Well, not really the doctor, but the contractor, electrician, bug guy, A/C specialist... and that kind of thing.
Would you share some simple things to check, before making that $50 to $500 phone call?
To kick this off:
Gas HWH... We shut this off when we leave for a long period... weeks- months. When we get back, turn on the gas valve and "snap" the red button that lights the burner, the same way the igniter on your gas grille works. Didn't work... multiple tries. Always happens on a Saturday, so the $95/hr plumbers service call is now time and a half... $142.50.
Solution... be persistent... keep clicking... there is often air in the pipe which has to clear before the gas lights.
Phone... this is a good one... We have a voip phone... wireless, with three wireless phone "slaves" in other rooms. The modem is in the den, and connects through the house phone wiring to the kitchen where the main wireless dase phone is located. Last night, we had a huge lightning storm, so I shut down the computers and modems. Some close hits. When the storm was over, I turned on the power and everything came back on... including the VOIP modem... showed connected. Later this AM, neighbor came to the house... "Did you know your phone was not working?"... DUH! no. Simple solution. We have GFI's on all kitchen outlets. The only one that tripped was the one to the phone. Didn't even notice.
Garage Door... Won't go up or down without holding the button down. Garage Door specialists in this areas, are expensive... Simple answer... no cost, or low cost fix... It's probably the infra red beam that goes from one side of the garage to the other, to prevent door from closing if anything gets left in the way. Either a bad wire, it was knocked out of alignment, or... the part is just not working. If not the first two, a replacement set is available for about $20 and easy to pop in place.
The dishwasher "growl"... many possible causes... "Google" of course, but possibly the water pipe that is under the top rack, that fits into the back when the rack is pushed back. Vibration that can be helped by tying it down to the rack with a rubber band.
I look forward to your solutions for any of these kinds of problems as I don't like to pay repairmen for simple fixes.
Would you share some simple things to check, before making that $50 to $500 phone call?
To kick this off:
Gas HWH... We shut this off when we leave for a long period... weeks- months. When we get back, turn on the gas valve and "snap" the red button that lights the burner, the same way the igniter on your gas grille works. Didn't work... multiple tries. Always happens on a Saturday, so the $95/hr plumbers service call is now time and a half... $142.50.
Solution... be persistent... keep clicking... there is often air in the pipe which has to clear before the gas lights.
Phone... this is a good one... We have a voip phone... wireless, with three wireless phone "slaves" in other rooms. The modem is in the den, and connects through the house phone wiring to the kitchen where the main wireless dase phone is located. Last night, we had a huge lightning storm, so I shut down the computers and modems. Some close hits. When the storm was over, I turned on the power and everything came back on... including the VOIP modem... showed connected. Later this AM, neighbor came to the house... "Did you know your phone was not working?"... DUH! no. Simple solution. We have GFI's on all kitchen outlets. The only one that tripped was the one to the phone. Didn't even notice.
Garage Door... Won't go up or down without holding the button down. Garage Door specialists in this areas, are expensive... Simple answer... no cost, or low cost fix... It's probably the infra red beam that goes from one side of the garage to the other, to prevent door from closing if anything gets left in the way. Either a bad wire, it was knocked out of alignment, or... the part is just not working. If not the first two, a replacement set is available for about $20 and easy to pop in place.
The dishwasher "growl"... many possible causes... "Google" of course, but possibly the water pipe that is under the top rack, that fits into the back when the rack is pushed back. Vibration that can be helped by tying it down to the rack with a rubber band.
I look forward to your solutions for any of these kinds of problems as I don't like to pay repairmen for simple fixes.