|
|
Post by papersilly on Oct 3, 2023 17:05:57 GMT
link fixed: CNN says homeowners should know how to do these 20 things (sorry, i don't know how to post an entire article): linki think i can do all of those things except for the basement since i've never had one. |
|
|
|
Post by bbkeef on Oct 3, 2023 17:13:55 GMT
The link loops back to your post.
|
|
breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,918 
Location: PNW
|
Post by breetheflea on Oct 3, 2023 17:15:27 GMT
I know how to do a lot of that stuff. Your link didn't work but I searched CNN and found the article.
The previous owners covered the water shut off valve, so we uncovered and left it accessible it when we re-did our porch floor... I have no idea why it's located in such a stupid place.
Don't have an HVAC in this house (we have a heat pump and wall heaters.)
Don't have a basement.
Need to find my refrigerator coils and clean them...
We had a constantly running toilet, which turned out to have been leaking (for who knows how long) under 4 layers of flooring, that was fun to deal with...
|
|
|
|
Post by papersilly on Oct 3, 2023 17:25:01 GMT
The link loops back to your post. fixed it! thanks for letting me know  |
|
|
|
Post by christine58 on Oct 3, 2023 17:29:31 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by papersilly on Oct 3, 2023 17:29:38 GMT
having lived through a couple of big earthquakes, learning where the water and gas shut off valves were important.
i was pretty proud of myself when i learned to fix the toilet in my bathroom. i'm pretty good about putting mollies behind anything that's not wood, and not just those flimsy plastic ones.
|
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Oct 3, 2023 18:13:30 GMT
I can do most of those things. We don't have a lawnmower and no basement. I can't get into our attic crawl space because the ladder we have is too short for me to actually climb up high enough to get in. Someone would have to be up there first and pull me up. I did tell SO we should get one for those pull down ladders. I know the concept of finding a stud, I've even used a stud finder, but I am still hit and miss on actually finding one, as the patches on the wall of my craft room will tell you.  . And I can take apart and replace the inner workings of a toilet. |
|
basketdiva
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,619
|
Post by basketdiva on Oct 3, 2023 18:16:25 GMT
I know how to do all ( except no basement ever) but I will pay someone to clean gutters.
|
|
|
|
Post by AussieMeg on Oct 4, 2023 5:19:06 GMT
It's a very Americanised list, because I hadn't heard of a few of those things:
weather stripping?
GFCI?
HVAC?
Basement? Just kidding, I know what a basement is, we just don't have them in our houses.
Attic? As above.
DSO would know how to do all of those things. I could do most of them, but not all. I'm certainly not climbing up a ladder to clean the gutters.
|
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Oct 4, 2023 5:30:06 GMT
weather stripping? GFCI? HVAC? Weather Stripping - putting something (usually a rubber strip) around doors or windows to keep the house insulated against the weather. GFCI - The electrical outlet we have in the US that shuts off if it detects water or an overloaded circuit. We usually have them in the kitchen or bathroom. They have a red reset switch if it gets triggered for some reason. This just shuts off the electricity to that outlet (and maybe a couple connected to it), rather than shutting off the whole house. Some people don't know that you have to reset them if your outlet stops working. HVAC - Heating and Air Conditioning unit ETA - I have had to clean out the gutter once during a stormy day when SO was out of town. Water was overflowing out of the gutter at one point. I got out the ladder, wasn't tall enough to see into the gutter, reached into it blindly and pulled out leaves and mud. UGH! |
|
|
|
Post by disneypal on Oct 4, 2023 5:49:56 GMT
Luckily, I can do all those things but I donāt own a washer like that and thank goodness Iāve never had a flooded basement
|
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Oct 4, 2023 5:54:13 GMT
The list addresses turning off the water at the main, but not how to shut off the water to the toilet, which can be an immediate emergency. When I was much younger all you had to do was lift the ball in the tank before turning off the water. With the new ones I think you must turn off the water to the toilet. The insides are different.
|
|
|
|
Post by pjaye on Oct 4, 2023 6:02:58 GMT
Maybe not - my mother was doing this when she fell off the ladder and broke both her legs and ended up in hospital and didn't come home for 3 months.
