Rip It Up: The Renovations Podcast
In the Rip it Up podcast, RTE's Home of the Year winner Jenny and finalist Kate step the listener through everything they've learned in buying a wreck of a house and turning it into a dream home. They demystify the entire renovation journey, from finding the right house, all the way through the renovation process, from picking a builder, to choosing wallpaper. No brick will be left unturned.
As well as being a management consultant, Jenny writes a weekly home column in a national Irish newspaper as well as being a regular guest on national Irish radio.
Kate, before branching out into renovation consulting full time, worked in technical roles in engineering and sustainability.
Together, they make an expert team, ready to inspire and motivate would-be renovators and DIYers alike. Follow them on Instagram to see more of their renovation journeys - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines
Rip It Up: The Renovations Podcast
Episode 41 - Every Home Should Come With a Manual
We feel every home should come with a manual, and if it’s your first time owning a home there may be things that you don’t know about how to keep things running smoothly or what to do if things go wrong. From shutting off water to testing your smoke alarms and having an emergency kit at the ready, here are all of our best tips to avoid disaster and keep your home in great shape.
Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines
[00:00:00]
Podcast Intro
Jen: Welcome to Rip It Up, the renovations podcast. I'm Jenny. I'm Kate. And between us, we've renovated a lot of houses and it hasn't scared us off. In fact, we loved it so much that we can't stop talking about it. So in this podcast, we will give you all the tools and info that you need to tackle your own renovation like a pro.
We feel every home should come with a manual. And if it's your first time owning a home, then there may be things that you don't know about how to keep things running smoothly or what to do if things go wrong. So from shutting off water to testing your smoke alarms and having an emergency kit at the ready, here are all of our best tips to avoid disaster and keep your home in great shape.
Jen: Okay.
welcome
back to the podcast. Hi Kate.
Kate: Hi Jen,
and
welcome
back.
Jen: Thank
you.
Thank you. I
had,
I had a
great, I actually have
so much to talk about,
about this holiday
that
like,
I know this is a renovations [00:01:00] podcast,
but it's kind
of
home
related.
'cause I was away in my little camper van for two and a half
Kate: is another home for you.
Jen: which is another home.
which
I did renovate technically 'cause it was done
up.
Um.
Then the other
thing
I
have to
talk
about
that's
home related,
and we maybe do an episode on
this
or a
little
snippet,
was on
home
exchange.
If anyone's
ever
thought about doing home exchange,
uh,
get in touch with me on Instagram because we did it for the first time.
People were staying in this house, anyone watching on YouTube? I
was left this beautiful painting
by,
lovely Icelandic artist
who has the most beautiful handwriting
I've ever
Kate: Oh my God.
Jen: I know
Kate: like calligraphy,
Jen: he was the nicest man in the
world,
and, uh.
We stayed
in a fabulous
little
place in San
Sebastian,
basically. Overall,
in summary,
home exchange is great and I
love it,
and I think everyone should do
it.
Kate: Yeah, and
everyone should go to San
Sebastian as
well.
Jen: Everyone should go to San Sebastian
Kate: heaven. If you're a
foodie, just go
Jen: I
would just
drop what you're doing right now.
Kate: book
flights.
Jen: just go, just
go. no. get the ferry.
I [00:02:00] also
Kate: Oh, get the ferry.
Sorry. You got the ferry.
Jen: We got the ferry back
from Bilbao to Ross Lair. God, It was a joy, I have to say. It was so
nice.
Like I haven't been in a ferry since,
like,
Irish
ferry
is going to
Northern France when I was maybe six
and uh,
but the ferry back, I
just,
I think I was
expecting like
it to be grand,
the
food to be
overpriced crap. and it was Totally the opposite. The food was nice.
I'm
not gonna say like restaurant
quality,
but it was really
nice, like
way nicer than I
expected,
and it wasn't
a
rip off at all.
Kate: Pleasantly surprised. So
Jen: yeah,
I loved it
and it Was really comfortable.
Kate: Was it as
expensive as flying?
Jen: Mm, maybe
just
it. So what I
would say is the price depends on how many people are going. 'cause you
pay per
car and per cabin.
So if you're going
as
a
family of four, it's
definitely not gonna be as
expensive
as flying.
If you're going as a couple, maybe it
is as expensive as flying, but then you're bringing
your
car.
So like
you
can bring
like the
amount of
wine and food that we brought
back from
like France and Spain,
um, you know,
and
just stuff. And you can bring everything with You
And
then [00:03:00] typically
if you're driving.
probably, you might be
camping, you're
probably in the
camper van or staying in maybe chalets
or something. Um, so that's overall
on
balance. it was.
like
so,
so,
so, much
cheaper than flying and staying in a hotel.
Kate: Oh,
very nice.
Jen: Yeah, it was
Kate: think about that. You have to rent out
your, you'll have to wear your
camper van at Home Exchange
now as well.
Jen: I
will have to put my
camper on home
and staying, I'm gonna have
to
put some posts
on Instagram. Anyone who follows me on Instagram, I'm sorry. I'm just so bad at posting on
Instagram and I
need to get
Kate: I, I, I'm, I've literally fallen off a cliff in the
last month and a half,
I'd say.
'cause my 40th
and then
like, there was just, it
was just so busy moving back into the house and doing snags. And then
I went to Bordeaux as well, like
you
with all the girls, um, two weekends ago. so
like, oh my God, there was just a lot of stuff back to back
and like Instagram just fell down the
list. All we've been doing
really.
Video ep 41: you
Kate: Visibly
on the
house
for people to
look
at is our
garden?
Trying to get that in order as well,
Jen: And we're, when I'm away
as well.
I
love
being off
my
phone. Like I,
I, put my phone on do not [00:04:00] disturb
and I
just, I have like
auto replies
set
and
everything and I just like it away
to
know, just not on me. Um, Also, we have been busy, so I've
been
on holidays, but anyone on
our early bird list, we have
been
busy
as well
working.
So we will update you guys soon on what we're, what
we've been
up to and what we're
planning. Um,
thanks for your patience.
Um, the
other
short
thing
we want to mention
is that we've also
been
podcast
strategizing.
So while
we currently do an
episode every two weeks
on
a
kind of deep dive,
on a renovation topic,
um, we get a lot
of
stories and
questions from you listeners as well. and we love, uh, we love hearing them, we love answering them, but we feel like
the answers
could be really useful
to all
the
listeners
because there's nothing.
If you're
in the midst of a
renovation or
you're planning it,
nothing better than hearing about somebody
else who's maybe just
going
through it as well
Video ep 41: home Truth
Jen: in the trenches.
Um, so we're gonna send an email out to our early bird
list,
um,
And anyone
who's, who's interested,
uh, in chatting to
us, we
would
love
to hear from you via
either
voice [00:05:00] note or
maybe a one-on-one video call with myself and Kate.
