If You Know These Things, You’re a Genius Homeowner
And if you don’t, now you do!
Stop leaks and drips
Two annoying causes of wasted money and water are leaky taps and running toilets. In fact, according to the United States Geological Survey, a leaky faucet at one drip per second equals a loss of five gallons of water every day! Fortunately, both of these are easily remedied by any homeowner and won’t take long to complete. Here’s how to fix a leaky faucet and repair a running toilet.
Fix a running toilet
Fixing a running toilet will not only give your toilet a stronger flush, but it can also lower your water bill. Here are the 4 steps you need to stop a running toilet. Want to save more? Check out these 6 tips to cut your energy bill.
Quiet squeaky floors
Squeaky floors can be annoying. The good news? This quick fix for silencing floor squeaks will take you just a day. Bonus: You don’t need any special tools.
Patch a crack in drywall
It doesn’t matter if your son’s basketball got away from him or you nicked the wall moving a piece of furniture—at some point, you’ll be faced with a crack in your drywall. Fortunately, it’s not hard to patch a crack in your drywall. You’ll need a taping knife and utility knife, along with some drywall tape, pre-mixed joint compound and setting type compound to fix the crack so it doesn’t come back. Make sure you know the things all smart homeowners do once a year.
Repair cracked grout
Even the best tile jobs will succumb to cracking grout at some point. If the grout between your bathroom floor tiles is crumbling, there is a quick fix for cracked grout that will save you from tearing up the floor and starting over. Check it out here.
Steady an unbalanced washing machine
You threw a heavy load of towels in the washer and now it’s unbalanced. With a level, pliers and a pry bar, here’s how to balance your washer again in five minutes.
Unclog a toilet with dish soap
If the toilet plunger doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, try dish soap this method to unclog your toilet before you reach for the snake. Squirt about 1/2 cup of liquid soap in and let it sit for a while. The liquid soap reduces friction and will often allow the contents of the bowl to slide on through. Find out the things you should never flush down a toilet.
Relight your water heater pilot light
There could be a few reasons the pilot light on your water heater goes out. A common cause is a bad thermocouple, which shuts off the gas to the pilot light. Try this simple fix to relight your pilot light, which will only cost you $20 if you do it yourself. Don’t miss these hidden home dangers you should never ignore.
Maintain your HVAC
Maintaining your cooling system wards off many HVAC problems. If you do have a failure, you can usually fix your air conditioner yourself. And here’s how to repair your AC if it has suddenly become noisy. If it’s your furnace that needs attention, you can perform routine furnace maintenance, and make these 3 easy furnace repairs.
Clean your garbage disposal
A garbage disposal is a bit scary when it’s turned on and the blades are noisily chopping up kitchen waste. But, if your disposal gets stinky, fear not. Here’s how to clean the gunk out of your garbage disposal and get rid of the smell. Find out the things you should never put down the garbage disposal.