Some background on my dad:
He's an immigrant who currently works in a packaging assembly line for an office furniture company. He understands/speaks very little English and comes from basic education due to his family's financial conditions from when he was young.
A couple months ago our washing machine died on us. We found out that the replacement part would cost a couple hundred dollars because of how old the model is. Our dryer was still healthy so we didn't want to have to replace the whole set. Luckily we found a refurbished/returned washing machine at a local warehouse sale. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, our dryer failed us. After some research I found out that the part that most often fails in dryers is the heating element, so we decided to take the risk and order the replacement part. The part wasn't scheduled to arrive until 2 weeks later, so we had to make use of every clean surface we had in the house to line/hang the clothes. I came home from university last weekend and found out the dryer had been fixed and was working normally! My dad took the entire machine apart, replaced the heating element, and put everything back together BY HIMSELF relying on only this Youtube video. He saved our family a couple hundred dollars of having to purchase yet another machine.
As if rubbing salt to our initial wounds, while I was looking into dryer machines and heating elements, we suddenly heard a crash in the garage. The torsion spring in the garage system had completely snapped apart. Essentially, the garage door could no longer be opened and was leaning on the ground with its full weight. Now this part took a bit more research because we wanted to make sure we got the sizing correct, and it was also more expensive than the heating element. I was worried because I had come across multiple forums advising readers to hire a technician. The repair job could be very dangerous, especially without the right tools. I shared this with my dad, but he was confident he could do it and really didn't want to fork out the hundreds of dollars it would cost to bring someone in. With this Youtube video, he replaced the torsion spring, and our garage door worked again!
My dad saved our family $1000 by taking it upon himself to own these DIY repair projects all on his own. These weren't the only times he fixed something around the house, but they were definitely his biggest projects. I would advise everyone to some research and try troubleshooting on your own when things go awry in the house! Of course, if it seems like a dangerous job, don't try it at home. Also, thank you to all those who post Youtube videos like the ones I linked above! They are incredibly helpful and must take so much time, we are so appreciative to those who share your knowledge.
September 19, 2019 at 09:27PM