Sometimes it's better to get a professional to do some of these tasks.
|
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Oct 4, 2023 6:10:38 GMT
Maybe not - my mother was doing this when she fell off the ladder and broke both her legs and ended up in hospital and didn't come home for 3 months. Sometimes it's better to get a professional to do some of these tasks. Yeah, being a short person there are lots of things I know how to do, but just physically canāt. The one time I cleaned the gutter was an emergency. It looked like the gutter at that point was going to collapse because of the water building up. But, I just did enough to get the water flowing again and then a professional came out later and cleaned the whole thing. |
|
|
|
Post by ~summer~ on Oct 4, 2023 6:16:15 GMT
Ok I was thinking most of those things I would be like āno way, Iāll hire it outā - but most I agree with. Except cleaning my downspouts and inspecting my attic!
|
|
|
|
Post by pjaye on Oct 4, 2023 6:24:42 GMT
Maybe not - my mother was doing this when she fell off the ladder and broke both her legs and ended up in hospital and didn't come home for 3 months. Sometimes it's better to get a professional to do some of these tasks. Yeah, being a short person there are lots of things I know how to do, but just physically canāt. The one time I cleaned the gutter was an emergency. It looked like the gutter at that point was going to collapse because of the water building up. But, I just did enough to get the water flowing again and then a professional came out later and cleaned the whole thing. and the other PSA I should add - if anyone is ever climbing up a ladder, NEVER do it when you are alone. mum had to crawl through the garden and into the house on her hands and knees in agony to get to the phone. Always wait until someone else is there. They may not stop you falling, but they can call the ambulance if you do. My dad also fell off the roof once - of course he did it when my mother was out shopping and had to lay there until she got home, luckily he didn't have any serious injuries or hit his head. But a significant number of people do die from falls off ladders. |
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Oct 4, 2023 6:33:27 GMT
pjaye Your poor mom! Glad she recovered but what a terrible experience. Good PSA about not climbing alone!
|
|
hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,616
Location: Adelaide, Australia
|
Post by hannahruth on Oct 4, 2023 6:53:35 GMT
Maybe not - my mother was doing this when she fell off the ladder and broke both her legs and ended up in hospital and didn't come home for 3 months. Sometimes it's better to get a professional to do some of these tasks. There is no way I will get on a ladder - your tale of two broken legs is more than enough to keep me grounded. |
|
|
|
Post by AussieMeg on Oct 4, 2023 10:18:50 GMT
Maybe not - my mother was doing this when she fell off the ladder and broke both her legs and ended up in hospital and didn't come home for 3 months. Sometimes it's better to get a professional to do some of these tasks. Which is exactly why I said that I'm certainly not climbing up a ladder to clean the gutters. I was thinking about your mum, Molly Meldrum, and the father of DD's classmate who became a quadriplegic after falling from a ladder while cleaning the gutters. GFCI - The electrical outlet we have in the US that shuts off if it detects water or an overloaded circuit. We usually have them in the kitchen or bathroom. They have a red reset switch if it gets triggered for some reason. This just shuts off the electricity to that outlet (and maybe a couple connected to it), rather than shutting off the whole house. Some people don't know that you have to reset them if your outlet stops working. Thank you! Our safety switches are in our meter boxes outside. In fact, our safety switch was tripped today when DSO went to make a coffee. That's how we discovered that our coffee machine is broken. Noooooooo!!! š |
|
|
|
Post by pjaye on Oct 4, 2023 10:46:05 GMT
Which is exactly why I said that I'm certainly not climbing up a ladder to clean the gutters. I was thinking about your mum, Molly Meldrum, and the father of DD's classmate who became a quadriplegic after falling from a ladder while cleaning the gutters. another one: Peter Starkie, the brother of guitarist and fellow former Skyhooks member Bob Starkie, died aged 72 after falling off a ladder on Sunday [in 2020] |
|
milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,437
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
|
Post by milocat on Oct 4, 2023 11:07:32 GMT
I can't fix a running toilet but I'd call someone in case it was leaking, but it would still be wasting water so I'd call. I've never tested my GFIC but use it regularly. I haven't ever looked in our attic. I don't mow the lawn so can't change to oil in the mower.
