Taking Care Of Your House.

Home maintenance & repair can be a daunting task. For some people it seems to come naturally. To others it is a hazardous thing to even pick up a screwdriver. Either way, it's not a bad thing, we all have our talents. But some basic knowledge on how to take care of some importamt items can save you a lot of money and grief. Plus, you for sure don't want to get any of this upside down ¡

Thinking ahead to stay ahead---and Dry

For starters, think about this. One of the biggest and most important components of your home is the roof. Yet most people wait until a problem happens(think leak) then seek emergency repair. Even the smallest leak can seem like a waterfall, especially if it is discovered in the middle of the night and it is right over your bed. Some companies specialize in locating just precisley where the leak is.The leak may start at the cone of the roof, trickle down on the under side of the roof, drop to a rafter and move along 3 or 4 feet then trickle into and saturate the insulation and eventually the ceiling will start dripping. By now you have a lot of water damage going on, especially if it has been happening for a long time. Like trickling down the insdie part of a wall in the back corner of the closet in a room you don't go into very often and didn't notice it yet. The savy home owner will be proactive with this knowing that the roof needs to be replaced before it leaks. If you know that your roof is "Guaranteed" for 25 years and it is 12 years old now, it will need to be replaced in the next 10 to 12 years if not sooner. A roof job can be anywhere from $5000.00 and up (usually up - way up) depending on many variables. You can do it yourself (I don't recomend this), or you can pay a contractor. There are retailers like Home Depot® and Lowe's® that sell "How To" books and all the materials. For most home owners, a roof replacement job is a big dollar item. If you anticipate an $8000.00 bill 10 years down the road, it will be a lot less painful to start saving $65 - $75 a month now than to pay interest on a loan that you might not be able to get later.

P-l-u-m-b-i-n-g

I once saw a book titled Plumbing Made Simple. Haha, kinda funny huh!! Also I might add that it was a rather thick book. Hmmm...if it was so simple, why so much information? My idea of simple is to get the water from point a to point b without it spraying or leaking all over the place.

I have a few simple rules regarding plumbing repairs. If you work Monday through Friday like must of us do, never ever start a plumbing repair job from Sunday night through Thursday night. Never start a plumbing repair job later than 10 AM on Saturday morning. It might take 2 hours, but it might take 2 days. Always use new parts ! If you try to save $2.00 and reuse some old parts, or just didn't want to make another trip to the hardware store, be ready for LEAKS. Also personally, I don't like to work on outdoor plumbing repairs when the temperature or wind chill factor is below 32°F. Just remember to do it right the first time, that way you don't have to take more time to get it right the second time. Experience is a great teacher...If you remember from lesson 5, I know a couple things about water.

Next Biggie on the list is...

E-L-E-C-T-R-I-C-A-L !!

WARNING--WARNING--WARNING !! 
If you don't know 100% for sure what you are doing when it comes to ANY electrical work -- 
Don't touch it !! Get Professional help...!!!

Here is another thought...you can see water, and if you mess up a plumbing job, 
so what...you are going to get wet and have a mess to clean up.  
You can not see electricity (unless it is a hissin' and arcing and a sparking), 
and if you grab an electrically hot line, it could be fatal.

If you don't feel comfortable with your skill level when it comes to the electrical 
power being delivered to your house, you should at least 
know where the distribution panel is and how to turn it OFF.
Seek competent advice in home repairs you are not sure of, especially electrical work.

Garage Door openers

Well, it is not a question of IF, but a question of When will it break? Sooner or later you are going to hit the open button and nothing is going to happen. If you want that day to be as far away as possible, you are going to have to be proactive. Know when and how to do any required maintenance in accordance with the manufactures suggestions. It is like any other machine, it will need lubricating and adjustments from time to time. Garage door openers do not break at a convienent time, so be sure you know how to release the garage door from the mechanism so you can manually get it open.

Garbage Disposal aka Garbage Grinder

This could easily be part of the Electrical as well as part of the Plumbing section of this discussion. But a few simple things to keep in mind here. Disposals do occassionally get plugged up - don't use the same plunger (plumbers helper) that resides in the bathroom. Grind small batches of garbage with the water running. More than ½ the time the problem is trying to grind to much at once. When replacing a defective unit, buy the best you can afford. Sears has a very good selection & warranty program as well as a lot of the big chain hadware stores. You can even buy on online.

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