DIY Money Saving Home Maintenance Hacks

Have a weekend to spare? Looking for ways to boost your home’s value and energy efficiency? Planning things to do on your next week off? Whether you’re looking to remove unsightly stains from your work surfaces, add a fresh lick of paint to your room, or implement some quick energy efficient measures, Centrick’s got you covered. Check out our list of easy, money saving home maintenance hacks to take your home from drab to fab…

Stain Removal Hacks

Coffee rings, unsightly grout, crayon markings on your walls… everyone has a pesky stain somewhere in their home. The prospect of spending your afternoon scrubbing your surfaces until they sparkle can be immensely off putting, but we have a few home maintenance hacks to take the effort out of your surface stain removal and make your home look as good as new!

• To remove water spots from chrome surfaces, use lemon: the acidity of the fruit will help to break down stains
• Similarly, the acidity of vinegar helps to remove hard water stains around plug holes and taps. Try adding baking soda to vinegar to make an even more potent stain-busting concoction
• Speaking of vinegar, place white vinegar in a mug and place this in the microwave for a few minutes to loosen stains, making them easier to wipe away
• Furniture needing a polish? Use some lemon essential oil to polish your furniture – lemon is a natural degreaser, so your furniture will accumulate less build up and look fresher for longer
• Crayon stains can be easily removed from surfaces by heating the wax with a hairdryer and simply wiping away

Mending Breakages

When splits, cracks and breakages appear throughout your property, many homeowners and tenants may feel the need to dispose of their ‘broken’ items. However, with a few nifty tricks, you can mend any breakages and save money replacing your household items.

• Putting clear nail varnish over cracks in windows can help you stop the damage from worsening
• Scratches and cracks in your furniture can be resolved with the help of toothpaste which, when rubbed in circular motions, can ease the appearance of damage by ‘filling in’ and mattifying the surface

Paint Hacks

Repainting a scratched skirting board? Giving a new lease of life to a piece of furniture? Here are some home maintenance hacks to make painting a breeze!

• Before you pour paint into a tray, spread cling film over the tray to ensure that you don’t have to awkwardly wash it. You can even place cling film over any remaining paint in the tray that you haven’t quite finished using, so you can happily use the rest of it tomorrow
• Got paint stains on your skin from all of your hard graft? Grab a cotton pad with baby oil and apply the oil to your skin in circular motions – the paint will be gone in no time. No need to peel the paint off your hands!
• Stretch an elastic band over an open paint tin so that you can scrape the side of your paintbrush against the band, removing excess paint and eliminating the likelihood of any drips onto unwanted surfaces

Money Saving Hacks

If you’re looking to improve the look of your home whilst also saving money, try out a few of these money saving home maintenance hacks.

• Replace expensive under-counter lighting with stick on LED’s – these battery powered light sources won’t add to your energy bill, and you can even grab these LED’s in an array of colours
• Dirty grouting in your bathroom or kitchen? Use a bleach pen to accurately remove stains from between your tiles – there’s no need to remove your tiles and start over!
• Pesky dents in your carpet from moving furniture? Place ice on the dents, leave it to melt, and then blot away the water residue before fluffing up the carpet fibres – now it’s good as new, and you needn’t replace your carpet!

Make your house a home with Centrick

Here at Centrick, we don’t simply help people find their next property – we help them improve their property and make their house a home that they enjoy living in. That’s why we’ve created the At Home With Centrick Hub, a place for tenants and homeowners to visit for inspiration on how to make your home the best it can be. Whether you’re trying to get rid of pervasive mould and damp, looking to slice your energy bills, or want to know the latest market predictions for the year ahead – we’re here to help! Contact our team of local property experts below for more information: