Home improvement tips - Painting and Decorating

If you are feeling confident enough and decide to go ahead with some of the not so difficult home improvement tasks, such as painting or decorating, here are some professional tips that may be of help along the way.

Tricks of the Trade

Painting Tips

• Paint usually builds up in the lid groove of the can, which would cause the paint to run down the side of the can.  To eliminate this problem, you could punch a number of holes into the lid groove, which will permit the paint to drain back into the can each time it accumulates in the lid grove.  These holes in no way affect the resealing of the can, since the lid seals by pressure on the sides of the groove rather than on the bottom
• For small touch-up pain jobs, try using a pipe stem cleaner.  A pipe stem cleaner is ideal for applying small quantities of paint on flat or uneven surfaces and in particular for reaching into hidden corners and grooves on irregular basis

Sanding Tips

• Regular sheets of sandpaper can last longer and work better if they are backed with masking tape.  This would give each sandpaper more strength and help in keeping it from tearing or creasing
• Wrap a piece of fine sandpaper around a small piece of wood to smooth the sharp edges of cut glass, ceramic tile, porcelain, etc.  The wood makes an ideal block for sanding these types of cut materials
• For sanding irregular edges of table tops, chair legs, etc., a deck of cards as the sanding block would be ideal.  This is because the cards and sandpaper will adjust to the contour of the surface you are sanding.  This makes a sanding block that is quite flexible, yet provides a firm base for holding the sandpaper against a curved surface

Miscellaneous Tips

• To reduce spilling when driving nails near the end of the board, blunt the nail slightly before driving it into the wood.  This blunting makes the nail spread the wood instead of splitting it
• Use the heat from a propane torch to help loosen stubborn nuts.  Concentrate the heat from the torch on the nut instead of on the end of the bolt.  The heat expands the but slightly, making it easier to break loose.  A small disposable cup is a handy tool for small soldering jobs.  A little watter in the bottom of the cup helps hold the cup in place.  It also prevents the bottom of the cup from melting

Safety First

Planning exactly what is  to be done in advance often represents the difference between tackling a job safely and successfully or courting disaster.

Research by DTI shows around 70 people each year are killed carrying out do-it-yourself work and 250,000 are injured - many seriously.

Most of these accidents need never happen and are simply due to either carelessness or lack of knowledge.

So make sure you take great care in all your endeavours!!!!