Home Repairs
NAME: Z
STATUS: Watchful
GOAL: No ER visits this year
PEEVE: Proscrastination
GLEE: A good contractor
We pay a handyman to clean out our gutters. We’ve done this for a year or two, ever since a friend fell off a ladder and dislocated his right knee and made his wife miserable complaining about it for the next two months.
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Our friend was on this ladder trying to replace a wood soffit. The soffit had rotted because debris piled up in the gutters, trapped water and kept the wood wet because the gutters had not been routinely cleaned.
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For them, it was a painful lesson in deferred maintenance. For us, the incident was a wake-up call. I put my foot down before Clay broke one of his legs and asked friends for handyman referrals. Our gutters are happy. So am I.
Home repairs are like that. If you let a loose thread on a sweater dangle long enough, the whole garment may unravel. Many, many big, expensive problems become big and expensive because we either don’t notice them when they are small or notice them but hope they will go away.
Routine maintenance can prevent major expense throughout a home – window sills, exterior paint and small roof leaks to name just a few. Standing water anywhere around the foundation of a house is B-A-D, bad. A small puddle can cause an ocean of trouble when the water migrates and winds up in the walls.
We try to tackle one or two projects each season and give some thought to what we can do ourselves and what makes more sense to hire out. I’ve made Clay promise that he will not climb up on a ladder if I am not within shouting distance. I’ve promised Clay that I won’t start any projects without first talking with him. We have one supremely messed up window sill that I tried to repair without knowing what I was doing.
With contractors, ask around, get referrals, call them and get estimates from multiple companies or solo operators. Don’t jump to conclusions because he – or she – may drive a beat-up truck. If anything, beware of contractors with big, new, shiny trucks. Big new trucks mean big new payments.
Q: What should be in my home toolbox?
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