Dealing With Home Repairs

Many Americans consider homeownership an important marker of financial success. Buying a house means that you’re happy enough with your circumstances that you’re trading in some of your freedom (and usually a big chunk of your savings) for a chance to start building wealth. It doesn’t always work out: real estate values can take a downturn, you might have to make a surprise geographical move– things can come up. 

But the most common disaster for newly minted homeowners is unexpected repair costs. I say “unexpected,” but it should be common knowledge that owning a house always comes with an assortment of wide ranging costs. 

There are a few ways to deal with home repair financial gut punches. Some people panic and figure out a way to pay for the first quote from whatever pro comes out to survey the damage. Others are so scared of the potential costs that they bury their heads in the sand and hope the problem disappears. 

Mr. Sense and I prefer a different approach. My husband is particularly good at remaining calm, even when literal sparks are flying or water is pouring out from places it shouldn’t. He’s fantastic at stabilizing even the most unfortunate situations so we can figure out next steps. 

Once things have calmed down somewhat, we go over our options together. We always first consider whether the issue is worth fixing at all. Some items are obviously essential. When we moved to our current home, we immediately replaced the roof, which was struggling to fulfill its main function as a cover to keep rain out of the house. We did our research and got multiple quotes, but we had to move quickly to prevent damage to the house. We live in a historic district with rules about roofing and had to hire someone who knew how to install a historically appropriate metal roof. 

On the other hand, some repairs that appear essential at first glance may not be. Regular readers recall that we opted not to repair or replace our broken central air conditioning at the beginning of the season. Despite a hot summer, we’re happy with our choice to forgo a five figure unit replacement and instead toughen up and use window units in a couple rooms. 

Some repairs must be done, but don’t require a huge amount of specialized knowledge. This can be a really cool opportunity for frugal people who also like a little adventure. I’m talking about figuring out how to do home repairs yourself! 

Mr. Sense and I grew up in families that generally hired outside contractors for non-cosmetic repair jobs, but the number of resources available online to learn everything from basic plumbing fixes to drywall installation makes it possible for even soft handed folks like us to handle most mid-level disasters. And for the last couple years, I’ve even gotten Kid Sense in on the fun. 

(Note: While many trained tradesmen can reasonably charge hundreds of dollars an hour for their labor and expertise, I’ve found that my teenager is excited to tackle just about any job for $40/hour.)

Learning how to perform home repairs yourself is about way more than saving a few (thousand) dollars. It’s just so freaking empowering to face problems with your house and know you can figure them out with a little YouTube help. It’s also good practice for controlling your emotions, particularly feelings like fear and panic many of us have experienced when problems crop up. In my case, I’ve learned not to get so easily grossed out, which I think should help with my parenting skills as well.  

I’m writing this in the wake of a homeowner’s nightmare: a leak in our hot water heater escaped our notice for about a week, precipitating a mildewy mess in our basement/crawl space. 

Once the flow of water stopped, my first thought was, “EEK! MOLD!” Mr. Sense called a couple local mold remediation companies for quotes. I braced myself for the numbers, but still winced when the figures came in around $8,700-$10,000+, depending on the company and square footage covered. 

But then I took a deep breath (not in the mildewy basement). Mr. Sense and I looked over the nicely itemized quotes. There were lists of materials needed: personal protective gear, antimicrobial sprays, industrial dehumidifier rental costs. 

It turns out that many of these items are available at Lowe’s. We even discovered that purchasing an industrial quality fan and dehumidifier costs about the same as renting them for a week from mold remediation companies. 

While some jobs require technical expertise, mold removal seems to be about having the right materials and being willing to get dirty and uncomfortable. This particular job entailed cleaning up the underside of our floor while confined to a narrow crawl space. 

Armed with respirator masks and headlamps, Kid Sense and I were able to shimmy under the house and do a satisfactory cleaning job. My research (and the professional quotes) indicated that keeping the mold spores out of the house is of utmost importance, so we sealed off the main house from the basement/crawl space entrance. When we were done, we disrobed in the backyard and threw away our clothes (under our hazmat suits, we wore clothes that were no longer fit for the “donate” pile. I actually retrieved a holey pair of socks I had thrown in the trash earlier in the week for one last wear). 

I’m sure Kid Sense and I didn’t perform the job at the level of the professionals, and I’ll be monitoring the situation to make sure the mold doesn’t return. Obviously, mold is a health hazard and not something I want my family breathing in– it’s worth paying a big bill to prevent long term health issues. But so far, our work seems to have eliminated the problem for a tiny fraction of the estimated professional cost, so it certainly seems worth the attempt. 

Our home was built around 1870, so Mr. Sense and I expect to continue dealing with house-related issues pretty much forever. Here’s a rundown of our thought process and some of the questions we go over when these problems pop up:

-First: is the problem ongoing? Can we do anything to stop it? (Example: turn off the water/electric/gas to the affected area. If we can prevent more immediate damage, we can avoid paying for emergency after hours contractor visits, which get expensive). 

-Okay, things are maybe bad but at least stable. Let’s pray about this. When things look scary, we try to reflect on how blessed we are to be able to pay for repairs if needed and for having insurance for true disasters. We ask God for guidance to make wise decisions with our resources. 

-Get multiple quotes for large jobs. We have some trusted contractors that we like and we feel financially secure, so we don’t solicit multiple quotes on smaller jobs (roughly $1,000 or less). But we definitely get multiple opinions for larger jobs and do our due diligence researching business reviews for professionals we haven’t hired before. 

-Look over the research and quotes. Identify if the work is a repair or an upgrade. Upgrades are usually wants, not needs. 

-Make a decision if we want to move forward with hiring a professional. If so, is there anything we can do to reduce the cost? At our last house, Mr. Sense was able to knock $500 off a repair to our water line by digging a small trench outside our house himself before the contractor came. He basically got paid to exercise!

-If not moving forward with a professional, start looking into how to do the work ourselves. YouTube is very helpful! We also discuss which combination of family members is best suited to the job. Mr. Sense usually takes jobs that involve climbing up a ladder; I don’t mind the dirtier jobs as much. Kid Sense is typically happy to help, and we determine her hourly rate based on how unpleasant/difficult the work is. 

-Embrace imperfection: We are not exactly tradesmen. Mr. Sense recently replaced a window in the back of our house and the new one isn’t a perfect match. Now our house has even more character!

Over the past few years, Mr. Sense and I have shifted our mindsets when confronted with scary home repairs. Instead of panicked frustration (maybe there’s still a little bit of that occasionally), we try to face problems with optimism and curiosity, realizing that some issues can be learning experiences. We recognize how privileged we are to be able to hire outside help when needed, but we actually enjoy figuring out how much we’re capable of handling on our own. The financial benefits are cool, but the satisfaction of learning new skills and increasing our self-sufficiency is even better.