A hole in my wall, a broken dishwasher door, and more.
It's time for miscellaneous randomness! Buckle up!
(Actually, never mind. It's not quite that thrilling of a ride, to be perfectly honest. Seatbelts: optional.)
This post contains affiliate links to products/service I use and love.
You guys are fun to chat with.
You know something that's awesome about the community here? You all are talkative!
The comment sections at a lot of blogs (even blogs way bigger than mine) have sort of died away in the last couple of years, but you all still take the time to leave comments and I love that.
Also awesome: 99.99% of blog comments here are thoughtful and kind. You guys are great.
My dad cut a hole in my wall.
The other week, while Mr. FG was away, I turned our outdoor faucet on for the first time this spring.
It turned on fine, but then it would NOT shut off. Gah!
Fortunately, my dad was here at the time.
He is a whiz at anything handy so he pulled it apart and found a broken washer. He and I tried to get a new part, but had no luck at two stores.
My dad thought the old faucet mechanism was unnecessarily complicated anyway, so we picked up a new, simpler faucet and he installed it.
Unfortunately, since our lower level is finished, we had to cut a hole in the drywall to access the pipe.
Luckily, we had extra pieces of drywall in the shed, so my dad screwed in a patch, put some spackle on, and after he left, I finished the spackling and painting.
I feel really fortunate that my dad was here when I discovered the leaky faucet. I might be able to do some handyman jobs, but I am irrationally terrified of plumbing.
So, yay for handy dads who are willing to help!
We paid for a dishwasher repair.
While Mr. FG was out of town (Of course. Things always break at times like those!), I was loading my dishwasher and heard a loud popping noise.
I couldn't figure out what it was until I went to use the door, and then I realized something had gone wrong with the door spring mechanism.
While this was possibly something we could have done ourselves, when he got home, Mr. FG and I opted to just call our wonderful appliance repairman to come fix it.
Apparently, the cords that attach the springs to the door were designed poorly, and they snap over time. So he brought over a new, better-designed set and replaced both sides.
You guys, my dishwasher door is amazing! It had been creaky for years (it's 12 years old), and it's perfectly silent now. Also, before it would only stay put in the top position or the bottom and now the door stays securely no matter where you put it.
It cost a little over $100 to have the repair done, but it was worth it to us. My repairman says my dishwasher is the best one out there and that the new Kitchen-Aids aren't nearly as good. So, we plan to just keep fixing this one as long as we can.
We found our repairman through Angie's List, and he's been great. He's really knowledgeable, I like that he's enthusiastic about making appliances last, and I feel great about supporting an independent entrepreneur.
It's dance recital time.
This is both a happy time for Sonia and Zoe (makeup! fancy hair! fancy costumes! being on stage!) and a slightly sad time (after the recital there's no dance all summer long).
I like this picture because it shows Zoe's two sides...delicate ballet shoes and plaid flannel Converse hi-tops.
Hurry! Use your $0 in credit!
I think ThredUp must have had a glitch in their system, because I got this hilarious email from them.
You'll be pleased to know I used my $0.00 of credit post-haste. That was a close one...
There are still some $5 container sets.
When you sign up for The Mighty Fix, you can get your first fix (two stainless steel containers) for half price...just $5.
Click here to sign up (the $5 deal will already be automatically applied).
Or if you want to know more, click here to read all about this deal (lots of container photos included.)
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Aaaaand that wraps up this week's edition of miscellany!
I love that so many of the commenters on your "The Atlantic" post are in their 20's. If there was a single thing I should have learned earlier than I did it's personal finance. What a joy to see these young women owning their futures and saving for them.
Kristen, I definately think you inherited your dad's "handy" gene. In fact, both your parents (from what you've said about them) sound like very awesome people.
Soon your ballet dancers will be swimming and that might make them a little less sad. We know how they love the water!
"Seat belts: optional". You crack me up 😀
What is the brand & color of paint shown in the drywall repair picture. Will be painting dining & living room this summer & really like that shade.
That's Behr paint in Ash Wood. We bought it quite a few years ago, so I'm not sure if they've changed the paint name by now. It's kind of a greenish gray....a bit of a cooler color than it appears in the photos, I'd say.
Thank you, I love greenish gray anyway (have a sage type color in my bedroom & kitchen:-) Will look & see if they still have this as it's light that what my other two rooms are.
I don't think a fear of repairing faulty plumbing is irrational--you can make a bad situation much worse if you don't know what you are doing. Glad your dad was there to help out.