Um,
and we are planning to turn that
chat, uh, anonymized or otherwise into a
shorter
podcast episode that we released every other
week.
Um,
so,
uh, watch out
for that at Early Birds because, um.
we're gonna try it. We'll
try it for a
few
weeks. We'll see how it
goes.
If you guys find it useful, then great. And, uh, if not, we'll try something
else.
Anyway,
Kate: always here to
please.
Jen: always
here to
please. Anyway,
what
we're talking about today is, uh, we're talking about
kind of a homeowner's manual.
We mentioned
this in one of our DIY episodes.
I
dunno about
you.
This is the
first
home that
I have owned,
like
been in charge of
and responsible
of everything
else.
Before
this
I
rented
or like
shared or
whatever.
And there's
loads of things that
I just
did not
know
about
owning a house. Not
necessarily in
terms of DIY, but just like maintenance
and knowing where things are
and
knowing
like annual
things that
you have to do.
Um, I feel like
home
should
come with an [00:06:00] instruction manual. I've
often said this and so
here it
is.
Kate: Yeah, I
actually left
an
instruction
manual
when I sold my last house.
Jen: Oh, that is so thoughtful.
Kate: all like
hyperlinks.
to all the, um,
appliance,
like
manuals,
Jen: Mm.
Kate: and how to work
everything.
Uh, I didn't
get one for this
house,
and my
God,
it
took a while
to
figure out.
Video ep 41: out.
Jen: it
should
be
mandatory. It should almost
be,
Kate: yeah.
you should
have to do some sort of handover, I think,
um, because finding it out for yourself is nearly impossible.
But I think, like I've been kind of working through some of this stuff myself
because,
you know, Every time you
renovate or
you move into a new house, like
like
you said, when
you own it,
it's a whole different ball
game to renting,
right? Because when you're renting something goes
wrong,
you
just
call
the landlord
'cause that's kinda what you're
paying for
anyway.
So
it's just
figuring out
these
kind of key things like
where stuff is
who to call, you know, what
do you do when.
Shit hits the fan.
Or like, in my old rental shit was all over the bathroom. When they're,[00:07:00]
when they're, uh, what do you call it? What do you call those poo wizards that they put in for en suites that when
you can't fit a waste
pipe,
Jen: Oh,
like
a,
um,
Kate: again?
Video ep 41: Oh,
Jen: there's a word
Kate: know what I'm talking about?
Jen: I know what you're talking about. Is it slo
Video ep 41: toilet.
Jen: Saniflo?
Kate: Yeah. Yeah, that's
definitely,
I dunno, is that a brand or is that
Jen: think that's a brand of one of them. Yeah.
Kate: I think they are
disgusting,
but um,
they
Jen: Sometimes they're necessary.
Kate: That's something that if you have, You should probably
figure out
maintenance
because when it goes wrong, it goes horribly
wrong.
But let's talk about
where
to find stuff, what
to do and what are the key things you should be looking for.
Jen: Okay, so first of all,
there's a whole
bunch
of
stuff in your
house
that you should
know
where it is
if
things go very
badly
wrong.
And the first
one
that's really
important is where do you
shut off
your
main's water because.
really
the worst
thing
that
can,
that
is likely to happen
to your house.
is water
in any shape or
form.
It could be a leak, it could be whatever or something
like if there's a
leak
somewhere,
[00:08:00] then you need to know how to turn off water at the means so that that leak stops and doesn't do
like Really
expensive
damage.
Kate: Yeah.
so
figure out
where it is in your house.
Video ep 41: house.
Jen: Yeah. So
usually
what it
Kate: of like on entry somewhere, right? Or
at the first water
point in your
house
whether that's a downstairs
sink or whatever.
Jen: Yeah.
Kate: That's typically where you'll
find it. Mine
is a
kind of a
red lever handle.
Jen: Mine is a red knob.
kind of a little
turn knob thing.
Kate: up,
Jen: So
it might be
under your sink. It could be in your hot press, it might be
under a different
sink,
like maybe a
bathroom
sink
or a
utility sink or something like that If that's where the first point of water comes into your house, it might be
near your boiler
If, uh,
if it comes in there, but
Kate: under the
stairs.
I've seen
Jen: could be under the stairs.
Kate: the
under the pitch of
the stairs, Sometimes
there's one
in there and there might be a false
panel or something in the bottom of the stairs that you have to pull out.
Um, I've seen them there. Sometimes they're actually
outside the house.
Jen: They could be
outside.
That's important to note actually.
So if you don't know
where yours is,
go on a little hunt
of
those
places and look
for it's
it's like [00:09:00] it's a stop
valve or a stop cock, and it's
u,
it's usually red. I think It's
always
red.
Kate: Yeah.
Video ep 41: Um,
Jen: or at least the newer ones are, and it's either a lever
or it's a valve and
it will, should have like the word close with an arrow on
it,
which will tell you how to,
how to,
close it.
And then you know where
it
is And you know
how to
turn
it off.
And maybe note that down. And this might be the beginnings of your, your house
manual.
Kate: I think I, this episode,
can I just say is one of those episodes you might wanna have your
note book.
Jen: Yeah.
Kate: You know,
some people message us saying
like,
I've
actually written
notes
on some of the episodes.
This might be one of those.
Create your own little home manual and just take the
notes. Um, but finding out that, God,
that can save you
a lot of heartache,
Finding the
shut off.
Video ep 41: off.
Jen: Yeah. It could save you hundreds of thousands of euro.
Kate: Do you ever see those
videos of like, people came back from like a two week holiday and they had
a leak somewhere or a pipe burst upstairs and their ceiling, because
it's kind of like
latex
paint or whatever is literally like
about to burst like
a
giant
Jen: Like a bubble. Yeah.
Kate: literally upstairs is full of water,
like a swimming pool.
Like could you imagine.
the
damage
in
Jen: Oh my God. Or I keep seeing, do you know the way
[00:10:00] the Instagram,
the algorithm
just keeps feeding you the same thing. And
for me, it's funny. Dog videos
just, I'm so
basic,
but there's really funny
ones
of
dogs
like
messing up your life and there's
one where they
run through the door
or
through
like a flap or whatever, with a hose,
in
their
mouth.
It's
like
to lie to themselves'. Chaos
everywhere.
Kate: spraying it,
everywhere.
Um, but yeah,
that
that water shut off and some people actually shut their
water off if they're going, going away for an extended break.
Jen: Yeah.
Yeah.
Kate: and especially in the winter
time, sometimes if there's water
in pipes
and you don't have the heating on or
whatever,
they can
freeze in bursts. So like,
sometimes it's, it's the same thing
to do if you're gone away for an extended
period. Or maybe you go away
for like three weeks at Christmas time or
something.
Maybe think about shutting it
off
if you, uh,
don't
wanna come
back
to a
leak or
burst pipe or
something.
Uh, but yeah,
generally
find
out
where it is.
