Anyone who has ever owned a home, anyone who has ever rented a home, anyone who has ever lived in a home has had to make repairs. Some are little minor fixes: covering over a nail hole, replacing a light bulb, tightening a door handle. Others requite a bit more knowledge: changing a switch, stopping a drippy faucet, patching a ding in a wall. Still others are major projects that require the right tools and knowledge: fixing a broken window, replacing a faucet, repairing almost any type of appliance. It all depends on your comfort level and skill. Some are at home with a wire stripper or an electric sander, while to others a Philips screwdriver constitutes cutting edge technology. What is child's play to some is terrifying to others.
There's also the realization that just because it looks easy doesn't make it so. It's tempting to watch the repairman come in, unscrew half a dozen screws, then reach in to the washing machine/dishwasher/refrigerator, pull out the broken frizzit and put in a new one in 10 minutes, and think you can do it yourself and save the $180 service call. But that presumes you know which screws to remove, know what's making the noise, and have bought a 4T32re frizzit. The left handed version.
It's not like many electronic items, where turning them off, then on again cures 90% of all problems. Regardless of where it is on spectrum, the common bond in repairs is that you have actually do something. The problem comes when you think you know what your doing: it all seems so straightforward until it isn't.
My particular Achilles heel is things involving water. If it's not too complicated, I'm OK with some carpentry, and can paint competently. Unless it involved the mains, I'm even OK with electrical: the worse that can do is kill you. But plumbing? When that goes south, it goes very south, and winds up costing a lot of money.
Twice I have approached what seemed to be very simple repairs, only to have them spiral out of control. The first was cleaning out a slow draining sink in the basement of our first house. The drain pipe had a knockout plug on the bottom. I thought I could just twist off that cap, and clean out the accumulated gunk: what could be simpler? So I grabbed a wrench and twisted. And twisted. And twisted some more. Eventually it gave way, along with half the pipe. We had to call in a plumber, who said the pipe was too old to even try and repair. By the time he traced it back to something solid he could latch onto, my simple drain repair cost $1000.
Or this week, when the supply line from the wall into the toilet was dripping. My wife implored me to call a plumber, but it seemed pretty straight forward. I took a picture and went to the local hardware store. I showed it to the guy, and he led me to a rack with the exact part, a little mini garden hose with twist-on connections at each end that cost eight dollars. What could be simpler? (Now, where have I heard that before? Hmmm.)
I went home and got down on my hands and knees. I twisted the supply knob off, but something didn't feel right. I turned it back on, only to realize it was stuck in the off position. I twisted it back and forth: nothing. I got some tools, took the handle off and used a pliers to twist the little nubbin: still; nothing. My wife saw me running back and forth between my toolbox and the bathroom. Her look of concern was exceeded only by my own.
After fiddling with it for a few more minutes I realized that once again I had been had. Knowing at least to stop before I made it worse, I placed the toilet off limits and called a pro. He came 2 days later, and indeed had to drain the system, cut into the wall and install a new valve and feed. Rather than eight bucks, the total was $200 and change. At least I was able to return the little hose to the hardware store.
For me at least, the lesson learned is whenever it involves pipes and water, call a plumber. What could be simpler?
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford is proud of his screwdriver assortment. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
There's also the realization that just because it looks easy doesn't make it so. It's tempting to watch the repairman come in, unscrew half a dozen screws, then reach in to the washing machine/dishwasher/refrigerator, pull out the broken frizzit and put in a new one in 10 minutes, and think you can do it yourself and save the $180 service call. But that presumes you know which screws to remove, know what's making the noise, and have bought a 4T32re frizzit. The left handed version.
It's not like many electronic items, where turning them off, then on again cures 90% of all problems. Regardless of where it is on spectrum, the common bond in repairs is that you have actually do something. The problem comes when you think you know what your doing: it all seems so straightforward until it isn't.
My particular Achilles heel is things involving water. If it's not too complicated, I'm OK with some carpentry, and can paint competently. Unless it involved the mains, I'm even OK with electrical: the worse that can do is kill you. But plumbing? When that goes south, it goes very south, and winds up costing a lot of money.
Twice I have approached what seemed to be very simple repairs, only to have them spiral out of control. The first was cleaning out a slow draining sink in the basement of our first house. The drain pipe had a knockout plug on the bottom. I thought I could just twist off that cap, and clean out the accumulated gunk: what could be simpler? So I grabbed a wrench and twisted. And twisted. And twisted some more. Eventually it gave way, along with half the pipe. We had to call in a plumber, who said the pipe was too old to even try and repair. By the time he traced it back to something solid he could latch onto, my simple drain repair cost $1000.
Or this week, when the supply line from the wall into the toilet was dripping. My wife implored me to call a plumber, but it seemed pretty straight forward. I took a picture and went to the local hardware store. I showed it to the guy, and he led me to a rack with the exact part, a little mini garden hose with twist-on connections at each end that cost eight dollars. What could be simpler? (Now, where have I heard that before? Hmmm.)
I went home and got down on my hands and knees. I twisted the supply knob off, but something didn't feel right. I turned it back on, only to realize it was stuck in the off position. I twisted it back and forth: nothing. I got some tools, took the handle off and used a pliers to twist the little nubbin: still; nothing. My wife saw me running back and forth between my toolbox and the bathroom. Her look of concern was exceeded only by my own.
After fiddling with it for a few more minutes I realized that once again I had been had. Knowing at least to stop before I made it worse, I placed the toilet off limits and called a pro. He came 2 days later, and indeed had to drain the system, cut into the wall and install a new valve and feed. Rather than eight bucks, the total was $200 and change. At least I was able to return the little hose to the hardware store.
For me at least, the lesson learned is whenever it involves pipes and water, call a plumber. What could be simpler?
-END-
Marc Wollin of Bedford is proud of his screwdriver assortment. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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