Mark’s simple home improvement tips: Make your shop vacuum work better

home improvement

Home improvement is a big enough challenge without having tools that don’t work like they’re supposed to. My shop vacuum head was one such tool. Here’s the simple fix.

‣ MyFixitUpLife home improvement
Home improvement is easier when tools work like they’re supposed to.

Problem: The bottom of the suction thingie is dead flat. Unless I really articulated the wand—total PITA—the vacuum would suck the #$%^&* thing to the floor. More below…

>>>> Want another home improvement fix? Watch this video. <<<<

See that little dot in the vac head above my left hand below? I drilled a hole in to relieve some pressure. Bubkis. So I got me some Gorilla Glue instead and went about creating an air gap between the bottom of the nozzle and the floor.

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Using Gorilla Super Glue with Brush & Nozzle—love affair—to paint sticky stuff on the vac head.

First, I tried some cork I had lying around. Figuring it was thin it’d be perfect to break the suction between the vac and the floor without sacrificing power. I glued it on with Gorilla Super Glue with Brush & Nozzle. The glue worked great. The cork was an insta-fail.

I vacced up a bunch of gnarly remodeling dust and grit and the cork wore out within minutes.

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I thought I was outsmarting my vacuum head by gluing cork to it. The only smart choice there is the scissors I used. The cork wore out in minutes.

Lesson learned. I turned to thin strips of wood—some stir sticks my wife Theresa had lying around. I glued little strips of stir stick right to what remained of the cork and my vac has never been easier to use.

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The cork wore down so I beefed up to little blocks of stir sticks.

I hope this home improvement tip helped you. I have a million of ’em. If there’s something I can help you with to make your DIY projects go faster, easier better, smoother or otherwise requiring less profanity, I’m here to help.

‣ MyFixitUpLife home improvement
The air channel created by the stir stick ‘bumpers’ keeps the vac head from sucking to the floor.

When my tools work like they’re supposed to I call that ‘home improvement happy’.

 

author avatar
Mark
A licensed contractor, tool expert, wood and outdoor enthusiast, and elite Spartan Race competitor, he writes about home improvement and tools for national magazines and websites, and teaches hands-on clinics for other remodeling professionals. Check out his book, The Carpenter's Notebook.

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