Your house is a living thing as well. Except its life is quite unusual and unpredictable. It can surprise you any moment with something breaking down, cracking and pouring out or stubbornly not working when you need ASAP. The most exciting thing is that you never seem to be able to tell, what the reason behind all that action is and why it happened right that perfect moment and not any other one.
Being able to figure out what’s wrong and how to save the situation is a great skill of any homeowner. It’s nice to be able to resolve little problems around the house and actually know what that or this tool is designed for and how to use it. Of course, fixing things and carrying out project around the house is quite difficult and challenging task, but sometimes you either don’t have any choice (for instance, your toilet broke and you just have to stop a huge water flow immediately) or it’s not such a big deal to call on the professional. Clogged sinks and toilets, broken power sockets or knocked out electricity may impair your life and irritate you every time you face those issues, as they tend to occur quite often. So, it’s better to know how to provide the first aid to your house.
Believe me, no one is born with a hammer and a screwdriver in their hands, so it’s possible to learn how to operate some of basic tools and not run around the house like an idiot and scream in panic instead of doing something to manage the problem. Sometimes it’s trial and error method, some things you learn, others – ask your friends or family about. No matter what, you’ll be able to handle the situation.
Here’re some principal and vital tips for a beginning handyman to fix minor problems around the house.
1. How to clean the clogged drain
Those clogged sinks and toilets are the most annoying things ever, especially when you’re trying to get ready in the morning as quickly as possible and get out of the house. Unfortunately, special cleaning supplies (various gels and powders), that you pour into the pipes and leave overnight don’t necessarily save the situation. And, even if they do, they don’t help in the long run and you have to deal with the same problem all over again.
The matter may be that something got stuck or accumulated in there and those drain cleaners can’t dissolve it, so, most likely, you’ll have to do everything by yourself. Prepare mentally, as things are going to get messy and stinky over here.
The first thing you may try to fix the problem is to plunge it just like you would do that to your toilet, but of course, with a sink plunger. It really differs from the one, designed for toilets, so make sure you get the right plunger.
If the drain is still clogged, you may want to unscrew a plug on the pipe itself (the curved one just under the sink) and try to clean it from all possible stuff that turned out to be stuck in there (most commonly – hair).
2. Make your doors shut up
If you can’t stand your door banging and slamming with the loudest sound in the world every single time, you can place several drops of the silicone glue on the doorjamb on that area that contacts with the door, let it dry and enjoy the silence.
If that thing still dares to make a sound and creaks every time you close it or open, then you should probably lubricate the door hinges with several drops of olive oil or engine oil.
3. How to fix the holes in your drywall
Sometimes we can accidentally open our door too harsh or throw something at the wall, or drill a hole in it in the wrong place. As a result, we get an unnecessary and quite noticeable opening, which ruins the whole look of the room. But there’s still something you can do about it that doesn’t involve hanging a picture or placing a piece of furniture in order to hide that cheeky hole.
First of all, you have to clean up the hole and get rid of the extra loose paper or cast, so that the edges are even. Then, put a piece of a self-adhesive patch over the hole and leave it until it’s dry. While it’s doing its own thing, you may mix some drywall compound with water (follow the instructions on the package). After that, put the mixture all over the patch and a little bit over the hole’s edges. Apply the second coat so that the hole blends into the wall and becomes unnoticeable. When the drywall dries out, you may sand the surface until it’s even and paint it with the same color the rest of the wall is.
4. How to remove a broken key from the door lock
If you were too harsh and too stubborn trying to unlock the door and it obviously worked out badly, you may try to fix the situation on your own and pull it out without calling a locksmith and feeling extremely embarrassed. And, of course, you don’t want to replace the lock completely just because of that thing.
The trick is to fix the key by gluing the piece that fell of so conveniently onto the piece that got stuck in the lock. But you have to be extra careful and precise and don’t let the substance get into the lock and glue the key to it, as in that case you probably won’t be able to get it out or to save the lock. So, do it only if you don’t have any other available option or if you’re confident you can do it really neatly.
So, in order not to mess up, opt for gel glue, not liquid one, put it on the edge of that part of the key that didn’t stuck. Don’t apply too much, but just enough amount, so that it glues the free piece onto the rest of the key, but doesn’t drip into the lock. After that, connect the parts of the key and hold them in place for a little while (actually, as long as glue’s instructions require). When everything is dry, try to pull the key out gently and slowly.
This will also be helpful if you don’t have a spare key, as you can take the glued one to the hardware store and ask them to make a new copy.
5. How to avoid smashing your fingers while driving nails
If you want to hang a picture or any other piece of decor, or whatever you need to hammer a nail into the wall for, there’s a high possibility that your fingers will get injured. Especially if the nails are really tiny, the surface is too hard, or if you’re new to the process and you genuinely can’t do it right no matter how hard you try.
I’ll give you a gimmick: grab the pliers or a comb, hold the rod with theirs help and start banging on the nail. Even if you miss, you won’t hit your fingers, as they will be much lower.
6. The most important tip! How to save your time and effort (and nerve cells)
There are still so many things around the house that might require the professionals’ intervention. You may not be able to figure out, what’s wrong with this or that thing, how to fix it without making it even worse, or you just need to get it done fast and easy.
Besides, let’s be honest, you don’t have to do everything by yourself. There’re plenty of people, who know their job and are willing to help you day or night. You may hire them online, using, for instance, different sites just like HireRush.com, where you can find a lot of handymen’s ads, who provide their services in your local area. They will fix anything that needs to be sorted and release you from unnecessary loss of time and effort. Check our site out, make a call and you can be sure that your problem is already handled.
