These tile tips truly make the cut

Ceramic tiles have been used in our homes for hundreds of years. That's because they are tough and look great over long periods of time.

Tiles are placed on a floor, but they also can be used on walls and countertops. The hardest part of laying tile usually is cutting the tiles to fit around edges and other obstacles. Here are some tips on laying and cutting tiles to fit those special areas.

First of all, before you get started, keep in mind that laying larger tiles will mean the job will go faster. Smaller tiles now come in sheets, so they can go down just as fast as a larger tile. Buy extra tiles in case you accidentally break some while working. Even if you don't break a single tile, you may need to replace one at some point in the future.

Lay them out, unglued or dry, first. You can adjust the pattern in order to minimize the number of cuts you need to make.

Use a chalk line to keep your tile job straight as you work.

If you do need to make a series of cuts, a wet saw or tile saw will make those cuts quickly and without a lot of breakage. You can rent these locally for a fair price. Try to mark all of your cuts in advance so you can make them in one session. This will keep rental costs down. Straight cuts are fairly simple to do. If you need to make round cuts, it can be done by making a series of smaller cuts around the area; with a little practice, it will come out OK.

If you don't want to use a wet saw, there are some smaller manual cutters.

Cutting out odd shapes also can be done with hand-held tile nippers. Sometimes scoring a tile with a glass cutter makes for a cleaner edge.

A rotary tool can cut and grind down the edges on odd-shaped pieces.

A drill also can be used, with a lot of practice, to cut holes in tiles. Place a piece of masking tape on the tile to help get your cut started.

It is possible you could get the tile dealer to help you with some of these cuts. It's always worth asking about.

You might want to use all of the above techniques for especially intricate cuts. Just take your time and you should get good results for a job that will make you proud.

Saving sockets

I found a great shop aid in my local sewing store! It was a simple bobbin or thread organizer made of wood with small diameter dowels sticking up, all in a row. Each row is a little taller than the row in front of it, so you can see all of the rods at once. The one I saw held a dozen spools of thread. I grabbed one and set it up on my workbench to hold a set of sockets. This is the best way to organize them so that it's easy to find the right one without having to sort through a drawer full of them. You even can store more than one of the small sockets on one dowel.

Holy roller

When painting walls, a roller is your best bet. It will help the job go much faster and your walls won't show any streaks or brush strokes. Of course, you'll usually need to "cut-in" with a regular paintbrush. When I need to take a short break from painting, I prefer to set my roller aside, not sitting in the paint. I have found that if you clip a wooden clothespin to the side of your paint tray, you can set the roller upright, with the handle resting in the clothespin, so that it's not on a second surface but also not sitting in the paint. Give this a shot and see if it helps you out, too.

Super hints

• If you have ants in your kitchen or anywhere else that insecticides shouldn't be used, try some cinnamon. Sprinkle it in areas where they walk by and they will run the other way once they smell it!

• I'm not much of a housekeeper, but I have a couple of ways to simplify things. I have a plastic caddie in which I keep all of the basic cleaners, including a duster and some rags. Well, I created one for the cars, too. It has a few of the basic car cleaners and some rags. I can take it to the car and do a basic cleaning on each car in just a little bit of time. I'm going to make one for garden next!

• If you use your fireplace during the winter months, call the chimney sweep now. The lines for service are shorter and, if you do have a problem to be addressed, you can get it taken care of before the cold weather sets in. It is very important to get it checked every year before using it!

Q. My wallpaper shrunk! I'm not kidding. I put paper up in the dining room and it looked good at first, but now the seams are separating. It's not horrible-looking, but I see it every time I walk in the room. What can I do to fix this?

A. See if you can find or mix some paint that will match the paper exactly and paint the seams. If there is a design, you may have to use several colors. Put your artist hat on and see if this will fix or at least hide it.

Q. We just moved into our new house and I love my new kitchen. It has a double oven and stainless-steel appliances. The cabinets look nice, but they seem to have a sticky or tacky feel to them. What is the cause of this and how can I get rid of it?

A. Try wiping them down with mineral spirits paint thinner. It's probably airborne grease, and this will remove it from the surfaces. Read and follow the package directions. There should not be anything else you need to do.

Q. I've noticed what I think is my air conditioner dripping from a pipe located under my house's eaves. It's not doing any harm, but is this normal?

A. As you probably already know, when your AC is running, it is removing moisture from the air, which collects on the coils inside the unit in your house. When the AC shuts off, this condensation thaws and drains into a pan, which is supposed to drain into your house drain. Most units have a back drain pan in case the first one clogs up, which will drain outside the house somewhere. Check to see if this is what is going on with your unit. If so, pour a little laundry bleach into the "primary" drain pan and see if this unclogs it. If so, the drip outside your house should stop.

Reader tips

• I don't know if you've ever tried it, but the radiator fluid you drain from your car will remove paint from your paintbrushes. It works really well. I had used some oil-based paint to touch up my outdoor patio railing, and accidentally left the brush outside. It was pretty badly caked with paint, but I set it in the pan where I had drained my antifreeze overnight. It got almost all of the paint loosened. A little elbow grease finished it off. Amazing!

• I'm getting more and more involved in taking care of our house lately. I decided to try to organize the hardware that was starting to pile up in our junk drawer. I bought a five-pack of plastic ice trays, and sorted all of the nails, screws and other goodies into the individual cube slots. The trays stack, so I can keep everything sorted, stacked and ready to use, and it doesn't take up a lot of space on a shelf in the utility room. I guess I'll probably have to do this once a year, but it'll be worth it. Just yesterday, my daughter needed a nail to hang up a jewelry rack in our closet, and I was able to get one out in just a second.

• We have an old headboard and footboard set that once belonged to my mother. It was for a full-size bed and we prefer a king-size bed, so we couldn't use it. But I just couldn't bring myself to part with it, so I had my husband create a bench out of it. The headboard is now the back of the bench, and the foot board was cut in half to create armrests for the bench. A board was used for the seat and will be covered with a cushion when I'm finished with it. I'm glad we could keep it around and still use it.

• Baby wipes saved our family vacation! I'm not kidding. I threw some in the car at the last minute, but when my son spilled his milkshake all over the back seat, we grabbed them and cleaned up the mess. It took quite a few, but they cleaned the mess off the seats. Then we put all of the messy wipes back into the empty jug and closed the lid to keep the smell and liquid inside. We tossed the jug at the next service station and bought some more for the rest of the trip!

• As I've gotten older, I can see that my strength isn't what it used to be. One thing I started doing is to rub a thin layer of petroleum jelly around the threads of lids before I close them. This keeps things from sticking and makes it much easier to turn those lids, even after they've been in place for a long time.

Shoptalk

• We all know most attic stairs leak air from your home into your attic. There are some good insulating covers you can buy, and we strongly suggest adding one if you don't already have one. Owens Corning makes a super easy one to install, and it's reasonably priced, too. The Attic Stair Insulator II is 25.5-by-54 inches in size, and it comes folded up in a small, lightweight package. There are no tools required to install it and it's Greenguard-certified, giving you an R-10 rating. Check it out at your home center or hardware store or at www.insulation.owenscorning.com.

• If you are looking to replace your old doorbell or just install a new one, check out the Ring Video Doorbell. It's battery operated (no wiring required) and Wi-Fi enabled with an HD video camera. When someone rings your doorbell, it will alert your phone, tablet or computer, and you can see and hear who is there. It also activates with motion so it can detect someone at your door or wherever you put the device, even if he or she doesn't ring the bell, as long as you are within Wi-Fi range. Check it out at www.ring.com or at your hardware store or home center.

• 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.