They might be getting it back to a functional state, or they might be keeping it broken and sprucing it up, but they’re all still amazing to see. Read on and check out some of the great ways people have taken something broken and made it better than ever. Or worse.
Is This Irony?
When a chair breaks in a home, the people that like to use that chair have a couple of options. They could get a new chair, take the old one to a repair shop, or they could get out those old repair books and do it themselves.
There's a pretty good chance that the family did the real work to bring this chair into shape right after the picture was taken, but we can all sit back (in our working chairs) and enjoy a fun little bit of irony. Yeah, we're going to say that's ironic. So let it be written.
We Feel Like This Could Have Been Avoided
Thank goodness someone with a label maker added the words “GREEN” and “BUTTON” to that obviously not-red button, or people might have been trapped inside! Dumb people, but people nonetheless. If it was dumb people being trapped inside, that means the person who made the original big sign above the button would have also been trapped inside, and that's a shame. A darn shame.
That person won't be able to go around making signs like “please litter” or “go when the light is red.” Sometimes you just know what your lot in life is, and this person probably doesn't. Because he or she is dumb.
The Notebooks, the Strings, and the Wardrobe
Where is this, under a desk? This is actually inside a wardrobe, where one might hang his or her clothes. Usually, anyway, since this example has fallen apart a little bit. The bar has become detached from the wood. However, the person in charge didn't want to have to shell out for a brand new wardrobe, so he or she grabbed metal, wood, string, and paper to keep the bar supported.
It looks like this required multiple interesting creative choices, a couple of holes, and a mind-bending, almost M.C. Escher construction. Well, if it works, it works, and a penny saved is a penny earned.
Nobody Gets In
Groceries, sporting equipment, and luggage all have their place in the trunk of your car. You want to make sure that stuff is safe from people with sticky fingers. Locks on car trunks are usually pretty sturdy, but they can still take damage over time or through misuse. In that case, do what this person did: Attach a simple sliding latch to the trunk.
Unfortunately, this won't keep people who are really interested out of your trunk, since you can just...slide the lock open. Maybe the latch and the actual lock work in tandem to provide extra security. There must be some good stuff in there.
Mechanics are Pretty Pricey Anyway
No one ever wants to have a smash-up when they're out on the road. Still, sometimes accidents happen, and cars will take damage. You could go to an auto repair shop and shell out big bucks to get your car back into pristine condition, or you could use an aux cord to keep everything together as this person did.
We're sure that it works just as well as trained professionals who have been fixing and rebuilding cars for years or even decades. The only downside we can think of is if you want to play music. Well, just get another aux cord. Those things are worth the money.
It Belongs in a Museum
The story behind this one is that a boyfriend, at his first Thanksgiving meal with his significant other's family, tripped and fell down the stairs. On his way down, a flailing limb smashed through the wall, leaving a fist-sized hole. The obvious solution is to find one of the numerous ways to repair a hole in the drywall and get to work.
It's not that tough, really, but it takes a little bit of time to get it right. This family, on the other hand, took a different route, at least for the moment. They hung up a frame and even attached a little sign to commemorate the event.
Repeat After Us: Don't Do This
Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this. If you're unsure what “this” is, it's using the grounding hole in a plug to screw through a power strip to attach it to a wall. It's super dangerous...that's a live plug! And there's just a screw-driven right through it! Don't do this!
Most power strips have mounting strips on the back that make it easier to attach them to walls or other items, even if the strips aren't the best. It's still far safer than drilling a screw through the plastic and electronics that are inside and surging with power.
A Quick Painting
We've all had that time when we tried our hand at an artistic venture, only to have it not go so well. This person wanted to paint a little cardinal on a fence post, but it got a little smudged. The person could have grabbed a fresh piece of paper and tried again, or, as we see here, just roll with it.
He or she added a hunter turning the cardinal into a mist of red feathers. The color and composition are striking – the red against the white, and the peace and serenity of the left side against the violence and energy of the right side. Simply stunning. As Bob Ross said, there are no accidents.
The Perfect Holder
A whiteboard is no help to anyone if you don't have any markers handy, and to keep markers handy, they have to be close by. However, some whiteboards don't have the proper bottom edge or attached holder, which means the markers have to sit somewhere else. Not handy if you're working on a big project and need to write down quick ideas.
Thankfully, someone had the bright idea of using a couple of pushpins to keep a marker (one of the best colors, green) suspended right next to the whiteboard. Of course, this requires a wall that will accept push pins, but it's still a great idea.
