Simple kitchen and bathroom fixes anyone can do. No plumber needed.
Most renter repairs fall into 4 categories. Pick yours to see only what matters.
I scrubbed a Sunnyside faucet black ring every two weeks for six months before figuring out the actual cause. The fix is not what you think — it is the caulk, not the cleaning.
An hour before my partner's parents came for dinner, the Astoria shower drain started smelling like rotten eggs. Here is the 15-minute, $5 fix that actually works.
I held a hairball from a Bushwick drain up to the light and spent two hours googling health risks. Here are the 4 things that black sludge actually is — and the one that matters.
I spent $22 and three weekends scrubbing black gunk in sink before my landlord fixed it in 8 minutes with a $4 part. The gunk was not dirt — it was a rotted drain gasket.
When the AC compressor runs but the indoor fan isn't spinning, five causes to check before you call for service. A renter's diagnosis that catches the easy fixes first.
Inside fan runs but the outside AC unit is not running. Here are five things to check first, plus a renter's letter to the landlord that gets faster service.
Spaghetti sauce stains combine pigment, oil, and protein — they set in seconds if you use hot water. Here's the renter's first-30-seconds method that works on carpet and fabric.
Water itself leaves rings on clothes — hard-water minerals or dissolved solids form tide lines as the area dries. Here's the four-step method that gets them out.
When one outlet dies and the breaker looks fine — is the breaker bad, the outlet bad, or the GFCI? A renter's decision tree, ten minutes, $10 in tools.
My 3 drawers cabinet died in October, four years after I bought it. Five mistakes I made, in reverse order, including the $20 one that started it all.
Sara texted me asking which cabinet with 3 drawers to buy. I tested six over two weekends. Two I would buy again, two I would skip. Here is the letter I sent her.
Five renter safe methods to hang garland on a wall without damaging the paint, plus the four failed attempts in my friends apartments and the one method that held through a cat, a Thanksgiving party, and a Christmas tree installation.
Featured
I scrubbed a Sunnyside faucet black ring every two weeks for six months before figuring out the actual cause. The fix is not what you think — it is the caulk, not the cleaning.
Featured
An hour before my partner's parents came for dinner, the Astoria shower drain started smelling like rotten eggs. Here is the 15-minute, $5 fix that actually works.
Featured
I held a hairball from a Bushwick drain up to the light and spent two hours googling health risks. Here are the 4 things that black sludge actually is — and the one that matters.
Featured
I spent $22 and three weekends scrubbing black gunk in sink before my landlord fixed it in 8 minutes with a $4 part. The gunk was not dirt — it was a rotted drain gasket.
When the AC compressor runs but the indoor fan isn't spinning, five causes to check before you call for service. A renter's diagnosis that catches the easy fixes first.
Inside fan runs but the outside AC unit is not running. Here are five things to check first, plus a renter's letter to the landlord that gets faster service.
Featured
Spaghetti sauce stains combine pigment, oil, and protein — they set in seconds if you use hot water. Here's the renter's first-30-seconds method that works on carpet and fabric.
Featured
Water itself leaves rings on clothes — hard-water minerals or dissolved solids form tide lines as the area dries. Here's the four-step method that gets them out.
When one outlet dies and the breaker looks fine — is the breaker bad, the outlet bad, or the GFCI? A renter's decision tree, ten minutes, $10 in tools.
Featured
My 3 drawers cabinet died in October, four years after I bought it. Five mistakes I made, in reverse order, including the $20 one that started it all.
Sara texted me asking which cabinet with 3 drawers to buy. I tested six over two weekends. Two I would buy again, two I would skip. Here is the letter I sent her.
Featured
Five renter safe methods to hang garland on a wall without damaging the paint, plus the four failed attempts in my friends apartments and the one method that held through a cat, a Thanksgiving party, and a Christmas tree installation.