HOME MAINTENANCE - IN PRAISE OF DO IT YOURSELF - THE CASE OF THE LEAKING TOILET FLUSH ! PART 1.

 

Not everybody has a home, in the 'normal understanding of what 'a home' signifies. 

In its broader concept, we could define 'home' as the specific place where we normally live and sleep. 

From this we can have a workable understanding of what home maintenance should or ought to be. 

Which is namely to keep our home and its contents in reasonably good working order. 

Maintaining our homes can be a costly business, which is why it is both cost-effective and prudent for us to learn and equip ourselves as much as we can, to keep our homes and the utilities and equipment in it a reasonable state. 

This includes things like keeping the outside and inside of our homes and the equipment in it clean, and handing things with care, so as to minimise the occurrence of intended damage and wear and tear.

There is a risk of causing damage and/or sustaining personal harm arising from us attempting to perform home maintenance. 

So it is necessary for us to do the necessary homework and preparation and not just 'jumping in' to try to resolve problems or perceive problems. 

We need to do some risk assessment, especially when we are dealing with electricity, gas and water. 

It helps to have some basic understanding of the architecture of equipment and how it works or functions.

For this we need to access the manual, if there is one, of the equipment we intend to work on. 

If no manual is available, then the option of accessing a You-Tube 'how to video' should be explored. 

Basic rules to follow would include, taking a picture of the equipment in its assembled state; do not dismantle something which you are not confident about re-assembling. 

And balance the likely cost of having to get professional input against savings you could make by 'doing it yourself. 

To be continued!