Married women often have the option to ask their partner to do home repairs around the home, but that’s not possible if you’re single, nor desirable if you’re divorced.
After all, who wants their ex nosing around their home…
While there are some things that you will want to have someone more skilled or knowledgeable repair (e.g. your gas furnace) there are many home repairs you can take care of yourself…without spending all weekend doing them.
Make a list of everything that needs to be done and decide how it will be done – and when. Then, push up those sleeves and get to work. When you’re done enjoy a well deserved break…you’ve earned it!
Tool checklist
Before trying to tackle anything on your list, make sure you have the following tools on hand. If you’re married you can use your husband’s tools (assuming he has some), but you’d probably be happier having your own toolbox!
You won’t necessarily need everything on this list to do the following maintenance tasks, but they’re a good start to building your own arsenal of home repair tools!
- – assorted screwdrivers, manual and/or electric
- – drill
- – drill bits
- – vice grips
- – hammer
- – saw
- – WD-40
- – masking tape
- – silicone lubricant
- – expanding foam
Following are some quick fixes for common repairs needed around the house.:
1. Sloppy showerhead
If the pipe for your showerhead feels a little loose, expanding foam is a good tool for the job.
Use masking tape around the hole to help catch any extra foam. Using a small can of expanding foam – the kind with a long straw – pull back the flange, then apply the foam into the gap. When it dries it will fill up the cavity and hold the pipe in place…no more wobble!
If needed, trim back any extra foam once it’s dried before replacing the flange.
2. Free up sticky windows
Windows that are hard to open up can be a real pain.
Fix the problem in seconds by spraying a bit of silicone lubricant on a rag, then lightly rub it over the guides. This trick works for wood, metal or plastic windows.
3. Fix dents in wood
Wood floors are beautiful, but they’re not totally impervious to dents or deep marks.
If heavy furniture has left behind a dent in your wood floor, try this trick to remove – or at least reduce – the dent.:
- – place a little bit of water in the dent.
- – let it set for a couple of minutes to allow the water to soak into the wood.
- – next, put a moist towel over the dent, then move a hot iron over the towel, going in small circles, then pressing down for a few minutes.
- – the combination of heat and moisture will rehydrate the wood, removing the dent.
Repeat these steps as many times as you need to remove the dents.
To finish and protect the wood, let it air dry overnight. If there are any marks left behind, rub high grit sandpaper lightly over the wood until the area blends into the surrounding wood.
Finally, seal the area with a light coat of paint or laminate to protect it.
If needed, wood filler, a durable epoxy or lacquer filler can be used for deep gouges that don’t respond to the water and steam treatment, followed by re-sealing or staining the area.
4. Remove water stains
If the leaky roof (that you hopefully had fixed) left behind a nasty brown water ring on your ceilings, there’s a simple way to try and remove the stains.
Using a mix of 10% bleach and 90% water, spray the stains generously then wait 24 hours to see if those spots disappear.
If it works, you’ve just saved yourself the time and expense of painting your ceilings.
Note: Make sure to protect anything that could be damaged by the bleach spray.
5. Drywall holes
It happens. Moving furniture or simple nail holes left behind by previous homeowners, sometimes your drywall will get damaged.
Spackle is the right tool for this job. Simply push some into the holes, smooth them as much as possible, then lightly sand and paint the walls.
As you can see, there are a lot of little repairs that can be done quickly and easily. All it takes is some good tools (if you don’t already have your own toolbox…why not?) and some know-how to get the job done right!
