Al Heavens is a Haddonfield, N.J.- based, nationally syndicated, home-improvement writer and author whose newspaper columns, magazine articles and books have been the first word on remodeling for 50 million readers for more than three decades. He is the author of What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating Your Home and Remodeling on The Money: Fifteen Innovative Projects Designed to Add Value to Your Home and was “The Gadgeteer” on Discovery Channel’s Home Matters program.
When you read this, all the members of my household should have had their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and be well on their way to full immunization, or as full as we are supposed to be while continuing to adhere to the mask-and-social-distancing protocols.
For me, this long-awaited and very first step on the road to normality means my first professional haircut, my first swim in an indoor pool, and my first in-person, rather than virtual, Mass in more than a year.
It also means that I can finally start bringing some professionals into my house safely for estimates on several long-delayed projects.
One, undone for many years before the pandemic, is the construction of a safer landing at the top of the second-floor stairway. The previous owners went cheap on several things, and the spindles, railings, and newel posts at the top of the stairs are glaring examples.
At first, I thought about doing it myself. Then, I looked in the bathroom mirror.
“You’re 70 years old,” the guy in the mirror said to me. “A year away from the gym and regular exercise has aged you, and the added weight means you now take up two seats on the High-Speed Line instead of one.”
“We should call a contractor for an estimate,” I said to my wife, knowing in advance who I am planning to call.
I think she fell in love with me all over again. After all, in the 41 years we have been married, she has watched me go from a naturally inept do-it-yourself wannabe to someone who, with the aid of how-to books and PBS Hometime videos, has become slightly more “ept.”
If you have been following my posts regularly, I have been reporting the results of surveys showing that many homeowners have made good use of this extended period of confinement to complete improvement projects, whether by professionals or do-it-yourself. Now, however, a survey by Sears Home Services has uncovered evidence to the contrary.
About 70 percent of 1,000 homeowners responding to the survey reported delaying some kind of repair, whether minor or major.
Fifty-seven percent said they believed it to be all right to postpone critical home repairs during the pandemic. Thirty-eight percent delayed small, nonessential repairs, while 19 percent of homeowners put off critical repairs on their homes, and 13 percent delayed both.
The reason, of course, is money.
The pandemic has forced 39 percent of the respondents to cut their monthly expenses, and more than a quarter have increased the amount of money they are putting into savings. Others have been forced to take on more credit card debt, defer paying their bills, or even borrow against their retirement savings.
Fifty percent are withdrawing money to pay for repairs, while 37 percent were financing the work with credit cards. Some have been borrowing from family or friends to pay for needed repairs.
At the top of the list of repairs that were made during the pandemic was the refrigerator, at an average cost of $339. Considering that more people were eating at home, keeping the fridge in good order should be at the top.
The cost of the most common repairs completed during the pandemic averaged less than $400, according to the Sears survey. The least expensive were sink repairs – probably faucet replacement or clearing clogs – at $154.
The most expensive repairs were for roofs at $700 and HVAC systems at $717.
About 37 percent of those surveyed expressed regret for paying for repairs during the pandemic, but the survey was not clear why they were sorry. Perhaps the comment of one person is an indication: “Do research online. A lot of times, it is a problem you can fix yourself.”
The caveat is, of course, that when you do online research, you will need to check out more than one source, and then find a way to determine the value of the advice. In the academic and scientific worlds, this is called “peer review.”
On average, homeowners believed it would take almost $3,000 to complete their outstanding home repairs, which would take an average of 6.7 months to save for. Eighty percent said they would need another federal stimulus check to finance critical home repairs.
Uncompleted repairs meant that 30 percent of these homeowners had to delay moving or prevented them from selling their homes, the survey reported.
In some cases, delaying home improvements or maintenance — even seemingly minor projects like caulking or a small water leak — can lead to major home damage over time and more costly repairs, the survey concluded.
“For your own emotional health, you need to make repairs to make life more comfortable,” one woman in the survey said.
I always have been a proponent of regular home maintenance. For example, before the heating season begins in the winter and the cooling season in the summer, I change the air filter in the furnace. The filter costs about $30.
I change the water filter in the refrigerator every six months. Ice cubes or eggshells sharpen garbage-disposal blades regularly.
A plumber once told me to periodically pour vinegar and baking soda down the drains to clear them before hair and soap collects into gunk to block them. I do, once a month.
I also flush my 50-gallon hot water heater annually to prevent settlement buildup that can shorten its life.
Whether you hire someone or do it yourself, clear those gutters of leaves and debris regularly to keep rainwater and snowmelt away from the foundation.
Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no “honey-do” list in my house, nor has there ever been. The second-floor landing has been the only project besides adding a tub to the master bath that my wife has ever proposed. We hired someone to redo the master bath 20 years ago, and it ended up being exactly what she wanted.
She deserves to have the landing done correctly and safely and completed in real-time, rather than Al’s time, which, for major one-or two-week projects, is a minimum of two years.
The other things on Home Projects 2021 list involve plumbing and electrical work, two things any regular reader of these blog posts know I refuse to tackle unless there is no chance of flooding the house or burning it down.
For example, shortly after the start of the pandemic, the sink in the master bath was draining slowly. The clog seemed to be in the pipe behind the wall. Normally, I would call the plumber to unclog it. Instead, I disconnected the P-trap, attached the Shop-Vac to the pipe in the wall, and flipped the switch.
Clog cleared. I was, of course, not surprised, but my wife certainly was.
The things that need doing fall into the categories of (a) problems you inherit and plan to tackle the day after settlement but remain on the to-do list 20 years later and (b) stuff that needs replacing after decades of wear and tear.
Although the last 14 months have been unlike any in my lifetime, they did afford an opportunity to do some projects around the house – primarily outdoors. I only handled indoor projects that qualify as emergency repairs – clogged sinks, running toilets, loose cabinet doors, and stuck drawers – because being inside the house made the lockdown even more unbearable.
Remember, you cannot prevent stuff from happening, but you can stop problems from accumulating and overwhelming you.