Saving Money with Do-It-Yourself Repairs

As many of my readers know, I recently purchased my first home. Owning is great, but not having a landlord is extremely scary when something breaks.  I recently went to a local hardware store to see how hard it would be to repair a broken handle on a bathtub. After being told it was foolproof, I purchased the part I needed and went home. Last night while making the repair, I realized that foolproof applies to people that know how to do repairs.

To make a long story short, I am writing this post to tell you all that while do-it-yourself will save money, you need to make sure you know what you are doing. After almost burning myself with hot water (the hot water heater is apparently separate from the main water shut-off) I went to that same hardware store where I was told "I think it goes this way." I left, afraid that I would have to call a plumber and pay the after hour fees to get my condo's water turned back on. Since Lowe's was down the road, I stopped in first.

Thanks to the knowledgeable and friendly employee at Lowe's, I learned the steps to repairing my mistake and my bathtub. He stood in front of the parts with me and after showing me which part I needed to buy, he held up the other parts and explained how they all fit together and how to re-install it. When I got home, it took less than ten minutes to completely repair the bathtub faucet and get my water turned back on.

Once I had the right part and instructions, the repair took about ten minutes and only cost $7 when I was finished. A plumber would have cost at least $75 to come out, plus the repair. Words cannot express my thanks to the friendly employee for saving me so much money.

Did you know that many Lowe's and The Home Depot offer free home repair classes? I'm going to start going because even if it's not something I need now, who knows what repairs will come tomorrow.