When Household Plumbing Issues Become More Than You Can Handle

You pride yourself on your DIY ability and you should. There’s no dispute there. The problem is some of the things around the house that go wrong might be more than you can handle – no offense! For example, you wouldn’t attempt to replace your roof, so why do you attempt to replace your toilet? Did you know that one of the most common reasons professional plumbers are called for help is to fix do-it-yourself projects? Yeah, sometimes it’s best to leave the big stuff to the pros.

Things You Can Handle

This isn’t to say you should call a plumber to fix your leaky kitchen sink faucet. You can probably replace the tap yourself. Certain household plumbing repairs are pretty easy. For example, if your toilet runs sporadically day and night, chances are the flapper is leaking. Turn off the water supply to the toilet, flush it, and then lift the lid off the tank. Grab the flapper, dry it, and take it to the hardware store. This is an easy fix once you buy a new one, which shouldn’t cost you more than about $10.

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Something like that, even replacing the toilet’s entire innards is a day-off DIY job. Replacing faucets is also something that is fairly straightforward, and you can probably unclog your toilets and drains if the clog is minor. When facing a plumbing problem, ask yourself one important question: Am I comfortable handling this? If you feel even the slightest hint of reticence, don’t attempt this at home. Assess what you can and cannot handle, and don’t try to be a hero. Be realistic.

Things You Probably Shouldn’t Attempt

More intensive plumbing work like system replacements, fixture replacements, and water damage is best left to the pros. One reason why is additional unseen issues you might not realize are there. Imagine a pipe bursts. You catch the problem quickly and cut the water to the house. Your spouse and you stare at the wet spot on the wall and discuss what to do next. You can rip out the drywall yourself, replace the pipe, and then install new drywall and paint. Sounds like a project, but it’s easy enough.

Here’s the thing, though. What if you don’t see all the water damage and mold growing inside your wall? Are you prepared to deal with the dangers of mold? No, you’re not, nor should you ever want to. For major stuff, such as burst pipes, leaking systems, and dead or dying hot water heaters, it’s best to call for help. Even if you want to upgrade your kitchen and bathroom, don’t save money by installing new appliances and fixtures on your own. Many things can go wrong if you DIY major plumbing projects.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you should know your limits. If you have previous experience in a plumbing situation, you can probably handle it. If you’ve never replaced a water heater, you shouldn’t attempt it. Assess the dangers associated with the job, as well. For example, a water heater repair or replacement involves electricity, gas, or both. Don’t become a tragic statistic. Take care of the easy stuff and let someone licensed and certified play with electricity and gas.

3 Home Improvements That Up Your Home’s Value and Reduce Your Premium

Your home is your source of shelter, your sanctuary from the world, and a huge source of pride. It’s a no-brainer that you care deeply about protecting it, and look to homeowners insurance to help. If you’re planning on making some updates to your abode, consider home improvements that might also qualify you for insurance discounts. Not only will you be increasing the value of your home, but you’ll likely be making your residence safer. Spending some money up front on smart home improvements can save you money down the line in the form of lowered homeowners insurance premiums.

Jumping into renovations that could lower insurance premiums is a bit like putting the cart before the horse. At the top of the to-do list is finding the best homeowners insurance for your needs in terms of both coverage and cost. Only after you’re sure that your policy is right for your situation should you start to consider aligning your home improvements with factors that reduce your premiums.

Read on to learn more about three valuable home improvements, as well as a few that could end up costing more money in the long run.

Strengthen Your Roof
Asphalt shingles seem to be the default roofing material, but their condition can degrade over time when exposed to inclement weather. According to The Family Man, insurance companies often offer significant discounts—even up to 45 percent—for investment in stronger materials. Don’t assume anything before chatting with your insurance agent, but be sure to ask about materials discounts if you’re planning any renovations. Metal and other heavy-duty roofing materials cost more up front, but could earn you discounts and hold up better over time.

Install or Improve Home Security
It’s never a bad thing to feel like you have eyes in the back of your head when it comes to your house, especially for added security when you’re away. Your insurance company will view your house as more of a risk if it has spotty security and lacks basic safety measures. The Insurance Information Institute suggests that improving your home security systems can potentially decrease your homeowners insurance as follows:

   • Smoke detector, burglar alarm, or deadbolt locks (5 percent)
   • Sprinkler system and fire/burglar alarm that alerts authorities (15-20 percent)

Modernize Heating, Electrical, and Plumbing
Do you use modern appliances in your home? Water heater malfunction is one of the most common causes for filing a water damage claim, and comes with an average cost of $4,400. In a similar vein, half of washing machine-related water damage claims come from faulty water supply hoses. The average cost for these repairs is over $6,000 based on the same set of data from the Insurance Journal. While it can be daunting to envision appraising and updating systems like plumbing, heating, and electrical, it’s important for your safety and for the safety of your home. Since the repairs tend to be costly if something does go awry, it’s beneficial to anticipate and head off these problems ahead of time by keeping your systems updated and well-maintained.

There is one bright spot. As the National Association of Insurance Commissioners points out, optimizing these systems to be disaster-proof can potentially earn you a discount on your future premiums. Before you embark on any modifications, talk to your insurance provider.

Conditions That Could Set You Back
Just like streamlining your home can knock money off your insurance premium, certain factors can increase it. Risk associated with pets and swimming pools could bump up your premium, so it’s worthwhile investigating before you decide to adopt a large dog or put in a pool. Where you live also influences your rates, including living in a place known for having conditions that produce natural disasters.

Your best bet is checking in with your homeowners insurance company if you’re planning on making any changes to your home as they could affect your rates one way or another.

Wordless Wednesday- William's 'Pete the Cat' Pumpkin Book Report Project

Homemade is best

My 15 year old daughter Briahnna recently had a project for her Spanish class in which she had to bring in a food item from a specific country. She was assigned the country of Argentina. She browsed recipes and did her best to pick something that did not require us to have to buy too many ingredients. She chose Alfajores... basically two sugar cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche (caramel). We almost considered purchasing store bought cookies and caramel but felt like it would have been cheating to do so. All in all, it was a long process of baking in batches and making the caramel filling. It took about 3 1/2 hours altogether. In the end it was well worth it. My daughter felt so proud of what she made and enjoyed her time in the kitchen. As for myself, I was so proud of my budding cook/foodie! She got to see and taste the difference by making something from scratch using high-quality ingredients. Her classmates and teacher enjoyed the cookies and she got an 'A' on the project.

She mixed up a batch of sugar cookie dough and I taught her a simple technique to make each cookie very uniform  in shape and size. 

The dulce de leche took about 2.3 hours to make! It came out really good though. This is one of those things that takes a lot of patience!

House projects suck

Well I was hoping to have something nice to post but unfortunately it's not going to work out that way. We were planning to have a very relaxing and uncomplicated weekend. The biggest task we planned was to replace the threshold of our front door. When Dwayne removed the old one we found that we had rotten wood in a variety of places. This has made a 30 minute project turn into an all day event and will be continued tomorrow. I have been into the hardware store (I dare not say the name before I get reprimanded by the husband) three times today already. Looks like some pain relief meds will be in order for us tonight. This is one of those days I wished I lived in a fully maintained apartment! I chose not to post pictures cause it's just too ugly to show anyone. Hope everyone else is having a great weekend!