4 DIY home repairs that will save you money

Ever find yourself in a sticky situation with a cracked floor tile or hole in the wall? These small fixes are intimidating enough to have you dialling a contractor, but having a professional fix every little dent can run up a major bill. So, we talked to contractor Darren Voros who shared some DIY solutions for all those home repairs that you've been putting off. 

DIY cracked tile repair 

What you'll need:

• Safety goggles
• Grout removal tool
• Drill
• Chisel
• Trowel
• Mortar
• Grout
• Sponge

Directions:

1. Put safety glasses on to protect your eyes from dust and chips.
2. Remove the grout around the cracked tile with a grout removal tool.
3. Drill a series of holes in the centre of the tile and pop the tile out. If in pieces, use a chisel to remove them.
4. Remove all pieces, scrape out the mortar with chisel and clean up the area.
5. Butter the back of the tile with mortar at a 45 degree angle.
6. Place tile and push down, ensuring that it's level with surrounding tiles, and spaced evenly on all sides.
7. Let area set for 24 hours
8. Using trowel, apply grout. Lightly wipe away excess with a damp sponge. Allow to dry for 24 hours. When grout no longer feels tacky, give surface a final wipe with damp sponge.

DIY small dent drywall repair

What you'll need:

• Patch kit
• Drywall compound (mud)
• Drywall trowel
• Fine grit sandpaper
• Paint

Directions:

1. Peel off the adhesive backing from wire mesh and stick it on over the hole
2. With your trowel, apply a thick coat of mud over the area.
3. Smooth it out by taking off excess mud with trowel.
4. Allow to dry for 24 hours. Sand surface with fine grit sandpaper. Repaint area. It may be necessary to repaint the entire wall depending on the colour and sheen of your paint.

DIY large hole drywall repair

What you'll need: 

• Drywall knife
• Utility knife
• Small piece of drywall
• Drywall compound (mud)
• Drywall trowel
• Fine grit sandpaper
• Paint

Directions:

1. Cut out a piece of drywall big enough to cover the hole.
2. Place patch over the hole and pencil its outline on the wall.
3. With drywall knife, cut along the outline and remove piece.
4. Cut a piece of wood strapping that's longer than the height of the hole, and place it behind the hole, inside the wall. Pull strapping firmly against the damaged drywall, and insert a screw at the top and bottom to hold strapping against the existing drywall close to the opening.  
5. Place adhesive wall tape over patch on all 4 sides. With your trowel, apply a thick coat of mud over the area. Smooth it out by removing excess mud.
6. Allow area to drive for 24 hours. Sand wall with a fine grit sandpaper. Repaint the wall and if necessary you may have to repaint the entire well depending on the color and sheen of your paint.   

DIY sticky door fix

What you'll need:

• Screwdriver/Drill
• Golf tee or toothpicks
• Glue
• Exacto knife
• Hammer
• Planer

Directions: 

1. Check that the door knob is tight. If it's come lose, tighten screws with screwdriver.
2. Check that screws in door hinges are tight. If you have a screw that will no longer tighten up, remove the screw.
3. If screw is stripped, take golf tee, put wood glue on it and hammer into the hole where screw was. If you don't have a tee, use multiple toothpicks & wood glue.
4. Score the tee or toothpicks.
5. Knock off tee head with hammer or use a utility knife to remove excess length of toothpicks.
6. Reset screw and screw back in with drill.
7. If your door is rubbing against the frame, you can plane it. Run the planer down the edge of door, shaving off some of the door where it's sticking. If it's a hollow core door, be sure not to remove too much or you will end up going right through it.

Do you have any tricks for small home repairs? Let us know on our Facebook page.