From June 2007
Home repair #3
If you are familiar with my blogs from last summer, you'll understand my title. Living alone, without much knowledge of home repair, having a good handy man around is vital! My entry today continues the never-ending saga of dealing with home repairs (and their dent to my wallet).
I had a three day weekend (thanks to a vacation day). I hadn't necessarily planned on working on some of the things at my house that needed repairing, but that's how my time ended up being spent. And in reality, even though I was looking forward to a quiet, peaceful weekend, I'm glad it turned out this way.
Friday morning, while I was still laying lazily in bed, my mom called to tell me that one of my older brothers who was in town visiting, was coming over to check out my sprinkler system. (During dinner the previous evening I had been complaining about how the whole thing needed a major overhaul.) So I jumped out of bed and into the shower. Within an hour they were there with a few tools in hand. We spent the rest of the morning working on the various sprinkler heads, cleaning out clogged ones and re-aiming them to more appropriate parts (rather than the fence - lol). My brother had to catch a flight home that afternoon, and so when he left, I had a small list of a couple of sprinkler heads that needed replacing. I also had a high priority repair where there was a constant leak -- causing me to have a high water bill. Since I had already spoken to someone at work (the same guy that fixed my swamp cooler last summer), I knew he could fix what my brother was unable to.
Amazingly enough, without me even calling, my co-worker/handyman showed up Friday afternoon to make a list of everything that needed to be done. I told him what my brother had already accomplished and he said he be back the next afternoon to finish it all up.
To his and my surprise, there was much more work needed than we thought. He spent quite some time on it all. BUT, my water leak is now fixed - YAY!! And several (more than two) sprinker heads were replaced or adjusted. He only charged me 50 bucks for labor and then $40 for the cost of parts. I offered to pay him more, since it took longer than he thought, but he refused -- what a nice guy!
Saturday night I was excited to run the entire system and give my lawn a thorough soaking without having to pull the hose around. It worked great! And then Sunday we had a down-pouring of rain all day long!! LOL Oh well... my lawn is now very well watered!
Showing posts with label HOME REPAIR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HOME REPAIR. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2009
Here Comes The Sun... Sigh
From June 2007
Summer is certainly well on its way. And dangit! It's getting HOT already. It's forecasted to be in the high 90's, possibly even 100 degrees this weekend. For anyone who has read my blog entries from last summer, you'll know I am not fond of heat. I'd rather it was extra cold, than extra hot. And we had a hot summer last year, so I was hoping for one that wasn't so extreme this year. Sigh.... guess I better prep the swamp cooler for some major usage.
Summer is certainly well on its way. And dangit! It's getting HOT already. It's forecasted to be in the high 90's, possibly even 100 degrees this weekend. For anyone who has read my blog entries from last summer, you'll know I am not fond of heat. I'd rather it was extra cold, than extra hot. And we had a hot summer last year, so I was hoping for one that wasn't so extreme this year. Sigh.... guess I better prep the swamp cooler for some major usage.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
I'M JINXED WHEN IT COMES TO WATER HEATERS
FROM SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 2006
Home Repair #2
When I first moved into the house, I could tell that my water heater wasn't going to last long. The hot water just didn't last long... sometimes not even until I was done showering. And for the hot water to not even make it through one shower, something had to be wrong. In my last apartment, I seemed to have continual bad luck with the water heater. Figures that my luck would continue into my new house. I'm jinxed, I swear!
Anyway, suddenly this last week, while doing dishes one night, I noticed that the water was extrememly hot. Then the next morning, I had to run quite a bit of cold water with the hot to make it close to comfortable. I knew that it was time to do something about the water heater. When I went out to the garage to look at it (like I would be able to discover some magic remedy by looking at it), there was water all over my garage floor. (Thank goodness my water heater is installed in the garage!)
After talking to a friend, I learned that the thermostat inside the water heater had gone berserk and when it over heated it blew the safety pressure valve and released the water (instead of exploding). Also, by advice from our maintenance man at work, I decided it would be easier and best to just buy a whole new heater instead of just replacing the elements. So, I asked one of my brothers to come help me haul and install a new one yesterday. I'm glad I decided to get a new one since the old one was still acting a bit funny and was leaking.
Hopefully, I don't have to think about water heaters or wonder if I'll have enough hot water in the morning for a few years. And I can officially now count this as the second home repair, following my swamp cooler adventures at the beginning of the summer.
Home Repair #2
When I first moved into the house, I could tell that my water heater wasn't going to last long. The hot water just didn't last long... sometimes not even until I was done showering. And for the hot water to not even make it through one shower, something had to be wrong. In my last apartment, I seemed to have continual bad luck with the water heater. Figures that my luck would continue into my new house. I'm jinxed, I swear!
Anyway, suddenly this last week, while doing dishes one night, I noticed that the water was extrememly hot. Then the next morning, I had to run quite a bit of cold water with the hot to make it close to comfortable. I knew that it was time to do something about the water heater. When I went out to the garage to look at it (like I would be able to discover some magic remedy by looking at it), there was water all over my garage floor. (Thank goodness my water heater is installed in the garage!)
