Avoiding costly home repair bills

Washing machine making a funny noise? Dishwasher not draining properly? Radiator not working? Do you know whether it’s time to call out a handyman, or if it’s a minor problem you can easily fix yourself? 

There’s nothing more frustrating than paying an engineer’s call-out charge only to find out it was only a minor job you probably could have tackled yourself if you’d known where to start. It’s especially frustrating if you waited in all day for a job that only took 5 minutes for someone with a bit more experience. Luckily, there’s now several alternatives that could help you avoid paying costly call-out charges and having to wait in when you just need a bit of support and advice from a handyman or engineer rather than a costly and inconvenient home visit.

Online advice

Always Google your problem! If your appliance isn’t working as expected, or you’re attempting any other kind of home repair, there are plenty of online communities of DIYers to advise you. There are loads of lessons on YouTube showing how to tackle minor home repair jobs and many appliance manufacturers will have FAQ sections that will advise you on your problem. We like sites such as ukwhitegoods.co.uk and repairclinic.com to get an idea of the size of the problem we’re facing.

Get a virtual handyman

There are now several services that offer ‘virtual handymen’ services, which can help you solve your problem with remote support. Quite often these are retired service engineers or handymen with loads of experience fixing household problems. For a small fee they can advise you down the phone-line or using a service such as FaceTime or Skype so you can show them the problem using video conferencing. We especially like seeandfixit.com (SAFI), which costs just £10 for ten minutes chat with an experienced handyman. Services like these could save you a costly call-out charge by helping you solve minor problems over the telephone. It’s also much quicker than making a service appointment for a home visit.

Remember – penny wise households will roll up their sleeves and have a crack at minor DIY jobs around the home, but always be safe!

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