescence” which basically means that manufacturers build a limited shelf life to several products so that customers continue buying. Spray cans are a perfect example of this.
We can often hear that there is still some juice in there, but absolutely nothing comes out. To solve that, you can just soak the nozzle in some gasoline for 15 minutes and the clogging will be cleared.
Use Tape To Help You Drill Into Tiles
Drilling is no easy business, but it’s particularly difficult when it has to be done on slippery tiles usually found in the bathroom or kitchen. Unfortunately, you can lose grip and create an unexpected and burdensome situation at any time.
There’s an easy fix for that though. In order to make the experience slip-free, you can just cover the tile with masking tape. That way, the spot you plan to drill on will instantly have a better grip and will make your experience much easier.
Fix Squeaky Things With Cooking Spray
We’ve all experienced a window, a door, a cabinet, or some sort of object that squeaks. Depending on how squeaky it is it can slowly drive us completely crazy. But we have some good news – you can fix that in a second!
Just get some cooking spray and carefully spray it on the hinges. In a couple of minutes, the squeaky noise will be gone and you can finally get your sanity back.
