17 Clever Repair Tips We Wish We’d Learned Sooner

We’ve collected a set of simple and unexpected tips for those who are going to start a repair this winter season. These will make the renovation process easy and less costly. For example, instant coffee can be useful in the restoration of furniture, ice can easily remove traces from a carpet, and a microphone can help to drill a hole in a wall.

1. A microphone can help to drill a hole in a safe place.

When drilling holes near sockets or switches, there’s a risk of damaging a wire with the drill. Good news is that there’s an unusual way to help find hidden wires in the wall. Connect a microphone to a tape recorder and start the device to record with maximum volume. Place the microphone near the future hole in the wall. The spots where there are hidden wires will make a low hum from the dynamics of the tape-recorder. It will be safe to drill in the places where there’s no humming sound.

2. Lids for moving furniture

If you need to move heavy furniture and you’re afraid to damage the carpet, place jar lids under the legs of the furniture item you want to move. It will make the moving process easier especially if the furniture item is heavy and big. Moreover, you won’t feel worried that the carpet or linoleum will get damaged.

3. Ice for dents in the carpet

There are always dents left in the carpet after moving heavy furniture off of it. If you’re not going to replace the carpet with a new one, you can get rid of traces on the carpet with the help of ice cubes. Put them on the dent and vacuum clean it when the ice melts. After that, lift up the fibers with a toothbrush.

4. Instant coffee for furniture restoration

You can quickly and easily get rid of scuffs and scratches on dark wooden furniture with the help of regular coffee. Take one spoon of instant coffee powder and add several drops of water to get the consistency of paste. The best way to apply it to the wooden surface is with the help of an old toothbrush.

5. Diluent for dried paint

Having finished working with some aerosol spray, remove the spray nozzle and put it in a diluent or gasoline for 15 minutes. This way, you won’t have to cleanse the spray hole from dried paint before you use it again.

6. Glue for screws

When you need to tighten a small screw in a hard-to-reach place, pre-apply a drop of glue on the tip of the screwdriver. Opt for rubber glue because it will hold the screw tightly and can be removed easily afterward.

7. Measuring tape with a secret

The numbers (shown in millimeters) that are sometimes indicated on the side of measuring tape is the length of the measuring tape case. Knowing this, you won’t need to bend the tape anymore when you are working in a small space (for example, when measuring a door or window holes). Simply add the length of the measuring tape’s case to your measurements.

8. Adhesive tape for perfect holes

In order to hang an object with already-drilled fixation holes on a wall, you need to make the right markups. The best option would be to glue adhesive tape to the item first and mark the holes for drilling. After that, stick the tape to the place where you want to hang your object and drill the holes in the wall according to the markups.

9. Protection from dirt

If you need to drill holes in the ceiling and you don’t want the dust to get onto your eyes and face, put a plastic beaker or a bottle with a cut-off neck on the drill. It will make all the dust from drilling stay in the container.

10. Protection from dust

It’ll be easier and less dusty to drill holes in concrete if you spray the surface with water from time to time.

11. Easy drilling

In order to prevent the drill from sliding off the tiles at the beginning of drilling, stick a cross made of adhesive tape to your surface before starting the process.

12. A magnet can help find holes.

In order to not drill new holes for paintings and shelves after gluing on new wallpaper (provided you want the paintings to stay in the same place), put a small nail into each hole before wallpapering. After the wallpaper dries, all you’ll have to do is slide a magnet to find where the nails are located.

13. Bring electrical tape back to life

Dried electrical tape that lost its stickiness can be brought back to life if you put the whole roll of it into a microwave oven and heat it for several seconds.

14. A hair dryer for tags

When buying construction materials, we’re often forced to remove sticky tags attached to them. In order to remove the tag without leaving sticky traces, warm it up with a hairdryer. After doing this, the tag will easily come off without tearing off the material with it.

15. How to avoid the appearance of a film layer in paint cans

In order to prevent the appearance of a film coating in a paint can, close the lid tightly and turn the jar upside down for several seconds. This simple trick will help to provide impermeability inside the can.

16. How to prevent brushes from drying out

You can prevent brushes from drying out by wrapping them in plastic bags or plastic wrap.

17. A simple markup for a photo collage

In order to do this with as little holes in the wall as possible when hanging a photo or painting collage, place the frames on a newspaper sheet first. Circle the borders of the frames with a marker and mark the places for the screws. After that, attach a paper template to the wall and drill fixation holes with its help.