Practical Life & Self-Reliance · Foundation

Home Repair and Maintenance

Most homes fail slowly: a dripping tap, a blocked trap, damp behind a wardrobe, a gutter nobody cleared. This course teaches how a house works (water, drainage, electricity, gas, heat and the building envelope), the tools worth owning, the repairs a careful beginner can do, and the seasonal checks that stop small faults becoming large bills. It is written for the UK and the US side by side, says which work the rules in each place reserve for a licensed or registered trade, and treats electricity, gas, ladders and asbestos with the caution they need. It follows First Aid and CPR and Personal Safety in Term 3.

What you'll learn

• Explain how water, drainage, electricity, heating and gas are laid out in a typical UK or US home, and find and use the main shut-offs in an emergency
• Diagnose and carry out the common repairs the sources put in a householder's hands (a dripping tap, a running toilet, a blocked sink, a cold radiator, a tripped circuit, a filled and painted wall) and check the result
• Use a small tool kit, dust and eye protection and a ladder safely, and recognise hidden cables, asbestos and old lead paint as reasons to stop
• Explain what causes damp, condensation, mould, carbon monoxide and common pests, and what prevents each
• State which jobs the law in each UK nation and in named US states reserves for a registered or licensed trade, and describe the argument over whether licensing makes work safer, each side in its own terms
• Check and hire a tradesperson, and plan a seasonal maintenance schedule for your own home