Win 1 of 5 Amazing Prizes – [Competition Closed]
October 7, 2016 | Competition | 76 comments
With Fix It Week just around the corner, now is the perfect time to share your fix-it stories. From simple mending jobs to extensive re-builds, tell us about your DIY projects in the comments below and you could win 1 of 5 awesome prizes! Hurry, the competition ends on 16/10/16.
Submit your stories in the comments below…
Please note the competition closes on October 16th, 2016. For more information on the competition, please see our T&Cs
Tags: eSpares Competition, Fix It Yourself Advice, fix it yourself videos, National Fix It Week
76 Comments
Debbie Creasey
on October 7, 2016 at 10:21 am -
My best fix it story was when when hubby tried to deal with a small dripping tap in the upstairs bathroom only for him to end up breaking the sink by dropping a hammer on it!! because he was too tight to pay a plumber we now have to fork out for a new sink!!
Moral of the story get a plumber to do your jobs for you. 🙂
Ashley scott
on October 7, 2016 at 11:05 am -
One night i put the lasagne in the oven. 10 mins later boom, the outer glass has popped all over the floor luckily my little girl had not got to the kitchen yet. Bit of a search and find a new door on espares and confirmed it was the correct colour with chat support. 2 days later im putting a new door on. Been good even two months on.
Paul Kinsella
on October 10, 2016 at 8:16 am -
When my condensing tumble dryer broke I thought I’d be looking at £250 to buy a new one but after watching an espares video on the problem I bought a new float and pump. Very straightforward and clear instructions meant I could fix it for about £40. Has been working perfectly for the last two months and has left me feeling rather pleased with myself.
Georgina Barratt
on October 10, 2016 at 8:17 am -
I was putting a plastic y piece on the water pipe to connect my washing machine and there was a drip when I turned the water back on. So I decided to just tighten it a bit. Well, it broke and mains pressure water hit the ceiling and I got a very cold shower. It’s amazing how fast I can move when I have to get the water turned off again!!
James Whiteley
on October 10, 2016 at 8:20 am -
My wife and I are currently undertaking an extension to our kitchen! Que dust everywhere, new stud walls, electrical sockets in places i’ve never imagined and three new radiators! All this whilst not having a working kitchen for 4weeks…… I have now decided I hate microwave food!
Graham Harper
on October 10, 2016 at 8:25 am -
I had issues with the dishwaser at my old house, I two occasions when the door spring failed (both sides seperately) and needed to come up with parts to refusbish it and also replace the cutlery basket which had broken. eSpares came up with the good s in very short order and saved me the cost and hassle of replacing the whole dishwasher. When I sold the house, it was as good as new and working perfectly.
Roy Baines
on October 10, 2016 at 8:27 am -
Toilet not flushing. Diaphragm gone says the wife. !! So off I went. Water off under toilet. Drain toilet. Etc etc replaced flush valve. Tighten up nuts etc. Finger tight mind you. 1/2/3 flush. No leaks just water down the toilet. One step for man one giant step for mankind
Brian Deasy
on October 10, 2016 at 8:28 am -
We renovated a house and put in all new appliances. Within 2 years the fan function no longer worked on the oven. It was out of warranty. We talked about buying a new but I decided to check out eSpares. I got three fan element along with the brackets for the oven door after one of my 5 children used it as a seat. I followed the tutorial videos on eSpares and the oven was like new when I was finished. My wife was delighted with it when I was done. Since then I have made repairs to the dishwasher and washing machine as well. This website is a real money saver.
Chris Glendinning-Smith
on October 10, 2016 at 8:30 am -
Saved my mother-in-law £££ with a simple replacement of the on-off switch on her Vax vacuum cleaner with a part from espares that cost less than £4 . Satisfaction and brownie points for all in one go! 🙂
Katie Eason
on October 10, 2016 at 8:35 am -
On a snowy winter day back in 2010 my husband and I stepped into our newly purchased home with our toddler son and 1 week old daughter. As happy as we were to move in little did we realised we had moved into the money pit! The property has need extensive renovation which my husband has mainly diy’ed with help from websites and friendly staff advice at espares. We have very slowly upgraded everything from new kitchen and bathroom, doors, floors, all the ancient appliances that we inherited. Our gas and electricity bills have breathed a sigh of relief and almost halved from us upgrading to energy efficient models. Finally, with just a few extra gray hairs and much older kids, we are finished! Hooray! Now time to tackle the garden… Wish us luck!
Brian O'Donovan
on October 10, 2016 at 8:43 am -
I’ve been refurbishing the house we bought in October 2013, which included plenty of demolition work . One of the things I discovered was that in the 1960s, builders didn’t bother with screws, but they loved putting iron 4″ nails in everything. I started taking them out with a crow bar, but after weeks of struggling with them, I ended up using a 4″ angle grinder. One day, when wearing all my PPE and grinding away, I noticed an odd smell. I stopped the grinding and removed my ear defenders, glasses, dust mask and gloves. I sniffed the angle grinder, but that just smelt of hot oil, but the smell was still there. As I turned around, I saw what was causing the smell. On the floor, about two metres away was a large pile of wool/hemp loft insulation covered in plastic wrap. In the middle of this pile was a slowly spreading fire along the plastic where a hot piece of nail must have landed. After I squeaked like a little girl, I put out the wanna-be fire and learned my lesson. Next time I angle ground anything, I made sure nothing in the same room could catch fire. Oh, and I’ve bought a fire extinguisher as well.
Stephanie Laird
on October 10, 2016 at 8:54 am -
When my sister was a poor student her washing machine broke, her first go at a DIY fix. She phoned me delighted that she had sorted the problem, she pulled it out, opened it up, cleaned it all, took the filter from the pipe, washed and replaced it. She was about to try and see if it worked……….what filter I asked? Figured out she had only gone and removed the colour catcher sheet that had been blocking it, washed it and replaced it where it was!
Jim
on October 10, 2016 at 9:08 am -
I had a leaky roof. I discovered a small split in the lead gutter near a join which meant removing tiles etc, an expensive job. I searched online and found a German made product which promised to be a permanent fix. I applied what looked like a gloopy, sticky transparent mix containing fiberglass. Well, two year later and it still is waterproof. Saved me a fortune!
Emma Kelshaw
on October 10, 2016 at 9:17 am -
I’m disabled by chronic illness so I’m unable to get involved with fixing things. However I am very lucky to have a brilliant husband, dad and father in law always on hand.
D Etherington
on October 10, 2016 at 9:22 am -
We just moved into a new home this year and there was a slight rise in the floor between the kitchen and living room. Our plan was to lay a new floor throughout the kitchen, living and dining room so up comes the carpet and linoleum… Oh, what we found became more than a simple leveling job! The slight rise was over 2 inches and there were many other level inconsistencies and holes as well! So first we tried hammer and chisel – worked well on the small bits but would have taken ages for the big one (and ruin a few arms in the process). Next stop, local tool hire and out comes the jack hammer. Ratta tat tat and 2 days later, along with bags of leveling concrete down (and dust everywhere!), we were ready to lay the flooring. Oak laminate down and what a difference it made! I still found a bit of orange dust here and there for the next week (it really does get everywhere!). It was a time consuming and unexpected added job but as my father says it’s ‘sweat equity’! Now… on to building our out-building!
Jennifer A. McCann
on October 10, 2016 at 9:36 am -
Hi! We were about to move house in a couple of weeks and the cooker decided
to choose that time to stop heating up. A non-heating cooker eh Thank goodness for espares to come to the rescue. Watched video of how to change the element, bought the compatible part, did the swap and was most astounded when it worked My friend assisted and who says women can’t do diy…. Saved an absolute fortune and without the time and trouble of calling an electrician!!! E spares did us proud, good service and virtually every spare part you could ask for Very proud of ourselves
Ellen Gordon
on October 10, 2016 at 9:38 am -
I’m staying at a friend’s house for a while and I can’t resist repairing things. I’ve been here four weeks the first week I replaced the doorbell, the next week I replaced the bathroom blind (trickier than it sounds), the third week I replaced the light fitting in a bedroom ( nightmare high ceilings and previous dodgy wiring) This week I will tile and finish the fireplace hearth. Who knows what next!.
Liz Mac
on October 10, 2016 at 9:45 am -
My single son was trying to sell his house but his gungy bathroom put people off so I decided to revamp it.
First I cleaned all the grouting with neat bleach on a toothbrush (wear a mask for fumes) and wash it all down at the end. The tiles looked almost new when finished.
I have had dreadful trouble applying sealant in the past but this method worked really well.
I scraped all the sealants off using ‘Sticky Stuff’ to leave clean surface. Then I stuck on a sealant masking tape above and below the joint area and applied the sealant in between. You then slightly damp your finger in white spirit and run it lightly over to smooth sealant line. Leave for a few hours and strip away masking tape. When finished the sealant looked straight and clean. After a good cleaning of all sanitary ware using a lime scale spray, a lick of paint to non tiled walls and new shower curtain and bath mat the bathroom was transformed and he sold the house in the next few weeks.
Paul Norris
on October 10, 2016 at 9:47 am -
Saw a Gaggia Coffee machine on ebay that was collect only and no one had bid on it. It was only three months old. Bid and got it for £4.99 and collected it the following week when I was already going close to the sellers town.
Got it home and discovered the reason for its sale as no water flowed from the head. Bought some Wpro Coffee Machine Descaler from E-spares and ran it through the coffee machine – needed to do it three times but eventually I had a fully working £300 Gaggia coffee machine for under a £10. Four years later and it is still working perfectly as I descale it every three months.
E-Spares are great source of spares so you can keep things going and not let them become victims of early obsolescence.
Ed Morris
on October 10, 2016 at 9:52 am -
The motor on my Dyson cleaner burnt out, and my first thought was that was going to cost me some £250-£300 for a replacement cleaner. On visiting espares I was able to purchase a new motor for about £45, but then came the question of fitting it. Again, through the espares website I found the video with a very desriptive and photographic guide which I followed in detail. Apart from the additional purchase of a special screwdriver from my local ironmonger, within a matter of 2-3 hours the motor was replaced and the Dyson worked liked new first time!
Some 12 months later the main plastic body of the same machine cracked. Again I was able to purchase a new body for about £25 and, following the guide above, replaced this quite easily.
The moral here is why replace when it is possible to repair at a fraction of the cost, plus a little bit of patience whe necessary!!
Brian Squires
on October 10, 2016 at 10:00 am -
I don’t know if this diy tip is well known but when ever I cut a plastic pipe to size, especially something like a large diameter drainage pipe, I use a piece of paper (normally the delivery note) and wrap it around the pipe so as one edge of the paper is where I want to cut the pipe. I then use a pencil and make a series of pencil lines along the paper crossing on to the pipe around the circumference of the pipe. By doing this quick procedure after removing the paper I have a perfect guide to help me cut the pipe off square avoiding waste and potential leaks.
Bernadette Crossman
on October 10, 2016 at 10:06 am -
I am a 72year-old pensioner,we recently moved to a Bungalow and discovered they had taken the part to connect the dishwasher to the trap.
