Doing your own home repairs when you cannot afford a contractor
When something in your home breaks, the estimate to fix it can be more money than you have. Grants have income rules and waiting lists, and a volunteer crew may take months to reach you. For many repairs, doing the work yourself is the fastest way to get it done, and often the only affordable one.
This page walks through the whole process. It covers how to figure out what is actually broken before you spend anything, how to check whether a warranty already covers the repair, where to get your repair questions answered for free, where to find free step-by-step guides and videos, how community repair events work, how to buy the exact replacement part using a model number, where to borrow tools, where to find low-cost materials, and which jobs you should never attempt yourself.
- NOTE: Read this before you start. Never work on a gas line, a gas appliance connection, the inside of your main electrical panel, new circuit wiring, a roof, or anything structural. Mistakes with these can cause a fire, a collapse, a serious fall, or a death, and no amount of money saved is worth that. If you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas company from outside. The information on this page is general and is not professional repair, electrical, plumbing, or legal advice. If at any point a job feels beyond you, stop and get help. Options for paying a professional are covered in the NHPB guide to free home repair program options.
Figure out what is actually broken first
The most expensive mistake in do-it-yourself repair is fixing the wrong thing. People replace a thermostat when the real problem is a dirty furnace filter, or buy a new garbage disposal when the old one only needed its reset button pressed. Diagnose first, spend second.
Start with the simple checks. Make sure the item is plugged in and the outlet works. Look at your breaker box for a tripped breaker, and press the reset button on any GFCI outlet in the room, since one tripped bathroom or kitchen outlet can kill power to others. Check filters on furnaces, air conditioners, and dryers, because a clogged filter causes many of the failures people pay technicians to find. Make sure shutoff valves are fully open, and look for a reset button on the appliance itself, which disposals, water heaters, and many furnaces have.
If the simple checks do not solve it, search the exact symptom together with your model number, for example the model number plus "leaking from bottom." The owner's manual is worth pulling out too, because most manuals include a troubleshooting chart that matches symptoms to causes. Repair Clinic's free troubleshooting guides at https://www.repairclinic.com/RepairHelpwork the same way for appliances, water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners, and lawn equipment: you pick the machine, pick the symptom, and the site shows the parts that usually cause it, with free videos on how to test each one.
Take photos or a short video before you take anything apart. You will need them to put things back together, and they help when you ask for advice.
Check the warranty before you spend anything
Before you buy a part or open anything up, find out whether the repair is already covered. Look for the sticker or metal plate that lists the model and serial number, then check the manufacturer's website or call their support line with both numbers. Many appliances carry a full warranty for the first year and a longer warranty on certain parts after that, and water heaters, furnaces, and air conditioners often have parts coverage that lasts for years. In that case the manufacturer ships the part for free and you only handle or hire out the labor.
Two cautions apply. Taking equipment apart or making your own repair can void whatever coverage remains, so confirm coverage before you open anything. And if you pay for a home warranty plan, or one came with the purchase of your house, call that company first, since paying out of pocket for a covered repair usually means the money is gone. If the broken item is a furnace or heating system, there are also assistance programs that repair or replace heating equipment at no cost for households that qualify, and the NHPB guide to free heating system repair and replacement programs explains how they work.
Free repair help lines and forums
You do not have to figure out a repair alone. Several kinds of free help exist for people who want to describe a problem and get an answer.
Manufacturer support lines are free and underused. The company that made your furnace, water heater, or washing machine will walk you through basic troubleshooting on the phone, and they know their own machines better than anyone.
The counter at a local hardware store is another free source of answers. Stores such as True Value and other independently owned hardware stores serve many small towns and rural areas that the big chains skip, and the people working there tend to answer repair questions, match parts you bring in, and explain how to do the job while they ring you up. The service desk at Home Depot or Lowe's will answer how-to questions as well.
Online repair forums let you post your specific problem, with photos, and get answers from experienced tradespeople and homeowners. The DoItYourself.com forums at https://www.doityourself.com/forum/ have run for decades, are moderated, and cover plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, appliances, and general repair. Large communities on Reddit devoted to home improvement, plumbing, and appliance repair work the same way.
One phone number matters for any outdoor project. Before you dig for a fence post, a mailbox, or anything else, call 811. It is a free national line that sends someone to mark buried gas, electric, and water lines so you do not hit one.
Free step-by-step guides and videos
Once you know what is broken, learn the specific repair before you touch it.
The Home Depot how-to video library at https://videos.homedepot.com/ is free and covers repairs and projects room by room, from fixing a running toilet to patching drywall. Lowe's publishes free step-by-step how-to guides at https://www.lowes.com/nl/diy-projects-and-ideas/how-to with photos and videos that walk through repairs in order, including the tools and materials each job needs. True Value's maintenance and repair guides at https://www.truevalue.com/diy-projects/maintenance-and-repair/ cover common fixes and seasonal upkeep, which is useful if the closest store to you is a local hardware store rather than a big-box location.
Your public library carries repair manuals you can borrow, and many library systems give cardholders free access to online video classes on plumbing basics, carpentry, and home maintenance. Ask a librarian what your card includes.
On video sites, search the exact problem with your model number and watch two or three different videos on the same repair before starting, so you can catch a step that one person skips or gets wrong. Manufacturer channels post repair videos for their own machines, and those tend to be the most accurate.
