c/fix-it-yourself

3

drew906•2d ago

Tried using boiling water to unclog a slow drain and it actually worked

Honestly I had this bathroom sink that was draining super slow for like 2 months. I tried Drano and a plunger and none of it did anything. Then my neighbor told me to boil a full kettle of water and pour it down in 3 stages with 30 seconds between each pour. I was skeptical because I thought hot water would just splash back or crack the pipe. But I did it and after the third pour the water just went straight down like normal. It cleared whatever gunk was in there without any chemicals. Has anyone else tried this on a kitchen sink with a garbage disposal?

2

terryb11•2d ago

The week I tried fixing my sink without a plumber was a total disaster

Last Tuesday my kitchen faucet started leaking bad, a steady drip that soaked a dish towel in 4 hours. I spent $35 on parts and 3 evenings watching how-to videos, but I cross threaded the supply line and ended up with water under the cabinet anyway. Has anyone else had a DIY repair that made things worse before they got better?

8

juliahall•3d ago

Visited a 100-year-old hardware store and saw how little some tools change

I stopped by Mulligan's Hardware in my hometown last weekend. They still have the same wooden bins for nails and screws that my grandpa used to dig through 40 years ago. The owner told me they still sell a particular brand of pipe wrench that hasn't changed design since 1950. Made me wonder how many of those old tools are still worth picking up at yard sales today? Anyone else notice older tools just last longer than the cheap stuff from big box stores?

26

hugo_nelson•3d ago

Patching a drywall hole with a flattened cereal box saved me $80

Last week I punched a hole in my hallway wall moving a couch, and instead of buying a patch kit I just cut a Frosted Flakes box to size, slapped some spackle over it, and sanded it smooth. Has anyone else used random household stuff for drywall repairs instead of buying the real thing?

1

brown.willow•4d ago

Tried fixing a squeaky door with vegetable oil and made a mess

Last Tuesday I grabbed the canola oil from the kitchen to quiet my bedroom door and now there's a greasy trail down the frame that attracts every speck of dust in the house. Anybody know a cleaner way to stop a hinge from squeaking without buying WD-40?

6

hannah_wright•18d ago

Took me 6 years to realize I was caulking showers wrong the whole time

So I've been doing bathroom caulk jobs for friends and family for maybe 6 years now. Thought I was doing fine. Then last month I was helping my sister in Phoenix redo her guest bath and she watched me lay down a bead. She just goes "uhhh you know you're supposed to wet your finger with soapy water before you smooth it out right?" And I'm standing there with a dry finger. Felt like such an idiot. All those years of dragging dry rubber across fresh caulk and getting little pills everywhere. Has anyone else had that moment where you find out you've been doing some basic step wrong forever?

26

verap52•19d ago

Why does nobody talk about using wood filler on laminate flooring?

I tried patching a scratch on my laminate floor with wood filler last month because that's what my dad always used. Big mistake. It dried hard and cracked right out after 3 days because laminate expands different than real wood. I learned you gotta use a color-matched wax stick or a laminate repair kit instead. The wood filler was $4 at Home Depot in Phoenix but it just made things worse. Now I'm stuck with a bigger gap than the scratch I started with. Has anyone else found a fix that actually stays put on laminate?

17

oliviahenderson•19d ago

Heard a plumber say pipe dope is better than Teflon tape for shower arms - starting to think he's right

I was at the hardware store last weekend and overheard an older plumber telling a guy that Teflon tape is for amateurs on shower heads. He said pipe dope seals better and won't leak after 6 months of use. I've always used tape and had to redo a shower arm last year after it dripped. Is there really a clear winner between tape and dope for shower connections?

25

diana_king•19d ago

Neighbor laughed at my caulking job - turns out he was right

I spent last Sunday re-caulking my bathroom tub and my neighbor walked by and pointed out I was smoothing it with my finger instead of using a tool. He showed me how a simple $2 caulk smoothing tool makes it look way cleaner in half the time. Has anyone else found a cheap tool that made a bigger difference than you expected?

15

finleycooper•19d ago

Just found out my water heater has a hidden anode rod that cost me $700

I had to replace my water heater last week after it started leaking at 8 years old. Before buying the new one, I did some reading and found out most tanks have a sacrificial anode rod that costs about $25 and takes 20 minutes to swap out. Apparently if you change it every 3 to 5 years, the tank can last 15 to 20 years instead of rusting out. I couldn't believe I never knew about this simple maintenance step. My plumber neighbor said he sees this all the time where people just let the rod dissolve and then blame the tank. Has anyone here actually checked their anode rod and extended their water heater's life?

12

oscarb71•21d ago

Hit 100 self-repairs on our 2002 Corolla last weekend

My wife and I keep a log of every time we fix something on our old Corolla instead of taking it to a shop, and I hit number 100 last Saturday when I swapped a seized alternator in the driveway. That 100th fix felt huge because our spreadsheet shows we saved around $4,800 in labor over 3 years just by watching YouTube videos and buying parts online. Do you guys keep a running tally of your home fixes, or does that sound too obsessive lol?

0

hugo_jones•21d ago

I was using the wrong screwdriver bit for stripping screws for like 5 years

So I kept stripping out Phillips head screws on deck boards and cabinet hinges, and I just figured it was cheap screws or I was pushing too hard. Then a buddy at work stopped me and pointed out I was using a #2 bit on screws that needed a #1. I swapped bits on a stubborn gate hinge last weekend in Portland and it grabbed perfectly first try. The difference is basically just a millimeter or two on the tip but it changes everything about how the bit seats. Has anyone else dealt with stripping issues only to realize it was the bit size all along?

