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Home improvement projects large and small can make us happier, our homes more comfortable and livable, and our property more valuable. But there’s a reason many people hesitate to take on some of these projects: They seem really complicated, difficult, and even dangerous. If you’ve never done any DIY home improvement projects, it’s easy to imagine that you’ll quickly get in over your head and make matters worse.
All of this is exacerbated in the bathroom, which is vital to our everyday health and hygiene. There are plenty of bathroom repairs best left to the professionals—but even if you’re totally inexperienced and wouldn’t know a Phillips-head screwdriver from a flathead, there are some basic bathroom repairs that seem a lot more difficult than they actually are. With a minimum number of basic tools and some YouTube videos, you can tackle all the things on this list.
Change a faucet
If you’re just looking to replace a faucet and there’s no leak or other problem to repair, you can most likely accomplish the task with just a single adjustable wrench. (A basin wrench, designed specifically for these tight spaces, makes the job even easier but isn’t absolutely necessary.) You can see what’s involved in this video—just follow the instructions that come with the new faucet and you should be golden. Not every faucet will be this easy, but the vast majority of simple kitchen and bath faucets will be. The hardest part is squeezing yourself into the tight space under the sink to do the work.
Number of tools needed: 1 (adjustable wrench)
Regrout
If your shower grout is beyond a simple cleaning—caked in mold and other stains that won’t come out, cracking, or falling out—you might assume replacing it is going to require finding an expert. But this is an easy—if labor-intensive—job that anyone can do. All you need is a grout saw (you can also buy a grout saw blade for multi-tools, if you have one—just make sure you buy the right size), a grout float, a sponge, and a bucket (and, of course, grout). The process, as shown here, is pretty straightforward, especially if you use a pre-mixed grout. Just be sure to follow directions in terms of wiping off the excess grout before it sets into a glaze that will make your tiles look dull.
Number of tools needed: 2 (grout saw, float)
Recaulk
Just like grout, changing out the caulk in your bathroom or kitchen might seem like a challenge, but it’s actually really easy. There are basically two steps, which you can see in this video:
Remove the existing nasty, gross caulk that needs to go. Use a utility knife to scrape it out of the corners. You can use a caulk removing product to soften it up, which might make removal cleaner and easier, but it’s not a requirement.
Caulk. Clean up and load your caulk gun with an appropriate bathroom caulk and apply a line of caulk to the gaps. Smooth with your finger and let it cure—done! For a better job, taping the joints with painter’s tape will give you nice, sharp lines.
Number of tools needed: 2 (utility knife, caulking gun)
Swap out the shower head
If your shower head is leaking or corroded, you don’t need a plumber. Replacing it will require two tools and about five minutes. Just disconnect the existing shower head using an adjustable wrench (this might take some elbow grease, and a lubricant like WD-40 can help loosen a corroded nut), clean the threads at the end of the pipe to get rid of any old Teflon tape, apply new Teflon tape to the threads, and attach the new shower head. That’s it! Tighten it up, test the water to make sure it doesn’t leak, and enjoy your shiny new shower head (but keep it clean going forward).
Number of tools needed: 2 (adjustable wrench, Teflon tape)
Replace laminate flooring
If you have laminate flooring in the bathroom and one of the planks has suffered water damage or some other problem, replacing it isn’t difficult as long as you have a spare piece of that flooring left over. If you don’t, you can try to match it, but be warned that different batches of flooring can sometimes have subtle differences in color and finish that aren’t unnoticeable in the store but show up pretty clearly when the planks are side-by-side under the same lighting.
If you have a spare plank or two, you can pretty easily pry up the damaged plank (you can make this easier by cutting down the middle of the plank with a circular saw—just be sure to set the blade depth properly so you don’t cut into the underlayment or the subfloor). Cut your new plank to size, then use a utility knife to slice off the “tongue” part of the plank (see it done here). This will allow you to just drop the replacement plank into place, but since you removed the tongue, you’ll need to use some glue to adhere the plank once it’s in. Weigh it down for a day, and you should be good to go.
Number of tools needed: 5 (utility knife, rubber mallet, prybar, circular or table saw, laminate floor glue)
Fix the toilet
Finally, there’s the toilet. People’s apprehension about working with a toilet is understandable, but it’s actually a really simple thing. If your toilet is leaking from the bottom, running constantly, or has a loose handle, these are all things you can handle with minimal tools or experience:
Leaking: If your toilet is leaking at the bottom, you need to fix it right away or you risk water damage and mold. The culprit is probably an old wax ring—but removing a toilet and replacing the wax ring is easy:
Turn off the water supply and flush the toilet. Drain any remaining water (a siphon or pump can be helpful, but an old-fashioned cup and some towels will get the job done—still, expect to get a little damp).
Pop off the plastic bolt protectors, and remove the bolts using an adjustable wrench.
Lift the toilet off the floor and set it on its side.
Remove the old wax ring residue from the bottom of the toilet and the flange in the floor using a putty knife. Place your new wax ring on the bottom of the toilet, reset it on the floor, and sit on it to mush the wax ring down into place. Then bolt it down, pop the bolt protectors back on, and turn the water on.
Number of tools needed: 3 (adjustable wrench, putty knife, wax ring)
Running: If your toilet constantly runs, it’s probably the flapper in the tank. This is so easy you don’t even need tools:
Turn off the water and flush the toilet.
Remove the tank lid.
Disconnect chain from flapper, and remove flapper.
Insert new flapper (you can buy universal ones if you’re not sure what kind your toilet needs), reconnect the chain, replace the tank lid, and turn on the water.
Number of tools needed: 0
Loose handle: If the flush handle on your toilet has become so loose it’s challenging to flush the toilet, you probably don’t need a new one. Just lift off the tank lid and check to see if the plastic nut that connects it to the flapper is loose. You can usually hand-tighten this in about ten seconds. If you think it needs a bit more oomph, you can use an adjustable wrench, but that’s probably overkill.
Number of tools needed: 0-1 (an adjustable wrench might be needed)
