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Going DIY can often save you money on home repairs, but there are times when it can be dangerous unless you know your stuff. Be it appliance repair, here are several instances when you’re better off calling in contractors.

Electrical repairs

You don’t want to be messing with electrics unless you know what you’re doing or a Home Improvement expert. Faulty wiring can lead to electrical fires and other dangers. In some cases, it can even be deemed illegal if you don’t have an electrical license. Unless it’s a minor electrical repair such as a light fitting and you feel confident knowing what you’re doing, hiring a contract electrician is always the best option.

Plumbing

Plumbing can be messy work if you get things wrong. A plumbing fault could lead to a leak, which could then result in serious water damage. Gas plumbing in particular should never be attempted oneself (unless you’ve had gas training). Always hire a professional plumbing company to be safe, unless it’s a simple problem like a blocked toilet or a blocked u-bend (which you can usually do yourself).

Fixing appliances

Modern appliances rely on heavily complex technology and whilst there are some faults that are easy to repair, others may require electrical knowledge, plumbing knowledge (in the case of a washing machine) or even gas knowledge (in the case of an oven). It’s usually a sensible decision to call in the pros when it comes to appliance repair. Older appliances (over 15 years) may not even be worth fixing if they break and could be cheaper to simply replace. Fitting new appliances is also something that should be done by professionals.

Replacing windows

Installing windows is no easy job. Without using precision, you could break a new window whilst trying to fit it. If you’re also replacing the frame, you also need to be sure that this is properly fitted and that you’re not affecting the structural integrity of the wall. A professional window installation company will be able to take away the hassle and ensure that your new window is fitted safely.

Removing dangerous materials

There are a number of materials such as lead and asbestos that were once commonly used in construction, but have since been found to be toxic. Such materials generally don’t pose a risk unless disturbed. When stripping a lead paint wall or removing asbestos roof cladding, you could put yourself and everyone else living in your home at serious risk unless you know what you’re doing. It only takes tiny flecks of these materials to get into the air and be breathed in to then cause serious damage. As a result, you should always hire professionals to remove such materials.

For more great DIY tips and tricks, check out the Kamfy Living section of the blog.

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There are few things worse than waking up in the morning to find that the boiler isn’t working or the stove needs repair. The stress which these things can bring can make life incredibly difficult, giving you far too much to think about when you’re already living a busy life. Of course, though, with the right care and attention, emergencies like this can be a thing of the past. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the work which can be done to ensure that this sort of issue doesn’t impact you or slow down your busy life.

Do Your Research

Your home has an awful lot of weak spots. Anything with moving parts will always degrade quicker than you’d like, and even fully-electronic items can stop working over time. It’s worth establishing which of them tools around your home are most likely to break down, as this will give you the chance to prepare for the event that you’re without it. It’s always worth starting with the most important things first, focusing on the parts of your home which you simply can’t live without. Once you have this in mind, you can start to move onto the next step.

Collecting Some Numbers

With an idea of the parts of your home which are most likely to need to be fixed, it should be nice and easy to start collecting numbers for the local companies which can help you with them. Having a phone book which is filled with numbers for appliance repair professionals is a great place to start. You can use reviews to figure out which companies will be the best, along with using websites like Google Maps to figure out which of your options are closest to you.

Perform Routine Maintenance

Machines are far less likely to break down when they are looked after correctly. This can often mean putting a lot of time and effort into servicing them, with appliances like boilers being a prime example of the sort of area you need to maintain. This may result in having to make small repairs more often, but this will be worth it to ensure that you never have to deal with a major breakdown.

Contingency Plans

When you can’t live without a part of your home, it makes a lot of sense to put effort into creating backups, just in case your main source fails. Electricity, for example, doesn’t have to come from your national grid, with petrol generators providing a great temporary solution for when the power goes out. Having contingencies like this can cost some money, though, and this will make it worth reserving it for areas which are crucial to your life. When you have kids, this will be even more critical.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to get started on the work you put into making your home run like clockwork. A lot of people struggle with this, finding it hard to know what they need to do when they are struggling with outages in their home.

Relocating can always flare up its fair share of hairy moments. At one point you may step back and wonder if you are even doing the right thing. You may have made this decision some time ago for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you have an exciting new job, you wanted the change, or you are moving for your family. However, there are always going to be things that could be easily done in error, or that you are likely to forget. With that in mind, here are some of the things you shouldn’t do when relocating.      

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Don’t forget to do your research

Research is vitally important when it comes to relocating. You need to ensure that you are picking the right area to put down your roots, does it have enough going on for you and the family? Other things to consider would be the commute to work, if the property is right for you and whether the location ticks all of the boxes. Often a relocation process is not just the upheaval of moving, but a change in many other areas of your life. As if moving wasn’t stressful enough. 

Don’t try and do the move all on your own

It can be so tempting to think that you can do the move all by yourself. From packing everything up safely to doing all of the heavy lifting. The truth is, you don’t realise how hard it is until you’re in the midst of the process. Instead, you may want to hire professional movers to help you out with some of the most stressful details and process of the move. This can really make the move easier and even quicker when you have more people helping you to do it. 

Don’t forget to use the right packaging materials

Packaging is so important when moving, you need to ensure that you can protect all of your assets and belongings. So don’t forget to use the right sort of packaging to ensure the move stays stress-free. 

Don’t pack things that you shouldn’t do

Packing isn’t an easy task, but once you are in the flow, it’s hard to see beyond what you are doing at that exact moment. This is when you can end up packing things that you shouldn’t be. For example, items and toiletries that you may need on the day of the move. Try and remain logical with your packing process and keep tabs on what you pack. It might also be worth it to label every box, so if you do make this mistake, you can find what you are looking for when you have moved. 

Don’t forget to sort out that storage

Finally, there may be items that you don’t want to take to your new place. Perhaps the relocation is only temporary, which means that you don’t need such a big place. Storage is an excellent option for furnishings that you will want in the future, just not right now. Don’t forget to get something organised in time for your move. 

Let’s hope these relocation tips help you if you find yourself in this situation in the future.