We purchased a new dishwasher earlier this year--a Bosch--the man who installed it said that Kitchen Aid and Bosch dishwashers are the most reliable out there, so that's another vote in the Kitchen Aid corner. 🙂 Our last dishwasher was a Frigidaire and it was awful (it lasted 10 years, and that was with multiple minor repairs on my part).
Yeah, I think that's part of it...knowing that messed-up plumbing can be a huge disaster.
Plus, there's some fear of the unknown. When I DO tackle a plumbing project and learn more about how pipes work, it feels a little less scary. But I'm not sure I'm super interested in learning lots about plumbing just to help me conquer my fears!
Way to go with fixing the drywall and spackle! When I helped my Dad renovate a few years ago it was my favorite part of remodeling. 🙂 We're buying a house in a few months so I sense a lot more spackling to come!
Well, you and I differ there. I hate spackling with a passion. Actually, it's mostly the messy sanding part that I hate. SO MUCH FINE DUST. Yuck.
Kristen, I also detest the fine dust from sanding the dry wall. I want share with you a solution to sanding the dry wall. I use the wet method for small areas. The box stores sell the sponge or I prefer using the cheaper yellow sponge with the green nylon on the other side. It's smaller and fits my hand better. It's so easy, just wet the sponge and smooth out the dry speckling. If its very thick or need more taken off, then use the rough side. You will need a small bucket with water to rinse out the sponge. I enjoy your blog! Blessings! Nancy
My husband and I read about your dishwasher and we wondered how old ours was. It is a Kitchenaide also. We were shocked to realize that ours is over 30 years old. Never been repaired! We hope you have as much success with yours. Love your blog. Kate
I did a little plumbing repair myself. On Tuesday my parents called and asked if I could come up to their house and look at their toilet as it wasn't filling with water.
My parents are great people but they are pretty much incapable of handling a home repair. My father isn't handy at all plus he's partially disabled so getting underneath the toilet was not something he's capable of doing. Unfortunately this fear has been passed on to my older brother who just panicked at the ordeal.
In the end, it was repaired with a $7 fill valve replacement. Easy peasy. Hopefully I don't have to do any more repairs for a while.
Woohoo! Good for you!
I like to comment on your blog especially because you actually reply! I understand that the bigger some blogs get the busier their owners are but it feels impersonal when you comment and you get nothing or you scan down the list and you see that there are no replies at all.
Yup, I know the feeling! It's way more fun to comment when you get the feeling you're actually going to have a conversation with the person who's writing the blog.
Kristen, I think the reason you have such an "awesome community" is because you've set such a wonderful tone for your blog. Some homemaking/frugality blogs I've read have felt so impersonal and ad-driven, I am skeptical about the genuine-ness about anything they write.
But you have kept it real... You post about what you truly like, and talk about things that you actually use; you admit to refusing to promote things that you wouldn't use yourself, you care about sharing your own words, not just typing whatever you're paid to say. I think your readers, including myself, truly appreciate that.
So when we comment, we feel like we're communicating with a real person, not just someone writing posts that speak only their sponsors' words.
Ah, that's all really encouraging to hear! Thank you.
We will have to buy a new refrigerator very soon as ours is on it's last leg. I have been trying to read as many customer reviews as I can on the pros and cons of different brands. It seems to be touch and go as to find a brand that is recommended over others. Would like to hear suggestions from you and your readers on a dependable brand. Thanks All
We've been very happy with our Kenmore Elite. I'd definitely buy another one if I needed a new fridge! We've had ours for a decade now with no problems.
Here is my piece of advice on buying a new fridge: DON'T buy a stainless one. We found a floor model at an unbelievable price so bought it and I curse it every single day. It always looks dirty and those special cleaning cloths are expensive, but using home cleaners don't work as well. I am very frugal but I swear if we had a windfall I would give away this fridge and buy a matt finish white one!
Hi Kristen,
I live in Singapore. I have a small family of 3 and am toying with the idea of buying a dishwasher. Do I buy a big one ( size of a washing machine) or a small one ( like a drawer)? Once in a while, I do have guest coming in and dish washing is such a pain. What do you think/suggest?
I'd buy whatever size would make sense for your own family. Washing extra dishes by hand when you have an occasional guest isn't a big deal, you konw? So, buy what works for your everyday life.
Mold appeared on the breadboard next to the kitchen sink, you know the cutting board as older houses used to have, ours is over 40 years old. That's odd. Then Mold appeared on the inside of the cabinet door next to the sink. What is this?
Long story short; The hot water pipe under the kitchen sink INSIDE the wall had slow leak. A very big deal to repair. Watch out for water.
Oh wow, that's awful!