When we lived in an apartment, things were actually kind of good. We had our share of problems, from the A/C kicking out in the heat of July to a toilet that occasionally required some encouragement to flush. The great thing was, though, that no matter how bad the issue it wasn't my responsibility.
Now we are in a house. Granted, I am thankful for the equity and tax deductions that a house affords, but I am not a Mr Fixit. Now every sound I hear in the house makes me nervous and every time something doesn't work quite right I know that I will somehow be responsible for it. If I can't figure out a way to resolve the issue, I'll have to hire, beg, or bribe someone else to do it.
What is really annoying is that very little of the work is complicated, I am just concerned that I will do more damage than good. A few examples.
- Our gutters do not currently abut against the house, thus we still get some water in our basement during storms and I get soaked if I walk out the front door after a rain. This should not be too complicated, but I can't figure out what tool I can use to work the gutter under the drip-edge again. Plus, all the neighbors can see me if I screw that one up.
- Our front door no longer closes properly and really should be replaced. Easy job, but if I get stuck in the middle of it and figure out that I cannot complete the task Mrs Dust probably won't be happy that she no longer has a front door.
- Our fridge has a water and ice dispenser but piping needs to be run to hook it up. With plumbing I am convinced a small mistake will mean that we are showering at the church and will experience a four digit repair expense.
If I grew up a few decades ago I might consider this challenging to my manhood. As it is, I guess I am just a pretty face. I hope Mrs Dust wasn't expecting to marry a handyman.
5 comments:
It really would be nice to use the ice\water dispenser in our fridge door. : ) This is a priority for me.
Yes, call a guy to to install the plumbing. It is easy and not that expensive. 60-100 bucks.
One of my greatest mr. fix it moments came in the home we bought in KCK. I noticed that some of the electrical outlets didn't work - some were even charred a bit, so I read up on "receptecals" as they are called in the TIME Life home improvement series and headed down to my local home depot.
By the time T and I left the store we had purchased all new receptecals, switches, and faceplates for the entire main floor. I spent the better part of the weekend (and some of the next week)replacing every one.
I even got one of those testers that check for hot wires. Let's just say that the breaker box labeling wasn't exact.
Later on, I used the kitchens and bathrooms volume to remove an old vanity and install a new pedestal sink. It didn't even leak - much.
FYI: Our gutters in Indiana were held in place with long nine or ten inch nails. I however would be nervous hammering something that big into the soffet of my house.
have you checked to see if your gutters have come loose and they just need to be nailed back? -that sometimes happens where the weight of the water over time will cause the gutter to come loose.
If not go with dust idea to buy new nails and hammer away. You should be able to see the existing holes and locations.
We brought our problems with us. Ours were always fear of electricity going out because of the sump pump and of course toilet trouble. The house we stayed at before we left lost power for about 15 hours while we were there over the weekend. Their basement bedroom flooded.
Last night I fell asleep and suddenly woke up a half hour later realizing that the toilet in our new temporary-taking-care-of-the-bosses's-house abode was running really hard. I tried to lift the lid on the tank and jiggle something but it flushes via a button on the top of the tank thus it would not open. I found the shut off valve and crawled back into bed. Dar made it work this morning. We crossed our fingers as we still couldn't see how to get the tank lid off. Toilet trouble already.
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