... Ya know, if I was in your neighborhood, I woulda helped out with all that and probably saved you a few hundred dollars. There's much to be said about
having degrees in Domestic Engineering and Handyman Technician.
Letsee... I can install various appliances, including light fixtures, ceiling fans, and even the switches if I have the proper materials and tools available.
This includes natural gas appliances such as dryers and stoves. I can fix or even replace toilets and their associated valves and fittings, and I've even
good with showers and tubs. I can balance chemicals in a swimming pool, organize a kitchen, and assemble furniture.
Also within my abilities is assembling a computer from component parts, installing operating systems on said computer, and all the other sundry software and
drivers. I've done this before when my mother has asked me to canibalize several non-functioning towers so my brothers could have something to mess with
(this, of course, means trouble-shooting to find out what parts are bad or good).
I can also work on cars. Not only the simple stuff like lube jobs and filter changes, but I can also replace brake pads/shoes, replace or repack wheel
barrings, replace alternators, radiators, water pumps, fan belts... even a drive shaft. With some help I'd bet I can pull an engine or transmission and
drop one back in. Been sorely tempted to do so on several occasions.
I guess you get the idea at this point.
Chris, it would serve you well to find a few good DIY books because there've been times when I or myself have saved my family hundreds or even thousands of
dollars because we handled a few jobs on our own.
The leak from the dishwasher sounds fairly easy. Probably a bad hose or seal somewhere. That's an easy fix and the part is cheap enough (seals: $0.50-$5.00
hoses: $5-15).
Your dishwasher's valve probably had a bad seal. It shouldn't have been the solenoid since those tend to fail in the closed position for obvious
reasons (better to have a non-functioning valve that doesn't leak instead of one that does). Another thing wrong could be that mineral deposits could have
jammed it open. Seen it before. This is usually an easy enough fix and the part, I would guess, could cost as little as twenty dollars. Supply and demand, you
see. So many people liek you say fuck it and buy new instead of buying parts which are readily available, even for the 'ancient' models (really,
ancient means it's from the sixties or something and all the major brands carry parts for models going as far back as the eighties or further).
The really serious problem was your cut-off valve. That could have been a lot more troublesome since not only would you have had to shut off your entire water
supply (not really all that hard, just inconvenient), and then, depending on whether you had copper or PVC pipes, soldered or glued a new valve on. Or maybe
your might have been able to replace the valve seal, or, at worst, the valve seat, thus avoiding having to deal with the mess of solder or glue (pain in the
butt).
Toilets are a piece of cake and the parts are cheap as hell. From the sound of it, you may have needed to replace the float and valve assembly. Twenty bucks at
a hardware store, easy. Easy to chage out too. Just shut of the toilet's supply, use a crescent (adjustable) wrench to take the supply line off, then
remove the old assembly (you usually don't need the wrench because that part tends to be plastic, finger tight, and not designed for wrenches). Instalation
is the reverse. Simple, no?
having degrees in Domestic Engineering and Handyman Technician.
Letsee... I can install various appliances, including light fixtures, ceiling fans, and even the switches if I have the proper materials and tools available.
This includes natural gas appliances such as dryers and stoves. I can fix or even replace toilets and their associated valves and fittings, and I've even
good with showers and tubs. I can balance chemicals in a swimming pool, organize a kitchen, and assemble furniture.
Also within my abilities is assembling a computer from component parts, installing operating systems on said computer, and all the other sundry software and
drivers. I've done this before when my mother has asked me to canibalize several non-functioning towers so my brothers could have something to mess with
(this, of course, means trouble-shooting to find out what parts are bad or good).
I can also work on cars. Not only the simple stuff like lube jobs and filter changes, but I can also replace brake pads/shoes, replace or repack wheel
barrings, replace alternators, radiators, water pumps, fan belts... even a drive shaft. With some help I'd bet I can pull an engine or transmission and
drop one back in. Been sorely tempted to do so on several occasions.
I guess you get the idea at this point.
Chris, it would serve you well to find a few good DIY books because there've been times when I or myself have saved my family hundreds or even thousands of
dollars because we handled a few jobs on our own.
The leak from the dishwasher sounds fairly easy. Probably a bad hose or seal somewhere. That's an easy fix and the part is cheap enough (seals: $0.50-$5.00
hoses: $5-15).
Your dishwasher's valve probably had a bad seal. It shouldn't have been the solenoid since those tend to fail in the closed position for obvious
reasons (better to have a non-functioning valve that doesn't leak instead of one that does). Another thing wrong could be that mineral deposits could have
jammed it open. Seen it before. This is usually an easy enough fix and the part, I would guess, could cost as little as twenty dollars. Supply and demand, you
see. So many people liek you say fuck it and buy new instead of buying parts which are readily available, even for the 'ancient' models (really,
ancient means it's from the sixties or something and all the major brands carry parts for models going as far back as the eighties or further).
The really serious problem was your cut-off valve. That could have been a lot more troublesome since not only would you have had to shut off your entire water
supply (not really all that hard, just inconvenient), and then, depending on whether you had copper or PVC pipes, soldered or glued a new valve on. Or maybe
your might have been able to replace the valve seal, or, at worst, the valve seat, thus avoiding having to deal with the mess of solder or glue (pain in the
butt).
Toilets are a piece of cake and the parts are cheap as hell. From the sound of it, you may have needed to replace the float and valve assembly. Twenty bucks at
a hardware store, easy. Easy to chage out too. Just shut of the toilet's supply, use a crescent (adjustable) wrench to take the supply line off, then
remove the old assembly (you usually don't need the wrench because that part tends to be plastic, finger tight, and not designed for wrenches). Instalation
is the reverse. Simple, no?