Self-Isolation: Your House Isn’t A Cabin In The Woods

Buying and maintaining a home is when you have finally put your big boy boots on. It’s a huge part of becoming self-sufficient and taking care of yourself. It’s also a matter of great pride and one that you should puff your chest out and hold your head up high for. That’s why when something goes wrong we’re quick to go into protective mode. One of the things we neglect is the fact that things can and do go wrong all the time in our homes. Most of them are small and easily fixed; nothing a bit of elbow grease won’t fix. However when there are problems that are detrimental to the normal runnings of the home, then we get too eager to be defensive. As mentioned our homes are a matter of pride, so we don’t want to feel as if we’re incompetent and unable to take care of it; it isn’t just a brick-box that we sleep in after all. There are times when we just need to let go and call in the experts. And yes, even when the man of the house can’t fix it, he too needs to swallow his pride and ask for help.

Image by rick

Burst or leaking pipes

Coming home one day to a damp carpet or soggy wood floor is a dreadful sinking feeling. It’s something very serious. Water is formless as the great Bruce Lee once said, and it gets literally everywhere. Before it can really set into the materials of your home and weaken the structure of the home itself, you need to isolate and identify the leak. Clear everything out of the way and tell everyone in the house to stay away from the particular area. That’s when you need to call out a professional plumber. Before you start frantically flipping through newspapers and telephone books, take a look at what you need to look out for to find a trustworthy plumber.

Photo by Leona Mynes

When the cool flow stops

The jolly cool air is seeping in day by day, and the landscape is finally turning a healthy green once again. That means the sun shall rise and conquer once again. It also means it’s going to be very hot soon. During this time of year is when air conditioning units need to be maintained properly. It’s pollen season, and lots of dirt and vegetation gets stuck in various crevices on the units that hang outside our homes. Many of us have tried and failed at DIY HVAC repair because it isn’t something that anyone can do. It’s a complex piece of technology and engineering that has electrical circuits working together with mechanisms that deal with air circulation, pressure and temperature modification. It’s also an element of the home that affects all the rooms. Whereas a leaking pipe can be localized to a room or floor, air conditioning units are used by the entire home. So be warned, don’t mess around with it when you have no knowledge of how it works or cannot pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with it.

Self-isolation is common, unfortunately. Far too often there are wannabe handymen and women who cannot bear the thought of reaching out for help unless they’re in absolute dire straits. Don’t be that guy or gal.