Not every job you face around the house is going to involve a mammoth amount of work – and thank Jebus for that! However, there are things that come up that could use a little more attention than duct tape, especially if you want to prevent future damage that WILL result in a buttload of work.
A collection of handy, well-organized tips can be found in When Duct Tape Just Isn’t Enough – a resourceful book by Popular Mechanics’ C.J. Petersen. The book details what you can do on your own and gives advice on when you might want to call in a pro – all with a conversational and sometimes humorous voice we think HomeFixated readers can appreciate.
Below are some examples of tips from the book:
For orange rust stains on concrete: Rub a lemon over the stain until it is saturated with lemon juice, then put a piece of plastic over the stain. Leave it for two to three hours, and then hose off. The stain should be gone. If some stain remains, repeat the process.
For a drooping wooden gate: Install an eye screw in the frame of the gate, about where it connects to the upper hinge. Attach a strong cable to the eye screw using a clip available at home centers, and fasten another cable kitty corner to the first, at the bottom outside of the gate frame. Now join the two cables with a turnbuckle, tightening until the gate is back in square.
For darkening grout between the bathroom tiles: Saturate a toothbrush in a glass of hydrogen peroxide, then dip and scrub to clean the grout line.
There are a lot more simple and effective tips in this book to help you maintain the home you’ve spent so much time and money getting the way you want it – the $10.15 for a copy of your own is a deal. Pick up Popular Mechanics When Duct Tape Just Isn’t Enough: Quick Fixes for Everyday Disasters