After talking to a friend, I learned that the thermostat inside the water heater had gone berserk and when it over heated it blew the safety pressure valve and released the water (instead of exploding). Also, by advice from our maintenance man at work, I decided it would be easier and best to just buy a whole new heater instead of just replacing the elements. So, I asked one of my brothers to come help me haul and install a new one yesterday. I'm glad I decided to get a new one since the old one was still acting a bit funny and was leaking.
Hopefully, I don't have to think about water heaters or wonder if I'll have enough hot water in the morning for a few years. And I can officially now count this as the second home repair, following my swamp cooler adventures at the beginning of the summer.
I FOUND MY DREAM HANDYMAN, MINUS THE "DREAM"
FROM THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2006
Home repair #1, part 2
Yes, it's true... I finally got my swamp cooler fixed. I no longer have to suffer (as much anyway) in the heat. It's still not as good at cooling things down as an AC, but it's so much better than before. Too bad that the handy man didn't fit the description of the hunky man in tight jeans and t-shirt that is so often portrayed in the movies though! It was just a regular ol' guy... someone I know from work who was willing to help out. I am greatly appreciative! (and it only cost me $10)
I also found someone to remove the huge limb and branches that fell into my back yard Sunday evening when we had a hard windstorm. That cost a bit more, but it was cleaned up quickly. Yay!!
And speaking of heat... we are in the 6th or 7th day in a row of triple digit temps. Alright already... I'm ready for something a bit cooler. Fortunately, we are supposed to get that in just a couple of days. It's amazing how much I enjoy temps in the 90's after spending days in the 100+ temps.
Home repair #1, part 2
Yes, it's true... I finally got my swamp cooler fixed. I no longer have to suffer (as much anyway) in the heat. It's still not as good at cooling things down as an AC, but it's so much better than before. Too bad that the handy man didn't fit the description of the hunky man in tight jeans and t-shirt that is so often portrayed in the movies though! It was just a regular ol' guy... someone I know from work who was willing to help out. I am greatly appreciative! (and it only cost me $10)
I also found someone to remove the huge limb and branches that fell into my back yard Sunday evening when we had a hard windstorm. That cost a bit more, but it was cleaned up quickly. Yay!!
And speaking of heat... we are in the 6th or 7th day in a row of triple digit temps. Alright already... I'm ready for something a bit cooler. Fortunately, we are supposed to get that in just a couple of days. It's amazing how much I enjoy temps in the 90's after spending days in the 100+ temps.
WHERE'S A HANDY MAN WHEN YOU NEED ONE?
FROM MONDAY, JULY 24, 2006
Home Repair #1
Ok, there's just one problem with being a single girl and a homeowner combined... when something breaks down, there's no one in the house to fix it for you! Or you can't just call the landlord either. And this whole thought process led me to think about how confined I am by these thoughts. Why is it that I think I need to have a man to fix things? Why can't I figure out how to fix it on my own? AND, why is it that I assume that all men automatically know how to fix things? It's a bit old fashioned, don't ya think? Although, I could handle one of those types of handy men that you see in the movies or on tv.
I'm currently facing my first repair in the house -- the swamp cooler. After getting some tips from our maintenance man at work, I've come to the conclusion that the pump is going out. It's just barely pumping water up to one of the three filters. In the heat we've had lately, it just doesn't cut it. So... the pump needs replacing (either that or spending a bit more to replace the swamp cooler with an air conditioner). I've been to Home Depot to check out new pumps and I'm clueless as to what kind to get. Of course I wouldn't know how to install one, even if I knew what to buy. Sigh... I guess it's time to call one of my many brothers in to help. That's what family is for, right?
1 Comment: You don’t need a man! I’ve been married for 19 years and I still don’t have a handyman; man up and start doing things yourself. You own a house, car and a hot tub; I‘d start taking a plumming and automotive class while you’re still relatively young unless you have a hefty bank account. (Dee)
Home Repair #1
Ok, there's just one problem with being a single girl and a homeowner combined... when something breaks down, there's no one in the house to fix it for you! Or you can't just call the landlord either. And this whole thought process led me to think about how confined I am by these thoughts. Why is it that I think I need to have a man to fix things? Why can't I figure out how to fix it on my own? AND, why is it that I assume that all men automatically know how to fix things? It's a bit old fashioned, don't ya think? Although, I could handle one of those types of handy men that you see in the movies or on tv.
I'm currently facing my first repair in the house -- the swamp cooler. After getting some tips from our maintenance man at work, I've come to the conclusion that the pump is going out. It's just barely pumping water up to one of the three filters. In the heat we've had lately, it just doesn't cut it. So... the pump needs replacing (either that or spending a bit more to replace the swamp cooler with an air conditioner). I've been to Home Depot to check out new pumps and I'm clueless as to what kind to get. Of course I wouldn't know how to install one, even if I knew what to buy. Sigh... I guess it's time to call one of my many brothers in to help. That's what family is for, right?
1 Comment: You don’t need a man! I’ve been married for 19 years and I still don’t have a handyman; man up and start doing things yourself. You own a house, car and a hot tub; I‘d start taking a plumming and automotive class while you’re still relatively young unless you have a hefty bank account. (Dee)
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