Want to know a quick way to eat up your decorating budget? Paying for house repairs! Nothing will make your “Restoration Hardware” dreams go up in smoke faster than a plumbers bill. So we have pulled together some easy tutorials for quick fix simple house repairs that will keep your wallet happy, and maybe give you just a little more confidence to tackle some bigger projects next. These are simple tutorials for you on DIY’s to do at home. From how to fix a leaky faucet, how to patch carpet, to how to unclog a toilet and lots more! Don’t be afraid to give these simple house repairs a try yourself!
Simple House Repairs
Lets take a look at the most common house repairs that cost us money, and learn how to do these DIY’s at home!
How to Fix a Toilet
Getting started with the biggest headache we have with home repairs. Toilets. So lets tackle how to fix a running toilet. ‘Queen Bee of Honey Do’s‘ has it covered, with a complete step by step tutorial on the entire process, including detailed photos of the toilet inner workings.
Another tutorial for fixing a toilet that’s runs, is over at ‘Advance My House’.
From ‘Bob Vila‘, learn how to unclog a toilet using two methods, a plunger and a drain snake. Most of us think we know how to use a plunger, but check out their tip. It could make the difference in your DIY plumbing repair!
How to Unclog a Sink
When you need to unclog a drain, there are several ways you can try to do it yourself before you call that expensive plumber. First, try this DIY drain opener recipe from ‘One Good Thing by Jillee‘. This uses no chemicals at all so it’s safe for your pipes, and your peeps! Use baking soda and vinegar to unclog a sink!
The next step to unclog a sink is to try a plastic drain snake. You don’t have to get a large industrial snake to handle the small job of a clogged sink. They sell mini plastic drain snakes just perfect for the job! You can find them at ‘Amazon‘, or your local hardware store. Simply push them down the drain opening past the stopper, then pull up to remove hair and gunk.
If that doesn’t unclog the sink, then you may have to go to checking the stopper, especially in a clogged bathroom sink. ‘Family Handyman‘ shows us how to unclog the drain with this method, that is also really easy. And if you have to go little farther, check out their video on the same post that shows you three ways to unclog any drain!
How to Fix a Leaky Faucet
If your bathroom faucet leaks, it not only wastes our earths precious resource, it also can be pretty darn annoying. Learn how to fix a leaky faucet with this house repair tutorial from ‘Pretty Handy Girl‘.
Learn how to fix a kitchen faucet, no matter what the type. ‘Sensible Digs’ has tutorials for five different types of sink faucets.
How to Change a Shower Head
Changing a shower head is simple, and might be the best solution to a constantly leaky shower. You can also upgrade to a newer low flow shower head to save water. Use these directions from ‘Emily Everyday‘ to learn how to change a shower head. (You can do it in 20 minutes or less!)
How to Patch Laminate Flooring
Here is a common (and easy!) home repair from ‘Madness and Method’. Floors are an investment worth taking the time to keep in good shape. A well maintained laminate floor can last years! When gaps open up in your laminate flooring, learn how to fix them so they look like new.
How to Fix Squeaky Floors
How to fix squeaky floors depends on whats is causing them to squeak. Hopefully, it is as simple as needing to lubricate the floorboards. You can do that with either baby powder or graphite from the home improvement store. ‘Popular Mechanics‘ walks you through that quick fix home repair, and also more in depth wood floor repairs. (In case the baby powder doesn’t cut it!:)) Photo by ‘Popsugar‘. (They also have a tutorial on using baby powder to silence squeaky floors!)
How to Fix Drywall
‘Sawdust Girl‘ to the rescue, showing us how to fix a hole in drywall. She uses a simple mesh you can get at the home improvement store for this house repair. Easy to follow instructions.
How to Change a Light Fixture
Sometimes changing the light bulb just isn’t enough to bring light back to a room, right? Now matter what you try, the light fixture just won’t light up. Or, you just want to update! You can learn how to change a light fixture yourself and save big money in electrician fees. Remember to follow all the safety advice in these tutorials and if you just can’t get comfortable with it, don’t do it. (But, it really is pretty straight forward!) Tutorial from ‘A Beautiful Mess‘.
How to Install a Dimmer Switch
Now that you have your new light fixture installed, it’s time to add some ambience, don’t ya think? Easy. Learn how to install a dimmer switch and create a whole new feeling for your room. This home repair tutorial is from ‘Porch Daydreamer‘. Remember, always turn off the electricity at the main breaker box before working on anything electrical in nature.
How to Patch Carpet
Learn how to patch carpet. Perfect for teenagers and dogs. Oh, and wine spills. Burns from that candle you dropped. Nail polish. Sorry, reminiscing. From ‘Bob Vila‘. We have done this repair in our own home, and when we were done, you couldn’t tell at all!
How to Fix a Broken Tile
When you have a perfectly good tile floor that has one cracked tile, it can ruin the whole look of the floor. But if you have (or can get) a replacement tile that matches, you can do this quick fix home repair yourself! Jump on over to ‘This Old House‘ to find out how to replace a broken tile.
House repairs don’t have to be scary… and they don’t have to be expensive! If you enjoyed this post, we are betting you will love our post on DIY home hacks!
Note: This post has been refreshed with updated projects.
Image Credits: A Beautiful Mess, Advance My House, One Good Thing by Jillee, Amazon, Family Handyman, Pretty Handy Girl, Emily Everyday, Madness and Method, Popsugar, Sawdust Girl, Bob Vila, This Old House
What a great post. I’ve been glaring at my ugly tub & wondering how much those sleeve type things cost…too much. Thanks for super instructions. Can’t wait to have a pretty white tub again.
I’ve been looking all over this website for information/instructions how to paint my tub.
Please tell me where I can find this information. Thank you.
Hi Judy! It was in the post, but here is the link again! http://www.addicted2decorating.com/bathroom-makeover-day-11-how-to-paint-a-bathtub.html
I’ve been fixing up my parents home for them and have been procrastinating starting on the bathrooms, since a friend had told me what was involved in removing and replacing a bathtub! Thanks so much for this! You have saved me so much time and effort, and you saved my parents a lot of money!
we have a steel bathtub that is all rusty in the bottom. Can this be fixed?