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Before guests arrive, give your home and garden a little TLC. These common D.I.Y. fixes work wonders for giving much-loved homes a refresh.
If your doors, skirting, window frames and other timber trims are generally sound, with only minor chips or dings, repairing them is relatively quick and easy. Use a utility knife to cut away a piece of the existing paint (about the size of a 50 cent coin) and take it in-store for colour matching. Fill any small dents or cracks using timber filler and, once dry, sand it flush with the surrounding surface using 120-grit abrasive paper. Touch up with paint.
Tip: If the bottom edge of a door or window frame has absorbed water and started to rot, call in a tradie!
Blinds are often overlooked as long as they’re still functional. However, taking a moment to get them back on the straight and narrow makes a huge difference to how a room looks and feels. With vertical blinds, chances are the bead chain aligning the bottom edges has become loose. Just push the small plastic cylindrical clip on the chain back onto the receptacle at the base of the blind.
With Venetian blinds, if the lifting cords are frayed but not yet broken, simply replace them: pull the lifting cords out from the bottom rail, snip the knot and use a lighter to carefully fuse new cords to the old ones. Then gently pull the new cord through and knot – simple!
If your floorboards are showing signs of wear and tear, you can easily tackle small scratches with a timber touch-up pen, or fill in deeper gouges with a tinted wax stick.
Inspect the deck for raised boards and loose nails, both of which can be a potentially serious safety hazard. Tapping any offenders down with a hammer is the quick fix, but for a more permanent solution, replace nails with heavy-gauge self-drilling screws. Gently pry the nails out, then replace with exterior-grade screws – choose ones longer than the original nails, so they bite into untapped timber in the joist.
Any unsightly cracks and dings in your walls? Give them a makeover with a ready-mixed, fast-drying filler like Selleys Spakfilla Rapid. “Use the included spatula to press the filler firmly into the crack or hole and smooth the surface,” says Natalie Breen of Selleys. “Once the filler has dried (about 30 minutes if it has been applied thinly), lightly sand back any excess.” Overfill cracks in the plaster slightly to allow for sanding. Allow 24 hours before painting if you are using oil-based paints.
Erase the signs of a well-loved room – from food stains in the kitchen to the kids’ hieroglyphics on a bedroom wall – with one chemical-free product. Melamine foam sponges are lightly abrasive and activated by water. Dampen, then gently clean off crayon, marker, grease and other problematic scuffs from hard surfaces.
Check out our step-by-step guide to learn how to repair your deck.
Photo credit: Gap Interiors/Alistair Nicholls, Sue Stubbs and Getty Images
Some photographs feature products from suppliers other than Bunnings.
Asbestos, lead-based paints and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber are health hazards you need to look out for when renovating older homes. These substances can easily be disturbed when renovating and exposure to them can cause a range of life-threatening diseases and conditions including cancer. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer or visit our Health & Safety page.
When following our advice in our D.I.Y. videos, make sure you use all equipment, including PPE, safely by following the manufacturer’s instructions. Check that the equipment is suitable for the task and that PPE fits properly. If you are unsure, hire an expert to do the job or talk to a Bunnings Team Member.
