When working on your project you want your screw to be flush against the wood, not sticking out in any way. To accomplish this you will want to countersink the pilot hole before drilling in the screw. Countersinking means “to enlarge and/or bevel the side of a hole to allow any given fixing to be sunk below the surface of that hole.” Basically, you want the top portion of the pilot hole (not the entire hole) to be wide enough to fit the head of the screw. They have bits specific for countersinking, but I just use normal drills bits to accomplish this. I drill a small pilot hole and then drill a few millimeters on the top of the pilot hole with a wider drill bit to make room for the screw.

This picture will give you a better idea of how countersinking a screw works:

In this video I describe countersinking further and show an example of countersinking a screw.

One of the things you will run into once you own a house is hanging things up on the walls, such as pictures, clocks, curtain rods and other items.

If something is very light, such as a plastic clock, the process will be very straightforward as you can put a nail anywhere in the wall and it will be able to support the clock.

The way the walls in your house work is that they are covered with what is called drywall. Drywall (also called plasterboard) covers all of the interior walls and is generally only 0.5 inches thick or less. You might notice that if you nail something into the wall, the nail only encounters resistance the first half inch or so and then slides all the way through. This is because there is nothing but empty space behind the drywall (unless you reach a stud, more about this later), so the nail encounters no more resistance once it has passed through the drywall. Since the drywall material is thin you don’t want to hang anything heavy in drywall without some sort of additional support since the heavy object will eventually rip out the nail or screw from the drywall and fall to the ground.

If you are hanging up something heavy you have two options:

1. Hang up the item in the drywall using an anchor or some other type of support
2. Hang up the item in the studs in the wall

You might be asking, what is a stud? Behind the drywall, a thick board (like a 2 x 4) is placed every 16 to 24 inches, and these boards are called studs.

The picture below shows this clearly, you can see the drywall interspersed with studs.

When hanging up anything in your house (a picture, a handrail and so on), it is preferred to hang it up in a stud because then the nail or screw is going into a 2 inch thick wood board and not a 0.5 inch thick dry wall board.

The issue however, is that since the studs are behind the wall you cannot tell where they are. This is where the stud finder comes in. A stud finder is a tool which you slide across the wall and will tell you where the stud is located. It usually indicates where the stud starts, the center of the stud and where the stud ends.

A stud finder is pretty inexpensive. The one I use has worked well and only costs $25, it can be found on Amazon here: Zircon StudSensor e50 Electronic Wall Scanner / Edge Finding Stud Finder / Live AC WireWarning Detection

In the video below I show how to use a stud finder.

Sometimes you will need to hang up something heavy but can’t place it directly in a stud, as you will want it to be in the exact middle of the room or some similar reason. To hang up something like this you will need to use an anchor in the dry wall. The anchor will spread out against the drywall, holding the item in place. Usually a screw needs to go in the anchor to make the anchor spread out and a nail cannot be used.

In the video below I provide some details on wall anchors.

Hope you found this useful. If you have any questions e-mail me at lifehackanddiycontact@gmail.com.

One thing you will encounter when you get into home improvement is all the various types of tape. Some have specific uses (such as electrical tape) while other are more multipurpose (such as duct tape). This post provides details on some of the types of tape you might encounter.

Duct Tape: You probably are already familiar with duct tape. What makes duct tape so strong is that is is made with fabric, which increases the strength of the tape. Duct tape can be used for almost anything home improvement wise except for electrical work as it could catch fire. Growing up I was used to duct tape only coming in the color gray, but now it comes in a variety of colors.

You can find a six pack of duct tape in various colors here: GIFTEXPRESS 6 Assorted Colored Duct Tapes – Multi Purposes Bright Colors Tapes Great for DIY Art Home School Office Assorted Colors 2″ Roll by 10 yds

Painters tape: Painters tape is tape which can be put easily on and off surfaces without and marks being made to the surface the tape is applied to. It is primarily used for painting application (so you can paint one surface without accidentally painting another surface) but can be used for various other things. I discuss painters tape in further detail in a blog post found here.

Electrical tape: Electrical tape is a special type of tape made of a rubber like substance. It is needed for various electrical application (covering an electric wire, etc.) as it will not catch fire, unlike other types of tape. You can find electrical tape at any hardware store, it can also be found on Amazon here: Scotch 700 Electrical Tape, 03429NA, 3/4 in x 66 ft

Pipe tape: Pipe tape, also referred to as teflon tape, is a special tape of tape you put on pipe threads to give them a better fit and prevent water leakage. The tape is very common and inexpensive, and can be found at any hardware store along with being found on Amazon here: LASCO 11-1033 PTFE Pipe Sealant Tape, 1/2-Inch x 100-Inch, White

One of the least fun (but necessary) components of many woodworking projects is sanding the wood used. Sanding is necessary to make the wood smooth and eliminate splinters. Also, if you are refinishing furniture, you might need to sand off the previous finish / paint color before applying a new color. For example, we took some of old furniture and wanted to paint it black (it was previously a tan color). However, the old paint was covered by some kind of clear coat. We first tried to remove the old paint with a stripping gel, but this only resulted in removing a minimal amount. The exact stripping gel we used can be found here: Citristrip QCSG801 Paint & Varnish Stripping Gel. In the end, the easiest way to remove the previous paint was to sand it off using low grit (highly abrasive) sandpaper (more on grit later).