Jen: Yeah. And note it down.
So that's water.
the
second worst thing, or maybe
equally as bad
that can
happen to your
house,
is electricity
going wrong
somewhere.
And so you need to know where your fuse box is Or it might be a
breaker board, um, if it's newer. [00:11:00]
So
your fuse
box,
it's, it's
probably somewhere in your
hallway,
maybe
under your stairs, and it's just a white
box. Usually it might have a door on it
if it's a bit
newer.
Um, and
most of the newer ones
are
breaker boards,
They have switches on them.
So,
and
usually they're
labeled. Usually there's one big
master
switch
and that turns off all
of the
electricity
that's coming into your house,
um, which might be necessary.
And then the
other
switches should
be labeled
and they should say, you know, living room or a hallway or
whatever.
Um, And they
will switch off
the
electricity that is
going
into that part
of
your house.
And we have talked about this before, if you are so much as changing a light bulb, I turn
off
that breaker
switch. Like I
don't touch anything electric without turning that thing off.
Um.
Kate: I
think I said
on an episode before I saw a
lady
with a. Big
following on
Instagram, changing her face
plates on switches.
She was like, I'm just gonna change the
out to brass
ones. And she never turned off the
power
and ended up like, got
a really bad shock.
She was at, I, I, can't
remember if
it was the doctor, she was in the emergency room.
She like nearly knocked
herself out. [00:12:00] So like,
don't
touch anything electric without any shutoffs.
Video ep 41: off
Jen: Yeah.
Good for
her for sharing that.
Like, let that be
a
lesson
Kate: Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Jen: to know. It is. It is really
dangerous.
The other thing that's really good
to
know
as well is if
you
do have
a
leak.
Um, Somewhere or
there's some water damage happening
or
something like that.
And
even if
you have
shut water off
at the means,
if it's coming
close to an
electrical
appliance
or outlet or anything like that, I would
switch off that fuse as well
just in case there's any risk of water damage, Um,
happening there.
Um, 'cause that could really mess things up because water and electricity are
mortal enemies and should never meet
And that's a good thing to know.
Kate: And if you're not, um, shutting
off, say at the mains, there's also isolator
switches
under
a lot
of like appliances.
So like your
washing machine might have an isolator valve in the back of
it, under your sink in the kitchen might have a separate one as well.
So
like if you're right
there
and something is happening, you shut it off at the local
one
and then you
can, if it's still a problem, go out
and do the,
the main shutoff, but just if time is of [00:13:00] the
essence.
get to the closest one.
Jen: so most
kitchens and like near your appliances or in your utility
room, maybe
there's probably like
a
big might
be red
or, um,
label switches
on the wall.
Um, hopefully they're
somewhere
central
that's really
handy. Or they might
just be right beside the appliance. Um, but as with everything,
stop what you're doing. Go find out
where it is and just have that, just know, just have it noted
down instead. if the worst
happens.
uh, The worst doesn't
happen.
Kate: The
worst. If the worst happens. the worst
doesn't
happen.
It doesn't
get even worse.
Jen: It doesn't
get
even worse.
Um.
Kate: You know.
um,
so water shut
off,
Isolated switches. The gas
shut off.
Jen: Gas
off?
Yeah.
Kate: Is that usually like another
tap on entry
Jen: Usually It's near your boiler?
Video ep 41: I think.
Jen: Or if
you have,
um,
if you can
find
out
where
your gas
meter
is, then it's
often
close to that as well,
which is wherever it's coming
in,
you know,
from the, the,
street or from the, um,
from [00:14:00] the
Kate: that's another shut
off of you smell gas.
Jen: And it could be another one that potentially might be outside, I think, as
well.
Video ep 41: Okay.
Kate: Okay.
Jen: Um, I'm
gonna Google
that.
Kate: Another
one. Good, Good, one to
know. I've never actually
turned it
off.
but
Jen: But yeah, usually wherever your gas meter
is, usually it's close
to,
it's close to there
and it's usually a little lever As well.
Kate: Yeah.
Jen: Um, I don't know.
if it's, I know some gas
meters are outside, so I don't know if the gas
valves might be outside as well, but
that's going to
go and find.
I know the little red. A little, little red
lever. Okay.
Kate: Yeah. Okay.
Jen: Those are all
things that should be shut off. Um, there's a few
things
as well
that you
need
to
know. They might go off and you want to turn them off, so
like
your
smoke detector
or
your carbon monoxide
detector.
Um,
you're legally
obliged
to
have smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors in houses, in
rooms,
um,
but they do go
off. So they have,
they're all,
typically,
they're
wired to the mains
and then they'll all have backup
batteries in them. as well. Usually those kind of nine volt
backup batteries.
So.
Kate: like D batteries, is
it?
Video ep 41: is it? [00:15:00]
Jen: yeah.
Yeah.
Um, usually
so you can check
that as
well.
So
find
out,
go and have a look at where your, your
smoker
detectors are. They all have a
test button
on
them. So
while you're doing this, exercise, no harm to
just press
the
test button and
make sure that they work.
Um, and then the
second thing is
if
they do stop
start chirping,
and it's a really annoying
little
chirp,
um, that
means that the battery needs to be changed.
So
you
Kate: won't
get away with Not
changing
it.
Jen: You won't get away not changing it. 'cause it is a
Kate: yeah. You just have to have a backup of
batteries.
or be able to go get them
pretty quickly. 'cause that chirping
is the most
annoying
noise
ever and you won't sleep through it.
Jen: Anyone
our age remembered the
episode of Friends where
Phoebe,
uh,
throws hers out?
Like there's no getting
away
from it. You have to change
it.
So just find out
where it
is.
Like if, if,
you, you,
should be
maybe to just able to twist the
top, twist the lid,
take it out, replace the battery.
Maybe
it'll chirp away, but, um, just go get that done.
Kate: Yep.
Video ep 41: that's, uh,
Jen: that's a really easy one to do. Um, [00:16:00] and
then
then there's a
couple of things that can go wrong pretty frequently and you should just know what to do in that scenario.
So we mentioned the few, the your breaker board
or your
electricity box
if one of them
trips.
Um,
and you
see like, so if something just goes out
like
you, I dunno, you plug
in
a hair dryer and for some reason the whole
thing just shuts off and like the lights go out in
the room or whatever,
um, the first thing to do
is turn
off
everything
in that
room, turn
off the
lights, plug
out
the,
the whatever
appliance
calls the offense,
go to
your.
Um,
your breaker
box and see if a fuse
has tripped
and then if you can put
it back on,
do make sure you've turned everything off before
you reset that, uh, that trip switch. Um, and then you can try turning things on
and see if you can isolate what went wrong. And maybe it's just a do appliance or something like
that.
Kate: Yeah.
Or you've overloaded it somehow you've had too many things on,
Jen: Yeah, exactly.