Looks Like It's About to Walk Away
You'd be surprised how often you use lamps, even if you don't notice them. Maybe you turn them on at your work desk, use them to read in bed at night, or they turn on automatically with a timer, but they're working hard. If the lampstand breaks, you might have to throw the whole thing away, but not this guy.
He's a woodworker who had plenty of scraps laying around, and he found something that was balanced and solid enough to attach the old lamp. We love it. It looks like the kind of thing that will attach Isengard with Treebeard. No orcs shall escape its sight!
No One Will Ever Know
You might be wondering what this picture is, and here's the story: It's in a gym. Just like in most other proper gyms, some heavy stuff was being moved, lifted, and thrown. A medicine ball was thrown with a little too much gusto and not enough control, and the result was a hole in the wall.
We're sure that eventually, someone will get around to fixing it for good, but in the meantime, someone decided that to hide the damage, they would just screw a vent grate into the wall. Some people might know why it's there, but it's a pretty good bit of camouflage.
Always Have a Roll of Duct Tape Handy
It doesn't matter if your shoes are coming apart, a book is starting to become unbound, or your van's window is busted, duct tape is here to save the day. For this fix, of course, the person in charge also needed a garbage bag or a tarp, but it was easy to whip up a makeshift window.
It's certainly cheaper than having to go to the shop and get a new window, and you can continue to use the van right away. Keep a sharp eye out when you're on the road and you're bound to see this everywhere.
Bumper Log
Bumpers are a really important part of the car's structure, even if it doesn't get a lot of lip service. During fender-benders, the bumper protects the chassis from damage and makes sure the car's more critical parts stay working properly. No bumper, no protection, and even if you're a careful driver, that's good to have.
Here's one thing someone did to create their own unique bumper when they lost theirs. A piece of wood bolted to the back of the car might not be the best option to protect the car, but it works in a pinch. It actually looks pretty good, too.
It's Not Like You Need to Actually Look Inside
Most microwaves have handles that you use to crack them open so you can bring out your ramen or veggies. Sometimes that handle can snap off, and then what? This person decided the best solution would be to take a shower handle – the kind of thing you can attach to the tiles in the shower via suction cups – and attach it to the front window of the microwave.
It works exactly the same way, it's just in a slightly different place. We wouldn't be surprised if this is the kind of fix that sticks around for a while.
Very, Very Limited Power
Does this sound familiar? You're working on a big project, and your laptop is running out of juice. You have a cord, but you're in a foreign land, and the plugs are different. You have to ask around among friends or neighbors to get the right attachments so that, one, your device doesn't take damage, and two, the power grid or building system doesn't take damage.
It will create scenes like this one, which has a bunch of adapters and other devices necessary to keep things working the way they should. We can't really explain everything going on here, but we would like to draw attention to the dog's weirdly-long nails.
First Used in the Civil War
Our rule of thumb is if you have to use duct tape to keep a knife together, then it's time to get a new knife. It's an interesting rule, but we've been sticking with it and we've had no problems. This picture is of an incredibly old knife. The person who took the picture said it belongs to his or her grandmother, and it's likely older than he or she is.
The wood is coming apart, the blade is starting to separate, and the handle looks more like an old sponge. But, as we can see, the knife still works fine. Then again, knives aren't hard to maintain.
Where Did the Screwdriver Go?
This is another fix that likely didn't last long, but it still seems to have done the job for the time being. Until the person putting the door together came up with the right piece of hardware for the hinge, they had to use something the right size to keep the door in place and allow it to open.
Well, the tools are already out, so why not try a screwdriver? It turns out it worked perfectly, but hopefully, they found something a little more proper. For one, the door can't open all the way with that kind of obstruction. Second, what if you need the screwdriver?
It's Not Like Anyone Buys It Anyway
We don't know why, since it looks like this is a perfectly functional shelf, but still, this grocery store or supermarket has decided that they need to boost up the shelf with a few cans of pasta sauce. We all know that enough two-liters of soda can be heavy, really heavy. Any liquid, really.
So, maybe they just needed a little bit of extra support. Otherwise, they would be rolling around the floor. That can be dangerous, and it certainly doesn't look good to the customers.
Made to Open Things
Key breaks on the handle? Just grab an old screwdriver handle, and...melt it down until it's soft enough to add the key? We aren't really sure of the process that this person did to combine these two items together, but it looks like a good way to use some things you might have otherwise thrown away.
There are probably some guides out there to show you the best way to do this. Don't try to do it without knowing what you're doing. Otherwise, who knows – you could ruin both items and more.
Listen Up!
