Five Best DIY Home Improvement Projects for Beginners
If you want to get started with home improvement, renovation, and maintenance yourself but don’t know where to start, there are several projects that will help you hone your DIY skills. Learning to use tools and techniques that can be applied to larger jobs is a good way to get into DIY home improvement.
Hang some shelves
If you’ve never tried it before, hanging shelves are a good way to get used to using a tape measure , level , stud finder , and drill .
For this project, you’ll use a tape measure to set the height of the shelves and make sure the shelf will fit where you want to hang it, a level to make sure it’s parallel to the ground, and a stud finder to find the appropriate mounting points. Using a drill, you can drill holes for the shelf brackets and drive screws into the wall. You can probably complete this project in about an hour, and all the tools and materials needed will cost between $150 and $200.
Patch a hole in drywall
If hanging shelves haven’t gone as planned, or you just need to patch a hole from an accident or an old set of brackets, a drywall patch is a good project for the novice DIYer. You will need a drywall patch kit , which includes sandpaper, a small putty knife, putty, a small patch, and gloves . To make the repair, you will need a patch to cover the affected area, a putty knife to apply putty, and a sanding block or sandpaper to smooth the surface and prepare it for painting. This repair takes 30 minutes to an hour of labor time and takes a full 24 hours to fix. The materials to do this can cost as little as $20, including all supplies needed.
Clean your dryer duct
Cleaning your dryer vent is a chore that should be done at least once a year, and can be done by even the most novice DIYer. You’ll need either a dryer vent cleaning kit or a shop vacuum with a long attachment, as well as gloves and a screwdriver to remove the vent from the dryer.
Using a screwdriver, remove the hose clamp that holds the dryer duct to the back of the dryer, as well as the cleaning kit using a house vacuum or shop vac with a long attachment to remove any accumulated lint inside the duct. This project takes about 30 minutes and only costs between $35 and $55.
Replace a broken fence board
Installing a fence board will give you the opportunity to practice using a drill , tape measure , saw or handsaw and a few screws along with the fence board . You’ll use a tape measure to measure the height of the fence board, a saw or handsaw to cut it to length, and a drill to drive new screws into the board to attach it to the fence. This project will cost between $150 and $300 for everything you need, mainly depending on whether you decide to use a handsaw or a chop saw. If you only need to replace one board, a handsaw will probably suffice, but cutting multiple boards with a chop saw will be much easier. You can probably complete this project in about an hour, including measuring and cutting and attaching the board.
Renew the gravel on the path
If you have a gravel driveway, chances are that the gravel will crumble at some point due to footsteps or the elements. To improve your walkway and prevent it from collapsing, you’ll need fresh gravel , a piece of rope , a couple of stakes , a tape measure , and a rake . You’ll use gravel to fill any bare spots on your walkway and a rake to spread it evenly across your walkway, using pegs, string and a tape measure to make sure the center of your walkway is an inch or two above the edges to allow for drainage. This project can take anywhere from one hour to half a day, depending on the length of your journey. The materials for this can cost anywhere from $30 to $100, depending on how much gravel you need.