The rest I've done.
|
|
|
|
Post by don on Oct 4, 2023 11:40:00 GMT
I have people to do that stuff, I just call them up.
|
|
smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,710
Location: Houston, TX
|
Post by smartypants71 on Oct 4, 2023 12:16:02 GMT
I can do most of these things.
No way will I ever paint anything myself though.
I don't have a HE washer or a lawnmower.
I have a 3 story house so cleaning my own gutters is out of the question.
No basement either.
If it were up to DH, he'd outsource everything and he's an engineer! Therefore, I am the handywoman of the house.
|
|
|
|
Post by mikklynn on Oct 4, 2023 13:19:31 GMT
I know how to do many of those things. I also know how to hire someone!
|
|
|
|
Post by workingclassdog on Oct 4, 2023 13:39:21 GMT
I could probably do most things if needed in an emergency.. Some things I know off hand others I would go to YouTube or whatever. I mean anyone can paint right.. lol.. every time I paint a room I swear it's the last time. Now that I am getting older it's even worse. I just painted my daughter's small bedroom and it was a pain in my knees and butt.. lol. Gutters I can probably reach just the one over the garage on a small ladder (on the third step or so), that is as high as I will go.. lucky I am tall'ish.
|
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Oct 4, 2023 14:42:29 GMT
I have complete confidence that I could do any one of those things if I wished to/needed to. Especially now when I can so easily get tips/hints to make it all the easier/better online. That doesn't mean I choose to do them normally, or that I have done them all before, though.  Unfortunately, I am rather adept at dealing with flooding/flooded basements. I've lived in 3 houses with basements & they all flooded at some point. (The other places I've lived either didn't have basements, or I had nothing to do with the basement---an apartment building.) |
|
|
|
Post by dewryce on Oct 4, 2023 17:06:37 GMT
They built our emergency water shutoff valve underneath the sidewalk in front of the house. Found that out at a really bad time. And guess who had to pay to move it? DH has a serious request that I do not even climb on step stools if he is not here, and even then he just prefers I ask him to get/do whatever it is. I may be particularly clumsy  |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Oct 4, 2023 17:10:28 GMT
These days you can find a step by step tutorial to do any of those things on YouTube.
DH would say #21 is, know how to do something that will earn enough money so you can pay someone else to deal with #1-20. He is the opposite of handy.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zee on Oct 4, 2023 17:20:27 GMT
They built our emergency water shutoff valve underneath the sidewalk in front of the house. Found that out at a really bad time. And guess who had to pay to move it? DH has a serious request that I do not even climb on step stools if he is not here, and even then he just prefers I ask him to get/do whatever it is. I may be particularly clumsy Ours isn't under the sidewalk, but it is out in the yard very near it! Never heard of such a thing. I'm not sure I'd be able to turn it, I've never tried. Looks spidery in there. I'll probably just have to let the house float away. The mow-able part of our yard is pretty small so we have an electric mower. I've never touched it. I have fixed a running toilet by replacing the stuff inside, changed out locks, changed a faucet, simple stuff. I should clean the back of the fridge. |
|
|
|
Post by dewryce on Oct 4, 2023 17:28:19 GMT
They built our emergency water shutoff valve underneath the sidewalk in front of the house. Found that out at a really bad time. And guess who had to pay to move it? DH has a serious request that I do not even climb on step stools if he is not here, and even then he just prefers I ask him to get/do whatever it is. I may be particularly clumsy Ours isn't under the sidewalk, but it is out in the yard very near it! Never heard of such a thing. I'm not sure I'd be able to turn it, I've never tried. Looks spidery in there. I'll probably just have to let the house float away.The mow-able part of our yard is pretty small so we have an electric mower. I've never touched it. I have fixed a running toilet by replacing the stuff inside, changed out locks, changed a faucet, simple stuff. I should clean the back of the fridge.  I probably wouldnāt be able to turn it either, and DH wouldnāt stick his hands in the webs. Fortunately for us heās super strong with huge hands and Iām fine with spiders so weād use team work to make the dream work! I can not physically hold the lawn mower handle closed for more than a few minutes so I started to do it for fun once when we first moved in 15 years ago and havenāt done it since. |
|
. And I can take apart and replace the inner workings of a toilet. 