22

morgan.mary•22d ago

Struggled with a leaky faucet for months then finally tried the brass compression fitting instead of plastic

I've been going back and forth on this for a while now. My kitchen faucet started dripping last October, and I swapped out the plastic compression ring twice with no luck. It would stop for a week, then start leaking again. Finally frustrated, I grabbed a brass compression fitting from the hardware store for like 4 bucks and it's been bone dry for 2 months straight. Plastic seems easier to tighten, but the brass just grips better without cracking. I even had to use a little more elbow grease on the nut, but no regrets. What's your take on plastic versus brass for supply line connections? Has anyone else found one clearly outlasts the other?

11

karen_nelson40•24d ago

Caught myself using the wrong drill bit for drywall anchors for way too long

I spent three hours last Saturday hanging shelves in my living room and kept having anchors spin loose in the wall. After the fourth one stripped out I sat on the floor and just stared at my drill bit case. That's when I noticed I'd been using a standard 1/4 inch bit instead of the actual size for the anchor itself. A buddy of mine at the hardware store had told me months ago that drywall anchors need their own specific pilot hole but I just brushed it off. Turns out he was right, the anchor package literally has the drill bit size printed on it in tiny letters. I went back and used a 3/16 bit for those little plastic ones and they bit in solid on the first try. Anyone else ever waste a whole afternoon because they skipped reading the fine print on a box of anchors?

6

david739•25d ago

Hit the sweet spot with dryer lint for fire starters

Last winter my buddy showed me how he stuffs dryer lint into toilet paper tubes with a little wax. Tried it for our camping trip up near Flagstaff and it lit on the first match every time. We got rain that night and the fire still caught. Honestly beats those store bought fire starters that cost like $8 for a bag of 12. Anybody else repurpose lint for something besides tossing it?

26

emery879•25d ago

Tried patching drywall with spackle vs joint compound on a 3 inch hole in my living room

I had a 3 inch hole from a doorknob and used spackle first because it was cheap, but it cracked after a week so I redid it with joint compound. The joint compound took longer to dry but sanded way smoother and hasn't cracked in the 2 months since. Has anyone else found spackle only works for pinholes?

14

harper_wright•26d ago

Frozen my butter in the garage for 3 years and it was fine

My grandma told me to freeze butter for emergencies and I thought she was just being old school. But after that ice storm last February knocked out power for 5 days, I grabbed a block I'd forgotten about. Thawed it out on the counter, used it for biscuits, no weird taste or texture. Now I keep 4 pounds in the deep freezer. Anybody else store stuff longer than you're "supposed to" and it worked out?

22

amyh21•26d ago

Found my dad's old tool box in the attic this weekend

Honestly, his 1970s Craftsman screwdriver still feels better than anything I've bought at the big box store lately. Anyone else notice older tools just seem to hold up way longer?

25

wesleyc75•27d ago

Hot take: I used to mortar every brick individually on retaining walls, now I dry stack everything.

Switched after a 40-foot wall in Nashville settled and cracked in year two because I didn't account for drainage. Dry stack lets water pass through, but is the stability trade-off really worth it for taller walls?

17

joseph932•27d ago

Unpopular opinion: my dad was right about using vinegar for everything

So my old man always said to mix white vinegar and water 50/50 for cleaning windows and descaling the coffee maker. I thought he was just cheaping out on Windex and CLR for years. Tried it on my showerhead last month after it clogged up in 3 months from our hard water in Phoenix, and it actually worked better than the store stuff. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from a relative that turned out to be the real deal?

7

zara_hill46•29d ago

Fixed my squeaky floor in 10 minutes with a $3 box of golf tees

My hallway floor has been driving me nuts for months. That one spot near the bathroom door would squeak every single time. I kept thinking I needed to pull up the carpet or call someone. Then I saw a random tip online. You just push a golf tee into the gap between the floorboards and snap it off. I tried it last Tuesday. Squeak is gone completely. Cost me pocket change and took less time than making coffee. Anyone else got a weird trick like this that sounds fake but actually works?

12

wade_perez•29d ago

My buddy swore by duct tape for a leaky pipe, so I tried it.

Last Saturday my kitchen sink pipe started dripping right where the two sections connect. A buddy of mine, Mike, said just wrap it in duct tape, it'll hold for weeks he told me. So I did about 5 layers, tightened it up, and it actually stopped the leak for maybe 3 hours. Then around midnight I heard a splash and walked into a puddle covering half the linoleum floor. Has anyone else had duct tape fail that fast on a pressurized joint?

-1

victor_carr25•1mo ago

The neighbor who showed me how to fix a stuck garbage disposal with a hex key

My neighbor Bob came over last Tuesday when my disposal was making that awful grinding noise. He just reached under the sink, grabbed a 1/4 inch hex key from his pocket, and showed me how to manually rotate the flywheel plate to free up the jam. Has anyone else found that simple trick works better than trying to reset the button on the bottom?

3

adam_robinson•1mo ago

Was reading up on why my toilet kept running and found out flappers are designed to wear out after like 6 months

I was trying to figure out a phantom flush issue and came across a plumbing forum where a guy broke down how those $5 Fluidmaster flappers have a built in failure point on purpose. Anyone else notice your toilet parts seem to crap out way faster than they used to?

18

janab82•1mo ago

Can we talk about how much money I wasted on dryer sheets before learning this?

I read online that dryer sheets leave a waxy coating on your lint filter that reduces airflow and makes your dryer work harder. So I checked my filter after a few loads and sure enough, it had this shiny film on it. I washed it with warm water and a toothbrush, and now my clothes dry in 35 minutes instead of 50. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just the last person to find out?