Kate: Um,
and the same
with water. When you're
turning back on your
water. If
there's,
say a
lot of air in
the system [00:17:00] or you know, you don't wanna be pushing that
air through or creating a lot of turbulence, turn on the
taps or whatever, really low, almost
like
to a trickle
or a
drip, and just let the system kind of fill
back up.
But if you put on
all the taps
like max
afterwards, and there's air in
the system, you're creating more
turbulence and you're pushing that air
through the system.
So
I
usually use
like
the
shower down,
like
put the shower
head down at the bottom and
just have it trickling out for a little while. Same with the
taps and the
sink or whatever.
Jen: Yeah. because like
people,
not everyone
might know
this, but like every, all
the water that's coming into your house and
is
running to your house,
it's a very like.
Video ep 41: like,
Jen: delicate
system, and
it's all based on pressure.
So things
have to be at a certain pressure
pretty much constantly
for
things to
work as
they should.
Um, and
usually when something goes wrong,
if you
know if a radiator
stops working or your boiler
suddenly
stops
working
or something like that, it's
often because the water pressure
has.
Skewy somewhere. And that
could be because maybe the, the main's water
pressure
has
dropped for some reason
in your neighborhood, or who knows.
Or it
could be
[00:18:00] because air has gotten
into your system somewhere somehow
and it shouldn't
be
there and It's just
causing a bit
of a chaos.
Um, So there's
probably a few things in that. So one
is if there is, if one year radiators isn't working,
um, it's probably cause air has gotten into
it somehow.
So
it's, you know how
to
bleed
it. Do you do, have you bled
one of your
Kate: I've been bleeding my
radiators
a lot recently, actually.
Sometimes
an unfortunate thing to happen when
you've, uh, fully.
Kind
of
re-plumb
system or a new
plum system. There could be air
in
the
system when it was commissioned and it wasn't maybe done properly or put on tests properly.
So we've had that
problem the last
couple
of weeks
here.
Um,
so that air kind of works
its way through the system
and ends up
with kind
of the highest
point in the system,
which is
usually your
highest
radiator or
something.
So
I've been bleeding my radiators. Some of the
radiators, the older ones. You need a
key.
Jen: Yeah.
Kate: it's got like a little,
is it square or
triangular pin at
the top of the key.
And usually up on the top, um, on the top of the rad, there's a place for that key.
to fit in.
You twist it just [00:19:00] until you hear
that air
kind of
fizz out
like a
tiny, tiny
bit.
Have a
T towel around it. 'cause
sometimes
you know, when the liquid comes up to the top, a lot of dirty liquid can come out of it and it could spray all over your curtains or whatever.
It's beside the radiators,
Just be careful.
So kind
of
cup
around
that little radiator key. Let that air fizz out
until you
hear, feel a little bit of.
the. The liquid
come out
at the end and then tighten it again.
My latest
radiators, they're kind of newer, so
they have just a flatted screwdriver works. You don't need the key.
Video ep 41: Um,
Kate: but
if you find that your radiator is not fully getting warm.
and There's cold
spots
in order, it's cold at the top.
That usually means
there's air and it So
I kind of bleed the radiator Now coming into the cult months, you
know,
they
might need to be bled before you kind of blast the heating again.
Um, and I've also had
the
problem
recently where my boiler then lost pressure
Jen: Oh, this is a, this has happened to me a, few times. It's frustrating.
Kate: In.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So
the the boiler
pressure
drops.
so I just have a
gas boiler in my
house, so
it's.
sits
between one and 1.5 bar and there's a little gauge beside [00:20:00] the
gas boiler, and then there's two little toggle kind of switches on the pipe that
come out
of it. Um, and that's essentially filling the boiler. So ours
had dropped to
zero
recently
with pressure
because of the air in
the system.
So
bled the rads or whatever. Um, smidge where there was no air that I could get outta the system. and then I open those two valves and let that gauge come back up to like 1.2 or whatever, close 'em off again and see, and then really,
I'm
only telling you do this.
Maybe you
know. Once
or twice in a weekend if you're stuck and the heating
isn't running. But
ideally you do
not wanna be
doing that
multiple times. You wanna be calling a professional allowed to
fix that. 'cause you know,
doing that over and over again
is
not good for your system either.
Uh,
so that's what I've been doing recently.
I wouldn't, I dunno if I call it
maintenance, but
it's good to know
because it happened in our last house
after renovation as well, and it can just
happen. What
happened in our
last
house is
our boiler was in the attic.
And then three
floors down, I suppose we had under
floors.
So
you
know, you
have three floors
where gas,
gas, uh, air is
just kind
of collecting And
kind of getting
to that highest
[00:21:00] point.
Unfortunately, the highest
point was our boiler.
so the
pressure was
dropping up
there,
but
we
had a new baby
when our
heating
was gone. So it was very valuable
that we knew how to kind
of top
up
that system
and
get the radiators working
in our house
over a weekend or whatever.
And it was
actually over
Christmas,
so we
were really stuck at
getting someone out.
Um,
so it's
really
worth
knowing
that.
Knowing how to do that. So you're
not
stuck with a freezing cold house.
Jen: And usually those two, the two levers that
are up by your boiler, you kind
of, you open one, then you
open the second
one, and then you close the second
one and then you close the
first one
again when the water Gets that. and
like,
Kate: Yeah.
Jen: we're kinda making this sound easy. If you could probably just
find a YouTube
video on like
most
of
your
appliances,
if you
just
YouTube the like go and take a picture of
your boiler and whatever, you know, make and model it is.
Um, and most of
the
manufacturers
will
have
videos on YouTube or on their website of how to, how to fix the basis. cause these are kind of,
you know, as Kate said,
like it's
not,
It's not.
something you have
to. do constantly,
but it could just save you over a weekend or over, Uh, a
[00:22:00] Christmas or
something like that when
you can't
get somebody out to fix
it. So knowing, just knowing
how to do it
now,
knowing what the steps are, um,
could be
huge.
uh,
As we
approach winter, and hopefully you won't have to do it,
but
knowing how to
Kate: Uh, a good telltale sign as
well,
if
you have air in your
system
is
when your radiator
starts.
So
5:00 AM
this
morning our boiler kicks
in for the heat to
come on for the morning
time
and
the radiators all
made
like.
A lot
of
noise
and
they're
Jen: gurgling noises. Kinda,
Kate: Yes, if you hear that gurgling
noise and a lot
of noise, your
radiators.
your radiators, if they're kind of new enough, should fill fairly silently.
and if
there's a lot
of noise,
that
means there's a lot
of
turbulence, there's probably a lot of air in
there.
So that's a good
telltale
sign,
but it's just worth
knowing
that
if you're really
stuck, that you can maybe
repressurize your boiler before someone comes out. Because
yeah,
when those
months get cold,
and
especially if you're someone who's like small kids or a baby or
something in
the
house.
