Owning a home is not for the faint of heart. It seems simple enough — how bad could it be, right? — but then something goes wrong, and there's no landlord to come save the day. I've been a homeowner for a little over 8 years now, and I'm still learning.
This Old House is one of my favorite sites to refer to when things go awry at home, or when we're planning a repair or remodel. They've put together a comprehensive list of things you should learn to be comfortable doing in your own home. From the simple — how to dig a hole — to more complex tasks like drilling through tile or unfreezing a lock, they've come up with lots of scenarios homeowners may find themselves in and at a loss for what to do next.
As any homeowner knows, this isn't everything you need to know — I imagine I will still be googling household problems when I'm in my seventies — but it's a good start.
Read More: What Do I Do Now? on This Old House
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I agree, love TOH's information, but I sure wish they would reformat their website.
Plumbing is the biggest expsense I've found as a home owner and living in a condo where all the pipes are connected is a nightmare.
@LyonStill - exactly! We recently had a kitchen faucet leak all the way down into the ground floor carport. Followed a few days later by an under-sink pipe exploding in our bathroom and destroying a bunch of stuff. I hope I move out of the condo before we have to replace all the pipes in the entire building!
I've owned my own homes for 25 years - and I can do everyone of their suggestions. There's a bounce in my step today!
I am thinking of buying a first house. I only got part way through the article. Just reading it made me soooo tired. I think the best tip is hiring a handyman. I won't buy a house unless the price tag leaves me with enough funds to hire someone to fix it too.
I have to endorse thorndale's statement. As a fairly new (1.5 years) homeowner who is pretty much just getting by, repair and updating costs can feel outright overwhelming. I bought a tiny house (875 sqft) thinking that couldn't ever get too expensive, but I was wrong. Spent $3k for desperately needed new windows, still need 3 new doors (~$1500 including install) and just got a 10k estimate to re-do a small bathroom that is on its last legs. Not even considering decorating costs (I reeeeeeally could use a couch!).
I'm trying to source doors from Craigslist or other used/resale places, but some stuff you just can't get or do yourself (electrical work, anyone?).
Essentially, while it can be fun and its lovely to have my own space, homeownership is a pain in the ass. Something is always going wrong so just make sure you have a few spare bucks, plenty of free time to learn a new skill, or a TON of handy friends to call on when things surprise you.
Great article. This may be just my house, but the things that have helped us out the most were: learning to run electric wiring to new outlets (hard-ish but so very rewarding), being able to install our own laminate flooring planks (not hard), and learning the correct way to hang heavy things on plaster walls (ya got to spring for spider anchors!)