Breakdowns and other malfunctions, we would like to do without them! Except that as long as you have a roof over your head and the equipment to make your life easier, everyday hassles are inevitable. The complexity of the world around us is the source of multiple breakdowns or operational problems. Cradled by our ultra-consumer society, we may be tempted to immediately replace what is not working well and throw things away to save time. But buying new rather than repairing also means supporting the exploitation of natural resources and limited energy sources. Fixing rather than replacing and throwing away, it's ecological! It is quite possible to take advantage of home repair services or to do some small (or less small) repairs yourself, a gesture that is both practical and eco-responsible!

Let's be green: let's repair instead of replacing!

If you are having serious problems on the networks of plumbing, electricity and heating, the inconvenience caused can quickly weigh you down. A plumbing leak in an apartment can quickly be catastrophic for the condominium and requires very rapid intervention to limit the damage! While some small faults can be solved by yourself, a major failure of heating, water heater, circuit breaker that blows by short-circuit and other major electrical network problems should be diagnosed by a professional such as a electrician Depanneo. For your safety on the one hand, but also for your comfort and to avoid depriving the household of water, electricity, heating or domestic hot water and not causing damage to a third party.

However, a radiator or water heater problem does not mean you should immediately buy a new one!

Unless you know it seriously, it can be difficult to know theorigin of the failure and whether this requires changing hardware. The intervention of a professional will often be necessary to assess the seriousness of the situation and prevent it from worsening. Depending on its diagnosis, you will know if the best solution is a part replacement, installation or a simple repair. Unless the installation is outdated, repairs can almost always be considered. Many convenience stores offer to come for free to give you a quote. Use the latter to know if his intervention is essential or if you (and your loved ones possibly) can solve the problem together. Be careful in the event of a major breakdown, always walk the competition and don't sign the first quote received without comparing prices and repair solutions. Indeed, a repair can be an opportunity to improve the existing at a lower cost. Do not hesitate to ask your questions about forums repair specialists.

Evaluate the professional who comes to you

So don't hesitate to ask a few questions when the professional comes to your home, having taken care to prepare them beforehand, by informing you on the internet and forums for example. You will be able to quickly assess his professionalism. A professional who gets annoyed with too many questions is not a good professional who listens to his clients. Ask if your installation can be improved and for what purposes during the repair. This will give you an idea of ​​what to improve in the future.

Locksmithing: still overcharged?

Locksmith worries are fairly easy to fix, but they pose emergency problems if you're locked out. If you are a tenant, the first instinct, if it is not too late, is to contact your landlord or trustee. They may be able to help you out temporarily, for example if you lost your keys or the door slammed locking you outside.

In other cases, you will also need to contact your insurance for know what you can do without breaking your guarantees. If you can repair the lock yourself, it will be more economical and you will avoid the need for a professional to come, but you have to be equipped. You should also know that the emergency intervention of a locksmith or a repairman is not always covered by home insurance. If it is, it is not necessarily completely. Check with your advisor.

It is well known that locksmith problems are a source of overcharging and various scams. So be careful!

La carpentry

A window is broken in your home? Left as is, it invites humidity, wind and dust inside. If the glazing is still in place, the first thing to do is make a makeshift repair with moving tape so that the glass does not fall. If the glazing has fallen at least in part, then carefully remove all the bits of glass without hurting yourself and replace it temporarily with a wooden plate of the OSB type…. Or at worst a cardboard box!

For the final repair, examine the frame (support) to see if it is possible and worthwhile to repair it. If it's an old, poorly maintained single-glazed wooden carpentry that has lots of leaks or no longer closes properly: don't fix it, change it to modern carpentry. If the door frame is still in good condition, which is the case most of the time, you can simply replace the glass. As most windows are not standardized in dimensions, it will be necessary to make a custom repair, in this case it will be necessary to go through a professional. He will take care of the preparation of the new glazing and the installation. Be careful in the event of a complete change of joinery, there is inevitable damage to the framing walls… and often the finishes are not included in the estimate. Do not hesitate to ask the question!

Repairs that you can do yourself

Not all house breakdowns require professional intervention. Is your toilet leaking? This kind of problem is not very difficult to solve, especially for pull-out models. Do not hesitate to consult some tutorials on YouTube or any DIY blog to help you rather than buying new equipment. It would be consuming for a concern that could be resolved in a much more eco-responsible way.

Two examples of videos to help repair a Washing Machine and a Microwave oven which loses its power :

If you have a handyman around you, you can offer him an exchange for help with your small repairs. Changing a faucet, a lamp base or even treating a wooden window frame are small repairs within everyone's reach. In addition, it is often by tinkering that we improve in tinkering. You might even get a taste for it! There is nothing more rewarding than being able to do things yourself. You will also help protect the environment and its resources on your own scale by consuming no more than you should!

Raise awareness throughout the house?

And why not involve your children in your repair projects ? Without necessarily involving them, you could at least explain to them what is going on, what is not working and what needs to be fixed. They will assimilate sooner rather than later better to fix things oneself, as long as they can be and are within our reach.

Self-confidence is a strength, overestimating yourself is a weakness. You have to know your skills and your limits and not never overlook the risks when considering a repair. Risks as much physical for your health (see the video on the microwave above) as economic for the future of a badly made repair. In other words : do not risk thousands of euros to save a few dozen.

Bringing in a repair professional is therefore a necessity for many breakdown cases. There are still some nice ones: see the solutions with him, discuss the prices… and above all compare with the competition. It is indeed more and more difficult to repair in our current society which, for economic reasons, tends to want systematically to replace by new rather than repair. But often, and this is the height of theplanned obsolescence, something new will last less than an older device that has already been repaired but more resistant because better with a better initial design.

In short, there are certain repairs which are economically very interesting.

A repair question ?