Hot Tips for Household.

Alas, I am a girl without a project  Again.  Hmph.

The drywall went back up on the wall around the pocket door, it was taped* then joint compounded.  I picked up some newfangled joint compound* which claims less dust when sanded and something or other mold something so we shall see.

As you can see though, there's a hefty quantity to sand, re-compound, and sand again.  Heh sad face.

Ack!  Holy joint compound, sheesh.

Wallpaper!!

Have not located the wallpaper I have in my head though I found some funky stuff for cheap.  I doubt I can get many the elusive Mike Approval.  Meaning oh like this one.  Admittedly, that one may not be the winner despite its fun-ness and way awesome price tag.

I found a couple others which aren't quite right but might work.  Like this one, or this one.  But ehhhh, neither is nope, not "The One."  Totally wish I could find a spot for this one!  Hilarious and silly fun, right?!

I installed a new jamb leg to which the door closes exactly upon.  Granted it took a long while to get it that way, but it is thanks to that tip I saw in James Mason's video.

An additional tip I caught on another video that I had not mentioned prior was to spray paint the track and frame so the working innards are not overly visible.  Wish I had done that but shockingly, there is an sorrowful lack of black spray paint in these here digs.

Or white, coulda used white but I used all that up.

It's illegal to buy spray paint in the city which of course is merely a minor speed bump but that law does make it inconvenient.

Long story short, wish I had sprayed though.

The old trim around the door went back up on both sides.  Poorly.  Oh did I do a terrible job and incorrectly to boot.  So much so that Mike says he will buy me more trim to redo it.  Yeah.  Yikes.

Second-to-worst trimming up portion.

I forgot to offset the trim a quarter inch or so from the edge.  Then I had a hell of a time with hammering brad nails by hand into the kit's wood frame so I made a mess of the trim, dinged it all up.  I also then mis-cut the horizontal pieces resulting in, well, it's bad.  Real bad.

Oh dear.  Hang head in shame.  I tried to pretend that filling such a ginormous gap with caulk would be ok.  Maybe Mike wouldn't notice?  Yeah right.  Just only right away.

So trim is on the uh "cannot do" list!  Trim is hard, man!

It's a painfully bitter day outdoors today and as I have nary a project on the docket, I thought I'd share some lil' mini tips wit' 'cha......

Have some of those cafe rods around the abode?  We do, in the bedroom holding up our blackout curtains.  Ever find that they peel the paint right off the window framing?  No?  You're lucky.  Seems to happen to me quite often.

Doh!  Irritating, making more work for me with repainting.

To solve this conundrum, I grabbed some of those felt furniture feetie glide thingies* and smushed them on the ends.  Granted, you now have to crank down like nuts to keep the rod from slipping all around, but hey, at least the rubber ends ain't rippin' all that paint off no more.

Yay, slippy slidey!  Man, someone needs some moisturizer.

When we first moved in, I equipped the laundry room with a shower curtain rod to hang shirts and stuff and whatever.  Plus?  The room was just the right width in order to do so.  Minus?  The darn thing would come crashing down.  Always at The most inopportune moment too, of course.

Beeee-fore.

After one such inopportune moment complete with loads of grumbling and cursing from a certain ginger in the house, it was nigh time to resolve the issue.

Of course I could purchase those closet pole sockets* but the only ones I could find at Menards were like $4.50/package.  No thanks.  Why not make my own with scrap wood for free?  Yes please.

All it took.  Yup.

So that's what I did.  I measured the diameter of the curtain rod, used my handy dandy hole saw kit,* popped out some holes in a coupla' scrap pieces of wood, then zzzuh-whink, attached them to the wall.

Pre-drilled some holes for the screws too of course for ease of install.

And bingo!  No more falling down rod!  Ever!  Yay!  Sometimes it's the simple things, ya know, right?!

Be very very very careful about anything going into a wall near an electrical panel.  In fact, just don't do it.

This winter I went around the basement and sealed up every single hole I could find with caulk or expanding foam* goo, ya know around plumbing in's and out's, a sewer cap behind the dryer, that kind of stuff, holes I've ignored.  Tired of the cold draft wafting down the stair.  While it has lessened, it still lingers.  Brrr.  Seriously, bound and determined to shut that off!

After a raucous play time with the Finnster one day, a floor register popped out in the living room.  And while I had seen the huge gaping hole before between the ductwork and all the construction that makes up the floor, I finally opted to do something about it, and all the others, since I was on a bit of a weatherizing kick.

One of the least gappy ones but hey, I forgot to grab my camera until I was on the last one.  Sorry.

All it took was HVAC silver foil duct tape* to patch.  Not duck tape, the foil tape.  Done in a few seconds.

Hey hey, taped up vent!  No more possible cold air seeping, slinking around.

I must say, this round of hole-filling and patching and such actually surprisingly did make a noticeable difference and the house feels a tad warmer, the stair draft a little more diminished even.  Gettin' there!

Ah, my office closet bi-fold door.  It kept popping out of the track, flailing about.  One big reason why folks dislike bi-fold doors.

Not level.  Over time and use it happens.

I never devoted enough time nor attention to fixing it so I assumed it needed a new top-of-door guide or something.  One day, sick of getting whacked by and corralling the flapping door, I gave the issue an online search.

And way not plumb.

Easy peasy fix, and free!  All I had to do was adjust the top bracket and plumb up the door again, as best it can be plumbed.  Since then?  No door flying off the track.  Yay!

Horrible and weird picture of the top bracket thingie you'd need to adjust.

Tip there, aside from keeping a bi-fold door in its track?  Research.  Do a little research and your ever-growing home maintenance to-do check list can likely be managed simply, quickly, easily, and possibly for free.  Nice, right?

Lastly, if you can sew three straight lines on a machine, try making this simple duster.  While you may have seen this all over the interwebs, it's an internet tip that actually works!  One day, I swear, I'm going to post a big long list of all the internet tips that do not work.  Which would be most of them really.

Anywhooo, the duster saves loads of cash over the pricey disposable ones plus the DIY one is washable so infinitely better for the environment.

Hot tip day, huh?  I loaded that one up quite well for ya.

Clean.  I guess I could clean.  Boo.  Boooorrrring.  Hm.  Well?  Hopefully I'll come up with a project or two asap.  Like ASAP.

*The drywall mesh tape, joint compound, felt furniture glides, closet pole sockets, hole saw kit, expanding foam, and foil tape are Amazon affiliate links.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.