Community repair events
In many towns, volunteers hold free events where they fix broken household items with you and teach you as they go. They are usually called repair cafes or fix-it clinics, and they handle things like lamps, fans, vacuum cleaners, small appliances, and furniture. You bring the broken item, a volunteer with repair skills sits down with you, and together you try to fix it at no charge. The Repair Cafe directory at https://repaircafe.us/ lists community repair programs and fix-it clinics across the country.
If nothing is listed near you, ask at your public library, since libraries and community centers host many of these events and their calendars list them. Some tool lending libraries also teach free or low-cost classes on basic repair skills. Home Depot and Lowe's both run free workshops as well; most are online classes you can watch live or on demand, and some stores hold in-person sessions, so ask at the service desk about the schedule at your store.
Buy the exact replacement part with the model number
A large share of appliance breakdowns come down to one small failed part. A dryer that will not heat may need a thermal fuse. A refrigerator that will not seal may need a door gasket. A washer that will not fill may need a fill valve. A gas oven that will not light may need an igniter. Each of these parts costs a small fraction of a service call, and replacing one can keep a machine running for years instead of sending it to the landfill.
The key is ordering the exact part for your exact machine, and that requires the model number. Look for the sticker or plate that lists it: inside the door frame or on the interior wall of a refrigerator, inside the door opening of a washer or dryer, behind the bottom drawer or on the frame of a stove, on the side label of a water heater, and inside the front panel of a furnace. Type that model number into a parts site such as Repair Clinic, mentioned above, and it returns the parts made for your machine along with videos showing how to install them. Manufacturers sell parts for their own machines on their websites as well, and many cities still have a local appliance parts dealer that will look up a part over the phone and hand it to you the same day.
Before ordering, watch the replacement video for the part all the way through. If the job requires discharging a capacitor, working on a sealed refrigeration system, or opening a microwave, it is not a beginner job, and the money is better spent on a technician.
Borrow tools instead of buying them
The cost of tools stops many people before they start, and you may only need a given tool once. Tool lending libraries let members check out drills, saws, ladders, and other equipment for a week or two at a time, for free or for a small yearly membership fee. Some are run by nonprofits and some by public libraries. The Tool Library Alliance map at https://www.toollibraryalliance.org/map shows lending libraries across the country, and because the map does not list every one, it is worth asking at your own public library too, since a growing number of library systems lend tools directly with a regular library card.
Asking to borrow costs nothing. A neighbor, a relative, or a local online group where people give away and lend things will often turn up the exact tool you need for a weekend. For a one-day job that calls for something specialized, renting from a home improvement store or an equipment rental company costs a small fraction of the purchase price.
Pay less for materials
Habitat for Humanity runs nonprofit reuse stores called ReStores that sell donated building materials, doors, windows, cabinets, flooring, appliances, tools, and fixtures at prices well below retail. The inventory changes constantly, so check back more than once. Use the Habitat ReStore locator at https://www.habitat.org/restores to find the closest store.
Hardware and paint stores sell returned and mistinted paint at a large discount, so if the color does not have to be exact, ask where the marked-down paint is kept. When you need an appliance or fixture, ask about open-box, returned, floor-model, and scratch-and-dent items, where the damage is often only cosmetic. Some cities and counties also have salvage or reuse centers that sell used lumber, doors, sinks, and hardware pulled from remodels and demolition projects. If the project is an update rather than a repair, the NHPB guide to saving money on bathroom updates shows how to refresh a room without paying for a remodel.
Jobs to leave to a professional
The warning at the top of this page is worth repeating in plain terms. Gas lines and gas appliance connections belong to the utility company or a licensed professional. Anything inside your main electrical panel, and any new circuit wiring, belongs to a licensed electrician, even though replacing a light switch or an outlet with the breaker off is a reasonable beginner job. Structural work, meaning load-bearing walls, foundations, sagging beams, and failing porches, is professional work. Stay off the roof, since falls from roofs and ladders cause serious injuries, and the risk is higher for older adults and anyone with balance or mobility problems. The same goes for main sewer lines and plumbing buried inside walls or under a slab, where a mistake can flood the home.
If your home needs one of these repairs and you cannot afford to hire someone, help exists. The NHPB guide to free home repair programs, linked in the warning above, covers grants and other ways to get the work paid for, and there are charities and church groups whose volunteers make repairs at no charge. The NHPB guide to volunteer and charity home repair programs explains who they serve and how to apply.
If you rent your home
Repairs to the structure and systems of a rental, including the roof, the wiring, the plumbing, and the furnace, are normally the landlord's responsibility. Put the repair request in writing, keep a copy, and give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to respond. Do not spend your own money on work the landlord owes you, and do not take on a repair that could later be blamed on you. If the landlord ignores a problem that makes the home unsafe, your city or county code enforcement office can inspect the property, and free legal aid offices help tenants with repair disputes.
The information on this page is general and is not professional repair, electrical, plumbing, safety, or legal advice. Organizations, websites, store policies, warranties, and lending programs change and vary by location, so confirm the details directly with the manufacturer, store, library, or agency before you rely on them.
Related Content From Needhelppayingbills.com
|
Need help navigating programs?