Slamming doors is a personal pet peeve of mine. The only thing worse is a door that slams that also has a poorly aligned latch that rattles around. The good news is you don’t have to be a master carpenter or construction engineer to silence slamming doors and the disharmony they bring. Just head to your local home store and pick up a package of felt pads (used to protect delicate surfaces from not-so-delicate objects). While the pads shown here are by the strike plate, I prefer to apply mine to the upper and lower corner of the door jamb where they are less visible. The pads won’t completely silence the wrath of an angry teenager, but you’ll find your doors closing in a much more civilized fashion.

Do you need to divide materials into even increments but don’t want to divide odd fractions in your head? By rotating your tape diagonally until an even number comes across the face of the stock, you’ll be able to evenly divide material without a calculator.

Do you need to pre-drill to drive finish nails into your delicate wood project but keep breaking tiny and expensive drill bits? Use a finish nail instead for a quick and cheap pre-drilling bit that rarely ever breaks.

Twisted and warped wood can be a pain to untwist and seat correctly in place. Use a partially driven screw along with your hammer to help pull the twist out of any joist, stud or truss.

The only thing worse than suffering through a remodeling project is realizing more of your house got damaged in the process. Which then necessitates more remodeling. It’s a vicious circle! This hack goes beyond just using Tyvek or plastic to protect your floors. It also suggests cutting slots in the protector and taping it down with tape (notably on stairs). Keep in mind Tyvek and plastic can be slippery, but the taped-down slots help prevent trip hazards. More details and photos via the link.

Having trouble getting screws into hard wood? Soap up the threads with an old bar of soap to make screws go into wood like a hot knife through butter.