Useful Tips for Anyone Who Fixes Things Around the House

When it comes to fixing things around the house, it’s important to stay organized. Thanks to Family Handyman magazine, men and women have been given plenty of hacks for doing handy work around the house. Now these hacks are all in one place!

Coffee Bag Ties

Don’t throw out your coffee bags without ripping those wiry ties off. You can then use those strong ties to keep your cables, rope, and wires from unraveling.

Keep Caulk Fresh with Wine Cork

There is nothing worse than letting an unfinished tube of caulk go to waste because you don’t have a cap for it. Use a synthetic cork to keep the caulk from drying out with an airtight seal.

Use Beer Holders to Organize Cans

Use your six-pack beer holders to store your cans, jars, and anything else you may have on your workbench. This also makes it super easy to transport when going to another room in the house.

Seal Registers with Plastic Saucers

If you feel a draft coming into your house during the winter, use a plastic potting dish and some weather stripping to cover up your ceiling register. In the summer, you can easily remove it without damaging the ceiling.

Keep Your Square in Place

While measuring and marking something, you want to make sure your square stays in place. Use photo frame bumpers to keep it from sliding around. Simply stick them on the back and the rubbery material will keep it in place.

Grip Without Blisters

While raking leaves, many people get blisters on their fingers. To avoid this, simply hold the rake with your thumb and fingers on one side of the pole.

Easier Way to Paint a Door

Paint both sides of a door at once with this nifty trick. Put a screw on the top and bottom of the door and place it between two saw horses. Then you can flip it over without having to wait for the first side to dry.

Light Up Your Switches

If you always struggle to find the light switch in the dark, dab some glow in the dark paint on the tip of it. You’ll never find yourself scrambling to flip it in the dark again.

Make Your Cutting Shears Longer

While cutting branches, you may find that you’re just a little too short to reach some of them. Tape some PVC pipes to the handles of your shears to make them longer.

Protect Your Phone

Protect your phone while painting by putting it in a Ziploc bag. This will keep it free from any paint drops and will still allow you to use it while it’s inside the bag.

Measure with Money

When you are in a crunch to measure something without a ruler, take out a dollar bill. They are approximately 6.14 inches long. Once you know that, you can measure almost anything!

Parking Guide

Park your car perfectly every time you come home. Hang a tennis fall from your garage ceiling so you know where to stop before hitting the wall or coming up too close. Another great way to do that is to consider buying a garage parking aid that you can find on carbibles.com and choose the one for your needs.

Keep Seat Cushions in Place

Place a rubbery mesh under seat cushions to keep them from sliding off the chair. This works with both indoor and outdoor furniture.

Catch Your Dust

When drilling or cutting into dry wall, there is often dust that falls to the floor. To keep it from getting all over the place, tape a plastic bag to the wall beneath where you are cutting so the dust can fall into it.

Finding Something Small

The next time you drop an earring or a small item on the floor, use a flashlight to find it. Turn off the rest of the lights and crouch down on the floor with a flashlight. It’ll be much easier to find than just looking down.

Pool Noodles as Bumpers

To keep your truck from hitting whatever you’re loading into the back, place a pool noodle on the edge. This will protect the paint and whatever you’re loading.

Wash Paint Off Easily

Before you start painting a room, rub some lotion on any exposed skin. This will make it easier to wash off when you are finished.

Patch Up Walls with a Wash Cloth

When fixing a part of your wall, you’ll have to repaint the patch. Rather than getting out your painting supplies, just use a wash cloth to dab the paint on. This will have the same effect as a paint roller.

Drag Leaves with Tarp

Whether you are weeding, raking up leaves, or cutting branches, the clean up of it can be pretty difficult. Make it easier by putting everything on a tarp and dragging it to your trash.

Epoxy Mixer

To create a dispenser for epoxy, put the two-part mixer into a plastic bag. After it’s mixed thoroughly, cut a small hole in the corner and it will squeeze out just right.

Level Your Pictures

Nobody likes staring at a crooked picture on the wall. Keep your pictures level by putting mounting putty on the wall to keep it in place. This also won’t damage your wall.

