Don't Start Any Repair Before Seeing These 27 Hacks

Take a bolt and insert it into the pipe. Bring a magnet close and pull the nut along the entire length to the right hole. Secure it with a washer and tighten, a simple way to assemble a connection in a hard to reach spot. Insert two bolts into the holes of the fitting and use them as a lever. Turn with a screwdriver, the fitting will unscrew easily, even if you don't have a wrench or special tool on hand. If a screw spins in place and won't come out of the wall, don't rush to drill it out. Place a metal ruler against the head, press it firmly and keep unscrewing. The screw will catch against it and start backing out. The head of the nail broke off or regular nail puller can no longer grip it. Grab the nail with pliers at the very base, slide the nail puller underneath and pry it up together with the tool. The nail comes out easily without damaging the surface. Screw a pair of old slippers to the bottoms of two upside down paint buckets. Slip them on like stilts and you'll be able to walk around the room freely, reaching the ceiling in hard to access spots without a step ladder. Attach two neodymium magnets to the tab of a measuring tape. Now the end clings firmly to any metal surface, you can take precise measurements on your own, without a helper. Take a small broken piece of a hacksaw blade. Remove the blade from a utility knife and put the hacksaw fragment in its place. Tighten the lock. You've got a compact mini saw handy for trimming plastic, thin metal and working in spots where a regular hacksaw won't fit. The utility knife blade has dulled and stopped cutting. Don't throw it out just yet. Take the back side of the knife body, there are special slots there. Insert the dull segment and snap it off. A fresh sharp blade will appear underneath, ready to go. A new paint roller always leaves lint on fresh paint, you need to remove it ahead of time. Wrap masking tape around your hand with the sticky side out. Roll the roller over the tape a few times, all the loose lint will stick to the tape, and your paint job will come out perfectly clean. After gluing two wooden pieces together, excess glue often squeezes out along the edges. Take an ordinary drinking straw and run its edge along the seam. The straw will neatly scoop up the excess glue without leaving smears on the wood. Attach a small magnet to the head of a hammer. Now nails will be drawn to the tool on their own, you can grab them quickly with one hand and drive them in without holding them with your fingers. Make a few slits in the cap of a plastic bottle. Bend the cap slightly and insert a utility knife blade into the slits, secure it so that the cutting edge sticks out from the right side. Hold the device in your hand and pull a plastic bottle through it. The result is a strong plastic cord, you can use it for tying, repairs, and fastening. Cut off the bottom of a plastic bottle at an angle. Make a hole in the upper part for the drill bit. Slide the bottle onto the drill with the cut side facing the wall. Now, when drilling, all the dust and debris will collect inside, the wall and floor will stay clean. Mount a plastic paint bucket on the wall and install an outdoor outlet inside it. Run the cable into the bucket and finish wiring the outlet. Cover the bucket with its original lid, you will have a sturdy protective enclosure that keeps the outlet safe from rain and moisture. Take a door hinge and place a utility knife blade between its two halves, lining up the holes. Secure with a bolt. Slide the wire into the hinge hole and pull it through, the insulation will strip off cleanly, leaving a bare wire. Take the utility knife blade out, flip it around, and put it back into the body. Tighten the lock. Now there will be two holes, one at the front of the blade and one at the back of the handle, and that's your working compass. Drive a nail into the center of the future circle and slip the bottom hole of the handle over the nail. Stick a pencil into the front hole of the blade and trace your circle. To draw a smaller circle, just push the blade deeper into the body and lock it. The radius adjusts with a single movement. A small utility knife often slips during work, the blade slides back on its own. There's a special lock on the handle. Pull it, the blade will stay fixed and won't move under pressure anymore. When the tip dulls, you can refresh it. Hidden at the end of the handle is a removable cap with a slot. Take it off, insert the dull tip into the slot, and snap it off. A fresh sharp blade will appear underneath. Break off a segment of a utility knife blade with a hole at its end. Remove the tip from a soldering iron. Attach the broken piece of blade to the soldering iron's mounting screw through the hole, it will heat up in place of the tip. Turn on the soldering iron and cut plastic with the hot blade. The cut comes out clean and crack free, handy for repairing cases, bumpers, and any plastic parts. On the end of the utility knife there's a clamping screw, many people don't notice it. Push the blade all the way into the body and tighten this screw fully. It blocks the blade's path, it won't pop out accidentally while you're carrying it or storing it in a pocket. Drill holes on the sides of a metal profile and thread a rope through them. Slip a short piece of polypropylene pipe over the rope, that'll be the handle. Hook the profile under the bottom edge of a drywall sheet and lift it by the handle. The heavy sheet is easy to carry on your own, with no strain on your hands. The utility knife blade is dull and you've got no spares on hand. Take a regular leather belt from your jeans. Run the blade along the inside of the belt a few times on both sides, the leather will polish the edge, and the knife will be sharp again. The tip of a utility knife blade broke off unevenly, making it awkward to work with. Grab some pliers, clamp the blade at the nearest score line, and carefully snap off the damaged segment. You'll get a clean, sharp edge, and the knife is good to go again. Take a close look at a utility knife blade, there's a small semicircular notch on the top corner. First, gently score the insulation on the wire. Then flip the knife over, hook this notch onto the wire, and pull, the insulation slides off cleanly without damaging the conductor. A handy way to strip cable without a dedicated tool. Before you start painting, line the paint tray with plastic wrap. Pour the paint right onto the wrap and use the roller as usual. When you're done, just peel off the wrap with the leftover paint and toss it, the tray stays clean. Wrap the paint can and the roller itself in plastic too, they'll keep until next time without drying out. Slide the tip of a measuring tape into the gap between the blade and the body of a utility knife. Lock it. Hook the tape onto the edge of your workpiece and pull the knife out to the desired distance. Make a cut, you get perfectly precise marking and cutting at once. Great for making repeated cuts of the same length. A screw is stuck and won't budge with a regular screwdriver, hand strength just isn't enough. Slip an open-end wrench onto the flat of the screwdriver's handle and use it as a lever. The extra leverage easily breaks the screw loose and helps you back it out. You dump a jar of mixed screws of all sizes onto the table, finding the right one in such a pile is tough. Take a piece of foam and stick the screws into it in rows, sorting by type. Now the size you need is always within reach.