A Few Home Repair Tips for First-Time Homeowners
1. First the Good Stuff: Painting
First off, the one thing that just about anybody can do in their new house is put on a fresh coat of interior paint. At most home improvement warehouses, the employees in the paint section are knowledgeable and helpful. Masking and painting are fairly easy, albeit time-consuming, chores, and painting a room a fresh new color of your choosing delivers a great feeling of satisfaction for any new homeowner. It’s good to hold onto that feeling of satisfaction for as long as possible, because once you get into other projects, you’ll look back fondly on how simple and productive your painting job turned out.
2. Changing an Electrical Outlet and, By Extension, Repairing Wall Plaster: Be Careful, and Be Gentle.
Those first projects went this way: I’d see something that needed to be done. I’d head down to Home Depot and wander around begging employees for help, until finally someone in an orange apron would give me a snippet of advice that would set me on my way. I’d buy the necessary tools and supplies, then head home full of confidence. I’d begin a project, completely screw it up, then spend the rest of the day just trying to get things back to how they were before I started fiddling with it.
Such was the case with a simple change of an electrical outlet in the bathroom from the old-style to GFI, or “Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters.” GFI outlets are standard in new homes and interrupt electricity when the current is exposed to water, so if you accidentally drop your hairdryer in the sink, you won’t get fried. These are a good upgrade for your older home, and also offer valuable peace-of-mind.
First, I flipped off the circuit breaker to the bathroom portion of the house, which is the most important step. The old outlet was snugly fit against the drywall, and after removing the plastic cover I found it very simple to unscrew the old outlet, pull it out, and remove the wires, marking each wire with its position (with a little piece of masking tape and a pen) so I that I could install the new one properly. As I was pulling the old one out, the metal box that held it shifted slightly. Powdery plaster loosened itself from all around the box, and before I knew it, what had been a small, clean square hole was now a big, rough, round one. The box moved around loosely. I pretended not to notice. I installed the new outlet, put on the cover, and noticed the gaping seams all around it. It sat in the wall loosely. I was depressed.
Back at the Home Depot, I shelled out more money for plaster repair and headed back to my project. What I originally thought would take ten minutes to complete was now, with two trips to the store, running at around an hour. I followed the directions on the plaster kit, allowed it to dry, and put the box and outlet back in. By the time I finished, I’d spent most of the day, and still hadn’t repainted the repaired area. I’d learned that different textures and materials must be handled in their own ways. Sometimes houses can be fragile things, and must be treated as such.
3. Water and Brass Fittings: Again, Be Gentle!
I learned a very valuable lesson on my next project, hooking up the water feed to the icemaker of our new refrigerator. I figured I’d save money on installation and do it myself. I bought the kit, again at Home Depot, and got to work. The saddle-valve for the water line and little brass fitting all went together nicely and as planned, but when everything was assembled, I had leaks both at the valve and at the back of the fridge. I had done everything according to the directions and was puzzled as to why things weren’t working properly. While the folks at HD had always been helpful, I decided that I’d go down to the locally-owned hardware store to see if I could get some help.
I found an older gentleman at Ace Hardware and told him the symptoms of the problem. He responded, “let me guess, you’re an auto mechanic?”
“Yes,” I responded, shocked that he’d made the connection. He explained to me that with brass fittings, and plumbing in general, you don’t want to get things as tight as they will possibly go, as you would with most automotive repairs; you simply need to get a good seat and get things snug. I had over-tightened the fittings, rendering them useless and leaky. On his advice, I went home and started over, with excellent results. And again, a project that should have taken a half an hour ended up taking two and a half.
A recurring theme: Be gentle. Sometimes finesse is more effective than brute force. Also, sometimes the employees of your little local hardware store can offer great advice.
4: Hanging a Shelf: Use a Stud Finder (where applicable) and Measure!
The next project was to hang a shelf. In the thick plaster walls of my new old home, I found that my handy-dandy new stud-finder device was completely useless. It gave false readings every time I put it up to the wall. Through trial and error, I found the studs with a hammer and a nail. Thank goodness I’d purchased that plaster repair for the bathroom outlet, because it came in quite handy patching the twenty new cracked holes I’d created. I’m not sure what the lesson is here; perhaps old plaster walls don’t need to have shelves mounted on them?
On a positive note, in the rooms of the house that had been remodeled with drywall, the stud finder worked like a charm, and shelf-mounting was fairly easy. The lesson on mounting shelves on drywall: Use a stud-finder, a level, and measure, measure, and measure again.
These are just a few suggestions on getting started with simple home repairs and upgrades. As you work with your new old house, you find that some projects become much easier. But that added confidence makes you want to take on larger endeavors, and with that brings more and more trips to Home Depot or your local hardware store. Your best bet is to stick with it. If you have the time, and want to save some money, you can become your home’s best friend.
