Carpentry
Shelving, door repairs, trim work, deck building, and furniture fixes.
13 guides
Easy1 hrHow to Patch Drywall Holes
Whether it's a nail pop, a doorknob punch-through, or a fist-sized hole from moving furniture, patching drywall is one of the most common home repairs — and doing it yourself saves $75-200 per hole versus hiring a handyman. This guide covers small, medium, and large hole repairs with the same techniques the pros use to get an invisible, paint-ready finish. Hanging something heavy on a wall instead? See [How to Install Drywall Anchors for Heavy Items](/guide/install-drywall-anchors-for-heavy-items) for choosing the right anchor by weight.
Easy45 minHow to Install Floating Shelves
Floating shelves add storage and style to any room without bulky brackets — and installing a pair takes about 45 minutes with basic tools. A quality floating shelf kit costs $20-60, versus $100-200 for a handyman visit. This guide covers finding studs, leveling the bracket, and mounting the shelf so it holds up to 50 pounds per stud without sagging.
Easy15 minHow to Fix a Squeaky Door
A squeaky door is one of the most annoying household problems — and one of the easiest to fix. In most cases you can silence the squeak in under 10 minutes with lubricant you probably already have at home, no special tools required. This guide covers quick lubrication fixes, hinge pin cleaning, and what to do when the squeak keeps coming back.
Medium4 hrsHow to Install a Closet Organization System
A well-designed closet organizer can double your usable storage space and turn a frustrating pile-and-dig situation into a calm, everything-has-a-place wardrobe. This guide walks through installing an adjustable shelf-and-rod system — the most popular DIY option — in about half a day for $150-400 in materials, saving $500-1,500 over professional installation.
Easy2 hrsHow to Repair Damaged Baseboard Trim
Dented, chipped, and gouged baseboards are one of the most visible signs of a neglected home — but they are also one of the easiest things to fix. With $10-20 in filler and a few hours of work (mostly drying time), you can make battered trim look factory-fresh without pulling a single board off the wall.
Easy1 hrHow to Repair a Loose Stair Railing
A wobbly stair railing is more than an annoyance — it's a genuine fall hazard, especially for children and older adults. Most loose railings are caused by stripped screw holes, worn brackets, or loose newel post connections, and the fix typically takes under an hour with basic hand tools. This guide walks you through diagnosing the source of the wobble, reinforcing the fasteners, tightening balusters, and securing the entire assembly so it feels rock-solid again.
Hard30 hrsHow to Refinish a Wood Floor
Refinishing a tired, scratched-up hardwood floor is the single highest-impact upgrade you can make to a room — it strips away decades of wear, reveals the wood's original color, and adds years of life to the boards. A professional job runs $3-8 per square foot ($900-2,400 for a 300 sq ft room), but a dedicated DIYer with a rental drum sander can do the same work for $200-400 in rentals and materials over a long weekend.
Medium2 hrsHow to Patch a Large Hole in Drywall (Mesh or California Patch)
A doorknob blowout, a wall-anchor failure, a fist through the drywall during the move-out — these holes are too big for spackle but too small to justify cutting in a full drywall section. The mesh patch (for 1/2-inch to 4-inch holes) and the California patch (for 4 to 8-inch holes) both finish flush, paint over invisibly, and cost under $25 in materials. The job takes about two hours of hands-on work spread over two or three days of compound cure time.
Easy1 hrHow to Patch a Small Hole in Drywall (Spackle Method)
A nail hole, picture-hanger ding, or doorknob dent doesn't need a contractor — it needs a $5 tub of spackle and twenty minutes of hands-on time. This guide covers the two-coat method, drying-time tradeoffs, and the touch-up paint trick that makes the patch invisible. For holes bigger than 1/2 inch (mesh patches, drywall cutouts, backer boards), see the comprehensive [How to Patch Drywall Holes](/guide/patch-drywall-holes) guide instead.
Medium3 hrsHow to Regrout Bathroom Tile
Cracked, stained, or crumbling grout makes a whole bathroom look tired — and worse, it lets water seep behind the tile where it rots the backer board. Regrouting is a weekend job that costs under $40 and makes old tile look brand new, no demolition required. This guide covers grinding out the old grout to the right depth, picking sanded vs. unsanded, floating in the new grout cleanly, beating grout haze, and the one spot you should caulk instead of grout.
Easy1 hrHow to Fix a Squeaky Floor (From Above and Below)
A squeaky floor isn't a structural problem — it's the subfloor lifting off the joists by a hair every time you step. From a basement or crawlspace, you can fix it permanently with a $5 shim and a $0.10 screw. From above (carpet, hardwood, or vinyl) the Squeeeek No More kit drives a scored screw that snaps off below the surface — no exposed hardware. This guide covers both approaches.
Easy45 minHow to Fix a Sticking Door
A sticking interior door is one of the easiest "I have to call somebody" jobs you can quietly fix yourself — most of the time, the entire repair is tightening a single hinge screw or swapping it for a longer one. The full diagnostic and fix takes 30 to 60 minutes with tools you already own, and the total material cost is usually zero. Save planing the door edge for last; nine times out of ten you do not need to take a single shaving off the wood.