After visiting 5 plumbers merchants found out I would not get the part as it was German fitting. Rang several plumbers for a quote and was shocked by the amount they wanted, £120 to connect another £80 as a call out charge.
I decided to have a go myself bought a new trap, 2 free flow connectors and a piece of extension pipe. Job done in half a hour and not a single drip.
Proud of myself.
mariya
on October 20, 2016 at 5:29 pm -
Hi Bernadette
Thank you for entering our competition!
Our team absolutely loved your story and we think your Fix-It-Yourself attitude is extremely inspiring. For this, I’m happy to inform you that you have been selected as one of our five winners. Your prize is a Lavazza A Modo Mio Minu Coffee Maker.
Please enter your address details and phone number into the comments below so we can send your prize! Your details will not be published. Congratulations, Bernadette!
Regards,
Mariya @ eSpares
Susan Astle
on October 10, 2016 at 10:17 am -
Dab it off stain remover wil tell you to remove chewing gum “put some stain remover on a clean cloth and dab the gum with it” don’t this stands more chance of spreading it and it won’t stick to the cloth at all. Instead but the stain remover straight onto the gum and surrounding area then use a clean dry cloth and hay presto the gum sticks to the cloth instead and comes away from your lovely new furniture and off the nice new school coat!
Rosalyn Schiffer
on October 10, 2016 at 10:18 am -
Had problem with my cooker was sure the thermostat had gone looked on espares got the part not only that but excellent video showing step by step how to fit it… all sorted & saved myself money! so recommend espares to my friends
William Hall
on October 10, 2016 at 10:27 am -
As I’ve grown older my attitude to DIY on appliances has changes. When we were young and technology was expensive but not so reliable we used to save hard to buy the things and if and when they failed I’d scour the little back street spare parts shops looking for the correct item. It could be quite frustrating driving around and wasting time looking for the bits but better than forking out on a new appliance.
In mid life we found the price of appliances had fallen in real terms so if something failed, so long has it had lasted a reasonable amount of time, it was probably better to just replace the whole thing.
In later life though the emergence of espares has made it a doddle to source the correct spare part first time and inexpensively and with all their supporting “How to fix….” fix videos means that I can quickly bring back to life many things which would otherwise to destined for the tip and I’m saving time and money into the bargain. Since signing up with espares I’ve fixed washing machines, dishwashers, cookers and hobs, garden tools, as well as obtaining consumables likes vacuum bags and filters at very competitive prices and delivered straight to your door within a day or two.
Philip Birch
on October 10, 2016 at 10:39 am -
When the flat below knocked on the door asking if we had a leak, we discovered the dishwasher had been spraying water underneath it without our knowledge. Thinking that dishwashers are a luxury we could do without we were quite happy hand washing… for about a week. Not knowing what was wrong with it I started taking it to pieces and testing each part as best I could, luckily one of the first items I checked was the draining pump, covering the outlet and blowing into the inlet it was clear the shaft seal had disintegrated. I had used espares before so a quick look online and £17 later I had a new pump and the dishwasher was good as new. Although my girlfriend insists we keen a paper towel just poking out from under the dishwasher incase it leaks again it will be more obvious.
sharon catterall
on October 10, 2016 at 11:12 am -
my best fix-it story is after a month of having no cooker and not being able to afford a new one,my fella accidentally stumbled on your site and found out what the fault was and also bought the part,it turned up very quickly and i was back cooking for my family again,my worse story was when me and my kids went away on holiday leaving my fella at home to fit my new kitchen,not only did i come home to no garden(he decided to make a drive way and demolished my lovely garden and rose bushes)but i also had no kitchen ceiling as during the course of fitting the kitchen it had fallen down,ive still not got to the bottom of what happened 3 years later,moral of the story ,dont leave men unattended hahaha
Geoff Cook
on October 10, 2016 at 11:17 am -
Last week my wife decided to hold a dinner party for six old friends we had not seen for some time, a trusty favourite individual steak and kidney pies was the choice for the main course. The meat was purchased from the local butcher placed in the large caserole with a good bottle of red wine and a good slurp of sherry and into the oven. A couple of hours later there was a terrible crash in the kitchen and a little voice called out I have had an accident, I am allright but the kitchen is a bit of a mess. My wife had dropped the caserole it had smashed the drop down glass oven door and the kitchen was covered with a mass of tiny pieces of glass and meat and gravy. Next morning straight on to the internet, E Spares had oven doors a frantic search for the model number,a talk about the fixings which had been swept up with the glass and the order was placed. Bang on time next day the parts arrived, after a bit of head scratching it all went together and the dinner party was saved. Thank you E Spares for your great service!
Sarah bibi
on October 10, 2016 at 11:50 am -
I recently brought a coffee machine from amazon wich was tassimo branded as it was inexpensive therefor it was faulty so I had to call a plumer from my neighbourhood it overall cost my 200 pound for my coffee machine I then had a lovely coffee expresso
TERRAD
on October 10, 2016 at 12:05 pm -
The usual thing like drilling through the electrics or a nail through the water pipes. I have now handed over the tools and apron to the wife and life is now a breeze
Regards Terrad
Chris
on October 10, 2016 at 1:19 pm -
Cleaning the lawn mower after cutting the grass can be a real pain, especially when the grass is damp. Try spraying the inside of the lawn box and underneath the lawn mower with a Ptfe based spray between cuttings and the mess will just wipe away so easily.
emj
on October 10, 2016 at 2:03 pm -
I suffer with PTSD; learning new skills has been invaluable to me, and its meant I can do things for myself. I am now starting to build my life again
Lee Prebble
on October 10, 2016 at 2:09 pm -
Most recently, my electric shower stopped working well (flow was so reduced that for the water to be heated at all the temperature dial had to be turned up so hot it was pretty much unusable) so I thought it must be related to water pressure or flow which has always been, at best, temperamental in my flat. I bought a pressure gauge which showed the pressure was fine, but when measuring the flow it was a lot slower from the shower hose than from the kitchen tap (the shower is supplied from a pipe connected to the main supply coming into the property). Ended up disconnecting everything to take the shower off the wall thinking maybe that the connecting pipe was blocked but the cause was immediately obvious – the copper filter on the inlet pipe had a fairly significant build up of limescale. Cleaned it, re-fitted the shower and it was back to full working order. Bit odd as the previous , almost identical, electric shower worked for 10 years without problems until the internal wiring burnt out and the whole thing had to be replaced.
Mary Hadley
on October 10, 2016 at 2:34 pm -
Last year I decided to do a bit of DIY on the flat roof of the kitchen extension. Bad idea! I fell off the roof broke my knee cap in half with radiating fractures off this. One emergency surgery and over 12 months later now awaiting knee replacement as it didn’t heal. Guess next time I get my partner to do it, far less painful for :0
Ann Stimson
on October 10, 2016 at 2:56 pm -
Some time ago we had an old boiler with a hot water tank in the airing cupboard and a header tank in the loft. Hubby insisted that the pipes in the loft were creaking and waking him in the morning when the heating came on. He went up into the loft armed with a spanner to investigate thinking something needed tightening. After crawling around in a dim light for some time and not finding any loose joints he stood up, slipped over and put his spanner through the plastic header tank. Water was pouring through the ceiling and this in turn put the electricity out. We were without water and electricity for the weekend and had quite a nice stay in a local hotel for a couple of nights until we could get everything professionally fixed. Also had to decorate the bedroom. Moral of this story is – If it “ain’t” broke, don’t fix it!
lorna button
on October 10, 2016 at 3:09 pm -
My teenage kids are untidy (which teenager isn’t) but I have 4. I got a dishwasher and it took 3 weeks before it got plumbed in..I started it and son took over, had lovely clean floor after flood( couldn’t turn water stop cock…anyway after playing at being the little dutch boy with his finger in the leaky hole it was fixed…)
one hour later the washing machine door was jammed…there was a knack to opening it, my son, buoyed up from his success with the dishwasher pushed through and said he would fix it.
A while later he came to me and said there was no trouble to shut the door…as there was no door, he had pulled the whole thing off its hinges…
E-Spares to the rescue…easy to order a new one and I fixed it…
now the problem is..if i ban him from touching the machine, who will do his washing…???
Andy
on October 10, 2016 at 3:23 pm -
I have something of a track record when it comes to DIY… A few years ago I bought my first flat screen TV and decided that it was to be wall-mounted. I bought an all-singing-all-dancing bracket and got cracking as soon as I could. I knew where all the pipes and electrics were so that was no drama, hammer drill at the ready it was time to go – I called out to my heavily pregnant missus “first hole” and promptly went clean through the middle of the 15mm gas feed… at first I thought the hissing sound was water, but I realised my mistake when her indoors bombed past me like Usain Bolt – the bloke from Transco told me it was a common mistake, but I still felt like a mutant for not using a pipe detector.
After moving to a new house we decided to start putting up pictures etc. it’s a dot & dab construction (new build, Jelson) as you would expect and it was super-easy to trace the pipes etc. no mistakes this time… the hissing this time was water, i’d nailed the central heating feed this time. Micro-bore under pressure goes long way! I was able to fix that one myself, I got chuckled at when I popped into the merchants for the speedfit stuff and I had to dig out the wall before tidying it up and replastering, the missus thought that was all dead funny, ‘specially as it was just before Christmas… ho ho no!
Finally – being a self-employed landscaper, with my own business – I know all I need to about outside stuff. there’s ‘nowt I’ve not seen and nothing can stop me. Except when I was chatting to a customer one day. We were on a big job, it lasted about a month, and during that time I got really matey with the customer. We were having a waffle, as you do, while we were watching the minions dig holes and run about, and as we were chatting I was tapping my breaker-bar on the ground (we’d cleared the site ready for new decking to go in so it was bare Earth) Anyhoo, as I tapped my customer noticed the hole my breaker had made had filled with water “that’s just ground water mate, no drama”, I said – it was about then that the floor around me virtually gave in, my breaker had gone clean into the mains feed and it was absolutely honking inside about 30 seconds. We had to shut the water off to the entire street (that didn’t go down well, it was about 4pm on a November afternoon and we were on the verge of knocking off as it was too dark to carry on) and I had to bomb off to the merchants, the same one as before, to get the required parts whilst my blokes opened the hole and made it accessible… holy chuffing moly!
So anyway, I’m not allowed to do any DIY that requires making holes in walls until her indoors has seen evidence of my brand new pipe detector being used and if it’s something really new to me, she makes me watch videos! oh the humanity… Cheers!
Alan Bevan
on October 10, 2016 at 4:49 pm -
Weekend approaching, three children plus partners and grandchildren about to arrive, getting laundry out of way prior to the influx. Open washing machine door – soggy washing, no spin. Quick check reveals motor problem. Checked eSpares for parts Watched video Ordered parts for express delivery. Parts arrived Friday, installed in afternoon (a doddle after watching video), laundry finished and all before the family arrived.
Stu
on October 10, 2016 at 4:54 pm -
Whenever a household appliance breaks down I always take a look at eSpares. I bought a fan oven heating element from eSpares and fitted it myself (I couldn’t believe how easy the job was, it took all of 5 mins!). I have also replaced the oven and washing machine seals. The cost from a professional was astronomical. I wouldn’t undertake a task that is beyond me or that is dangerous but using a little common sense, the internet and eSpares you can save a small fortune!
micky moo
on October 10, 2016 at 5:13 pm -
I’m getting quite a dab hand at fixing things now and the jobs are getting more daring,
I fixed my 32″ sony tv with a video board problem with spare parts from” flea bay” …. a heater element change on a dehumidifier with parts from Espares and this week saved a fortune changing a sealed drum on my hotpoint washing machine, which had a parts warranty but it was far cheaper for me to purchase and fit the part than pay “hotpoint” £109 call out fee plus labour charges and have to wait weeks for it to come back!
There is nothing more satisfying than a repair you have carried out yourself and the sense of achievement it brings and of course the massive savings gained. 🙂
Max Starbuck
on October 10, 2016 at 5:41 pm -
Great service our Dualit toaster, the best we have ever had, gave us sterling sevice several years, the the rotary timer failed and you had to stand and watch every slice. A quick call and by return of post a new timer, an exact replacement, and ten minutes and back in full working order.
Thanks to. ESPARES.
Mohammad Tahir
on October 10, 2016 at 5:42 pm -
My best fixtures it was replacing counter weight on the hoover washing machine . Found the Prts on espares and competed the swap over nice and simple.
Elizabeth Burke
on October 10, 2016 at 7:05 pm -
I fixed a broken bathroom drawer
Steven wright
on October 10, 2016 at 7:08 pm -
I moved into my house almost 7 years ago now.
To say it was in need of some work was an understatement.
In the following years I’ve lost count of the number of items I’ve repaired using parts bought from espares, from oven elements through to pressure washers.
In between doing the diy and my own repairs I’ve also repaired hoovers and dishwashers for my three step-daughters. Thank goodness for espares
You’ve saved my family a fortune.
Kayleigh Parker
on October 10, 2016 at 7:59 pm -
OK so mine isn’t an amazing feat but I was super proud of myself as I’m rubbish at D.I.Y!
I took apart my kids DVD to get 3 discs unstuck from the draw they had put in (at same time) and it still worked !!! That was a major task for me
Jackie wray
on October 10, 2016 at 9:31 pm -
My husband is a real wiz at fixing things in really novel ways. He loves to keep things going and if he can do it for next to nothing he’s really pleased ( I think it’s because he’s a bit tight but he sais he’s green) I think the most bizarre fix he has done involved our septic tank. When we converted our disused Methodist chapel in Cornwall we installed a huge onion shaped septic tank which has a large polystyrene ball lodged in the neck unfortunately we inadvertently tipped some white spirit down the sink. The septic tank started to smell and on investigation we discovered the polystyrene ball had shrivelled up and disappeared. What to do as the tank needs to be anaerobic to work properly. My husband racked his brain and came up with the idea of a large mooring buoy which he scrounged from the local boatyard. Next problem how to get it into place so he deflated it and then dangled head first into the neck of the tank and used a pump to re inflate it in the correct position to make the vessel airtight. I had to stand at the top holding a rope tied to his ankles just in case he became overcome by the fumes so that I could pull him out. Our septic tank has worked brilliantly for 15 years since this clever fix.
mariya
on October 21, 2016 at 4:38 pm -
Hi Jackie,
Thank you for taking part in our latest competition!
Our team absolutely loved your story! It provides some real insight into the minds and lives of those that have the ‘fix it’ attitude. Your story is extremely inspiring and or this, I’m happy to inform you that you have been selected as our #1 winner! Your prize is a 64GB Apple iPad Air 2!
Please enter your address details and phone number into the comments below so we can send your prize! Your details will not be published. Congratulations, Jackie!
Regards,
Mariya @ eSpares
Hon
on October 11, 2016 at 12:03 am -
I tried to fix a tap that won’t close completely and it took me over 5 hours! And still couldn’t get it fixed! Still had to call a plumber in the end, guess I am not cut out for DIY 🙂
George
on October 11, 2016 at 7:26 am -
My Wife kept telling me we need a new fridge as she had to defrost it, Due to ice build up could not afford a new one so decided to see if i could do any thing with it, i then found the door sill had split so looked on google and found e spares, put details in and ordered part which arrived two days later went on you tube and found how to fit it, Fridge now good as new and no complaints great job and great price.
Suki
on October 11, 2016 at 8:25 am -
The tumble dryer stopped heating the clothes so i thought i’d have a go. Opened it up and found not alot in there. Contacted espares and spoke to a chap as it could be one of two parts. They advised me on the part so i ordered it. Then it was mission impossible time. Thankfully espares also had a video on how to replace the heating element and the model wasnt too different from mine! I watched the video, sweated, removed the old part, sweated some more, inserted the new part. Said a little pray, turned it on an wow! Back in action. I felt great. Best DIY ive ever done. All thanks to espares. Its given me the confidence to try simple repairs rather than just say lets chuck it and order a new model.
Lesley Graham
on October 11, 2016 at 9:42 am -
My best fix it was a week before Christmas when my oven broke. The fan was working but there was no heat. I contacted e-spares,who ditected me to a video on You-Tube. I ordered my new element and installed it myself step-by -step as the video showed. Fantastic!!! And cooked the turkey without hassle for Christmas.
Martyn James
on October 11, 2016 at 11:37 am -
FIX IT – DON’T DUMP IT
We seem to live in a ‘throw away world’ but being of the ‘Old School’ my parents taught me how things work and how to fix them – I adopted the same philosophy recently when our combi microwave oven (circa 1990’s) decided not to light things up when being used. Now why ‘her indoors’ wants to a light inside an oven beats me, but who am I to question it?
So after ignoring numerous pieces of advice as to never go anywhere near the inside of a microwave oven I gingerly removed the surround to be greeted by a multitude of wiring and various things under covers. Eventually I found the lamps as there were two of them. TIP: Take a photo of the wiring arrangement before removing anything! That way you can get things back exactly as they were.
I removed one of the lamps and started to scour the web for a replacement. Lots of suggestions popped up but then an e-mail pinged into the Inbox from eSpares and I thought why not. Identifying the part was quite difficult not least because of the age of the appliance and the sheer number of product variations; but a quick call to e-Spares sorted that out.
Anyway, parts ordered they were delivered by postman Pat a couple of days later, fitted and hey presto – lights in the microwave and a happy other half.
Now I know that ‘elf & safety have gone mad in this day and age and you should not mess with anything but my advice is that:
1. As long as you are sensible and make sure that everything electrical is unplugged / disconnected BEFORE you start then you cannot really go wrong 😉
2. Use a reputably company for your parts ie eSpares
Gavin
on October 11, 2016 at 11:52 am -
Last weekend I borrowed an SDS drill and discovered how easy it is to install recessed pattress boxes for sockets and switches. I’m off to the shops to buy some more and do the rest all over the house.
#RightToolForTheJob
Richard Baileff
on October 11, 2016 at 5:23 pm -
I was given the glass from 2 patio doors to make a cold frame! Instead I used the glass to make the sides for a potting shed / greenhouse. The sides are made from 3″ fence posts, cut and jointed together to form frames which are 8 ft tall and the frames set on sleepers with a pent roof. To the front I used a triple set of double glazed windows in a frame that I was also given and the back wall and side areas are clad with ship-lap. If it wasn’t for the patio door glass I would not now have a very substantial building. I have pictures from the frame through to the finish job which would be good to post on here to show what can be done with other peoples give-a-ways.
Kenc
on October 12, 2016 at 12:04 pm -
A regular task I have that is probably fairly common for average DIY’ers, is the dreaded re-sealing of the shower base. It’s a pain of a job and I always moan about the cost of decent mastic stuff and the mess I get in. Anyway, saw some stuff in the sale and quickly snaffled it. Weekend arrived and completed my usual decent job albeit with the mess and the moaning. However, only a few weeks passed when i noticed the stuff was coming off again. Furious and moaning again I re-did the job with an alternative make and this held well. That was about it apart from…. I recently came across the tube of ‘rubbish’ stuff and noticed it said … mastic remover! Doh! Have not had the courage to admit the error of my ways to the Mrs for fear of being ridiculed forever more.
Slipperyjim
on October 12, 2016 at 12:10 pm -
My wife hates me being right so when she complained that the Dyson wasn’t working properly I said I would take it into work and look at it in our workshop. She had already written the Hoover off in her mind as it was 10 years old and had set her heart on one of the newer “ball ones”.
Since it took a couple of days to get a new motor and have time to fit it she went ahead and bought a new one only for me to come home with the repaired one, which she didn’t want to use. Trouble was the new ball one wasn’t as powerful as her old one. Lesson learned.
Paul Fitzsimons
on October 12, 2016 at 12:54 pm -
Washing machine kept overflowing. I checked waste water pipe and this was clear as was the wall out-pipe. Problem seemed most likely to be with the fill cut-off valve. From the design it was clear this worked by pressure in a sealed tube coming from the tub. There was a small appendix coming off of this that connected to the valves. I released the clip and inspected this and found it clogged with soap sludge. I took the tube right out of the machine and used a straightened out wire coat-hanger to poke the sludge out. I refitted the tube and bingo – no more flooding. I kept this machine going for 19 years even after spares were unavailable by making new knobs from fibre glass resin.
Wire coat-hangers make good tools. I once owned a Lada Samara and the hinge pins for the glove box wiggle out. There is no way you can put them back in by hand as the entire dash panel and instrument cluster need to be removed first. Bend a wire coat-hanger in the shape of an ‘L’ so you’ve got about 4 inches one end and about 18 on the other. Loosely tape the hinge pin to the short end and you can get it back into place in about two minutes.
To ensure a Sanyo Dynapower cycle dynamo doesn’t slip in the wet cut a piece from a Qualcast lawnmower drive belt and glue it with the ridges to the outside on the dynamo roller. This never slips even in snow and rain.
Cheap fixes, I love them.
Steve Kendrick
on October 12, 2016 at 1:01 pm -
I’m not normally a fixer, so when the power tripped out and we discovered our oven no longer heated up, I was pretty resigned to paying more than £100 for a repair man. In order to be prepared for the cost, I thought I’d look up the likely part, assuming a heating element had gone. I came across an eSpares video on replacing such an element and it looked too easy to be true. But one quick part order later and I’d saved myself a small fortune AND earned MANY brownie points! So many of these ‘expensive’ repairs are actually quite simple and cheap, it seems. Perhaps I’ll be more of a fixer now! Thanks eSpares, from me AND my family!
Ian Hardy-Evans
on October 12, 2016 at 1:03 pm -
My wife God bless her, decided to vacuum up some plaster dust with our Dyson vacuum cleaner. Plaster dust is not the best thing for vacuum cleaners. In fact the dust clogged up the motor of the machine. This meant either buying a new one or fixing it myself. I chose the later!
I bought a new motor for the model we have for £30.00 or so and disassembled the vacuum cleaner and installed the new motor. It has been in use for a long time since.
Repairing the Dyson cleaner saved us a lot of money, it does not get used to vacuum up plaster dust any more.
