Mr. Fix-it

After verifying that the condenser was clean and that the external drain hose seemed to be unobstructed, I turned to YouTube. There, I quickly learned that ours was a common problem and one that, with some effort, we could address ourselves.

It involved taking a good deal of the dryer apart and cleaning accumulated lint from the small water pump that sends the extracted moisture down the drain hose, but by carefully following the YouTuber’s directions, we soon had it back together and working smoothly.

My father was born during the Depression and grew up in a household where nothing was wasted and the family did as much as possible for themselves. He believed that when something broke, with few exceptions, you fixed it yourself. Even after he had become successful, he continued to repair most things rather than replace them. This was a philosophy he passed on to me, along with some of the skills needed to make those repairs.

In today’s high-tech world, many of our possessions are not really meant to be repaired. And yet, they often can be. Although I wouldn’t personally attempt to replace a cracked screen or dying battery in my cellphone — I’d leave such a delicate operation to a professional — for those with the skills, it is possible. I have replaced rechargeable batteries in simpler small appliances, including a handheld vacuum and an electric razor.

I grew up doing my own simple car maintenance — oil and coolant changes, air filter replacements, basic tune-ups and such — and even some more substantial repairs, like replacing a blown water pump in my Ford Fiesta. Sadly, modern cars have become so complicated that most repairs require diagnostic equipment and skills beyond the average shade-tree mechanic. One of our cars is fully electric, and one is a plug-in hybrid, putting them mostly beyond my skill set. Thus, we have them regularly serviced at the appropriate dealership. Fortunately, they — like many of our high-tech gadgets — seem to be far more reliable than comparable items of old and need little more than periodic checkups.

Like my dad, I get a great deal of satisfaction from repairing something myself. Recently, my sister-in-law mentioned that she had an older lamp that had stopped working. Guessing the problem was most likely the socket, I swapped it out for a new one — just $5 from Ace Hardware — and, just in case, changed out the plug as well. It took me about 10 minutes, and the lamp is usable once more.

Thanks to my upbringing, I’m usually not afraid to tackle many basic repair and maintenance tasks, even ones I’ve never done before. But many people not only lack the skills, they also don’t have the confidence to attempt such tasks. With the loss of shop classes in many schools — most of which didn’t teach these specific skills but at least established a familiarity with tools — those who weren’t taught to fix things by parents or other close relatives likely don’t even try. That’s a shame, given how easy many common repairs often are and how much a professional will charge. That dryer repair, which cost me nothing but time, would easily have cost $100 or more.

Surely, there would be demand for simple classes teaching basic repair and maintenance. Rather than at the high school or community college level, such classes probably make more sense as part of the many programs offered by local parks, recreation and community services departments. These could be short — a couple of nights, perhaps — and focused on specific topics like basic household electrical or plumbing, taught by retired or even current contractors. Such classes would not only build student confidence and a skill set to tackle routine repairs, they would also allow teachers to make further use of skills they spent a career developing.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.