Alarms are really, really important. If someone needs to know they're in danger, then the louder, the more attention-grabbing, the better. Tornado sirens, fire truck lights, and fire alarms are all ways to do this. Or, you could do what we see here, and just use a little hand siren in place of an alarm.
Yeah, an air horn is a great way to get people's attention, but is it as powerful as some of those other options? Well, no, but it works in a pinch. And that's what we're here for, isn't it? Goofy things that might just work, even if there are better options.
All to Pass a Dorm Inspection
Things can get wild during an entire year at college. Just ask the neighbors about the “curry incident,” and they'll let you know. Really, a single indented wall isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, but at the end of the year, it will still cost the student after the dorm inspection.
One smart student knew the trick – take a blank electrical plate (used to block off old wires...usually) and screw it into the wall. It hides the damage, and unless the inspectors are aware of every room's electrical eccentricities, it will go unnoticed.
Letting It Do Its Thing
There are a lot of people out there who might say that the dishwasher is the most important appliance in the house, as long as you ignore the fridge, the sink, the stove, the oven, and the microwave. Most dishwashers have a latch that keeps the swinging door shut, but they can, as with everything else on this list, break.
One dad knew the solution until they could get a repairman out to look at it. He took a shower rod, extended it to the perfect length, and jammed it between the dishwasher door and the cabinet. Do they even need to bother the repairman? Mom says yes.
Showing Off His Hard Work
The fun thing about this is that it doesn't even take any extra hardware. If you look closely, you can see that the wrought-iron handle that this faceless man has attached to his microwave doesn't have any screws or nails. The top and bottom of the handle have been jammed into the plastic edges.
The person who took the picture had made her first visit to this home, and she was thrilled to share this handy little trick with the internet. The guy who came up with the fix was happy to show it off to his visitor.
Lights Will Guide You Home
okay, technically this person did install a new headlight when whatever it was they had before broke down. Would it light up the road ahead? Yes. Does it mean the next cop that pulls them over does not fine them? We're not so sure. We guess it depends on the cop's mood.
This flashlight fits so well in the headlight socket that it took us a minute to understand what was wrong in this picture. We're assuming that this handy fix worked in a pinch but that its biggest shortcoming was that the driver couldn't operate it from inside the car. Unless the flashlight has a remote? Highly unlikely but not impossible.
Good News and Bad News
The background for this image is that the trigger mechanism for a car's horn went out, and the person in charge of the car decided he would do a little bit of handy work to get it functional again. He or she installed a unique switch by screwing it into the center of the wheel.
All you'd have to do to let other cars or pedestrians know you're coming is hit the button in the center, just like normal. However, we have to imagine this does change the effect of the airbag that is contained within every steering wheel. In a bad way.
A Cutting Look
Fiddly little things, aren't they? A pair of glasses keep you safe on the road, let you read your favorite books, and so much more. If an arm falls off, however, that more or less makes your spectacles useless. Maybe you can balance them on your nose, but the barest motion renders them fallen.
Someone decided they have enough scissors (we think) lying around, so he or she grabbed a pair and got to work. We can't say the result looks all that comfortable, but if it lets you read properly when you need to, it's not like we can argue.
Useful for More Than Just Butter
To answer your first question, what you're looking at is an umbrella stand that is bolted to the ground. To answer your second question, the item stuck inside the holder that is too big for the umbrella post is a butter knife. The umbrella, on the metal post, was wobbling back and forth, and the people in charge of the umbrella (takes a lot of hard work to get to that position, let me tell you) decided they didn't want to endure the wobble any longer.
Dinner was done, so they took one of the pieces of the silverware to get rid of it for good.
“I Just Need to Zip Into the Shower”
Shower Heads are great when they're spitting out hot water after a long day. Sometimes, however, the weight or a poor attachment can have the heads sagging to point at the wall. One person finally got sick of having to adjust the head or hold it in place with a hand and grabbed a couple of zip ties.
Handy things, zip ties. As far as the picture shows us, it worked fine, and the people who use this shower can consider it a job well done. Maybe if the shower head wasn't so long, this could be avoided.
A Grandma Fix
Nothing gets between a grandmother and her spinning wheel. Not many spinning wheels get constant use anymore – at least not as many as back in the day – but this one still does. A spinning wheel turns fiber into thread or yarn to make clothes, and one enterprising grandma must still take her time to make her own clothes if this picture is any indication.
The wheel was getting used too hard, and it was starting to fall apart a little bit, but Grandma whipped up a securing device using a single shoelace. Their entire purpose is to keep things secure, so why not here, as well?
