I will be the first to admit that I’m no handyman. I can swing a hammer okay and I have repaired a few things around the house, but only the least complicated things. If it has a motor or hooks up to electricity, I’m out.
So although some of these solutions people came up with are weird, I don’t begrudge them at all. They’ve found workarounds that, well, work, and that’s what matters most. And I never would have come up with them!
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1. Credit to this resourcefulness, wrapping up take-out in a reflective windshield screen to keep it warm on the drive home.
Good to know those reflectors can serve two very noble purposes.
2. It can’t be easy to replace a grate so nobody falls into a hole after taking a wrong step without looking.
But somebody put their Boy Scout knot lessons to good use here, and it’s better than nothing.
3. When a light shade breaks, you need to find something to take away the awful brightness of a naked bulb.
This person used a simple foam coffee cup — with an LED bulb inside, which gives off much less heat than a traditional bulb, this will do the trick.
4. Everybody hates getting wet toes in the rain, right? Well, this person rigged up an unlikely solution.
Made for cycling shoes, rubber bands and a sliced up milk jug cut big time costs for overshoes.
5. Dry feet aren’t the only concern when biking in soggy conditions, so this person made their own mud guard from cardboard.
Have to imagine it’s only good for one or two trips in the rain at most, even covered in packing tape, but hey, as long as it prevents that nasty stripe of mud up your back, right?
6. Okay, this is an interesting choice for an air conditioner installation, which would traditionally put the window rattler in window.
There must be some reason to keep this room cool and the next room warm, right? Otherwise you’d just install this in a window and send the heat outdoors.
7. Gaming keyboards look awesome, but it’s much less fun to pay for them, so this person did a home job.
Not sure if it’s paint or pastels or crayon or what, but the colors sure are bright.
8. Everyone gets a flat tire at least once in their lives, right? But who has a patch kit handy?
This driver clearly didn’t, so they turned to good old fashioned hot glue. Who knows, it might just get you to the shop to get your flat properly fixed.
9. Hot glue came to the rescue for this person in desperate times as well, when they found themselves down a razor handle.
I guess they didn’t need that toothbrush anymore, either, because man, it’s gone now.
10. To keep this sink from falling off the wall, someone stuck a walker underneath it.
When you think about it, walkers are all about preventing things from falling, so it’s actually an appropriate solution.
11. Glasses are expensive, so it’s no surprise that those who need them will go to great lengths to keep the ones they have in working condition.
Creating your own arms out of wires seems a bit extreme and uncomfortable, however. But if it gets you through until your next payday to pick up a new pair, so be it.
12. Losing a car window is pretty infuriating, precisely because they’re a pain to effectively fix on the cheap.
So at least you can see out of this window, unlike the garbage bags you often see people covering up broken windows with.
13. For some quick and dirty mudflap repair, this person screwed on some flip-flops, with can tabs as washers.
Which is definitely an inexpensive repair, and one to get folks talking, if nothing else.
14. As long as you don’t need the correct spelling, taking your date to Starbucks when you can’t remember their name is kind of genius.
Hey, names can be difficult, especially when you get all flustered with hormones.
15. Such a simple detail to prevent unnecessary collisions — adding a mirror to the back seat so passengers don’t open their doors when cyclists might be passing.
Now if we can just get people to use their mirrors, amirite?
16. Painting in hard to reach areas is a pain, but also a must if the paint job is going to look even halfway decent in the end.
Using your friend’s head to help you reach is not recommended, but I do admire the spirit of teamwork.
17. During the Apollo 17 mission to the moon, astronauts had to repair a broken fender using duct tape, maps, and clamps from a telescope lamp.
A broken fender isn’t a huge problem on Earth, but on the moon, astronauts needed to better control the dust.
18. If your kettle breaks but you have got to have your daily tea, well, this woman brews hers on her radiator overnight.
I’m sure the Brits will cringe at the thought, but then, you have to admire the perseverance and determination behind this.
19. I’m not the most familiar with construction sites, but I feel like securing a crane to a filing cabinet is asking an awful lot from that filing cabinet.
So we’re just going to file this one as something going on that we don’t fully understand and hope it all worked out in the end.
20. This person lost their dashboard lights, so to be able to see the speedometer at night, they wrapped a headlamp around the steering wheel.
Not the most elegant solution, but at least you can still see the needle.
21. Driving on a log seems like a much more involved fix for a flat tire than hot glue — but apparently it can be done.
However, this truck still has a spare tire on the back . So maybe they’re just trying to prove that this can work?
22. So, you have four light switches in a row, but no single plate for all four switches? I guess this technically covers them up.
But come on, how much could a four-switch plate cost compared to this travesty?
23. Time is money, right? And although this might not be the least expensive repair of a clock, it has to be in the running for the fastest.
I mean, it doesn’t get much more straightforward than tape and a fresh clock.
24. When this Dunkin’ Donuts lost its speaker in their drive-thru, they simply hooked up a baby monitor and kept right on going.
Again, time is money, and you can’t afford to just have your drive-thru lane knocked out. Nice work!
