UNPLANNED POOL: A big rain has flooded your basement. And, since it knocked out the power too, your usually reliable sump pump won’t pump.
THE QUICK FIX: If you live on a slope, try making a siphon. First, fill a garden hose with water from the outside spigot. Seal one end with your thumb and have a friend seal the other. Place one end through the cellar window and into the standing water. Then, have your friend carry the other end as far downhill as possible (the outlet has to be below the intake). Release your thumbs and let gravity do the rest.
SHAGGY LAWN: You need to cut the grass before the in-laws show up but your mower won’t start.
THE QUICK FIX: Before you give up and take it to the repair shop, try this. First, take out the spark plug and empty the gas. Then, get a new plug, add some fresh gas to the tank and, more often than not, the mower will start right up.
CRACKED TEETH: Someone–not you, surely–has broken a key off in a door lock, which is now jammed shut.
THE QUICK FIX: Use a grinding wheel to shape an old hacksaw blade into a harpoon-like point. Then, slip the point into the lock over one of the key nubs and use the hook to fish it out.
BLURRED VISION: The zoom shots from your fancy new digital camera are fuzzy.
THE QUICK FIX: Only use your optical zoom. Most digital cameras have both optical zoom, in which the lens moves (just like a zoom on a film camera), and digital zoom, which manipulates the image electronically. The digital zoom can compromise the quality of the image. If you want more magnification than the optical zoom can handle, it’s better to achieve it on a computer after the fact.
RISING WATERS: The toilet is about to overflow, and you know that your usual tactic of slamming the lid and crossing your fingers won’t work.
THE QUICK FIX: As soon as the water level in the bowl starts rising, reach into the tank and prop up the fill valve (the ball or cylinder that floats on top of the water). That will stop the flow to the toilet, thwarting an overflow. The plunger, however, still awaits.
IMMOVABLE OBJECT: A stubborn nut on an old lawnmower or pickup truck refuses to budge.
THE QUICK FIX: The standard tactic since the dawn of the acetylene torch has been to heat the nut until it glows red. When heat alone won’t cut it, touch a candle to the glowing nut. The wax will melt and flow into the threads, acting as a lubricant.
SNEAK LEAK: You can’t find the source of oil leaking from your engine.
THE QUICK FIX: First, spray the area with Easy Off kitchen cleaner. (It’s cheaper than automotive cleaners.) Then, hose the area down, let it dry and spray on aerosol foot powder. The oil will stain a path in the powder, which you can follow back to its source.
SUN-DRIED TOMATOES: You need a way to water sensitive tomato plants during your summer vacation, without asking your neighbor to take care of them (again).
THE QUICK FIX: Collect some liter-size plastic soda bottles and punch a few small holes in each one. Then, bury a bottle up to its neck next to each of the plants. Before you leave, simply fill the bottles; they’ll slowly release the water over the next four or five days and keep your plants from wilting.
STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE: A broken tent pole is threatening to ruin your annual family camping trip.
THE QUICK FIX: “As long as you don’t need it to hold up to serious weather, you can splint a tent pole with a branch,” says Michael Hodgson, author of Camping For Dummies. (Use medical tape, dental floss–or, yes, duct tape.) “Heck, you can even pitch a tent entirely with branches if you need to.”
POLTERGEIST DOOR: Every house has one, a door that slowly drifts shut every time you try to leave it open.
THE QUICK FIX: Rather than resetting the hinges or propping it open with a potted plant, remove one of the hinge pins, lay it over a nail atop a hard surface, and strike it lightly with a hammer until the hinge pin has a slight bend. Tap the pin back in place. The increased friction will keep the door where you want it.
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