Eight hacks that every homeowner needs to know

Forget hiring a contractor to do small fixes in your home when you can easily do them yourself with these hacks from home and design expert Ramsin Khachi! Trust us, you'll wish you had known about these hacks sooner. 

Quick drywall patch 

1. With a drywall saw, cut away any crumbled or damaged drywall around the hole. Try to make your new, larger hole as square or rectangular as possible.
2. Measure the width and height of the new hole. Draw a rectangle of the same dimensions on the spare piece of drywall and cut it out, leaving about 1 inch around the rectangle. To make a clean cut, score it repeatedly with the utility knife using a metal ruler as a guide.
3. Hold up the patch to your hole to visually check to see if the penciled rectangle is about the same size as the hole. It’s a good idea to measure it again just to be sure.
4. The secret to the california patch is in the fact that drywall has thick paper on both sides. Laying a metal ruler along the line that represents a side of the hole, score across the entire patch, but do not cut all the way through. Once you’ve scored about halfway through the drywall, snap it off like a kit-kat bar and peel the gypsum away from the back layer of paper on the face of the patch piece. Repeat the process all the way around the patch as shown above.
5. Place the patch over the hole (with the excess-paper-side out) and gently press the drywall “key” into the hole. Do not jam the patch into the hole because you’ll have to pull it back out again in a second. If it doesn’t fit into the whole, trim away at hole with the keyhole saw or utility knife until it does. Once it does fit nicely, pencil around the excess paper and then remove the patch from the wall again.
6. Using a utility knife, score the wall along the lines you created in the previous step. Then, peel away the paper around the hole. What we’re doing here, is evening out the two surfaces by making it one layer of paper thick instead of two.
7. Using a putty knife, apply spackling paste around the hole and on the patch. Try not to get it too thick where the paper will lie against the wall but apply a thin layer so that the paper will stick.
8. Re-insert the patch into the wall, slowly, just until it feels even with the rest of the wall. Smooth out the edges of the paper with your putty knife to ensure they bond to drywall behind.  At this point, you probably want to give it a few hours to dry so it’s a little more solid to putty over. Once dry, apply a thin layer of spackling paste over the entire patch. Allow this to dry, sand and repeat until the wall is smooth.

Transferring hole locations on a power bar

1. First, place a strip of painters tape along the back of your power bar (or other item that needs to be mounted).
2. Use the edge of the power strip as a guide to square up the placement of the tape. Once you have the tape aligned, the area around the mounting hole is usually raised and you can use your finger to get the tape into all the tiny crevices to help find the exact center of the mounting hole. Use your pencil to poke a hole through the center of the mounting hole.
3. Remove the tape and place it level on the wall where you want to mount your power strip. Now you can drill the screws directly into the marked area on the tape. Drill your screws in, remove the tape, and mount.

Locking extension cords 

1. Tie a knot with the two cords.
2. Then, plug the appliance cord into the extension end.
3. Pull the two free ends tight.
4. Now, then you walk around, the cords will not pull apart.

Making a mini dust catcher

There are a few ways to do this:

• On the bottom of the container, drill a hole. Place the container onto the ceiling and drill as required. The container will catch all of the debris and dust.
• If drilling a hole on the wall, use a damp paper towel under the drill bit to catch all of the debris and dust
• Fold a sticky note to create a ninety-degree angle. Stick to the wall under the drill & it will catch the falling dust.

Magnetize your screw driver 

1. Instead of buying new sets of magnetic tipped screwdrivers, you can magnetize any existing screwdriver using a small and powerful rare earth magnet.
2. Place the magnet on the screwdriver near the end where the screw mounts to the driver. 
3. Screws will then hold in place at the end of the screwdriver.

Open a bottle of wine without a wine opener

1. Use a screwdriver to screw a screw into the centre of the cork.
2. Make sure about 3/4 of an inch remains sticking out.
3. Using the pliers, pull the cork out of the bottle

Depth gauge for a drill bit

1. Measure the depth of hole you want to drill.
2. Measure up from end of drill bit and place the electrical tape around the drill bit at the required depth.
3. Wrap the tape several times around to endure a good stop.

Spill proof juice bottles

1. Remove the lid off the juice bottle.
2. Make a hole through the center of the juice lid with a sharp object like a knife or a key.
3. Ensure there are no jagged edges or debris.
4. Screw on cap and poke a straw through the hole & enjoy!