I have replaced the door gasket and door lock in one round on my washer, then the motor’s brushes in another round. I don’t have the touch for joint compound, but device repairs are generally ok for me if parts are available and documented
Took two non-working mac laptop computers some years ago I had bought from university surplus for $25/each and turned them into 1 working one. Took 3 tries, shaved down taking them both apart and reassembling them from 7.5 hours to around 2, and only had 2 screws left over when I was done. Fixed a portable dishwasher (easy problem, had it been harder I would have been forced to pay) and fixed mom’s kitchen sink spigot problem. Can not fix a car or a boat engine. Have not been successful in fixing the 18 mo old kitten from knocking everything off of the bed side table except the lamp each time he creeps up, under the cover of darkness, to sleep by my head.
The water supply valve on my toilet seized up closed last night. If I try to open it up, it just leaks out of the valve handle. Guess, I’m learning how to plumb tonight!
@RiotDemon Thank you so much for the offer! I think I’ll be ok. I’ve done a little plumbing before so I’m not overly worried. I just haven’t done it in a while so most of my time fixing it is going to be remembering things that I already know. lol
HOWEVER, if I need help I will come a-calling! I might even chronicle everything here if people don’t mind. We can all share my crappy experience together! Go puns!
@RiotDemon I made 4 trips to Home Depot and it’s only dripping a little now! Yeah!
So the supply stem was busted (trip #1). I replaced that but in the process, the handle broke.(trip #2). Once I got that working, the valve assembly that controls the water levels inside the toilet turned out to be busted too (trip #3). THEN… I got everything back together and the supply pipe, which is rigid, and the hole on the toilet weren’t aligned (they’ve been that way all along) and it’s dripping slowly. So I had to go back to Home Depot to get a flexible braided supply line. Wouldn’t you know, I need a 6" line and they really don’t make them. The joys of owning a home from the 1960’s.
I’m hoping that it’ll settle in like the last time I had to work on it and stop leaking in a day or 2.
@RiotDemon@zinimusprime A real handy man would just duct tape the 2 together if necessary and call it done… Until the next time he walks in on a wet bathroom floor.
I was a union carpenter for a while. But I’ll leave the plumbing and electrical stuff to others. Built a lot of computers, but that is just tinker toys.
My stepdad is so useless when it comes to that shit that my mom has learned how to Replumb stuff and rewire stuff to fix the house even calling my dad her ex over to fix it. But they have a really good relationship.
Found good detailed instructions online, and replaced the lid switch on my washing machine that makes the water drain out; also replaced a belt in my dryer, which was physically really challenging for a 5’2" female in a tight and grungy basement space - but the feeling of pride made it super worthwhile, on top of not having to pay a bunch of money for repairs! Also, with help from handy male friends, replaced an igniter in my gas stove and a leaky drain tube in my dishwasher and replaced a sink disposal.
@Kyeh If that’s the lid switch that keeps the washer out of spin mode when the lid is open, I bypassed mine when it failed. I was flat broke at the time.
@ThunderChicken Actually I looked back at an old email I sent a friend, gloating about my repair, and I told her that I’d found the broken part and glued it back on, so I guess I didn’t spend money on that one! Another reason I’m happy when I can fix an appliance is that I often don’t like the new ones; they’re all electronically complicated, or too big, on top of being so much pricier.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
I’m still stuck on the last couple lines of my sonnet…
Handy enough to think I recognize seeing this question before.
Handsy?
FTFY, Meh.
two of them
I have replaced the door gasket and door lock in one round on my washer, then the motor’s brushes in another round. I don’t have the touch for joint compound, but device repairs are generally ok for me if parts are available and documented
How pretty is she?
@hchavers If the girls don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.
@Fuzzalini Wow, someone besides me actually watched Red Green.
@Fuzzalini @hchavers I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess.
@hchavers I’m sure we’re not the only ones. There is the entire country of Canada.
@Fuzzalini Ok, so double our number.
Jammed the lock in the bathroom door. I decided to replace it and the door handle myself … I had to order a new door
Took two non-working mac laptop computers some years ago I had bought from university surplus for $25/each and turned them into 1 working one. Took 3 tries, shaved down taking them both apart and reassembling them from 7.5 hours to around 2, and only had 2 screws left over when I was done. Fixed a portable dishwasher (easy problem, had it been harder I would have been forced to pay) and fixed mom’s kitchen sink spigot problem. Can not fix a car or a boat engine. Have not been successful in fixing the 18 mo old kitten from knocking everything off of the bed side table except the lamp each time he creeps up, under the cover of darkness, to sleep by my head.
