10 Home Improvement Tips to Make Your Project Easier

10 DIY Tips for Home Improvement

Even the most avid DIYer can find searching the Internet for DIY hacks frustrating. You're looking for information on how to make a particular task (like framing a wall or finding studs) easier or more efficient, but any "hacks" you find are really just suggestions for other projects you can try. Well, if you're looking for some real home improvement tips to help you conquer your next renovation project, we've got the DIY tips you've been waiting for.

1: Find a stud without a stud finder

You may be familiar with the stud finder method of tapping on a wall and listening for the steady sound of a stud. to the hollow voice of the remaining wall. If you're tapping blindly, this method is pretty hit or miss. However, this method works very well when combined with some basic knowledge of plaque. Studies are usually evenly spaced on your walls. Today, the standard is 16 inches apart, but some homes, especially older ones, may have studs 12 or 24 inches apart.

To use this study finder method, mark the general location on the wall where you want to hang something. Use a tape measure to mark the corner of the room at 12, 16 and 24 inches from the corner. Then, tap on each item; compare the sounds you hear, and when you find the one that sounds solid, you've found the pin! Now all you have to do is measure in the appropriate increments (12, 16 or 24 depending on where you heard the particular sound) until you find the nail closest to where you want to hang the object.

2: Rent a dumpster

Whether you're taking on an ambitious construction project or just cleaning out your garage, you end up with a lot of trash after the project is over. Piling everything up is time-consuming, and since maintaining the work area is usually necessary for efficient work, it can eat up a lot of valuable work time.

Dumpster rentals can save you time and money on all but the smallest home improvement projects. And finding the right dumpster for the job is easy, from 10-yard roll containers, suitable for general emptying or a small-scale renovation project, to 40-yard dumpsters that hold 12 truckloads of trash. . Depending on your project and available space, you can even place your trash can under the office window, making cleaning even easier.

3: Optimize drying times

Waiting for paint, grout, or other common materials to dry so you can move on to the next step in your project is one of the most frustrating aspects of remodeling. Fortunately, there are many home improvement tips to help reduce drying time.

First, if the weather permits, open the windows. Fresh, circulating air is key because everything dries faster. Of course, oscillating fans can also be used for this, but if they are not at hand, a simple open window will help.

To help the paint dry faster, you can take advantage of some preventive measures. Choose zero-VOC paint and paint with foam brushes or rollers. Foam absorbs less paint than other materials, so you can apply a thinner (and therefore faster drying) layer to the wall or object to be painted.

Another great painting hack is to paint only one wall of the room at a time instead of having multiple assistants paint everything at once. That way, the first wall is dry or almost dry when you finish the fourth wall, which greatly reduces the waiting time between coats.

If you need a faster way to dry the coating when installing drywall, you can use a hair dryer by moving it quickly back and forth about 2-4 inches from the package. If the dried area is too big for the hair dryer, you can install the heater a few meters away from the area.

4: Clean Chandeliers and Other Complicated Items

Complicated lighting or decorative items are always a problem when it's time to improve things. It is difficult to direct a vacuum cleaner or duster into the corners, but gloves will help you overcome these difficulties.

Put on white cotton gloves and run your hands over the items in question. Understanding the contours of complex objects makes the process much easier and more efficient. If you need to use the cleaning solution on a specific item, you can spray the cleaning solution on one glove and use the other gloved hand to dry it.

5: Lay the tile straight and keep the pattern intact

People may tell you that amateurs can't install tiles. That you have to hire a professional or your tile won't come out straight or in the right pattern. That would be true if it weren't for this amazingly easy DIY hack.

Make a folding table to lay the tiles straight and in the right pattern:

Once you've decided what pattern you want to leave on your tiles and how much space to leave between them, dry mount them to the wall. place them on the floor in the correct pattern and spacing.

Take straight, flat pieces of board and place them under the row of tiles. Mark on the board with a permanent marker where each board needs to be punched. Write in each place what color tile goes there. If you place different patterns in different rows, make a separate folding table for each pattern.

Nail the layout board under the first row of tiles so that the bottom of the tiles rest against the tile. Use a level to make sure it's straight. Once you've applied the grout, you simply line up each tile by placing it on the scoreboard. When placing additional rows, simply move the board down and/or switch other boards.

6: Don't Leave Nails

You've finished your remodeling project, cleaned it up (maybe rented a dumpster to make it easier!), but when it comes to small items like nails and screws, it's hard to be sure you have them all . Especially if there are small children or pets in the house, of course you want to make sure there are no nails or other metal pieces nearby. If you have a large magnet handy, sweep it around your work area to pick up any scattered metal. If not, you can rent a magnetic brush from many hardware stores or hardware stores and use it the same way.

7: Visualize the new look easily

When you want to change the layout of a room, especially if you add walls or other architectural elements, it can be difficult to see on paper what the final product will be. look, which in turn makes it difficult to determine if what you want really fits the layout in the room.

An easy way to test possible new room arrangements "in real life" is just a handful of nails or nails and string. Use string to outline your intended layout and tie it to the nails if necessary. Once you've chosen a layout that works, all you have to do is measure the strips to get your measurements!

8: Rent instead of buy

Unless you are a professional or extreme DIYer, there are many tools at your disposal that you only need occasionally. In fact, for most of us, this applies to most tools beyond the basics. Unfortunately, many people don't know how many tools can be rented instead of bought. This applies to highly specialized tools as well as more common products such as chainsaws, masonry drills and nails. All of these tools and more can almost certainly be rented from your favorite home improvement store. Renting these tools is almost always cheaper than buying them, not to mention the added convenience of not having to take up space in your garage to store them.

9: Spaced studs 16 inches on center

When building new walls (whether you are building a closet or part of a partition) it is important that the studs are spaced "16" centers, meaning that the center of each stud is 16" apart from the center of the next stud. This is the standard stud spacing, and drywall, cabinets, and other building materials are manufactured for this frame. For us non-professionals, there are other methods that may work for those with more carpentry skills. experience for beginners, here's a must-have method for framing 16" center walls from Bob Schmidt of Home Remodel Workshop:

Cut two 2x4s from the wall you want to build. These will be your headers and footers. Place the tiles on top of each other and stretch the tape measure along the entire length.

Most gauges have red marks to indicate where to place the gaps when framing the wall. Wherever you see these marks, use a permanent marker to make an X on both boards three-quarters of an inch from the mark.

After you have done this the entire length of each board, place the thin side of the framing square over the first X on each board and draw a line on both boards on either side of the framing square. Repeat with all your X's. The thin side of the framing square is the same width as the stud, so when it's time to nail the studs, they sit right between those lines, giving you a wall that's perfectly framed 16 inches on center.

10: Finding a Leak

Even a relatively small leak can wreak havoc over time if left unchecked. Because there are so many different things that can leak in your home - sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, water heaters, pipes inside walls - the source is not always obvious, but almost all leaks, regardless of the source, are detectable. with almost no effort.

Signs of possible leaks are stains or floor deformation around them. It's often easiest to spot by looking at the floor in question from below - whether it's the basement or the lower level of your home. So if you suspect you have a leak, go through the house floor by floor and look for stains or holes in the ceiling. If you find such a place, follow it to the next floor and find the nearest water source. This is most likely the cause of the leak.

If you can't identify the source of the suspected leak, it's probably coming from plumbing in the walls. To test this, close the shutoff valves on all water sources in your home. Then go to the water meter and note the "1 cubic foot" dial. Wait an hour and check the button again. If the dial has moved, there is a leak in the water pipes.