6 Home Repairs You Can Do Yourself

There aren’t many Canadians who don’t like to save a buck here and there. When it comes to repairing certain things in your home that need some tweaking, you don’t always need to pick up the phone to call a handyman. You might be surprised at how many repairs you can actually do yourself.

When it comes to the big repairs like major plumbing or electrical fixes, leave those up to the pros. But here are a few things you may want to do yourself:

Tackling the toilet. Replacing a toilet isn’t all that difficult. In fact, if you follow the directions, it can be quite simple. Just remember to measure before you buy and follow installation directions exactly. Most households already have the necessary tools with which you can do the job.

Hardwood floors seen better days? Refinishing wood floors yourself will save you a lot of cash, but it’s not the easiest task. You can rent a sander at your local hardwood store, along with the stain and sealant. It will take some time and effort to get the job done though. Make sure you educate yourself before taking this task on, or you may risk ruining your floors.

Sweeten up a smelly dishwasher. If your dishwasher smells like rotting fish after you’ve run it through a cycle, it most likely needs a deep cleaning. Start by cleaning the dishwasher screen at the bottom of the tub to get rid of all that yucky bacteria feeding on trapped food. Then, clean the gunk from the sprayer arm, the bottom edge of the door and the metal lip below the door. Once that’s done, run the machine with detergent and disinfectant on full cycle. It should smell as good as new.

Unstick stuck drawers. This fix is as simple as buying a bar of paraffin wax. Rub the wax along the wooden drawer slides and any other areas of friction on the drawer. The drawer will slide right into place once it has been given a wax over.

Wobble no more. Since Canada no longer issues pennies, you probably have a bag full of them sitting and collecting dust somewhere in your home. Put some of those to use when fixing wobbly table or chair legs. Simply add a drop of hot glue to the penny (or any other coin) and affix it to the problem area. The coin levels out the surface like a shim.

Car wax in the kitchen? If your kitchen is like most in Canadian households, you have stainless steel appliances, which can be brutal to keep marks off. It’s an easy fix with car wax. Instead of using a surface cleaner to clean your appliances, use the wax. A little bit of buffing with wax will help the appliances to resist smudges and fingerprints.