May 12, 2022

10 Tricks for the Beginner Handyman

Being handy with tools is more than showing off. Being “that guy” in your circle of friends is nice—if not a little tiring, what with all the requests to fix everything—but for those of you who want to become the guy who knows how to fix little problems here and there, there’s usually one obstacle.

How the hell do you learn? Watch reruns of Bob Vila on TV? (Who was not available, very unfortunately, for this piece.)

Sometimes, it’s guess and check. Sometimes it’s learning from your old man. Other times, you’re simply the only guy who reads the instructions. No matter what, though, knowing your way around the toolbox is always a good thing. These 10 things will help you around the house—and may spur you on to learn more.

1. Pull the Ole Nintendo on Your Garbage Disposal

A broken garbage disposal is actually a huge headache. Sure, you might have gotten along fine before you had one, but those were the days that dishes took a year to do.

Before you begin, make sure you get under the sink and unplug the disposal unit itself (Many sinks have an outlet underneath them, just open the door and poke around for it.). If you can’t find that, flip the circuit breaker that gives power to the disposal. Seriously. You can’t skip this step because, if for some reason it turns on while you’re removing any stuck-on food in there, you will regret it.

Once the power is off, duck under the sink again and find a button underneath the cylinder that houses the disposal mechanism. This is the reset button. Push it. You should hear a click to let you know you’ve done it.

Next, see if you can locate any debris stuck inside the mouth of the disposal. This is when you need to be absolutely certain that no power is going to it. Remove everything you can.

Flip the power back on and check if it’s working. If so, congratulations. If not, there is still one last thing you can do: manually dislodge what’s keeping the blades stuck. For this method, you’ll need an Allen wrench/hex key. There is a small socket in the middle of the bottom of the disposal unit the key can fit into. Turn the key either way—this is essentially moving the grinders of the unit manually. Turn back and forth a couple times to ensure you got what was keeping the grinders stuck and try flipping the switch again. This should take care of it.

2. Stop a Toilet that Doesn’t Stop Running

That sound. It’s a torturous sound that can keep a guy up at night. Sure, the severity varies (there was once a toilet in the basement of the apartment building in which I was living that blew something so hard – it was spraying water up with enough force that it hit the ceiling – and shook the floors of my first-floor apartment), but a toilet’s importance can never be understated.

3. Hammer a Nail—Not Your Hand

There’s nothing like hammering a nail perfectly. There’s an art to it. Hitting the nail square on the head.

The problem is, it might not happen all the time—just like the idiom suggests.

To assuage your fear of bashing your fingertips while driving a nail into a harder material that requires some force, set the nail in place and hold the rod with pliers as you hammer away.

If you don’t have pliers, a fine-toothed plastic comb works wonders, too. If you’re working with multiple nails in close proximity, you can also use it as a rudimentary straight edge as well. Plus, you can make sure your pompadour stays perfect—it’s a win-win-win.

4. Fix a Clogged Drain

Perhaps one of the most frustrating things, a clogged drain can force you under the sink with a monkey wrench for a good part of a night. The trick here is to think strategically.

Many clogs can be fixed with liquid or gel drain cleaners, but if you’re facing something that’s got the whole thing backed up, get ready for a potentially messy fix.

First, you can try plunging it—yes, with the same tool that you might have thought was only for the toilet. (If you’re working with a bathroom sink, be sure to clog the overflow hole that’s near the top of the basin.)

Plunge it like you normally would a toilet—with a sink plunger of course. The next time you’re around a plunger, take a look at it. Does it have an extended part that goes beyond the dome shape? If so, that’s a toilet plunger—that extra three inches or so is to get deep down into the basin. If it’s just the dome/bowl, then you very well might be using a sink plunger to do a toilet plunger’s job. There is a difference, so take note.

5. Know Your Homemade Cleaning Solutions

Before you go mixing all the industrial-strength chemicals you have under your sink to create a Frankenstein mega cleaner, know a few things about what you’re mixing first—you could go Walter Whiting yourself without realizing it.

Now, we know that you don’t need no instructions to know how to do a good job. But’s it’s hard to do a good job when you’re overcome by chlorine gas—you know, the stuff the Germans used in World War I, which is created when you mix bleach and vinegar. Mixing bleach with ammonia, you’ll end up with some nitrogen chlorides, another nasty airborne poison. Just know what’s in the things you’re using. Here are some usual suspects that, while you might not think it, most likely contain ammonia:

Glass cleaners
Multi-surface cleaners
Chemical drain cleaners
Toilet/bathroom cleaning solution

Yes, there are bleaches that don’t contain sodium hypochlorite, but it’s not worth risking, really. But when it comes to stain removal and household cleaning, baking soda and white vinegar on their own or in conjunction work well.

Original Post: 10 Tricks for the Beginner Handyman

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