Um,
it's something you
wanna
fix faster rather than waiting for someone to come out for a day or so.
Jen: Yeah,
definitely.
Um, One thing as well,
that
happens a lot obviously over
winter, is [00:23:00] freezing
pipes,
frozen
pipes. So
that
can
happen, especially if you
have any outdoor
taps or,
um.
Video ep 41: Yeah.
Yeah.
Jen: Or if
you're going
away
for a
couple
of weeks
and you're leaving your heating off and you
haven't turned off
your water, or even
if
you have,
um, water and drains around
freezing temperatures,
I know it's only September,
but just all these things are
good
to know now
is not what you want. Most home
heating
systems
will have a setting,
which is an away setting,
which means that the heating will be
off
mostly
is you're not getting a huge bill, but it doesn't let it drop below
a certain temperature, which is, you know,
typically maybe like five, six degrees, something. that doesn't let it get to four degrees.
Um. Which is totally worth doing and worth, worth setting. So if you, thermostat, um, definitely up for that one.
Um, because if you, if not, what you're looking at is, first of all, if there's any like outdoor exposed pipe at
all,
you wanna get that as insulated as
possible. Like you'd never want that to freeze because if there's any water in that and that that can expand, that can
burst
and then you're dealing with a huge
leak and a destroyed house.
and
Kate: Yep. [00:24:00]
Jen: situation, you definitely want that.
Kate: that's a great, shout. um.
I haven't
gotten them, but I've seen some people put the, the outdoor tap covers
on them as well.
Jen: Yeah. Yeah.
Kate: can happen in that little exposed, bit at the front and then it can kind of back into your walls or wherever it's kind of in your house.
So, um.
that's something you might wanna consider as
well. I'm looking at all the outdoor taps we put in, which we were a great idea, but we don't have covers on them yet.
Jen: Yeah,
Kate: I need to go do, that
Jen: because we did rec. I always recommend putting an outdoor tops. you never know when you're gonna use 'em.
They're So handy.
Um, I use mine all
the time, but yeah, get it covered for it. It's really
useful.
Another thing then, especially coming up around autumn time of year, that is really helpful
to know, uh, that you should do, that you might not know how to do is around your drains, like your drains and your, um, any kind of pipes,
um,
Kate: Green water, guttering,
Jen: gutters and drains. Yeah.
So they can
Kate: your rainwater gutters
aren't
working, it's not just that rainwater will spill out, like rainwater will go to the wrong
place
and cause a leak
somewhere else in your house.
Do You know the last thing
you
want
is your
[00:25:00] rainwater
guttering overflowing or not being
able to
go in the route it's meant to, and then
water
seeps
into your
walls
or wherever
else.
Somewhere else.
So like actually clearing leaves is not
just about like an appearance
thing, that that looks clean. It's
so
that
your rainwater guttering
works properly.
And I find this
time of year, especially when the leaves are falling,
those leaves
can end
up in your
gutters,
come down your
gutters, and into your drains or.
Like our old rental
place, there was kind of almost a channel made in the concrete
over years of the
Jen: I have this outside my house.
Kate: And
the leaves can get in under the
drain covers. So it's really
important
to check your
drain covers, that they're
kind of fixed enough
that a lot
of
debris
isn't
getting in
there.
Uh, because otherwise
then it just all compacts
in there and it'll
end up blocking
up and coming up your sinks inside as well. And my God.
like
You'd swear
it was a
dead body.
Jen: it can be a
Kate: dead leaves really stink
when they're there a long time,
like
you
would swear there's
something,
you know,
much more
sinister but like
dead,
like leaves in [00:26:00] organic
matter
compacted over time.
Jen: It's, it's low
Kate: like a long rubber glove and just getting some of those leaves out early will save you a lot of
heartache
Jen: especially now, especially around
autumn,
when all the leaves are falling
and
like,
just try
to,
you know, get
up on a
ladder, obviously
do it safely, or get
someone to do it
and
just check the drains.
Like before you get into winter. or the
gutters
around the
Kate: of windows clean window cleaners will do that
too.
Jen: Oh, really? That's good
Kate: to
clean your windows, they usually do gutters
as well, so
it's worth like you might
spend.
20 quid or whatever
doing the front of your
house windows, Like, ask them to do
the
gutters
for another 20 and
then it's done. It's outta
your hair
and
you don't
have to worry about it.
Video ep 41: it.
Jen: And
this is the time of year
to do it as well.
You kinda have to
think of your like, drains and gutters as,
as plumbing
as well.
'cause they, it's all directing water in the right place. and like,
we have enough problems
with water in
this
country. Like
you just do not want to go into
the wrong place. It's,
It's,
like what you want away from your
house.
That's really, really
important. Um, Another
thing for
maintenance to think about,
especially
coming
into winter, is.
Windows
and doors. If you have any kind of warping around your [00:27:00] windows and
doors. Um, if you
have
wooden windows
and
doors,
then you
should know
that
they need a level of, of maintenance.
It's
not
too heavy,
but
just every few years, if you're noticing any peeling, anything like that, then they need to be sanded back
and then repainted,
refurnished.
Um, because paint is is a coating, it's a sealant. Like it
doesn't. you know, it doesn't just look pretty.
It,
It it protects the wood underneath from rot and from
mold.
so
if you have
wooden doors,
wooden
windows, wooden window
frames, and there's any peeling happening at all,
then you need to get that, uh, it's time to
get
them sanded and painted, and
that's normal. You just have
to do that every few years.
Kate: We have,
We
have, timber
French
doors now.
really
we
should have gotten
them
serviced a bit sooner,
but since
we
moved
in,
they were never properly
serviced after all the works were
done. Do You
know,
and
like
they were installed a
few
months before we moved in, but
now I
find the huge
French doors that
we have, they're very
tall,
so they're
2.4 meters tall,
which means they're really
heavy.
So there's three sets of really heavy [00:28:00] hinges, but they
do start
to
pull
in the hinges
and they were just never
properly like
fit and
adjusted and balanced after
we moved in
So the
locking
mechanisms
are really
stiff.
Like
let it be known. They never
get better over
time. They always get worse. So if
you're
feeling that, or you're feeling the lock
is
getting
stiffer or harder,
or you have to slam the door to lock it,
now's
the
time to get
them serviced.
'cause it will only get worse in the winter when those doors swell a bit and whatever, and they're wetter and
just
get
them serviced beforehand.
Otherwise you could.
have what I had,
in my old
doors in my last days where the handle just broke off
and then I
Jen: Oh God. Did that happened. That actually happened my front door as
well. And it
it
Kate: I was forcing
Jen: It's 'cause I have a cousin who's incredibly strong and couldn't get
out and
Video ep 41: and
Jen: accidentally
broke the handle. Poor fella.
Kate: Yeah. So that's
something to just
watch out for. I think
if doors don't close properly,
um,
if doors don't close properly,
they're just generally gonna get worse. Not better.
