Fixing stuff myself!

[TrudgingAlong]

I am endlessly grateful to Google, forums, and YouTube. They have saved us so much money! In the last 24 hours:

We thought our dishwasher in our new house was worthless. Kept throwing gunk into the glasses, and often there would be things that looked like they hadn't been cleaned at all. I went online to research dishwashers and ran into a discussion ona forum about filters. As lifelong renters before now, I had no idea dishwashers had removeable filters! Ours was full of nasty, grey, stringy slime. I scrubbed them out, and suddenly our dishwasher is doing a great job. I can even run it on the hour cycle!

Today our computer started rebooting itself endlessly. I typed in the error message, found a tech forum with people with the same problem, unplugged the USB connector which was apparently going bad, and problem solved! We built the computer, so I was aware of what I was looking at, but this was a new issue for me. Definitely saved money on having to use a computer repairman!

[spooky105]

I'm with you -- super satisfying and cost effective. Unfortunately, it feels like fewer and fewer things embrace repair-ability. Electronic-centric appliances in particular come to mind.

[Awka]

Learning how to snake a toilet properly is the most useful DIY I've gotten from YouTube.  Sounds absurd, but old house, kids + toilet ? Saved me a $$$.

[MasterStache]

Excellent skill(s) to have. My son dropped his computer and shattered his screen 2 weeks ago. My spouse got 2 quotes both over $200 to fix. I purchased a new screen on Amazon for $30 and took 10 minutes to pop the old one out and the new one in. Working good as new.

[TrudgingAlong]

Excellent skill(s) to have. My son dropped his computer and shattered his screen 2 weeks ago. My spouse got 2 quotes both over $200 to fix. I purchased a new screen on Amazon for $30 and took 10 minutes to pop the old one out and the new one in. Working good as new.

Nice! We've paid way too much to have computers repaired over the years, so I'm always thrilled when I can manage a fix. A year or so ago, we had one that was overheating too much, found out the power supply was running too hot, bought a new one with shiver wattage, and bingo solved.

[Heckler]

I'm with you -- super satisfying and cost effective. Unfortunately, it feels like fewer and fewer things embrace repair-ability. Electronic-centric appliances in particular come to mind.

But with the Internet, (not just a fad), it gets a lot easier to source the part you need, electronic appliances included.

https://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/getParentCategory.pd?categoryName=Kitchen+Appliance

http://www.partselect.ca/Entry.aspx?Source=GAWS&Term=Appliance+Parts&gclid=COuDp6rr8dICFVBlfgod6YAIAQ

[accolay]

But with the Internet, (not just a fad), it gets a lot easier to source the part you need, electronic appliances included.
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/getParentCategory.pd?categoryName=Kitchen+Appliance
http://www.partselect.ca/Entry.aspx?Source=GAWS&Term=Appliance+Parts&gclid=COuDp6rr8dICFVBlfgod6YAIAQ

I've bought a lot of parts off of Ebay. Seems to be the cheapest source a lot of the time. The only caveat is that sometimes you really need to know what you're buying.

[MMMaybe]

I fixed the loose kitchen tap the other day! Next up, a loose door handle :)

[Bateaux]

Doing full house restoration myself after a super flood last year. It's tough.

[AO1FireTo]

It's so much more satisfying fixing something instead of just throwing it out and buying something new.  Today I fixed my Black and Decker cordless lawnmower.  The batteries had gone bad, so I ordered the replacements and took me about 30 minutes to complete the swap.  Now it's good as new.  Cost of replacement batteries with tax was $113; similar mower at Home Depot would have been $305.  So net savings of about $192.  Not bad for 30 minutes work, plus I hate buying new and having to pay tax for anything.  The best part is there was a guy on YouTube who had a step by step video on the exact swap, so it was super easy.

[sequoia]

It's so much more satisfying fixing something instead of just throwing it out and buying something new.  Today I fixed my Black and Decker cordless lawnmower.  The batteries had gone bad, so I ordered the replacements and took me about 30 minutes to complete the swap.  Now it's good as new.  Cost of replacement batteries with tax was $113; similar mower at Home Depot would have been $305.  So net savings of about $192.  Not bad for 30 minutes work, plus I hate buying new and having to pay tax for anything.  The best part is there was a guy on YouTube who had a step by step video on the exact swap, so it was super easy.

In my area, there is a local junk yard that buy non-working car battery, and other batteries. Look it up or call them to estimate if it is worth to make a trip there. 

[chesterfield_king]

My greatest achievement so far is fixing my wife’s MacBook Air keyboard.

A few of the keys had stopped working so I looked around the Internet for a replacement keyboard. Apple themselves only sold the keyboard together with the top part of the case (the metal bit with the trackpad) for £200 but I managed to find the keyboard separately on eBay for £30.

Of course, I didn’t realise until I was an hour into the job (and literally every component was on my dining table) that the keyboard was attached to the metal case with a hundred tiny metal rivets. I persevered, carefully chipping away at the rivets without losing a finger or bending the very thin aluminium case, and the computer is as good as new.

[therethere]

Our dishwasher never cleans dishes. I had no idea there were filters... Guess I have a new odd chore to do. The dishwasher in our unit is from 1991. I'm already disgusted thinking about what will be pulled out.

[The Money Monk]

I have done a bunch of small stuff. Nothing impressive to anybody around here, but sure it has saved me money:

Replacing the sink and garbage disposal, a couple ceiling fans, a fence gate, a random piece in my fridge, a fluorescent light ballast, etc, Minor stuff like that.

The problem is I despise doing it. Pretty much any of it. I really wish I didn't hate fixing stuff so much. I mean I do it, and I'm not even bad at any of it. Its just for whatever reason I REALLY really hate it. It actually baffles me how much I hate it, every time. Weird.

When I am a millionaire I will pay somebody to do it all. Until then, life just sucks I guess.