Headache-Free Home Improvement (NAPSA)—Do-It-Yourself (DIY) home improvementis all the rage right now. Americans are gaining confidence and saving money by doing home improvementprojects themselves. They’re reading DIY magazines and tuning in to the many popular DIY home improvement programs, hoping to get ideas for how to create more beautiful, comfortable and livable homes. Despite this enthusiasm, there are certain tasks that do-it-yourselfers often avoid. For example, a recent survey found that more than 50 percent of do-it-yourselfers consider plumbing their least enjoyable DIY project. The next time you’re faced with a home improvement project that makes you cringe, don’t throw in the towel or cut corners. Here are a few remedies for these headaches: * Before starting a painting project, apply a liberal coating of hand lotion to your hands and arms, up to and including your elbows. Any paint that gets on your skin will wash off easily without having to use harsh cleanersor solvents. When purchasing custom color house paint, ask that the custom color be added to the primer. You will save on the cost of paint and save time by having to apply fewer coats. To remove wax anddirt from wood floors, put on kneepads and gently hand sandthefloor, using a medium-grit sanding sponge, such as a maroon 3M SandBlaster sanding sponge. Clean up dust and any small particles with a tack cloth. Then, apply a polyurethane coating to the wood surface using an applicator pad to spread it. This will even out the scratches and give you a nice, smooth coat of finish. The Tips to Relieve Home Improvement Headaches booklet offers suggestions for making your least favorite home improvement tasks more bearable. To ease nails or screws into hardwood surfaces, lubricate them with soap. By doing so there is less of a chance of cracking the surface or bending thenail. For additional tips on overcoming home improvementhassles, the makers of SandBlaster sanding sponges have created a free booklet, entitled Tips to Relieve Home Improvement Headaches. Packed with practical tips—some of them collected from do-it-yourselfers— the suggestions range from unique prep work ideas to steps within a project to makeit easier. To receive a copy of this free booklet, send an e-mail with your name, address, city, state and zip code to SandBlasterTips@hunterpr.com or send a postcard with your name, address, city, state and zip codeto: SandBlaster Abrasives Tips Booklet, P.O. Box 3160, Grand Rapids, MN 55745-3160. Offer expires December 31, 2003 or while supplies last. Limit one book per household.
