If you’re like us, the first time your toilet was clogged you tried to cover it up with more toilet paper and tried flushing it a few more times, because, you know…reasons. The water rose to an uncomfortably high level and your eyes widened. You could pray that the next flush would be different than the five before it, or accept that your Chipotle was too much too handle, grab a plunger, and do it the right way. Dirty Jobs featuring Mike Rowe aired 24/7 when we were growing up and gave us all a deep appreciation for the sh*t that some people go through to make our lives convenient. It’s our belief that as part of the Adulting community there are a series of basic DIY fixes that everyone should know. These may seem self-explanatory at first, but just try watching someone that hasn’t read this article try to put in drywall. Maybe they meant to create a draft in the house, maybe not.
Unclogging a Toilet
A old-y, but a goody. A clogged toilet can get the best of us, especially when you least expect it. There are many ways to go about this, but the most common if there is no refuse in the bowl would be to use a plunger. Make sure to use a plunger designed for a toilet and not just the typical rubber semi-sphere on a pole. The plunger end that looks like the top of a bishop in chess, the hilt of an old-timey Spanish sword, or a Goomba from Mario is the one we’re talking about. Put that over the bottom drain and give three hard thrusts downward. If that doesn’t do the trick, turn off the water on the back of the toilet (should be a snake-looking pipe from the tank bowl to the wall) and try pouring one of the following concoctions down the drain, wait 10 minutes, and try the plunger again: dishwasher + hot water, baking soda + vinegar, Drain-O. If none of that works, call a plumber.
Unclogging a Sink
One that recently impacted an Adulting founder, the clogged sink, is far more frustrating than a toilet. The two types of sinks, kitchen and bathroom clog for different reasons but have the same ways of fixing the clog. Most commonly kitchen sinks clog because of food, and bathroom sinks because of hair. Big revelation there, right?! A garbage disposal can take care of a lot of food, but if you’re like us and didn’t always have that first world luxury than this is a much more common issue. A sink’s piping is arranged as below. The most common issue is at the “trap” or the U-shaped bottom of the piping. This area gets lots of build up from either food or hair and incremental causes a clog. If you notice that the water isn’t going down the sink as fast as it was, address this ASAP otherwise you’ll have to do the following:
Drain-O: start with that, usually doesn’t work but who knows, miracles do happen
Plunger: Hey! The plunger is back. What a trusty tool you are. Now for a sink, use the other type of plunger, the semi-sphere guy. Run water for 15 seconds or so, put that over the drain, and do the same hard thrust down.
Unscrew piping: Last resort before calling help is to unscrew the piping of the sink. As you can see, the sink has 3 core components – tail piece (pipe going down), trap (U-shaped pipe), and wall pipe (pipe coming out of the wall). Put a bucket under the trap pipe. Let the water run through or dry. Unscrew the nuts (hexagonal pieces that connect the pipes together). Take off the trap and see what debris got stuck. If there is nothing in there or any other tube, and no hair stuck under the pop-up itself, call a plumber.
Changing a Light
This one is fairly straight-forward, but because we have seen the more disastrous end of what can happen, we’ll touch on it briefly. First you need to identify whether it’s the bulb itself is burned out, the bulb is loose, or there is an issue with the circuit. Prior to doing this, it is important to turn of the light switch prior to touching the bulb or outlet. If the bulb is not working, first turn switch off, screw the light-bulb righty-tighty and then turn the switch on. If that doesn’t work, turn off the switch, take the bulb out and lightly shake it near your ear. If you hear a slight dinging inside the bulb if, that is a sign that the wire in the bulb broke. Replace the bulb making sure it has the same voltage (power input) and lumen (brightness). If you’ve tried both of these, screw in a new light-bulb and see whether it lights up. If not, it is most likely something wrong with the circuit itself. If this is a typical house light, it is run on a parallel (closed) circuit and therefore the other light in the house should not impact this light. If it’s on a string of lights, those are typically of a series circuit and could mean if the light next to it is burned out, then the series is broken and therefore none of the other bulbs will light.
Patching Drywall
If you lived in a sorority or fraternity, you are probably familiar with the term drywall. Drywall is a panel used for interior wall and ceiling construction. The main reason drywall is used is that it is quick to install and simple to repair. If you come home to a fist-size hole in your drywall and your roommate just so happens to be crying 3-feet away complaining about how they accidentally sent too long of a DM and felt desperate, but aren’t really desperate, and that piled on top of all the stress they have at work…then drywall is the best solution for you! You will need the following materials to fix the hole, and a complete separate set of tools to help your friend.
Materials
Drywall Piece - *If the hole is 6 inches, don’t use an entire 4x4 sheet of drywall*
Drywall Saw
Taping knife – A wide metal plate in a U-shape with a handle
Drywall/Painting Tape
Screws and Screwdriver
Drywall or Joint Compound
Sander
Paintbrush
Process
Find any studs in the wall by tapping and finding which places are hollow and which are not. These can be used to reinforce the drywall if needed
Draw a square around the hole with a pencil about double the size of the hole and begin to cut out the square with a drywall saw or utility knife. This will seem weird because you’re damaging your wall further, but some things need to get worse before they get better, right Becca?! Easiest way is cut is to split the square into two triangles and cut the top out first. This way you can look in the wall and see if there are any wires that you need to avoid. Then cut out the second, bottom triangle.
If there is no stud behind the wall (where the hole now is) use two wood boards some 8 screws to bolster the impending drywall. Place the boards behind the drywall and drill through the remaining wall. Two screws on each end for both boards. Hold the board tight to the inside of the wall and use the screwdriver to tighten the screws. As you’re doing this the board may push away from the wall slightly. That’s fine as long as they re-tighten when the screw is fully flush with the wall.
Lay the drywall over the hole and drill the drywall into the boards
Place the mesh drywall tape over the edges of the drywall and square hole
Apply the drywall compound (somewhat like a white Playdough putty) around the edges to seal the drywall in and across the drywall itself.
Flatten any excessive compound using the taping knife in a similar way to using a paintbrush, back and forth. Make sure that the compound is flat when finished.
Let the compound dry and sand the area with an electric sander or sand paper
Paint over with the correct paint to match the wall - two coats is a standard amount
Voilà! You’re done Adulting...for now
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