Things Have to Cool Down Somehow
A person decided to get some Thai takeout, during some of the hottest months of the year, and this was what they saw. The air conditioning had broken, and when it's a hot day out, sometimes the repair guy will have a long list of jobs to get to before they'll arrive. So, the Thai restaurant cobbled together a way to cool the place down.
That's an electric fan, and while it's nowhere near as useful to cool the place down as a working air conditioner, it's still a good way to make sure you get through the day without melting.
Look, Technically It Works
The main function of a shower is to get water above you so that it pours down on top of you. Does it have to look good? No. Does it have to do it in a certain way? No, not really. And yeah, using a sink faucet as your showerhead might be a bit unorthodox, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work! It's just a bit odd to see.
Still, the water starts at the top and reaches the bottom. It might even help reduce the growth of mold since the water isn't being splashed all over the place. Still looks pretty weird though.
Pull Up to Open
We aren't sure why this has happened, but we can't come up with a reason why this wouldn't work. In fact, speaking frankly, we aren't sure which of these two is the mistake – the one that points down looks a little more smooth as to the style of the door, but it seems more natural for the human hand to grab the handle on the left.
Well, whatever, it's just one of those things that make a door special. Also, this is a door to a school's cantina or lunchroom or something like that, so it's going to get plenty of use.
It Really Can Fix Anything
No doubt we've all used duct tape to fix a toy or rebind a favorite book, or maybe even keep some ductwork together. Which is, after all, the original use. You might not have used it to keep your entire car together, but somebody certainly has.
While the special gray tape might be able to keep something like this together during normal use, any sort of collision will make the tape useless. We have to hope that the driver here is on his or her way to the mechanic to get everything fixed up. That's quite a lot of damage to the rear of the car.
Does It Actually Open?
Cars take a lot of damage, even if you aren't in any big accidents. Things like rust will break down the car's chassis and reveal the more important bits inside, so how do you make sure that the outer layer of aluminum stays attached? One off-the-wall idea a driver had was to use a little hinge to keep the wearing-down metal in place.
We know that there's a pretty good chance there's nothing special hidden under there. Still, we sort of hope that the owner has put a little something behind the piece of metal attached to the hinge.
Gotta Get at Those Biscuits
Grocery stores use freezer cabinets like this one to make sure the food they're selling stays at the best temperature, but even these simple items can break every once in a while. For instance, this time a handle has snapped off. Well, that's not good. People still want to be able to buy those things, and the store still wants to sell them, but if they can't get a repairman down right away, what to do?
This store came up with a crafty solution – take a small piece of tubing and wrap some tape around it, taping it to the door and creating a handle. Probably wouldn't pass an inspection, but works in a pinch.
Bamboo Shelves Aren’t as Exotic as They Sound
Fridges can be expensive, as many of us know. Sure, there are always second-hand options as well as thrifting, but those are a coin toss and they might end up costing a lot more than a new one in the long run.
When a shelf broke down in this person's fridge, instead of hopping on Craigslist and trying to find a new one (judging by this picture, it looks like the broken shelf is not the only problem with this appliance) they got crafty. We have no idea where they found the bamboo sticks to replace the shelf but we have a feeling it was not Home Depot or anywhere else that required the use of actual money.
Plumbers Hate This One Weird Trick!
There's nothing like stepping into the shower and turning on a jet of hot water. Unless the handle comes off in your hands, of course. That would be, let's say, a buzzkill. Someone was able to take a clamp wrench and grab the dial. This allows them to use the shower as normal, and according to our research, this method seemed to work even better than the original handle.
If the person has lots of extra clamp wrenches lying around, this fix might last for a little while, but it's a little gauche if you have overnight guests.
Not Going Anywhere Near That One
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but we bet this one could bring us three thousand at least. This picture has been taken high off the ground, so we're going with that it's from a power line or something like that. A line has been torn in half (How? We aren't even going to guess. Godzilla), from the rubber insulation to the wires inside.
The two halves have been bound together with a couple of zip ties...and then after the picture was taken, they fixed it for real, right? They didn't just leave it like that, right? Please?
Kid and Parent Combined to Make Art
Drawing on the walls is one of the classic kid things that parents hate to come home and see. We see here that a kid grabbed a blue marker and went to town, creating a spiraling design. Most people would roll their eyes and get some soap and water, but one mom decided she had the skills to add rather than subtract.
She took the same blue marker, or a supply of blue paint, and redesigned the scribbles into a flowing, flowery pattern that nobody will ever tell was once a child's scribble. It would do well for parents to learn how to do this, but don't let the kids know.
