Sometimes when I encounter an issue of household-related brokenness, I ask Paul to look into it and fix it. Other times, either because I’ve asked him and he hasn’t, or else because for some reason I don’t want to ask him, I like to try to take care of it myself. In those situations I find it bolstering to first pretend to myself that I am living in this house as the only adult. In that case, would I call someone to fix it, or would I be able to manage it myself? If the latter, I give it a try. In this way I have recently replaced a toilet seat and….some other thing, I forget what.
Recently one of my bureau drawers was making a scraping sound/sensation every time I opened it or closed it, and also it was feeling increasingly scrapey to open/close. I wasn’t sure what that could be, but I applied the “What if I were on my own?” concept, and I thought I’d be too embarrassed to call someone in without even LOOKING for an issue, so I looked for an issue.
 |
| The bureau in question. The middle drawer is the one that’s making a scraping sound. |
 |
| I took out the scrapey-sounds drawer. |
 |
| What’s this? I see a screw sticking out in a way it doesn’t seem like it should be. |
 |
| Oh, you can’t see it? Here’s a closer view. Definitely sticking out. |
 |
| I can use a screwdriver, no prob. |
 |
| That’s more like how it seems like it ought to look. |
 |
| No more scraping sound! I AM VICTORIOUS! |
Related
I have also done this, and believe I can add to your knowledge bank. Sometimes, the screw will keep popping out, because the stress of that little bracket has made it strip the wood and now the screw is loose. To fix it so that the screw stops popping out, take out the screw, stick a toothpick with a dab of white glue into the hole, then jam the screw back into the hole and rescrew it. The toothpick will probably break off on its own, but if not, snap it off. That should stop the screw from popping out and scraping again.
I always feel equally victorious when I simply walk downstairs to the basement (huge effort, amiright?), to get the WD40 for a squeaky door. If I put the WD40 back when I’m done? I’ve climbed Everest that day.
I love these little tutorials. Just that feeling of total accomplishment when you’ve fixed something that’s been broken/bothersome for a long time. It’s hilarious, but also still empowering. “I fixed the hell out of that drawer, yeah!”
You are WOMAN, hear you ROAR!
Man, I feel like I have WON THE OLYMPICS when I do something like that. I AM SO ACCOMPLISHED AT STUFF YOU HAVE NO IDEA AWWW YEAAAAAH.
I agree with Alice. When I accomplish something like this, I am ready to take on the world!! Aside from being irritated at my husband for not fixing it like I asked him in the first place. Not that I’d ever feel such a sense of victory if he fixed it anyway.
I uninstalled our old car seats this weekend, all by myself, AND I vacuumed all the crud underneath, AND I put in new booster seats. So I can totally relate to that feeling of accomplishment. We rock!
I love it when I can fix something like that. Our bed broke the other day and I called someone to fix it, but they couldn’t come for more than a week. Well, we needed to sleep in it before then, so I fixed it myself. And then felt awesome for at least a week.
That feeling of taking something on and nailing it is amazing! Kind of makes you think to yourself “Why yes, I COULD re-tile the bathroom by myself in a weekend.”
Love this. And also Jody’s tip. *scampers off to find toothpicks and glue*