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Home Maintenance

I tend to learn about things the hard way.  For instance, many years ago, in my first house, we had a fire in the dryer vent.  Fortunately, it was caught almost immediately.  A new vent was installed and no damage was done to the house itself.

Once I learn something like that, the lesson sticks with me.

Google image
Seeing something like this is not a good thing.

I decided to clean out the dryer vent yesterday.  When I took the vent off, it cracked and fell into many pieces.  Florida climate is pretty harsh on building materials generally.  Plastic does not stand a chance.  Fortunately there is a Lowe's nearby so I went to get a new vent cover.

I thought that I was getting the exact same cover, but of course nothing is ever simple in the home maintenance department.  The screw holes didn't match up.
Go find the drill.

I was almost felt the need to go ask my neighbor for assistance.  A brief moment before my natural stubbornness kicked in. 

I had just put in a load of towels to dry when the neighbors called and invited me for an impromptu pizza and drinks evening.  I went over.  Not too much later I looked back to check on my place and noticed the car port was glowing red.  Yikes!!

It turned out to be reflection of truck brake lights and all was well.

Today I have been washing windows, which led me to notice a screen in need of repair and then some shrubs in need of attention.  Home maintenance never ends.

But one job is finished!

Comments

  1. You really scared me with that red glow. Phew. You are really getting handy. Amazing what we can do when we have to.

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  2. Job well done on the dryer vent Olga!

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  3. I had a neighbor that had a vent fire and almost lost their house. It was lucky for them that they had good insurance and lost nothing of value. I have always checked those things and try to remind my kids!! Congratulations on you persistence and talent.

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  4. Good for you. I love it when I can accomplish a chore on my own but things are getting so complicated that it is harder and harder to do by myself.

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  5. Good for you tackling these maintenance chores. My mom was a handy woman, but I'm afraid I rely too much on Bob.

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    Replies
    1. My mom was a good role model. She loved the maintenance projects and would tackle things head on herself or join my dad in really big jobs.

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  6. Scary, the red glow! I'll bet all the old feelings from the fire came right up.

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  7. Congrats on replacing the vent. Quite an achievement.

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  8. You had me worried as I read along. So glad it was a false alarm. :-)
    Good job on the home repair.

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  9. This past weekend my son was here and I had a list of chores for him to complete. I wandered around with him to be his helper and when all was said and done I realized I should have been able to do all of them myself. You are to be congratulated.

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  10. Well done. I've never tried to replace the vent on the outside of the house, but have replaced the hose from the dryer on occasion. Which reminds me it likely needs replacing.

    Glad the red glow was just the brake lights!

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  11. Nice job! I'm impressed. We had a bird fly into our dry vent once. It was a real mess to get to that bird and clean the thing out.

    We have an odd configuration for our vent and the hose, so we must hire someone to clean it. I do it once a year. Leaving such things scares me.

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  12. You're right, it never ends. But it seems like you're on top of things, so good for you! (Now I'm going to check my dryer vent.)

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  13. Good Job! I read about fires in dryer vents a few years ago and went out to check my own. Looked a lot like that first picture but never has since! Mike really did teach you well!

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  14. Talk about jump starting the heart, good thing it was just the break lights. Oh now you know a way to check to see if your break lights work. ha ha

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  15. Good for you! You must feel proud! I hauled wood today! And cleaned up after visitors.

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  16. You have the same problem we do in Hawaii. Plastic crumbles quickly. Thank you for the reminder about the dryer vent. Ours was clogged last year.

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  17. First off my condolences for the passing of your husband. I am amazed of the similarities as far as geographical. I live with my husband in Vermont and my family lives in florida.
    It's amazing with what starts out as a 'tiny thing' can escalate into something dangerous.
    I'm glad I found you:)

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  18. Your aircon looks very like my brother's wooden letter box. I would be ashamed of it myself, but my brother thinks that as long as it does not fall off the wall, why replace it? You did a great cleaning job, by the way. I am at the moment scrubbing toilet seats with a vinegar/bicarb paste to get rid of urine stains. Works quite well.

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