Bleach Away a Water Stain
Before you go through the trouble of repainting a ceiling to get rid of a water stain, try this easy home fix. Spray the spot with a bleach and water solution (10 percent bleach), and wait a day or two. If it’s an old stain, use a mold and mildew remover from the grocery store. You’d be surprised how often the stain disappears by the next day. It works on both flat and textured ceilings.Wear safety goggles, and make sure you protect the walls and floors with plastic.
Use Coins for Toilet Shims
When leveling a toilet, I often use coins or washers as toilet shims. Coins or washers provide a firm seat and come in different thicknesses. Simply slide as many coins as necessary under the toilet until it’s completely level. Then caulk along the floor as you normally would to hide the coin toilet shims. — Les Zell
A Quick Coat of Paint
Spilled paint on your carpet? Don’t panic, do this:
I used to think dropping a loaded paintbrush on the carpet meant replacing the carpet, until a former foreman told me this little tip. Pour some denatured alcohol onto a rag and scrub away the paint. Use a rag that is as close in color to the carpet, as the alcohol can transfer some of the rag’s color to the carpet. – Tom Gerdowsky
Need some denatured alcohol? Buy it from Amazon here
Repair Any Holes
Remove Crayon Marks From Walls
Have your walls been redecorated with some original crayon masterpieces? Don’t lose your cool. Just grab a rag, dip it in some baking soda and lightly scrub the marks. They will come off with a minimal amount of effort and give your young Picasso a fresh, new canvas.
Fix a Wobbly Chair
Use this trick and keep it handy for an easy home fix for a wobbly chair. Trying to keep a rickety old chair together without going through the trouble of taking it apart and regluing it? The simple home fix is to just drill pilot holes and drive trim-head screws through the bottom of the rungs and into the legs. Here’s another way to fix a wobbly chair.
Insulation is Key
Squirt Gun Toilet Drainer
When you’re repairing or replacing a toilet, you need to remove all the water. Simply shutting off the water supply and flushing won’t do it. A sponge works, but it’s kind of slow. So I use an old squirt gun to suck the water out and squirt it into a bucket, leaving just the last few drops to sponge out. — Dale Conklin
Weatherstripping is Easy
Silence a Squeaky Floor
Another easy home fix to keep in your files: To fix a squeaky floor under carpet, locate the floor joists with a stud finder, then drive in a trim head screw through the carpet, pad and subfloor, and right into the floor joist. Be sure the top inch of the screw doesn’t have threads or the subfloor won’t suck down tight to the joist. We like trim screws because screws with larger heads pull down and pucker the carpet. If that happens, back out the screw and drive it back down. Keep adding screws until the squeak stops. Try these other squeaky floor fixes.