Easy Construction Hacks

We are making progress on our kitchen remodel and I've gathered a few tips to make construction easier. I thought I would share them. Yesterday we had the countertops installed. That's the only thing we hired someone else to do because we don't have the specialized equipment for that. Besides. we removed the old countertops and the one on the bar top was so heavy we could barely lift it down. I did something to my neck during that adventure. Now we are preparing to tile the backsplash. The slideshow above shows my husband, Jerry's, drywall sanding tip. He used drywall mud to fill in holes left by the column and old backsplash removal. He puts this on as smooth as possible with a trowel and lets it dry for about 24 hours. Then it has to be sanded until it's perfectly smooth. To keep the dust under control Jerry bought a drywall kit that included a sanding pad with vacuum hose attachment. You attach the sander to your Shop-Vac hose and it sucks up all the dust while you sand. He uses electrical tape to keep the two hoses securely together.

The next tip is something Jerry saw on YouTube and it's so smart. When attaching trim or anything with finish nails you will have to fill in the nail holes for a professional look. If you place a piece of painter's tape over the spot BEFORE you hammer in the nail (so you hammer the nail through the tape) and leave it in place you can then fill in the hole with wood filler or spackle over the tape. Then you just remove the tape and you don't have to sand or wipe any excess filler off the trim! That little tip saved a ton of time when he re-attached the trim under the bar top! I like the tape tip because it makes it easier to see where you need to place the nail.

I hope you find these tips useful for your next DIY project!