Painting
- Use water-based primer on new drywall, oil-based primer for surfaces that have water stains or smoke damage.
- Use a synthetic-bristle brush for latex paint and a natural-bristle for oil-based paints.
- Dip your brush 1/3rd of the bristle length for water-based paint, 1/4th of the bristle length for oil-based.
Woodworking
- Help wood glide across your table saw by waxing the table. Or go with GlideCote, a wax alternative.
- Hook a shop-vac to your power sander to save sandpaper. This prevents your resanding of the wood dust.
- We at AmateurDIY love pocket hole joinery. We just couldn’t pass up this chance to pass along a quick tip to fix wood splits.
- When sawing wood, use a marking knife to scribe a shallow cut for the saw to follow. The marking knife edge cuts through wood fibers more accurately than a saw blade.
- To bend wood, make a series of cuts, close together, on the side of the wood that won’t be visible.
- Prevent wood splits & save time with a counterbit. Combine this technique with the wood screws for a clean & tight joint.
- Sharpen new cutting tools before you use them. Many edges come with corrosion-resistant coatings that should be removed.
Plumbing
- Improve water pressure by soaking your shower head spray plate in descaling solution (often used on coffee makers).
- Before sweating, remove all water from the lines with a shop-vac or hold a piece of bread in the pipe to absorb the water.
- When winterizing, use an air compressor to blow excess water from your lines.
General
- If you need to replace roof shingles, do it in cooler weather when the old shingles will be easier to remove.
- Soap and baking soda is a safer alternative for removing mold than bleach.
- Spray vinegar regularly on an area that is mold-prone to reduce the changes that mold will strike again.
- Spacers aren’t just for tile. Keep them handy after a tile job. For example, they can be used to maintain the alignment of glass block installations as well.
- Here’s a fun one. If you’re lacking a level, you can use a marble in it’s place. If the marble stays in place, you’re pretty close to level.
Table saw image by Patrick Fitzgerald (originally posted to Flickr as spinning wheel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons