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10 Things Your Young Adult Should Know About Auto and Home Maintenance and Upkeep

Adulting. According to Merriam-Webster it means “to behave like an adult: to attend to the ordinary tasks required of a responsible adult” or “to become an adult.” In the years that I’ve written a column on this website I’ve used the term once before, when our daughter made a comment to us about her life experiences out on her own. She told us that, “Adulting is a never-ending to-do list.”

Well, it’s getting closer to the time when our son will be out on his own, and while he is home for winter break – the University at Buffalo is off until Jan. 30 – he made a request of me: fill him in on anything he might need to know to be a productive and well-rounded person that we haven’t already covered in his young life. More specifically, how to fix and maintain things. In other words, make sure he’s ready for his adulting to-do list.

And so it is that I came up with the following 10 things about adulting maintenance and upkeep that I want him to know before he goes out into the world.

1. Automobile maintenance. Years ago we would have spent an entire day under the hood, jacking the car up and taking off tires. Oil changes, spark plugs, air filters, fluid levels, head gaskets and on and on. That was when you opened the hood of your car – assuming you didn’t have a VW Beetle, a Porsche 911 or a Chevy Corvair (rear-engine cars, for those unaware) – and could easily reach almost everything. Nowadays, when you open the hood of your vehicle, you’re lucky if you can find a space large enough to fit your hand.

But even though the life-expectancies of many of the above-items are now measured in tens of thousands of miles or more, there are still plenty of things your child should know about their transportation. Changing the engine oil is now best left to specialists as it’s very difficult to get to the filter in many vehicles. The same with spark plugs, which in most cases have service intervals of 100,000 miles anyway. But it’s good to know what and where all the fluid levels are – brake, washer, steering, transmission, etc. Air filters can usually be accessed pretty readily. Where the fuse box or boxes are and how to replace fuses. Headlights and taillights can often be changed without a mechanical degree. And knowing how to change a tire, where the spare is and how long you can drive on your spare are still classic must-know items. 

2. Plumbing/toilet maintenance. If you are renting your place this sort of knowledge may be less needed than if you are the owner of your home, but it’s still nice to be able to make some minor repairs when the landlord may not be able to get things done quickly. In a house you own, this information can save you lots of time and damages. 

Most importantly, where the main water shut-off valve is, so if a leak is detected and can’t be quickly resolved you can stop the flow of water through the whole house. How to disassemble the basic plumbing under every sink in the house. What a P-trap or drain trap is and why it’s your friend. How to unclog drains. When it’s best to use liquid chemicals, boiling water or a snake. The best ways to fix pinhole leaks in PVC and copper pipes. Cleaning and replacing shower heads and faucet aerators. Knowing what Teflon tape is and how to use it. Good uses for vinegar.

Then, how to take care of that essential bodily-function waste remover: the toilet. How to replace all the inner workings in the tank. How to deal with clogs by using a plunger and/or a toilet snake. Care and upkeep of your toilet snake. How best to deal with the stains from the hard water flowing through and sitting in your toilet bowl all day. 

3. Kitchen appliances. Knowing the basics of how the big three – the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher – work. What spaces inside the refrigerator should not be blocked. How to replace the water filter and the water line to the refrigerator. The workings and upkeep of the automatic ice-maker. Cleaning the external water/ice-catch tray (vinegar again). Replacing heating elements and trays in an electric range. How to clean under the stove without moving it. Why Bar Keepers Friend is for glass-topped stoves and not just bars. How best to load a dishwasher! How to clean the drain/filter in your dishwasher.

4. Vacuum cleaner maintenance. Probably the most abused item in our homes, it’s the one we use to keep things clean and then often forget we need to clean it as well. Why it’s helpful to clean our vacuums after every full use. How to empty the dirt and why suction can be reduced. Getting hair and other junk off the rollers. Cleaning the filters. Having a wet/dry vac is a nice option and why it can suck water a normal vacuum can’t. 

5. Tools. What tools are essential and what tools are nice to have. The best way to store tools. Etiquette for borrowing tools – always return it in the same or better shape than you received it. When you might want to rent tools. Don’t use tools for purposes other than for what they were built.

6. Lawn care. Alternating your mowing pattern regularly and why it’s good for the grass as well as aesthetically pleasing. Edging and trimming. Knowing when to use professionals for fertilizing. What type of mower to use and how to set it. Maintaining the mower – keeping the blades sharp, cleaning the filter, checking and replacing the oil and changing the spark plug. 

7. Landscape maintenance. Separate from the care of your lawn is the rest of the landscape surrounding your home. Pruning trees and shrubs. Planting, care and feeding of your flowers and plants. Powerwashing. Concrete and asphalt upkeep. Where, when and what to use to separate your lawn from your plantings and gardens. 

8. Heating/cooling maintenance. This item is a relatively simple list of things given the complexity of the modern home heating and cooling system. A system that you may only realize how important it is when it’s gone, as evidenced when I wrote about our loss of A/C two summers ago. The primary item is changing your filters regularly. You can also clean and vacuum the forced air and return air vents located around your house. But when it comes to most problems here, the best thing to know is a good quality repair company that can fix things quickly and professionally. And this is the one time in life where I believe purchasing a “warranty” – either specifically on the system or on your whole house – may make financial sense depending on the age and condition of your home. Even minor heating/cooling repairs can easily get into a thousand dollars or more.

9. Snow removal. The size and layout of your property will have a great deal of effect on how detailed this particular topic gets. Just a small driveway and sidewalk? A basic shovel or two (one metal and one plastic) should do it. If you own a larger driveway and have a corner lot, then maybe a snow blower – and all the lawnmower-like maintenance and upkeep that goes with it – is a good financial and time option. And if you live in a rural setting, having a plowing service may be the way to go. And snow removal etiquette is important. Do you shovel the whole width of the sidewalk or just a path (the whole width!). Where to best put the snow if you’re expecting volumes of it. How far onto your neighbor’s sidewalk do you shovel? Are they away/ill/busy and do you shovel all their property? How soon after snowing do you go out? When to use salt to stop or remove ice.

10. Washer and dryer. Not only is the maintenance of these items important, but if you have to buy a new washer, the style is important as well. Front-load or top-load. Center agitator or none. More computerized or mechanical controls. And most people are unaware that it’s possible their washing machine has a filter that requires occasional cleaning. On the dryer the obvious maintenance is the lint filter that should be cleaned after every load. But the dryer vent hose on the rear of the dryer that goes all the way to the vent on the outside of the home should be cleaned regularly as well. Unless you have birds who have determined how to open your vent and like to use the lint to build their nests in the spring!

And there you have it. As a parent I feel like if I send my child out into the world armed with the knowledge above that I’ll have done my best to honor his request to become productive and well-rounded. If your children make a similar request of you perhaps this list will save you some time and provide you with a Bob The Builder parenting moment. Can we fix it? Yes we can!