Congratulations on buying your first house. Now, you have to learn how to keep it in good repair. To be safe, you should set aside money every year — 1% to 3% of your home’s purchase price — for repairs and maintenance.The good news is that most repairs are simple, inexpensive, and DIY-friendly. If you can fix stuff yourself, you’ll only pay for the cost of materials and save a bundle on these common repairs and replacements.That annoying sound of water continually filling and draining from your toilet tank is often caused by leaky fill valve, which a plumber can replace, stopping water waste and restoring quiet. Plumber rates vary widely around the country, from $45 to $150 per hour, and the job will take about two hours — the minimum some plumbers require just to take the job.Related: Home Maintenance 101: 7 Things Every Homeowner Should KnowThe water torture drip-drip-drip from a leaky faucet won’t just drive you insane, it can drive up water bills, too. Depending on the type of faucet you have, fixes typically involve replacing damaged rubber washers (10 for $2), O-rings (10 for $2), or a faucet cartridge ($8 to $30).

If you’ve got a ceiling fan, sooner or later the motor will burn out, the blades will warp, and fashions will change, so you’ll need to replace it. Replacing isn’t a big deal, because upgraded wiring, a reinforced ceiling box, and a light switch with ceiling fan controls are already in place. cheap handyman south east londonWhat you’re paying for is an electrician’s time — one or two hours — and a new fixture.cheap handyman south east londonRelated:Know the Spin Before You Install a Ceiling FanNicks, gashes, and smashes inevitably mar your beautiful walls. business for sale kijiji ottawaYou’ll have to patch and paint to make them look as good as new. db handyman services

A painter can do both jobs and will probably give you a flat rate that will include patching or filling blemishes, then sanding, priming, and painting.Painters charge $25 to $62 per hour for labor or $2.68 to $4.60 per square foot including materials. Figure it will take about three hours to repair a wall, including drying time for the patching compound and paint. handyman services north sydneyIt’s a good idea to save up painting chores so you have enough to keep a painter busy while repairs cure.handyman club of america member loginMaterials include paint at $12 to $50 or more a gallon, which should cover about 350 square feet; business for sale pembertonplus another $10 to $50 for brushes, rollers, drop clothes, and drywall patching compound.

Related: Patch a Drywall HoleTile is hard and durable, but drop something heavy on it and it’s likely to crack — a reason to always order more tile than you need so you’ll always have spares. To replace cracked tiles, a handyman must pry out the damaged tiles, scrape away old fixative, re-glue new tiles, and spread new grout. Replacing a 2-foot-by-2-foot section of tile should take one to two hours, not including the drying time required for the adhesive to set.Related: Smart Tips for Choosing Bathroom FlooringCaulk is the waterproof seal around sinks, tubs, and showers that prevents moisture from seeping through gaps and onto drywall and flooring. When caulk cracks or peels, it should be replaced immediately to prevent mold and rot.A handyman can dig out old caulk around a tub and reseal with new in about an hour.Related: How to Remove CaulkGutters and downspouts carry water from rain and snow away from your house and onto the ground. Sometimes the weight of wet snow and soggy leaves puts too much pressure on gutters, causing them to pull away from the house or pitch at inefficient angles.

A gutter contractor will clean gutters, and replace or reinstall supportive hardware and hangers. To restore the correct pitch, the contractor must detach and reattach each gutter section.Related: How to Unclog a GutterOver time, your house moves as its foundation settles and building materials expand and contract with changes in humidity. The movement often is noticed when doorframes shift slightly, causing hinges to creak and doors to not shut properly.Adding wooden shims to frames and hinges can bring doors back into alignment and let them easily open and close once again. Replacing worn-out screws with longer screws helps secure hinges tightly.A handyman can fix a door in about an hour. Materials will include shims and screws.Related: 9 Gorgeous Ideas for New Interior DoorsIf your house isn’t insulated correctly or your roof isn’t designed correctly, melting roof snow can run off and freeze around roof edges. Eventually, this can form an ice dam that creeps up your roof, damaging shingles and forcing melting water into your home.

One popular solution to ice damming is to install a heating cable along the roof’s edge, which warms the area and prevents freezing. It’s not a DIY job. Roofing contractors will install the cable, and an electrician will install outlets that will juice up the cable. If you want a thermostat to turn the cable on and off automatically, that’ll be extra, too.Sometimes you turn on the light but nothing happens; or sparks crackle, and the light turns on. It’s disconcerting, but most likely it’s an easy fix. An electrician will turn off the power, take off the faceplate, check and perhaps tighten wires; or replace the switch. All told, it will take less than an hour.Labor: $50 to $100 per hourMaterials: $1 to $6 for a single pole light switchTotal: $41 to $106Related: How much should it cost for an electrician to replace a combination GFCI switch and receptacle? I have a combination receptacle GFCI/switch in my bathroom. What would the cost be for an electrician to replace it, including a two gang cover plate?

Do you have the same question?  Unless you feel uncomfortable doing minor repairs or don't understand that you should turn the electicity OFF before doing such installations...you can do the job yourself with a screwdriver and needle nose pliars...within 15 minutes. 5-10 minutes if you've done it before. Answered 2 years ago $65 to $85 for labor + $20 for parts.$85 to $105 total. Answered 5 years ago Most electricians are going to have a minimum charge to go to your home. It costs legitimate contractors so much in licensing, insurance, vehicle costs, office costs, etc. that it isn't worth their time to drive 30 minutes each way & spend 15 minutes on a job, only charging for one hour or even less. I wouldn't be surprised if most master electicians in your area don't charge a minimum of $100-150 in labor per service call. Most around here won't start their trucks for less than $200-250 but they got a bit spoiled during the construction boom and haven't come down much here yet.

by Todd's Home Services Assuming that there is a proper ground conductor present at the outlet box, the price may cost anywhere between $125-$170. A standard receptacle can be replaced with a GFCI outlet if there is proper ground-conducor at the receptacle box. In other words, for a GFCI outlet to function properly and "interupt" when its intended to, there needs to be a proper source of grounding at the main panel and at the receptacle where the GFIC outlet is going to be installed. Furthurmore, if there is not a reliable source of ground at the receptacle box, then the liability of the malfunctioning GFCI installed is witht the electrician who installed the GFCI without inspecting the ground and advising the home-owner on it. If there is no gound and the outlet box, provision of ground needs to be performed to ensure safety.I hope this helps. Sounds like a 2 hour service minimum at $65 Dollars Each Plus About $20 For Materials. So Roughly $150.00 Not Including any Discounts The Customer Gona Receive as Well (We Run Specials Everyday!).

So Roughly $130.00 - $150.00. Answered 4 years ago The first answer is closest to the mark!. You can readily hire a licensed electrician for $30-40 per hour. Many of these guys are right on craigslist, and would be HAPPY to make $40 cash to come out and do this for you. Think of it this way - $40 an hour is $80,000 a year. And since we all know that they aren't going to report that $40 cash - it's even more. There are LOTS of very qualified guys who need a bit of side work. The higher costs quoted by the other guys are laughable, and just demonstrate the incredible premium that some people put for what is very SIMPLE work. The whole thing will take like perhaps 30 min to do. It's just shutting off the right breaker, and swapping out the internals. This does assume that a ground wire is present, to be used. Answered 3 years ago It would cost approximately $65-$85 for the service call and $20 for the parts and take a qualified electrician ten to fifteen minutes, you can easily hire someone to do it on the side for far less, as long as you keep in mind that someone doing it on the side, for cheap, is just that, he has no responsibility for your job