5 Common Home Repairs and How to Handle Them

September 21, 2015 Guest Post

Your house is your fortress and every now and then your fortress needs repairs. You can call in a professional if you want, but certain mundane tasks can be handled by you. Home repairs are something everyone needs to get used to. Otherwise, you’ll always be relying on someone else to keep your house maintained in proper order. There are many odd jobs around the house that need your attention and it’s time you learnt to deal with them. Here are 5 common home repairs and how you can handle them.

Fixing a Leaky Faucet
A leaking faucet can not only waste water, it can also irritate the hell out of you. What’s more annoying than listening to water droplets in the middle of the night? There’s no need for you to call a plumber to stop the leak, you can do it yourself. In essence, fixing a leaky faucet is generally about dismantling and reassembling the faucet. You just need to make sure there’s no congestion. There are different types of faucets. The compression faucet is most easily recognizable because it has two screw handles. While dismantling the faucet be careful that you don’t lose any small components in the drainage pipe. And don’t forget to shut off the water supply before you start repairing.

Fixing the Garbage Disposal
How many times has your garbage disposal jammed? I’m guessing too many times to count. Well, that’s to be expected given the nature of its job. Disposing of garbage all day can’t be easy. If your garbage disposal gets jammed, drop in a few ice cubes and pour some vinegar into it. That should be enough to clear the congestion and resume normal functionality. If your garbage disposal is broken, then resetting it could get it started again. It can go right back to disposing garbage again.

Fixing the Water Heater
When your water heater’s pilot light goes out, you’re left in a desperate situation. There’s no hot water left for you to use. To get the pilot light started again, you need to first locate the gas valve. Shut the gas valve off, shift it to pilot mode and then push down. If this doesn’t do the trick, then there’s a red button beside it that you can push instead. Even after the light comes back on, you need keep the button pressed for over a minute. After that, you can turn the gas valve back on.

Fixing a Clogged Toilet
Fixing a clogged toilet can be a messy business, quite literally. It’s best to put on some rubber gloves before you begin. Shut off the water supply to the toilet to prevent the bathroom from flooding. Obviously the first thing to do would be to use a plunger. That should take care of most clogs.However, if the plunger doesn’t work it’s time to get creative. Pour a little dish washing solution and half a bucket of hot water in the toilet and wait for it to clear.

Fixing the Roof
When water starts dripping from the ceiling, you need to climb up the roof and fix it. It can happen to anybody, including the Queen. It’s probably a few loose shingles that you need to take care of. Once you locate the source of the problem use a hammer and a chisel to remove the old shingles. If the damage runs deep use roofing cement to seal it up. Cover the spot with new shingles and call it a day. Dawn happens to be the best time to repair your roof. The cement will dry under the afternoon sun and then you can cover the roof.

As a home owner you should be well equipped to take care of your home. That’s what being a home owner means. Now that you have a basic understanding of home repairs and how to handle them,you should be alright on your own. You won’t have to call in a professional unless it’s an absolute emergency.Fixing your own problems should give you a sense of pride. That’s what separates us as a species. Take pride in your ability to solve problems and instill this pride in your progeny. Don’t be dependent on someone else unnecessarily.

Leslie Kramer, the author of this post, is a freelance blogger, who is currently writing for Safety Quip, a company well-known for supplying safety boots.Whenever Jennie gets time; she volunteers at the local homeless shelter.