Installing and maintaining an electric water heater is often a part of home ownership. Here are some tips we learned in the process of replacing one … Some time ago, our electric water heater began leaking out the bottom. I had an older copy of Black & Decker Complete Home Repair and it told me … Read more
Refrigerator repair can be a frugal option over buying new. But there’s a point where it’s just not worth it … Right now we’re wrestling with our side-by-side refrigerator and freezer. (Well, I’ve only wrestled a little bit with it. My wife and father-in-law have wrestled with it a lot more over the past few … Read more
Combo tool kits keep handy people well-equipped, even when space is at a premium … My wife is the handy one of us. It’s just one of the many ways I married up. When it comes to building things from whatever’s lying around, or fixing things that have been well-loved, she makes it happen. Powerful, … Read more
There’s never a convenient time for a water heater to fail. But here are a few things to keep in mind to avoid making it any more inconvenient … This past week we bought and installed a new water heater. (See picture above.) The week before we noticed that there was a pool of water in … Read more
The winter weather in our area, like other places in the country, has been pretty bone-chilling the past few days. Not nearly as bad as in the northeast, but still chilly. We learned the hard way a few years back that we weren’t quite prepared for a multi-day loss of power. We had kind neighbors, … Read more
A washer and dryer are mainstays in many households. They are in our household, for sure. We bought a used washer and dryer set four and a half years ago. Over the past couple of weeks, the washer was whining loudly. First we heard it within the drain cycle, then in the spin cycle. When … Read more
I’ll be one of the first to admit that I’m a pack rat. I come from a proud line of pack rats. Not quite hoarding-level, but that’s just one floor up from where I am. 🙂 My wife, talented woman that she is, has a lot of materials and tools that she uses to create … Read more
Perhaps you’ve experienced this. You’re going about a typical day at home. You’re catching up on some homework (or housework), playing with the kids, or spending time with your roommates or significant other. Then, you hear this banging in the next room that is enough to wake the dead. Your clothes washer is in rebellion, … Read more