Jo Bialan
on October 12, 2016 at 2:10 pm -
I was asked to take on two young rescue ponies who were very scared of people.
I may not have great health or a spine that works very well but I do have lots of experience with horses & rehabilitation, & time – I’m also pretty good at DIY & project managing (for a girl :p ).
I found the most amazing place to keep them – private, sole use, quiet, good grazing, somewhere I could slowly bring them back to trusting people & fully rehabilitate them.
One big issue though – neither of the two fields there had good natural shelter, nor any kind of purpose built shelter.
I very much believe in keeping horses / ponies as naturally as possible & out grazing all year round, but they still need somewhere they can escape the worst weather.
However the owner of the place did have a big pile of scrap wood…
Cue one weekend, several friends, lots of tools, many kilos of nails & screws, a tonne of excellent food (I was a chef pre falling apart) & an idea in my head…
As every piece of wood used in the construction was from the scrap pile it took some time to work out the best structural pieces for the frame & laying everything out, then nailing, screwing & bolting it together from the ground up.
Not a spirit level or set square in sight (as it was being built on uneven ground anyway).
The east & west ends have offset 4′ wide doorways for access & ventilation, the rest is panelled with old heavy wood external doors screwed directly to the frame & braced from the inside too, all adding to the structural strength.
The north side has no windows or doors & is clad with heavy used external wood doors screwed to the frame, batoned & braced from the inside.
The roof is a latticework of wooden supports which has used (but sound) shiplap fencing panels screwed on top. These panels are then lashed to the main frame with thick nylon webbing & then overlaid with a single piece of very heavy marquee siding, which is batoned to the frame all round. This allows the roof to flex in storms & high winds but remain watertight.
The south side of the shelter faces the property owners other business so I took a lot of care to find the best looking panels to clad that side with, which would also fit the two 6′ x 4′ polycarbonate panels I had been given to let in light all year round.
By the end of the weekend a very robust shelter had been constructed with me project managing & friends working like absolute troopers.
It measures just over 18′ by 10′ on the inside, 7′ high to the north, 6’3″ high to the south – the east to west run off is less than 2″.
It’s solid enough that two people stood on the roof while we got the waterproof covering over it.
So far it’s taken everything that the British weather can throw at it.
It was great fun & all involved have said they’ll be back in the spring to build a shelter in the smaller field too.
Such a shame I can’t upload a photo – I’m very proud of what we achieved 🙂
Donna taylor
on October 12, 2016 at 3:19 pm -
My thermostat went in my fridge, thinking I would need a new fridge and being a woman would not be able to fix this as my sons and father told me, well I went onto Espares and put in details and could watch a video, so ordered the part and waited. Quick delivery and with my camera set about trying to fit a new thermostat took pictures of every step as would not have remembered all the wires much more than I thought and quite fiddler, but having smaller hands really did help and took me about 1/2 hour and finally stood back and pressed the switch, yeh I did it and could not wait to tell my father ( who I might add is a electrician and would not touch it ) BUT if it was not for ESPARES showing a video and saying use a camera at every step I would never have attempted this. So a HUGH thankyou to all your team for thinking of showing a video and tips from one very happy lady and red faced father ! 10 STARS + .
Bryan Douglass
on October 12, 2016 at 3:28 pm -
The twin miracles of Internet searches & Espares “how to” videos save me about £400.
Our Bosch MAXX washing machine drum stopped spinning which immediately rang alarm bells on my credit card.
I initially searched the cost of replacing with a new Bosch, £300 – 475. Ouch.
Next search was possible cause & cost of repair. Several links pointed me to motor brushes as the likely cause.
Among the links was the one below & having used Espares previously for lawnmower parts I followed that.
https://blog.espares.co.uk/espares/2016/03/how-to-fix-a-washing-machine-that-wont-spin.html
1 click later I have the choice of 2 parts to fix the problem, a second click shows a detailed video of how to do it.
I’m sure I can do that but do I need the £7.99 or the £26.25 parts. At 19:30 in the evening who do I ask.
1 click later I am chatting on line to an Espares adviser & we discuss the reasons for price difference.
I am convinced & order at £7.99 plus postage.
4 days later I have a working washing machine.
What more can I say other than………..
Thank you Espares.
Morris Bishop
on October 12, 2016 at 4:30 pm -
Not a success story but a plea to find out what is the mater with a Washer dryer where the clothes come
out wetter when the come out from a drying cycle than when they went in! The heating elements are working and the air circulating fan are both fine but I think the periodic time the quench water solenoid for the condenser is on for, is seems long (about 8 seconds every 2 minutes.
The machine is a Fagor Elegance and I wonder if you can give me any pointers as to what the remedy might be
Thanks in advance.
Morris Bishop
mobidata@gmail.com
Eleanor
on October 13, 2016 at 8:32 am -
Hi Morris
Most washer dryers cool the condenser by constantly trickling a fine spray of water through the condenser and periodically turning the drain pump on to flush away the cooling water and the collected condensation from the clothes. If there is a problem with the pump (sticking or partially blocked) the water can build up into the tub and sometimes even come into the drum through the perforations. Check for any blockages and debris by timing how long it takes to empty from full on a rinse (should not exceed 45 seconds). If this is OK suspect the pump is sticking when warm.
Hope this helps.
Eleanor @ eSpares
Bob Newby
on October 12, 2016 at 5:25 pm -
Our NEFF front loading washing machine needed new shock absorbers fitting. It was difficult to find any help online as all the help videos shows how easy it is to replace them by simply removing the bottom screws and pulling out the top pins. Except on the Neff washing machine you can not pull out the top pin. It’s impossible. The only way was to drill out the top pin using a 13.2 mm drill. The new pins in the replacement kit fit easily into the new holes. Job done.
lesley Smith
on October 12, 2016 at 6:58 pm -
The seal on my 10 year old oven had perished and split making it ineffective, a replacement seal from espares for just £25 and ten minutes to clip it in place saved me hundreds of pounds on replacing a otherwise perfect appliance.
