Beginner home repairs: five fixes that save a call-out fee

Most small repairs are simpler than they look, and each one you do yourself saves a call-out fee that often costs more than the part. These five come up in every home. None need special skill. All of them have a clear line where you should stop and call a professional — I mark it each time.

Basic kit: a screwdriver set (Phillips and flat), an adjustable wrench, a utility knife, a putty knife, and a tube of white silicone. Add a plunger and you cover 90% of what follows.

1. A toilet that keeps running

A running toilet wastes water quietly and constantly. The usual culprit is the flapper — the rubber seal at the bottom of the tank that has gone stiff or warped, so it no longer seals.

1. Turn off the supply valve behind the toilet.
2. Flush to empty the tank.
3. Unclip the old flapper and take it to the hardware store to match it.
4. Clip the new one on, reconnect the chain with a little slack, turn the water back on.

Cost: a few dollars. If the water still runs after a new flapper, the fill valve or the float needs adjusting — both are cheap screw-in parts.

Stop and call a pro if water is leaking from the base onto the floor. That is a wax-ring or cracked-bowl job, not a tank fix.

2. A dripping tap

A steady drip is almost always a worn washer or cartridge.

1. Turn off the water under the sink and plug the drain so screws cannot fall in.
2. Pry off the decorative cap on the handle, undo the screw, lift the handle off.
3. Unscrew the retaining nut, pull out the cartridge or washer, match it at the store.
4. Reassemble in reverse. Snug, not gorilla-tight.

Stop and call a pro if the shut-off valve itself leaks when you turn it, or if the pipe is corroded where it meets the wall.

3. A loose cabinet or door handle

The fix is rarely a new handle — it is the screw losing grip in a widened hole.

• Slightly loose: tighten the screw. Done.
• Spins freely: the hole is stripped. Push a couple of wooden toothpicks with a dab of wood glue into the hole, snap them flush, let it set an hour, then drive the screw back in. The screw bites the new wood and holds.

No pro line here — this one is always yours.

4. A squeaky door hinge

Squeaks are metal-on-metal from dry hinges.

1. Open the door and, one hinge at a time, tap the hinge pin up and out with a screwdriver and a light tap of a hammer.
2. Wipe the pin, coat it with a smear of petroleum jelly or a drop of proper lubricant (skip cooking oil — it goes gummy).
3. Slide the pin back. Swing the door a few times to work it in.

Also yours, always. Takes five minutes.

5. A small hole in drywall

Doorknob dents and picture-hook holes patch cleanly.

1. Trim any loose paper around the hole with a utility knife.
2. For a hole up to a coin's width, fill with a little filler on a putty knife, scrape flush, let it dry.
3. Sand smooth with fine sandpaper, wipe the dust, prime the patch, then paint.

For a hole bigger than a golf ball, use a self-adhesive mesh patch under the filler so it has something to grip.

Stop and call a pro if the hole exposes a pipe or wiring, or if the wall is soft and damp around it — that points to a leak behind the surface.

The habit that prevents most repairs

Once a season, walk the house and tighten what is loose, wipe what is wet, and listen for new drips or squeaks. Ten minutes of noticing turns tomorrow's call-out into today's two-minute tighten. Keep the basic kit in one labeled box by the door so "I'll fix it later" becomes "I'll fix it now."