Jen: Yeah,
and it's kind
of
normal,
so just
get used
to
checking
it
and just noticing if it's
starting
to to list or to get
stuck. Like if you feel it [00:29:00] getting stuck
in a
certain area, it's because
it's just off
center, a little
bit. And that's
kind of normal as well.
Um.
and.
Video ep 41: One
Jen: big, one
major
thing that like I
always
assume everybody knows, but I don't know if they do, is
around condensation
and
ventilate in the house. Especially coming
into
wintertime,
we don't have our windows and doors open as
much and we should.
And you had,
what's the word for it
That,
uh,
the Germans do
Kate: I've forgotten now
again,
Jen: dos Lofton, I think it is.
Kate: Flu loftin.
Jen: Any German speakers who are listening to
Melu, Lufton,
any German speakers listening to me are gonna
be shouting at me? But if you know it, let us know the
word
Um.
Kate: sorry. To anyone who speaks German,
Video ep 41: it's
Jen: the,
concept
of
just opening the
windows all around the house. Uh,
I think Or in a
Kate: like a, a blast of
air through the house,
front to back,
Jen: Exactly. Get a big blast air through the house.
Kate: cold outside.
We get that, but
like
it's doing that for
five or 10 minutes.
once
or twice, maybe a week or whatever. when your
heating is blasting and there's loads of condensation,
it's
just good to dry it out.
[00:30:00] Otherwise, you
might just have mold issues by the time. you know, the,
winter's finished.
Jen: Maybe like first thing in the morning when the house is a bit
chilly anyway, and like you're not letting all the heat out,
but you're just,
you gotta let
that
condensation out.
Like we have to keep remembering
to the
worst. One of the worst.
things again that can happen to your house is
water. And
that
includes condensation
and condensation building up anywhere. You just
do not want that. So get it
out.
Kate: Yeah.
Now
if
you have a new house, you
probably have like a heat recovery system or something
like that.
Um, and That generally kind
of circulates
the air
itself, but
just make sure that, you know,
maintenance
wise,
that's working well and you're not
seeing condensation patches because sometimes in these really airtight
homes,
like
You do
see that.
if the, If the, heat recovery
system isn't working
properly, it's not something you should see. And if you're waking up every
morning, there's a lot of condensation. in Your windows.
it's
Could
be cause for concern longer
Jen: And Just remember like in your bathrooms, if your bathroom doesn't
have a
window or you're not
opening the
window,
you have to
turn the, the, the,
um,
Video ep 41: The
Jen: fan on whenever you're having a shower and just leave
it
on for a while and
leave the
door
open
so that it's
all [00:31:00] just ventilating
out.
Um, that's something that is really
Kate: I was telling you before we came on here
that I
just got my shower door
in
and
now I have a steam shower in my,
Jen: Oh, I'm so into this. I
Kate: dream. It's like
a a little
spa. And
there's a speaker in there
as well.
Like if you're
listening.
to this and you were doing your bathroom
renovation and you have a cabin
shower, put one in
I wasn't
sold,
this is my husband's idea, I would give him full credit
here,
but I am
a hundred
percent sold now and I
normally wouldn't be a steam
Room
Jen: I'm not really a steamer person. I'm a sauna
Kate: so nice tiny little cabin. So the powerful, like it's really
powerful
and like put a
little bit of
eucalyptus in
it. There's a
speaker
in the
ceiling,
so I always listen to a sound bath, it's
like I middle of spa in the
morning
time, and then I just have my
shower afterwards
and it kind of dissipates
a lot of the steam
as well as.
Having a, an extractor outside
And actually,
you know,
people are probably like
notions they're gonna off their steam shower, but it's not
as expensive as you'd think if you're
doing a
cabin shower.
It's not a
major add-on.
Jen: Neither
are sonas. Sonas are not as expensive as you think, and they're
not,
um, they're
[00:32:00] not
much upkeeping them. They're not difficult to install. There's not much
upkeeping
Kate: Yeah.
Jen: and they're not expensive to
Kate: actually, I, I was totally on the fence until our builder said, oh, we have one
actually, and
it's great
if The kids
are snotty or sniffly. We just throw 'em in there for a couple of
minutes and a clears mountain. I was like,
sold.
Jen: That's
worth the dream.
Kate: Yeah.
Video ep 41: that
Jen: that
is
totally
Kate: uh, no, I love it. Now I'll say I'm delighted. We
put
one
in.
Jen: Yeah.
Like, I don't know how to say this,
Kate,
but can I
come
over
to your house
and have a steam
Kate: Yeah.
Jen: shower?
Kate: I'll give
you a face
mask. You can go
and sit
Jen: This is it. It's for the skin
because
I like,
I tend to get a little bit clogged up
my skin
God, I'd
say your
skin is amazing
if you're like regular use.
of the steam room.
Kate: That now in a little nose pore strip after, you know,
it'll be
clear
Jen: I
love those things so much.
Video ep 41: much
Kate: and be like,
poreless.
Jen: Yeah, that's all I want.
Kate: Um, but yeah,
good steam extractors In a bathroom
is key.
Jen: Amazing.
Kate: you don't have
one,
open
those bloody windows
as wide as you can to get that steam out.
Um,
Jen: Another thing, as we mentioned, a [00:33:00] away from water just
for two minutes,
As we mentioned,
um,
wooden doors and
wooden windows
is
if
you have
wooden
floors.
Maybe even inherited a house
with wooden
floors or
you got
them installed.
Um, it's
normal to have
to
refresh
them every few years
depending on the type
of floor,
especially if they're like original
floors. So they're gonna
wear
away in certain places. They're going to be little scratches,
It's going to be little patina develops and uh, you know, more heavy traffic areas.
Obviously we'll have more,
um, than others. And so you just
have to get that sanded back and re varnished or reil
every now and
then, and
that's totally normal and you just need to happen every few years. But it's just
something to be aware of as part of.
Kate: I am just coming to a
realization
here that like house maintenance is mainly about keeping water outta places it
Jen: all about keeping water outta places
It's
pretty much
exclusively about
keeping water,
keep electricity safe, and
keep
Kate: water and moisture outta
places,
it shouldn't be in Your
house. Your house will be
fine.
Jen: This
is
number one, like everything we've spoken about is about
those two things effectively,
like just keep
the water out.
Kate: Yeah.
Jen: It's
really
important.
Kate: yeah.
Video ep 41: Um,
Jen: another
place where you need might need to get water out is most
[00:34:00] modern freezers don't need this, but some of the older
freezers,
they might just frost over or
they
might
get
you,
they just might need
to defrosting every now and then. For whatever reason.
Maybe
someone's left the door open a little bit, or your fan is, is
not working too well or whatever. Um, So you're gonna
have to,
you turn off your appliance switch at the isolator switch,
you're gonna have to throw away all your stuff or
ask
a
neighbor to put it in their freezer for a while, put down
towels.
