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I am one who believes firmly that LIFE SKILLS ought to be required in high school. Not Home Economics - LIFE SKILLS. Basic banking and checking skills and concepts, how to pay bills, how to keep your credit straight, how to fix a toilet and a disposal, basic tool skills, basic sewing skills (OMG, I can't believe the people who can't hem anything or sew a dang button on!), basic home/property ownership skills or at least a heads' up as in "Hey, dude, guess what - you're probably going to have to clean out your gutters. You may need to change your dryer vent. Caulk a window or a bathtub. Fix a leak under a sink. MOW YOUR YARD." You know, that sort of thing. Oh - and "Here's how to change a tire, check your tire pressure, oh and get this - you have to get your oil changed too, and pay for insurance."
Oh and this is how to boil water, clean the filter in your dryer, and don't mix ammonia and bleach together. That sort of most basic thing that so many people simply do not know.
In a perfect world, parents would teach their kids this stuff.
I had pretty attentive parents, and yet they didn't cover all the basics I listed. Not sure many parents do have all those skill sets to pass on (that's assuming there are two parents in the picture, and that's not a given) or the time to do so (that's a whole other story). That's why I think so many of these life skills should be taught in school.
In a perfect world, parents would teach their kids this stuff.
I had pretty attentive parents, and yet they didn't cover all the basics I listed. Not sure many parents do have all those skill sets to pass on (that's assuming there are two parents in the picture, and that's not a given) or the time to do so (that's a whole other story). That's why I think so many of these life skills should be taught in school.
As an elective, I agree.
I don't want to have to unteach my kids a bunch of stuff.
I was never taught a single thing about home maintenance by anybody, and I am not good at that type of thing and do not like doing it.
I haven't had the slightest bit of trouble with keeping my home maintained, though, in the past 20 years of home ownership as a single person with nobody to help me. If something bothers me or seems to need attention and is more than I can handle, then I have my handyman or another repairman fix or replace it. No big deal and this hasn't been very expensive to do, either.
When I sold my last house, after 13 years, the inspectors said it didn't need many repairs so I guess that this method works well enough for me.
I think home maintenance can be pretty trivial if you begin by buying a home that is in reasonably good shape.
Yeah this is where I am too, I’m not sure what all of this work is? We buy new homes. My house has no roof or gutter issues and any house I buy won’t be mine anymore when it does have those issues. It’s like cars, I’ve rarely owned a car long enough to have any problems with it. My house has no yard, the front yard is maintained by the HOA for a cheap $86/month that maybe covers a few other tidiness things like leafs on sidewalks. Who knows, but our neighborhood always looks nice. If a real issue came up I’d call the handyman and it wouldn’t be a big deal. The worst I’ve ever had nobody here could fix anyway, which was a faulty motherboard on a fridge - I had no idea fridges had motherboards lol - and a broken disposal unit because the idiots who lived there before literally shoved lobster shells and broken wine glasses down it. Nice surprise a week after move in!
My house is 54 years old, but was in reasonably good shape when I bought it. I had to have the HVAC replaced, but my home inspector alerted me to the fact that it was getting pretty old when I bought the house. I bought new appliances when I moved in, and they are all fine. I hire someone to do the yard work. My handyman or other repairmen have hardly been needed but are happy for the work if I need something fixed or upgraded. I change the air conditioner filters when I think about it, and change the batteries in my keypad entry and so on once a year. Like you, I'm not sure what all this work is. Or, maybe it's just that hiring it out is very affordable in my area.
I watched my parents they did everything. I learned to clean, repair wood that got chipped or scratched. How to take something apart and put it back together. I have fixed my toaster, the older washers I could take it apart and repair it. I learned to paint the walls,in the house and we had to scrape paint off outside of house and repaint. I can fix a hole in the wall and you will never know it was there. My father built 3 homes with just my mom's help.
I was not taught home maintenance as a kid, but more like home survival. My Dad bought a old house in 1957 and when he drove up in the dirt drive to show it to Mom with me sitting in the back seat, I watched as sheep jumped out of the buildings "used to be" windows.
I was just five then, but for the next 5 years I spent a lot of time assisting Dad making the shack a habitable home. The only thing he never got around to "fixing" on the old barn made a home, was installing indoor plumbing.
And there is really no excuse for anyone not knowing how to maintain their home today, that owns a computer with internet connections. There is no question out here probably, that one cannot find their answer to, on the home "DIY" sites today.
Just type DIY in the browser, and then get all the FREE info they will need to repair, build, install or tear out...anything on their home. Or how to repair/maintain anything that is inside or outside, of their home/property. JMO
I really don’t think house maintenance or related information could be taught in schools, there are too many aspects falling into that category with all of the different disciplines involved.
Perhaps a brief overview for maintenance purposes would be the best as well as where to go to readup in order to diagnose a problem. There are so many different specific items that could be a problem and the best solution is to read up, google, YouTube, forums, etc once your faced with a problem.
Having the desire to diagnose the problem and attempting to resolve on your own is your greatest asset as well knowing when to call in a professional if it’s beyond your capability.
Firstly as a renter it's not my responsibility to be doing maint. THAT is why my rent is so high to begin with (supposedly) . Do I clean up spills and check my fire detector..yup! Beyond that ...it's up to the property management to fix the oven gas leak or the light fixture wiring. I'm not their money bags.
I agree with that but from the OP it sounded as if some tenants didn't even know when to report anything that might be easy to fix now but a bigger problem down the road; water damage comes to mind.
I like the idea of an on-line tutorial (and they probably exist on YouTube) for new homeowners. I was fortunate to have been raised with DIY parents; they did all their own painting, Dad had helped build our first house, could do most plumbing repairs and finished off the basement with tile flooring and wood paneling. I still remember my sister drinking a little of the turpentine they'd used to rinse off the paint brushes because they were using white paint and she thought it was milk. Oops. She survived.
I'm not that handy and I'm 66- have sworn off anything on very high ladders and won't take on anything that's likely to be very expensive to fix if I mess it up (that would include most plumbing work). I have tiled floors, removed wallpaper, painted walls and scraped off "popcorn" ceilings. Would do all that again.
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She survived.