The water supply valve on my toilet seized up closed last night. If I try to open it up, it just leaks out of the valve handle. Guess, I’m learning how to plumb tonight!
@zinimusprime if you want to take a picture, I could probably help you.
@RiotDemon Thank you so much for the offer! I think I’ll be ok. I’ve done a little plumbing before so I’m not overly worried. I just haven’t done it in a while so most of my time fixing it is going to be remembering things that I already know. lol
HOWEVER, if I need help I will come a-calling! I might even chronicle everything here if people don’t mind. We can all share my crappy experience together! Go puns!
@zinimusprime it’s been ten hours since your last comment. Hope the plumbing went well!
@RiotDemon I made 4 trips to Home Depot and it’s only dripping a little now! Yeah!
So the supply stem was busted (trip #1). I replaced that but in the process, the handle broke.(trip #2). Once I got that working, the valve assembly that controls the water levels inside the toilet turned out to be busted too (trip #3). THEN… I got everything back together and the supply pipe, which is rigid, and the hole on the toilet weren’t aligned (they’ve been that way all along) and it’s dripping slowly. So I had to go back to Home Depot to get a flexible braided supply line. Wouldn’t you know, I need a 6" line and they really don’t make them. The joys of owning a home from the 1960’s.
I’m hoping that it’ll settle in like the last time I had to work on it and stop leaking in a day or 2.
@RiotDemon @zinimusprime “I’ve done a little plumbing before so I’m not overly worried.” he said.
KuoH
@zinimusprime oh boy. Sounds like fun. What length line did you buy? Did you get a longer one so you could loop it?
@kuoh haha, that clip was great. He sounds like a donkey.
@RiotDemon I bought a 9" and 12" line. Worst comes to worst, I’ll just buy a 16" or something similar and loop it.
@RiotDemon @zinimusprime A real handy man would just duct tape the 2 together if necessary and call it done… Until the next time he walks in on a wet bathroom floor.
KuoH
I was a union carpenter for a while. But I’ll leave the plumbing and electrical stuff to others. Built a lot of computers, but that is just tinker toys.
@olperfesser I hear ya. I think of computer building as Lego, and computer repair is mostly board swapping.
Handy enough that I wish I’d gone to trade school instead of college so I could be doing it for a living.
(Handy enough that homesteading is looking more and more plausible, which I guess is the same thing.)
My stepdad is so useless when it comes to that shit that my mom has learned how to Replumb stuff and rewire stuff to fix the house even calling my dad her ex over to fix it. But they have a really good relationship.
Not very but my hubby is super handy! I can give him about anything and he figures it out. Very nice
/giphy handsy
Found good detailed instructions online, and replaced the lid switch on my washing machine that makes the water drain out; also replaced a belt in my dryer, which was physically really challenging for a 5’2" female in a tight and grungy basement space - but the feeling of pride made it super worthwhile, on top of not having to pay a bunch of money for repairs! Also, with help from handy male friends, replaced an igniter in my gas stove and a leaky drain tube in my dishwasher and replaced a sink disposal.
@Kyeh If that’s the lid switch that keeps the washer out of spin mode when the lid is open, I bypassed mine when it failed. I was flat broke at the time.
@ThunderChicken Actually I looked back at an old email I sent a friend, gloating about my repair, and I told her that I’d found the broken part and glued it back on, so I guess I didn’t spend money on that one! Another reason I’m happy when I can fix an appliance is that I often don’t like the new ones; they’re all electronically complicated, or too big, on top of being so much pricier.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
I’m still stuck on the last couple lines of my sonnet…
@macromeh I have such a love-hate thing for Heinlein. That quote is definitely on the “love” side of the equation.
I’m pretty handy in general as I have posted on other threads.
Also… this is the song that popped into mind when that topic was posted.
well, gotta go… need to change out a euro style track on a drawer that failed yesterday…
@chienfou A euro-style track?
ikea instructions handy overmind
In my free time I like to make something at home. I made 2 birdhouses, shelves in the bathroom and a fence in the backyard.