Home repairs: Knowing when you can do it yourself

In times of economic hardship, “do-it-yourself” is a tempting mantra for many homeowners with dripping faucets, running toilets, leaky windows or sticky locks.

 The savings can add up when you don’t have to call a repairman, especially for things like painting, plumbing and appliance repair, said Ken Collier, editor-in-chief of The Family Handyman. “Parts are a small part of the cost. Labor is huge,” he said.

And if things go wrong? With a small job, Collier said, “Worst case, you have to hire a pro and eat some crow.”

There are some home repairs, of course, that an unskilled homeowner should avoid, among them “situations where having heavy equipment makes the job go much better, especially outdoors,” Collier said.

Avoid jobs where you could injure yourself or damage property.

Chris Long, a member of the Home Depot do-it-yourself team, recommends calling an expert to replace a tub or shower valve, or do more involved electrical work. And while “any reasonably careful person can hang drywall,” Collier said, taping it to cover the seams and joints is “very much an art where a practiced hand makes a huge difference.”

But many other household repairs and projects can be tackled by a do-it-yourselfer who takes the time to learn what’s required.

David Frank of Libertyville, Ill., does just about all his own home repairs and remodeling — “from electric to plumbing to concrete. Any of it can be done.” He started working on his first house, a fixer-upper he bought in college, to save money. “I had to learn to do it, or it wasn’t going to get done,” he said. Over the years, he has taught himself by reading books, watching home-improvement TV shows and talking to experts.

Besides the money saved, there’s “definitely a sense of accomplishment” in doing the work himself, he said.

His advice to beginners: Use common sense, take your time and read as much as you can. “The Internet is unbelievable,” he said.

When taking on a project, begin by finding out where in your home you turn off the water and gas, and how the circuit breakers work. If you need a professional to show you, hire one.

You’ll also need a good set of tools. Collier recommends such things as a 20-ounce straight claw hammer, a utility knife, linesman’s pliers, a flexible putty knife, a four-in-one screwdriver, a cordless drill-screwdriver, a 25-foot measuring tape and an adjustable crescent wrench. Add to that a plunger, groove-joint pliers and duct tape.

If you’re going to do any electrical work, be sure to have a voltage sniffer. “Electricity is scary stuff, and a voltage sniffer is a really safe way to know everything is off,” Collier says.

There’s a wealth of material online, including videos for the do-it-yourselfer.

Even unskilled homeowners should be able to do some basic appliance repairs, Collier said, such as changing a dryer belt.

And as winter approaches, homeowners can do a lot of weatherizing themselves, including adding insulation, and applying adhesive-backed, foam weather stripping to prevent cold air from seeping in around doors and windows.

Other jobs that a do-it-yourselfer can learn include repairing drywall, replacing a deadbolt, or installing a new light fixture or ceiling fan.

Here’s where that voltage sniffer comes in. “If you know how to confidently turn that breaker off and you can test it to verify it, you can change that fixture,” said Danny Lipford, who hosts nationally syndicated TV and radio shows and is a contributing design editor for Better Homes and Gardens.

Plumbing repairs also can be accessible even to the novice.

“A toilet is really a very simple mechanism and the parts are readily available to change out,” Lipford said.

First, the cause of the problem has to be diagnosed. Find information online, in books, or talk to a worker at your hardware store.

If the toilet is running, for example, one way to figure out what’s going on is to add a little food dye to the water in the tank, said Long, of Home Depot. If the water in the bowl turns the same color, the flapper valve is likely the problem. The flapper seals the tank, then lifts to allow water to flow into the bowl when the toilet is flushed. If the seal isn’t tight, water will leak into the bowl.

It could be that the chain connecting the flapper to the handle is too long or too short. Adjusting that could fix the problem. Or, it could be the flapper itself. In most cases, the flapper snaps out and you can easily replace it with a new one. But first remember to turn off the water to the toilet. It’s also a good idea to bring the old part to your hardware store to make sure you’re purchasing a compatible new one.

 

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Maintaining Your Home to Retain Value

 You’ve got the kitchen of your dreams and a master     bedroom suite that would look right at home in a 5-star  hotel. And your gorgeous new exterior paint job is the envy of the neighborhood. Your place looks so great that real estate agents are dropping off their cards telling you how much they could sell your place for, if you felt like putting it on the market.

Sell it now! Good grief no! Not after all the remodeling work. But… who knows? In five or six years when the kids are off to college and you and your mate get tired of mowing that big lawn and knocking around in a house built for five but inhabited by two, a downtown condo may look pretty inviting. Face it. At some point in the future, whether it’s next year or in 20 years, you’re going to want to sell your house. And with all the improvements you’ve made over the years, you should get a nice return on the sale, assuming you don’t let your house fall apart.

Remodeling can be frustrating but it’s also fun — filled with anticipation and visible rewards at the end of the project. Maintenance is dull and routine, but you have to do it if you want to retain the value you’ve added to your home. For example: Hardwood floors need to be refinished every 5-10 years depending on wear and tear. If they get too worn down you can do permanent damage to the wood. Exteriors need to be repainted every 5-10 years too, depending on such factors as the weather where you live, or you can damage the exterior wood. Your roof and gutters need annual inspections. A clogged or damaged gutter and drain spout can flood your basement and cause serious damage.

And the list goes on. Like taxes and dental checkups, regular home maintenance isn’t fun. But you must do it if you want to take care of what is likely your biggest single asset — your home.

Annual checklist home maintenance checklist:
Kitchen: Check for leaks under and around the sink. Plumbing leaks can damage cabinetry and floors. Check and repair grout and caulking on tile countertops and around the sink. Also check wear and tear on wood floors, which periodically need to be refinished.
Bathrooms: Check for plumbing leaks and check grout on tiles. If the grout gets worn away water will start getting into the walls behind the bathroom, causing damage.
Basement: Check for cracks in the foundation and leaks. Buildings settle over time and even after decades of having a dry basement leaks may suddenly occur.
Attic: Check for signs of water leakage from the roof. Also look for any sign of termites or rodents. Squirrels or rats that nest in your attic can chew electrical wiring, which can lead to fires.
Smoke alarms: Batteries need to be changed annually.
Heating system: If yours has a filter, change it annually.
Air conditioning system: Change all filters monthly or as recommended by the filter manufacturer.
Roof: Note if any shingles have fallen off or if gutters or downspouts appear clogged or damaged. You can always hire a reliable roofing company to get on the roof and take a look. Reputable roofing companies won’t try to sell you a new one unless you really need it. You can simply pay them for an inspection.
House exterior: If your house is wood, check that the paint hasn’t worn away so much that the primer paint is showing. If the primer also wears down, you can do damage to the wood. Brick houses should be inspected for damaged bricks or masonry. Check stucco houses and repair any cracks large enough to slide a nickel into.
Asphalt and concrete driveways: Repair any cracks or buckling.