Getting Started: Before you start sanding you need to make sure you have the proper protective gear. You will want some sort of eye protection and some sort of respiratory protection, so that the saw dust created from sanding doesn’t go in your eyes or your lungs. For eye protection you can either use safety glasses or safety goggles. I use safety goggles as they provide better protection than safety glasses. With safety glasses saw dust can still find its way into your eyes, you are much better protected with safety goggles. The safety goggles I actually use can be found on Amazon here: DEWALT DPG82-11/DPG82-11CTR Concealer Clear Anti-Fog Dual Mold Safety Goggle

You will also want a respiration mask to cover your nose and mouth, so that you avoid breathing in any of the debris you create while sanding. You will want a respiration mask that is N95 or better. The ‘N95’ designation means that when subjected to careful testing, the respirator blocks at least 95 percent of very small (0.3 micron) test particles. 

Manually Sanding: To manually sand wood you would need a sanding block like the one shown below. To use it you wedge the sandpaper in the two opening and then push back and forth until the wood is at the smoothness you desire. I wouldn’t recommend manually sanding except for the smallest of job as it is very tedious.

If you use an electric sander you will have various types of sanders to choose from. I compare the different types of electric sanders on a previous blog post which can be found here.

Sandpaper: Sandpaper comes in various grit levels. Grit is basically how abrasive the sandpaper is, the lower the grit rating the more abrasive the sandpaper. For example, I purchased a multi-pack of sander discs for my random orbit sander and the grit rating of the discs ranged from 60 to 220. The 60 grit rating disc would be used to remove paint or other coating, while the 220 grit rating disc would be used to finish polishing of a board so that it is fully smooth to the touch. You can see a comparison of the two below.

In this post I will provide some of the basics on painting, which is an aspect of many home improvement projects.

Painting vs Staining: You might be wondering what is the difference between painting and staining. In a nutshell, painting involves covering the wood with paint where afterwards you cannot see the underlying grain of the wood. When staining, you cover the wood with a stain which covers and protects the wood, but you are still able to see the underlying grain of the wood.

For example, if you look at the simple but stylish bench project on this blog here you’ll notice that you can still see the grain of the bench, which was been stained.

Oil Based vs Water Based Paint: When choosing paint, the main decision is between oil based and water based paint. In general oil based paint is a little more durable than water based paint. However, to clean oil based paint off of any surface or off your paint brushes you have to paint thinner or a similar substance to get the paint off, which can be very annoying and time consuming. I for one just throw the brushes away since it is too much effort to clean them if oil based paint has been used. With water based paint, you can simply use water to clean the surfaces or clean the brushes. In general I have found water based paint is fairly comparable to oil based paint. Due to this and how much less effort is needed to clean water based paint, I almost always use water based paint.

Paint Can Basics: This is very simple, but I wanted to point out a few things when using a paint can. First, to open a paint can you can use a flat head screwdriver (which is a little clunky and often misshapes the can), or you can use a handy tool created simply for opening paint cans. The tool kinda looks like a key and can open a paint can very easily. I keep a few as they get easily lost.

You can find a five pack of these paint can openers here on Amazon: 5 Pack Paint Can Opener, Bottle Opener, Metal Paint Can Opening Tool, 5 Pack Steel Paint Can Tool with 2 Built To Last! Brand Gear Ties

Once you get the paint can open you will want to stir the paint so that the paint has an even consistency. When you buy the paint they will normally give you a few paints stirrers. You could also buy paint stirrers in bulk, a pack of 200 paint stirrers can be found here on Amazon: SHLA Group HDPS10 1 Gallon 200 Pack Paint Sticks That are for Crafts and Mixing, 200 Pack, 200 Pack

Lastly, to close a can of paint you put the cap back on top of the can and hit the cap a few times with a hammer. Make sure the can lid does not have any paint to avoid splattering the paint.

Paint Brushes: When choosing paint brushes you get what you pay for. I used to buy cheap paint brushes. However, what would often happen was that the bristles would come out while I was painting and get stuck in the paint. Then I would have to pull they out, or if I didn’t notice until too late they would be stuck in the paint and I would have to sand them out and paint that section over again. To avoid this extra hassle I started buying higher quality brushes. Purdy is a good brand, you can find a three pack of these brushes on Amazon here: Purdy 140853100 XL Brush 3 Pack

The goal of this post is to provide readers background on some of the basics of the electrical systems in their house.

Fuse Box: Before doing any electrical work in your house you will want to know where the fuse box is. The fuse box contains switches to turn power on and off to various sections of the house. If your lucky your fuse box will have labels indicating which switch is associated with which section of the house. However, these labels might not be accurate, so be sure to double check (my fuse box has labels but most of them are wrong). Whenever you are doing any electrical work make sure to turn off the power to the area you are working on via the fuse box.

