Whether or not you reside in a area or an condo, if you have a listing of small-scale home-improvement initiatives that you need to perform — in the future. Perhaps it’s a room that wishes a paint process, or a leaky rest room that you just want you didn’t have to name a plumber about.
You’ve come to the correct position. In our new D.I.Y. collection, we’ll be tackling a few of these initiatives, from elementary upkeep to easy restorations, which you’ll be able to do your self in only some hours. They’ll be real looking for renters and householders alike, they usually received’t require experience. Nor will they require numerous equipment, and the equipment they do require shall be basic objective — you’ll to find them helpful for all means of jobs round your house.
In the end, although each and every challenge may have a selected purpose or answer, our actual goal is to impart a collection of basic talents that you just’ll be capable to draw on over and over again.
Take our first challenge for example: With Tremendous Bowl LIX bobbing up Feb. 9, we’ll be studying set up a TV mount so you’ll be able to cling that gigantic flat-screen in time for the sport. After all, in the event you’re like me and also you’d fairly do the rest instead of watch soccer, you’ll be able to spend the night placing up a heavy reflect, a large piece of framed artwork, or a floating shelf or cupboard.
No matter it’s you’re putting, the crux of the process is discovering the studs within your partitions, and that’s in reality what this challenge is set. In case you’re unfamiliar with what’s hidden at the back of your paint or wallpaper, it may be frightening to hold heavy or treasured issues. However as soon as you understand how to discover a stud, it’s no sweat.
Studs are the interior framing that give a wall its power. As a result of they may be able to endure numerous weight, studs are extensively utilized for putting heavy items. (For light-weight stuff like footage, posters and small artwork, you don’t even want the studs. It’s fantastic to hold them anyplace the usage of small nails or detachable adhesive strips.)
Who am I, you ask? I’ve been a author at Wirecutter since 2015, and a do-it-yourselfer for many of my existence. Since my spouse and I purchased a scruffy 1920 area final yr, upkeep and upgrades have change into my 2d process. (I constructed the wall within the footage beneath.)
OK, let’s mount that tv. By the point we’re finished, you’ll have the boldness to soundly cling the rest.
Go away the hammer within the closet. For this, you’ll desire a drill, a drill bit in the right measurement (the directions with the TV mount will listing it), a tape measure, a pencil, an adjustable wrench and a magnetic stud finder. I used an reasonably priced stud finder that’s made by way of C.H. Hanson and recommended by Wirecutter. (I additionally put in Wirecutter’s top-rated TV mount, however the tactics listed here are commonplace to all.)
A ratcheting wrench and socket set, fairly than a regular wrench, will make screwing within the mounting bolts more straightforward. And a ruler or different straightedge is handier than a tape measure for marking directly traces.
Step 1: To find the Studs
It’ll lend a hand to have a psychological image of what we’re doing.
Within maximum area and condo partitions is a framework of studs. Normally manufactured from wooden, studs run vertically from the ground to the ceiling. The wall subject matter itself is connected to the studs the usage of screws or nails. And it’s the ones steel screws or nails {that a} stud finder reveals. Like a string of icebergs, they point out what lies underneath the skin.
Slowly sweep the stud finder backward and forward horizontally alongside the wall, retaining it flat in opposition to the skin. Pass in more or less two-foot arcs, and transfer progressively up and down the wall till the stud finder shudders to a halt and sticks. Mark the positioning with a pencil.
(Observe: If the stud finder doesn’t appear to be discovering the rest, you could have plaster-over-lath partitions. And if the wall is cast concrete — commonplace in basements — there received’t be any studs. Scroll all the way down to learn extra about those diversifications.)
The C.H. Hanson stud finder makes it particularly simple to mark the positioning of studs. Rotate it till the integrated spirit degree — the bubble within the middle — signifies that it’s completely vertical, then put a pencil mark on the middle of each and every finish of the extent, as proven within the picture above.
In the end, repeat this procedure, sweeping a space roughly 16 inches to the left or proper of your first mark till you to find the adjoining stud. (Maximum studs are put in “16 inches on middle” — that means their midpoints are 16 inches aside. Some TV mounts want just one stud; if yours is one in all them, you’ll be able to skip this step.)
Step 2: Mark Your First Drill Holes
The use of a straightedge, draw a line vertically thru each and every pair of pencil marks. Then measure the space from the ground or ceiling to the place you need the higher mounting bolts to move. Mark that spot on each and every of your vertical traces.
This guarantees that your bolts shall be on the subject of horizontal with admire to one another, and maximum TV mounts have an adjustment mechanism to fine-tune the stability after set up. (I took my measurements from the ceiling. Checking later with a spirit degree, I discovered that this were given me inside an 8th of an inch of completely horizontal — greater than shut sufficient.)
Step 3: Mark, Drill and Bolt
That’s the exhausting paintings finished. Your mounting equipment will display you connect the putting {hardware} to the again of your TV. Then, you and a helpmate can elevate the TV to its new perch. Glad viewing. And might the Oilers win.
Permutations: Metal Studs, Laths, Concrete Partitions
Metal studs: Some trendy constructions have skinny steel studs as a substitute of wooden ones; while you drill into one in all them, you’ll see a couple of steel shavings as a substitute of a bath of sawdust. For those, you’ll want to use toggle bolts to mount the plate. Your equipment might include them, or you’ll be able to to find them at a ironmongery store. (Toggle bolts have a spring-loaded nut that slips at the back of the stud, then expands and catches in opposition to its within floor as you tighten the bolt.)
Plaster over lath: If you’ll be able to’t appear to seek out any studs together with your stud finder, it’s most probably your house has plaster-over-lath partitions — a commonplace characteristic in houses constructed ahead of about 1950. Picket slats, or laths, had been nailed to the studs, and a thick layer of plaster was once carried out over them. To seek out the studs, you need to find the nails deep underneath the plaster, and maximum stud finders have hassle doing it.
One trick is to go looking alongside the baseboards, which might themselves be nailed to the studs. Some other is to make use of an impressive rare-earth magnet — a larger model of the magnets utilized in stud finders, and extensively to be had on-line. After attempting a number of, I discovered {that a} one-inch disc magnet labored very best. Hang it loosely to your hands so as to really feel when it starts to pull on a nail, and sweep it like you might a stud finder.
Neither way is foolproof, and you will want to check out brute-force strategies, like drilling pilot holes or using lengthy nails till you hit a stud. (In case you reside in an condo construction with a superintendent, that particular person can most likely display you the place the studs are.)
Concrete partitions: Those may also be drilled the usage of a masonry bit, to be had at any ironmongery store. Your TV mount equipment will have to include plastic sleeve anchors that slip into the drill holes and provides the mounting bolts one thing to carry onto. If no longer, the ironmongery store may have those, too.
