You’ve been collecting inspiring DIY pins from Pinterest for months, and you’ve even put a few to the test. Most work out great, but there are a few that seem to have given you a bit of trouble…

Don’t fret! We’re here to help. We’ve gathered several common issues that you may be faced with after you’ve completed your DIY project, and we’ve got the advice you need to fix this issues on the spot.

Why Your DIY Hacks Aren’t Working

Below are just a few reasons why your DIY hacks aren’t working, and how you can fix them:

The Problem: You’ve decided to brighten your interior world by adding a splash of color to several rooms in your home. The color looks fabulous, but the paint is peeling in some areas, especially around the bathroom, or on walls that hug the exterior perimeter of your home.

The Fix: As you’ve probably gathered, water is the culprit here, and to fix your painting woes, you’ll need to first prevent the water from messing up your walls in the first place so the same problem doesn’t re-occur. Oftentimes an overly steamy bathroom or a leaky gutter can lead to this type of cosmetic damage, which can end up being quite a costly issue if not addressed quickly.

For steamy bathrooms, consider getting a new ventilation fan, which will help control humidity in your home. For leaky gutters, you’ll need to repair the part of the gutter that is leaking to prevent further water damage from occurring in your home, which could create some very costly problems if left to fester (such as your walls rotting from the outside in).

Once you’ve tackled the source of the moisture that is messing up your beautiful paint job, simple use a wall scraper to remove the peeling paint, prime, and repaint. Keep a small baby jar of a matching paint color for easy touchups whenever needed.

The Problem: Your DIY caulking is unevenly applied and is not stopping the air leaks as you intended. Plus, it just looks plain ugly. Basically, it doesn’t look anywhere near as even as the examples shown in the home improvement articles on weather-stripping.  

The Fix: Don’t feel bad about your caulking skills; for many people who aren’t used to using a caulking gun, it’s easy to get uneven application. Luckily, this fix is pretty simple, just re-caulk over the messed up area, and if it’s too big of a mess, remove the caulking and start anew.

One easy way to ensure that you get even coverage the second time around is to mark off the areas that need to be caulked with blue painter’s tape. Simply, clean the areas that need to be caulked, then tape on the areas of the wall that you don’t want caulk to get in, leaving a straight strip of area to be caulked. After you’re finished caulking, be sure to peel off the tape while the caulking is still wet. Otherwise, you will glue the painters tape to your wall, which is a whole separate DIY problem you’ll need to fix.

DIY Problem: You’ve installed a few new lighting fixtures, but your lights seem to be flickering on and off quite often. This could happen as a cluster of lights, which is referred to by the professional electricians as “arcing,” or the lights may dim if you turn on other appliances in your home, which is a sign that a circuit could be overloaded.

The Fix: DIY electricity projects are best left to the professionals, so if you’re facing lights flickering throughout your home from a project that you recently completed, call in a licensed electrician to help out. Electrical issues are not something you want to gamble on, as they can cause fires to start in your home, which could be disastrous. For around $200 for a small electrical issue, you can have a pro come in and ease your mind of any further electrical mishaps. A larger problem could cost you more, but again, preventing a fire which could destroy your entire house is well worth that investment.

Efficient Systems provides the very best in home comfort and maintenance services from heater and air conditioning installation to plumbing repair to electrical fixes. If you don’t want to take a chance on a DIY fix, call in the experts at Efficient Systems: 317-759-5562