Do You DIY?

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My house needs a couple of repairs. All right, it needs a lot of repairs. A number of them have waited for some time, because we simply couldn’t afford to have them done.I mean really, it can cost anywhere between $45 and $70 just to have a repairman come out, and that doesn’t include any work or parts. Who can afford that! For reasons like this more people are tackling their own repairs themselves. To this point we have not been one of them. RB and I have never had the know how, we’ve always relied on my Dad to fix things. Well Dad’s getting older and his heath hasn’t been terrific. As a result, I am just not comfortable constantly asking him to do everything anymore. We’re going to have to find the know-how, and the nerve, to do some things ourselves.

Making repairs ourselves will certainly save us money. It will also save us time – no more waiting for someone else. We’re going to start small and take it one step at a time from there.  I think we’ll have an easier time of it because we have access to the internet. Sites like EasyApplianceParts.com will become invaluable for us – not only do they sell parts, they also offer resources on how to do the repairs yourself.

EasyApplianceParts.com shared these survey results on how people are benefitting from DIY repairs.

• Almost 80% of repairs require only 30 minutes (and 50% take less than 15!)
• Fridges tend to break the most – the average cost to repair them using parts from EasyApplianceParts.com is around $48
• On a 5 point scale, 88% of people said that their DIY repair was “Really Easy” – only 2% of people said it was “Very Difficult”

The site allows browsing by brand and type of part, which you then narrow down with appliance model number. If you’ve ever tried to buy a part without knowing a model number then you probably know that it’s frequently doesn’t work out. By shopping with the model number you’re sure to be looking at, and potentially buying, the part you actually need instead of the part you think you need. It’s awful when you buy something you really need and then discover it’s the wrong thing, isn’t it? EasyApplianceParts gives instructions on how to find the model number of your appliances. Their Resources area contains lots of helpful how-to, safety, and educational articles as well as helpful tips. If you’re contemplating or in the middle of planning some home repairs, be sure to check out EasyApplianceParts.com.

PS – I’m curious. Have you ever been nervous about doing a repair yourself? What type have you done? I’m just wondering if I’m the only nervous nellie chicken in the room.