How Can I Get Better at Fixing Things in My Home?
As a new homeowner, you’re going to notice how often things break and need fixing once the deed to the house is in your name.
Now that you’re responsible for fixing everything, it’s important to know how to make some of the smaller repairs yourself (so you can save yourself a bit of cash here and there).
While the bigger repairs will require you to call in a professional, you can certainly handle the smaller repairs — so what better time than now to learn how!?
1) Start By Doing Research
You’re not a plumber, electrician, or an HVAC technician with proper schooling on how to make repairs — but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn the 101s all on your own.
Use the internet to your advantage, as there are a ton of articles, blogs, and guides on how to complete household repairs yourself. Just be sure to find reliable sources with information you can trust and genuinely learn from.
We suggest home improvement websites specifically designed for educational purposes and websites of local plumbers, electricians, and heating & cooling companies. If you’re reading this, you may want to check out some of our other blogs because we offer this exact type of information!
2) Try an Easy Fix at First
Throughout your internet search, start typing in problems you have in your own home. When you come across possible solutions, try one on out on the more simple problems in your home.
For example, if a light in your home keeps flickering, start with that. Go up to it and tighten it to see if it just happened to be loose. If that doesn’t work, try switching out the light bulb for a newer, energy efficient bulb. If you still have no luck, switch off the breaker on your electrical panel associated with that light and then turn it back on.
One of these solutions might be the answer to your problem, and you just fixed it all on your own! However, if it’s still flickering, leave it to the professionals by calling your local electrician.
3) Don’t Get Cocky
You’ve managed to keep a light from flickering, stop the water in the toilet from running, and successfully reset your thermostat — now you’re starting to get a hang of things!
If you find yourself fixing all of the small problems in your home, good for you! Just remember not to get ahead of yourself by thinking you can handle the bigger jobs like cleaning your air ducts, replacing a part in your furnace, or installing a new toilet. This can be a foolish mistake.
Why?
If you happen to mess something up or damage a part, the repair cost to fix what you did can be larger than the estimate of the initial repair/replacement. (Don’t make things harder and more expensive for yourself…)
4) Call and Observe
When you need a larger repair to be made to your home, don’t be afraid to call in the professionals. Doing this will give you the best chance at having the repair being made as successfully as possible.
During the repair or replacement, observe the professional in how they diagnose and solve the problem. Even if you might not ever do this same repair or replacement yourself, knowing the process can help you know how to prevent problems or educate you on the proper maintenance that specific system, fixture, or appliance needs.
It’s your home, shouldn’t you know how to maintain it?
When it comes to the bigger repairs and replacements in regards to your plumbing, electrical, and HVAC system, know that your friends here at Lancaster can do those for you AND teach you everything you need to know about them!
