To wonder if there’s a need for basic home maintenance training

[butterybiscuitbasic]

Ok this is inspired by another thread, but there seems to be a basic lack of knowledge when it comes to basic home maintenance. Things like bleeding radiators, draining washing machines, preventing damp and the like.

I know when I moved into my first home it was my dad who showed me this type of stuff, so perhaps as we become more a nation of knowledge type workers these skills are being lost, or we are just more likely to assume problems and call someone in.

However I think it would be useful if these “skills” were perhaps covered in school, or even if letting agents/mortgage providers offered some sort of basic online training or manuals.

@PutThatDown10 I think, from some of the responses on this thread - we may be a generation too late for parents to teach this stuff.

No it’s not the only reason but it’s the most common
And to not even check before you declare it ‘broken’ did make me laugh

"You don’t want water to come out of a radiator, you want air to come out. You would stop immediately if water came out! You turn it, it hisses, you stop turning it"

Yes, I know, but in my experience, you have to wait until you see a bit of water to know that all the air is out. That's why I said wait until I see water.

" to not even check before you declare it ‘broken’ did make me laugh"

Like I said, in my case, the filters, wherever they are, aren't openable.

Aah, the OP is a landlord. Yes, let's get tax payers to fund the education of tenants in home maintenance so you can be even lazier 🙄

Not everyone has parents who teach their children anything at all by the way
I have a father but I don’t have a ‘dad’

If there was an (affordable) evening course at the local college for basic home and car maintenance I would definitely pay to do it. I can do stuff but not particularly well.

I would insist on knowing how to change a light bulb before leaving school. We have a rental flat and had to pay a very expensive electrician to change 9 light bulbs that the previous tenants couldn't work out how to change.

@PookieDo to be fair HAs are quite good at giving professional manuals on this stuff, but private landlords not so much. And for a new homeowner literally nothing.

@UnderHisEyeBall haha nope - I’m a tenant at the moment (and preciously a homeowner). Never been a landlord (but have worked for one).

"You can still make sure there's some ventilation, put the heating on"

I do these two things, yes.
I do use the radiator itself for socks though. My clothes horse isn't big enough for everything.

With my setup now, if the radiator is bled, water has to be topped up somewhere else. I'm definitely not getting involved in something so complicated so that would be a job for the landlord.

It's dead easy, it's done at the boiler and you just top it up so the needle on the gauge is at the red line (or similar, it's a red line on my boiler), job done. Takes about two minutes, if that.

Fine you live in a property with appliances that are completely impenetrable by a normal civilian woman 😂

I am off to the recycling centre with my old bed by myself in my car. Yes I will even carry all the large pieces myself and throw them into the container 😂

let's get tax payers to fund the education of tenants in home maintenance so you can be even lazier
We're happy to take on most other jobs but some go with living in a property, not with owning it.
I include here changing light bulbs, keeping the garden tidy, cleaning the cooker hood occasionally, getting marks off the walls, that sort of thing.

Oh and @UnderHisEyeBall note I suggested that evil banks supply the training

*previously

I’ve lived in 2 bought houses and 5 rentals and had manuals in each one
Or googled the manuals and downloaded them

"5 rentals and had manuals in each one"

Private rentals? Like I said, have rented all my life (over 20 years) and never been given a manual for any of those properties. Most I've ever had was one sheet about legionnaires that I got a few years into living where I am now.
Not sure how you can google the manual - if it's on google then it's not something specifically provided by your LL then. Do you mean manuals for specific DIY things?

Apart from rewiring electrics and plumbing and structural things because we have no training in those we bought our first house in 2017 and stripped the whole place ourselves and decorated it by just trying things out and it's worked out well for the most part.

"We have a rental flat and had to pay a very expensive electrician to change 9 light bulbs that the previous tenants couldn't work out how to change."

So why could't you change them yourself???
There is trip lighting in my kitchen for some reason so I can't get into it to change the bulb and the LL has to do it.

I can change all the normal ones although 3 people at one party had to try to get the cover off one of them until 1 person was finally successful!

I think the misunderstandings of what I’m saying on this thread to some degree highlight the problem.

This isn’t a “tenant” or “homeowner” thing... it’s not about googling when something goes wrong or even about diy.

This isn’t a “tenant” or “homeowner” thing... it’s not about googling when something goes wrong or even about diy.

but why not? What you don't know, you research and you learn as you go along.

Offering basic training won't make any difference: people who care will already know where to find resources
people who don't won't bother either way.

You mention about landlords and tenants, and tenants being shown how to do some of these things
When we moved into our rental, we were given a booklet about preventing damp, stopping the pipes freezing, keeping an eye on the boiler (general troubleshooting too) as well as all the manuals for all appliances, info about the fixtures and fittings, and advice on maintaining the place generally.
We’ve had this in our last three rental homes actually, so it does happen already, although I’m sure it’s not standard across the board. Guess it depends how much the landlord wants you to look after the property

That doesn't belong in schools at all, the only thing schools should do more is sport. There's a depressing lack of physical activity in the school curriculum.

DD gets two hours of PE a week. They also do the daily mile and regular "stop and dance" sessions in class. On top of that there are regular before/ after school sports clubs, lunchtime clubs and weekend sports opportunities.

In fact, its frustrating so many of the clubs are sports/fitness based because her disability means she has few opportunities to take part in these clubs and I dare say there are many other non sporty kids who are the same.