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10 Home Improvement Skills That Can Be of Help to You

What skills do you need to renovate a house?

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10 Home Improvement Skills That Can Be of Help to You

Are you one of those who has been looking for a home improvement skill to learn?

In this article, we shall be looking at the best 10 home improvement skills with few details that you can learn.

1. No-Splinter Sawing Skill

No-splinter sawing skill can be used to either shorten a door, fit an existing opening, or create space for new layers of thick carpeting in the home.

To do this at home, you have to apply a strip of masking tape of 2-inch wide across the door. Then, a framing square is fixed along the cut you made, as this makes slicing through the door easy. When this is done, you can remove the clamp or straight edge, but not the tape. Gradually make use of your saw to trim the door to the length you desire then pull off the tape.

2. Making Use of a Tourniquet Clamp

A Tourniquet clamp is a work tool used in repairing wobbly tables, chairs, stools and even benches. It comes with a nylon strap that fits well into any shape.

The first step to take is to apply glue to the part of the furniture to be repaired. Then you'd go on to wrap the rope around its four legs twice. You will have to put a stick between the rope straps and start turning it around. This will keep the rope twisting making it tighter, thus drawing the damaged part of the furniture together again.

3. Clean Caulking Skills

The clean caulking skill is one needed to ensure that there is a continuous watertight seal along the topmost edges of a bathtub.

To do this, you would need to first remove all old and weak caulk with a narrow-based screwdriver. When removed, you would get a rag and alcohol to wipe the surface of the bathtub clean. When the surface is properly clean and dry, apply a tub and tile caulk that is thick to the broken or cracked joint and smoothen. If done well, this shouldn't take up to 30 minutes.

4. Glass Clean Cuts Skill

The glass clean cut skill is helpful in replacing a broken windowpane at home making use of the right materials and methods. A glass cutter, pencil seized metal piece, and a super hard tungsten-carbide wheel is needed. Goggles and gloves can also be worn to assure safety.

Hold the affected glass from both ends and break apart with your hands or the help of running pliers. Make use of the utmost part of the pliers in lining up the notch and squeeze it carefully until it breaks. Do this repeatedly until it breaks halfway after which you make use of the plier again from the other end of the score.

5. Fixing Loose Hinge Holes Home Skill

This skill helps you to address issues of screws securing cabinet doors losing. All you need to do is to locate the loose screw and pull it out. Get some wooden toothpicks and rub the round with a woodworking glue and put in the hole. Break the wooden toothpicks to fit the hole size and replace the screw.

6. Smooth Brushwork Skill

The whole process of applying a smooth coat of glossy paint after painting woodwork can be quite tasking, and this is why you can simplify this task and achieve a smooth brushwork with the following

  • Smoothen the surface by making use of either sand pristine, or 120 grit paper depend on if painted or not.
  • Dust clean the surface entirely making use of a tack cloth.
  • Make sure you set up the paint while temperature and humidity are low to ensure it is smooth.
  • Then begin to paint the wood evenly.
  • After paint distribution, unload the brush to take away any brush mark and leave it to dry.

7. Knowing How To Free Stuck Nuts

This skill is beneficial in taking off locking nuts anytime an old faucet is replaced in the home. To do this, any of these steps below can be followed to free stuck nuts.

  • First, tighten the nut before later trying to lose it with a wrench
  • Make use of a hammer and ensure you target the nut and not surrounding threads to avoid damage.
  • Heat up the metal so it can expand the metal and make it easier for the nut to crack.
  • Make you of penetrating oil to soak the nut. The longer the nut is soaked, the faster and better it will crack.
  • When any of this fails, a hacksaw can be used in cutting it off.

8. The Skill of Fitting Tiles Around Corners

The difficulty of fixing tiles arises when it's time to fit them around corners. However, following these steps below, you will be able to match those tiles easily around the corner.

  • Place a complete tile in the area close to the wall and shift it against the wall and make where it aligns
  • Place the side of that same tile against the adjacent wall and mark same too
  • Make use of a square to find out the meeting point on the tile and cut the part not needed away indicated by the L shape.

9. Knowing How to Drill Pilot Holes

Drilling pilot holes are significant in most woodworking activities because it not only helps the nails to drill in smoothly, it also prevents the wood from either cracking or splitting.

To do this, you need to put a finishing nail through the wood to drill accurate pilot holes after which you will need to apply light pressure to avoid the nail from bending when going into the workpiece.

10. Nail-Pulling Ploy Skill

You will need to start by hooking the hammer around the nail part showing to grip it. Then a locking plier will be used to clamp the nail. Then, you'd start pulling the hammer from its handle, and the nail gradually comes out. Re-position the hammer from time to time and repeat same until nail pulls out.

With any or all of these skills & essential woodworking tools, you are sure to be able to improve your home from time to time. Most importantly, is that in doing this, you will also be saving yourself some extra cost getting the services of another will require.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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