Even if you think you have turned off the electricity to the area you are going to work on, it is good to double check that the area is not receiving any electricity. An easy way to do this is to use a non-contact voltage tester, which I describe further in a post found here.

Working with Wires: When doing electrical work (say replacing a hallway light fixture) you will likely be dealing with three types of wires:

1. A “hot” (current-carrying) wire. This wire is usually black.
2. A neutral wire. This wire is usually white and provides the return path for the current provided by the hot wire.
3. A ground wire. This wire is a safety feature and is often green or a copper color.

You’ll notice when connecting and disconnecting wires that they are often connected with a nut of some sort. This nut is called a wire nut, and it has metal inside it to connect the two wires, and it twisted on until the wires are securely connected. An example of how a wire nut looks (with the metal connection visible) is in the photo below.

GFCI Outlets: When doing electrical work at some point you will run into ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets. The GFCI outlets are basically there to prevent electrocution and are normally installed in areas where water is often present such as bathrooms and the kitchen. An example of what a GFCI outlet looks like is below:

The GFCI will measure the difference in the amount of electricity flowing into the circuit to that flowing out and quickly to trip or shut off the circuit if there is a difference. Therefore instead of tripping the circuit in the circuit breaker, it will be tripped at the actual outlet. This is why the outlet has the reset and test buttons. After the outlet gets tripped you can turn it back on with the reset button. Also, you can test that the outlet is working properly with the test button. Once I called an electrician because the lights in my bathroom were not working. All he did was hit the reset button on the GFCI outlet, but I still had to pay him $120.

I wanted to provide some plumbing basics to give readers a high level background on plumbing in their house.

Follow the water trail: The trail followed by water to reach your house is typically the one shown below.

1. There is a water meter somewhere outside your house, usually near the front. This water meter is read by your water provider when they prepare your bill. Near this water meter is usually a water shut off value. If you turn this valve you will shut off all water going to your house.

2. Most houses also have a separate shut off value (not maintained by the water department) outside of there house which controls all of the water flow to their house. If the valve is shut closed no water will reach the house. These value come in several varieties, and may require several turns if it is a knob, or only a quarter or half turn if it is a switch type of valve.

3. There are shutoff values within your house to the various water sources (showers, toilets and faucets). Faucets usually have two shut off values, one for cold water and one for hot water. The individual shut off valves allow you to turn off water to certain areas (such as a sink) without having to turn off water to the entire house. Shut off valves for inside your house usually come in several turn (you have to turn the knob several time) or quarter turn (you turn the knob 90 degrees and the water is off) varieties. Quarter turn shut off valves are preferred due to their ease of use. When I had to replace several shut off values in my house due to corrosion I replaced all of them with quarter turn shut off valves.

Caulking: What is caulking? Caulking is a cement like substance put between two surfaces to keep them watertight. You will notice caulking in your kitchen and bathrooms among other places.

There are two methods for applying caulk, by hand or with a caulking gun.

To apply caulk by hand you just squeeze a tube of caulk along the line you want to caulk. The type of caulk you would use is shown below and you can find it out Amazon here: Dap 18001 Kwik Seal Caulk with 5.5-Ounce Tube, White

The other way to apply caulk is to using a caulking gun. This requires getting caulk in a tube which has a back which gets compressed when you hit the trigger of the gun, therefore pushing out the caulk.

Either method works but it is generally easier and the job is more consistent if you use a caulking gun. Also, a caulking gun is not very expensive and if you get into home improvement you will be caulking often.

Electrical Outlets and Plumbing: You might have noticed that electrical outlets in areas where water is often present (bathrooms and the kitchen) often have outlets that look different than standard outlets. These are ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets.

The GFCI outlets are basically there to prevent electrocution. The GFCI will measure the difference in the amount of electricity flowing into the circuit to that flowing out and quickly to trip or shut off the circuit if there is a difference. Therefore instead of tripping the circuit in the circuit breaker, it will be tripped at the actual outlet. This is why the outlet has the reset and test buttons. After the outlet gets tripped you can turn it back on with the reset button. Also, you can test that the outlet is working properly with the test button.

If you are getting started in home improvement, you are going to need some basic tools to get started.  You can buy more advanced tools (such as a mitre saw or an electric sander) as your interest in home improvement progresses, but the list below contains the most basic tools which you will like need to tackle very simple home improvement projects.

1. Tape Measure
2. Work Gloves (to avoid splinters, etc.)
3. Flathead screwdriver
4. Phillips screwdriver
5. Hand Saw
6. Hammer
7. Pliers
8. Wood glue (you want glue stronger than the Elmer’s glue you might have lying around the house)
9. Clamp (to hold in place boards which are being glued together or otherwise keeps things in place)
10. Paint brushes
11. Duct Tape: Comes in handy in so many places.

With these items you will be able to handle a lot of projects and see if home improvement is for you.  Note that doing projects with all these hand tools might get frustrating, especially the hand saw and manual screwdrivers.  With a handle saw it can take 5 minutes (and tire out your arm) to saw through a board which could be cut be a mitre saw in literally one second.  Also, it can get tiring manually screwing a screw into a piece of wood when an electric drill could drill it in in just a few seconds.