Photo by Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash

Owning your own home has many benefits, but it is also a lot of responsibility. When something needs repairing, you can’t just call your up your landlord and have them deal with it. It’s your responsibility now.

There are many jobs that you’ll need to contact a professional for. Anything to do with electricity, gas or structural issues shouldn’t be tackled by the inexperienced.

People today lead such busy lives and often don’t learn the DIY skills that their parents and grandparents did. It’s easy to replace something or call someone to do the job for us.

Learning to do simple DIY tasks yourself is a great way to save money and create a sense of satisfaction and self-sufficiency. For example, using adhesives like Sugru Glue to mend a broken dishwasher, fix your child’s toys, or even installing bathroom accessories, not only improves your skills and but can also spark your creativity.

But before you start, you should make sure you’ve got a basic set of DIY tools that will allow you to complete any DIY project you start:

  • Screwdriver set
  • Tape measure and/or a laser distance measurer ​
  • Hammer
  • Utility knie
  • Pliers
  • Putty knife
  • Alan key


Once you’ve got those sorted, here for some basic skills you should know:

Know How To Turn Off Your Utilities

One of the first things you should do when you move into a new property is to find out how to turn off the water, gas or electricity in the event of an emergency. This isn’t just for homeowners, but for renters too. It’s really important for safety reasons to know how to isolate these. If you suspect a gas leak, you don’t want to spend time looking in cupboards or basements for the cut-off. If one of your pipes was to spring a serious leak, there could be thousands of dollars worth of damage done if you don’t know how to shut off the water supply.

Decorating

Painting and wallpapering are one of the easiest ways to make a property truly our own. But choosing a colour scheme is only the beginning. Hiring a decorator might be easier, but it can be expensive. The key to decorating successfully is to prepare thoroughly by making sure that all of your surfaces are clean and dry and that you’ve protected any other areas or furniture that need keeping clean.

When buying decorating equipment, buy quality brushes and rollers as they will make your job much easier and give a better finish. If you need any additional help from professionals for drywall repair or installation, for example, then you may want to consult with a reliable drywall company in Washington, D.C. to see how they can assist you with this.

Like most DIY tasks, there are hundreds of how-to guides and videos that it’s recommended you read so that you can tackle any DIY task with confidence.

Patching Up A Hole In The Wall

A full room skim is best left to a professional plasterer, but a small hole or two can be fixed by you. You can even buy wall filler ready mixed now so all you have to do is apply it to the wall and then sand it smooth once it’s dry.

Unblocking A Sink

Blocked sinks can be a nuisance, and can make your kitchen or bathroom smell. Sinks often get blocked by food waste, hair and soap scum.

The first sign that you might have a blockage is the water draining slowly. There are a number of things you can do. First, try a plunger, or there are a number of tools you can buy remove all of the built-up hair and soap from your shower or bath drain. You’ll be amazed at what you can get out of it.

Finally, if that doesn’t do the trick, you’ll have get the wrench out and clean it out by hand.

Putting Up A Shelf

One of the simplest jobs to do in a home but people shy away from it because it involves drilling into walls. Again, it’s a relatively simple job if you have the right tools. You’re going to need a drill and the right kind of drill bits for the wall you’re fixing the shelf to. A solid brick wall will need a heavy-duty masonry bit on the drill, whereas drywall is relatively easy to drill through with a normal drill bit. You’ll also need to have a general idea about the materials you want to use for the shelves, as they depend on the load you’ll be placing on them. Whether you want to use a melamine faced chipboard, solid timber, or any other material is something you should be able to take a decision on. The different uses of the shelf should determine the type of material you want to use.

Caulk A Sink or Shower

Creating a watertight seal around areas in your bathroom and kitchen will stop water leaking out and damaging your walls and floor. Again, it’s very easy and cheap to do. All DIY stored now have ready mixed caulk that you can apply easily and quickly for a professional-looking finish.

Fix A Dripping Faucet

That annoying drip, drip, drip of a faucet is not only annoying, but it’s wasting precious water too. Often, the fix is as easy as replacing a washer or seal within the faucet itself. It might seem daunting, but if you turn off your water supply and have the right tools for the job, you’ll have it done in no time and will save a fortune on plumbers fees.

Ready To Do It Yourself?

As you can see from this list, a lot of DIY tasks can be done by most people. You just need to remember to do your research first, buy the right tools for the job and be patient. Most DIY blunders happen when someone isn’t paying attention or is trying to take a short cut to do things quickly, rather than doing things right. Not only will you be improving your home and saving money, but you’ll be gaining skills that will last you a lifetime.