Home Maintenance Choices, Options, & Decisions

This is a story of two home maintenance items. One that was immediate, and I addressed it, the other must be addressed soon. Here are our thoughts associated with how to proceed.

For the first project, I recently replaced a bathroom ventilation fan in one of our bathrooms. In the time we’ve owned this house it has gotten progressively louder. The bathroom in question is adjacent to our main living areas, so the noise is annoying.

To replace the unit, I had to access it from both above and below to discern how it was attached to the ceiling structure, access the wiring, and evaluate the exhaust hose leading to an external vent. This meant spending time standing on a six-foot ladder in the small bathroom, but also crawling on my belly in the attic. This attic area above the bathroom only had 3 feet of clearance.

We selected a replacement unit from Amazon. It was rated to have better airflow than the existing unit and be much quieter. I started this project one morning, assembling all the tools I thought I would require for the task. I invariably guess wrong and need to make many additional trips to my workbench in the garage. I went into the attic with a pry bar to loosen the attachment to the overhead rafter. After that I was able to drop the unit into the bathroom, disconnect the exhaust hose and evaluate the electrical connections. This was key, because the fan and light work independently, with two switches running from the same source.

I was finally ready to start working with the replacement unit. My electrical connections worked for both the light and the fan, the fan was quiet, and air flowed through the opening. With that knowledge, I anchored the unit to the overhead rafter with screws. The new unit was not the same size as the old one, so with the help of my wife I centered it in the existing hole as best as possible, and then cut pieces of wood to surround housing and prevent attic air and insulation intrusion into the bathroom.

This task took most of the day. Everything works and we’re happy with the result. I still need to do cosmetic work to patch the sheetrock. I could have hired someone to do this job, but it was within my skillset and all it took was time. A professional would have done it quicker, but I have the satisfaction of knowing I did it myself. Even if we had hired a professional, we still would be left with cosmetic work.

The second project is very different, primary brute-force labor. I’ve written about our house addition in Humble Dollar, where we replaced gutters and added gutter guards. It has been over two years since then, and while gutter guards are great, they do not keep everything out. Over time leaves and other debris collected in the gutters and migrated to the areas around the downspouts. As soon as fall is over, they need to be cleaned. This involves being up on a ladder, at times 20 feet in the air, removing some of the gutter guard, scooping out whatever has collected around each downspout, and replacing the gutter guard.

We will contract this maintenance item with a handyman. I’m in good physical shape for my age, but I don’t wish to risk a fall while I’m on the ladder. Here in Raleigh, North Carolina most of the leaves are still on the trees and just now starting to fall. Sometime in early 2025 I’ll look for an appropriately insured handyman to take this task.

Our decisions associated with these projects are a question of balance. The exhaust fan project was relatively simple, I already owned all the tools and accessories required for the job, and I was confident I could complete the task. The gutter cleaning task is very simple but includes a measure of risk that I no longer wish to take. I cleaned the gutters multiple times per year for the first ten years we lived here, but as time marches on, the risk of falling while doing this job is higher than the return (or satisfaction) of completing it myself. This decision isn’t made lightly.  The thought of spending money to have something done that I have done myself chafes a bit, but we need to get used to these decisions.