Diane Clarke
on October 13, 2016 at 7:18 am -
My hubby instead of getting in a plumber first thing he decided he could fix a leak in kitchen radiator by twisting the value cap which didn’t work & then said “oh it’s the actual pipe its bent to far round”, so he hit it with a club hammer & said that’s better, but instead of leaving it he had to give it another bash, then the nightmare started by mopping up the kitchen floor all night & using all our towels before giving in & calling a plumber. Think it must be a Man thing!
Martin
on October 13, 2016 at 9:30 am -
Fair to say me and DIY do not get on, as far as I am concerned money was invented to pay people to do things that you know you will make a mess of.
One such occasion springs to mind. For only the second time in our marriage I decide to have a go at painting, I picked the bathroom as it was the smallest room. Everything was going well at least I thought it was, I got to the radiator and didn’t know how to get down the back of it to paint the wall.
Easy, I unfastened it from the wall and tilted it forward slightly and did the job, left it tilted so the paint could dry. I went downstairs to get a can from the fridge to reflect in my glory as being Mr DIY’er.
Thud!
I ran upstairs, the radiator had fallen forward and the pipe feeding water into it had fractured – we had a scene akin to watching the fountains at The Bellagio Hotel in Vegas.
Didn’t know what to do, eventually found the valve which I assumed would turn the water supply off – It was stuck solid.
Only one thing to do, run across the road to fetch a neighbour who was versed in all things DIY and Home Improvement, he had a lot more between his ears than I do and solved it, closed the valve and at least the fountain was closed down for the night. Next morning, a plumber arrived, put everything right and emptied my wallet.
Had to crack open a second can.
My fault, I should have known better than to start the task. My first attempt at painting a few years before ended with my wife taking the brush from me and finishing the job whilst standing perilously on the side of the bath – she was 8 months and 2 weeks pregnant.
The moral in this is ‘By all means, always do it yourself if you can but make sure you have the knowledge and the tools beforehand’.
I am now hooked on the e spares ‘How To’ videos, I might just be ready tackle another task – I think I can hear my wife packing a suitcase.
John Horgan
on October 13, 2016 at 5:48 pm -
‘It can’t be fixed’, the repair man said to my wife,’It’s 20 years old and needs replacing’. ‘We can’t get the parts’. The replacement was to cost £500 pounds. The machine in question is a De Dietrich 450mm wide dishwasher. The control dial turned no more and sure enough, no new suitable Bosch controller is any longer listed anywhere. The actual controller looked however remarkably like several others which are in the current catalogue save that the cam modules and their connections are obviously different. So I bought the cheapest wrong oneI could find and changed the timing controller drive motor from the new controller for the one driving the existing controller on my machine. It took less than an hour, cost less than £30 and works perfectly.
Nat tbomason
on October 14, 2016 at 12:43 am -
My best fix it story was my old bed had a bit too much passion on it and a leg broke off and it sank in the middle ooops . I had no money to fix it so u propped up the middle with several hardbacks one was the bible which felt a bit wrong and the broken leg was fixed by four Jane Austen novels and the karma sutra . It was like that for three years until one day the whole bed shifted across the room in a moment of passion and I ordered a new one . I’m no DIYEr but my love life was interesting .
Adam
on October 15, 2016 at 10:04 pm -
I’m in the process of converting a walk in cupboard to a climate controlled wine room. All was going smoothly when I put the finishing touches in place with a full glass door when I dropped a hammer onto it and smashed it to pieces!
deborah bowdich
on October 16, 2016 at 6:54 am -
One Christmas my dads fibre optic tree light went out and he stood there looking at it saying “this is gonna take me ages to find which bulb has gone out” -as he looked through every branch on the fibre optic until I told him it was just one normal bulb in the base.
karen turton
on October 16, 2016 at 9:20 am -
as you entered my Grandparents flat on the left was a shevlfed cupboard, it contained tins, jars, boxes.If something needed mending you took it to them, my Grandad would then open up this treasure chest and fix it.Having to make do during the war this ethos never left them. He fixed my sachchel for school, stretched shoes, always had that nail. My Grandmother would mend the holes in clothes, reknit wool.Everything was given a second/third chance. His vests became floor cloths, both sadly missed
Shelly Layle
on October 16, 2016 at 6:36 pm -
When it comes to DIY I’m usually told to step away as I tend to end up demolishing a project or killing electrical appliances. I did have to take action however when my electric cooker was on the blink, the oven was only blowing cold air and not heating up.I was given a free diagnosis by an engineer of the problem being down to a blown element. I refused to pay the £110 price I was given to fix the issue especially when I saw how simple the job was via a YouTube tutorial. having a quick look on Espares I was delighted to find the replacement part i needed for only £10! What a saving I thought. Given my track record I was nervous to complete the job myself but still went ahead. After a little funny smell wafting out of my oven upon turning the cooker on , everything was in fully working order thereafter. To date this has got to be my only and best DIY Job and I’m still chuffed about it.
Joan Kelway
on October 16, 2016 at 8:15 pm -
E Spares is a life saver. My washing machine was leaking from the seal around the drum, which had split. I ordered a new one from E Spares and then watched their video on how to fit it. A bit fiddly, but with the help of some washing up liquid to make it easier to put the seal in place, the job was soon done. Now the machine works fine again with no leaks.
Thanks E Spares.