Clean Drains Easily

Rather than fishing for that nest of hair blocking your shower drain, use a wet vacuum to suck it out. To make the suction stronger, wrap a rag around the nozzle to create a seal.

Easily Locate Flashlights

During your next power outage, don’t go rummaging around for your flashlight. Wrap some glow in the dark tape around it so it’s easy to find in that drawer full of junk.

Stay Plugged In

Extension cords are a blessing from God. However, it’s annoying when they come undone while working. To keep them together, tie them in a knot.

Hide Your Remotes

Keep track of your remote controls while never having them lie around the living room. Place some Velcro under your coffee table and some on the back of your remotes. This way they are always where they should be.

The Clog Claw

Homeowners should invest in the clog claw. It makes cleaning out drains so much easier, especially with the movable shaft.

Extra Shower Rod

If your bathroom is a little too small to hang up your towels, add an extra shower curtain bar above the actual shower curtain. Now you can easily grab a towel as you get right out of the shower.

Dryer Bumper

When it comes to washers and dryers, they can bang against your wall when they spin your clothes. Place a pool noodle between the machine and your wall to keep it from causing damage.

Make Your Key Stand Out

Stop rummaging around for the right key when you’re trying to get into the house. Drill a second hole towards the side of your house key to make it stand out on your key ring.

Perfect Measurement

Stop guessing where to put a nail when hanging something up. Place a piece of paper over the holes and rub a pencil over it. Tape the paper to the wall as a guide for where to put your nail or screw.

Inspect Your Gutters from the Ground

Avoid climbing up a ladder to check out your gutters. Instead, tape a mirror to some PVC pipe and hold it up above your gutters to see if it’s time to clean them out.

Use a Hair Dryer to Unstick Things

When it comes to peeling off stickers or tape, it can be frustrated when it starts to rip or leave residue. Before you start peeling, heat up the sticker with a hair dryer. This will make it come off much easier and usually in one piece.

Clean Up Pinecones

Your dog’s pooper scooper can do more than just clean up after your pup. When you find that you have pinecones all over your hard, use the scooper to pick them up rather than bending down all the time.

Drill Without Dust

While drilling or sanding something, attach a vacuum hose to your workspace. This will suck up any dust instantly!

Write on the Mirror

Leave notes for your family members on the mirror just by the front door. Chances are, everyone is going to take a quick look at their reflection before they leave the house. Just make sure to use dry erase marker so it comes off.

Robin Hood Curves

Create your own curve tracer out of a piece of wood and some string. Tie the string to either end of the wood so that it pulls it into a slight curve. Now you’ll have the perfect stencil when you need to cut out curves.

Organize Sandpaper

Keep your sandpaper organized by grit with these file folders. Long gone are the days of rummaging around your drawer for the right sandpaper.

Makeshift Sawhorses

If you don’t have a pair of sawhorses at home and are in need of some for a project, just use some large cardboard boxes. Boxes that home appliances came in work best. Also, make sure that they are the same height.

Doggy Trash

When it comes to picking up after your dog, you don’t always want to put it in your trashcan. Stick a PVC pipe in the ground and line the inside with a trash bag. Drop off your dog’s waste and take it out on trash day.

Remove Water from Pipes Easily

If soldering copper pipes together, it’s important to remove any water from them. However, this can be difficult since they’re vertical. So, use a pipe attached to a sprayer and simply spray the water into a bowl to remove it.

Organize Paint Cans with Samples

Always keep track of what color your paint is by using stir sticks. Let the paint dry and hang them above where you keep your paint can. Then you’ll know exactly what it looks like when it dries.

Mark Wood with a Crayon

If using a wet saw, mark you line with a crayon. Unlike a pen or pencil, it won’t wash off in the water and will stay visible in muddy water.

DIY Picture Frame Hook

Make your own hook on a picture frame with a soda tab. Simply drill it into the back of the frame! It’s as easy as that.

End Tape with a Starting Edge

Stop grasping for that little lip of tape and plan ahead! Before ripping off a piece of tape, fold it over and tear it using the edge of the roll. Now you’ll always have a tab ready for the next time you need to use it.