Um,
and then just let that bad boy
Kate: Defrost.
Jen: until it's totally dry, and then
let it run up
Kate: And now you have twice the
storage space
Jen: twice. It's storage space.
You're welcome.
Um, another thing you
used to do
every year.
uh,
things you might not
be aware of. you have to get
your boiler serviced every year. Does doesn't matter what kind of boiler you
have even if you have a heat pump,
um, you have to
get it
serviced legally every year.
Um, or if you don't, you could be in trouble with insurance or um,
or whatever else.
So.
Kate: with heat bumps? I wonder, is
Jen: I have absolutely no
Kate: risk or what, or
is
it like
electrical fault?
Jen: I have no idea.
Kate: oil is
dangerous from
the [00:35:00] fumes
point of view and
all that.
but
Jen: Yeah, I
don't,
Kate: have one, but we just have the gas boiler.
But
yeah.
and
when you,
Jen: maybe just boilers in general.
Kate: and more efficiently as well? Probably,
Jen: yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So
costs
can
cost
kind of
somewhere
between
around
75 to a
hundred euro
to
get it done.
Um,
you can look on Borg,
gosh,
energy
or just
if you
Google,
um, boiler service. Uh,
Then a lot of things will come up just to make sure that they're obviously registered professionals.
'cause they have to,
to, there's a sticker on
it,
um,
that comes up and you have to do it and it's worth it. So
just factor that
in.
Kate: Hmm.
Jen: Um, another thing
that you have to do
every
year,
This came
up on our
group about a year
ago and kind of is
confusing
and you might be
running your eyes, but your local
property
tax, you
have
to pay
local property tax every
year.
And hopefully it was explained to you when you
bought your
house,
maybe by your solicitor or
whatever.
Um, and
normally if you're
A-P-A-Y-E, like
a salaried worker,
uh, and the
local property
tax is registered
in your name, there's
like
a
one off set up, and then that just [00:36:00] comes outta your payslip every
year
and you're done.
But if you're not, or
if you haven't
set
this up,
just
just make sure,
like,
just double check, like check
your pay slip and see if it's there or
if it isn't go onto revenue,
like my revenue or IS
or whatever. Um, and
there's a local property tax section in there and it, it,
uh, you just have to pay
it.
So
Kate: you just
Jen: that, just make
sure it's being paid, or go and pay it if you
don't, because they'll they'll
get
Kate: then you can give out to
the council
about stuff not being done
But until you pay it. You
can't
Jen: exactly.
I'm
not saying you have to pay your TV license, but I am saying you have to pay your look for property
taxes.
Don't
come at
Kate: Yes. So
like
we have a lot there, but like a lot of it is,
you know, how to
keep water
out.
So knowing where it is,
knowing
kind
of how to shut it
off.
essentially. that's what we're
saying.
Knowing who
to call. Like how
do you know when
Jen: This is a good one to know,
like, know
this now
because there's nothing worse than
me at home. This happened me [00:37:00] recently. On a
Friday night.
My fridge
just stopped
working. I dunno what happened.
I think the
door
had been
left
open for a little bit, just stopped
working.
and
what
I,
I
got so lucky.
I
just tracked down
this
like
really good guy online.
He
was brilliant.
He came,
he spent
about
three hours
here at one point.
At one point he had like a blowtorch going
'cause he
found an
old fan.
An old condenser that would
in his van that would
work for my fridge
and like
spent longer fixing
it
so that I wouldn't have to buy
a new
one. Like
he just
I just got so
lucky,
but I could
have
easily spent the whole weekend
at
no fridge and like
have
to throw
everything out
and like start
again.
It
could have cost me,
it could have cost me
hundreds,
euro and it only cost me like a couple hundred.
Um,
he actually, fixed our
friend's
fridge recently as well. He was great.
Video ep 41: I'll give
Jen: Anyone's looking for a recommendation.
I'll, uh, gimme a shout on Instagram. I'll give you
his details, but having a
list of
people
like in
advance,
and I know how hard it's to get
tradespeople, but just have a
look on
like,
or
just
bookmark, you know, your
pro
IE.
Or
local heroes, [00:38:00] IE.
I think are the two, um,
kind
of websites that have lists of, of people.
um,
Kate: was the one you, You asked a
question to recently? Was it
Jen: Oh, Just answer
Just answer is really good. I
Kate: well. cause you can talk to experts on it
but I think
like whether
you
decide to
call the
expert or not,
generally
speaking, if it's gas or electricity
or water
'cause it can do a major damage, major
damage
in
your
house.
I think it's worth calling the
expert
if you're not sure at
all.
but like
knowing where
the shutoffs
are and knowing the little
tricks like.
You know, maybe bleeding your rads and doing the topup once
could save
you
time and get you out of a
bind.
But then having your
kind of little,
uh,
black book of numbers as well is key.
Video ep 41: key.
Jen: just
have them to hand and put it all
in the manual. I
actually, you talk about having
a home manual. I have one
too, because one of our friends
lived
in this house for a
month.
Um,
it was during
CODI went
to stay,
uh, we did an apartment abroad and I went to stay there and she was between [00:39:00] her medical.
At training places. So she came to stay here for a month. So I just did a, a list
like
typing up a
list of like, here's
how
to
use the
washing
machine.
Like, here's
the
make and model here. And it just
kind
of, you
only start
doing a
task like that. You
kind of
just
get run away with yourself.
So I
started tracking down like
all the serial
numbers of all my
appliances and
like
where all the switches
are and
what to do
and, and,
phone call. and
it was so
helpful at the
MO like
this time around
when I
was doing home
exchange
for,
um, for holidays
because.
People actually, when
I,
when somebody was staying here at
Light
Bulb went,
and that lovely fella that
was
staying here,
like replaced it for me
and
just, you know, knew where the
fuse
or the trip switch was and
everything.
Anyway,
I'm getting carried
away.
But the
exercise of putting together a
home manual
is pain in the hole
and
it'll take forever,
but just
start
it and just kind of tip away at it.
and
like anytime, just have a document open, like on your laptop or whatever,
and just
like
you know, know
where
the
valve is, just write that down or know what the
steps are for,
you
know, resetting the pressure
on your boiler
or,
and
just.
I dunno, just tip weight it. And then
when you
start you kind of
you just get there, you get it done, And it's a
big
task. but [00:40:00]
my God, you're gonna be so, so grateful
for it. If anything ever goes wrong in your
house, like it'll save You so much money and
time.
Kate: So
having
the
people, knowing where things
are,
knowing the basic
fixes,
having the list
of people. I also think
you should have a little toolkit as well.
Like
Jen: Oh yeah. That's a
Kate: toolkit. So like things like maybe like a plunger for a
blockage, maybe a little
adjustable wrench
for any minor
leaks before you get someone
in
Jen: Your your radiator
key, if you don't
have a radiator key,
take a photo of
your
radiator and take
it to your local hardware
shop and they will
get you on.
