Hiring a professional to swing a hammer or turn a wrench has never been more expensive.
Recent data shows that the average handyman service call is now typically between $175 and $680 depending on your location. By the time the actual repair is completed, you’re often looking at a bill of more than $400 for jobs that require no specialized training and very few tools.
Inflation in the services sector has remained persistent, and as labor costs rise, the gap between the price of parts and the price of expertise is widening. However, most common household problems do not require a master plumber or licensed contractor.
If you can follow a few minutes of video instruction, you can keep hundreds of dollars in your pocket by mastering home repairs that you can complete in minutes.
Here are five basic home repairs that you should stop outsourcing immediately.
1. Replacing a leaking toilet flapper
If you hear your toilet “ghost flushing” or running constantly, the culprit is almost always a worn rubber flapper. It’s a job that sounds intimidating to the uninitiated, but actually requires no tools and about 10 minutes of your time.
A new flapper costs less than $20 at any hardware store. Meanwhile, a plumber or handyman will likely charge you $150 to $200 for the same 10-minute repair. To do it yourself, simply turn off the water tap behind the toilet, flush to empty the tank and swap the old rubber piece for the new one. This is one of many DIY skills that can save you money over the life of your home.
2. Clearing a clogged P-trap
When a bathroom sink slowly drains, most people reach for a bottle of caustic chemicals or the phone. Chemical cleaners often fail to remove heavy clogs and can damage your pipes over time. The better solution is to manually clean the P-trap – the U-shaped pipe directly under your sink.
The P-trap is designed to be removed by hand. You simply place a bucket underneath, loosen the two slip nuts by turning them counterclockwise and dumping the dirt into the bucket. Once the sink is rinsed out and secured back in place, your sink will drain like new. You just saved $150 in plumbing costs for the price of a little soap and water.
3. Replacing an outdated shower head
Upgrading your shower head is one of the easiest ways to improve your daily routine, but some homeowners pay for installation when they purchase a new shower head. Unless you’re moving plumbing lines behind the wall, this is a simple screw-on and screw-off job.
All you need is a pair of pliers and some thread sealing tape, which usually costs about $2. You wrap the tape around the threads of the shower arm, so that you have a watertight seal tighten the new head by hand in place. It takes less than five minutes and avoids the $150 minimum fee that many handymen charge for small installation jobs.
4. Repair small holes in drywall
Small holes from door handles, nails or quirky furniture don’t require a professional to spend hours mudding and sanding. For holes less than two inches: a self-adhesive mesh patch and a small tub of lightweight spackle is all you need.
You apply the plaster, spread a thin layer of spackle over it with a putty knife, let it dry and lightly sand it smooth. Although a professional may charge $75 to $250 for minor drywall repairs, a simple five-minute repair will keep your walls pristine for the cost of a few lattes.
5. Replacing the furnace filter
This is the ultimate maintenance task that HVAC companies like to charge during annual inspections. While the filter itself may only cost $15 to $30, having it done by a technician can easily double or triple that cost when factored into a service call.
Locating your filter slot is usually as simple as looking at the return air duct or the side of the furnace cabinet. You slide the old one outcheck the airflow arrow on the side of the new one and slide it in. Forgetting this step is one of the most common home maintenance mistakes to avoid, as a clean filter will prevent the $1,000+ repair costs that come from a clogged system.
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