These home repairs are quick and easy fixes to household troubles that take 10 minutes or less.

• Easy Chair Fix

  This simple home fix is one you'll want to keep on hand! Trying to keep a rickety old chair together without tearing it apart and gluing it back together? Drill pilot holes and drive trim-head screws through the bottom of the rungs and into the legs for a quick fix at home.

• Lube a Sticking Vinyl Window or Door

  It's generally because gunk has built up in the channels that vinyl windows and doors don't operate properly. However, even spotless windows and doors can become clogged. Apply a dry PTFE spray lubricant to the contact sites and wipe it away with a towel. Oil lubricants should not be used for this home repair since they can attract dirt and some can damage the vinyl.

• Fix a Shutoff Valve

  Nothing is more frustrating than starting a sink or toilet repair only to discover that the shutdown valve won't close. Some shutdown valves are simple to swap out.

  For those that aren’t, turn off the main water valve, remove the packing nut, and then unscrew the stem and take it to the hardware store to find a replacement washer. Clean any grit out of the valve body and pop on the new washer. The valve will work like new.

• Foam a Loose Showerhead

  Here’s an easy home fix that can be used beyond the bathroom. Fix a wobbly showerhead, or any wobbly pipe, with a few squirts of expanding foam.The foam encases the pipe in the wall and locks it into place, eliminating the wobble, so your showerhead will work like new.

• Hide a Hole with a Smoke Detector

  Short on time and money? Instead of patching a hole in the ceiling (which often means repainting the whole ceiling) just cover it with a battery-operated smoke detector. No more hole, and added safety, to boot!

• Silence a Squeaky Floor

  To fix a squeaky floor under carpet, locate the floor joists with a stud finder, then drive in a trim head screw through the carpet, pad and subfloor, and right into the floor joist. Be sure the top inch of the screw doesn’t have threads or the subfloor won’t suck down tight to the joist.We like trim screws because screws with larger heads pull down and pucker the carpet. If that happens, back out the screw and drive it back down. Keep adding screws until the squeak stops.

• Bleach Away a Water Stain

  Before you go through the trouble of repainting a ceiling to get rid of a water stain, try this easy home fix. Spray the spot with a bleach and water solution (10 percent bleach), and wait a day or two.If it’s an old stain, use a mold and mildew remover from the grocery store. You’d be surprised how often the stain disappears by the next day. It works on both flat and textured ceilings. Wear safety goggles, and make sure you protect the walls and floors with plastic.

• Fix a Wallpaper Seam

  If you have a wallpaper seam that’s coming apart, reactivate the paste around the gap with a rag soaked in warm water. Hold the rag over the area for a minute or two, and then carefully open the gap a little larger so you’ll have more room for the sealer. Squeeze seam sealer (white glue works in a pinch) into the gap, and press the paper to the wall with a roller. Clean off the excess sealer with a sponge.

• Unclog a Toilet With Dish Soap

  If the toilet plunger doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, try this solution before you reach for the snake. Squirt about 1/2 cup of liquid soap in and let it sit for a while. The liquid soap reduces friction and will often allow the contents of the bowl to slide on through.

• Fix a Running Toilet: Flush Without Hang-Ups

  Here’s a quick way to avoid a running toilet caused by a kinked toilet chain. Remove the chain from the arm attachment, and slide a plastic straw over the flapper chain, covering about two-thirds of the chain. Then reattach the chain to the arm.

• Extract a Stripped Screw

  A stripped screw can turn a 10-minute fix into a two-hour nightmare. One of the best investments a DIYer can make is a screw extraction kit.One side of the extractor bit reams a hole into the screw, and the other side has reverse threads that dig into the screw as you turn it out.

• Reinforce a Drawer Front

  Here’s a quick home fix for a drawer front that’s pulling off. Cut a couple of lengths of quarter-round the same height as the drawer sides. Hold them in place while you drill a couple of holes through the sides and front of the drawer box.Dab some polyurethane glue (wood glue doesn’t stick well to finished surfaces) on the pieces of quarter-round before screwing them into place.