5 Simple DIY tasks for your home during lockdown
Easy home fixes during lockdown
From fixing a dripping tap to resealing the bath, there are always small tasks that need doing around the home. With most of us having to stay home for much longer periods these days, our focus has turned to our living environment, especially if this is also doubling up as our work space too. So to help you to make good use of those extra few hours, and to help you keep your home in tip top condition during lockdown, we’ve put together these tips for easy jobs that can make a big difference.
Hang those pictures
How many of us will have pictures or photographs that we have been meaning to hang for ages but never quite get round to it? This is the perfect time to size up the walls and decide where to best display those pictures. Unless you’re on the way to a full redecorating of internal spaces, you probably already have a good idea of where you want those picture to go. But to make sure that you hang them just right try this:
Check there are no wires crossing that portion of wall (if you don’t have a wire detector, just think really logically about how the wires to plug sockets and light switches might run - these usually take the most direct route from the source of supply).
Mark the ideal spot on the wall with a pencil
Stand back and check if it sits evenly between other pictures or windows / items of furniture / the corner of the room and the door frame etc.
Hammer the nail into the spot.
Of course, you may need to adjust the technique depending on the kind of wall you are working on. If it’s a stud partition wall is made up of wooden framing and plasterboard so don’t hang anything heavy on these and make sure you have appropriate wall fixers before you take the plunge. External masonry walls will be far more solidly built and may require the hole to be drilled rather than hammered in, especially if what you are hanging is more heavy than a light canvas - like a wood-framed mirror, for example.
Deal with that dripping tap
A dripping tap is one of the most irritating things in the home, especially if you’re a light sleeper and can hear it in the night! Try this out to sort it rather than leave for the end of lockdown and calling a plumber (the expensive option!)
Locate your stopcock either to that particular tap and cut off the water supply
Put the plug in the sink or bath to stop anything disappearing down it that you might drop during your repair (a small nut, for example)
There should be an access to a small screw that lets you undo the tap so you can see whether it might be that the washer needs to be replaced (this is usually where the fault lies in a dripping tap). Sometimes these are under caps that mark ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ on the taps and you can pop these off with the edge of a screwdriver. An old rubber washer may look misshapen and cracked but if you’re not sure if the washer is the problem, you can swap it with the washer of a tap that doesn’t drip and check it that way.
Replace the washer, put the tap together, and test.
Clear that blocked drain
This is good do to periodically if you notice your bath or sink are letting the water drain out rather too slowly (which often results in a layer of soap grime forming round the bottom of the bath).
Flush through with drain unblocker fluid
Or as an alternative if you haven’t been able to obtain any in your local shops, a couple of spoon fulls of bicarbonate of soda flushed through with a generous helping of vinegar is usually enough to shift minor blockages and let the waste water drain more smoothly.
If it’s your shower that’s blocked, it’s usually caused by hair, so take the drain cover off and use an unravelled metal hanger or similar (I used an old knitting needle last time!) and pull out the old hair. A couple of twists of the metal hanger normally does the trick.
Then use the bicarbonate and vinegar, or flush through with hot water and bleach and hey presto, the water flows away.
Even if the plugs are not blocked at the moment, it’s a good time just to get this particular job done and out of the way.
Unstick that door
These tips are for standard, internal wooden doors. If it’s a uPVC or metal door, then this will need more expert attention - and that might include dealing with hinges. But see if these will help:
If one of your doors seems to be catching in its frame it could be that the hinges are loose, so give those a check. All you might need to do is tighten these up and this will have the effect of shifting the door back into place.
If the screws refuse to tighten, you could simply plug up the screw hole a little with matchsticks or wooden cocktail sticks: stuff them in and then cut off the end so the hole is flush and then when you pop the screw back in, the hole will have tightened up.
If the door is still catching against the frame after you have checked the hinges, or on the floor below the door, then check where the door is making contact with the floor and mark it with a pencil or a bit of chalk.
Then roll your sleeves up and sandpaper down.
Reseal the bath
This has to be done every so often to keep the bathroom looking clean and neat. It’s one of those jobs we have a tendency to leave…and leave…and leave until we can bear it no longer! So using up these lockdown days to get it sorted is worthwhile.
Start by scraping off the old sealant with a Stanley knife - dig out a little bit and start to pull and it usually comes away in strips.
Scrape off any old bits of sealant and clean off the residue with some white spirit.
Fill the bath up with water so that it’s already at its heaviest - if you seal while it’s empty, there is a possibility that the weight of the water when you next fill it will cause the sealant to crack.
Prepare your cartridge gun, and if you’ve never used it before, practise on a bit of newspaper till you get the hang of it and can gently squeeze out a steady flow of sealant. It’s not unlike icing a cake!
Try to keep a consistent run all the way around the bath tub. Take it steadily and don’t rush.
Smooth it off using a bit of washing up liquid on your finger tip.
Leave it for 24 hours before using the bath.
Of course, you can also do similar with the sealant around your sink and shower.
There are still some suppliers ready to provide home delivery orders either directly or using some of Gibraltar’s home delivery services such as Vepo and Rock Hero. Check out our friends over at The Paint Shop, who are still fulfilling orders for home repair materials and working hard despite the coronavirus crisis.
And if you really can’t face those small jobs - give Advanced Property Care a call once the restrictions are lifted!