The Audacity of This Fix
Not having access to the proper power or charging cord for a device means...well, you can't use it, can you? You'll have to watch the battery meter drain, or you can't turn it on at all. This person decided that not having the proper cord wasn't too bad, since all he had to do was attach a couple of random cords and tape them on.
We're sure he knows what he's doing, but we want to repeat that this isn't something you should do unless you really, really know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing, just use the proper cord.
A Welder Means Nothing Is Ever Broken
We all know the old maxim about scissors: if one of the handles has snapped off, they're trash. Of course, if you have something that approximates a handle, as well as a welder, nothing stays broken for long. We can say with some amount of certainty that this recreation won't be the most comfortable thing to use, but how often do you need to use scissors for a long time? Around the holidays, and that's about it.
Also, is the picture being taken with the scissors balance on a car tire? What's going on there? Is it some kind of work safety mat?
We'll Hear the Screams
Doorbells aren't the most complicated devices in the world – far from it – but they can still stop functioning the right way. There are lots of ways it can happen, and in this picture, it looks like the button itself has broken. We can tell, since the leads are still active, and that's how you can let the people inside know that you've arrived.
Hey, do you guys remember about knocking? Remember that? With your knuckles on the door? We wonder if that could be useful here, instead of touching bare wires together. Seems a little safer to us.
Cheap Computer Hardware
A lot of the fancy electronics you'll find in computers can cost a pretty penny, but it turns out that you can set up your own cooling systems for less. This picture demonstrates: You'll have to use a little bit of the cooling paste and attach a coin. Is this a fix that might work? Certainly – the metal is a good conductor, and it should siphon heat away from the motherboard.
Will it actually work, for real? We have no idea since coins have a weird blend of metals that probably won't work super well as a conductor. Then again, it will be less expensive than anything you're going to find.
Found in a Hotel Room
Now, we know that not all hotels are going to be five-star affairs. Not all of them will have an omelet buffet each morning, and a private Jacuzzi in each room. However, if you go into your hotel's bathroom and see this, you might want to consider finding a different hotel.
It's a little hard to tell, but it seems the soap dish in the shower is being held onto the wall by the clamp. The clamp is being held upright by a piece of string attached to the handrail. We bet the person who snapped this pick was able to find other problems with the room as well.
So How's the Installation Going?
There might be a little bit of a problem. Actually, numerous problems, and darn it if fixing them isn't going to take time and be expensive. Apparently, the person who took the picture first tried to open the door seen in the picture. Since the hinges are on this side of the wall, that means the door opens toward us...so it can't open with the pipe in the way.
Hopefully, the pipe isn't very important, because it obviously can't stay there. It doesn't look like it carries liquid, so why is it there? There are also cords all over the place, outlets...try it again, fellas, because this one is a loss.
Yup, That'll Do It
We are almost sure that this fix is going to be aided by actual repairs before too long. A pillar in what appears to be a storefront/parking lot is there for foundations and support, so a completely missing center, which is essentially a huge cavity in one of the pillars is bad news for everyone involved.
And, yeah, a roll of what appears to be clingwrap is going to be enough to keep a building from collapsing. Really. For sure. Did a car ram into the pillar? Whatever the reason, this should be fixed as soon as possible, and clear plastic wrap isn't going to cut it.
Finally, We Can Get Back to the Laundry
A washing machine's lid isn't the most complicated piece of machinery, but if it has moving parts, it can still break. Such is the case here, but the home's local handyman came up with a workaround. All he had to do was get a piece of plexiglass...oh, no, wait! The plexiglass was already part of the door, but the orangeish thing at the end, the handle, snapped off.
You'd have to work your fingers under the glass each time you wanted to open it, but that's nothing a suction cup can't fix. Congratulations, you now have easy access.
Well, That's a Darn Shame
Ah well, sometimes there are just some things that can't be helped. At least, that's what they're going to say to the state trooper who gives them a ticket. Yeah, letting other drivers know you don't have lights is a nice way to try and make up for it, but brake lights are super important to have for a reason.
The best part about this is the two different tape styles. What, did they run out of the first roll? Just get some at the store. Where you might also be able to buy new lights.
Getting a Handle From Somewhere
Door handles get a ton of use, and eventually, they start to give out. Most of the time it just takes a quick trip to the hardware store and a little bit of work to put the door back in working order. Sometimes, however, you don't have the time to do that sort of work, or you need to scrimp and save wherever you can.
In those cases, do what this business or home did: nail a plastic bottle handle to the wood of the door. Sure you need a little bit of hardware like screws and things, but we guess this works just as well as any other handle. Maybe not the most attractive thing, but there are worse fixes.