D.I.Y. Tasks you can complete yourself to save money

Sprucing up the house is a task many of us face as we get into the new year, and the list of improvements to be made is often longer than the patience and preparation we have even begin the work. While in some cases of hardcore home improvement hiring a professional is the safe and sensible option, there is a plethora of D.I.Y. Challenges that should be well within your skill range. If you take the time to prepare well work carefully the following tasks are easily doable;

Tighten a leaking bathroom faucet.

Skip the plumber, the majority of leaking tap problems are due to a work out washer. First thing to do it turn off the water flow – there is usually some kind of handle under or around the sink, if you can’t find this you’ll need to shut off the flow at the mains with a stopcock valve, test the flow is off by turning the taps on and hoping no water comes out. It’s now safe to go ahead and unscrew the top nut of the tap to expose the washer. Take this to the hardware store and buy a matching replacement. Reassemble the tap and job done.

Repairing squeaky bedroom floorboards.

We all know the annoyance of this as we try to stealthily transition around a room without waking people up. You don’t have to put up with it any longer as it’s a simple fix. The squeak is caused by a floor board that is rubbing against the other boards or the floor joist because it has not been properly secured / has become loose. All you need to do is lift up the carpet around the offending floorboard and secure the connection to the joist with a free screws. This stops any free movement and silences the squeaks.

Unblocking the kitchen sink.

It’s certainly not a pleasant task, but it’s certainly one you can complete without the plumber if you don’t mind a little manual labour and getting your hands dirty. The only equipment you need is a plunger and maybe a basin to be on the safe side in case of leaks. Get to work on the sink hole, a deep and consistent plunging action creates a vacuum within the pipe that if applied long enough should dislodge just about anything that’s gotten stuck down there.

Wallpapering the living room.

You can certainly tackle the whole process of wallpapering a  living room by yourself if you take the time to do the prep work correctly. This will involve removing the existing paper / paint and sanding down the surface. This can be completed by hand but if you have a lot of wall to cover consider renting a power sander to fly through the job much faster. Next the walls will require a clean wipe to remove any dust and a final coat of primer to ensure the wallpaper adheres well to the wall. The actual hanging of the wallpaper is by far the most difficult part of this task and there’s no shame in using a professional at this point as you’ve already completed half the job for him at a fraction of the price.