Put down the screwdriver and walk away. It’s not gonna be good to keep grinding at the thing. The Damsel understands you want to get this over with, but you must stop the madness.

Here’s something to try first. It’s simple enough that if it doesn’t work, you’re not out much, and you can still escalate the situation to the supervisor.

Heat the screw by touching it with a soldering iron or a hot glue gun. (Without glue) That’s it. Just hold one or the other on the screw until it’s very hot. The Damsel doesn’t want to hear about you doing this if you’ve already drenched it in something flammable.

Once the screw is very hot, try again with the screwdriver. Apply firm, steady pressure. Hopefully, the sudden expansion of the hot metal has dislodged the screw from whatever is gripping it.

If the screw still doesn’t move, your situation has exceeded the scope of this post. Tell yourself congratulations because this means you have the right to pitch a fit without guilt.

Removal became necessary.

How does a 6’7″ Knight in Shining Armor cram himself into a tiny cabinet? There were words, and they weren’t “Forsooth” or “Lo here!”

The Knight got his big hunky self under there. The Damsel clapped, praised, and offered brownies.

To remove a faucet carcass, you must:

Turn off the water supply (there are normally taps to twist off under the sink).

Carefully remove the u-shaped piece of pipe. Just so you know, it will be full of water. And possibly diamond rings or contact lenses.

Remove the pipe connected to the bottom of the sink.

This will allow you to take the drain ring thing out. Oogie warning.

There are supply lines that run from the water supply taps to the faucet. They might be gray plastic. They might be white plastic. They might be braided metal. In any case, you have to undo those at the faucet end.

Disconnect the thingy that raises and lowers the drain plug.

Now you can raise the whole apparatus and lay it to rest.

Because this bathroom has a double sink, the Damsel regrets to show you what happened next. She desires that you briefly glance at this picture and then forget you ever saw it. That is her wish.

The Damsel doesn’t want to discuss how this hole got there. Let’s just say it had something to do with barbells and move on.

This method is for kinda big holes. First, take a scrap of sheetrock and cut a square/rectangle that’s slightly larger than the hole. Simply score the sheetrock and then break it (pop it with the side of your hand)  along the score mark, then trim the sheetrock paper.

Hold it over the hole and trace around it with a pencil.

Cut on these lines with a small saw. Careful! The Knight wants you to know in his line of work (when he’s not dragonslaying) he has seen some sad instances of people cutting into pipes and wires.

The Knight cut three sides with his little saw, and then cut the fourth side by scoring and breaking the sheetrock, because wires were behind that cut–thus avoiding cutting into hidden  house guts like electrical stuff.

Take a piece of wood, like a 1×2, and cut it about four inches longer than the hole. Position it inside the hole so two inches or so  lap over on the inside of the top and the bottom of the hole.

Secure with long screws. Make sure all your screws are set well in–you want them flush with the surface, or even a little bit indented. Repeat with another piece of wood as necessary for your size hole.

Now fit in your cut piece, and secure with more screws to the wood you’ve inserted.

Get out your roll of mesh drywall tape…

and cover the four sides of the square.

Trowel on some drywall compound.  Mud, they call it.

When it’s dry, sand it smooth. The Knight says you may want to smooth on a little more mud at that point, and then sand again, for a really nice, invisible mend.

Also, tell your teenage son that the basement stairwell is a weird place to lift weights.