Friday Thread: Home Tricks & Tips & Hacks

I spent the bulk of the last two weeks trying to figure out a plumbing problem. I bought a plumbing snake. I learned how to use that snake. I actually made my shower drain a lot faster, but I did not fix said problem. But someone in the Culture Study Discord suggested I might consider that it’s a septic problem (all houses on the island are on septic) and you know what? HE WAS RIGHT. I called the septic company, they told me how to deal with the “clogged baffle” (trust me, you don’t want to know) and they came out and fixed the rest.

Hanging out in that particular Home Improvement/DIY channel has made me realize that is a whole sea of house knowledge out there, and a whole sea of people in need of house knowledge, and sometimes those two seas converge but often they do not.

So I want to use this space today as a place to offer up handy tricks, tips, and hacks that you’ve found for house, apartment, and living space repair and maintenance — and ask for help in return. Your tips or questions can be about a sticky cabinet drawer, a stinky washing machine, a hot water heater that refuses to stay hot (an ongoing discussion in the Discord right now), how you remind yourself to change the filter in your furnace, how to clean a freezer, what to do about pilling on your couch, YOU GET IT.

Ask expansively here, and offer advice expansively in return.