Kate: it's
usually a little square.
Is it a
square
triangle? Is
Jen: I think it's a square.
Kate: The triangle.
Then.
I
think the electricity meter box sometimes has a
triangle. One. Maybe Maybe
I'm mixing that up. Um, torches aren't a big thing
anymore because generally you have your phone,
Jen: You have your phone.
Kate: it's worth having some batteries
and stuff
like that.
Like,
Like,
You said, for the smoke alarm,
and stuff like that, like in a
drawer somewhere.
I think it's always
worth it.
I think pliers, you'll never go
wrong.
Jen: The other
thing is,
[00:41:00] um, that I found really useful when we, the last, we had an electricity outage
here, it was only
for maybe a
few
hours
last winter.
but, um, a
really good
battery
pack is really
helpful. you know,
the
battery packs
that you'd have
to charge your phone, like if you're
going to a festival or
something like that
or
whatever.
Um,
They're great
for holidays.
They're great for if you're like out for the whole day,
like
hiking or something like that. But just keep one charged up
and then, um. And then you can make sure that like the essentials are working.
Kate: Yeah. Do you know something
we didn't, like I
mentioned having
a plunger there, but
like just generally
keeping your drains clear inside the house. Now I know we talked about leaves and stuff outside, but
things like your shower drain
and like
Jen: yeah. It's a great
Kate: bad for it. I would say.
Like have you ever been to a gym shower and like they clearly have never cleaned out.
The shower drains
grosses me out so
much, but like the amount of hair
that gets clogged in those shower
drains just pull
out that shower drain. I know it's disgusting. And pull out that clump of hair
every few weeks because otherwise
it's backing up
and the water's
sitting
in
the drain
there
all
[00:42:00] the time.
And you're just
asking for a leak over
time.
Jen: yeah. And every
Kate: I know it's meant to be watertight, you don't want water
sitting in it
all
the
time. So,
Jen: it also means that your shower is filling up and you're standing in this puddle of water and it's horrible.
So yeah, go clear out the water.
And then also you can buy,
like bleach
does the job, but like you can
buy specific drain.
you know,
Un blockers.
It's, I often
do it if I'm ever
going away for like,
Kate: If
you're,
a long-haired
person
or you're a hairy person,
Jen: I'm a very, very hair breast.
So
Kate: little bit of maintenance I think makes a big deal.
Jen: Yeah.
Kate: me throwing grease down your sink.
Jen: Yeah.
Don't do grease down sink if you're
like.
Frying something or you're throwing away like a jar of
mayonnaise or something like that,
Uh, or
like a jar of sun dried tomatoes or you're
draining like
fish or something. I don't know. You drain that into your bin.
You do not put that. fat, you don't 'cause fat, can harden, even if it looks like,
you know, liquid oil
at the
Kate: at the time.
Jen: It goes down
your drain and it
can harden
and then it stinks,
and
then your drain backs up
and
you
just
don't wanna be [00:43:00] dealing
with that.
Just do
not put that down your sink.
Kate: So keep things clear. So water's running clear,
running free,
and.
make sure
water's
running where it should be running and not where it
shouldn't be running.
Jen: I have no
Kate: where to shut it off if it's not.
Video ep 41: like,
Jen: I know we're talking about
disgusting
topics, but my stomach just rumbled, so I don't know
what
that's saying about
me.
Kate: you're gonna
get
sick
Jen: Yeah. Maybe I'm
just thinking about
Sebastian
again.
Kate: anyway,
we'll
put a little list for your kind of
toolkit
and the little
bits for the
manual,
maybe for our early words or
something
as well, if
Jen: Yeah. We'll send it out to early birds. Yeah.
Kate: a little,
um,
A
little tool slash manual.
Jen: Everything we just spoke about here, we put
Kate: Yeah. And maybe some pictures of the shutoffs
and
stuff so people know to visualize.
Um,
Jen: Early words that is coming your way.
Kate: since moving
back in. And these
aren't
even,
sometimes they're not even
maintenance every year.
Sometimes
they can just be things
you need to do when you move into a house after a renovation,
I think.
Jen: Yeah.
Yeah.
Agreed.
Good
to know. [00:44:00] anything else
there?
Has anybody?
Video ep 41: It's
Jen: helpful to know. Tiling
hinges
is a
good one.
Like
people just sit there looking at things that are like listing or leaning
and
oh, one thing is
about maybe
tiles.
So usually when you get tiles, um,
if you get
tiles
installed or you've
like moved
into
House of Tiles,
normally, especially in wet areas, they are treated
with a
sealant.
So it's just this.
liquid that gets poured on
them
and
It should be good forever.
basically.
It should just
keep them fairly watertight forever, but.
We clean our tiles
a
lot. If
you're
someone who
like
scrubs your tiles,
like I use
those erase sponges quite a
lot,
um, especially to clean grout,
et cetera, between your tiles.
Then, uh, it might
be worth
just thinking about, is that a
spot where, you
know,
um, you could do
the, Yeah. So
all you
have
to
do is you literally just get a, you get a, a.
Video ep 41: uh,
Jen: Look for the kind of sealant that goes with your type of tile,
um, your tile material.
And you buy a bottle
of sealant and you just kind of wipe it on the sponge and then you let it sit there and don't let it get wet [00:45:00] for
a few days,
and then you're kind of good to go again.
And actually,
as we're
talking about sealant, like
we've mentioned
this before in the podcast, it was more in our
DII
episode.
but if there's bits of
like
sealant
that's peeling off
around your bath
or around your shower, we've been threatening,
we're gonna do this. We've been threatening a live episode where I re-seal my bath
and I, I, swear
to
God, it'll happen the side of
Christmas.
Um. but, uh, if there's bits that are, like, if there's a
bit of black anywhere or there's things that are peeling or resealing.
it's more of a DIY thing,
But
just in terms of
maintenance,
that's something you should be aware of. Like you don't want that happening 'cause water's getting in
there.
Kate: Yeah.
Yeah.
Video ep 41: Yeah.
Kate: Agree.
Jen: All
Kate: always
better
than cure
Jen: Prevention
is better. That's the whole, that's what
we
should
Kate: when water's involved.
Video ep 41: Yeah.
Jen: Keep the
water.
out.
Video ep 41: All
Jen: right.
well, thanks for listening. And we're hot. All our holidays are finished now. I've got no more holidays coming up. So we will see you in two weeks.
Video ep 41: weeks.
Kate: Straight
through to
Christmas.
Jen: Straight
through to Christmas, straight
run. Thanks for listening.
Kate: Bye. We'll See you.
in two
weeks.
Outro
Kate: If you found that episode useful, please do us a huge favour by giving us a like and a few [00:46:00] stars and especially click that subscribe button. Thank you!
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