Home repairs you can tackle yourself

MSN House and Home featured an article on Top 10 Home Repairs. These are common ones — and ones that you can do very inexpensively. Among them:

• Leaky faucets — try replacing the washer or replacing the faucet
• Caulking — supplies will set you back $20
• Torn door or window screens — $10 for 15 sq ft of material

The article recommends fixing appliances only for the simple stuff. However, if you're a little adventuresome, you can pick up a book on major appliance repair and start playing handyman or handywoman. The one I've referred to for my clothes dryer, my freezer, my water heater, and my dishwasher is from the Time Life Series and it's called Fix It Yourself: Major Appliances. If the thought of digging in the innards of your appliances terrifies you (it terrified me for a long time), it's not as difficult as it sounds, and this book is well-written. Just make sure that the appliance is physically unplugged from the wall before servicing it.

Also, RepairClinic.com is an excellent site for appliance parts. All of the parts are shown with a size scale, and you can search based on what the part looks like if you don't know what it is.