Painting is easier when you plan ahead

Painting a room can be done fairly easily. It just takes a little planning, minor prep work and a day or so of labor. It's a great way to upgrade a room on a budget. Here's a basic plan you can follow to help you get started:

• Get as much out of the room as you can. You can work around furniture, but it will slow you down and can get in your way. Use dropcloths to cover what you can't remove.

• If you have a ceiling fixture or wall sconces, remove glass globes and bulbs.

• Remove switch plate and outlet covers. It might be a good idea to turn off the power circuits to the room to be safe.

Mask off baseboards, trim and crown molding and any other areas that you don't want painted. Cover your floor with dropcloths or craft paper.

• Cleaning the walls and ceiling are the next step. Sweep away any dust from the walls. You should clean the walls with TSP, also known as trisodium phosphate. This is available in your paint store.

• Repair any imperfections, like nail holes, with drywall compound and texturizer.

• Now for the fun part - painting. You can benefit from priming the walls first to give your paint a good base. Then use the paint of your choice. Use brushes to "cut in" or work the edges, then use a roller to do the inside of the wall. Use overlapping strokes while the paint is still wet, and you won't see them when it dries. Two thin coats are better than one thick one. Use a good-quality paint for the best results.

• Remove the masking tape, dropcloths and replace the switch and outlet covers. Put anything else back in place, and enjoy your new room.

If you plan ahead, you can do this in a weekend. You might be so happy with your results that you'll decide to paint another room - or maybe the rest of the house!

Keep ladder stable

My extension ladder is not terribly fancy, but it works, and I've had it for a long time. One thing that I added to it is a wooden crosspiece at the top. This makes for a better resting place against some surfaces than the ladder uprights, which can dent or scratch a surface, not to mention being a poor fit for irregular surfaces. I used a scrap of two-by-four wider than the ladder sides. I drilled into the uprights and attached the scrap across the top with some nuts and bolts. It's been in place for several years and hasn't failed me yet!

Caulking gun tip

I have an older caulking gun and have used it a lot during the past 20 years. One thing I've added to mine is a "poker" to puncture the inside of the tube after opening it the first time. I used to look around for a long nail, but I finally just created the addition from a strong piece of wire I had lying around. I coiled one end of the wire so that I could attach it directly to the caulking gun. This way, I never have to try to find it again. I just snip off the tip of the tube and use the poker to pierce the inner seal. It is much more convenient and does save me time.

Super hints

• I just opened a can of paint that my mom had used several years ago to paint some furniture. When she sealed it up, she put a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the can and then tapped the lid in place on top of it. It's still in good shape for the touch-ups that needed to be made. Just another super tip from my mom!

• The older I get, the less I enjoy lugging around heavy stuff in the yard. I like big potted plants on the patio, and I prefer ceramic over plastic. To cut down on the weight, I put large chunks of packing foam in them along with the soil and plants. This makes it a whole lot easier to move them around come winter.

• A new look for your floors would be super easy to achieve with carpet or vinyl tiles. No tools needed except a pair of scissors are required to use them, and the designs you can create are practically endless. You even could mix them if youlike to.

Q. Our dining-room table is a little small, but it's a family heirloom so I try to keep it in good shape. I have noticed that it is a little waxy or cloudy on the surface. Cleaning it doesn't really seem to help. What else can I use to try to clean it up a little better?

A. Try wiping it down with a soft cloth and some mineral-spirits paint thinner. This will cut through old layers of grease, wax and dust better than anything else I know. After it's clean, use an oil furniture polish rather than wax and see if that works better for you.

Q. I need some help with loose and missing tiles from my swimming pool. These are around the top, just under the coping. I have them all but don't know what type of glue will work best for this. I want them to stay on. What would you recommend?

A. You need to clean the old adhesive from the back of the tiles as best you can. Then use a waterproof tile adhesive to glue them on. After the glue has set up, you will need to reinstall the grout.

Q. I have large trees near the street in front of our house, and they really are doing a number on my sidewalks. I need to try to find a way to fix the sidewalks before the city fines me. What can I do?

A. I would suggest contacting a couple of contractors who repair concrete, and see what they would recommend. Sometimes they can raise them up and pump in some filler underneath them to support the low spots. You also might consider contacting an arborist to see if he or she might recommend trimming any of the roots to avoid further issues. Tree roots can damage sewer and water lines too, not to mention your home's foundation, which could be next.

Reader tips

• We are in a drought in our part of the country and have been under tight water restrictions. Sometimes we are only allowed to water our lawns every other week. I decided to get a couple of rain barrels, but after pricing them, I decided to just make my own. I used a plastic trash can for mine. I just cut a hole in the lid so I could direct the downspout into it. Then I installed a small spigot on the front, near the bottom of it. It works great, and I plan to make a couple more when I get a chance.

• We spend a lot of time on our patio, especially during the summertime. I hung several strands of LED twinkle lights for some fun lighting, and it's great. I just bought a bag of shells at the hobby store and have glued them right onto the lights. Now we have "shell lights." It's just another fun thing we did to liven up our patio. I also have decided to glue some shells to some of the flowerpots to make them match, too.

• I got out some of my garden tools to start getting my garden ready for spring. My tools still were dirty from last fall, and some even were pretty rusty. I hosed them off first, and then I put them in a bucket with some water and vinegar and let them soak for a little while. The vinegar got most of the rust off them. I put on my gloves and used steel wool pads to get the last of it off, and now I am ready for another season of gardening.

• I like my washing machine and dryer. They are new and work great. The only problem I have is that they started making a squeaky noise when spinning. I figured out that they were too close together were and rubbing on each other while working. I bought a long piece of foam crack filler at my hardware store and stuffed it between the two machines. It cushions them, and there's no more squeaky noise!

• We have an old baby monitor set that we are not using any longer. I found that I could put one unit in my workshop and the other one inside the house. Now I can hear my wife if she needs me or if someone comes to the front door. It's almost like an intercom instead of a baby monitor, and it works great.

Shoptalk

• If you have noticed that the pressure in your water supply has diminished over time, especially the hot-water supply, it may be something as simple as mineral deposits clogging up the lines. This is a very common problem in many parts of the country. There's a little trick we learned years ago that can fix this problem, and it's not a very hard thing to do. Basically, you will "back flush" your supply lines. We've detailed these instructions for you. This information also is available at www.thesuperhandyman.com, along with a lot more fun stuff. Just follow the directions and see if it works for you. We get an awful lot of positive feedback from our readers, so it's worth a shot!

• Scotchgard Tile & Grout Multi-Surface Sealer does a great job of protecting porous floors from stains. It's a penetrating sealer and works on concrete, natural stone and grout. It easily can be applied with a roller or brush, or sprayed on. There is a ready-to-use spray bottle or two larger containers available, depending upon the area you need to apply it to. It's water-based, so it's easy to clean up afterward as well. It even has a 20-year satisfaction guarantee. To find out more, go to www.scotchgard.com or find it at your flooring dealer.

• I just discovered a super product at my home center. It's called Stick-It Tile, and it's a peel-and-stick tile grouping that would be so easy for installing a new backsplash in a day. Since it comes in a wide variety of patterns and colors, you could get pretty creative too. There's no grouting or gluing involved, and it's flexible, too. All you need to do before installing it is clean the surface you're working on, and then you're ready. You also could use it in a bathroom, bar and lots of other places. Check it out at www.homedepot.com or go directly to your Home Depot and see what options it has in stock.

• Write to Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or visit online at thesuperhandyman.com.

© 2015, Cowles Syndicate Inc.