The other day I went down to the basement to find it flooded, water was pooled up around the washing machine. I am not handy AT ALL, so I called the plumber right away. It took him about 5 seconds to diagnose the problem, the water hose had been dislodged from the drain so the washer was just draining out into the basement. He was pretty nice about it, but I still felt like an idiot cause all he did was put the hose back in the drain and clamped it in better to stop that from happening again.
I paid the price (90 bucks in this case) for my extreme lack of handiness, so I hit the internet to look for an idiots guide to maintaining appliances. I ordered Home Maintenance for Dummies for $14.95. It’s on the way. But I also came across these free(!) and supposedly easy tips on how to keep your appliances running smoothly at partselect.com and hopefully save you money in the long run. 10 Maintenance Tips You Can Do in Under Ten Minutes
They explain how to:
*test to make sure your oven has a tight seal
*replace stove vent filters
*clean nasty stove drip bowls
*clean fridge coils
*change your fridge water filter - I did that one and it took me no time once I bought the filter
*fix rusty dishwasher racks - am going to do this once I figure out where to find a tine kit-does anyone know?
*clean and deodorize a garbage disposal
*clean out dryer exhaust - did this and was shocked at the amount of lint trapped in the hose. I didn’t realize this had to be done, thought the lint trap took care of lint, good to know, especially since lint build up is a fire hazard
*inspect washing machine hose for leaks - this one would have saved me $90 bucks!
*clean air conditioner filter - I have never, never done this and they say to do this every 2-4 weeks!
